THE BEGINNING. 
 
 THE CHAOTIC PEEIOD. 
 
 "And ike Earth was without form and void ; and darkness was iipon the face of 
 the detp ; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' 1 '' GEN. i. 2.
 
 STAFF AND SCRIP; 
 
 OR, 
 
 Help for the Pilgrim on the 
 Journey of Life 
 
 FURNISHED BY THE CONTEMPLATION OF 
 
 DIVINE TRUTH 
 
 exhibited in 
 
 the WORLD'S HISTORY, & in 
 FIGURES, ALLEGORIES, &> SIMILITUDES. 
 
 The figure of him that was to come, ROM. v. 14. Which things are an Allegory, 
 GAI,. iv. 24. I have also spoken by the prophets . . . and used Similitudes. 
 HOSEA xii. 10. 
 
 By JOHN WARNER BARBER, 
 
 Author of several Religious and Historical Works. 
 
 BRADLEY, GARRETSON & CO., 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : No. 66 N. FOURTH ST. 
 
 WM. GARRETSON & CO., 
 
 GALESBURG, ILLS.; COLUMBUS, OHIO; NASHVILLE, TENN. 
 HOUSTON, TEXAS; SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 
 
 JOHN WARNER BARBER, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 
 
 WESTCOTT & THOMSON, 
 Stereotypers and EUctrotyfiers, Pkila.
 
 PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 
 
 " SCRIP and Staff* for the Journey of Life." The two words 
 in the title, with small allowance for metaphor, will give the 
 scope and contents of this book. The scrip is for the pilgrim 
 to carry provisions for the way, and the staff is to help his 
 weary feet up steep hills and over hard places. The scrip is 
 well stored with kind words from the good and with grave 
 counsels from the wise. The staff is strong to support the 
 heavy laden, and it is better than shield and spear in time of 
 danger. Whenever the wayfarer opens the scrip, he will find in 
 it good bread to satisfy hunger and great truths to strengthen 
 mind and heart. Whenever the pilgrim leans on the staff, he 
 can trust to its strength without fear that it will prove a broken 
 reed, piercing the hand. 
 
 The scrip is not woven and lettered with threads of gold, nor 
 is the carving of the staff in the highest style of art. Both are 
 intended for plain people who work their passage through the 
 world and pay their fare as they go. Both scrip and staff will 
 do good service all the journey through, and the pilgrim will 
 like both the better when he gets near his home. 
 
 The book is full of quaint, old-fashioned pictures that speak 
 to the eye, and plain, truth-telling parables that speak to the 
 heart. The pictures, as compared with works of high art, are 
 like the simple songs which the prima donna sometimes has 
 the good sense to sing after having trilled and tossed her voice 
 through all the notes, wild and high, of the operatic scale. The 
 audience, too kind not to be pleased and too much mystified 
 
 to know when to applaud, can only wait and wonder while the 
 
 5
 
 6 PUBLISHERS 1 PREFACE. 
 
 grand passage is suffering execution. But when the same voice 
 takes up one of the dear old songs of home and childhood and 
 country, the great assembly rise to their feet in raptures of 
 applause that shakes the hall from floor to roof. So the pic- 
 tures in this book will awaken the curiosity and enchain the 
 attention of thousands who would only look and wonder at 
 works of higher art and wait for somebody to tell them what 
 they mean. 
 
 And this book has a higher aim than the mere gratification 
 of curiosity. There is a sacred meaning and a noble purpose 
 in all its antique symbols and quaint devices. The author is 
 more anxious to make a good book than to get the reputation 
 of great originality. And so he calls to his aid precept, exam- 
 ple and illustration from every age and every department of 
 literature. He gathers up flowers and fruit from the waysides 
 of life, and gives them a fair setting for the adornment of home 
 and the entertainment of the social circle. He walks through 
 the palaces of princes, and searches the archives of the past, and 
 surveys the fields of nature, and bends over the dust of the de- 
 parted, to catch some whisper of wisdom for the better conduct 
 of life on the part of those who now live. Even the bald and 
 strongly-drawn pictures of the darker passions and the more 
 wasting vices of the world are all made to throw light upon the 
 paths of virtue and peace. 
 
 It is a book for the young and a book for the old. Whoever 
 reads it must be very bad if it does not make him better. It 
 teaches the timid to be brave, the complaining to rejoice, and 
 the feeble to be strong. It is full of kind words for the poor, 
 wise counsels for the rich, plain warning for the tempted, and 
 good hope for the afflicted. Whoever takes this scrip and staff 
 along with him in the journey of life will find it good company 
 on the way, and it will give him much help in getting safe 
 through.
 
 INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. 
 
 THE author of this work was during his early years at times 
 much impressed with religious sentiments, particularly when he 
 arrived at the age of eighteen years. From his early childhood 
 he was strongly attracted by pictorial representations of every 
 kind, and spent much time in making pen-and-ink drawings. 
 Whatever arrested his attention which could be pictorially 
 exhibited he generally drew out on paper, whether he had a 
 copy for it or not. This inclination or practice, increased with 
 his years, and the business or occupation which he followed 
 that of engraver was precisely the one which suited the bent 
 of his mind. 
 
 His first regular attempt to convey religious truth to the 
 mind by pictorial representations was in 1816, by a drawing 
 entitled "A Miniature of the World in the Nineteenth Cen- 
 tury." This was published in Hartford, Conn., in 1822, and is, 
 in fact, a kind of epitome of all the religious works of the 
 author since issued. Previous to this, in 1819, the writer 
 commenced in a small way as author and publisher by having 
 a series of wood-cuts printed on a half sheet of printing paper 
 and folded up in a kind of book form, entitled " Bunyan's Pil- 
 grim's Progress exhibited in a Metamorphosis, or Transforma- 
 tion of Pictures." A considerable number of both these works 
 was sold and distributed. Since that time the author, while 
 continuing his business as an engraver, has published occasion- 
 ally several religious and historical works. 
 
 An emblem in its ordinary signification is a picture, or some 
 representation to the eye of one thing, while at the same time
 
 8 INTR OD UCTOR Y PREFA CE. 
 
 it conveys to the mind or understanding it may be something 
 of more importance. This art of communicating truth to the 
 mind by emblems, parables and similitudes is of the remotest 
 antiquity. It is, in fact, a method which the divine Being often 
 uses to convey instruction to his creatures. Of course it must 
 be admitted to be a legitimate method of communicating in- 
 struction, sanctioned by the highest possible authority. 
 
 Many portions of divine truth are forcibly illustrated by 
 similitudes. The prodigal son, the parable of the sower, the 
 good Samaritan, the good shepherd, and many other parables 
 recorded in sacred writ, are beautiful demonstrations of this 
 truth. These illustrations are, in reality, pictures to the mind, 
 as the pictorial representations in this work are to the eye. 
 They therefore have a double advantage over precept, speaking 
 not only to the mind, but also to the eye, in language singu- 
 larly emphatic and universally intelligible. The figures or 
 similitudes used in modern times are, many of them, ex- 
 pressive; for instance, a simple cross: to the eye nothing 
 appears but two pieces of wood, one of which lies transversely 
 across the other, but to the mind it brings a vivid representa- 
 tion of Him who was nailed to the cross and died thereon for 
 the salvation of the world, and by whose blood our sins are 
 washed away. 
 
 An allegory is defined to be a figurative discourse or relation 
 in which the principal subject is described by another subject 
 resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The princi- 
 pal subject is kept out of view, and we are left to gather the in- 
 tentions of the writer or speaker from the resemblance of the 
 secondary to the primary subject. Whenever emblems or alle- 
 gories are used for any subject, everything faint, obscure or far- 
 fetched should be avoided. They should be plain, direct, to the 
 point, with as little circumlocution as possible, boldly executed, 
 and easily comprehended and understood by all persons of com- 
 mon intelligence. Heathen mythology introduced into a work
 
 INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. 9 
 
 of this kind makes it in our day rather unintelligible to the 
 great body of readers. 
 
 The object of the author of this work is to give a series of 
 drawings, mostly of an emblematic kind, somewhat in advance 
 of those which he has already given to the public. Each en- 
 graving is accompanied by full explanations, and interspersed 
 with such reflections, examples and anecdotes as would illus- 
 trate the subject matter introduced, all in accordance with the 
 cardinal principles of the Christian religion. Works of a some- 
 what similar kind have occasionally appeared, some of which, 
 though valuable in many respects, inculcate notions of religion 
 and morality which appear somewhat defective and obscure, 
 and below the standard of those who desire to uphold a vital 
 Christianity. 
 
 Wherever a pictorial illustration could be found, either in 
 ancient or modern works, which would serve the purposes of 
 the writer in whole or in part, he has not hesitated to adopt 
 it into this publication. Ten of Holbein's designs have 
 been incorporated into those made by the author. [See pages 
 43 and 46.] Dr. Anderson, who made the engraving from the 
 Holbein cuts, was one of the best engravers of his time, and his 
 cuts were equal in force and effect to any European edition of 
 the work we have yet seen. 
 
 The " Pilgrim's Progress " the immortal allegory, as it is 
 sometimes called which may be considered as standing at the 
 head of works of the kind, it is believed owes something of its 
 popularity to the numerous cuts or engravings which are usually 
 interspersed through it. The Pilgrim is first represented as 
 fleeing from the City of Destruction, having a heavy burden on 
 his back. He is next seen floundering in the Slough of De- 
 spond. In his onward course Mount Sinai flashes forth its fire 
 on his pathway; he enters the Wicket Gate, goes into the 
 House of the Interpreter, loses his burden at the sight of the 
 Cross, climbs up the Hill Difficulty, passes the Lions, goes into
 
 10 INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. 
 
 the Valley of Humiliation, fights with Apollyon, and with his 
 sword "doth make him, though a dragon, quit the field." 
 Christian goes on through many trials and difficulties till he 
 finally enters the Celestial City, the narrative of the varied 
 scenes through which he passes being accompanied with cuts 
 which give to the eye a kind of ocular demonstration doubly 
 impressive on the memory. 
 
 Francis Quarles, an English poet of some genius, the imme- 
 diate predecessor of John Bunyan, was born in 1592, at Rum- 
 ford, near Essex. He received his education at Christ's College, 
 Cambridge, and afterward entered at Lincoln's Inn. For some 
 time he held the situation of cupbearer to the queen of Bohemia, 
 the daughter of James I. ; and upon his return he received the 
 situation of secretary to Archbishop Usher, in Ireland. Quarles 
 at one time held the situation of chronologer to the city of Lon- 
 don, and he enjoyed a pension from Charles I. in consideration 
 of having made himself known by several works on religious 
 subjects. During the Parliamentary war he gave great offence 
 by joining the king's party at Oxford, and was punished by the 
 loss of his estates, books and manuscripts. These losses preyed 
 upon his spirits, and he died in 1644, at the age of fifty-two. 
 Quarles was the author of several small emblematic works, but 
 he is best known by his " Emblems Divine and Moral." 
 
 It will be perceived by an examination of the index, etc., 
 that quite a wide range has been taken as to the choice of 
 subjects for illustration, and at a cursory glance at the contents 
 it would possibly be thought that some of the subject matter 
 introduced might be inappropriate. The author, however, feels 
 confident that nothing can be found upon examination incon- 
 sistent with the plan of the work. 
 
 JOHN WARNER BARBER. 
 NEW HAVEN, CONN., 1875.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 [EIGHTY SUBJECTS, IN CAPITALS, WITH CUTS.] 
 
 A. 
 
 Adams, John Q., life as President, 416; 
 dying words, 130. 
 
 Agassiz, the greatest naturalist of the 
 age; experimented upon by a mesmer- 
 ist; his prayer to the Almighty, 124. 
 
 Adversity, hymn, by Gray; descriptive 
 notes on each stanza, 332 ; rugged 
 nurse to virtue, attended by wisdom, 
 melancholy, charity, justice, pity. 
 
 ALCOHOL, KING, 295. 
 
 American endurance in the Revolution- 
 ary war; the AMERICAN HERO (Sap- 
 phic ode) ; notes on, 368. 
 
 Alexander the Great, 51 ; conqueror of 
 the world ; fires Persepolis ; kills his 
 best friend; dies of a debauch, 422. 
 
 AMERICAN HERO, 366. 
 
 Alliance, Heavenly, 61. 
 
 Anderson, Dr. Alexander, the early 
 American wood engraver, 46. (Im- 
 pressions from his identical wood cuts 
 [electrotyped], on pages 40, 48, 54, 
 118, 166, 179, 264, 302, 359, 375.) 
 
 Angels, evil and good, 77 ; ministering 
 angels, 75; fallen angels, 519. 
 
 Aspinwall, Rev. M., sermon on still 
 small voice, 234. 
 
 Assyrian monarchy, the first in Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's vision, 416. 
 
 ASTROLOGY, 119. 
 
 Astrologer, Holbein's cut of, 118; astrol- 
 ogy a form of divination, 121. 
 
 Arabian, Hobad, the, 349; Arabian 
 horse kindly treated, 519. 
 
 APOSTLES' CREED, THE, 258. 
 
 Apostles' Creed pictorially illustrated, 
 259; form of, in the 4th cent., 261. 
 
 Atom, each, of compounded matter, 22. 
 
 Autumn (September, October, Novem- 
 ber) personified by a female figure, 
 143 ; Indian summer, 146. 
 
 AGUR'S PRAYER, 572. 
 
 Agur 3 ! Prayer ; he desires neither pov- 
 erty nor riches, 573 ; temptations of 
 poverty, 574; folly of expectation 
 from riches, 575. 
 
 AUTUMN, 143. 
 
 Anthony, St., originates the monastic 
 life, 246. 
 
 Assyrian monarchy, 416. 
 
 Avarice (the miser, Holbein's cut) and 
 covetousness defined, 182 ; extraor- 
 dinary instances, 183, 184. 
 
 B. 
 
 BABYLON THE GREAT, destroyed, 135. 
 
 Babylon taken by Cyrus, 421. 
 
 BEGINNING, THE (see frontispiece). 
 
 BEGGAR, THE, 54. 
 
 Beggar (Holbein's cut), 54; at the rich 
 man's gate, 56; carried by angels to 
 Abraham's bosom, 57. 
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN (Ecce Homo), 
 1 86; author of, 188. 
 
 Beecher, Dr. Lyman, extracts from his 
 sermon on Intemperance, 170. 
 
 Beattie, Dr., notice of, 195; his "Her- 
 mit," notes on each stanza, 198. 
 
 Barbauld, Mrs., notice of, 35 ; her hymns 
 for children, 36. 
 
 Bards and minstrels, account of, 543. 
 11
 
 12 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bertrand, Gen., Napoleon's companion, 
 notice of; his unbelief, 454. 
 
 Bonaparte (see NAPOLEON), 448. 
 
 BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT, 126. 
 
 Bridge, shoreless, 54; passengers, 55. 
 
 Body, soul, spirit, each separately de- 
 scribed, 127; body hard used, 128. 
 
 BRIDLING THE TONGUE, 322. 
 
 Bridling the tongue, 323 ; untamable, 
 323 ; meddling, fiery, 324. 
 
 Brotherly kindness, 64, 160. 
 
 Brother, our elder, 227 ; as advocate, 228. 
 
 Bray, vicar of, notice of, 489 ; view of 
 church, 487 ; song, .principles, 490. 
 
 Brahmins of Siam and others' belief of 
 the world's destruction, 602. 
 
 Bunker Hill, battle of, 366, 370. 
 
 Burns, Robert, poet, notice of, 499; 
 birthplace, 496; his poem, Cotter's 
 Saturday Night, 499; notes on, 504. 
 
 Builders, wise and foolish, 164. 
 
 Burning bush, 516. 
 
 Bunyan, John, 84. 
 
 By-ends, Hold-the-World and Money- 
 Love, conversation between, 491. 
 
 c. 
 
 Campbell, Thomas, poet, notice of, 
 270 ; his Soldier's Dream of Home. 
 
 Carthage destroyed, 423. 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 468 ; notice of; his ed- 
 ucation ; his character, 469 ; dissolves 
 the Long Parliament, 471; his sick- 
 ness and dying words, 472 ; his confi- 
 dence in God ; humility, 474. 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, author of a work on 
 Cromwell, 470. 
 
 Charity described, 65 ; the crowning 
 grace of all, 160. 
 
 CHRISTIANA'S DREAM, 85. 
 
 CHRISTIAN SOLDIER, THE, 404. 
 
 CAPTIVITY OF THE JEWISH NA- 
 TION, 508; dispersion, 517. 
 
 Caesar, Julius, the Roman emperor, 133. 
 
 CHILDHOOD, 214. 
 
 Christian endurance, 202, 204. 
 
 Childhood, voyage of human life, 215. 
 
 Chaotic period before the creation of 
 Adam, 24. 
 
 Charity, 65. 
 
 Children, hymns for, by Mrs. Barbauld, 
 35 ; treatment of, 485. 
 
 Choice, Lot's unwise, 153, 154. 
 
 Christianity and philosophy, 152. 
 
 Chivalry in Europe, 361. 
 
 Christian colony at the West, account 
 of, 525- 
 
 Christian, dying, 114, 115. 
 
 Cheerfulness, 411. 
 
 Christianity, Napoleon's views on, 448 ; 
 on the divinity of Christ, 455 ; con- 
 fesses himself a Christian, 453. 
 
 CHRISTIAN SOLDIER, 404. 
 
 Church of God as a garden, 463. 
 
 Club, Athenian, profligacy of, 50. 
 
 Conscience, 346. 
 
 Coin at Rome (Judea captive), 513. 
 
 Collins, Governor; his humane policy; 
 his humane policy toward his men, 
 524. 
 
 CONFLAGRATION OR DISSOLU- 
 TION OF THE EARTH, 599. 
 
 Commonwealth of Christ, 191. 
 
 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT ; the 
 flock contented ; the shepherd not, 442, 
 
 443- 
 
 Corday, Charlotte, kills Marat, 588. 
 
 COMMUNION WITH SAINTS, 148. 
 
 Covetousness defined, 182. 
 
 COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT, 
 THE, 496. 
 
 Convention, French National, sacrile- 
 gious enormities of; The Reign of Ter- 
 ror; Christian religion abolished ; 
 death declared an eternal sleep ; the 
 only French deities Liberty, Equality 
 and Reason, 587. 
 
 Curate or preacher, notice of, 303. 
 
 Council, heavenly, 108; four attributes 
 of deity personified in, 112. 
 
 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GAR- 
 DINER ; view of his house and mon- 
 ument, 532. 
 
 CURATE, THE, 302.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Conflagration and dissolution of th 
 
 earth, 601. 
 
 Cotter's Saturday Night, 499. 
 Creation of the earth and heavens, 29. 
 Creation of light, 30. 
 Creed, Apostles', 262 ; in the fourth cen 
 
 tury, 261. 
 
 Crocodile, the emblem of fraud, 118. 
 Cyrus the Persian, 420. 
 Cuthullin, death of (Ossian), 545. 
 CREATION OF THE EARTH AND 
 
 THE HEAVENS, 28. 
 Conversion of Col. Gardiner, 533. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dancer, Daniel, the celebrated miser; 
 his portrait, etc., 183. 
 
 Dancing a religious ceremony, 44. 
 
 Day, signification of the word, 31. 
 
 Daniel's vision of four monarchies, 415. 
 
 Dance of Death, 42, 44, 46, 55. 
 
 Death the Prime Minister of Alcohol,zg^. 
 
 Deadness of heart, 411. 
 
 Debts, small, as debts of honor, 269. 
 
 Death's coat of arms, 40. 
 
 Death, river of, 75. 
 
 Death-song of Regner Lodbrok, king of 
 Denmark, 541. 
 
 Destruction of Jerusalem, 509. 
 
 Dead Sea, or Sea of Sodom, 158. 
 
 Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, 353. 
 
 Defrauding the public, 267. 
 
 Deity, four attributes of, personified, in. 
 
 De Lisle, Rouget, author of the Mar- 
 seilles Hymn of Liberty, 581. 
 
 Deity, emblems of, 21, 211. 
 
 Doddridge, Doctor, 533. 
 
 Deities, heathen, notice of, 140. 
 
 Dogs the messengers of Satan, 390, 394. 
 
 DOWNWARD RAILWAY, 174. 
 
 Devil, Satan, character of, 105. 
 
 Divination, definition of, 120. 
 
 Divinities, heathen, notice of, 140. 
 Divinity of Christ, Napoleon's views re- 
 specting, 455. 
 
 Dream, Soldier's, Scotch Highlanders, 
 by Thomas Campbell, 271. 
 
 Dreams, a vehicle of revelation, 87. 
 
 Drunkards, Holbein's cut of, 167. 
 
 DRUNKARDS, THE, 166. 
 
 Downward railway, 175. 
 
 Downward, four steps of drunkards, 166. 
 
 Drunkenness or Intemperance, Dr. Ly- 
 man Beecher's sermon on, 170. 
 
 Drunkard's coat of arms, 166. 
 
 Dream, Christiana's ; she sees her hus- 
 band among the immortals, 85. 
 
 Dying Christian to his Soul, by Alexan- 
 der Pope, notes on, 114. 
 
 DYING CHRISTIAN, 115. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earth many times destroyed and rt- 
 
 newed, 23. 
 
 Earth, not eternal, 22. 
 Earth in its chaotic state, 24. 
 Earth, creation of, 29. 
 Earth, dissolution of, 601 ; views of the 
 
 Siamese, Brahmins and others, 602. 
 Earth originally a fluid, a melted state, 
 
 22; first occupied by animals in an 
 
 ascending order, 23. 
 Earth, last of, 130. 
 EARLY TRAINING, 478, 479. 
 Education, moral, 482; obedience the 
 first lesson, 485 ; Dr. Mather's essay, 
 
 To do good; Dr. Rush's and the 
 
 "Brief Remarker's" method, 485. 
 Education, good, importance of, 256. 
 Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), 187; 
 
 propositions, 189; synopsis of the 
 
 work, 190; work of Christ, 191. 
 Egypt, earliest of kingdoms, 417. 
 Egyptians, religion of, 417. 
 ELDER BROTHER, 226. 
 Elisha, the man of God, delivers the 
 
 Israelites from the Syrians, 208. 
 Elwes, a remarkable miser, 183. 
 SLEVATOR, THE HEAVENLY, 288. 
 Emblems of the Deity, 21. 
 inglish and Spanish proverb respecting 
 
 procrastination, 550. 
 ENDURANCE CONQUERS, 202. 
 Our Elder Brother, 227. 
 Ixperience described, 330.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 F. 
 
 FAITH, representation of, 61, 160. 
 
 False Christs, 510. 
 
 Fallen angels, 102. 
 
 Farming, evil effects of procrastination 
 in, 551- 
 
 Feeding the strange pig, anecdote, 381. 
 
 fire, emblem of the presence of the 
 deity, 21, 211. 
 
 Fire, horses and chariots of, 211. 
 
 Familiar spirits, 123. 
 
 FALLEN ANGELS, 103. 
 
 Fitch, John, the steamboat inventor, 396. 
 
 Fingal, king of Morven, Scotland, 543 ; 
 fight with the spirit of Loda, 544. 
 
 four monarchies, vision of, 415. 
 
 French hymn of liberty, 580 ; notes on, 
 583; French Republic in 1792; the 
 king beheaded, 587 ; " Reign of Ter- 
 ror;" National Convention; Chris- 
 tian religion declared abolished, 587. 
 
 French coin of silver, 50. 
 
 Francis I. of France, notice of, 49. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gardiner, Colonel, Conversion of, 534; 
 
 view of his house and monument, 532 ; 
 
 killed at Preston-pans, 536. 
 Geddes, the Scotch woman, casts her 
 
 stool at the preacher, 304. 
 Globe, its origin, 22. 
 Godliness, mystery of, 64, 239. 
 Good returned for evil, 522. 
 Gnostics or Nicolaitanes, tenets of, 465. 
 Gray, Thomas, his hymn to Adversity, 
 
 332; notes on each stanza, 333. 
 Grecian monarchy, 422. 
 
 H. 
 
 Habits, bad, difficult to overcome, 480. 
 HANS HOLBEIN, THE PAINTER, 
 
 40. 
 
 Heaven described, 57 ; opened, 339. 
 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY 
 
 LIGHT, 137. 
 Highway of holiness, 75. 
 HERO, THE AMERICAN, 366. 
 
 Henry VIII., of England, distinguished 
 for his beastly vices, 52. 
 
 HEAVENLY RAILROAD, 80. 
 
 Hermit, the, by Dr. Beattie, 195. 
 
 Holbein, Hans, the eminent painter, 
 notice of, 41 ; goes to London, 42 ; 
 his Dance of Death, 42, 43 ; first pub- 
 lished in France; immense numbers 
 sold, 43 ; Holbein as a wood en- 
 graver, 43, 46. 
 
 Hooker's, Rev. Mr., address to the sol- 
 diers of Connecticut, 591. 
 
 Hope described, 331 ; the anchor of, 251. 
 
 Horse, bad treatment of, 528; kindness 
 to, b'y the Arabs, 529. 
 
 Hobad, the Arabian, his choice ; progen- 
 itor of the Arabs, 354. 
 
 Horses and chariots of fire, 211. 
 
 HERMIT, THE, 194. 
 
 Hale, Sir Matthew, lord chief justice of 
 England, 432 ; gives advice to John 
 Bunyan's wife, 433 ; disguises him- 
 self as a miller, 439. 
 
 Hebrews or Israelites, 418. 
 
 HEAVENLY ALLIANCE, 6x 
 
 Heaven the abode of the righteous, 71. 
 
 Heaven taken by storm, 405, 535. 
 
 HEAVENLY COUNCIL, 108. 
 
 Holbein and his wife, 41. 
 
 Holbein painting with his left hand, 40; 
 an expert in engraving; his drawings 
 made with a pen, 43. 
 
 Heroic ages of Greece, 436. 
 
 Hercules' wine-cup conquers, 51. 
 
 HEAVENLY ELEVATOR, 288. 
 
 Horse, Arab, kindly treated, 529. 
 
 Honesty of two men, 430. 
 
 Holy stairs at Rome, 248. 
 
 Hymns, in prose, by Mrs. Barbauld, for 
 children, 35. 
 
 Hymn, by John Pierpont, 373. 
 
 I. 
 
 Idlers compelled to work, 379. 
 Israelite, the true, 337. 
 Israelites or Hebrews, 418. 
 Inspiration of liberty, 580.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Indian summer, 146. 
 
 Intemperance, four downward steps, 166. 
 
 In the Beginning, 21. 
 
 Idleness, disgraceful, 378; expedient to 
 
 prevent, 379. 
 Indian mother's prayer; Indians, North 
 
 American, 318. 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE, 269. 
 Immortality, by Mrs. Barbauld, 37. 
 Immoralities of heathen gods, 141. 
 Injustice, emblem of, 561. 
 Impostors and false Christs, 510. 
 Indian chieftain Skenandoah, 283. 
 ISRAELITE, THE TRUE, 336. 
 
 J- 
 
 JEFFRIES, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, 555. 
 
 Jeffries, the infamous judge, 554 ; seized 
 by a mob, 561. 
 
 Jesus, the countryman, denounces woe 
 against Jerusalem, 513. 
 
 Jewish children taught to labor, 381. 
 
 Josephus, the Jewish historian, 512. 
 
 Job, his wife a tempter, 395. 
 
 Jerusalem taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 420. 
 
 Jerusalem, destruction of, 509. 
 
 Jerusalem, fearful sights and portents 
 preceding its destruction, 512; a fear- 
 ful voice against, 513. 
 
 Jesus, Justice, Sinner (Quarles), 348. 
 
 Jews, captivity and dispersion, 515; re- 
 markable preservation, 516. 
 
 Jesus calls himself the Son of man, 341. 
 
 Jewish lady kills her son for food, 515. 
 
 Josephus, the Jewish historian, 509. 
 
 Justice, 109; demands of, 346. 
 
 Judas Iscariot, notice of, 265. 
 
 Justice and uprightness, 431. 
 
 Julius Caesar subdues the nation, 424. 
 
 K. 
 
 KING, THE, 48. 
 
 King, the, 49 ; Francis I. of France, 49. 
 Knowledge described, 62, 160. 
 Knight, the, and Death, in conflict (Hol- 
 bein's cut), 359. 
 Knighthood or chivalry, 361. 
 
 Knighthood or chivalry, religious and 
 
 military, 363. 
 Kindness, law of, 562. 
 Kingdom of heaven taken, 407. 
 Knowledge is power, 399. 
 KING ALCOHOL AND HIS PRIME 
 
 MINISTER, 295. 
 Kindness to animals, 529. 
 KNIGHT OR SOLDIER, THE, 359. 
 
 Labor, productive, 399. 
 
 LAW OF KINDNESS, GENTLE- 
 NESS, MEEKNESS, COVETOUS- 
 NESS, 563. 
 
 Law of God (Spurgeon's parable), 346. 
 
 LAW, ALL IMPORTANCE OF, 432. 
 
 LAST OF EARTH, THE, 130. 
 
 Lazarus, the beggar, at the rich man's 
 gate ; dogs lick his sores, 56 ; carried 
 by angels to Abraham's bosom, 57. 
 
 LABOR OF THE MIND, 397. 
 
 Last of earth, 131. 
 
 Leyden (Holland), memorable siege of, 
 by the Spaniards, 205. 
 
 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE, 155. 
 
 Lotteries, bad influence of, 267. 
 
 Lord's Prayer, anecdote of the slave 
 boy respecting, 65. 
 
 Love is power, 518; between man and 
 man, 521; with inferiors, 524; in 
 public affairs, 525 ; with the lower 
 animals, 528; William Grant and his 
 debtor, 523 ; Colonel Collins in Van 
 Diemen's Land, 524. 
 
 Love in the heavenly council, no. 
 
 Love of God, 331. 
 
 Love, The Power of, 518. 
 
 Lucifer, fallen angel, character of, 105. 
 
 M. 
 
 Man, theologically described, 222 ; six 
 divisions, 223; ist, those under the 
 polar regions ; 2d, Tartar race, com- 
 prising Chinese and Japanese ; 3d, 
 Southern Asiatics or inhabitants of 
 India; 4th, natives of Africa; 5th,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 natives of America; 6th, the Euro- 
 peans and their descendants, 223. 
 
 Man originally designed to labor, 377. 
 
 Masillon, the French preacher, on slan- 
 der, 325. 
 
 Manhood ; the voyage of human life, 221. 
 
 MANHOOD, 221. 
 
 Madagascar parable, 382. 
 
 Macpherson, translator of Ossian's poems, 
 
 543- 
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY, 580. 
 Marseillaise hymn, 580; origin of, 583; 
 
 notes on each stanza, 585. 
 Mohammed, the Arab prophet, 355. 
 Mohammedan religion, 355. 
 Massasoit, the Indian sachem, relieved 
 
 by the Plymouth settlers, 562. 
 Matter claimed to be eternal, 22. 
 MESSENGERS OF SATAN,THE,39O. 
 Messengers of Satan, 391, 395. 
 MINISTERING ANGELS, 74. 
 Mendicants or begging friars, 247. 
 Mercy, 345; in the heavenly council, no. 
 Mesmerism, experiment on Agassiz, 124. 
 MILLENNIUM, 599. 
 Monastic life first instituted, 248. 
 MONARCHIES, THE FOUR, 415. 
 MOSES THE HEBREW AND HO- 
 
 BAD THE ARABIAN, 350. 
 Monarchies, the four, 415. 
 Minstrels and bards, an account of, 545. 
 MISER, THE, 179. 
 Miser, print of (Holbein), 178. 
 MORTALITY AND IMMORTAL- 
 ITY, 34. 
 
 Ministering angels, order of, 76. 
 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS, 238. 
 Mysteries, or plays representing Bible 
 
 scenes, 44. 
 MOSES' AND HOBAD'S CHOICE, 
 
 352. 
 
 N. 
 
 NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA, 449. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, account of, 448 ; 
 banished to St. Helena, 451 ; his per- 
 sonal appearance, 452; his personal 
 attendants, 453 ; acknowledges him- 
 
 self as a Christian, 453 ; he desires 
 the communion of the Lord's Supper, 
 454 ; acknowledges the divinity of 
 Christ, 455. 
 
 Nathanael, the true Israelite, 337. 
 
 National Convention of France; Louis 
 XVI. beheaded; his queen and his 
 sister guillotined; Christian Sabbath 
 abolished; the "Reign of Terror" 
 prevails, 587. 
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S VISION of 
 the image (four monarchies), 415. 
 
 Niles, Nathaniel, notice of, 367 ; author 
 of the American Hero, 368. 
 
 New Jerusalem, 192. 
 
 New heavens and new earth, 598. 
 
 New creation, none on the earth since 
 that of man, 31. 
 
 o. 
 
 OBEDIENCE, the first lesson, 485. 
 
 Odin, the god of the Scandinavians or 
 Goths, 538 ; Odin's hall, 542. 
 
 Object teaching, 29. 
 
 Old Age on the voyage of human life, 
 280; hints for those in old age, 285. 
 
 OLD AGE, 281. 
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL, 468. 
 
 Oracles, divination, witchcraft, fortune- 
 telling, 119; oracles in Greece; the 
 priestess, I2O. 
 
 Omens, good and bad ; superstition ; 
 Roman augurs or prophets ; oracles or 
 mediums of the present times, 121. 
 
 OUT OF PLACE, 462. 
 
 Out of place; brutality, quarreling and 
 fighting, 463. 
 
 Orange, prince of, relieves Leyden from 
 the Spaniards, 206. 
 
 Ossian's poems, 542, 543 ; his address 
 to the sun ; death of Cuthullin ; Os- 
 sian's death, 546. 
 
 P. 
 
 Patience described, 63, 160, 329. 
 Paradise of the Mohammedans, 357. 
 Peasantry in Europe, formerly; ignor- 
 ance and vassalage, 374.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Peasant ploughing (Holbein's), 375. 
 
 PEASANT, THE, 375. 
 
 Penn, William, notice of, 567 ; treaty with 
 the Indians, 569; poetic lines on, 570. 
 
 PROVIDENCE OF GOD, THE, 383. 
 
 Pequots, war against, by Connecticut, 
 590; their fort destroyed, 592. 
 
 Persian monarchy, 420. 
 
 Phoenicians, account of, 418. 
 
 Pillar saints, 248. 
 
 Philosophers, ancient, foolishness of, 140. 
 
 Pierpont, John, hymn, Bttnker Hill, 373. 
 
 Pope, Alexander, notice of, 315; his 
 Universal Prayer, 316 ; notes on each 
 stanza, 318; his essay on man, 315; 
 dying Christian to his soul, 115. 
 
 Plays or mysteries, 44. 
 
 Poetry, definition of, Shakespeare's, 543. 
 
 PROTECTION OF GOD'S SER- 
 VANTS, 209. 
 
 Poetry of Ossian, character of, 542. 
 
 Power one of the heavenly council, no. 
 
 POWER OF LOVE, 519. 
 
 Providence of God, a Madagascar par- 
 able, 382. 
 
 Procrastination, 549 ; evil effects of, 551, 
 
 553- 
 
 PROCRASTINATION, 548. 
 Preston-pans, battle at, 536; Colonel 
 
 Gardiner killed, 536. 
 Propeller, first, 396 ; 398. 
 Protection of God's servants, 208. 
 Prudence, 109. 
 Providence of God, immediate, mediate, 
 
 ordinary, extraordinary, common and 
 
 special, universal and particular, 382. 
 Punic or Carthaginian wars, 423. 
 
 Q 
 
 Quarles, Francis, an English poet, 
 notice of, 348 ; his emblems, Jesus, 
 Justice, Sinner, 348. 
 
 Quarreling, fighting, etc., 463. 
 
 R. 
 
 Railroad, heavenly, 8l. 
 Railway, downward, the, 175. 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, anecdote, 381. 
 
 Religion of the Goths, 538. 
 
 Reason, Equality and Liberty pro- 
 claimed French deities, 587. 
 
 River of death, 75. 
 
 Robinson, Rev. Dr., emblem by, 109. 
 
 Resolution of the will, 408. 
 
 Roman monarchy, 415, 423. 
 
 Roman soldier fires the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, 515. 
 
 Roland, Madame, guillotined, 588. 
 
 Ruins of Palmyra, Babylon, VendSme 
 Column, 133. 
 
 s. 
 
 SAINTS, communion with, 149. 
 
 Satan, character of, 82. 
 
 SAFE FOUNDATION, 161. 
 
 SCANDINAVIAN OR GOTHIC RE- 
 LIGION, 539. 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, distinguished for his 
 moral virtues; his death, 217. 
 
 Shepherd and his flock, 442. 
 
 Simeon the Stylite, or " Pillar Saint, '* 248. 
 
 Sinner's Trial, parable, by Mr. Spur- 
 geon, 345. 
 
 Skenandoah, the Indian chieftain, 283. 
 
 Shakespeare defines the poet, 543. 
 
 Slander described, 325. 
 
 SHORELESS BRIDGE, 68. 
 
 Siamese tradition ; conflagration, 602. 
 
 Sports; book of sports for Sunday, 305. 
 
 Son of man, 341. 
 
 Soldier's Dream, Highlanders, 270. 
 
 Sleep, phenomena of, 87 ; twin-brother 
 of death, 88 ; benefit of, 89. 
 
 Sapphic ode, American Hero, 367. 
 
 Soldier, Christian, or Heaven taken by 
 Storm, by T. Watson, 405. 
 
 Scotch borderers in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury ; their robberies, 437. 
 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, destruction of, 
 158; emblematic of the fate of the 
 wicked, 159. 
 
 Sandy foundation fails, 163, 164. 
 
 Solomon's experiment to gain happiness ; 
 his folly, 577. 
 
 Spring (March, April, May), 90. 
 
 SPRING, 90.
 
 i8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Spirits, two conflicting, good and vile, 
 
 105 ; human, good and bad, 122. 
 Stephen, the first martyr, notice of, 340. 
 Strange pig fed, 381. 
 Stealing, Dr. Scott's comment on, 266. 
 STILL SMALL VOICE, THE, 232. 
 Storming of Stony Point, 406. 
 Square, hollow (military), 203. 
 SUMMER, 95. 
 
 Sunday, or Lord's day James, 305. 
 Summer, 97 ; June, July and August in 
 
 the torrid regions; described by 
 
 Thomson, 101. 
 Syrian king attempts to capture Elisha; 
 
 he is led into Samaria, 212. 
 SINNER'S TRIAL, THE, 344. 
 
 T. 
 
 Temperance described, 63, 160. 
 Telegraph, first message of, 402. 
 Tennent, Rev. William, remarkable 
 
 trance of, 274. 
 Terror, Reign of, 587. 
 Thomson, James, poet, 90. 
 Thief, robbery, oppression (Holbein's 
 
 drawing of), 265. 
 
 Titus, the Roman emperor, 514, 515. 
 Time, the boatman, on the voyage of 
 
 human life, 251. 
 Tongue, bridling of, 323. 
 Torrid zone described, 101. 
 THIEF, THE, 264. 
 Tournaments of the Middle Ages, 363. 
 Training, early, habits, etc., 479. 
 Training of animals, 480. 
 Traditions of the conflagration, 602. 
 TRUE ISRAELITE, 336. 
 TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR 
 
 GOOD, 328. 
 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE, 
 
 202. 
 
 Truth in the heavenly council, 1 10. 
 Trust in man and Trust in God, a 
 
 Madagascar parable, 385. 
 Truth, simplicity of teaching, 260. 
 Tyre, destruction of, 134. 
 
 u. 
 
 Universal Prayer, by Pope, 316; notes 
 on each verse or stanza, 318. 
 
 UNIVERSAL PRAYER, THE, 314. 
 Ungodly man, as walking, etc., 175. 
 Unbelief originates from wickedness, 139. 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY, 
 427. 
 
 V. 
 
 Virtue, 160. 
 
 VendSme Column thrown down, 133. 
 
 Virgins of the Valhalla, 538. 
 
 Vigor of the affections, 408. 
 
 VICAR OF BRAY, 487. 
 
 VOLUNTARY HUMILITY, 244. 
 
 Vision of the image, 415. 
 
 Vision or trance of Mr. Tennent, of New 
 
 Jersey, 274. 
 Violence to self, 409. 
 Vandille, M., the rich French miser, 184. 
 Violence, holy, 405. 
 Violence, too much after the world, 410. 
 
 w. 
 
 Washington dissatisfied, 446. 
 Washington's Farewell Address, 589. 
 Watson, Rev. Thomas, notice of; his 
 
 Heaven taken by Storm, 405. 
 Warren, General, death of, 367. 
 Word of truth, 407, 409. 
 Weathercock, emblem of change, 489. 
 Wayne, General, victory of, 406. 
 Will, resolution of, 408. 
 Wisdom attendant on mercy, 109. 
 Wisdom, heavenly; her seven pillared 
 
 temple on a rock, 160. 
 WINTER, 308. 
 Winter (Dec., Jan., Feb.), 309. 
 Winter, from Hervey's meditations, 311. 
 Wizards, etc., 123. 
 Wonder-working Providence, 591. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Youth, on the voyage of human life, 251. 
 YOUTH, 250. 
 
 Youthful life, dangers of, 253. 
 Young men, advice to, 426. 
 
 z. 
 
 Zone, description of, 101.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 IN THE BEGINNING 21 
 
 CREATION 29 
 
 MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY.... 35 
 
 HANS HOLBEIN 41 
 
 THE KING 49 
 
 THE BEGGAR 55 
 
 HEAVENLY ALLIANCE 61 
 
 SHORELESS BRIDGE 69 
 
 MINISTERING ANGELS 75 
 
 HEAVENLY RAILROAD 81 
 
 CHRISTIANA'S DREAM 84 
 
 SPRING 90 
 
 SUMMER 96 
 
 FALLEN ANGELS 102 
 
 HEAVENLY COUNCIL 109 
 
 DYING CHRISTIAN 115 
 
 ASTROLOGER 119 
 
 BODY, SOUL, SPIRIT. 127 
 
 LAST OF EARTH 130 
 
 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY LIGHT. 136 
 
 AUTUMN 142 
 
 COMMUNION WITH SAINTS 149 
 
 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE 154 
 
 SAFE FOUNDATION 160 
 
 DRUNKARDS 167 
 
 DOWNWARD RAILWAY 175 
 
 MISER 178 
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN 187 
 
 HERMIT 195 
 
 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE 203 
 
 SERVANTS OF GOD PROTECTED.... 208 
 
 CHILDHOOD 215 
 
 MANHOOD 221 
 
 OUR ELDER BROTHER 227 
 
 THE STILL SMALL VOICE 233 
 
 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS 239 
 
 VOLUNTARY HUMILITY 245 
 
 YOUTH 251 
 
 APOSTLES' CREED 259 
 
 THIEF 265 
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE ... . 270 
 
 OLD AGE 280 
 
 THE HEAVENLY ELEVATOR 289 
 
 KING ALCOHOL, ETC 294 
 
 THE CURATE 303 
 
 WINTER 309 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER 315 
 
 BRIDLING THE TONGUE 323 
 
 TRIBULATION WORKETH, ETC 329 
 
 THE TRUE ISRAELITE 337 
 
 THE SINNER'S TRIAL 345 
 
 MOSES AND HOBAB 352 
 
 THE KNIGHT OR SOLDIER 358 
 
 THE AMERICAN HERO 365 
 
 THE PEASANT 374 
 
 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD 382 
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN 391 
 
 LABOR OF MIND 396 
 
 19
 
 20 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER 405 
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES 415 
 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY 426 
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW.... 432 
 
 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT 442 
 
 NAPOLEON'S 'VIEWS, ETC 448 
 
 OUT OF PLACE 463 
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL 469 
 
 EARLY TRAINING 479 
 
 THE VICAR OF BRAY 486 
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 497 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 509 
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE 518 
 
 COLONEL GARDINER. 533 
 
 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS 538 
 
 PROCRASTINATION 549 
 
 JUDGE JEFFRIES 554 
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS 562 
 
 AGUR'S PRAYER , 573 
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN 580 
 
 CONFLAGRATION 595 
 
 MILLENNIUM 598
 
 IN THE BEGINNING. 
 
 THE BEGINNING. 
 
 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. i. I. 
 
 THE above are the first words in the divine record. They 
 stand as a distinct and independent sentence; and affirm that 
 the heavens and the earth were " created," not from anything 
 previously existing, but from nothing. This creative act was 
 distinct and for unknown ages before the creation of man, and 
 all the acts included in " six days' " work in the creation and 
 organization of our world in its present form. This great truth, 
 which the unaided wisdom of man failed to discover, has been 
 made known to him by divine revelation. 
 
 The engraving has several emblematic figures. First, the 
 circle, which encloses other emblems, is significant of the eter- 
 nity of that Being who is without beginning or ending of days, 
 the First Great Cause of all things. One of the earliest and 
 most prominent emblems employed to signify the presence of 
 the Divine Being is fire. It was so when the angel of God ap- 
 peared to Moses in the burning bush. When the children of 
 Israel left Egypt, " the Lord went before them by day in a pillar 
 of the cloud, to lead them the way ; and by night in a pillar 
 of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night." Immedi- 
 ately in front, within the circle, is the ark of the covenant, on 
 which were two figures called cherubim, with expanded wings 
 of a peculiar form. The covering of the ark was called the 
 
 mercy-seat. This was carried by the Israelites through their 
 
 21
 
 22 THE BEGINNING. 
 
 journeyings in the desert, and when reposited in the tabernacle 
 was the place where the divine presence was manifested. 
 
 The wisest of the ancient heathen philosophers, without an 
 exception, held that matter was eternal. They considered it as 
 absurd to suppose that anything could be created or produced 
 from nothing. Plato, perhaps the greatest of them all, declared 
 matter to be " coexistent with God." To some extent this 
 doctrine of the ancients has been asserted in modern times by 
 those who disbelieve in divine revelation. They profess to 
 believe not only that our world is eternal, but also that there 
 has existed upon it an eternal series of men, beasts, birds, etc. 
 
 That the earth, its vegetation, its inhabitants, have not always 
 been have not existed from eternity is proved from the fact 
 that neither the earth nor anything on the earth is found to be 
 simple or uncompounded. Everything we see, feel or handle 
 is a composition, a mixture of different materials. The bodies 
 of animals, the substance of plants, the soil and the rocks, and 
 even the water, the air and the light, are compounds. Sir John 
 Herschel, the astronomer, asserts that every atom of matter 
 has all the character of a manufactured article i. e., formed by 
 a combination of several different materials; consequently, no 
 atom can be eternal. 
 
 No fact seems better attested by those who have made the 
 structure ^ of the earth a study, than that mighty revolutions 
 have taken place at different periods. The origin of our globe 
 is involved in great obscurity. Men of distinguished scientific 
 attainments have supposed that the matter composing our 
 globe first floated in space as a vast extended cloud, and this, 
 by gravitation and other forces, was moulded into the form 
 of a sphere. Be this as it may, we have strong evidence that 
 at a later period of its history it existed in a melted state, and 
 has been cooling ever since. While the earth was in this 
 melted condition, all the water now contained in the ocean, 
 rivers, etc., must have existed in a vast atmosphere of steam,
 
 THE BEGINNING. 23 
 
 owing to its great heat. The cooling process, however, went 
 on till a period arrived when a crust was formed on the earth 
 and the water began to exist in a fluid form. 
 
 By the action of fire and water the surface of the earth was 
 much disturbed ; the bottom of the ocean was upheaved into 
 high table-lands or mountain ridges, and the former plains sunk, 
 to be covered by the ocean ; internal fires fused, fractured and 
 lifted the granite rocks, and then agitated and wore those rocks 
 to dust and soil. After the temperature having been suffi- 
 ciently reduced to sustain vegetable and animal life, we find 
 that it began to appear, first in the sea, then on the land. 
 These, having run their appointed periods, perished. The earth 
 continued to improve in soil and climate ; higher orders of 
 vegetable life were introduced from period to period. 
 
 " In this way," says Mr. Morris in his valuable work entitled 
 "Science and the Bible" " the face of the earth was renewed and 
 destroyed, peopled and repeopled, times without number. For 
 ages and cycles of ages it passed through alternate periods of 
 upheaval and disruption and of formation and repose. During 
 the one, the loose materials, worn and ground by the elements 
 from hill and dale, together with animal and vegetable remains, 
 were continually carried and deposited at the bottom of seas and 
 lakes, where, layer after layer, they became hardened into other 
 rocks, amounting to hundreds, sometimes to thousands, of feet 
 in thickness ; during the other, these were again, in vast ex- 
 tents, heaved or ruptured or tilted into various positions. 
 Thus all the present continents and islands of the globe have 
 been for vast periods, and many of them several times, at 
 the bottom of the ocean, while the regions now forming the 
 regions of the deep formed as many times the most elevated 
 portions of the earth's surface." 
 
 " Geology has revealed to us not only the fact that our 
 planet was occupied by a long succession of animal races, . . . 
 but also that they were introduced in an ascending order"
 
 24 THE BEGINNING. 
 
 " There is," says Agassiz, " a manifest progress in the succes- 
 sion of beings on the earth, in an ascending order. Man was 
 the end toward which all the animal creation tended." From 
 the first appearance of the first Silurian fishes, " man, the last 
 in time, the first in the contemplation of the Creator, was pre- 
 ordained to be the final and most perfect of this vast and 
 magnificent plan of terrestrial creation." 
 
 " In these scenes of the creation," says Mr. Morris, " we 
 behold a striking display of the all-comprehending wisdom and 
 universal agency of God. Here we witness ' all things work- 
 ing together' through the course of ages to further and accom- 
 plish his purposes. From the beginning, the earth was de- 
 signed to be the habitation for man ; and to fit and furnish it 
 for him all the revolutions our planet experienced, all the 
 transformations through which it has passed, all the forces and 
 influences to which it was subjected, unitedly and unfailingly 
 conspired, through all the long epochs of its preparation. 
 Every volcano that burned or belched in the morning of time, 
 every hurricane that swept over the primeval seas, every earth- 
 quake that, in after periods, heaved its solid crust, every elec- 
 tric shock that rent the clouds or vibrated through the rocky 
 strata, were made, under the guiding hand of the Divine 
 Builder, to work together toward the perfecting this terres- 
 trial abode. Fires fused, and forests flourished to enrich with 
 precious stores its everlasting hills ; the gigantic races that 
 browsed over ancient continents and the tiny corals that toiled 
 at the bottom of ancient oceans were alike called forth to be 
 laborers on the noble structure." 
 
 THE CHAOTIC PERIOD. 
 
 The condition of our globe immediately before the creation 
 of Adam was that of a watery waste, desolate and covered with 
 darkness, as is described in the second verse in Genesis : 
 
 "And the earth was without form and-void ; and darkness was upon the face of 
 the deep ; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
 
 THE BEGINNING. 2$ 
 
 The expression, " without form and void," is said to signify 
 a state of " dreariness and desolation" which imports that our 
 globe at this period existed as a watery and featureless deso- 
 lation enveloped in darkness a condition similar to what it 
 repeatedly passed through in sectional parts in its geological 
 history. That the earth underwent a great change before the 
 creation of Adam seems strongly indicated by the change of 
 climate about that time. Formerly the general temperature 
 was warmer in the frozen regions of the north, where the 
 remains of both animal and vegetable fossils are found which 
 go to show that once a tropical climate prevailed in those 
 regions. The Mosaic record does not state in what manner 
 the globe was reduced to its chaotic state, but that it was so 
 reduced is made evident from the examination of its geological 
 structure. 
 
 "And darkness was upon the face of the deep." 
 
 " This darkness was the result of the chaotic state into which 
 the earth had been thrown. The commingling of land and 
 water, the agitation of tides and currents and of the violent 
 and frequent tempests attendant upon the change of climate, 
 the smoke and steam of submerged volcanoes, the warm 
 ground of the old continents beneath the waters, together with 
 the subterranean fires, and perhaps molten lava spreading in 
 many regions in fields along the bottom of the seas, all of 
 which, together with the evaporation of the sun from so vast 
 and agitated a body of waters, in process of time engendered 
 such prodigious masses of dense vapors, forming layer upon 
 layer of ' closely-packed and darkling clouds,' which excluded 
 every ray of light and threw a pall of darkest night over the 
 whole surface of the turbid and tumultuous deep below." 
 How long this chaotic period remained we cannot tell. The 
 hour, however, was at hand when the Divine Being was to re- 
 create our world, and make it a fit abode for beings of intelligence.
 
 26 THE BEGINNING. 
 
 " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 1 ' 
 
 The word translated " moved" here in the Hebrew language 
 is rendered "fluttered like a dove;" and the verse might have 
 been translated, "And the Spirit of God continued fluttering 
 like .a dove." What effect or operation is here described is not 
 precisely known. When the Spirit of God in the form of a 
 dove descended upon our Lord at his baptism in the waters of 
 Jordan, it was in attestation of the Father's complacency in his 
 " well-beloved Son ;" so here the chief idea seems to be that 
 the Almighty surveyed the chaotic earth with complacency as 
 the theatre upon which he was about to display his glorious 
 power and wisdom and goodness in the new creation. 
 
 " In the chaotic condition of our globe," says the author of 
 the work, 'Science and the Bible,' " we may see a striking and 
 instructive emblem of the present disordered state of the moral 
 world. At this dismal date, how strange, how mysterious was 
 the aspect of our planet ! . . . . yet not less strange or dismal 
 has been the aspect of the world of mankind. What disorder 
 and conflicts, what depravity and ignorance have marked our 
 race through every period of its existence ! .... To judge of 
 the Divine Providence from the present aspect of the world 
 would be as if a spectator of the earth, in its confusion and 
 darkness, had attempted to form an estimate of its appearance- 
 
 when finished and furnished complete To understand 
 
 and appreciate the rising moral structure, we must wait till it is 
 
 completed As the mysterious drama of the fallen world 
 
 shall close, ' a voice shall be heard from every creature which 
 is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, saying, 
 Blessing and honor, and power and glory, be to HIM that sit- 
 teth upon the throne ! Great and marvelous are thy works, 
 Lord God Almighty ; just and true are all thy ways, thou King 
 of saints.' "
 
 CREATION. 
 
 " God said let there be light, and there was light. . . . God divided the light from, 
 darkness ; . . . let there be a firmament, and divided the waters ; . . . let there be 
 lights in the firmament.'' 1 GEN. i. 1-14.
 
 CREATION OF THE EARTH AND THE 
 HEAVENS. 
 
 THE engraving for this subject is partly emblematic and 
 partly an attempt to convey truth by object-teaching. In the 
 uppermost section of the print the "all-seeing Eye" signifies 
 that the great Creator sees all things from the beginning, knows 
 all things, created all things, notices all things, and all things 
 by him consist. The hand, holding a compass, or dividers, above 
 the globe, or earth, signifies that the Divine Being who governed 
 all things at the creation planned the formation of this world in 
 the utmost wisdom and order. Six days or periods of time 
 were employed in bringing it to perfection. On the first day 
 light was created and divided from darkness. "And God called 
 the light day, and the darkness he called night." The firma- 
 ment, or heaven, was created on the second day ; on the third 
 day the dry land was separated from the waters ; and on the 
 fourth, two great lights were made the greater light to rule 
 the day, the lesser to rule the night. 
 
 The book of Genesis commences with the declaration, " In 
 the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the 
 earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the 
 face of the deep ; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face 
 of the waters." The matter from which this earth and the solar 
 system connected with it were created appears to have been, at 
 the first, a confused mass of component elements without form, 
 and void empty or destitute of plants, trees or animals ; and 
 it was covered with thick darkness, resting on the abyss, or un- 
 formed chaos, till dispersed by the agency of the "Spirit of 
 God." 
 
 29
 
 3O CREATION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS. 
 
 The first creation mentioned after the creation of the heaven 
 and the earth is that of light. "And God said, Let there be 
 light; and there was light." Before the formation of the sun, 
 moon and stars there was, in some way we cannot explain or 
 understand, a regular succession of light and darkness on the 
 chaotic mass which measured out the first day. " God saw the 
 light that it was good" good in itself, and admirably adapted 
 to all the purposes of life. 
 
 On the second day "God said, Let there be a firmament in 
 the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the 
 waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters 
 which were under the firmament from the waters above the 
 firmament ; and it was so. And God called the firmament 
 heaven." The word translated firmament is used for the whole 
 space which surrounds the earth even to the fixed stars, which 
 are " set in the firmament of heaven," as the fowls are said to 
 fly " in the open firmament of heaven." It must therefore be 
 understood according to the context; but it is generally inter- 
 preted to mean the atmosphere or air in which the clouds are 
 suspended, and from which they water the earth. 
 
 On the third day "God said, Let the waters under the 
 heaven be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land 
 appear : and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, 
 and the gathering together the waters called he Seas." . . . 
 " Let the Earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and 
 the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind : . . . and it was so." 
 Hitherto the creation formed was inert and lifeless, but now the 
 vegetable system was produced for the use of man and beast, 
 and each part was created with the power of propagating itself 
 in its peculiar species. 
 
 The work of the fourth day was the organization of the solar 
 system in its present condition, the succession of days and 
 nights and of seasons i. e., of the climates and physical con- 
 ditions necessary to the existence of living beings. The work
 
 CREATION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS. 3! 
 
 of the fifth day was the creation of the lower order of animals, 
 including the; water animals, the amphibious and other reptiles 
 and the birds. The sixth day was distinguished by the creation 
 of the higher animals specially living on the dry land, and lastly 
 by the creation of man. After comes the seventh day of rest, 
 or the still unfinished Sabbath of the earth, "since the begin- 
 ning of which," says one of the most distinguished geologists 
 of the age, " no new creation has taken place." He also states 
 that " the facts gathered from nature teach us that species have 
 not been made out of species by any process of growth or 
 development, but were originally created in the form which they 
 have ever since retained." Everything that was made by the 
 divine power is pronounced by God himself " to be very good," 
 and therefore must have been made perfect in its kind. 
 
 It is now generally agreed that neither in the book of Genesis 
 nor elsewhere in the Scriptures is assigned any definite time or 
 period when the first creative act took place /. e., that the 
 Scriptures do not determine how long ago "the beginning" of 
 created existence was, though they teach that the heaven and 
 earth have not existed from eternity, but were called into exist- 
 ence by the fiat of the Almighty. It is now the prevalent 
 opinion among the best geologists and learned men that the dis- 
 coveries of modern science are all reconcilable, and agree with 
 the declarations of the Scriptures. 
 
 The present received interpretation among those who under- 
 stand the original language of the Bible is that the word "day" 
 signifies not only our common day, but a long period of time ; 
 and in accordance with this, the account given of the six days 
 of creation must be understood to mean six successive periods 
 of time, each of very long duration that during these periods 
 plants and animals were created, flourished and became extinct; 
 rocks were formed by the action of fire and by sedimentary 
 deposits underground, and various other changes took place 
 all so far as mentioned in the order described in Gen. i. The
 
 32 CREATION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS. 
 
 earth gradually became fitted for the reception of man and the 
 existence of vegetable and animal life. 
 
 These six days are divided into two periods of three days each. 
 In the first three days the creation of inorganic matter takes 
 place ; in the second three, the creation of organic beings, end- 
 ing with man. The last day in each series is subdivided, con- 
 taining two works, while the others contain but one each. The 
 works of each day form great steps in the development, or 
 rather in the successive creation, of the universe and of the 
 globe. These "days," or periods, are supposed to be of unequal 
 length, the first perhaps being the longest, and the others grad- 
 ually becoming shorter. 
 
 After man's creation the whole was pronounced " very good'' 
 A superior excellency, from the harmonious blending of perfect 
 parts in one perfect whole, was produced by each portion de- 
 riving beauty from the rest ; and the creation of man, the image 
 and vicegerent of his Maker, the only worshiper in this august 
 temple, who in reasonable adoration might render him the glory 
 of the whole, completed the design. Man was formed capable 
 of perceiving his Creator's manifestation of his glory, and of 
 finding felicity in the worship of his Maker. This was well 
 pleasing to the Lord, who was perfectly satisfied with his work, 
 " while the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God 
 shouted for joy." 
 
 Thus the creation of the heaven and the earth was com- 
 pleted in six days, which the Creator could have effected in an 
 instant; but he deemed it better suited to his majesty and 
 wisdom to move gradually and by progressive advances, so that 
 we might contemplate his wondrous works more at our leisure, 
 and be excited to adoring praise.
 
 MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 "Man dieth, . . . and where is he ?" JOB xiv. IO. "The world passeth away." I 
 JOHN ii. 17. " The Lord himself shall descend . . . with the voice of the Archangel 
 and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." I THESS. iv. 16. 
 " The righteous into life eternal.' 1 '' MATT. xxvi. 46. 
 3
 
 MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 ANNA LETITIA, daughter of Sir John Aiken, was born at Kib- 
 worth Harcourt, Leicestershire, in 1743. She received a supe- 
 rior education from her accomplished father, and in her thirtieth 
 year she published a volume of poems, four editions of which 
 were issued during the first year. In 1774 she married Mr. 
 Barbauld, a French preacher, who in 1802 succeeded Dr. Price 
 as pastor of a church at Newington Green. Her "Hymns in 
 Prose for Children" were first published in 1775. Besides her 
 poetic works, she assisted her father in producing that well- 
 known series of "Evenings at Home" edited the correspondence 
 and life of Richardson, the novelist, wrote critical essays on 
 Akenside, Collins and other British authors. She died, after a 
 gradual decay, March 9, 1825. 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld had a warm regard for children, and associated 
 with both her father and husband in the education of youth. 
 Her "Hymns in Prose for Children " are beautiful in their sim- 
 plicity, pathos and tenderness, and have, perhaps, more of the 
 true spirit of poetry than any other of her productions. In her 
 preface to these hymns she says : " The peculiar design of this 
 publication is to impress devotional feelings as early as possible 
 on the infant mind, fully convinced as the author is that children 
 cannot be properly influenced at too early an age, and that a 
 child, in order to feel the full force of the idea of God, ought 
 never to remember the time he had no such idea to impress 
 them by connecting religion with a variety of sensible objects, 
 with all he sees, all that affects his young mind with wonder and 
 delight, and thus, by deep, strong and permanent associations, 
 
 35
 
 36 MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 to lay the best foundation for practical devotion in future life ; 
 for he who has been early accustomed to see the Creator in the 
 visible appearances of all around him, to feel his continual pres- 
 ence and seek his daily protection though his religious ideas 
 may be mixed with many improprieties which his better judg- 
 ment will eventually rectify has made great advancement to 
 that habitual piety without which religion can scarcely regulate 
 the conduct, and will never warm the heart." 
 
 The hymns are twelve in number; the tenth and eleventh 
 may be properly entitled Mortality and Immortality. The 
 images, or similitudes, employed to illustrate these subjects are 
 strikingly impressive, and are set forth in extremely simple but 
 elevated language. 
 
 MORTALITY. 
 
 Child of Mortality, whence comest thou ? Why 
 is thy countenance sad ? and why are thine eyes 
 red with weeping? 
 
 I have seen .the rose in its beauty ; it spread its 
 leaves to the morning sun. I returned : it was 
 dying upon its stalk ; the gracefulness of its form 
 was gone ; its loveliness had vanished ; its leaves 
 were scattered on the ground, and no one gath- 
 ered them. 
 
 A stately tree grew on the plain ; its branches 
 were covered with verdure ; its boughs were wide- 
 spreading and made a goodly shadow ; the trunk 
 was like a strong pillar ; the roots were like 
 crooked fangs. I returned: the verdure was 
 nipped by the east wind;- the branches were 
 lopped by the axe ; the worm had made its way 
 into the trunk, and the heart thereof was de- 
 cayed ; it mouldered away and fell to the ground. 
 I have seen the insects sporting in the sun-
 
 MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 shine and darting along the streams ; their wings 
 glittered with gold and purple; their bodies shone 
 like lustrous emerald ; they were more numerous 
 than I could count ; their motions were quicker 
 than my eye could glance. I returned: they 
 were brushed into the pool ; they were perishing 
 in the evening breeze ; the swallow had devoured 
 them ; the pike had seized them ; there were none 
 found of so great a multitude. 
 
 I have seen man in the pride of his strength ; 
 his cheeks glowed with beauty; his limbs were 
 full of activity ; he leaped ; he walked ; he ran ; 
 he rejoiced that he was more excellent than 
 those. I returned : he lay stiff and cold on the 
 bare ground ; his feet could no longer move, nor 
 his hands stretch themselves out ; his life had de- 
 parted from him and his breath had left his nos- 
 trils ; therefore do I weep because DEATH is in 
 the world ; the spoiler is among the works of 
 God ; all that is made must be destroyed ; all 
 that is born must die; let me alone, for I will 
 weep yet longer. 
 
 IMMORTALITY. 
 
 I have seen the flower withering on its stalk, 
 and its bright leaves spread on the ground. I 
 looked again, and it sprung forth afresh ; the stem 
 was crowned with new buds, and the sweetness 
 thereof filled the air. 
 
 I have seen the sun set in the west, and the 
 shades of night shut in the wide horizon ; there 
 was no color nor shape nor beauty nor music ; 
 gloom and darkness brooded around. I looked : 
 the sun broke forth again from the east and gilded
 
 38 MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 the mountain-tops ; the lark rose to meet him 
 from her low nest, and the shades of darkness fled 
 away. 
 
 I have seen the insect come to its full size, lan- 
 guish and refuse to eat ; it spun itself a tomb and 
 was shrouded in the silken cone ; it lay without 
 feet or shape, or power to move. 
 
 I looked again : it had burst its tomb ; it was 
 full of life, and sailed on colored wings through 
 the soft air and rejoiced in its new being. 
 
 Thus shall it be with thee, O man ! and so 
 shall thy life be renewed. 
 
 Beauty shall spring up but of ashes and life 
 out of the dust. A little while shalt thou lie in 
 the ground, as the seeds lie in the bosom of the 
 earth ; but thou shalt be raised again ; if thou art 
 good, thou shalt nevermore see death. 
 
 Who is He that cometh to burst open the 
 prison-doors of the tomb to bid the dead to 
 awake, and to gather his redeemed from the four 
 winds of heaven ? 
 
 He descendeth on a fiery cloud ; the sound of a 
 trumpet goeth before him ; thousands of angels 
 are on his right hand. 
 
 It \s JESUS, the Son of God, the Saviour of 
 men, the Friend of the good. 
 
 He .cometh in the glory of his Father ; he hath 
 received power from on high. 
 
 Mourn not, therefore, child of Immortality ! for 
 the spoiler, the cruel spoiler that laid waste the 
 works of God, is subdued. JESUS hath conquered 
 death. Child of Immortality, mourn no longer !
 
 HANS HOLBEIN, THE GERMAN ^PAINTER, 
 
 WITH HIS WIFE, AS SUPPORTERS OF DEATH'S ARMS. 
 
 In the lower part of the engraving Holbein is represented as painting his por- 
 traits with his left hand ; above is represented the Alpine scenery of Switzerland.
 
 HANS HOLBEIN, THE PAINTER. 
 
 HIS IMAGES, OR THE DANCE OF DEATH. 
 
 HANS, or JOHN, HOLBEIN, the eminent painter, was born in 
 Bale, Switzerland, in the year 1498. His father and grandfather 
 were both painters. They were born in Augsburg, in Bavaria, 
 which has also been claimed as the birthplace of their distin- 
 guished son. Young Hans showed his talent at an early age, 
 and soon excelled both of his progenitors. It is a singular cir- 
 cumstance that he always painted with his left hand. In the 
 University of Bale several of his works which were executed 
 before he was fifteen years old, are still in a good state of preser- 
 vation. He painted portraits of himself and family, also scrip- 
 tural scenes. Among his portraits is one of the celebrated 
 Erasmus, who is represented as writing his commentary on 
 Matthew. 
 
 The accompanying engraving was formerly called "Death's 
 Arms" and was placed at the end of Holbein's celebrated series 
 of drawings called "The Dance of Death." The shield displays 
 a skull, or death's-head, apparently grinding a serpent between 
 its teeth. The crest is a regal helmet, surmounted by an hour- 
 glass, over which appear two skeleton arms, grasping in their 
 hands what appears to be a mass or lump of earth a striking 
 illustration of that state to which death will soon reduce all 
 mankind. The supporters of the shield are a gentleman and 
 lady, richly dressed in the fashion of the times. These two 
 figures are said to represent Holbein and his wife. Over this 
 cut is the annexed quotation from the Apocrypha : 
 
 41
 
 42 HANS HOLBEIN AND HIS WORKS. 
 
 " Whatsoever thoU takest in hand, remember the end, and thou shaft never do 
 amiss." Ecclus. vii. 36. 
 
 The following admonitory stanzas appear underneath : 
 
 " Spotless to live if thou clesirest, 
 
 And free from every vice, 
 Let this memorial constantly 
 
 Be placed before thine eyes, 
 For it will often thee remind 
 
 That death will soon arrive, 
 And frequent thoughts to all thy acts 
 
 Will a due caution give. 
 Vouchsafe, O Christ, with heart sincere 
 
 That we thy paths may tread, 
 And that to all the heavenly path 
 
 May thus be open made." 
 
 HOLBEIN'S DANCE OF DEATH. 
 
 Bale, the place where the parents of Holbein resided, was on 
 the river Rhine and on the border of three countries, viz., Swit- 
 zerland, France and Germany, and was formerly a free imperial 
 city before it joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1501. It was a 
 place of resort for learned men of various countries, and at this 
 time it afforded many facilities for the acquirement of knowledge 
 in the different arts- and sciences. In 1521 the great scholar 
 and philosopher, Erasmus, retired to Bale, where he soon recog- 
 nized the genius of Holbein, and became his admirer and friend. 
 By his advice, and at the solicitation of an English nobleman, 
 Holbein visited London. It is believed that he spent the most 
 of the remainder of his life there, as he died there of the plague 
 in 1554. 
 
 When Holbein arrived in London, he found a friend and 
 patron in Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII. 's great lord chancel- 
 lor, to whom he had an introduction from Erasmus. Sir Thomas 
 engaged him to paint the portraits of all his family and of seve- 
 ral of his relatives and friends. Competent critics consider 
 Holbein's picture of Sir Thomas More the greatest and most 
 life-like ever painted. When King Henry VIII. saw these
 
 HANS HOLBEIN AND HIS WORKS. 43 
 
 sketches he was so struck with the talent they displayed that 
 he took Holbein into his service and honored him with his pa- 
 tronage and kindness during the rest of his life. 
 
 Holbein's celebrated production, called " The Images of 
 Death," or rather " The Dance of Death" was first published in 
 1538 at Lyons, in France, and afterward in Bale in 1554. This 
 work consisted of a series of small wood-cuts, in which Death 
 is represented as seizing all classes of persons from the highest 
 to the lowest, from the king, to the beggar. He is depicted as 
 a great leveler, making no distinction on account of rank or 
 character. These cuts are all of the same size, copied from 
 Holbein's drawings of the same dimensions, about two and a 
 half by two inches, as indicated in the central part of several of 
 the engravings in this volume. On the outside of the Holbein 
 cuts several emblematic figures are now added. 
 
 It is said that Holbein was quite an expert in the art of en- 
 graving, and it is quite probable that he had much to do in 
 engraving the original cuts, as they were executed with a skill 
 and particular force of expression rarely equaled by any effort 
 of the present day. It is said that the original designs were 
 made with a pen, and slightly shaded with India ink. The 
 originals were sold, along with the famous collection of Crozat 
 at Paris, to M. Fleichman, of Strasburg. In the reign of 
 Joseph II., the prince Gallitzin, the Russian ambassador at 
 Vienna, purchased them and carried them to St. Petersburg. 
 
 After the French edition of 1538, Holbein's little work was 
 translated into the Latin and other languages. Being far more 
 expressive than anything of the kind ever issued, it circulated 
 in various countries. Immense numbers were published. It was 
 esteemed worthy of universal circulation on account of the 
 subject-matter and the great lesson taught by it, each print 
 being accompanied with an admonitory stanza, and a quotation 
 from the Bible. A copy of the Latin edition " was presented to 
 Prince Edward, of England, by Dr. William Bill, accompanied
 
 44 HANS HOLBEIN AND HIS WORKS. 
 
 with a Latin dedication, dated from Cambridge in July, 1546, in 
 which he recommends the prince's attention to the figures in the 
 book, in order to remind him that all must die to obtain immor- 
 tality, and enlarges on the necessity of living well." 
 
 The name, or term, "Dance of Death" given to Holbein's 
 cuts, or drawings, arose, it is presumed, in the scriptural Mys- 
 teries, or Plays, so common in the Middle Ages before the inven- 
 tion of the art of printing. These Plays, or Mysteries, were 
 dramatic exhibitions of Bible scenes, performed by actors per- 
 sonating various characters in scriptural history. The worthies 
 of the Old and New Testaments were represented ; the Virgin 
 Mary, the infant Saviour, King Herod and even Satan himself 
 were personified by the actors. The different virtues and vices 
 were exhibited in bodily form upon the stage. 
 
 Dancing was indulged in on certain occasions as a religious 
 ceremony among the nations of antiquity, and in more modern 
 times by the aborigines of our own country. It was also cus- 
 tomary among the Hebrews, as in the case of Miriam, who, with 
 her companions, danced to the sound of the timbrel, after the 
 passage of the Red Sea, and also in the case of David, who 
 danced before the Ark. 
 
 "The Dance of DeatJi" was performed before a large company, 
 composed of every class of society, from the king, to the beggar, 
 and in the pageant, the dancers one by one disappeared from the 
 scene, thus strikingly typifying the departure of all mankind at 
 the summons of death. The moral lessons conveyed by these 
 performances, were afterward perpetuated by paintings and 
 sculptures, the oldest example of which was at Little Bale. 
 This, however, has been destroyed by time or violence. 
 
 Such was the passion of our ancestors for these pageants and 
 processions that it was customary to have the stage on which 
 they were performed, drawn from street to street on wheels. 
 They also erected scaffolds and stages on the public thorough- 
 fares for the accommodation of a chosen order of spectators.
 
 HANS HOLBEIN AND HIS WORKS. 45 
 
 The Pageant, or moving exhibition of Chester and Coventry 
 games, was a building of two stories on wheels. The lower 
 room contained the machinery for raising storms, representing 
 the infernal regions, etc. This department was used as a dress- 
 ing-room for the performers. The top or upper story was left 
 open, forming the stage, where they could be seen and heard by 
 the audience. Sometimes a series of plays occupied several 
 days, not unfrequently embracing all the historical parts of the 
 Old and New Testaments, from the Creation to the Day of 
 Judgment. Such was the public taste and sentiment that it was 
 regarded as an edifying spectacle in a church or cathedral (where 
 these scenes were sometimes enacted) to have a dance by Satan 
 and an archbishop, with the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Five 
 Cardinal Virtues. 
 
 The following passage from the manuscript life of John Shaw, 
 vicar of Rotherham, curiously illustrates the state of religious 
 knowledge in Lancastershire, England, even as late as the six- 
 teenth century. 
 
 " I found," says he, "a very. large, spacious church with scarce 
 any seats in it ; a people very ignorant, and yet willing to learn, 
 so that I frequently had some thousands of hearers. I cate- 
 chised in season, and out of season. The churches were so 
 thronged at nine in the morning, that I had much ado to get 
 into the pulpit. One day an old man of sixty, sensible enough 
 in other things, and living in the village of Cartmel, coming to 
 me on some business, I told him that he belonged to my care 
 and charge, and I desired to be informed in his knowledge of 
 religion. 
 
 " I asked him how many Gods there were. He said that he 
 knew not. I, informing him, asked him again how he thought 
 to be saved. He answered he could not tell, yet thought it 
 was a harder question than the other. I told him that the way 
 to salvation was by Jesus Christ, the God-man, who, as he was 
 a man, shed his blood for us on the cross, etc. 'Oh, sir, I
 
 46 HANS HOLBEIN AND HIS WORKS. 
 
 think I heard of that man you speak of once, in a play at Ken- 
 dall, called Corpus Christi's play, where there was a man on a 
 tree and blood running down,' etc. ; and afterward he confessed 
 he could not remember that he ever heard of salvation by Jesus 
 except in that play." 
 
 The cuts comprising "The Dance of Death" were about fifty 
 in number. In drawing and execution they surpassed anything 
 of the kind ever before attempted. They attracted much atten- 
 tion, and being published in several languages, they attained an 
 immense circulation. These illustrations are interesting relics 
 of past ages. They show the dress and appearance of all ranks 
 and conditions of men nearly four centuries since. Several of 
 Holbein's designs, of the original size, and which appear in this 
 volume, are the identical cuts electrotyped from those engraved 
 by Dr. Anderson, of New York, the father of American en- 
 gravers, just previous (it is believed) to the year 1800. They 
 were copied from a London edition of 1794, translated from the 
 Latin edition of 1662, in which it is stated "the figures are 
 drawn from nature, each being dressed in the habit of the time." 
 Two limited editions of this work have been printed and pub- 
 lished by Mr. Babcock, of New Haven, Conn., the only copies 
 which have been circulated'in this country.
 
 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 " They have set ^^p kings, but not by me." HosKA viii. 4. " Neither have our fa'ngs, 
 our princes . . . kept thy law." NEH. ix. 34. "// is an abomination to kings to com- 
 mit wickedness" PROV. xvi. 12.
 
 THE KING. 
 
 FRANCIS I., OF FRANCE, AND OTHERS. 
 
 THE engraving is from one of Holbein's drawings, entitled 
 " The King." It is a representation of Francis I., of France, 
 feasting under a canopy ornamented with the fleurs de Us, and 
 served by his retinue. One of the company, however, is of a 
 totally different appearance from all the others. It is the figure 
 of Death, who is officiously pouring the fatal liquor into the 
 drinking-vessel of the king. The artist evidently attempted, 
 among other things, to show the fatal nature of luxurious habits 
 so prevalent among the great ones of the earth in the period in 
 which he lived. The hour-glass, placed on the table before the 
 king, is significant of the rapidity with which the sands of life 
 are passing away. 
 
 Francis was but twenty-one years of age when he became 
 king of France. " Nature," says one, " had endowed him with 
 the rarest and most estimable qualities of mind and person. 
 Very handsome, well formed, active and expert in all the mili- 
 tary exercises suited to his age and rank, courteous in his man- 
 ners, bounteous even to prodigality, eloquent in the cabinet, 
 brave and skillful in the field, he seemed formed to be the 
 monarch of a great nation, and to rule over the hearts as well 
 as the persons of his subjects." 
 
 Francis I. died in 1547, in the fifty-third year of his age, and 
 the thirty-third of his reign. In his time he was considered at 
 the head of the chivalry of Europe, and the leader of fashions 
 of the age. Notwithstanding all his fascinating, qualities, he 
 was perhaps the greatest roue and debauchee in all the kingdom 
 
 4 49
 
 50 THE KING. 
 
 of France. In consequence of his vices he contracted a loath- 
 some disorder, which, after a continuance of nine years of 
 increasing pains, proved fatal. 
 
 The text from the Apocrypha over the cut of the king is, 
 
 "He that is to-day a king, to-morrow shall die" Ecclesiasticus x. 10. 
 
 The following lines are underneath : 
 
 " To him who this day scepter sways, 
 
 In costly pride a king, 
 To-morrow's light, with baleful speed, 
 A direful fate will bring. 
 
 " For him who rules o'er nations rich, 
 
 And powerful kingdoms guide, 
 When Death his office bids him quit, 
 No better fates abide." 
 
 Over the Holbein cut is a representation of a French coin of 
 silver one-fourth of a crown piece exhibiting the armorial 
 bearings of France. Underneath is a figure of one suffering 
 with the gout, brought on by high or luxurious living. It is an 
 old saying, " Many dishes, many diseases." The luxurious live 
 to eat and drink, but the wise and temperate eat and drink to 
 live. We may have the necessaries of life on easy terms, but 
 we put ourselves to great pains for excess. The poor are not 
 so often sick for want of food as the rich are by over-indulgence. 
 Gluttony and strong drink kill more than the sword, for from 
 thence proceed idleness, sloth, debauchery and a great train of 
 diseases, and even death itself. Many a monarch has rendered 
 himself more wretched by these vices than the meanest of his 
 subjects. 
 
 " During all the course of great and ruinous events by which 
 the state of Athens was so intimately affected," says Leland, "a 
 number of Athenian citizens of rank and distinction were found 
 so totally insensible to the interests, the dangers of their coun- 
 try, that they formed themselves into a club, or society, called 
 ' The Sixty} and employed their time in feasting and gaming
 
 THE KING. 51 
 
 and in the sprightly and satirical exercises of wit and pleasure. 
 No public affair was considered by this set of men as of suf- 
 ficient consequence to interrupt the mirth or disturb the tran- 
 quillity of their order. They saw their countrymen arming for 
 battle; they heard of their captivity and death with absolute 
 indifference. Events of the most serious nature seemed to be 
 treated by these hardened wretches with wantonness and levity. 
 Their fame reached to Macedon ; and Philip, who by policy and 
 inclination was engaged to encourage such a society (knowing 
 that luxury and profligacy were the surest engines he could 
 employ to overthrow the liberties of Greece), presented these 
 abandoned debauchees with a sum of money to assist their fes- 
 tivities, and to induce them to send him some of the produc- 
 tions of their wit." 
 
 Alexander the Great, the conqueror of the world, having 
 invited several of his friends and general officers, proposed a 
 crown as a reward for him who should drink the most. He who 
 conquered on this occasion was Promachus, who swallowed 
 fourteen measures of wine that is, about eighteen or twenty 
 pints. After receiving the prize, a crown worth about a talent 
 i. e., about a thousand crowns he survived his victory but three 
 days. Of the rest of the guests, forty died of their intemperate 
 drinking. 
 
 When Alexander was at Babylon, after having spent a whole 
 night in carousing, a second was proposed to him. He met 
 accordingly, and there were twenty persons at the table. He 
 drank the health of every one in the company, and then pledged 
 them severally. After this, calling for Hercules's cup, which 
 held an incredible quantity, he poured it all down, drinking to 
 a Macedonian of the company, Proteas by name, and he after- 
 ward pledged him in the same extravagant bumper. He had 
 no sooner swallowed it than he "fell upon the floor. " Here 
 then," cries Seneca (describing the fatal effects of drunkenness), 
 " this hero, unconquered by all the toils of prodigious marches,
 
 52 THE KING. 
 
 exposed to the dangers of sieges and combats, to the most vio- 
 lent extremes of heat and cold here he lies subdued by his 
 intemperance, and struck to the earth by the fatal cup of Her- 
 cules." In this condition he was seized with a fever, which in 
 a few days terminated in death. He was thirty-two years and 
 eight months old, of which time he had reigned twelve years. 
 No one, says Plutarch, suspected that Alexander had been 
 poisoned. The true poison which brought him to this end was 
 wine, which has killed many thousands besides Alexander. 
 
 Henry VIII., of England, flourished at the same time with 
 Francis I., of France. On the death of his father he ascended 
 the throne of England, being but eighteen years of age. Both 
 of these rulers, Francis and Henry, became kings at an early 
 age ; both were remarkably handsome in their personal appear- 
 ance, and at the commencement of their career were quite popu- 
 lar with their people, who expected much prosperity under their 
 government. Instead, however, of being wise and virtuous 
 rulers, they both disgraced themselves by their beastly vices. 
 Henry VIII. is considered the worst of the two, as, in addition 
 to his low vices, he became the greatest tyrant recorded in 
 English history.
 
 THE BEGGAR. 
 
 " The beggar died, and -was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom." LUKE xxvi. 22. 
 "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and the beggar from the dunghill" I SAM. 
 ii. 8.
 
 THE BEGGAR. 
 
 THE central part of the annexed cut was engraved three- 
 fourths of a century ago by Dr. Anderson, of New York, called 
 the father of American wood-engravers. It was copied from 
 one of Holbein's expressive drawings, representing a beggar of 
 his time forsaken by his fellow-men. Some of his limbs are 
 withered by disease, and his body is nearly destitute of clothing. 
 To add to his misery, a number of persons are seen pointing at 
 him with the finger of scorn and derision. The figure of Death 
 is partially seen in the background, whether to seize the unfeel- 
 ing creatures who are deriding the beggar, or coming to his 
 relief, does not distinctly appear. 
 
 In the engraving the figure of Death is represented in such an 
 imperfect manner that it is conjectured by some that Death was 
 entirely left out in Holbein's first drawing. This omission has 
 puzzled critics and antiquarians. It is possible that the painter 
 intended to represent one of those cases in which the poor suf- 
 ferer desires death rather than life. Apparently he feels some- 
 what impatient that Death does not come at once and end his 
 sufferings. He longs for Death like those mentioned in 
 Rev. ix. 6. 
 
 The cut of the beggar has over it the scriptural quotation 
 
 " O wretched man that I am ! -who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death ?" Rom. vii. 24. 
 
 Underneath are the following lines : 
 
 " He that from hence to be released, 
 
 With Christ to live desires, 
 
 Despises Death, and to the stars 
 
 In words like these aspires : 
 
 55
 
 56 THE BEGGAR. 
 
 " Who from this mortal body will 
 
 Me, wretched man, release, 
 And snatch me, wretch ! from this vile world, 
 To realms of purest peace ?" 
 
 In the lower division of the print is a representation of the 
 beggar Lazarus at the rich man's gate when the dogs came and 
 licked his sores. In the upper part, above the Holbein cut, the 
 angels are seen carrying Lazarus to Abraham's bosom in the 
 abodes of the blessed. 
 
 Dr. Scott, in his "Commentary" giving an account of the rich 
 man and the beggar Lazarus who lay at his gate, says : " How- 
 ever honorable he (the rich man) might be. in the world's esti- 
 mation, he was not deemed worthy of a name in the Word of 
 God, while that honor was conferred ' on a certain poor man ' 
 who lay at his gate, and was called Lazarus, which some ex- 
 plain to mean Helpless, and others God my Helper. In either 
 construction it suited both his case and character. He was 
 without help among men, but God was his Helper. He was 
 not only helpless, but was covered with grievous sores or ulcers, 
 and he desired to be fed with the crumbs or broken victuals 
 which fell from the rich man's table, such as were either thrown 
 away or eaten by the dogs. It is not said that none was given 
 him, yet it is implied that his hunger was not satisfied. At the 
 same time he was grievously diseased ; he had no physician or 
 nurse to attend to his case, or healing ointment to apply to his 
 sores." 
 
 It is said in this case that the dogs came and licked his sores, 
 having more compassion than their rich master, who probably 
 kept them for his pleasure or pride, rather than sustain a poor, 
 suffering fellow-creature of the same race as well as the same na- 
 ture as himself. Poor Lazarus was soon delivered from his suf- 
 ferings by the friendly stroke of death ; and as his body had not 
 been the object of his care (as was the case with the rich man), 
 so no account is given how it was disposed of. The survivors 
 perhaps put it somewhere out of the way, where it would sleep
 
 THE BEGGAR. 57 
 
 till the Resurrection. He had probably a pauper's funeral. But 
 while his immortal spirit was leaving its poor and miserable 
 tenement, angels waited around, being sent to minister to the 
 heirs of salvation ; and when he resigned his spirit, it was con- 
 veyed to " Abraham's bosom." The joys of heaven are here 
 represented as a feast. Abraham, " the father of the faithful," 
 denotes a place in heaven near that distinguished patriarch, and 
 intimates that the poor man was an eminent believer, a saint of 
 superior excellency. 
 
 Man, being a depraved creature, often suffers here in conse- 
 quence of his wickedness by being weighed down in a miserable 
 manner in his corruptible body. But why does our all-wise 
 .Father permit the excellent treasure which he has entrusted to 
 his own children to be lodged in these poor, broken earthen 
 vessels ? "Would not this question," says a pious writer, "natu- 
 rally recur to any reflecting mind ? Perhaps it would, and there- 
 fore the apostle immediately furnishes a full answer : God has 
 done this, ' that the excellency of the power might be of God 
 and not of us ;' that it might be undeniably plain to whom that 
 excellent power belonged; that no flesh might glory in his 
 sight, but that all who have received this treasure might con- 
 tinually say, ' Not unto us, but unto thee, O Lord, be the praise, 
 for thy name and for the truth's sake.' " 
 
 This appears to be the main design of God, in this wonderful 
 dispensation to humble man, to make and keep him little and 
 poor in his own eyes. And whatever we suffer thereby, we are 
 well repaid if it be the means of " hiding pride from man," lay- 
 ing us low in the dust. Even then we are the nearer to being 
 lifted up by the excellent gifts of God. 
 
 If we suffer from the mean and shattered habitation of the 
 immortal spirit if pain, sickness and numberless other afflic- 
 tions, which we would not othewise have been liable to, assault 
 us on every side, and at length bear us down into the dust of 
 the earth what are we losers by this ? Losers ! No ! " In
 
 5 8 THE BEGGAR, 
 
 all these things we are conquerors, through Him that loved 
 us." Come on, then, disease, weakness, pain, afflictions, in the 
 language of men ! Shall we not be infinite gainers by them, 
 seeing that " these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, 
 work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory"? And are we not, by the consciousness of our weak- 
 ness, effectually taught wherein our strength lies ? It loudly 
 proclaims, " Trust in the Lord JEHOVAH, for in him is everlast- 
 ing strength." Hath he not all power in heaven and earth ? 
 Then what though 
 
 " The heavenly treasure now we have 
 
 In a vile house of clay ? 
 Yet he shall to the utmost save, 
 And keep it to that day." 
 
 John Wesley, in one of his sermons, commenting on the rich 
 man and Lazarus, says : " Hear this, all ye that are poor in this 
 world, ye that many times have not food to eat or raiment to 
 put on, ye that have not a place to lay your head, unless it be 
 a cold garret or a foul and damp cellar. Ye are now reduced 
 to ' solicit the cold hand of charity ;' yet lift up your load ; it 
 shall not always be thus. I love you ; I pity you. I admire 
 when ' in patience ye possess your souls,' yet I cannot help you ; 
 but there is one that can the Father of the fatherless and the 
 Husband of the widow. 'The poor man crieth unto the Lord, 
 and he heareth him and delivereth him out of all his troubles.' "
 
 _ 
 
 THE HEAVENLY ALLIANCE. 
 
 "Giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge ; and 
 to knowledge, temperance, . . . patience, . . . godliness t . . . and to brotherly kindness, 
 .... charity ..." 2 PETER i. 5, 6, 7.
 
 THE HEAVENLY ALLIANCE. 
 
 "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things 
 that pertain unto life and godliness . . . whereby are given unto 
 us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might 
 be partakers of the divine nature. . . . And besides this, giving 
 all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, know- 
 ledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance, pa- 
 tience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to godliness, brotherly 
 kindness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these 
 things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall 
 neither be barren nor -unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 2 Pet. i. 3-8. 
 
 Faith is represented in the uppermost figure, as she is the first 
 in the order of making up the Heavenly Alliance. It is the 
 first and principal grace, and takes precedence of the others. It 
 is in every way precious and valuable, and without it it is im- 
 possible to please God. She is usually represented as looking 
 upward into heaven, and discerning the mansions prepared for 
 those that love God and keep his commandments. She is also 
 represented as bearing the cross, with an open Bible in one 
 hand, artd with the other " reaching forth unto those things 
 which are before," evidently longing and hoping " that mortal- 
 ity might be swallowed up of life." 
 
 The next in order mentioned by the apostle in this Alliance, 
 is Virtue. This grace has generally been considered by religious 
 writers as courage and firmness in sustaining righteousness, and 
 withstanding all temptations to evil. For this purpose, Virtue 
 bears a shield to ward off all attacks from the enemy. She 
 also carries in her hand a sword to make aggressive attacks on 
 vice and wickedness wherever found, and to wage a good war- 
 fare against the powers of darkness and evil. Viewed in this 
 
 61
 
 62 THE HEA VENL Y ALLIANCE. 
 
 light, Virtue may be considered as the military member of the 
 Alliance. 
 
 The next member named in the Alliance is Knowledge, which 
 is generally denned to be a clear and certain perception of that 
 which exists, or of truth or fact. It also denotes learning, or 
 the improvement of our faculties by reading ; also experience, or 
 the acquiring of new ideas or truths by seeing a variety of 
 objects, and making observations upon them in our own minds. 
 "All persons," says one, "are under some obligation to improve 
 their own understanding, otherwise it will be a barren desert, or 
 a forest overgrown with weeds and brambles. Universal igno- 
 rance or error, will overspread the mind which is utterly ne- 
 glected and lies without cultivation. Considering the weak- 
 nesses, failings and mistakes of human nature, we ought not to 
 be satisfied with a slight view of things, but should take a wide 
 survey now and then of the vast variety of subjects presented 
 on every side as fit objects of our study and contemplation. We 
 ought not to presume too much upon a bright genius, a ready 
 wit and good parts, for these without study will not make a man 
 of knowledge. Every one who wishes for the welfare of the 
 human race is bound to make strenuous efforts, so far as he 
 is able, to elevate those around him above a mere animal 
 existence." 
 
 The advantages of religious knowledge are very great. It 
 forms the basis of true honor and felicity. " Not all the lustre 
 of noble birth, not all the influence of wealth, not all the pomp 
 of titles, not all the splendor of power, can give dignity to the 
 soul that is destitute of inward improvement. By this we are 
 allied to angels, and are capable of rising for ever in the scale 
 of being." Knowledge is also of great importance to our per- 
 sonal and private felicity. It furnishes a pleasure that cannot 
 be met with in the possession of inferior enjoyments. It throws 
 a lustre upon greatness, and reflects an honor on poverty. 
 Knowledge will also instruct us how to apply our several talents
 
 THE HE A VENL Y ALLIANCE. 63 
 
 for the benefit of mankind. It will make us capable of advising 
 and regulating others. 
 
 After Knowledge Temperance is named. This virtue, or 
 Christian grace, is that which enables the possessor to moderate 
 and restrain his sensual appetites. It is often used in a much 
 more general sense, as synonymous with moderation, and is 
 then applied indiscriminately to all the passions. "Temperance," 
 says Addison, " has those particular advantages above all other 
 means of health that it may be practiced by all ranks and con- 
 ditions, at any season or in any place. It is a kind of regimen 
 into which every man may put himself without interruption to 
 business, expense of money or loss of time. Physic, for the 
 most part, is nothing else but a substitute for exercise or 
 temperance." 
 
 Temperance, in our latest modern times, is generally applied 
 to abstinence from intoxicating drinks. In the engraving of the 
 Alliance, Temperance is seen pouring out the pure, " bright and 
 sparkling water" into a goblet for the use and refreshment of 
 her companions. No foreign substance is mixed with it. This 
 beverage, emblematic of the water of life in paradise, is furnished 
 in abundance for the use of man by his Creator, and it is the 
 natural drink for all that dwell upon the earth. 
 
 Patience, one of the members represented in the Alliance, is 
 that Christian grace which bears, with a calm and unruffled 
 temper, the various evils of human life. She is seen on the left 
 in the group, having her head bound up, as she is suffering 
 bodily pain. She looks upward for grace to endure with resig- 
 nation whatever may await her in this vale of tears. Affliction 
 comes to exercise our patience and to distinguish it. "The trial 
 of your faith worketh patience," not only in consequence of the 
 divine blessing, but by the operation of things. Use makes per- 
 fect ; the yoke is rendered easy by being worn, and those parts 
 of the body which are most in action are the strongest and most 
 solid. Patience is to be exercised under delays. We as natu-
 
 64 THE HEA VENL Y ALLIANCE. 
 
 rally pursue a desired good as we shun an apprehended evil, 
 and the want of such a good is as grievous as the pressure of 
 such an evil. The ability to bear the one is as needful a quali- 
 fication, as the fortitude with which we endure the other. We 
 need patience to wait, as well as to suffer. God does not always 
 immediately indulge us with an answer to our prayers. He 
 hears, indeed, as soon as we knock, but does not immediately 
 open the door. It is declared in Holy Writ, " Wait on the 
 Lord ; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart : 
 wait, I say, on the Lord." 
 
 Godliness, who is represented as standing in the centre of the 
 group, strictly denned, is the sincere devotion of him who serves 
 God with all the powers of his mind, worshiping him in spirit 
 and in truth. " It is difficult," says a celebrated writer, " to 
 include an adequate idea of godliness in what is called a defi- 
 nition." " It supposes knowledge, veneration, affection, depend- 
 ence, submission, gratitude and obedience ; or it may be reduced 
 to these four ideas : knoivledge in the mind, by which it is dis- 
 tinguished from the visions ,of the superstitious; rectitude in the 
 conscience, whereby it is discriminated from hypocrisy ; sacrifice 
 in the life, or renunciation of the world, by which it is distin- 
 guished from the unmeaning obedience of him who follows as 
 a happy constitution leads him ; and lastly, zeal in the heart, 
 which differs from the languishing emotions of the lukewarm. 
 The advantages of this disposition are honor, peace, safety, use- 
 fulness, support in death, and prospect of glory; or, as the 
 apostfe sums up all in a few words, ' it is profitable unto all 
 things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that 
 which is to come.' " 
 
 Brotherly-kindness is that disposition of heart which flows out 
 of love to our neighbor, and it is properly that part of charity 
 which makes us unwilling to give pain to our fellow-men ; 
 prompting us to do acts of kindness to all, and to feel the 
 same interest in each other's welfare, that we would toward our
 
 THE HEA VENL Y ALLIANCE. 65 
 
 immediate kindred. In short, it is obedience to the moral law 
 of God, which enjoins upon us that we love our neighbor as 
 ourselves. If the spirit of this command were fully acted out, it 
 would prevent an immense amount of the misery and degrada- 
 tion of the human race. Were the first two words of the Lord's 
 Prayer, properly felt and acted upon, all forms of slavery and 
 oppression would be subdued among mankind. The following 
 incident will serve to illustrate this fact: In a country where 
 slavery was established by law, it was deemed unsafe to teach 
 slaves to read. The Lord's Prayer was taught them, by repeat- 
 ing the words as they fell from the lips of the teacher. The 
 lesson was introduced with the words, "Our Father" ' "What?" 
 said a little slave boy, addressing his instructor ; " is he your 
 father?" "Certainly," was the reply. "And is he mine too?" 
 asked the boy. " Yes," answered the teacher. "Then we are 
 brothers /" was the prompt rejoinder a logical deduction from 
 premises which cannot be set aside. If, indeed, we are brethren, 
 a brother's treatment is due to our fellow-man, and brotherly- 
 kindness ought to be extended to him although he be in a lower 
 rank, or of a complexion different from our own. 
 
 Charity is represented, by a female motherly figure, taking 
 care of two or more impoverished children. She has a love for 
 the whole human race, even to her persecutors. Charity is a 
 word sometimes used for love. In I John iv. 8, it is stated that 
 "God is love" It has been well observed that, although God is 
 holy, just, righteous, etc., he is never called Holiness, Justice, 
 etc., in the abstract, as he is here called LOVE. This seems to 
 be the essence of the divine nature, and all other attributes only 
 modifications of this. 
 
 Dr. Scott, in his "Commentary" on the comprehensive pas- 
 sages prefixed to this article, says : " The apostle here called on 
 his brethren not to rest in their apparent conversion or the refor- 
 mation connected with it, or even in the beginning of a renewal 
 to a ' divine nature,' but, depending on the promises of the gos-
 
 66 THE HE A VENL Y ALLIANCE. 
 
 pel, and pursuing to the end for which they were given, to 
 cleanse themselves from all remaining ' filthiness of the flesh 
 and spirit/ perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Beyond, and 
 as continuing and completing that renewal which had already 
 taken place, they ought 'to give all diligence' in all the ap- 
 pointed means for the purpose." 
 
 Feeling an earnest desire to accomplish increasing holiness, 
 the apostle enjoins upon his fellow-Christians to " add to their 
 foith virtue," that they may, with manly constancy, profess faith 
 in Christ and obey his will in the midst of persecutors, display- 
 ing firmness and composure of mind, notwithstanding the diffi- 
 culties and dangers to which they were exposed. They ought, 
 furthermore, to diligently " add to their virtue knowledge," that, 
 with increasing acquaintance with the whole truth and will of 
 God, they may be enabled to regulate their zeal and courage 
 with judgment and discretion, knowing how to behave under 
 all circumstances and toward all men, like well-informed persons 
 who could not justly be charged with anything rash, foolish or 
 contrary to the duty and propriety of their relations and station 
 in the church or community. 
 
 To knowledge they must add temperance in the government 
 of all the animal appetites, and practice moderation in all worldly 
 things. To temperance, they must add patience, or a cheerful 
 submission to the will of God in all things. To this, godliness 
 must be added, which consists of all the holy affections that 
 characterize the true worshiper of God ; to this must be added 
 brotherly-kindness, an unfeigned love of Christians, as brethren 
 in the Lord. With all the foregoing must be mingled charity, 
 or benevolent and compassionate love to all men. All these 
 graces, carefully added together, form in a child of God a cha- 
 racter of loveliness and beauty.
 
 THE SHORELESS BRIDGE. 
 
 HUMAN LIFE. DEATH. ANGELS. HEAVEN. 
 
 "For what is your life ? . . . a -vapor that appeareth, . . . then vanisheth away." 
 /AMES iv. 14. " Them that obey not the gospel . . . shall be punished with everlasting 
 destruction." 2 THESS. i. 8, 9. "The righteous into life eternal" MATT. xxvi. 46.
 
 THE SHORELESS BRIDGE. 
 
 HUMAN LIFE has been likened, by a celebrated author, unto a 
 bridge of threescore and ten, or more arches. At first it was 
 made much longer, having nearly one thousand, but a great 
 flood swept away the larger portion of the bridge, and left the 
 remainder in a somewhat ruinous condition. It is situated in a 
 deep valley, having a great tide of water flowing through it. 
 The valley itself is often called "The Vale of Tears" on account 
 of the misery, trials and afflictions of many who are crossing 
 the Shoreless Bridge. This structure is also called "The Bridge 
 of Human Life" the seventy arches representing seventy years, 
 about the usual extreme limit of man's life or time of trial. The 
 bridge has many concealed trap-doors, on which the traveler no 
 sooner treads than he falls through the floor into the tide below 
 and disappears. The entrance, and termination of the fabric, are 
 enclosed in mist and darkness ; thus portraying the mystery, and 
 darkness surrounding the commencement and termination of 
 human life. 
 
 PASSENGERS OVER THE BRIDGE. 
 
 The passengers seen on the bridge are mostly a disorderly 
 and demoralized crowd. There is a strange mixture of good 
 and evil, but wickedness and violence seem, to a great extent, 
 to prevail and triumph. The concourse on the left is composed 
 of those in early life, many of whom appear merry and joyful, 
 some dancing to the sound of the viol, or engaged in pursuits 
 of a frivolous nature all evidently pleased with the bubbles of 
 fancy floating around them, and wholly regardless of the duties 
 
 69
 
 7O THE SHORELESS BRIDGE. 
 
 of life. A little farther onward are seen the victims of intem- 
 perance. Thousands and tens of thousands enslaved by this 
 vice, perish annually. Disordered in body and mind, they 
 stumble and fall through the trap-doors, or in some frenzied 
 moment rush over the parapet and sink into the depths below. 
 
 On the summit of the bridge, the passengers in the prime of 
 life are in a state of warfare with each other. Unholy passions 
 prevail ; the covetousness of pride and lust of power are ram- 
 pant ; violence and bloodshed hold high sway. Thousands of 
 the combatants are precipitated into the yawning gulf below 
 and are seen no more, while th hero of the hour stands up to 
 receive the plaudits of the multitude. Near by these scenes, 
 from beneath the bridge, an Evil Spirit may be observed, tempt- 
 ing the giddy throng by some shining allurement or bag of 
 gold. Some of them mount ladders, and in their eagerness to 
 seize the deceptive prize are precipitated over the bridge into 
 the waters, engulfing themselves in destruction and perdition. 
 
 It is stated that more than one half of the human beings who 
 commence their passage over this frail structure do not live to 
 get halfway over. It is noticeable that but few persons are 
 scattered singly, about its extremity in the distance. Amid this 
 motley company individuals are seen, here and there, who have 
 their minds fixed on the future, to which all are passing. They 
 believe the message which the Almighty has sent, to a greater 
 or less extent, to all his creatures. They have heard of salva- 
 tion from messengers sent from above. He has given them a 
 Guide Book, warning them how to avoid all the evils to which 
 they may be subjected on their perilous journey; and the 
 heavy burdens which many of them are obliged to bear will, if 
 patiently endured, work for them an eternal weight of glory. 
 
 EVIL AND GOOD ANGELS. 
 
 According to Divine Revelation there are reasons to believe 
 that the angels of God take a deep interest in the welfare of
 
 THE SHORELESS BRIDGE. "J\ 
 
 human beings who are fellow-servants to the same Divine 
 Master and Father, and it is stated that man was created but a 
 little below them. A part of this original heavenly order fell 
 by transgression from their first estate, and became enemies of 
 God, and the welfare of mankind. They have since been joined 
 in their rebellion by many of the human race, who have thus 
 put themselves under the control of him who " worketh in the 
 children of disobedience." The evil angels are designated in 
 Holy Writ as children of the " Old Serpent" who deceived our 
 mother Eve in the Garden of Eden, and who, with his messen- 
 gers and emissaries, still continues to deceive, corrupt and ruin 
 mankind. Some of these beings are seen below, on the right, 
 from whom couriers are sent to the travelers crossing the Shore- 
 less Bridge. Good, or ministering angels, are seen on the left, 
 who minister to the heirs of -salvation, and guard them against 
 evil. 
 
 THE RIVER OF DEATH. 
 
 The river or body of water seen in the foreground, and over 
 which the Shoreless Bridge is constructed, is called "The Rivet 
 of Death" being the place where all human life is terminated. 
 It passes into a sea unknown, unfathomable, and shoreless. The 
 bridge is limited in extent, showing that human life is on trial. 
 Its termination, and all that pass over it, are submerged in its 
 mighty waters, as there is no shore to which its arches can be 
 extended. When their probationary life is ended, the wicked 
 pass on to the blackness of darkness of everlasting death, while 
 the righteous rise to endless life and glorious day. 
 
 HEAVEN THE ABODE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 Above the bridge is represented the abode of the blessed. 
 Many mansions have been prepared for them by Him who has 
 redeemed and purified them by his own blood, and is not 
 ashamed to call them his brethren. He dwells among them. 
 There is no night there, for the glory of God doth illumine it,
 
 72 THE SHORELESS BRIDGE. 
 
 and the Lamb is the Light thereof, and they shall reign for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 The waters of the River of Life flow through all these happy 
 regions, issuing from the throne of God and the Lamb ; the 
 trees of life stand on either side of the river, and the leaves 
 thereof are for the healing of the nations. 
 
 The mansions of the blessed are imperishable; the trees, 
 which bear all manner of fruits, decay not, and the bowers are 
 all clad in living green ; the beautiful flowers fade not, but for 
 ever bloom in eternal spring. 
 
 The inhabitants of these blessed regions, clad in white and 
 glorious garments, are seen walking among the trees, reposing 
 by the side of fountains, or resting on beds of flowers. The 
 good of all ages and nations are here, and the sound of heavenly 
 and ravishing music is heard from myriad voices, like the gush- 
 ing of many waters.
 
 MINISTERING ANGELS. 
 
 'Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be 
 heirs of salvation ?" HEB. i. 14. "Strangers and pilgrims on the earth. . . . But 
 now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed 
 to be called their God ; for he hath prepared for them a city." HEB. xi. 13-16.
 
 MINISTERING ANGELS. 
 
 THE accompanying engraving is designed to illustrate the 
 nature of the assistance, the Christian receives from ministering 
 or guardian angels, in his upward course toward the heavenly 
 city. In the foreground, one is seen about to commence the 
 Christian journey. At first he is moved by the fear of the fatal 
 consequences of continuing in sin. It appears to him like a 
 heavy burden, weighing him down, and he would fain fly to the 
 City of Refuge. He has heard of the New Jerusalem above, 
 and wishes to be directed to the path which leads to that place 
 of heavenly rest. A ministering angel now comes to his assist- 
 ance. It takes his hand, and leads him upward from the dark 
 and miry regions in which he has been traveling, and places 
 his feet on a rock in the HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS, the path seen 
 in the central part of the engraving, and which leads to the 
 Celestial City. Isa. xxxv. 8. 
 
 Upward from the figures in front, angels are seen carrying 
 Lazarus to Abraham's bosom. On the left a pilgrim has fallen 
 from the highway, and, like David of old, calls upon God for 
 help. Ps. xviii. 16. The Lord sends an angel from above, and 
 he is drawn from many waters. His feet are set upon a rock, 
 and his salvation is accomplished. As long as the pilgrims 
 continue on the highway they are safe, and although beset by 
 many difficulties, and surrounded by unseen enemies, guardian 
 angels stand near them to repel every foe. 
 
 Above, in the distance, is seen the Jordan, or River of Death, 
 
 
 
 through which the pilgrim has to pass before he can enter the 
 heavenly city, his future abode. Here and there a traveler is 
 
 75
 
 76 MINISTERING ANGELS. 
 
 observed passing upward on the pathway toward the city. Some 
 have passed to the other side of Jordan, and been conducted 
 into the New Jerusalem, the paradise of God, where mansions 
 are prepared for the righteous. The river of the Water of Life 
 is there, and the Tree of Life blooms there, the leaves of which 
 are for the healing of the nations. God himself shall dwell with 
 them and wipe all tears away. 
 
 THE ORDER OF MINISTERING ANGELS. 
 
 That there is an order of beings superior to man, who feel a 
 deep interest in his welfare, is a doctrine which appears quite 
 evident in various parts of Divine Revelation. These beings 
 are called angels, a word in the Hebrew and Greek languages, 
 from which it is derived, signifying a messenger. That they are 
 of different gradations in rank and intelligence is illustrated by 
 the angelic hosts,, such as thrones, dominions, principalities and 
 powers. Col. i. 16. The ancient Jews reckoned four orders, or 
 companies, each headed by an archangel the first being that 
 of Michael, the second of Gabriel, the third of Uriel, and the 
 fourth of Raphael. 
 
 Of the creation of man, it is stated in Ps. viii. 5 that he was 
 made but a little lower than the angels, and the idea has pre- 
 vailed in most nations that he has been in some manner con- 
 nected with them. Their principal business, however, was to 
 wait upon the Almighty and execute his commands. It has also 
 been a very generally prevalent and ancient opinion that certain 
 classes of angels were appointed to watch over the welfare of 
 the human race, and that every individual possessed some spirit, 
 either good or bad, that exercised control over his mind, to a 
 greater or less degree. 
 
 It is well known that something like the above belief univer- 
 sally prevailed among the Jews, Greeks, Romans and Persians, 
 and indeed among the barbarous nations of antiquity. Hesiod, 
 one of the most ancient poets, tells us in some of his writings
 
 MINISTERING ANGELS. 77 
 
 th.it " the men of the golden age are the good angels of the 
 present degenerate race ; they watch near us, protect us from 
 harm, and strive to the utmost of their power to purify our 
 hearts, and save us from misery." Socrates, called the wisest of 
 the heathen philosophers, publicly avowed himself under the 
 guidance of a good genius, or spirit, very much in accordance 
 with the Christian idea of a guardian angel. 
 
 Angels are first spoken of in the book of Genesis, where two 
 of them appeared for the deliverance of righteous Lot, who 
 dwelt in Sodom, from the fate which overwhelmed the cities of 
 the plain because of their wickedness. There are also many 
 other accounts in the Old Testament of the appearance of 
 angels among men sometimes for the deliverance of God's 
 chosen people, and at other times for the destruction of their 
 enemies. 
 
 In the New Testament an angel announced the advent of the 
 Saviour; and a multitude of the heavenly host were heard 
 praising God for the glad tidings of salvation for fallen man. 
 Having assumed the nature of man, the Redeemer became sub- 
 ject to his trials and temptations. After successfully resisting 
 the temptation of the devil, angels came and ministered unto 
 him. In his agony and bloody sweat in the Garden of Geth- 
 semane, there appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening 
 him. At his ascension holy angels were in attendance, and like- 
 wise at the judgment, when he comes in his glory, all the holy 
 angels will be with him. 
 
 Most of the wiser of the heathen nations of antiquity appear 
 to have fully believed that there was an order of superior beings, 
 both good and bad, between God and man. The former they 
 supposed to be kind and benevolent, delighting in doing good ; 
 the latter, malicious and cruel, delighting in doing evil. Their 
 conceptions appear to be only fragments of truth, partly handed 
 down by their forefathers and partly borrowed from the inspired 
 writings.
 
 ?8 MINISTERING ANGELS. 
 
 Hesiod, of whom mention has been made, does not scruple 
 to say, 
 
 " Millions of spiritual creatures walk the world unseen." 
 
 " Hence it is probable," says Mr. Wesley in his sermon on this 
 subject, " arose the numerous tales about the exploits of their 
 demi-gods, and their satyrs, fauns and nymphs of every kind, 
 wherewith they supposed both the sea and land to be filled." 
 But the accounts given of these beings were unsatisfactory and 
 childish. Revelation is able to supply this defect. This gives 
 the only clear, rational and consistent account of those spiritual 
 beings, both good and bad, our eyes have not seen nor our 
 ears heard. Of the good we have a full but brief account in 
 these words, " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation?" This 
 question is, according to the manner of the apostle, equivalent 
 to a strong affirmative. 
 
 These angels, without appearing to us in any visible shape, 
 can, in a thousand ways, apply to our understanding. They 
 may assist us in our search after truth ; remove many doubts 
 and difficulties ; throw light on what before was dark ; warn us 
 of evil in disguise, and place what is good in a clear and strong 
 light. They may gently move us at will to embrace what is 
 good and fly from what is evil. They may be sent of God to 
 answer the whole prayer put into our mouths by the pious 
 bishop Ken : 
 
 " Oh may thy angels while I sleep 
 Around my bed their vigils keep ; 
 Their love angelical instill, 
 Stop every avenue of ill ; 
 May they celestial joys rehearse, 
 And thought to thought with me converse."
 
 THE HEAVENLY RAILROAD. 
 
 "Thou wilt show me the path of life." Ps. xvi. II. " Make his paths straight." 
 MATT. iii. 3. " The righteotis runneth into it and is safe" PROV. xviii. IO. " Thou, 
 shall guide . . . and receive me to glory ." Ps. Ixxiii. 24.
 
 THE HEAVENLY RAILROAD. 
 
 THE accompanying engraving shows the entrance to the 
 station-house for the train of cars for the Celestial city. Free 
 tickets are offered to all who will come. The servants and mes- 
 sengers of Him who built and owns the railroad are seen in- 
 viting and even entreating the motley crowd to enter the cars, 
 and thus escape all the calamities which will surely come upon 
 them if they continue in their present state of rebellion and sin. 
 A few only of the multitude are seen accepting the invitation. 
 The greater portion of the assemblage appears to pay little or 
 no regard to God's messengers, and turns a deaf ear to all their 
 pleadings. They prefer to remain in their present state and run 
 the risk of being punished for their transgressions. The enemy 
 of God and mankind has constructed another railway, promising 
 the pleasures and delights of the present sinful world to all who 
 take passage. An emissary of Satan stands at the doorway, 
 inviting all to come in and enjoy themselves, most of whom 
 yield a ready compliance. 
 
 The Heavenly Railroad is constructed on new and peculiar 
 principles. The passengers by other great railroads are re- 
 quired to pay the proprietors for the privilege of being carried 
 on them. They are built at great expense, and rarely is one 
 person rich enough to attempt the undertaking, so that many 
 have to join their means together to construct one of much 
 extent. As the road is of great convenience to the public, the 
 rulers of the country grant to the company building it certain 
 privileges by a charter defining their rights, which the authori- 
 
 6 81
 
 82 THE HEAVENLY RAILROAD. 
 
 ties are obliged to protect. Among these is the " right of way" 
 where no free road is allowed. The Heavenly Railroad, on the 
 other hand, was built by the Lord of the country at his own 
 expense. He is able and willing to sustain it throughout all 
 time", free to all who desire it, "without money and without 
 price." 
 
 The Lord of the earth, who made all things, at the beginning 
 placed our first parents in this part of his dominions, in the 
 garden of Eden, where everything for their comfort and happi- 
 ness was provided for them. Being made in the image and like- 
 ness of God, all was happiness and love. The great Creator in 
 his infinite wisdom saw fit to place man here in a state of trial, 
 free to do right or wrong. It is said : 
 
 "And the LORD God commanded the man, say- 
 ing, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely 
 eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good 
 and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day 
 that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 
 
 It appears from Holy Writ that the Lord of the country had 
 an enemy in his dominions who hated him, rebelled against his 
 authority, and endeavored to entice other beings from their alle- 
 giance to their Creator. The devil, or Satan, the arch-apostate, 
 called a liar from the beginning, came to Eve, the mother of our 
 race, in the form of a serpent. This creature is supposed by 
 many to have been more sagacious and attractive than any other 
 animal, and this may have been the reason why Satan chose 
 it as his instrument of temptation. By his arts and cunning he 
 beguiled our first mother, and finally told her that she would 
 not die, as God had said, even if she did eat the forbidden fruit. 
 "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food . . . 
 and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit 
 thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her ; 
 and he did eat."
 
 THE HEAVENLY RAILROAD. 83 
 
 " Thus death came into the world and all our woe." 
 Our first parents having fallen from their high estate, and 
 having disobeyed the laws of their Creator and Lord, were 
 obliged to leave the garden of Eden. They were placed upon 
 another spot, where they had many difficulties and trials to 
 encounter. They were, however, promised a Deliverer, so that 
 every curse that had fallen upon them should be removed, and 
 that they should be restored to the first estate from which they 
 had been expelled for their transgressions. All this was prom- 
 ised and much more, provided they would accept his salvation. 
 In Isaiah xxxv. the knowledge of the truth and will of God 
 and of the way of acceptance and salvation, when made plain 
 and clear to any people, is represented as like casting up a 
 highway through a country which before was impassable : 
 
 " And a highway shall there be, and a way, and 
 it shall be called The way of holiness ; the un- 
 clean shall not pass over it ; but it shall be for 
 those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall 
 not err therein." 
 
 This authorized highway constructed by the Lord of the 
 country shall be called the " way of holiness," as it leads to a 
 holy God and to heaven, and no unclean or unconverted sinner 
 passes over it, but it is appropriated to those who hearken to 
 the call o/ God's messengers, obey his voice and accept his sal- 
 vation.
 
 CHRISTIANA'S DREAM. 
 
 IN the work of John Bunyan, "The Pilgrim's Progress" called 
 by many "The Immortal Allegory" his hero, "Christian," is con- 
 ducted from the city of Destruction to the Celestial city. In 
 the second part of his work Mr. Bunyan gives an account of the 
 pilgrimage of " Christiana," the wife of Christian, who, after the 
 departure of her husband, resolved to follow him on the heav- 
 enly journey. When he first commenced his pilgrimage she 
 had opposed him, but now the thought of her heedless conduct 
 fills her heart with contrition, and she is affected to tears. She 
 confesses herself a sinner, and implores God to have mercy upon 
 her. After a troublous dream she awoke with trembling, but 
 in a short time she again relapsed into sweet slumber. 
 
 "And she thought she saw Christian, her hus- 
 band, again in a place of bliss among many im- 
 mortals, with a harp in his hands, standing before 
 One that sat on a throne." 
 
 After this, a messenger was sent to Christiana to fhform her 
 that the Merciful One was ready to forgive, and that he invited 
 her to come into his presence, and also " her husband that was, 
 with legions more, his companions, ever beholding the Face that 
 doth minister life to the beholders, and they will all be glad 
 when they shall hear the sound of thy feet over thy Father's 
 threshold." "The mind," says an able and pious writer, "during 
 sleep is often occupied with those subjects that have most deeply 
 engaged its waking thoughts, and it sometimes pleases God to 
 make use of ideas suggested to influence the conduct by exciting 
 
 84
 
 CHRISTIANA'S DREAM. 
 
 "He giveth his beloved sleep." PS. cxxvii. 2. " God speaketh in a dream, . . . fie 
 openeth the ears of men." JOB xxxiii. 14-16. " CorneliM . . . saw in a vision an 
 angel of God." ACTS x. 1-4.
 
 CHRISTIAN'S DREAM. 87 
 
 ', 
 
 fears or hopes. Provided an intimation be scriptural and the 
 effect salutary, we need not hesitate to consider it as a divine 
 monition, however it presents itself to the mind." 
 
 The Scripture declares, not as a strange peculiarity, but as a 
 matter of truth, that the influence of the Spirit of God upon the 
 mind of man extends to his sleeping, as well as to his waking, 
 thoughts. The dreams of memory, or imagination, are indeed 
 referred to ; but it is the history of the Revelation of the Spirit 
 of God to the spirit of man, whether sleeping or waking, which 
 is the proper subject of Scripture itself. Under the Christian 
 dispensation, while we read of trances and visions, dreams are 
 rarely referred to as vehicles of divine revelation. In accord- 
 ance with this principle are the actual dreams sent by God. The 
 greater number of such visions were intended as predictions or 
 warnings to those who were alien to the Jewish covenant, and 
 where they are recorded as means of God's revelation to his 
 chosen servants, they generally referred to the periods of their 
 earliest and imperfect knowledge of him. 
 
 The general conclusion, therefore, is, first, that the Scripture 
 claims the dream as a medium through which God may speak 
 to man, either directly or indirectly, in virtue of a general influ- 
 ence upon all his thoughts ; and secondly, that it lays much 
 greater stress on that divine influence by which the understand- 
 ing also is affected, and leads us to believe that, as such influence 
 extends more and more, revelations by dreams, unless under 
 very peculiar circumstances, might be supposed to have passed 
 away. 
 
 " If one thing or one class of phenomena can be called more 
 wonderful than another," says a religious writer, " perhaps the 
 phenomena of sleep, when viewed in their various relations, may 
 be justly ranked as among the most wonderful. By the fixed 
 laws of our being we are daily called upon to surrender our 
 own wills and to commit ourselves to the care of an ever- watch- 
 ful Providence. We spend hours unconscious of the flight of
 
 88 CHRISTIANA'S DREAM. 
 
 I 
 
 time, and awake refreshed we know not how or why not 
 only in body but also in spirit. A heavenly dew has descended 
 on our hearts and prepared them for the heat and labor of 
 another day. But could we look deeper into the spiritual man 
 we would see things yet more wonderful. We would find that 
 we have been brought into such spiritual associations as an all- 
 seeing Eye alone could provide, adapted to prepare us for 
 coming duties and trials." 
 
 In the mythology of ancient nations, Sleep was represented 
 as the son of Night and twin-brother of Death, a striking simili- 
 tude in several respects. ^Christiana in the engraving annexed 
 to this article is represented as asleep on her couch> her right 
 hand touching the sacred volume which teaches the truth of 
 God. Her face is turned upward to the heaven which she has 
 learned from Sacred Writ is now the dwelling-place of her de- 
 parted husband. She is apparently dead to everything around 
 her. Her strength is consigned to temporary annihilation by a 
 mystery which seems but little less than a standing miracle. 
 Her eyes are partially open, but they see not ; her ears, with 
 organs unimpaired, hear not, and the whole animal system lies 
 like a lump of inanimate matter. ' You pronounce her a person 
 of the most delicate sensations, kind disposition and social affec- 
 tions. But where are all these now ? Her dearest friends may 
 be at her side, conversing on subjects in which all feel a deep 
 interest, but she neither sees nor hears them, and is not aware 
 of their presence. Her children, to whom she feels all the 
 attachment of a mother's love, may be standing or sitting by 
 her couch, but she heeds them not. They may be tortured 
 with severe and agonizing pain ; they may die in the same room, 
 or even by her side, and she is untouched with the least com- 
 miseration. 
 
 But is the life of Christiana, this devoted mother and wife, 
 suspended or paralyzed ? Certainly not. Although her earthly 
 tenement still remains with us, and to which she is still most
 
 CHRISTIANA'S DREAM. 89 
 
 tenderly, mysteriously and closely united, her spirit is trans- 
 lated to the upper regions, her future home. With other than 
 mortal eyes she sees her departed husband among the hosts 
 that surround the throne of the Eternal, with a harp in his 
 hand, and wearing a crown of life. She sees him bow before 
 the throne of God and the Lamb and give thanks to God for 
 salvation. . . . The cup of happiness is full. While her bodily 
 organs of seeing or hearing are locked up as in death, she hears, 
 it may be, the strains of angelic music, in heavenly tones of 
 sweetness, harmony and power, of which before she had no con- 
 ception. With St. Paul, who was caught up to the third heaven, 
 she may have heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful 
 for man to utter. Thus while Christiana in her spiritual mind 
 was engaged in all the activity of a spiritual being, she was 
 indeed in heavenly places, though mortal vision perceived it 
 not. 
 
 " There is no medicine," says a religious writer, " like quiet, 
 peaceful sleep, and the effect of the medicine which is given 
 often is to produce it. And have not those of us who have 
 been sensible of being spiritually sick experienced its healing 
 influences in a still higher and truer sense ? Have not the oil 
 and wine been poured on our broken hearts and wounded spirits 
 by the hand of Him whose touch is gentle as the morning 
 light ? We awake, and ascribe the effect to sleep. But what 
 has sleep done ? What can it do ? Let us look beyond the 
 cloud with which our heavenly Father veils his mysterious acts 
 of never-ceasing mercy."
 
 SPRING. 
 
 MARCH APRIL MAY. 
 
 THE twelve months of the year are divided into four divisions, 
 or seasons, viz., Spring and Summer, Autumn and Winter. Spring, 
 the first in order, comprises the months of March, April and 
 May, which are consequently called the spring season. This 
 division of the year has often been personified by a beauteous 
 maiden, wearing a chaplet of flowers on her head, and holding 
 a wreath in her right hand, as seen in the accompanying en- 
 graving. She also bears flowers in her left hand, and they are 
 likewise seen springing from the earth on every side. 
 
 James Thomson, a distinguished poet of the last century, 
 first brought himself into popular notice by writing a poem on 
 each of the seasons. His "Winter" was published in 1726, and 
 the others in three or four years afterward. He was the son of 
 a Scotch minister, and was born in 1700. He was educated at 
 the University of Edinburgh, and commenced his career with 
 the study of divinity, which he soon relinquished and went to 
 London, where his writings introduced him to the notice of the 
 great and learned. He became tutor to the son of the lord 
 chancellor Talbot in his travels on the Continent. Having met 
 with some reverses, he was kindly sustained by warm-hearted 
 friends. He died of a fever in August, 1748, and was buried in 
 Richmond, near London. 
 
 Thomson in his private life was an amiable, pious and be- 
 nevolent character, and was noted for goodness of heart and a 
 most virtuous disposition. As a poet he possessed powers pecu- 
 
 90
 
 SPRING. 
 
 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man." 
 Ps. civ. 14. " The Jlowers appear on the earth : and the time of the singing of 
 birds is come''' CANTICLES ii. 12.
 
 SPRING. 93 
 
 Harly his own. His "Seasons" display the most glowing, ani- 
 mated and interesting descriptions of nature in language at once 
 elegant, simple and dignified. The gayety of spring, the splen- 
 dor of summer, the tranquillity of autumn and the severity of 
 winter each takes in turn the possession of our minds. 
 
 The following extracts relative to Spring are from Thomson's 
 "Seasons " : 
 
 " Come, gentle SPRING ! ethereal mildness, come ! 
 And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud, 
 While music wakes around, veiled in a shower 
 Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend. 
 
 And see where surly WINTER passes off 
 
 Far to the North, and calls his ruffian Blasts. 
 
 His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill, 
 
 The shattered forests and the ravaged vale ; . 
 
 While softer gales succeed, at whose kind touch 
 
 Dissolving snows in livid torrents lost. 
 
 The mountains lift their green heads to the sky. 
 
 As yet the trembling year is unconfirmed, 
 
 And Winter oft at eve resumes the breeze, 
 
 Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving sleets 
 
 Deform the day delightless." 
 
 " White through the neighboring fields the sower stalks, 
 With measured step, and, liberal, throws the grain 
 Into the faithful bosom of the ground. 
 The harrow follows harsh and shuts the scene. 
 
 Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot, 
 Full of fresh verdure and unnumbered flowers. 
 Here their delicious task the fervent bees 
 In swarming millions tend. Around, athwart, 
 Through the soft air, the busy nations fly, 
 Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube, 
 Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul. 
 . . . Up springs the lark, 
 
 Shrill- voiced and loud, the messenger of morn ; 
 Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings 
 Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 
 Calls up the tuneful nations." 
 
 Spring commences. The earth, fast bound by wintry frosts, 
 softens beneath the genial rays of the noontide sun ; high winds 
 prevail, drying the moist earth and scattering the heavy vapors.
 
 94 SPRING. 
 
 
 Sweet is the voice of the early bird that visits our northern 
 
 world once more. The wintry blast had driven him away to 
 genial regions far down the sunny south. The great Creator 
 taught him when to take his distant journey and when to wing 
 his flight to his northern home. 
 
 The farmer with hopeful heart now ploughs his ground to 
 receive the seed of the sower and planter. He confides in the 
 promise of Him who is Lord of all, that, while the earth re- 
 maineth, seed-time and harvest shall not fail. The farmer is 
 monarch of the soil on which he labors. He provides for all 
 entrusted to his care ; and when the fields no longer afford sus- 
 tenance, he opens his laid-up stores and all are fed. So the 
 great Monarch and Father of us all teaches us, his needy crea- 
 tures, to call on him daily for what we need. He gives the 
 rain and sunshine ; he causes the herb to grow ; the eyes of all 
 turn to him, and he gives them their meat in due season. 
 
 APRIL is called the " showery month." The frozen earth has 
 yielded to the sunshine of the early spring o'er hill and dale ; 
 new life is springing up in living green. The tender lamb lies 
 by its mother's side or gambols in the sunny fields. Birds of 
 various hues, returning from sunny climes, warble their notes 
 of joy ; the buds are swelling, and the leaves are bursting forth 
 from every shrub and tree. 
 
 The breath of spring has wakened the insect tribes from their 
 long wintry sleep ; and when the evening shades prevail, their 
 soothing voices rise from the low earth and watery places 
 round, lulling the tired laborer and the dwellers near to sweet 
 repose. 
 
 MAY is an important time of the year, for by the labors of 
 the farmer in this month particularly all classes are sustained. 
 There is a time to sow and plant, which, if neglected, there can 
 be no harvest, though the early and latter rains descend and 
 the summer sun may glow. The farmer ploughs his fields with 
 the patient ox or the more sprightly horse. He harrows his
 
 SPRING. 95 
 
 fields ; he sows his grain, and plants his corn and roots, so that 
 all who look up to him may in the coming time be fed. 
 
 The garden near the dwelling receives the close attention of 
 all its inmates. The farmer and his wife, daughters and sons all 
 look with interest on this cherished spot, which is laid out with 
 care. Its little walks are fringed with beauteous shrubs, plants 
 and flowers. The choicest fruit trees here appear, and are gay 
 with early blossoms; and the creeping vines below will soon 
 bestow their valued fruit. 
 
 The fields are now covered with a carpet of the freshest green ; 
 the orchards are crowned with fragrant blossoms, and a general 
 flush of beauty glows around. The young gosling, covered 
 with yellow down, and the duckling seek the pond or stream, 
 while the patient hen sits on the nest the appointed time, till 
 from the broken shell her brood issues forth, and clusters round 
 or beneath her sheltering wings. 
 
 " What is the world to them, 
 Its pomp, its pleasures and its nonsense all, 
 Who in each other clasp whatever fair 
 High fancy forms and lavish fancy wish ? 
 Something than beauty dearer, should they look 
 Or on the mind or mind-illumined face : 
 Truth, goodness, honor, harmony and love, 
 The richest bounty of indulgent love. 
 Meanwhile a smiling offspring rises round 
 And mingles both their graces. By degrees 
 The human blossom grows, and every day, 
 Soft as it rolls along, shows some new charm 
 The father's lustre and the mother's bloom. 
 Then infant reason grows apace and calls 
 For the kind hand of an assiduous care. 
 Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought, 
 To teach the young idea how to shoot, 
 To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, 
 To breathe th' enlivening spirit, and to fix 
 Ihe generous purpose in the glowing breast." 
 
 Thomson's Spring.
 
 SUMMER. 
 
 JUNE JULY AUGUST. 
 
 THIS is the warmest season of the year, and is personified in 
 the accompanying engraving by a laboring-man who has been 
 toiling in the hot sunshine, and is wiping offme sweat from his 
 face, fulfilling the scriptural declaration that by the sweat of his 
 brow he should eat his bread. On the left is the grass by which 
 the cattle are sustained through the coming wintry season ; on 
 the right is seen the grain by which human life is sustained 
 through all seasons of the year. In the distance appears a 
 thunder-storm, so prevalent during this time of the year, while 
 the haymakers and reapers are hastening to secure their crops 
 from the drenching shower. 
 
 Thomson in his " Summer" thus describes the influence of 
 the sun : 
 
 " The vegetable world is also thine, 
 Parent of Seasons ! . . . 
 . . . The expecting nations, circled gay 
 With all the various tribes of foodful earth, 
 Implore thy bounty, or send grateful up 
 A common hymn ; while round thy beaming car, 
 High-seen, the Seasons lead, in sprightly dance, 
 Harmonious knit, the rosy-fingered Hours, 
 The Zephyrs floating loose, the timely Rains, 
 Of bloom ethereal the light-footed Dews, 
 And softened into joy the surly Storms. 
 These in successive turn, with lavish hand, 
 Shower every beauty, every fragrance shower, 
 Herbs, flowers and fruits ; till, kindling at thy touch, 
 From land to land is flushed the vernal year. 
 
 ALMIGHTY FATHER ! silent in thy praise, 
 Thy works themselves would raise a general voice, 
 96
 
 SUMMER. 
 
 'ffe causeih the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man : 
 that he may bring forth food out of the earth.'" Ps. civ. 14. "In the sweat of 
 thy face shalt thou eat bread." GEN. iii. 19. 
 
 7
 
 SUMMER. 99 
 
 E'en in the depth of solitary woods, 
 By human foot, proclaim thy power, 
 And to the choir celestial THEE resound, 
 The eternal Cause, Support and End of all ! 
 
 'Tis raging noon, and, vertical, the sun 
 Darts on the head direct his forceful rays. 
 O'er heaven and earth, far as the ranging eye 
 Can sweep, a dazzling deluge reigns, and all 
 From pole to pole is undistinguished blaze. 
 In vain the sight, dejected, to the ground 
 Stoops for relief; thence hot-ascending steams 
 And keen reflection pain. Deep to the root 
 Of vegetation parched, the cleaving fields 
 And slippery lawn an arid hue disclose, 
 Blast fancy's blooms, and wither e'en the soul. 
 Echo no more returns the cheerful sound 
 Of sharpening scythe ; the mower sinking heaps 
 O'er him the humid hay, with flowers perfumed.'' 
 
 JUNE is the gay month of beauteous flowers. Over fields 
 and woods, on the mountain-tops and in the valleys, the earth 
 is wreathed with smiles. On the Western prairies, stretching 
 as far as the eye can reach, and where not a tree or shrub is 
 seen, stands a vast sea of grass and flowers. The trees are in 
 full foliage ; the shrubs and plants, standing in thick array on 
 garden plots, in secluded nooks, in fields and forests, now bloom 
 in beauty, sending ^delicious fragrance around. The waving 
 grain is fast ripening, bowing its head of milky kernels. The 
 corn springs upward ; its green stalks appear in long ranks, and 
 need the farmer's hand to hoe out the noxious weeds. The 
 busy bee is early on the wing, extracting sweets from flowers, 
 and with wondrous skill she treasures up her honeyed stores 
 for future use. The browsing herd, now in rich pastures, feed 
 to the full, and repay their owner with copious streams of 
 wholesome milk. The flocks are gathered and meekly endure 
 the shearing of their snowy fleece which goes to clothe the 
 monarch man. 
 
 JULY is usually the warmest month in the year, and for the 
 farmer the busiest and the most laborious. He now truly earns
 
 I X) SUMMER. 
 
 his bread by the sweat of his brow. The fields of grass are 
 mowed down, and the hot rays of the sun soon make the fra- 
 grant hay, which is stored away in barns or heaped up in stacks 
 for winter use; the fervent sun has ripened the grain into a 
 yellow hue. Harvest begins, and the broad fields are swept 
 over by cradles, or by wide machines ; the crops are gathered 
 and the barns are filled. 
 
 Tis noon, and the sun overhead pours down his melting, 
 conquering rays. Overpowered with heat, both man and beast 
 seek shelter from the burning sun under the shade of some 
 wide-spreading tree. 
 
 A various group the herds and flocks compose, 
 'Rural confusion ! On the grassy bank 
 Some ruminating lie, whilst others stand 
 Half in the flood, and often bending sip 
 The circling surface. In the middle droops 
 The strong, laborious ox of honest front, 
 Which if incomposed he shakes, and from his sides 
 The troublous insects lashes with his tail, 
 Returning still. Amid his subjects safe, 
 Slumbers the monarch-swain, his careless arm 
 Thrown round his head, on downy moss sustained; 
 Here laid his scrip with wholesome viands filled ; 
 There, listening every noise, his watchful dog. 
 
 Dark heavy clouds rise in the western sky. As they advance 
 they grow more dark and threatening. Nearer the storm ap- 
 proaches ; the fearful blinding flash gleams all around, and the 
 quickly-following thunder bursts forth in tumultuous, crashing 
 roar. Down pours the rain, and the roaring wind goes sweep- 
 ing by. The storm is past, the sun shines forth, and the glori- 
 ous rainbow appears in the east. 
 
 AUGUST is also a busy month for the farmer. Now is the 
 time to cut down the noxious weeds before their seeds mature. 
 The long green rows of luxuriant corn, and creeping vines 
 adorn the hills and vales, and give bright promise to reward the 
 laborer's toil. The first fruits of the farmer's labons now grace
 
 SUMMER. 101 
 
 his board ; the green and milky Indian corn, with the tender 
 bean, together form a favorite native dish. 
 
 The following is descriptive of summer in the torrid regions, 
 in which is the general breeze which blows constantly between 
 the tropics from the east, or the collateral points, the north-east 
 and south-east, caused by the pressure of the rarefied air on that 
 before it, according to the diurnal motion of the sun from east 
 to west : 
 
 " Now while I taste the sweetness of the shade, 
 While Nature lies around, deep-lull'd in noon, 
 Now come, bold Fancy, spread a daring flight, 
 And view the wonders of the torrid zone 
 Climes unrelenting ! with whose rage compared, 
 Yon blaze is feeble and yon skies are cool. 
 
 " See how at once the bright effulgent sun, 
 
 Rising direct, swift chases from the sky 
 
 The short-lived twilight, and with ardent blaze 
 
 Looks gayly fierce through all the dazzling air. 
 
 He mounts his throne, but kind before him sends, 
 
 Issuing from out the portals of the morn, 
 
 The general breeze to mitigate his fire 
 
 And breathe refreshment on a fainting world. 
 
 Returning suns and doubling seasons pass ; 
 
 Rocks rich in gems and mountains big with mines 
 
 That on the high equator ridgy rise, 
 
 Whence many a bursting stream auriferous plays; 
 
 Majestic woods of every vigorous green, 
 
 Stage above stage, high waving o'er the hills, 
 
 Or to the far horizon wide diffused, 
 
 A boundless immensity of shade. 
 
 Here lofty trees, to ancient song unknown, 
 
 The noble sons of potent heat and floods 
 
 Prone-rushing from the clouds, rear high to heaven 
 
 Their thorny stems, and broad around them throw 
 
 Meridian gloom. Here in eternal prime, 
 
 Unnumbered fruits of keen delicious taste, 
 
 And vital spirit, drink amid the cliffs, 
 
 And burning sands that bank the shrubby vales, 
 
 Redoubled day, yet in their rugged coats 
 
 A friendly juice to cool its rage contain." 
 
 Thomson.
 
 FALLEN ANGELS. 
 
 THE figures in the upper part of the accompanying print are 
 illustrative of the war in heaven recorded in the book of Reve- 
 lation, chap. xii. 7-9. 
 
 "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels 
 fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his 
 angels, 
 
 " And prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more 
 in heaven. 
 
 " And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called 
 the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world : he was 
 cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." 
 
 Satan, thus discomfited, is next seen in the form of a serpent 
 in the garden of Eden, and partly by lying, tempts Eve to eat 
 the forbidden fruit, in which she is afterward joined by Adam, 
 and thus both disobey their Creator. From that period, sin has 
 been in the world, and death by sin. Satan and his fallen 
 angels have ever since, plied their wicked arts to deceive, tempt 
 and ruin mankind. 
 
 On the right, near the central part of the engraving, is seen 
 one of the fallen angels, or demons (as they are sometimes 
 called), with a trumpet, stirring up a spirit of war and bloodshed 
 between contending parties, and scattering broadcast his lying 
 and incendiary document, thereby incensing each party to deeds 
 of hateful and bloody revenge. Another fallen spirit is seen on 
 the left, engaged in blowing out the bubbles of Honor, Fame, 
 etc., which the bystanders are endeavoring to grasp, but which, 
 
 when touched, vanish into air. 
 102
 
 FALLEN ANGELS. 
 
 "How art tJwu fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" ISA. xiv. 
 12. "The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.'" EPH. ii. 2. 
 "And there urns war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; 
 . . . that old serpent . . . was cast ottt . . . his angels were cast out with him." 
 REV. xii. 7-9.
 
 FALLEN ANGELS. 1 05 
 
 In the foreground, on the left, is seen a human being tired of 
 life, standing on the brink of destruction. A demon by his side 
 takes his arm and whispers into his ear, "Kill yourself, and thus 
 get rid of all your troubles !" He takes the satanic advice, and 
 with desperate resolution fires the fatal bullet into his brain. 
 He sinks into the awful depths below, with all his imperfections 
 on his head. On the right, is the poor worldling, who, on his 
 knees, is diligently scraping up all the shining dust within his 
 reach. He worships no other deity, having no aspirations after 
 anything higher. The accumulations of his life are hoarded 
 about him, much of it having been obtained perhaps, by fraud. 
 He is deaf to all the calls of justice and mercy, and has evi- 
 dently been persuaded by some evil spirit, that he will never be 
 called to answer for his crimes. 
 
 That there are two conflicting spirits the good and the 
 evil is a truth plainly set forth in the Revelation which God 
 hath given to mankind. As far as this world is concerned, this 
 antagonism commenced at the time our first parents fell from 
 their high estate by the transgression of the commands of their 
 Creator. This doctrine prevails, to a greater or less extent in 
 its substance, among all nations of whom we have any know- 
 ledge, whether ancient or modern, and it may be set down as a 
 portion of that "true light that lighteth every man that cometh 
 into the world." 
 
 As we have abundant reason to believe that good, or minis- 
 tering, angels take a deep interest in the welfare of mankind, and 
 rejoice in their happiness, so we have equal reasons for believing 
 that there are evil, or fallen, spirits who take pleasure in deceiv- 
 ing and corrupting human beings, making them enemies of God, 
 like themselves, opposing his will and violating his command- 
 ments. 
 
 The leaders of these contending forces appear to be Michael, 
 the archangel, and Lucifer, or Satan. Michael, in the account 
 given of the war in heaven, is placed at the head of the angels
 
 IO6 FALLEN ANGELS. 
 
 who kept their first estate ; while Lucifer is placed at the head 
 of the rebellion. He is designated by various names, his first 
 or original name, Lucifer, signifying "the light-bringer." He is 
 also called Satan, " the prince of devils," " that wicked one," 
 " that old serpent," etc. 
 
 The character of this being, so far as it can be drawn from the 
 Bible, is, that he was created holy. In the book of Job, one of 
 the earliest books written in the world, when speaking of the 
 Almighty it is stated that " he charged his angels with folly'' 
 This must refer to Satan and his angels, as it is not to be sup- 
 posed that such language could be applied to the holy angels 
 who kept their first estate. The first transgression of Satan 
 appears to be a mixture of unbelief and pride. In Isaiah xiv. 
 there is evidently an allusion to this fallen spirit : " O Lucifer, son 
 of the morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground, which 
 didst weaken the nations ! For thou hast said in thy heart, I 
 will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars 
 of God. ... I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I 
 will be like the Most High. 
 
 In John viii. 44 it is stated of the devil that he was a mur- 
 derer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth. This 
 may be inferred from the fact that he was the cause of moral 
 death to those whom he drew from their allegiance to God, and 
 that he was a liar appears from what he said to Eve ; his deceit 
 and hypocrisy are notorious, as he sometimes transforms him- 
 self into an angel of light that he may deceive the unwary. 
 
 The influgnce that evil or fallen spirits or angels may have 
 over the minds and bodies of mankind in our age we know not. 
 The ancient law term, "being instigated by the devil," may pos- 
 sibly be a verity. It is no mark of wisdom to discard the super- 
 natural in our day, for we are warned that our adversary is 
 abroad, walking about seeking whom he may devour.
 
 
 THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL, 
 
 OR TRIUMPH OF MERCY AND LOVE. 
 
 " Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.' 1 '' JAMES ii. 13. " Made peace through the 
 blood of his cross." COL. i. 20. " Mercy and Truth are met together ; righteous- 
 ness and peace have kissed each other?' Ps. Ixxxv. 10.
 
 THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL. 
 
 [The engraving is designed to illustrate an allegory quite recently furnished by 
 Rev. Dr. Robinson, entitled " The Heavenly Council" or, as it might be called, 
 " The Triumph of Mercy and Love." The prominent figures in the foreground 
 are Mercy, Truth and Wisdom, the attendant on Mercy. Truth, with the book of 
 God in her hand, seeing the cross, the symbol of the Atonement, at the gate, planted 
 by Mercy, approaches and embraces her. A portion of the choir of the hundred 
 and forty-four thousand, with crowns on their heads and palms in their hands, is 
 passing upward to stand before the throne of God and the Lamb. Having the 
 mark of the Lamb on their foreheads, Justice immediately passes them into the 
 regions of the blessed. The angels of God are looking over the battlements of 
 heaven, earnestly desiring to view the scenes passing before them.] 
 
 TAKE up the picture of an ancient allegory. Imagine the all- 
 seeing Creator when, in the midst of his counsels, he was deter- 
 mining whether he would issue the order to make man. The 
 world was already fashioned, so the little story goes ; but about 
 the middle of the sixth day, the Almighty paused and took ad- 
 vice. The morning stars were singing together over the beauty 
 of the new earth, as they saw it rolling in grandeur and majesty 
 beneath them. At this supreme moment, God summoned all his 
 attributes to draw nigh, and invited each in turn to say what 
 should be done as to peopling it. 
 
 Prudence spoke first. Looking forward into the years, she 
 foresaw (as all did) the inevitable catastrophe of sin. She gave 
 warning as to the care it would cost to mould and manage a 
 race so willful and rebellious as men would be if they were cre- 
 ated. She said, "Alas! we have had enough of that!" and 
 voted unhesitatingly " No." 
 
 Then came Justice. He remarked that he well understood that 
 the immutable law imposed upon him all the burden of inflict- 
 
 109
 
 1 10 THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL. 
 
 ing its penalties. These men would be disobedient, and so the 
 curse would have to fall upon them. He desired nothing so 
 much as to give God glory, but he hoped that this time there 
 might, if possible, be some method chosen beside that of public 
 executions for sin. He voted " No." 
 
 Truth was summoned next, and wished to be allowed to say 
 nothing, but, being pressed, declared that she feared there would 
 be trouble coming, if any new class of creatures were brought 
 into being, free-willed. For, ever since this awful rebellion of 
 Satan, it had been announced that God would punish every sin. 
 Satan was now loose, and he had denied and defied it. He 
 wanted to renew the old conflict. God would have to stand by 
 his word. She voted, "It is better No." 
 
 Love seemed a little anxious to interrupt. At any rate, she 
 felt surprised at so much foreboding in the council, for there 
 were Wisdom to plan and Power to carry out any sort of arrange- 
 ment. For her part she was strongly in favor of this new crea- 
 tion. Oh how beautiful the earth looked down there ! With 
 all her heart she voted " Yes'' 
 
 After this, Wisdom, Power, Holiness and all the rest took 
 part in the reverential discussion, and at the end voted vari- 
 ously. But while they lingered, the omniscient Eye discovered 
 that one meek and beloved Attribute, was silent. " And has 
 Mercy nothing to say ?" he asked benignantly. Thus interro- 
 gated, Mercy answered : " No world, no race, has ever been 
 given to me. In all these eternal ages I have never been per- 
 mitted to show how I, all alone, can glorify the adorable Father 
 of heaven. Power had the shining planets ; Wisdom had the 
 seraphs ; Love has now, even on this new orb, the beasts, the 
 fishes, the birds. Even Justice has the sinning angel. I have 
 none. Although man be created, he will repent. Let Wisdom 
 help me ; give this penitent sinner to me ; let me see if we can- 
 not bring him back, and outwork a new glory to our God." 
 
 Then they all joined their voices, and even Prudence changed
 
 THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL. Ill 
 
 her vote. They agreed that man should be created, and that 
 Mercy should have this world to herself. But they set up this 
 test : If she should bring into heaven one sinner redeemed, 
 whom Justice would admit unchallenged, then they would wait 
 to hear him sing, standing on the golden floor. And then, her 
 face all aglow, Mercy exclaimed : " One ! I will have a whole 
 choir of them, a hundred and forty and four thousand; and 
 when their new song begins, there will be a matchless silence in 
 heaven." 
 
 Then the Divine Word was spoken, and Truth was sent to 
 bear it to the earth. Man was created. Justice assumed his 
 awful panoply and stood at the door, for his keen eye caught a 
 glimpse of Satan, that old serpent, gliding in the garden. Mercy, 
 like a beautiful seraph, passed underneath the arch, Wisdom 
 mysteriously keeping her company. All the Attributes watched 
 the history in paradise, and the angels of God peered over the 
 battlements of heaven, earnestly desiring to look into it. They 
 saw the sin, the fall, the horror, the shame all done before the 
 two sisters could reach the spot. Adam and Eve were lost ! 
 
 And then they beheld oh, with what unutterable amaze- 
 ment ! that Mercy had just planted the cross at the gate, 
 while Wisdom entered to tell those two sinners what it meant. 
 At their side stood Truth. She had found that her unaided 
 power was of no avail to stay the catastrophe. She went to the 
 gate and saw the symbol of atonement. Mercy and Truth em- 
 braced each other when they met. Then Justice, at the gate of 
 heaven, drew a long breath of relief and whispered, " It is 
 done !" Presently the train of the redeemed began to come in, 
 bearing palms, and all wearing crowns. Justice looked each 
 one in the forehead, and there found the mark of the Lamb ; so 
 he passed them in. They all assembled on the glittering pave- 
 ment. There, by the side of the eternal Father, sat the Son, 
 Immanuel, the Prince, returned from the earth. 
 
 " And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
 
 112 THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL. 
 
 the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, 
 and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kin- 
 dred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us 
 unto our God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the 
 earth." Thus God showed he was rich in mercy to man, in the 
 display of the great love with which he encompassed us, and 
 thus he now forbears and invites, only saying, " He that cometh 
 unto me I will in no wise cast out." 
 
 The virtues or attributes of the Deity which are personified 
 in the heavenly council are thus stated or described in " Buck's 
 Theological Dictionary :" 
 
 " Prudence is the act of words and action according to the circumstance of 
 things or rules of right reason. Cicero defines it as 'the knowledge of what is de- 
 sired or avoided.' 
 
 " Justice is that perfection of God whereby he is infinitely righteous in himself 
 and in all proceedings with his creatures. 
 
 " Truth is described as opposition to falsehood ; evangelical truth as the sum of 
 Christian doctrines. 
 
 " Love consists in approbation of and inclination toward an object that appears 
 to us as good. 
 
 " Mercy is that disposition which moves to pity and excites to relieve those who 
 are in trouble. Wisdom can direct and guide aright and give power to perform, 
 whatever it wishes.
 
 THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL. 
 
 "O Death, where is thy sting?" I COR. xv. 55. "Carried by the angels into 
 Abraham's bosom." LUKE xvi. 22. " Verily I say, . . . To-day shall thou be with 
 me in Paradise" LUKE xxiii. 43.
 
 THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL. 
 
 ALEXANDER POPE, the author of this celebrated ode, one of 
 the prominent English poets, was born in London in 1688, and 
 began his literary or poetical career at the early age of ten or 
 twelve years. His translation of the "Iliad," his ."Essay on 
 Man " and his " Messiah " are among his ablest productions. 
 " The Dying Christian to his Soul," however, will, it is believed, 
 last longer than anything he has written. The occasion of its 
 being composed is said to be as follows : A literary club, consist- 
 ing of Addison, Pope, Steele and others, held its meetings in 
 London. On one occasion the merits of different kinds of poetry 
 were discussed. Pope having spoken in rather contemptuous 
 terms of modern religious poetry, Steele, who had written sev- 
 eral hymns of merit, retorted by saying that some who had 
 succeeded well in other kinds of poetry might find it more diffi- 
 cult than they were aware of to succeed in religious compo- 
 sition. Pope considered this observation as a challenge to 
 himself, and at the next meeting of the club produced the ode 
 above named. 
 
 " Vital spark of heavenly flame, 
 Quit, oh quit this mortal frame ! 
 Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying, 
 Oh the pain, the bliss of dying ! 
 Cease, fond nature ! cease thy strife, 
 And let me languish into life." 
 
 In the first line the poet recognizes the soul of man as a 
 divine emanation from Him who created man in his own image. 
 Wearied perhaps by pain and sickness, the dying sufferer longs 
 to quit this mortal frame or tenement. He pauses for a mo- 
 
 115
 
 Il6 THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL. 
 
 ment ; the thought arises that he is about to appear before a 
 Being of infinite purity. His own sins and imperfections flash 
 across his mind. He trembles, and would sink but for the con- 
 sciousness that he has an almighty Mediator before the throne. 
 Hope now springs up ; his Advocate has shed his own blood 
 for him, and his sins will all be washed aw'ay. His mind wan- 
 ders ; he lingers. His friends are around him ; fond nature 
 weeps; conflicting emotions of joy and grief are intermingled; 
 he implores that the contest may be ended, that he may be per- 
 mitted calmly to languish into life. 
 
 "Hark! they whisper; angels say, 
 Sister spirit, come away. 
 What is this absorbs me quite, 
 Steals my senses, shuts my sight, 
 Drowns my spirit, draws my breath ? 
 Tell me, my soul, can this be death ?" 
 
 Ministering angels, whose kinsman he is, are sent to convey 
 the dying saint to his home in heaven. Hark ! they whisper in 
 soft and heavenly accents, " Sister spirit, come away," we take 
 thee to the blissful realms on high. Strange feelings creep over 
 his mortal frame and his senses gradually depart ; his sight is 
 gone ; his spirits are overwhelmed ; the rattling breath slowly 
 leaves his body, and the soul instinctively inquires, " Can this be 
 death ?" 
 
 " The world recedes, it disappears, 
 Heaven opens on my eyes; my ears 
 With sounds seraphic ring. 
 Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly ! 
 O grave ! where is thy victory? 
 O death ! where is thy sting?" 
 
 The world passes away ; a new vision appears to him ; with 
 other than mortal eyes he sees the opening heavens, and he 
 hears seraphic voices. Ecstatic visions now appear, and he calls 
 for wings to bear him away. He mounts higher and higher, 
 and is borne upward by angelic spirits, triumphantly shouting, 
 " O grave ! where is thy victory ? O death ! where is thy sting ?"
 
 THE ASTROLOGER. ETC. 
 
 "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful -works of darkness ." EPH. v. II. "Saul 
 died for his transgressions, also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, 
 to inquire of it." I CHRON. x. 13.
 
 THE ASTROLOGER. 
 
 DIVINATION, WITCHCRAFT, ORACLES, FORTUNE-TELLING, ETC. 
 
 ASTROLOGY is one of the various forms of divination which 
 mankind have practiced in every age and nation in order to gain 
 a knowledge of the future. It was formerly an art much culti- 
 vated for judging or predicting human events from the situation 
 and different aspects of the heavenly bodies. The annexed cut 
 is from one of Holbein's drawings representing the astrologer 
 of his time, with his books and mathematical instruments, look- 
 ing upward at a celestial sphere suspended before him, contem- 
 plating the aspects of the planets that he might predict the for- 
 tunes of individuals and public bodies. 
 
 While engaged in these superstitious speculations Death en- 
 ters his room and is seen holding up a skull before him, and, 
 according to the lines underneath the cut, sarcastically reminds 
 him that by the contemplation of that sphere he will be able to 
 predict with more certainty his own fate and that of others. At 
 the top of the engraving is seen a crocodile by the river-side, 
 which is supposed to utter a cry of distress to attract other 
 animals within the reach of its jaws that it may devour them. 
 This reptile is considered an emblem of the fraudulent methods 
 often practiced by these pretenders to the divine power of fore- 
 telling future events. Many books and papers have been writ- 
 ten on the above subjects, containing lies, impositions, new 
 revelations, etc. Where the genuine spirit of Christianity pre- 
 vails all these works will be committed to the flames, as is seen 
 at the bottom of the engraving, illustrating Acts xix. 19. 
 
 119
 
 I2O THE ASTROLOGER. 
 
 Over the cut is prefixed, " Knowest thou it, because thou 
 wast then born ? or because the number of thy days is great ?" 
 Job xxxviii. 21. Underneath are the following lines : 
 
 Thou, by contemplating a sphere 
 
 Which heaven's bright face does show, 
 Events which shall to others chance, 
 
 Pretendeth to foreknow, 
 Tell me if thou of fates to come 
 
 A skillful prophet art, t 
 
 When to the tomb the hand of Death 
 
 Shall urge thee to depart. 
 Behold the sphere which to thy view 
 
 My right hand now does hold, 
 By that the fate which thou shalt find 
 
 May better be foretold. 
 
 Divination is defined by Webster to be " the act of foretelling 
 future events, or discovering things secret or obscure, by the aid 
 of superior beings, or by other than human means." Under 
 this head may be classed the heathen oracles of antiquity, 
 witchcraft, ancient and modern, soothsayers, possessors of fa- 
 miliar spirits, the magicians of Egypt mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures, and many things that appear in modern times which can- 
 not be explained, or accounted for, by any unaided power. 
 
 The oracles of antiquity were certain temples in which future 
 events were revealed to those who sought to know the will of 
 the gods through priests and priestesses. These persons were 
 supposed to be inspired by their deities with the power of fore- 
 telling that which was to come. They obtained such credit 
 among the people that nothing of importance was undertaken 
 without first consulting the gods through them. There were 
 several hundred of these oracles in different parts of Greece, 
 but the most celebrated were those of Apollo at Delphi and 
 Delos, and those of Jupiter, their supreme deity. The Delphic 
 oracle was at Mount Parnassus, the supposed residence of the 
 god Apollo. Here the priestess Pythia, being placed over a 
 fissure from which proceeded a sulphurous vapor, foamed at
 
 THE ASTROLOGER. 121 
 
 the mouth, tore her hair and flesh and uttered incoherent 
 words, which were put into verse and delivered as the answer 
 of the gods. 
 
 The Greeks and other ancient nations endeavored to obtain a 
 knowledge of future events by dreams and by observing omens. 
 They were very superstitious in this respect ; almost every ac- 
 cident or appearance of nature was believed to be an omen for 
 good or evil. For the purpose of obtaining prophetic dreams 
 they fasted, clothed themselves in white and performed various 
 ceremonies. At the sacrifices, when the beast was dragged by 
 force to the altar, when it kicked or bellowed, or was long in 
 dying, it was ominous of evil ; if otherwise, the gods were 
 considered propitious. The entrails of beasts were examined 
 in order to obtain knowledge of the future. The augurs among 
 the Romans were appointed to prophesy by the singing, chat- 
 tering and flight of birds, and by the appearance of quadrupeds, 
 etc. Toads were considered lucky and serpents unlucky omens. 
 Comets and eclipses portended evil and caused much alarm. 
 
 In our times there are many who, as mediums or oracles, 
 profess to enlighten on unknown things, and even to give reve- 
 lations from the dead. They are first put to sleep or have their 
 powers of mind or body stupefied or paralyzed. Those who 
 claim to have mesmeric power put their subjects into a kind of 
 sleep, and while in this state appear to have control of their 
 minds and bodies, leading them about at their will, and being 
 made to tell accurately of things of which they can have no pos- 
 sible knowledge except by some power superior to their own. 
 Public opinion is much divided on these manifestations. Some 
 contend that everything of this nature is performed by some 
 trick or imposition on the human mind, while others believe 
 that they are performed by supernatural agencies. As this 
 latter opinion cannot be proved to be false or unscriptural, it is 
 not absurd to believe it. 
 
 True Christians are those who act under the influence of the
 
 122 THE ASTROLOGER. 
 
 Spirit of God ; the wicked are under the rule of the spirit that 
 " now worketh in the children of disobedience." John, in his 
 Epistle, cautions his brethren against the evil spirits which are 
 abroad in the world in these words : " Beloved, believe not every 
 spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God : because 
 many false prophets are gone out into the world." Dr. Clark, 
 in his "Commentary on the Bible" says : 
 
 1. "I believe that there is a supernatural and 
 spiritual world, in which human spirits, both good 
 and bad, live in a state of consciousness. 
 
 2. " I believe there is an invisible, in which 
 various orders of spirits, not human, live and act. 
 
 3. " I believe any of these may, according to 
 the order of God, in the laws of their place of 
 abode have communion with each other and with 
 this world. 
 
 4. " I believe that there is a possibility by arts 
 not strictly good to evoke and have intercourse 
 with spirits not human, and to employ in a certain 
 and limited degree their power and influence. 
 
 5. " I believe that the woman of Endor had no 
 power over Samuel, nor that any incantation can 
 avail over departed saints of God, neither, indeed, 
 over any human spirit." 
 
 The object of the great enemy of mankind, who is " a liar 
 from the beginning," is to deceive, mislead and destroy. To 
 effect this purpose he endeavors to lower our estimation of the 
 Bible by representing it as rather an obsolete production, that 
 some new light and revelation may be expected, and, in short, 
 that we " are wise above what is written." Even in the apostolic 
 times there were false teachers and deceitful workers, " trans- 
 forming themselves into messengers of light." When Satan 
 appeared to our first mother, his pretensions gave him the ap-
 
 THE ASTROLOGER. 12$ 
 
 pearance of a good angel ; and persuading Eve that by following 
 his advice she would have an increase of light (wisdom and 
 understanding), he deceived our first parents and led them to 
 transgress. 
 
 The unbelieving Jews, under the Mosaic economy, were ac- 
 customed to seek information, counsel and help from diviners 
 and wizards of various kinds, which was expressly forbidden by 
 the law as worshiping false gods, and they even encouraged 
 each other in it. Isaiah speaks of those " who have familiar 
 spirits " and of wizards " that peep and mutter," evidently im- 
 plying that their revelations were given in some strange fantastic 
 manner, corresponding, perhaps, to the rappings and knockings 
 by which information is given in our time. 
 
 That there are orders of beings superior to man, both good 
 and bad, cannot be denied by those who believe that the Bible 
 is a revelation from God, and that they have some influence on 
 man's destiny is equally certain. How far this extends we 
 know not. In the Lord's Prayer we are directed to say, " Lead 
 us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," or, as it is ren- 
 dered in the original, " deliver us from the evil one" In other 
 passages in the New Testament, Satan is expressly called the 
 wicked one who " walketh about seeking whom he may devour." 
 " Resist the devil and he will flee from you." All these state- 
 ments and cautions against evil spirits who are about our path- 
 way show us that we are in continual danger and are liable to 
 be deceived, overcome and ruined.^* 
 
 There are even now numerous persons professing to give new 
 light by spiritual revelation, and many are drawn aside from 
 Christian truth by following them, forsaking the true God and 
 following lying vanities. It is true there is often great impo- 
 sition attending these manifestations, but behind this there is 
 evidence of some superior or supernatural power prevailing, of 
 which no satisfactory account can be given according to the 
 natural principles which we possess.
 
 124 THE ASTROLOGER. 
 
 Many of these manifestations are performed in literal as well 
 as moral darkness, and all Christians are recommended to have 
 no fellowship with the " unfruitful works of darkness." " If 
 any of you lack wisdom," says the apostle to his brethren, in- 
 stead of going to a medium or other source, " let him ask of 
 God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not." If any 
 are induced by friends or others to test the claims advanced by 
 mesmerism through mediums and others, let them go with the 
 prayer in their hearts, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver 
 us from evil." This course, which is the only one of safety, was 
 the one followed by Agassiz, the man of science and the great- 
 est naturalist of the age. In order to test the claims of mes- 
 merism by an experiment on himself, when at Neufchatel he 
 invited Mr. Townsend the mesmerizer for that purpose. He 
 commenced his operation by taking the hands of Agassiz, and 
 looked him fixedly in the face. " I was now firmly resolved," 
 says Agassiz, " to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, whatever 
 it might be, and, therefore, the moment I saw him endeavoring 
 to exert an action upon me, I silently addressed the Author of 
 all things, beseeching him to give me power to resist the influ- 
 ence and to be conscientious in regard to the facts." Let all 
 who come in contact with things of this nature, follow the ex- 
 ample of this able philosopher, calling upon God to be guided 
 aright and delivered from evil.
 
 BODY. SOUL. SPIRIT. 
 
 ANIMAL. IMMATERIAL. CELESTIAL 
 
 " 7^^ BODY -without the spirit is dead" JAMES ii. 26. "/ &?*>/ under my body, 
 and bring it into subjection." I COR. ix. 27. " The SOUL of the wicked desireth 
 nil." PROV. xxi. 10. "The Lord . . .formeth the SPIRIT of man." ZECH. xii. I.
 
 BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT: 
 
 ANIMAL IMMATERIAL CELESTIAL. 
 
 MAN has been described by some writers as a compound of 
 three different natures, often at variance and in strenuous oppo- 
 sition to each other; but by the law of Him who made all things 
 they constitute but one being, and while in their present state 
 they cannot exist without the assistance or co-operation of each 
 other. A celebrated ancient philosopher has represented hu- 
 man nature under the similitude or analogy of a chariot drawn 
 by two horses, one of excellent breed and of lively but uniform 
 motion, the other at times sluggish and obstinate, and often- 
 times rampant and disorderly, preventing his mate from going 
 forward in a proper manner. 
 
 The engraving is intended to illustrate the compound being 
 above mentioned, consisting of body, soul and spirit, who are 
 traveling together as one. The horse over which the driver is 
 holding the reins is the human or animal body, formed of bones, 
 veins and other vessels through which the blood flows. The 
 soul, of which the other horse is the emblem, is described by 
 religious writers as the seat of different affections and passions, 
 such as love, hatred, anger, etc., with sensations, appetites and 
 propensities of different kinds. The spirit, the immortal prin- 
 ciple within, which is of celestial origin, is represented by the 
 man driving the horses, and who is the life of the body and 
 soul, without which the proper functions cannot be performed, 
 however perfect they may be. The spirit alone possesses the 
 faculty of intelligence, understanding, thinking and reasoning, 
 
 127
 
 128 BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT. 
 
 and produces the power of speech, if accident has not impaired 
 the bodily organ. 
 
 The above doctrine appears to be in accordance with what 
 the apostle writes in I Thess. v. 23. He there prays for the 
 sanctification of this compound being in all its parts, powers and 
 faculties, which he terms their whole, comprehending everything 
 that constitutes man and manhood. 
 
 "And the very God of peace sanctify you 
 wholly ; and I pray God, your whole spirit and 
 soul and body be preserved blameless unto the 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 The phenomenon, so often seen, of the disjointed condition 
 of human nature and man's variance with himself has been 
 clearly visible in all ages, and ancient sages often puzzled them- 
 selves in vain to account for it. It was thought that the mind 
 or spirit and the body were unequally yoked together, and that 
 the former, being of celestial origin, would always be kept down 
 by its yoke-fellow, the body, in its aspirations and efforts for a 
 higher life. The wise son of Sirach, in the Apocrypha, seems 
 to have been imbued with this philosophy when he remarked, 
 " The corruptible body weigheth down the soul" 
 
 For these reasons the body has met with hard usage from 
 religionists of different schools. The bigots of antiquity and 
 many in modern times, regarding their bodies as clogs to and 
 polluters of their nobler part, have treated them with unmerited 
 scorn and cruelty. Revelation, properly understood, sets this 
 whole matter in a clear light. In it we see from whence sprang 
 the strange inconsistency in human nature, and from it we learn 
 that as neither the soul nor spirit can subsist in the present state 
 without the body, nor the body without the soul, therefore they 
 should live together in harmony, provided the inferior is never 
 allowed to control, but kept at all times in due subjection to, its 
 superior.
 
 BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT. 12C) 
 
 The spirit in the allegory is depicted as occupying a superior 
 position to his two companions, body and soul, whose office it 
 is to control their movements, keeping them in proper subjec- 
 tion to his will, being responsible for their actions, as is the 
 man in the chariot who holds the reins of the horses that 
 draw it. 
 
 An able writer, speaking of the strange disparity of the mind 
 and heart, calls the mind the intellectual faculties, and the heart 
 the turbulent tribe of appetites, passions, prejudices and way- 
 ward as well as the benign family of moral virtues. 
 
 " Not unfrequently there are yoked together minds and hearts 
 of very unequal natural strength. Some have stout hearts, but 
 feeble minds. What is called valor they possess in a high de- 
 gree, but their understandings are dwarfish. 
 
 " On the other hand, some men of large and powerful under- 
 standings are devoid of valor, and remarkable for their timidity. 
 Some persons are of strong understanding, yet too weak to re- 
 sist the impulses of passion and appetite ; and this moral defect 
 is ruinous to their character and happiness. A firmness of will 
 to obey the dictates of reason, despite of clamorous appetites 
 and passions, is the parent of everything morally good and 
 noble."
 
 THE LAST OF EARTH. 
 
 [JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.] 
 
 " THIS is the last of earth ! I am content," said the dying 
 statesman " the old man eloquent." This was indeed true in 
 his own case as an individual, but the final meaning in its full 
 force is yet to appear. The earth as it is at present constituted 
 will pass away and be no more. The last utterance of the dying 
 patriot, " I am content," was appropriately spoken by one who, 
 in the highest station his countrymen could give him, was in 
 some degree, like our divine Master, the friend and advocate of 
 the poor and needy, the downtrodden and oppressed. 
 
 In the accompanying engraving the earth is represented as 
 near the close of its history. In the centre is seen the end of 
 human power and glory the whitened remains of some one 
 who has figured largely in the world's history. He may have 
 been the conqueror of nations ; the bones of his war-horse lie 
 under him ; his sword and sceptre are broken ; his helmet and 
 crown are cleft asunder ; the chains and fetters by which he 
 kept his fellow-beings in subjection are scattered around in 
 fragments ; the bugle's warlike blast and the rolling drum call 
 to the feast of Death, and the brazen cannon will thunder over 
 the battle-field no more. 
 
 Above the skeletons are the shattered banners of the earth's 
 famous conquerors. Alexander, the Grecian warrior, having 
 conquered Europe, Asia and Africa, " wept because there were 
 no more worlds to conquer." He could gain no more victories. 
 He finally gave himself to every excess and frenzied passion, 
 became a cruel tyrant, killed his best friend, and finally died in 
 
 130
 
 THE LAST OF EARTH. 
 
 " ... be time no longer." REV. x. 6. "Babylon is fallen." REV. xiv. 8. 
 
 ''( Tj'Tv) .r^rt# ^ a place to spread nets." EzEK. xxvi. 14. "Hoiv are the mighty fal- 
 
 Itii, and the weapons of war perished." 2 SAM. i. 27. "Their memorial is per- 
 ished with them." Ps. ix. 6.
 
 THE LAST OF EARTH. 133 
 
 a drunken debauch. Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor, became 
 master of the world by his rapid and numerous victories, which 
 he describes in three words, "Veni, vidi, vici" " I came, I saw,^ 
 I conquered." He ended his career by assassination through 
 conspirators, one of whom was his adopted son. The Vendome 
 column, seen falling between the torn flags and the ruins of 
 Tyre, was that commemorating the victories of the French 
 under the first Napoleon, the great warrior of the age, who is 
 said to have been " the most energetic man in mind and body 
 that ever existed." His statue and the column which it sur- 
 mounts were recently leveled to the ground by an infuriated 
 populace. 
 
 In the background are seen some of the relics of antiquity ; 
 on the left, some of the marble pillars of Palmyra, supposed to 
 be the Tadmor in the wilderness, and believed to have been 
 built by Solomon, the king of Israel. Its splendid ruins, con- 
 sisting of temples, palaces and porticoes of Grecian architecture, 
 lie scattered over an extent of several miles. Near by, back of 
 the torn banners of victory, are seen a mass of shapeless ruins, 
 supposed to be those of ancient Babylon, which formerly had 
 its hundred gates of brass. Alas ! the great city, with its hang- 
 ing gardens and walls three hundred feet high, is but a heap 
 of rubbish, completely fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah xiii. 
 "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the 
 
 beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as 
 
 when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 " It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it 
 
 be dwelt in from generation to generation ; neither 
 
 shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall 
 
 the shepherds make their fold there ; 
 
 " But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ; 
 
 and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; 
 
 and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance 
 
 there.
 
 134 THE LAST OF EARTH. 
 
 " And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry 
 in their desolate houses, and dragons in their 
 pleasant palaces : and her time is near to come, 
 and her days shall not be prolonged." 
 
 Tyre, the queen city of the ocean, is seen on the right in its 
 ancient and modern ruins. It was one of the most celebrated 
 commercial cities of antiquity, remarkable for its extensive 
 commerce, great wealth and strong defences against its en- 
 emies. But notwithstanding their prosperity the prophet Ezekiel 
 uttered remarkable prophecies against them by the word of the 
 Lord. He declares, " I will cause the noise of thy songs to 
 cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. 
 And I will make thee like the top of a rock ; thou shalt be a 
 place to spread nets upon ; thou shalt be built no more," all of 
 which has become literally true, as no vestige of the ancient 
 city now remains. 
 
 " Dim is her glory, gone her fame, 
 
 Her boasted wealth is fled ; 
 On her proud rock alas ! her shame 
 The fisher's net is spread. 
 
 " The Tyrian harp has slumbered long, 
 
 And Tyria's mirth is low ; 
 The timbrel, dulcimer and song 
 Are hushed, or wake to woe." 
 
 In the Revelation of St. John the Divine a relation of what 
 is coming upon the world is given in figurative language. John, 
 in the beginning of his book, calls it 
 
 " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God 
 gave unto him, to show unto his servants things 
 which must shortly come to pass; and he sent 
 and signified it by his angel unto his servant * 
 John : 
 
 " Who bare record of the word of God, and of 
 the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things 
 that he saw."
 
 THE LAST OF EARTH. 135 
 
 In the eighteenth chapter he gives an account of " Babylon 
 the Great," and the judgment that shall come upon her for the 
 sins which she had committed. This revelation is given near 
 the close of the book, evidently typifying the consummation of 
 the history of the present world. She is to come to an end with 
 violence in accordance with what is stated : 
 
 " And a mighty angel took up a stone like a 
 great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 
 Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon 
 be thrown down, and shall be found no more at 
 all. 
 
 "... And in her was found the blood of 
 prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain 
 upon the earth." 
 
 In the foreground of the engraving are seen signs of the 
 coming dissolution : the earth is breaking up by some internal 
 commotion. In the background volcanoes are in action ; great 
 Babylon is being destroyed ; the fires of the general conflagra- 
 tion appear to be commencing. In the upper section, near the 
 angel with the great mill-stone showing how Babylon is to be 
 destroyed, is seen another angel. This being John says 
 
 "... set his right foot upon the sea, and his 
 left foot on the earth, . . . lifted up his hand to 
 heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever 
 and ever, who created heaven, and the things 
 that therein are, and the earth, and the things 
 that therein are, and the sea, and the things which 
 are therein, that there should be time no longer."
 
 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY LIGHT. 
 
 THE accompanying cut is indicative, in its upper portion, of 
 heavenly or divine light, which is beaming from above upon an 
 expectant company who are looking upward and onward. These 
 are called the people of God or children of light. By having 
 faith in God and confidence in his promises they stand on more 
 elevated ground and see things which others cannot see, because 
 they are spiritually discerned and " are hidden from the wise 
 and prudent in their own eyes." Those who are seen in the 
 foreground of the print represent those who have not that faith 
 without which it is impossible to please God. They of course 
 grope their way in comparative* darkness. Rejecting the 
 heavenly light, they use the light which they themselves have 
 kindled. This is signified by a lantern which, compared with 
 the light of day, gives but a dim and imperfect light on sur- 
 rounding objects. 
 
 The apostle John declares " that God is light and in him is 
 no darkness at all." " He is," says a celebrated commentator, 
 " the source of wisdom, knowledge, holiness and happiness no 
 ignorance, imperfection, sinfulness or misery." Darkness im- 
 plies all imperfection, and principally ignorance, sinfulness and 
 misery. Light is the purest, most subtile, most useful and the 
 most diffusive of all God's creations. It is, therefore, a proper 
 emblem of the purity and perfection of the divine nature. God 
 is to human souls what light is to the world ; without the latter 
 all would be dismal and uncomfortable, and terror and death 
 would universally prevail. And what is religion without an 
 indwelling God ? What is the soul of man without God's all- 
 
 136
 
 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY LIGHT. 
 
 "In thy light shall we see light." Ps. xxxvi. 9. "God is light." I JOHN i. 5. "All 
 :: that kindle a fire, that . . . walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks ye 
 have kindled . . . ye shall lie down in sorrow." ISA. 1. II.
 
 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY LIGHT. 139 
 
 penetrating and diffusive light ? Without these religion would 
 be an empty science, a dead letter, a system unauthorized and 
 uninfluencing, and the soul would be a trackless waste, full of 
 evil, terror and dismay, ever racked with apprehensions of 
 future evil. 
 
 Our Saviour in his discourse with Nicodemus says, " He that 
 believeth not is condemned already," ..." and this is the con- 
 demnation, that light is come into the world, and men love 
 darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For 
 every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the 
 light lest his deeds should be reproved." By this we learn that 
 unbelief is not a mere speculative mistake into which an honest 
 mind may be led, but that {^originates from the wickedness and 
 enmity of the heart of man to God ; so that this is the reason 
 of the unbeliever's condemnation and the test by which he will 
 be judged. Every one who loves and habitually practices any 
 kind of evil hates and shuns that light which detects and ex- 
 poses it. 
 
 Earthly light in the present state of mankind may have its 
 uses, but the all-important question is, " When after death what 
 will become of me ?" This light or science can give us no 
 information whatever about the state of the soul after death, 
 whether it will exist or cease to be. The philosopher is seen 
 in the engraving with his lantern and optical instrument looking 
 at the objects around him, and, it may be, endeavoring with his 
 companions to penetrate into what is beyond their present vision. 
 They may, indeed, be able to analyze the materials of which the 
 earth is composed, and have their opinions and form theories 
 respecting the origin and continuance of the world ; but after 
 all their investigation and acquirements, a cloud is resting over 
 them, and to all things of the greatest moment that concern 
 them as human and accountable beings they remain in darkness 
 still. 
 
 The apostle in writing to the Romans, speaking generally of
 
 140 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY LIGHT. 
 
 the heathen and the wicked, says they held the truth in un- 
 righteousness, " Because that which may be of God as manifest 
 in them, for God hath showed it unto them." 
 
 " For the invisible things of him from the cre- 
 ation of the world are clearly seen, being under- 
 stood by the things that are made, even his eternal 
 power and Godhead; so that they are without 
 excuse. 
 
 " Because that when they knew God they glori- 
 fied him not as God, neither were thankful ; but 
 became vain in their imagination, and their fool- 
 ish heart was darkened." 
 
 This appears to refer to the foolish manner in which most of 
 their philosophers discoursed about the divine nature, not ex- 
 cepting Socrates, Plato and Seneca. "Who can read their 
 works," says an able commentator, " without being struck with 
 the vanity of their reasonings as well as the stupidity and non- 
 sense when speaking about God ?" A dispassionate examin- 
 ation of the doctrine and lives of the most famed philosophers 
 of antiquity of every nation will show that they were darkened 
 in their minds and irregular in their conduct. It was from the 
 Christian religion alone that true philosophy sprung. The 
 apostle goes on in Rom. i. : 
 
 " Professing themselves to be wise, they became 
 fools ; 
 
 " And changed the glory of the incorruptible 
 God into an image made like to corruptible man, 
 and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping 
 things." 
 
 The finest representative of their deities was in the human 
 figure ; and when they had formed their gods into a human shape, 
 they endowed them with human passions and clothed them 
 with attributes of extraordinary strength, beauty, wisdom, etc.
 
 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY LIGHT. 14! 
 
 Not having the true principles of morality, they represented 
 them as slaves to the most disorderly passions, excelling in ir- 
 regularities, the most profligate of men, and as possessing un- 
 limited powers of sensual gratification. Not only was the 
 human form worshiped, but also birds, as the ibis and hawk, 
 four-footed animals, as the ox and calf, and cats and dogs, to- 
 gether with beetles, crocodiles and many other creatures. All 
 these were considered sacred and worshiped. 
 
 How men of such power and learning, as many of the Greek 
 and Roman philosophers and poets were, could give themselves 
 to such delusions is astonishing. It is, however, stated that 
 many of the philosophers of Greece and Rome had acquired some 
 indistinct knowledge of the being and perfections of the one 
 supreme God, and they speculated on subjects of this kind with 
 a measure of acuteness and plausibility ; yet they " glorified him 
 not as God," either with adoration or in the conduct of their 
 lives. Nor were they thankful for favors received ; on the con- 
 trary, they sanctioned by a hypocritical conformity, when at the 
 same time they despised, the stupid idolatries of their country- 
 men. But in consequence of not liking to retain the true God in 
 their knowledge, he gave them up to a reprobate mind. Thus 
 by declining to receive the light that cometh from above they 
 wandered and groped their way in midnight darkness.
 
 AUTU MN. 
 
 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER. 
 
 THE fall or autumnal season is personified by a female figure 
 in a matured form crowned with golden grains. She holds in 
 her right hand the " horn of plenty," and the various fruits of 
 the season appear in abundance at her feet. On the left are 
 seen some who are gathering apples, the most valued of all the 
 fruits produced by tree ; still farther in the distance one is seen 
 sowing wheat and rye in order that their roots may strike into 
 the earth so as to endure the coming winter, and start anew with 
 the earliest spring. On the right of the engraving is a repre- 
 sentation of the gathering of Indian corn, the most valuable 
 and important crop that grows on our country's soil. 
 
 " Whate'er the wintry frost 
 Nitrous prepared, the various blossom'd spring 
 Put in white promise forth ; and summer suns, 
 Concocted strong, rush boundless now to view, 
 Full perfect all, and swell my glorious theme. 
 
 .... Attempered suns arise, 
 
 Sweet beam'd, and shedding oft through lucid clouds 
 A pleasing calm, while broad and brown below 
 Extensive harvests hang the heavy head. 
 Rich, silent, deep, they stand, for not a gale 
 Rolls its light billows o'er the bending plain 
 A calm of plenty ! 
 
 These are thy blessings, Industry! rough power! 
 Whom labor still attends, and sweat and pain ; 
 Yet the kind source of every gentle art, 
 And all the soft civility of life. 
 
 But see the fading many-colored wood, 
 Shade deepening over shade the country round 
 In brown, a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun, 
 142
 
 AUTUMN. 
 
 "Thou crownest the year with goodness, and thy paths drop fatness." Ps. Ixv. n. 
 " The eyes of all wait upon thee ; . . . thou openest thine hand, and satis/lest the desire 
 of every living thing" Ps. cxlv. 15, 16.
 
 AUTUMN. 145 
 
 Of every hue, from wan-declining green 
 
 To sooty dark. These now the lonesome Muse, 
 
 Low whispering, lead into their leaf- brown walks, 
 
 And give the season in its latest walks. 
 
 The pale descending year, yet pleasing still, 
 
 A gentler mood inspires, for now the leaf 
 
 Incessant rustles from the mournful grove, 
 
 Oft startling such as studious walk below, 
 
 And slowly circles through the waving air. 
 
 But should a quicker breeze amid the boughs 
 
 Sob, o'er the sky the leafy deluge streams, 
 
 Till, choked and matted with the dreary shower, 
 
 The forest walks at every rising gale, 
 
 Roll wide the wither'd waste, whistle bleak. 
 
 Fled is the blasted verdure of the fields, 
 
 And sunk into their beds, the flowery waste 
 
 Their sunny robes resign ; even what remain'd 
 
 Of bolder fruits falls from the naked tree; 
 
 And woods, fields, gardens, orchards, all around 
 
 The desolate prospect thrills the soul." 
 
 Thomson's Seasons. 
 
 How beauteous is the forest hillside after the autumnal frosts 
 have touched its summer foliage ! Here is the bright scarlet, 
 there the golden-tinted leaf, and how many brilliant tints appear 
 amid the faded green, shade softening into shade ! But look 
 again. The bright leaves are falling scattered to the ground ; 
 their bright hues soon disappear and moulder back again to earth. 
 
 Toward the close of the first month (September) in autumn 
 it may be that the equinoctial gales sweep over land and sea. 
 The mariner with his fragile bark may be dashed upon the 
 rugged-pointed rocks and perish amid the foaming waters. On 
 land the tall tree is prostrated and the earth torn up by its wide- 
 circling roots ; the laded fruit trees are rudely shaken by the 
 winds, and fruits, falling untimely, are scattered around. 
 
 In October the autumnal fruits arrive at their perfection and 
 the flowers that remain have matured their seeds. On every 
 hand fruits of various forms and tints appear. The Indian corn 
 begins to burst its covering, and its golden kernels in thick-set 
 rows, bright in autumn sun, show that the latter harvest now 
 
 has come. The bounteous Father of us all crowns the year 
 10
 
 146 AUTUMN. 
 
 with goodness, his paths drop fatness and he " spreads a feast 
 for all that live." 
 
 The early frosts are come, making the insect tribes disappear. 
 The birds that sweetly warbled in the fields, taught by Him that 
 made them, now begin their flight to warmer climes. The 
 larger and wilder birds, in two martial converging lines, follow 
 their leader at the front in their long journey to the Southern 
 lakes. 
 
 The Indian summer arrives in the more Northern States and 
 the hazy, smoke-like air prevails around. The leaves are falling 
 fast, covering the pathway through the forest shades. In the 
 morning the trees and fields are whitened over with frost. The 
 hardened shuck and prickly burr now open and the nut within 
 falls to the ground, so that the small animals may gather winter 
 stores and live. 
 
 In November the few remaining fruits are gathered in, secure 
 from the frost and snow which cover the ground in the more 
 m/rthern parts. The bright and yellow corn is secured in bins. 
 Potatoes and turnips, the latest crop of all, are dug and pulled 
 from the earth, placed in warm cellars, or buried in the earth 
 Leneath the winter's frost. The farmer's barns and storehouses 
 are full and running over. 
 
 The foliage of the trees o'er hill and dale, and in the forest 
 wide, is nearly gone, and the seared leaves rustle beneath our 
 feet. The tall trees extend their giant arms toward heaven, 
 naked and bare, to meet the coming wintry blast. 
 
 When this the last autumnal month is closing, the appointed 
 festivities take place. Families that have been scattered wide 
 meet once more beneath the paternal roof. The thanksgiving 
 feast is now prepared and the festal board, in rich profusion, is 
 full. Oh, give thanks unto God, both young men and maidens, 
 who giveth food to all flesh, for his mercy endureth for ever. 
 They who are merciful seek out the poor and needy ; they feed 
 the hungry and clothe the naked.
 
 "Love one another , . . God is love." I JOHN iv. 7, 8. " Truly our fellowship is 
 with the Father and with his son fesus Christ.'' 1 I JOHN i. 3. "The cup we bless, is 
 it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" I COR. x. 1 6. " The angel of the Lord 
 encampeth round about them that fear him." Ps. xxxiv. 7.
 
 COMMUNION WITH SAINTS, 
 
 THE word communion, in its strict anfd proper sense, signifies 
 holding something in common with another. In a more general 
 sense it denotes conformity or agreement, friendly intercourse, 
 etc. Communion is also used for Lord's Supper. Communion 
 with saints signifies fellowship with them, and may be considered 
 as fellowship in all Christian duties, graces, love, joy, spiritual 
 and sometimes temporal interests, and also in sufferings. Com- 
 munion with God is defined to be that spiritual or divine fellow- 
 ship which the believer or saint has with God in his works, 
 word and ordinances. This communion cannot be interrupted 
 by any local mutations, and is far superior to all outward services 
 and ordinances whatsoever. It concerns the whole soul, all the 
 affections, faculties and motions of it being under its influence. 
 It is only imperfect in this life, and will be greatly enlarged in a 
 better world. 
 
 As man is at present constituted, it is of vast importance that 
 some outward act or symbol be adopted to show by what prin- 
 ciples he is governed some act which could be repeated to keep 
 in remembrance what has been done for him and his union 
 with his divine Master and all his followers. Universal benevo- 
 lence and charity to the brotherhood of mankind is one of the 
 main features of Christianity. A common meal was anciently 
 the universal way of expressing and ratifying friendship, and 
 these meals were regarded as having the nature of sacred rites. 
 The Communion or Lord's Supper not only expresses the union 
 and brotherhood of mankind, but their union with Christ. In 
 
 149
 
 I5O COMMUNION WITH SAINTS. 
 
 fact, they cannot have true fellowship with each other except 
 they first become united to Christ, eating his flesh and drinking 
 his blood that is, become one with him in spirit and mind. 
 This is plainly symbolized in the Communion or Lord's Supper. 
 
 The object of the annexed engraving is to show the com- 
 munion of saints as seen in some of its aspects. On the right is 
 seen among the Christians a brother laden with some affliction 
 which is common to men, represented by a large burden bound 
 upon him. He appeals almost exhausted and ready to sink 
 with the heavy load '<p9.n his shoulders. Two of his brethren 
 have come to his assistance, and with that brotherly kindness 
 which all Christians are bound to show to each other, relieve 
 him at once by bearing a part of his burden on their own 
 shoulders. In the front part of the group are seen two kind- 
 hearted women feeding and clothing a number of impoverished 
 children. On the left is a lame man walking along by the aid 
 of crutches. On the right is one whose sight is somewhat im- 
 paired. Both these persons, though their bodily organs are in- 
 jured, manifest a disposition to walk in the right way, and are 
 received and assisted as brothers. Some are rejoicing with 
 those that rejoice; others are weeping with those that weep. 
 The divine Master, in a spiritual sense, is represented in the 
 midst of his followers, having in his hands the emblems of his 
 body and blood, of which they all partake. As food and drink 
 are necessary to sustain human life, so the body and blood of 
 Christ must be partaken of spiritually in order to live a spiritual 
 life. An angelic being, seen in the background, shows that the 
 saints are under divine protection. [See " Protection of God's 
 Servants" page 208.] Under the symbol of a dove the influ- 
 ences of the divine Spirit are descending upon the whole as- 
 semblage of saints. 
 
 The society, or rather Church, which our Lord formed was 
 composed of all classes ; no one was repelled on account of his 
 past life ; publicans and prostitutes were freely admitted to it,
 
 COMMUNION WITH SAINTS. \$\ 
 
 and men of blameless lives who were bred in pharisaic sanctity 
 learnt in Christ's circle to hold intercourse with those whose 
 company they would have previously avoided as contaminating. 
 No one was excluded who chose to be numbered among his 
 followers. " Christ," says a celebrated writer, " compared him- 
 self to a king who kept open house and surrounded his dinner- 
 table with beggars from the highway, and yet in those who 
 became members of the society he was forming certain common 
 qualities might be observed, and it will be admitted on the 
 whole that they were the soundest part of the nation." 
 
 John, the forerunner of Christ, with honest humility declared 
 that he was no Messiah or prophet, but a mere voice in the 
 wilderness, crying, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is 
 at hand and its King is about to appear among you." John at 
 first did not seem to have known Christ, but it was revealed to 
 him that upon whom he saw the Spirit descending and abiding 
 in the form of a dove, the same is he that baptizeth with the 
 Holy Ghost. This took place at Bethabara, where John was 
 baptizing. The next day John, accompanied by two of his dis- 
 ciples, looking upon Jesus as he walked, said, " Behold the 
 Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world !" After 
 this, these two disciples followed Jesus. 
 
 Christ, the new Moses, the founder and legislator, demanded 
 followers, recruits for the great work he had in hand, settlers 
 for the new city that was to be founded, subjects for the King 
 he had announced himself to be. He did not invite them as 
 friends, nor even as pupils, but summoned them as subjects. 
 The great object of the divine society which Christ organized 
 and established, was that God's will may be done on earth as it 
 is done in heaven. For this purpose he endeavored to bind the 
 members of it together by the closest ties, and to accomplish 
 this, he called men away from their homes, imposed upon some 
 a wandering life, upon others the sacrifice of their property, and 
 alienated them from their former habits and associations in
 
 I $2 COMMUNION WITH SAINTS. 
 
 order that they might find a new home in the Church, instituted 
 the solemn initiation of baptism, and established a common feast 
 which was through all ages to remind Christians of their indis- 
 soluble union. 
 
 Christianity and philosophy are different things, yet both 
 profess to have the same object namely, the moral improve- 
 ment of mankind. The difference may be explained thus : 
 Both endeavor to do what is right, but philosophy undertakes 
 to explain what it is right to do, while Christianity undertakes to 
 make men disposed to do it. Wrong actions spring from two 
 causes bad moral dispositions, and intellectual misapprehen- 
 sions. Good men may do wrong because they may not have 
 the mental training and skill to enable them to discern the right 
 in some circumstances ; they may have good intentions, but 
 may employ wrong means of carrying them out. But suppose 
 the good feelings are wanting at the outset ; what will it avail 
 that philosophy should point out the right course? A man 
 whose impulses are bad, will follow that which is bad. 
 
 Something more than philosophy can furnish is necessary to 
 draw out the good impulses, to cherish them and make them 
 masters of the bad ones. The power to overcome evil is given 
 by Christ. It is stated that the first step toward good dispo- 
 sitions is for one to form a strong personal attachment. Let 
 him first be drawn out of himself. Next let the object of that 
 attachment be a person of striking and superior goodness. To 
 worship such a one will be the best exercise in virtue that a man 
 can have. Let him vow constant obedience to such a person 
 and mix and live with those who have made the same vow. 
 His heart will be stirred by new feelings, a new world will be 
 revealed ; and more than this, a new being will be felt within 
 himself, and a change will come over his mind which is appro- 
 priately called " a new birth." 
 
 Of two influences, that of reason or philosophy and that of 
 living example, Christ chose the last. He gathered all men
 
 COMMUNION WITH SAINTS. 1 53 
 
 into a common relation to himself, and demanded that each 
 should set him on the pedestal of his heart, giving a lower 
 place to all other objects of worship, to father, mother, husband 
 or wife. In him should the loyalty of hearts centre ; he should 
 be their pattern, authority and judge. Of him and his service 
 should no man be ashamed, but to those who acknowledge him 
 morality should be an easy yoke and the law of right as spon- 
 taneous as the law of life. 
 
 Christ says the great commandment of the law is to love God 
 with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself, and the maxim 
 for the practice of the latter is, " Do unto others as you would 
 that they should do unto you." In the sermon on the mount 
 we are even commanded to love our enemies. This at first 
 thought would seem almost impossible to do, but strength will 
 be given to perform this duty to him that wishes and longs to 
 obey his Lord and Master. The Christian, like his Master, has 
 a love for the whole human race ; his Master has died for them 
 and classed himself with them, delighting to call himself the 
 Son of man, and calling the meanest of mankind his brothers. 
 He associated by preference with the humblest of the race ; he 
 expressed no contempt for them, no suspicion that they might 
 be less dear to the common Father than the best and wisest, no 
 doubt that they were capable of rising to a moral elevation like 
 his own. " There is nothing," says an able writer, " which a 
 man may be prouder of than this ; it is precisely what was 
 wanting to raise the love of man to enthusiasm. . . . An eternal 
 glory has been shed upon the human race by the love which 
 Christ bore to it. ... The edict of universal love went forth. 
 . . . The power of love was given, ... so that the first Chris- 
 tians could say and feel that they loved Christ in every man. . . . 
 Christ believed it possible to bind men to their kind but on one 
 condition that they were first bound to himself. . . . Many 
 became so united or absorbed in him, that they could say, ' I 
 live no more, but Christ lives in me.' "
 
 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE, 
 
 SODOM AND GOMORRAH PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 
 
 LOT, the nephew of Abraham, had accompanied him out of 
 Chaldea, and had been his companion in all his journeying. 
 They both had large flocks, and their possessions of cattle had 
 become so great that the land where they dwelt together could 
 not sustain them. This gave rise to a dispute between their 
 herdsmen, to the grief of Abraham, who was the elder and su- 
 perior. For the sake of peace he proposed to Lot that they 
 separate, and gave up his right to make the first choice where 
 to locate himself in favor of Lot. 
 
 Lot, who appears to have been somewhat selfish in this mat- 
 ter, chose the best land, in the fertile plains of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, where there was plenty to sustain his flocks and herds. 
 Abraham of course had to take up a location in the hill-country, 
 where it was more difficult to find food for his flocks. Lot 
 seems to have cared more about obtaining riches than he did 
 for the moral welfare of his family, for he pitched his tent near 
 Sodom, whose inhabitants were well known for their great 
 wickedness. 
 
 From Lot's experience in this affair we shall see in the sequel 
 the folly of choosing for ourselves. We are too apt to be 
 guided by the eye of sense and only to study our worldly ad- 
 vantage, and by so doing we plunge ourselves into many diffl 
 culties and temptations. We never consider anything as good 
 for us which is not for our moral benefit. We should implore 
 divine guidance in all our affairs, and put our trust in that Being 
 
 154
 
 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE. 
 
 SODOM AND GOMORRAH: PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 
 
 " Escape for thy life ; look not behind thee ; . . . escape to the mountain." GEN. 
 xix. 17. "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and 
 fire from the Lord out of heaven." GEN. xix. 24..
 
 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE. 1 57 
 
 for the disposal of our persons and property, knowing that all 
 things will work for good to those who love God and keep his 
 commandments. 
 
 Lot probably became rich, and it appears had a city residence 
 and brought his family in, thus exposing them to the bad ex- 
 ample and influence so awfully prevalent in this wicked place. 
 It is recorded that Lot's righteous soul was vexed with the 
 filthy conversation of the wicked and their unlawful deeds from 
 day to day. He received information from two angels, whom 
 he had entertained in his house for a night (supposing them to 
 be travelers), that Sodom was about to be destroyed, and they 
 gave Lot an urgent warning to provide for his own safety and 
 that of his family by flight. He accordingly went out to his 
 sons-in-law and said, " Up, get you out of this place, for the 
 Lord will destroy this city." They, however, despised the 
 warning and perished in the general conflagration, and prob- 
 ably also the daughters of Lot to whom they were mar- 
 ried. 
 
 Lot was directed to flee to the mountains, but pleaded hard 
 to be allowed to reside in the little city of Zoar, a short distance 
 from his former place in Sodom. His request was granted, 
 and the little city was spared for his sake. Lot lingered, but 
 the angels took him by the hand and hastened him out of the 
 city with his wife and two daughters, " the Lord being merciful 
 to him." The injunction was, " Haste thee ; escape for thy life; 
 look not behind thee, lest thou be consumed." But his wife 
 disobeyed the command ; she looked back on the city they had 
 just left a look expressive of unbelief in the divine threatening 
 and of a lingering desire to return. Immediate punishment 
 arrested her ; she was instantly struck dead, and remained on 
 the spot, a petrified victim of divine displeasure, a visible monu- 
 ment in succeeding ages, and becoming in the sacred record a 
 warning to future generations. The following is from Genesis 
 xix. 23-28 :
 
 158 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE. 
 
 " The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot 
 entered into Zoar. 
 
 " Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon 
 Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out 
 of heaven ; 
 
 "And he overthrew those cities, and all the 
 plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and 
 that which grew upon the ground. 
 
 " But his wife looked back from behind him, 
 and she became a pillar of salt. 
 
 " And Abraham gat up early in the morning 
 to the place where he stood before the Lord : 
 
 " And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, 
 and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the 
 smoke of a furnace."- 
 
 The Dead Sea (or, as it is sometimes called, the Sea of Sodom, 
 the Salt Sea, the Sea of the Desert and the Lake Asphaltites or 
 Bitumen) has generally been understood to have been formed 
 by the overthrow of these cities. The hollow through which 
 the river Jordan runs and empties itself into the Dead Sea is 
 said to be a region of volcanoes. The sources of the sea are 
 bituminous and sulphurous ; lava and pumice stones are thrown 
 upon its beach ; in its neighborhood is a hot bath ; clouds of 
 smoke are often seen issuing from the lake, and new crevices 
 are formed on its banks. All these circumstances concur in 
 demonstrating that in this valley is a subterraneous fire. 
 
 The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities about 
 them is emblematic of the punishment which wicked angels 
 and men will receive at the last day. In Jude it is said, 
 
 " And the angels which kept not their first es- 
 tate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved
 
 LOT'S UNWISE CHOICE. 159 
 
 in everlasting chains under darkness unto the 
 judgment of the great day. 
 
 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities 
 about them, in like manner, giving themselves 
 over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, 
 are set forth for an example, suffering the ven- 
 geance of an eternal fire." 
 
 The angels were originally created holy, with noble powers, 
 and exalted to great eminence ; but " dissatisfied with their first 
 estate," they ambitiously and rebelliously left the station as- 
 signed them by the Creator and were " cast down " from their 
 holy habitation as in " chains of everlasting darkness " until the 
 judgment of the great day. And so in like manner was it with 
 the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were favored with 
 a most pleasant and fruitful country and with great prosperity, 
 but like the apostate angels they daringly rebelled against God 
 by giving themselves up to shameful and abominable lusts, and 
 God destroyed them and their cities by flaming fire from heaven, 
 giving an example of the fate of all those who perish in their 
 sins and a visible emblem of the eternal fire which will consume 
 all the ungodly.
 
 THE SAFE FOUNDATION. 
 
 THE prominent figure standing on a rock in the central part 
 of the picture represents Heavenly Wisdom calling upon the 
 children of men to receive instruction. She hath builded her 
 house of seven pillars on the rock of God's truth which abideth 
 for ever. This temple may be considered as an emblem of the 
 Christian Church, which stands on the eternal Rock, and like 
 that, can never be moved. It is like a rock in mid-ocean, and 
 all who enter it will find a safe refuge from every storm and 
 flood, and will be conducted to mansions above. Above the 
 seven pillared-temple, the gateway to the celestial regions, are 
 the mansions prepared for the righteous. 
 
 The temple is surmounted by a cross, thereby showing 
 its divine foundation. A heavenly light shines forth into the 
 surrounding darkness and enlightens the world. Seven -of the 
 Christian graces may be considered as pillars in the church or 
 temple. Faith, the first in order as given by the apostle, some- 
 times designates the whole of the Christian system. Virtue, 
 the next named, has been defined as the act of doing good to 
 mankind, with courage and fortitude in times of trial and perse- 
 cution. Knowledge denotes the improvement of all our facul- 
 ties, so that we may truly serve God, with the spirit of under- 
 standing to .discern the truth from error and to be able to in- 
 struct mankind. Temperance the proper use of earthly enjoy- 
 ments and the keeping of every sense and passion under due 
 restraint. Patience bearing trials with an even mind. Good- 
 ness to become Christlike. Brotherly kindness a spirit of 
 love and kindness to all mankind, particularly to all of Christ's 
 flock. Charity or love, the crowning grace of all, is signified 
 
 160
 
 THE SAFE FOUNDATION. 
 
 "The foundation of God standeth sure." 2 TIM. ii. 19. " The gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against it" MATT. xvi. 18. "Thou art my rock and my fortress." 
 Ps. Ixxi. 3. 
 
 11
 
 THE SAFE FOUNDATION. 163 
 
 by the dome rising and surmounting each pillar, connecting 
 them all into one building. 
 
 The angry tempest roars and the swelling billows dash and 
 foam around; the adamantine rock, resting on ocean's bed, 
 stands sure and steadfast. The building which was erected on 
 a sandy foundation is seen falling in ruins. On the floating 
 wreck some of its inmates still remain ; and instead of trying to 
 save themselves, they venture to remain on the wreck, regard- 
 less of the warning voice which can still be heard, and continue 
 their usual habits. The drunkards still drink the fiery draught: 
 one dances on the verge of perdition ; others, stupefied by strong 
 drink, will soon be swept off the raft ; some still continue to war 
 and fight. All these turn away from the heavenly light, reject 
 the offers of salvation and perish in the foaming waters. 
 
 Some of the inmates, seeing their danger, hear the voice of 
 Heavenly Wisdom and her messengers ; they see the white 
 waving flags of peace and the heavenly light beaming in the 
 distance ; they seize the ropes thrown by friendly hands for 
 their salvation ; they reach the shore and are conducted into 
 the pillared temple. 
 
 " Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings 
 
 of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto 
 
 a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. 
 " And the rains descended, and the floods came, 
 
 and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; 
 
 and it fell not : for it was founded upon a rock. 
 "And every one that heareth these sayings of 
 
 mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto 
 
 a foolish man, which built his house upon the 
 
 sand: 
 
 " And the rain descended, and the floods came, 
 
 and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; 
 
 and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Matt. 
 
 vii. 24-27.
 
 164 THE SAFE FOUNDATION. 
 
 Our Lord closes his sermon on the mount with the foregoing 
 striking and affecting comparisons. Dr. Scott in his commen- 
 tary on these verses says, " The persons of whom Christ spoke 
 are not hearers of Plato, Seneca, ancient philosophy, Jewish 
 rabbies or of modern deists and moralists : but they ' hear his 
 saying' and call him ' Lord, Lord/ and thus they profess to build 
 for eternity a house or refuge, in which they may be safe in 
 every approaching dismay or danger. .... One of the cha- 
 racters here described resembles a wise man who digs deep, 
 bestows pains, removes the rubbish, finds the rock, and on it 
 firmly lays the foundation of his house ; and then he proceeds 
 to raise the superstructure with good materials and sound work- 
 manship, till it is completed. In this he takes his abode, and 
 soon after, storms arise, the winds blow, the rains descend, the 
 floods swell and the house is vehemently beaten, but it stands 
 secure amid the fury of the tempest, because ' founded on a 
 rock.' .... 
 
 " But there is another builder, a foolish man, who professes 
 to build on the same rock, but for want of care and pains he 
 lays the foundation beside it, upon a quicksand. On this he 
 erects a spacious edifice which greatly resembles the other, and 
 which the superficial observer thinks equally stable. It may, 
 perhaps, have a fairer exterior; but when it is assailed by storms 
 and floods, it falls with a terrible crash, and the disappointed 
 builder perishes with it. This is the deluded professor of the 
 gospel, who hears and assents to it and learns to speak about 
 it nay, associates with Christians, adopts their creed, possesses 
 gifts, joins in sacred ordinances and seems to be one of them 
 but ' his knowledge puffeth up,' his faith is dead, and he is not 
 obedient."
 
 THE DRUNKARDS. 
 
 " Woe unto them . . . that continue until night, till -wine inflame them:' ISA. v. II. 
 " Who hath contentions ? Who hath babblings ? Who hath -wounds without cause ? 
 They that tarry long at the wine.'' 1 PROV. xxiii. 29, 30.
 
 THE DRUNKARDS. 
 
 THE accompanying engraving is from Holbein's drawing en- 
 titled " The Drunkards," and is, without doubt, a correct repre- 
 sentation of a drunken debauch in the central part of Europe, 
 as the actors appeared four centuries ago. The wine, or perhaps 
 beer, is probably of the " mixed " kind mentioned in the book 
 of Proverbs, or, as is now called, " compound liquors," into 
 which poisonous drugs are introduced to make it acceptable to 
 the taste of those who use strong drink. On the right of the 
 print, is seen one of these drunken wretches, who, having over- 
 loaded his stomach with the vile liquid, is discharging its con- 
 tents on the floor. Back of this figure another drunkard is 
 seen, inflamed by strong drink, with his hand extended, evidently 
 raising the maniac shout so often heard on these occasions. On 
 the left, is seen a poor besotted creature endeavoring to balance 
 a cup of foaming ale or strong beer. He seems to have re- 
 covered somewhat from the excitement caused by his drunken- 
 ness, and his countenance shows that he is entering into the 
 " stupid state " of drunkenness. On the right, Death is seen 
 having one of the company by the hair of the head, engaged in 
 his appropriate business of turning the fatal liquor down his 
 throat. Over the Holbein cut is what may be called "the 
 drunkard's coat of arms." It is emblazoned with a skull and 
 cross-bones. The supporters are two of its victims one of 
 lager, the other of rum, or brandy. The motto " Fermentation 
 and Fire " signifies the action by which strong drink is made. 
 The engraving in the lower part is a representation of the 
 " Four Downward Steps of Intemperance," commencing with 
 
 167
 
 1 68 THE DRUNKARDS. 
 
 the fashionable sjcial glass, then the saloon or dram-shop, which 
 soon brings him to the state of a confirmed drunkard, the third 
 step. The fourth and last with the victim is pauperism and 
 death. 
 
 A scriptural quotation appears over the Holbein cut of " The 
 Drunkards," with two stanzas underneath : 
 
 "And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess." Eph. v. 18. 
 
 With wine's excess your soul to drench, 
 
 Ye mortal throng, forbear, 
 And luxury of evey kind, 
 
 For raging lust is there. 
 
 Lest Death assail you unprepared, 
 
 Oppress'd with sleep and wine, 
 And, in a vomit foul, your soul 
 
 Compel you to resign. 
 
 " Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who hath 
 contentions ? who hath babbling ? who hath 
 wounds without cause? who hath redness of 
 eyes? 
 
 " They that tarry long at the wine ; they that 
 go to seek mixed wine. 
 
 " Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, 
 when it giveth his color in the cup, when it 
 moveth itself aright. 
 
 "At the last it biteth like a serpent, and 
 stingeth like an adder 
 
 " Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in 
 the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the 
 top of a mast. 
 
 " They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I 
 was not sick ; they have beaten me, and I felt it 
 not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet 
 again." Prov. xxiii. 29-35. 
 
 The celebrated Dr. Lyman Beecher, in his sermon on intem- 
 perance about half a century ago, in commenting on the above
 
 THE DRUNKARDS. 169 
 
 verses said, "None but the pencil of inspiration could have 
 thrown upon the canvas so many and such vivid traits of this 
 complicated evil in so short a compass. It exhibits its woes 
 and sorrows, contentions and babblings, wounds and redness of 
 eyes ; its smiling deceptions in the beginning and serpent bite 
 in the end ; the helplessness of its victims, like one cast out on 
 the deep ; the danger of destruction, like one that sleeps on the 
 top of a mast ; the unavailing lamentations of the captive and 
 the giving up of hope and effort. ' They have stricken me, and 
 when I was not sick ; they have beaten me, and I felt it not ; 
 when shall I awake ? I will seek it again ' again be stricken 
 and beaten ; again float on the deep and sleep upon the mast. 
 
 " The soldier, approaching the deadly breach, and seeing rank 
 after rank of those that preceded him swept away, hesitates 
 sometimes, and recoils from certain death. But men behold 
 the effects upon others going in given courses ; they see them 
 begin, advance and end in confirmed intemperance, and unap- 
 palled rush heedlessly upon the same ruin. A part of this 
 heedlessness arises from the undefined nature of the crime in 
 its early stages, and the ignorance of men concerning what may 
 be termed the experimental indications of its approach. 
 
 " Intemperance is a state of internal sensation, and the indica- 
 tions may exist long and multiply, and the subject of them not 
 be aware that they are the signs of intemperance. It is not un- 
 frequent that men become irreclaimable in their habits and yet 
 
 suspicion no danger Intemperance is the great sin of 
 
 our land, and is coming in upon us like a flood with our almost 
 boundless prosperity. If anything shall defeat the hopes of the 
 world which hang upon our experiment of civil liberty, it is that 
 river of fire which is rolling through the land, destroying the 
 vital air and extending an atmosphere of death. 
 
 " The effect of ardent spirits on the brain and the members 
 of the body is among the last results of intemperance, and is 
 the destructive part of the sin. It is the moral ruin it works
 
 THE DRUNKARDS. 
 
 upon the soul that gives it the denomination of giant- wicked- 
 ness. If all who are intemperate drank to insensibility, and on 
 awaking could arise from the debauch with intellect and heart 
 uninjured, it would strip the crime of its most appalling evil. ' It 
 is a matter of certainty,' says Dr. Beecher, ' that habitual tip- 
 pling is worse than periodical drunkenness. The poor Indian 
 who drinks himself dead once a month all but simply breath- 
 ing will outlive for years the man who drinks little and often, 
 and is not, perhaps, suspected of intemperance.' 
 
 " It may be said, however, that there are instances in which 
 some persons who have indulged themselves in the moderate 
 iisc, as it has been called, of spirituous liquors, have lived to be 
 somewhat advanced in years. But among the woes which the 
 Scriptures denounce against this crime one is, ' Woe unto them 
 that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to consume 
 strong drink.' These are the captains in the bands of intem- 
 perance, and will drink two generations of youths into their 
 graves before they lie down by their side. The Lord deliver 
 us from strong-headed men who can move the tongue when all 
 are mute around them, can keep the eye open when all are 
 asleep, and can walk from the scene of riot while their com- 
 panions must be aided or wait until the morning." 
 
 Nature for a time may hold out against this sapping and 
 mining of the constitution which daily tippling is carrying on ; 
 but first or last this foe of life will bring to the assault enemies 
 of its own formation, before whose power the feeble and mighty 
 will alike be unable to stand. All such occasional exhilaration 
 of spirits by intoxicating liquors as produces levity, foolish jest- 
 ing and the loud laugh is intemperance. The cheerfulness of 
 health, excitement of industry and social intercourse is all that 
 nature demands or health or purity permits. A resort to ardent 
 spirits as a means of invigorating the intellect, or of pleasurable 
 sensation, is also intemperance. Whatever you gain through 
 stimulus, by way of anticipation, is only so much intellectual
 
 THE DRUNKARDS. I/I 
 
 ^nd vital power cut off at the latter end of life. It is this occult 
 intemperance of daily drinking which generates a host of 
 bodily infirmities. 
 
 Of all the ways to destruction which the teet of deluded 
 mortals tread, that of the intemperate is one of the most dreary 
 and terrific. The demand for artificial stimulus to supply the 
 deficiencies of healthful aliment, is like the rage of thirst, and 
 the ravenous demand of famine. It is famine ; for the artificial 
 excitement has become now as essential to strength and cheer- 
 fulness, as simple nutrition once was. 'But Nature, taught by 
 habit to require what once she did not need, demands gratifica- 
 tion with decision inexorable as death, and to most men as irre- 
 sistible. The denial is a living death. The stomach, head, heart, 
 arteries, veins and every muscle and nerve feel the exhaustion, 
 and the restless, unutterable wretchedness puts out the light of 
 life, curtains the heavens and carpets the earth with sackcloth. 
 All these forms of sinking nature call upon the wretched man 
 with trumpet tongue to dispel this darkness and raise the ebbing 
 tide of life by the application of the cause which produced his 
 woes, which, after a momentary alleviation, will renew them 
 again with deeper terrors and more urgent importunity ; for the 
 repetition at each time renders the darkness deeper and the tor- 
 ments of self-denial more irresistible and intolerable." 
 
 There is great exertion in our day to stop this tide of death, 
 and much has been accomplished in many places, but the main 
 struggle is yet to come. Every friend of humanity and well- 
 wisher of the human race is called upon to use all the influence 
 which he possesses to remove the greatest curse that broods 
 over our country. Nothing good or great can be accomplished 
 without labor and self-denial. The great obstruction to the 
 cause of temperance, is the persistence of following the custom 
 of setting intoxicating liquors before those called together on 
 public and social occasions. Even assemblies of clergymen, 
 who meet in their social relations, sometimes set the bad ex-
 
 172 THE DRUNKARDS. 
 
 ample to those who look to them for guidance and abstinence 
 from everything that can intoxicate. This practice from such 
 parties, however moderately they may drink, certainly gives a 
 kind of sanction to their people for drinking-parties of all kinds. 
 
 How contrary all this is to the spirit of St. Paul, the apostle 
 to the Gentiles, who would " have eaten no flesh to the end of 
 time, lest he should make his brother to offend "! How, then, 
 can men sin against their brethren and violate the law of love 
 without deeply offending Him who freely gave up his life for 
 their salvation ? What evidence have they of being Christians, 
 when they act so contrary to the spirit of their divine Master ? 
 
 The enemies of God and mankind are strong, but not uncon- 
 querable. We are bound to sustain all lawful and legal means 
 to suppress the liquor traffic by which human beings are tempted, 
 poisoned, debased and ruined in soul and body. The time has 
 arrived for effective action. Let all friends of God and human- 
 ity unite in firm array and " move on the works " of the enemy, 
 carry their batteries by storm, destroy their implements and 
 munitions of death and plant the standard of " Prohibition " 
 above the ruins. 
 
 Ye sons of Temperance, wake to glory ! 
 
 Hark ! hark ! what myriads bid you rise 
 Your children, wives and grandsires hoary, 
 
 Behold their tears and hear their cries. 
 Shall hateful dram-shops, mischief breeding, 
 
 Sustained by a soul- destroy ing band, 
 
 Debase and desolate the land, 
 While peace and liberty lie bleeding? 
 
 Stand for the right, ye brave ! 
 The sword of truth unsheath ; 
 
 March on, march on, all hearts resolved 
 To stay the tide of death.
 
 THE DOWNWARD RAILWAY. 
 
 " They have made them crooked paths." ISA. lix. 8. " Walk in paths not cast up." 
 JER. xviii. 15. "The man that -wandereth out of the way, . . ." PROV.. xxi. lo. 
 "Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse" 2 TlM. iii. 13.
 
 THE DOWNWARD RAILWAY. 
 
 " Blessed is the man that wrflketh not in the counsel of the 
 ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the 
 seat of the scornful." 
 
 THE above, the first verse of the first Psalm, is a forcible de- 
 scription of three stages of a sinful life in one who takes the 
 downward path, or railway, to the regions of darkness and per- 
 dition. The three forms of guilt mentioned above are repre- 
 sented in the engraving by three trains of railway cars passing 
 down a mountain, each train occupying one section or division. 
 There are three characters described here, each exceeding the 
 other in sinfulness. It will be perceived by looking at the en- 
 graving that the section of the railway named " Walking into 
 Temptation " runs nearly on a level, the next, " Standing with 
 Sinners," runs a descent much lower, while the third descent is 
 quite precipitous, and, of course, the last train goes forward with 
 great velocity. 
 
 The ungodly are those " who are without God in the world," 
 who despise spiritual blessings and live without any due regard 
 to God or religion, as all unconverted men do. " The counsel 
 of the ungodly " signifies the maxims and principles of worldly 
 men who form their plans and calculate advantages or dis- 
 advantages in their several pursuits, without bringing eternal 
 things and the favor or displeasure of God into the account, and 
 " walking in his counsel " signifies living on these principles. To 
 " stand in the way of sinners " seems to mean those who add 
 to their ungodliness gross immoralities and the practice of vices 
 which gradually overcome the sense of shame and remorse of 
 conscience, till a quiet, rarely interrupted by convictions, is su- 
 perinduced. 
 
 175
 
 1/6 THE DOWNWARD RAILWAY. 
 
 The sinner who is guilty of the foregoing transgressions is 
 prepared for the last stage of depravity " sitting in the seat of 
 the scornful." The scornful are those who encourage them- 
 selves and each other in ungodliness and wickedness by infidel 
 and atheistical tenets, and have recourse to corrupt principles to 
 bear them out in corrupt practices, and are given up to a blinded 
 and deluded mind, as a punishment for their conduct in follow- 
 ing the impulse of a wicked heart. To " sit in the seat of the 
 scornful " is to become teachers and apostles of infidelity, and 
 to ridicule, with all the genius, wit and sense which they pos- 
 sess, the doctrine, precepts and worshipers of God. 
 
 The corresponding relations in the foregoing account are : i. 
 He who walks according to the counsel of the ungodly will soon 
 (2) stand to look on the way of sinners, and thus, being off his 
 guard, he will soon be a partaker of their evil deeds. 3. He 
 who has abandoned himself to transgression will, in all proba- 
 bility, soon be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and sit down 
 with the scorner, and endeavor to turn religion to ridicule. The 
 last correspondence is: I. The seat answers to sitting of the 
 scornful. 2. The way answers to the standing of the sinner. 
 3. The counsel answers to the walking of the ungodly. 
 
 The great lesson to be learned from the whole is that sin is 
 progressive one evil propensity or act leads to another. He 
 who acts by bad counsel may soon do evil deeds, and he who 
 abandons himself to evil doings may end his life in total apos- 
 tasy from God. When lust is conceived it brings forth sin, 
 and when sin is finished it brings forth death. As the blessed- 
 ness of the man is great who avoids the ways and workers of 
 iniquity, so his wretchedness is great who acts on the contrary. 
 " To him," says a commentator, " we must reverse the words of 
 David, 'Cursed is the man who walketh in the counsel of the 
 ungodly, who standeth in the way of sinners and sitteth in the 
 seat of the scornful.' 
 
 " The tendency of corrupt nature is from bad to worse. Men
 
 THE DOWNWARD RAILWAY. \-JJ 
 
 first forget and neglect God and his worship and act from 
 worldly maxims and principles ; then they venture gross and 
 scandalous crimes, and at length settle into infidelity, or an im- 
 pious contempt of religion, and become the avowed and deter- 
 mined enemy of its doctrines and precepts. None know when 
 they commence to shake off the impressions of a religious edu- 
 cation, or venture to neglect known duty, and how far they may 
 be left to proceed. When inward or outward restraints are sur- 
 mounted, they may rush downward into impiety and iniquity 
 with accelerated velocity." 
 
 12
 
 THE MISER. 
 
 AVARICE, COVETOUSNESS, ETC. 
 
 IN the central part of the accompanying print is a representa- 
 tion of one of Holbein's expressive drawings, entitled "The 
 Miser," who is represented in a strong vaulted room with iron 
 bars, counting over his loved treasures. Although he has taken 
 every precaution to keep out intruders, it appears that Death is 
 more than a match for the miser, who starts up in an agony 
 of distress to see the unwelcome visitor grasp his money with 
 his bony hand and put the shining treasure into a large dish. 
 Death is evidently laughing at the outcry which proceeds from 
 the lover of money ; he has set the hour-glass on the table be- 
 fore him, signifying that the miser's time has expired, and there 
 must be no delay. Above the Holbein cut is a reduced portrait 
 of Daniel Dancer, the miser, taken from an English publication, 
 holding his bag of money, and having on, it is presumed, his 
 cighteen-penny hat. [See paragraph at the end of this article.] 
 In the lower part of the cut is seen an old man who has his 
 bags and string box full of money, but wants more. He there- 
 fore bends over to the earth and rakes together as much more 
 as he can before he leaves the world. The following text is 
 put above and two stanzas, below the Holbein cut : 
 
 " . . . . Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be 
 required of thee : then whose shall those things 
 be which'thou hast provided?" Luke xii. 20. 
 
 Thus shall Death, with iron hand, 
 
 The griping wretch subdue ; 
 And in the narrow grave entomb'd 
 
 To-morrow thee shall view. 
 178
 
 THE MISER. 
 
 " There is that -withholdeth more than is meet, bue it tendeth to poverty." PROV. xi. 
 24. "He heapeth up riches, and knowetk not who shall gather them." Ps. xxxix. 6.
 
 THE MISER. l8l 
 
 Therefore, when of life depriv'd, 
 
 Shall from hence begone, 
 What successor shall thy vast heaps 
 
 Of endless riches own ? 
 
 These lines declare the fate of one who accumulated riches 
 for his own private benefit. He is pertinently asked, when 
 Death has taken him away, who will have the treasures he has 
 accumulated. The miser, indeed, " heapeth up riches and 
 knoweth not who shall gather them." 
 
 A miser is defined to be one who is covetous to extremity, 
 who denies himself even the comforts of life to accumulate 
 wealth. " Avarice," says Saurin, the celebrated French preacher, 
 " may be considered in two points of light. It may be con- 
 sidered in those men, or rather those public blood-suckers, or, 
 as the Roman emperor Vespasian called them, those sponges of 
 society who, infatuated with this passion, seek after riches as 
 the supreme good, determined to acquire it by any method, and 
 consider the ways that lead to wealth, whether legal or illegal, 
 as the only road for them to travel. 
 
 " Avarice, however, must be considered in a second point of 
 light. It not only consists in committing bold crimes, but in 
 holding mean ideas and practicing low methods. It consists in 
 not only omitting to serve God, but in trying to associate the 
 service of God with that of Mammon." 
 
 How many forms doth avarice take to disguise itself from 
 the man who is guilty of it, and who will be drenched in it until 
 he dies ! Sometimes it is prudence which he requires, not only 
 for his present wants, but such as he may have for the future. 
 Sometimes it is chanty which requires him not to give society ex- 
 amples of prodigality and parade. Sometimes it is parental love, 
 obliging him to save something for his children. Sometimes it 
 is circumspection, which requires him not to supply people who 
 will make an ill use of what they get. Sometimes he claims 
 that it is conscience which convinces him that he has done all
 
 1 82 THE MISER. 
 
 that duty requires as to alms-giving. Sometimes it is necessity 
 which obliges him to repel artifice by artifice. Sometimes it 
 may be equity that every one should enjoy the fruit of his own 
 labors and that of his ancestors. 
 
 Covetousness is defined to be an unreasonable desire after 
 that which we have not, and a dissatisfaction with that which we 
 have. It may be further considered as follows : I. An anxious 
 care about the things of this world. 2. Sinister and illegal 
 ways of obtaining wealth. 3. A rapacity in getting. 4. A 
 tenaciousness in keeping. " It is a vice which marvelously 
 prevails and insinuates itself into the heart of man, and for these 
 reasons : it often bears a near resemblance to virtue, brings with 
 it many plausible reasons and raises man to a state of reputa- 
 tion on account of his riches. It is unjust only to covet. It is 
 cruel: the covetous must harden themselves against a thousand 
 plaintive voices. It is foolish breaks the rest and unfits for the 
 performance of duty. It is unprecedented in all the examples 
 of virtue mentioned in the Scriptures ; one, indeed, spoke un- 
 advisably with his lips, another cursed and swore, a third was 
 in a passion and a fourth committed adultery ; but which of the 
 saints ever lived in a habit of covetousness ? Lastly, it is idol- 
 atry (Col. iii. 5) the idolatry of the heart, where, as in a temple, 
 the wretch excludes God, sets up gold instead of him and places 
 that confidence in it which belongs to the great Supreme alone." 
 
 Avarice is a principle not only detestable in itself, but preju- 
 dicial to the possessor of it, inasmuch as it alienates the mind 
 from humanity and frequently leads to oppression and dishon- 
 esty, and, what is worse, a disorder hardly ever cured. " Other 
 passions have their holidays, but avarice never suffers its votaries 
 to rest." 
 
 " Oh, cursed lust of gold ! when for thy sake 
 The fool throws up his interests in both worlds, 
 First starv'd in this, then damn'd in that to come." 
 
 BLAIR. 
 
 " Joshua," says Ambrose, " could stop the course of the sun,
 
 THE MISER. 183 
 
 but all his power could not stop the course of avarice. The 
 sun stood still, but avarice went on. Joshua obtained a victory 
 when the sun stood still ; but when avarice was at work, Joshua 
 was defeated." Several remarkable instances of the intensity 
 of this passion are on record in modern times. One was a per- 
 son by the name of Elwes, in England. His mother, it is 
 stated, though she was left nearly one hundred thousand pounds 
 by her husband, absolutely starved herself to death. Elwes, 
 at his house at Stoke, Suffolk, to save the expense of a fire, 
 would walk about the remains of an old green-house or sit with 
 the servant in the kitchen. In the advance of the season his 
 morning's employment was to pick up chips, bones, or any- 
 thing he could find, and carry them home in his pocket. He 
 would eat almost anything to save expense, and would eat 
 game in the last stage of putrefaction, and meat no other person 
 would touch. This was at a time when he was worth eight 
 hundred thousand pounds. In his old age it is related that fre- 
 quently he was heard as if struggling with some one in his 
 chamber, and crying out, " I will keep my money ; nobody 
 shall rob me of my property." 
 
 Daniel Dancer, Esq., who lived about the same period with 
 Elwes, was remarkable for the same miserly disposition. Lady 
 Tempest was the only person who appeared to have any influ- 
 ence over him. She prevailed upon him to purchase a hat 
 (having worn his own for thirteen years) from a Jew for a shil- 
 ling ; but, to her great surprise, when she called the next day 
 the old hat still covered his head. On inquiry it was found that 
 he had persuaded his servant to purchase the hat for eighteen 
 pence, thereby gaining six pence. In severe weather he gener- 
 ally lay in bed to keep himself warm, for to light a fire he 
 thought expensive, though he had three hundred pounds per 
 annum, besides immense riches. He never took snuff, but he 
 always carried a snuff-box, and generally filled it in the course 
 of a month by pinches from others. When full, he would bar-
 
 184 THE MISER. 
 
 ter its contents for a farthing candle, which was made to last till 
 his snuff-box was again full, for he never had any light in his 
 house except while he was going to bed. He seldom washed 
 his hands ; but when the sun shone forth, then he would betake 
 himself to a neighboring pool, and used sand instead of soap. 
 When washed, he would lie on his back and dry himself in the 
 sun, as he never used a towel, for that would wear, and washing 
 was expensive. 
 
 M. Vandille was the most remarkable man in Paris, both on 
 account of his immense riches and his extreme avarice. He 
 had been a magistrate at Boulogne, from which obscurity he 
 was promoted to Paris, owing to the reputation of his wealth, 
 which he loaned upon undeniable security to the public funds, 
 not caring to trust individuals. When he had become exceed- 
 ingly rich, his attention was attracted by a woodman passing 
 by on a summer's day, being the time when they provide fuel 
 for the winter. He made an agreement with him at the lowest 
 rate, and then stole several logs from the poor man, with which 
 he loaded himself, and carried to a secret place. In that hot 
 season this exertion brought on a fever. He sent for a surgeon 
 to bleed him, who, asking half a livre for the operation, was 
 dismissed. Finally he sent for a poor barber, who undertook 
 to open a vein at threepence for each operation ; but upon 
 being told by the operator that he should be bled three times, 
 he asked what quantity of blood it was meant to take at once. 
 "About eight ounces at once," answered the barber. "That 
 will be ninepence too much ! too much ! " said the old miser. 
 " I have determined to go a cheaper way to work. Take the 
 whole quantity at once you designed to take at three times, and 
 that will save me sixpence" which being insisted on he lost 
 twenty-four ounces of blood, and died in a few days, leaving all 
 his vast treasures to the king, whom he made his sole heir. 
 Thus he contracted his disorder by pilfering, and his death re- 
 rulted from an unprecedented piece of parsimony.
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN. 
 
 "The Word was God; . . .'the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." JOHN 
 i. I and 14. "Is born . . . a Saviour, . . . Christ the Lord." LUKE ii. II. " Who 
 . . . bare our sins in his own body on the tree." I PET. ii. 24.
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN! 
 
 THE words prefixed to this article, " Behold the Man !" were 
 those of Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, addressed to the 
 Jewish mob who had assembled before the judgment-seat at 
 the time Christ Jesus was brought before the multitude as a 
 condemned malefactor. He had been scourged, buffeted, spit 
 upon, treated with the utmost contempt by the Roman soldiers, 
 and, to cap the climax of indignity, they arrayed him in a purple 
 robe in mock dignity, plaited a crown of thorns and put upon 
 his head and put a reed in his hand as a sceptre. Being thus 
 attired, Pilate called the attention of the multitude to him who 
 had claimed to be their king. Pilate, being satisfied of Christ's 
 innocence of the crimes laid to his charge, made several attempts 
 to save his life, and this last one appears to have been made to 
 their pity, that such a righteous man, who had borne so much, 
 and had been degraded to such a low and helpless state, had 
 suffered enough, even if he had been guilty of the crimes laid 
 to his charge. But all in vain ; the clamor of the chief priests 
 prevailed ; the blood of the Son of God was shed, while Ba- 
 rabbas the robber was set free. 
 
 The author of an able survey of the life and work of Jesus 
 Christ entitles his work " Ecce Homo," being the words of 
 Pilate, " Behold the Man !" These words, though uttered by a 
 heathen, time-serving and corrupt magistrate, are a good answer 
 to the question put by him to Jesus, " What is truth ?" But he 
 did not wait to receive" an answer. Both the question and the 
 answer, though from the mouth of Pilate, are of inconceivable 
 importance. " Behold the Man !" Look at Jesus Christ. " Be- 
 rn
 
 1 88 BEHOLD THE MAN! 
 
 hold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world ; 
 who being in the form of man thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took 
 upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
 of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled 
 himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross." 
 
 The engraving affixed to the above is designed to be some- 
 what emblematic or illustrative of the Man Christ Jesus as he 
 appeared among men. His first appearance was in a manger or 
 stable, and thus, if the expression may be used, he put an ever- 
 lasting contempt on all human pride. On the right he appears 
 as the Man of sorrows, bearing the cross upon which he suffered 
 for the sins of the world. The central and enlarged figure rep- 
 resents our divine Master, still in the human form, after his 
 resurrection from the dead, and the angels of God worshiping 
 him, prostrated at his feet. In the uppermost part of the print 
 are seen the emblems of the Deity ; the circle indicates that 
 Being who is without beginning or ending of days ; the triangle 
 y enclosed within the circle represents the Trinity in unity, in ac- 
 cordance with i John v. 7: " For there are three that bear record 
 in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these 
 three are one." 
 
 The author of the " Ecce Homo " states in the preface of his 
 work that " after reading a good many books on Christ, he felt 
 still constrained to confess that there was no historical character 
 whose motives, objects and feelings remained so incomprehen- 
 sible to him." He therefore determined to carefully examine 
 everything on the subject which is given in the four Gospels 
 concerning the life and work of Jesus Christ, and trace his biog- 
 raphy from point to point and accept those conclusions about 
 him, not what celebrated divines may have sanctioned by their 
 authority, but which the facts themselves, critically weighed, 
 appear to warrant. "The inquiry," says the author, "which
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN! 189 
 
 proved so serviceable to myself may chance to be useful to 
 others." 
 
 The author in a subsequent edition of his work, after dispos- 
 ing of sundry criticisms, introduces in a supplementary preface 
 the following propositions as deduced from St. Mark, and the 
 referenses are to that Gospel : 
 
 " i. Christ assumed a position of authority 
 different from that assumed by ordinary teachers, 
 i. 22. 2. He claimed to be the Messiah : viii. 29, 
 30 ; xii. 6 ; xiv. 62. 3. Under this title he claimed 
 an inexpressible personal rank and dignity, xii. 
 36, 37; xiii. 6, 7. 4. He claimed the right to 
 revise and give a free interpretation to the Mosaic 
 law. ii. 27; x. 4. 5. He claimed the power of 
 forgiving sins : ii. 10. 
 
 " 6. He commanded a number of men to attach 
 themselves to his person, ii. 14; x. 21. To the 
 society thus formed he gave special rules of life 
 (x. 43, 44), made his name a bond of union among 
 them (ix. 37,41), and contemplated the continuance 
 of the society, under the same conditions, after his 
 departure : xiii. 13. 
 
 " 7. He was believed by his followers to work 
 miracles. 8. These miracles were principally mir- 
 acles of healing. 9. The society he founded was 
 gathered in the first instance from the Jews (vii. 
 27), but was intended ultimately to embrace the 
 Gentiles also : xiii. 10. 
 
 " 10. Though he assumed the character of King 
 and Messiah he declined to undertake the ordinary 
 functions of kings: xii. 14. II. He required 
 from his disciples personal devotion and the 
 adoption of his example as their rule of life: viii.
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN! 
 
 34, 35 ; x. 45. 12. He spoke of a Holy Spirit as 
 inspiring himself (iii. 20, 30), and also as inspiring 
 his followers: xiii. II. 
 
 " 13. He spoke much of the importance of 
 having good feelings as well as good deeds : vii. 
 15, 23; ix. 50. 14. He demanded positive and, 
 as it were, original acts of virtue passing beyond 
 the routine of obligation: x. 21. 15. He de- 
 nounced vehemently those whose morality was 
 of an outward, mechanical kind, and he named 
 them hypocrites: vii. I, 13. 
 
 " 1 6. By these denunciations and by his claim 
 to the Messiahship, he placed himself in deadly 
 opposition to the Scribes and Pharisees : xii. 
 
 " 17. He required from his followers a spirit of 
 devotion to the welfare of their fellow-creatures : 
 ix. 35; xii. 31; and he declared himself to be 
 actuated by the same spirit : x. 43. 
 
 " 1 8. Accordingly, he went much among sick 
 people, healing them, sometimes with strong 
 signs of emotion: vii. 34. 19. He enjoined upon 
 his followers a similar philanthropy: x. 21, 44; v. 
 6, 13. 20. He occupied himself also with curing 
 moral diseases, and particularly in the outcasts of 
 society: ii. 16, 17. 21. He taught the forgiveness 
 of injuries: xi. 25." 
 
 The author claims that these propositions from St. Mark are 
 equally deducible from each of the other three Gospels, which 
 are apparently independent statements, with scarcely the altera- 
 tion of a word. The author in the conclusion of his work 
 makes use of the following language, which, in connection 
 with the foregoing propositions, may serve in some measure as 
 a synopsis of this remarkable work :
 
 BEHOLD THE MAN! IQI 
 
 " The story of his life (speaking of Christ) will 
 always remain the one record in which the moral 
 perfection of man stands revealed in its root and 
 unity, the hidden spring made palpably manifest 
 by which the whole machine is moved. And as 
 in the will of God this unique man was elected 
 to an unique sorrow, and holds as undisputed a 
 sovereignty in suffering as in self-devotion, in 
 which all lesser examples and lives will for ever 
 hold a subordinate place, and serve to reflect light 
 on the central and original example. . . . 
 
 " The speculative commonwealth of Christ may 
 be compared to the commonwealths of the world, 
 as well as to those of philosophers. ... It stands 
 in history among other states, connected with 
 them, and yet distinct. ... It has long outlasted 
 all the states which were existing at the time of 
 its 'foundation ; it numbers far more citizens than 
 any of the states which it has seen spring up near 
 it. It subsists without the help of costly arma- 
 ments, resting on no accidental aid or physical 
 support, but on an inherent immortality. It de- 
 fied the enmity of ancient civilization, the brutal- 
 ity of mediaeval barbarism, and flourishes under 
 the present universal empire of public opinion. 
 
 " The achievement of Christ, in founding by his 
 single will and power a structure so durable and 
 so universal, is like no other achievement which 
 history records. The masterpieces of the men 
 of action are coarse and common in comparison 
 with it, and the masterpieces of speculation flimsy 
 and unsubstantial. . . . Shall we speak of the 
 originality, of the skill, displayed in the execution? 
 All such terms are inadequate. Originality and
 
 192 BEHOLD THE MAN! 
 
 contriving skill operated indeed, but, as it were, 
 implicitly. The creative effort which produced 
 that which, it is said, the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against, cannot be analyzed. No archi- 
 tect's designs were furnished for the New Jerusa- 
 lem ; no committee drew up rules for the univer- 
 sal commonwealth. If in the works of Nature 
 we can trace the indications of calculation, of a 
 struggle with difficulties, of precaution, of inge- 
 nuity, then in Christ's work it may be that the 
 same indications occur. . . . The inconceivable 
 work was done in calmness ; before the eyes of 
 men it was noiselessly accomplished, attracting but 
 little attention. Who can describe that which 
 unites men? Who has entered in the formation 
 of speech which is the symbol of their union? 
 Who can explain exhaustively the origin of civil 
 society ? He who can do these things can explain 
 the origin of the Christian Church. For others 
 it must be enough to say, 'the Holy Ghost fell on 
 those that believed.' No man saw the building 
 of the New Jerusalem, the workmen crowded 
 together, the unfinished walls and unpaved streets. 
 No man heard the clink of trowel and pickaxe ; it 
 descended out from heaven from God"
 
 THE HERMIT. 
 
 By DR. BEATTIE. 
 
 " They should seek the Lord, if haply they migHt feet after him." ACTS xvii. 27. 
 "0 that I knnv where I could find him /" JOB xxiii. 3. '''The Lord hath heard 
 my supplications." Ps. vi. 9.
 
 THE HERMIT. 
 
 BY DR. BEATTIE. 
 
 [THE engraving accompanying this article is intended to illus- 
 trate the celebrated poetic production of Dr. Beattie, forming 
 six stanzas of eight lines each, entitled "The Hermit" This 
 personage appears in the foreground, sitting at the entrance of 
 his cave, with a harp or some instrument of the kind at his side. 
 In the background is seen a lone traveler, who has been lost 
 in a dark wilderness; but now the dawning of the morning 
 light appears to his vision ; angelic beings Truth, Mercy and 
 Love are descending from above ; the dead body of the saint 
 bursts the tomb in which it was confined, and rises to life and 
 glory.] 
 
 James Beattie, a poet and essayist of celebrity, was born No- 
 vember 5th, 1736, in the parish of Laurencekirk, Kincardin- 
 shire, Scotland. His father kept a small retail shop, and at the 
 same time rented a small farm in the vicinity of the village in 
 which he resided. By the assistance of an elder brother he 
 was educated at the college of Aberdeen. He afterward be- 
 came a schoolmaster, which situation, however, did not pre- 
 vent him from paying some attention to the study of divinity. 
 Never did poetic talent ripen so slowly as with Beattie. Till 
 the age of 25 he wrote indifferent verses, but in ten years from 
 that time he became, with the exception of Goldsmith, the 
 purest and most majestic poet of the time. 
 
 196
 
 196 THE HERMIT. 
 
 About 1758 he was appointed to an office in the grammar- 
 school in Aberdeen. Afterward he became a professor of moral 
 philosophy, and associated with such men as Dr. Reid, Camp- 
 bell and others. In 1760 he published a small volume of 
 poems, of which he subsequently became so ashamed that he 
 bought up all the copies he could, and then destroyed them. 
 In 1763 he made his first visit to London, but it seems at that 
 time to have been unnoticed and unknown. The next year he 
 published a poem, "The Minstrel" which established his repu- 
 tation. In 1770 he published his "Essay on Truth" On his 
 third visit to London, in 1773, he was made a doctor of laws by 
 the University of Oxford, and obtained the king's warrant for a 
 pension of 200 a year. 
 
 In 1765, as his biographer states, "he married a Miss Dunn, 
 a woman of some beauty and accomplishments, but with whom 
 his union proved an abundance of domestic misery. The dread- 
 ful malady of an hereditary madness, which at last made it 
 necessary to confine her for a long time, showed itself equivo- 
 cally, before it came to a crisis, in the caprice of her dispositions 
 and the inquietude of her temper." 
 
 The loss of his two sons, one of whom was a young man of 
 high promise, connected with his father in his professorship, was 
 the greatest calamity of his life. Music was one of the greatest 
 solaces of his leisure-hours, but from that solace he was cut off 
 by the overwhelming associations connected with his son, who 
 shared this amusement with his father. His crowning misfor- 
 tune was the death of his second son, who died in the flower of 
 manhood. This appears to have wholly crushed his spirits. 
 With a wife in a madhouse, his sons dead and his health broken, 
 he might be pardoned the utterance as he looked upon the 
 corpse of his youngest son " I have done with this world ! " 
 He was struck with palsy in 1799, which, after repeated attacks, 
 terminated his sufferings in 1803.
 
 THE HERMIT. 1 97 
 
 THE HERMIT. 
 
 BY DR. BEATTIE. 
 I. 
 
 At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still, 
 
 When mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove, 
 When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill, 
 
 And naught but the nightingale's song in the grove, 
 'Twas thus by the cave of the mountain afar, 
 
 While his harp rung symphonious, a hermit began ; 
 No more with himself or with nature at war, 
 
 He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man. 
 
 II. 
 
 " Ah ! why all abandoned to darkness and woe ? 
 
 Why thus, lone Philomela, flows thy sad strain ? 
 For spring shall return and a lover bestow, 
 
 And thy bosom no trace of misfortune retain. 
 Yet if pity inspire thee, cease not thy lay ; 
 
 Mourn, sweet complainer ; man calls thee to mourn : 
 Oh, soothe him whose pleasures like thine shall pass away. 
 
 Full quickly they pass, but they never return. 
 
 III. 
 
 " Now gliding remote, on the verge of the sky, 
 
 The moon, half extinguished, her crescent displays ; 
 But lately I marked, when majestic on high 
 
 She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze. 
 Roll on, thou fair orb ! with gladness pursue 
 
 The path tfyat conducts thee to splendor again 
 But man's faded glory, what change can renew ? 
 
 Ah, fool ! to exult in a glory so vain. 
 
 IV. 
 ' 'Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more ; 
 
 I mourn ; but, ye woodlands, I mourn not for you ; 
 For morn is approaching your charms to restore, 
 
 Perfumed with fresh fragrance, and glitt'ring with dew ; 
 Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn : 
 
 Kind nature the embryo blossom will save 
 But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn ? 
 Oh ! when shall day dawn on the night of the grave ? 
 
 V. 
 
 " 'Twas thus by the glare of false science betrayed, 
 
 That leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind, 
 My thoughts wont to roam from shade onward to shade, 
 Destruction before me, and sorrow behind.
 
 198 THE HERMIT. 
 
 'Oh! pity, great Father of Light!" then I cried, 
 
 ' Thy creature who fain would not wander from thee ! 
 
 Lo ! humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride ! 
 
 From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free.' 
 
 VI. 
 " And darkness and doubt are now flying away ; 
 
 No longer I roam in conjecture forlorn ; 
 So breaks on the traveler, faint and astray, 
 
 The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn. 
 See truth, love and mercy in triumph descending, 
 
 And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom ! 
 On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
 And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb." 
 
 The first stanza introduces the author as a hermit solilo- 
 quizing by a cave in the mountain at the close of the day, while 
 everything about him is being hushed in repose, except the 
 nightingale in the grove near by and the waterfall in the dis- 
 tance. His harp has been touched, and gives sympathetic 
 sounds to quiet the troubled feelings which have arisen in his 
 breast. Among his troubles he has been, perhaps, reasoning on 
 many subjects he cannot fully understand. Why is evil suffered 
 to exist in the universe' of God ? Why are we afflicted with so 
 much trouble ? Why are we put into such a world as this ? 
 He may have philosophized on fatal necessity and on the free- 
 dom of the will with the acuteness of a Jonathan Edwards, and 
 on other subjects beyond the power of explanation even by an 
 archangel. The hermit seems now to have been quieted. After 
 reasoning like a sage or philosopher, he now felt as a man. 
 
 In the second stanza the hermit commences his plaintive 
 soliloquy by addressing the nightingale under the name of 
 Philomela, the daughter of the king of Athens, who, according 
 to heathen mythology, was changed into a nightingale. 
 
 " Ah ! why all abandoned to darkness and woe? 
 
 Why thus, lone Philomela, flows thy sad strain ? 
 For spring shall return," etc. 
 
 But if the " sweet complainer " is inspired by pity, he wishes
 
 THE HERMIT. 199 
 
 her to continue her " sad lays," as man calls her to mourn, thus 
 soothing him with her plaintive voice, since his pleasures, like 
 hers, soon pass away. 
 
 In the third stanza the hermit's attention is attracted to the 
 moon, which is " seen on the verge of the sky," with half her 
 splendor eclipsed. He tells her to pass on, for her pathway 
 conducts her to splendor again. But he significantly asks : 
 
 " But man's faded glory, what change can renew ?" 
 
 and replies to himself: 
 
 " Ah, fool, to exult in a glory so vain !" 
 
 In the fourth stanza the hermit looks out upon the scene be- 
 fore him. The shades of night are approaching, " and the land- 
 scape is lovely no more." He mourns ; but he says, " Ye wood- 
 lands, I mourn not for you, for the morn is approaching your 
 charms to restore." Nor even for the ravages of winter will he 
 mourn, " for kind nature the embryo blossom will save." But 
 the hermit feels the all-important question and aspiration still 
 pressing upon him 
 
 "But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn? 
 
 Oh ! when shall day dawn on the night of the grave ?" 
 
 In the reading of the fifth stanza it is to be remembered that 
 at the period it was written infidelity and skepticism prevailed 
 to a considerable extent among the literary classes in Europe, 
 particularly so in France, through the writings of Voltaire, 
 Rousseau and others ; in Great Britain through David Hume 
 and other Scotch writers of ability, and it appears to have 
 affected to a limited extent some of the religious writers of the 
 day. It is quite possible that Dr. Beattie, who was conversant 
 with all the arguments used by infidels against Christianity, was 
 brought, by the "vain philosophy" used, into the state of mind 
 described in the first four lines of the fifth stanza 
 
 " 'Twas thus by the glare of false science betrayed, 
 
 That leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind, 
 My thoughts wont to roam from shade onward to shade."
 
 2OO THE HERMIT. 
 
 He wandered from one degree of darkness to another, with 
 destruction or annihilation before him. The most he could ex- 
 pect would be to leave his sorrows behind ; and if he believed 
 the spirit within him was something more than mere animal 
 matter, that he might possibly exist hereafter, he would, on his 
 entrance into the other world, use the words of a celebrated 
 infidel in prospect of such a result "It would be like taking a 
 leap in the dark" 
 
 In consequence of such a gloomy prospect before him the 
 hermit, convinced that no created one can deliver him from his 
 miserable state, relinquishes his pride of intellect ; he is hum- 
 bled in the dust, acknowledging himself a poor, ignorant and 
 sinful mortal, and calls upon Him who made him to pity his 
 poor creature, who fain would be restored to his favor. 
 
 The transition from the fifth to the sixth or last stanza is ab- 
 rupt, but it illustrates the suddenness which often takes place in 
 the conversion of one from a state of darkness and misery to 
 the light and salvation of God. It is in accordance with the 
 experience of many Christians, who, after humbling themselves 
 as little children before their heavenly Father, call upon him for 
 help. God grants their desire, and their doubts and darkness 
 flee away, and in the language of the closing lines of this most 
 beautiful and expressive stanza, which forms a suitable climax 
 to the whole 
 
 " See truth, love and mercy in triumph descending, 
 
 And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom ! 
 On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
 And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb."
 
 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE. 
 
 " Watch ye, stand fast in the faith." I COR. xvl. 13. "Withstand in the evil 
 day, and having done all, to stand." EPH. vi. 13. "Endure hardness." 2 TlM. 
 ii. 3. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved" MATT, x. 22.
 
 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE. 
 
 THE annexed representation is that which in military tactics 
 is called a " hollow square," and is formed by a body so ar- 
 ranged that it presents a front on every side. Thus marshaled 
 it is prepared for an attack, come from what quarter it may. 
 This may illustrate the value of Christian endurance when suf- 
 fered in an individual or social capacity. In the great battle of 
 Waterloo it is said that the duke of Wellington gained the vic- 
 tory by having his soldiers arranged in the manner described 
 above. The French force under the emperor Napoleon made 
 several desperate but unsuccessful attacks; the horsemen of the 
 enemy also made onslaughts, riding around among the squares, 
 but they were forced to retire, with great loss. When the proper 
 time had arrived, the soldiers were arranged in marching order ; 
 they moved forward with their allies, gaining a complete vic- 
 tory. The conquerors here were those who stood fast and en- 
 dured the attacks of the enemy. 
 
 The apostle Paul calls upon his son Timothy to endure hard- 
 ness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The great Captain of 
 our salvation promises his disciples that they who endure to the 
 end shall be saved. By the patience and endurance of the early 
 Christians during their fiery trials and persecutions the Roman 
 empire in a certain sense was conquered, Paganism was de- 
 stroyed, and Christianity was established in its stead. The for- 
 titude and endurance they manifested while suffering cruelty 
 and contempt, their willingness to submit to the loss of all 
 things, even life itself, convinced those who saw their sufferings 
 
 203
 
 2O4 4 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE. 
 
 of the divine reality of Christianity. Their idol gods were 
 neglected and dethroned; the doctrines of Christianity were 
 embraced by the people ; they extended to the throne of the 
 Caesars, and finally became the religion of the empire. 
 
 The first settlers of our country had to endure many suffer- 
 ings and afflictions in planting and sustaining the fair heritage 
 which we enjoy. They encountered the perils and privations 
 of a wilderness ; they were harassed by savage and unrelenting 
 enemies, and suffered from diseases in a climate to which they 
 were not accustomed. Of the first colony which landed at 
 Plymouth in December, 1620, one hundred and one in number, 
 forty-six were swept off by a mortal sickness before the ensuing 
 spring. 
 
 The patience and endurance of the Americans during their 
 Revolutionary struggle tended in a great degr.ee toward their 
 final victory. The privations they endured in their encamp- 
 ments showed a spirit of exalted patriotism. It encouraged 
 their countrymen to continue the struggle and make sacrifices 
 for the public good ; the army was kept from dissolution, and 
 was enabled to take the field again and again, and meet the 
 enemy in conflict. It endured its reverses with fortitude, till at 
 length all its exertions, privations and sufferings were crowned 
 with victory. 
 
 He that can endure injuries and insults unmoved, calmly 
 standing fast in his integrity, is a conqueror. His enemies will 
 be discomfited like those who attempted to pierce the hollow 
 square, on the field of battle represented in the engraving. In 
 order to resist successfully, we must be guarded on every side. 
 We may be assaulted from a quarter from which we least ex- 
 pected danger ; but we must stand fast in our integrity on every 
 point, and refuse to flinch from whatever or whoever may op- 
 pose us. 
 
 In our journey through life the more patience and endurance 
 we can exercise, when unavoidable trials and difficulties come
 
 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE. 205 
 
 across our path, the better it will be for us. It is declared on 
 the highest authority, " Blessed is he that endureth temptatiop, 
 who when he is tried shall. receive a crown of life." 
 
 One of the greatest examples of endurance on record was 
 exhibited in the memorable siege of Leyden, in Holland, by the 
 Spaniards in 1574. The Hollanders took up arms against the 
 Spaniards for the defence of their religion and liberties. Leyden 
 embraced the cause of freedom, and was consequently besieged 
 by its former masters. For five months the energy of the Span- 
 ish commander was directed toward getting possession of the 
 city, while on the other side the exertions of the prince of 
 Orange were concentrated in assisting the city and preventing 
 its being taken. The issue, however, depended on the citizens 
 themselves. Pent up within their walls, they were forced to 
 endure a siege in its most dreary form, that of a blockade, as 
 the Spanish general, Valdez, resolved to reduce the town by 
 starvation. For this purpose he surrounded the place with 
 about forty forts, and cut off all communication, so that no sup- 
 plies could enter. 
 
 The inhabitants, twenty thousand in number, were pent up in 
 a city fired with patriotism. Every man became a hero, every 
 woman an orator, and deeds of wild bravery were performed. 
 The two leading spirits were John van der Does, celebrated as 
 a writer of Latin verse, and Peter van der Werf, the burgomas- 
 ter. The defence of the city was entrusted to the management 
 of these two men. A resolution was formed that the last man 
 should die of want rather than surrender. An inventory was 
 made of everything eatable in the town, such as corn, cattle, and 
 even horses and dogs, and the whole placed in the hands of a 
 dispensing committee. At the expiration of two months, famine 
 had commenced in earnest. Not only the flesh of dogs and 
 horses, but roots, weeds, nettles and every green thing, was 
 ravenously eaten. 
 
 Many died of want, and thousands fell ill. Still they held
 
 206 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE. 
 
 out and indignantly rejected the offers made to them by the be- 
 siegers. " When we have nothing else left," said Does in reply 
 to Valdez, " we will eat our left hands, keeping the right to 
 fight with." Once indeed hunger seemed about to overcome 
 their patriotism, and for some days crowds of famished wretches 
 moved along the streets, crying, " Let the Spaniards in ! Oh, 
 for God's sake let them in !" Assembling with hoarse clamors 
 at the house of Van der Werf, they demanded that he should 
 give them food or surrender. " I have no food to give you," 
 was the burgomaster's reply, " and I have sworn that I will not 
 surrender to the Spaniards ; but if my body will be of any ser- 
 vice to you, tear me to pieces, and let the hungriest of you eat 
 me" The poor wretches went away, and thought no 'more of 
 surrendering. 
 
 The prince of Orange collected a large supply of provisions, 
 but he could not raise men enough to break through the block- 
 ade. As a last and desperate expedient, the inhabitants of the 
 city resolved to cut through their dykes and let the water in, 
 thereby inundating the whole level and fertile country around 
 Leyden, and thus wash away the Spaniards and their forts. By 
 the labor of a single night the work of ages was demolished 
 and undone, and the whole country between Leyden and Rot- 
 terdam was flooded to a considerable depth. 
 
 To a Hollander's eyes nothing could present a more un- 
 sightly or melancholy appearance than such a vast tract of 
 fertile land converted into a sheet of water. The damage.it was 
 calculated, would amount to six hundred thousand gilders. The 
 water, availing itself of the new outlets, poured over the flat 
 country, and in a short time the whole of the surrounding land 
 was inundated. The Spaniards, terror-stricken at first, bethought 
 themselves of the fate of the antediluvian victims, but at last 
 perceiving that the water did not rise above a certain level, they 
 recovered their courage, and though obliged to abandon all of 
 the forts in the low grounds, they still persevered in the blockade.
 
 THEY CONQUER WHO ENDURE. 20/ 
 
 The prince of Orange had provided two hundred large flat- 
 boats loaded with provisions, and these were rowed toward the 
 famished city. But the heavens seemed inauspicious : a north 
 wind continued to blow, and while it lasted the water was too 
 shallow to reach the city. Many died in sight of the vessels 
 bringing food, and it appeared to have been a certainty that if 
 the wind did not change within two days all would have 
 perished, when, lo! the wind shifted, first to the north-west, 
 which blew the sea tides with hurricane force into the mouths 
 of the rivers, and then to the south, driving the waves exactly 
 in the direction of the city. The Spaniards were overwhelmed ; 
 Leyden was saved, and on the same day, October 3d, 1574, the 
 people met in one of the churches a lean and sickly congre- 
 gation with the magistrates at their head, to return thanks to 
 Almighty God for his mercy. 
 
 The anniversary of the deliverance of Leyden (October $d) 
 is still celebrated by its citizens. It is the most memorable day 
 in the history of the place, and many memorials exist to keep 
 the inhabitants in remembrance of the event which happened on 
 it. One of the principal buildings in the city is the Stadthouse, 
 or Hotel de Ville. The date of the erection of this building is 
 1574, carved on the front, along with the arms of the town, two 
 cross-keys, and several inscriptions referring to the sufferings 
 of the people during the siege. A large painting is seen within 
 the building, representing the streets of Leyden filled with its 
 famishing inhabitants, in the midst of whom stands conspicu- 
 ously the figure of the burgomaster, Peter van der Werf, offer- 
 ing his body to be eaten.
 
 PROTECTION OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 
 
 IN 2 Kings vi. we have a remarkable account of the deliver- 
 ance of Elisha, the man of God who lived in Israel, from the 
 power of the Syrian king, who sent an army to take him pris- 
 oner. The Syrian king was at this time in a state of warfare 
 against Israel, and intended to come by surprise and capture 
 perhaps some important place before the Israelites were aware 
 of his approach, or lie in ambush in a direction where the king 
 or his people were to pass. 
 
 These purposes of the Syrian king were by divine intimation 
 made known to Elisha, who gave timely warning to the king of 
 Israel, and by this means he was saved from harm; Finding 
 the Israelites always guarded at every point where he intended 
 to assail them, the king of Syria " was sore troubled at this 
 thing," supposing there must be some traitor among his ser- 
 vants who revealed all his secrets to the king of Israel. He 
 therefore called them together, and endeavored to find out who 
 among them had divulged his plans. One of them replied : 
 " None, my lord O king : but Elisha, the prophet that is in 
 Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in 
 thy bed-chamber." 
 
 Upon this information the Syrian king determined to seize 
 the prophet and bring him away to his own country. Having 
 learned that he was in Dothan, he sent a large host with horses 
 and chariots in the night and encompassed the city. Elisha's 
 servant, having risen early, went forth, saw the host which had 
 surrounded the place, and probably understanding that their 
 principal object was to take the prophet, became very much 
 
 208
 
 GOD'S SERVANTS PROTECTED. 
 
 " The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and deliv- 
 ereth them." Ps. xxxiv. 7. " Thou art my help and delivered Ps. Ixx. 5. "/ 
 will fear no evil ; for thou art with me." Ps. xxiii. 4.
 
 PROTECTION OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 211 
 
 alarmed, saying, " Alas, my master ! how shall we do ?" The 
 prophet, to remove the fears of his servant, replied : " Fear not : 
 for they that be with us are more than they that be with them," 
 and to give him the fullest assurance of the truth of what he 
 said, prayed to the Lord to " open his eyes, that he may see. 
 And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw : 
 and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire 
 round about Elisha." 
 
 " The eyes of his body," says a commentator, " were opened, 
 and with them he saw the danger." " Lord," says the prophet, 
 " open the eyes of his faith and his mind, that with them he 
 may see the protection we are under. May he see the invisible 
 guard of heavenly host which encompass and defend us !" 
 Angels, whether they be purely spiritual or clothed with some 
 material vesture, tannot, it is held, be seen by mortal eyes, and 
 therefore, as the prophet himself could not have seen them un- 
 less God by a miracle rendered them visible to his eyes, he 
 requests of God that for the causes above mentioned he would 
 give his servant the same privileges. "And behold, the mountain 
 was full of horses and chariots of fire /" 
 
 Fire is sometimes represented as dreadful and devouring, 
 sometimes as an emblem of the presence of Deity itself, and 
 always as something overpowering. The mountains full of 
 these fiery chariots and horses were round about the city, and 
 therefore encircled Elisha and his servant, who were within it, 
 and consequently in the midst of a glorious camp of angels 
 who defended them, so that nothing could penetrate or break 
 through unto them. "The opening of our eyes," says one, 
 " will be the silencing of our fears. In the dark we are most 
 apt to be frightened. The clearer sight we have of the sov- 
 ereignty and power of heaven, the less we shall fear the calami- 
 ties of this earth." 
 
 When the Syrian host came down to the city, or rather to the 
 field without, where Elisha met them, he prayed unto the Lord
 
 212 PROTECTION OF GOD'S SERVANTS. 
 
 and said, " Smite this people, I pray, with blindness !" This 
 was done, according to the word of the prophet. " This blind- 
 ness," a writer observes, " was not of the eyes, at least not total 
 blindness, for in that case they could not have followed Elisha 
 afterward, but rather blindness of mind or imagination, which 
 rendered them stupid or confused, or with that dimness and 
 confusion in their sight which prevented them from distinguish- 
 ing one object from another." 
 
 Elisha then spake unto the multitude : " Follow me, and I 
 will bring you to the man whom ye seek." The expression the 
 prophet makes use of on this occasion appears ambiguous, but 
 that ambiguity he intends for their benefit ; and the wonderful 
 manner in which, unknown to themselves, he brought them into 
 Samaria, and the generosity with which he treated them there, 
 was sufficient to have given them clear ideas' of the God of 
 Israel, whose prophet he was, and thereby to have them brought 
 to the worship of the true God, which might have proved an 
 infinite and everlasting blessing to them. " I will bring you to 
 the man whom ye seek." And so he did, though not in such a 
 manner as they expected or desired. 
 
 The Syrian host, being thus led into the midst of Samaria, 
 were at the mercy of the king of Israel. This ruler, when he 
 became acquainted with this singular event, was eager to smite 
 the Syrian troops, but he was very respectful to the prophet who 
 had put them there, and would not act without his permission. 
 When Elisha had shown him the impropriety of slaughtering 
 prisoners of war whom he had taken captive, much more that 
 of smiting those whom God had led into that situation, he de- 
 sisted from his purpose ; nay, he obeyed the prophet's orders in 
 liberally entertaining them, and then in dismissing the whole 
 army. Let them " go to their own masters " and tell them of 
 the civility that exists among the people of God. It is added 
 in the record, " So the bands of Syria came no more into the 
 land of Israel."
 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 (VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE.) 
 
 "Can a woman forget her . . . child." ISA. xlix. 15. "Children are a heri 
 tage of the Lord.' 1 ' 1 Ps. cxxvii. 3. "Train up a child in the way he should go.'' 
 PROV. xxii. 6. "I thought as a child." I COR. xiii. II.
 
 CHILDHOOD 
 
 ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 HUMAN life has sometimes been described as a flowing stream 
 bearing all that float upon its bosom to the dark fathomless 
 ocean of eternity. Man in his infancy is the most helpless of all 
 the animal creation. In his mental acquirements little or nothing 
 can be discovered of his superior endowments, and even in his 
 infantile state he seems to be below the lower order of beings. 
 The commencement, progress and union of his moral nature 
 with his bodily frame is shrouded with a mystery we cannot 
 penetrate. In the annexed engraving we see man as a little 
 child in a barque, launched by its mother its guardian and 
 guide into the stream of life. The field of its vision is 
 limited, and the child is pleased and delighted with what it 
 sees and hears on every side. On either hand the mossy banks 
 rise from the placid shining stream, covered with beauteous 
 flowers, and the surrounding foliage appears in living green. 
 
 The mother, be she high or low, if guided by divine precepts, 
 can confer unspeakable benefits on her offspring in the early 
 morning of life. As she is the first in their hearts, so in their 
 esteem she is the best of women. Her example is their model ; 
 they imitate her ways; they hang upon her lips, and never 
 quite forget the moral and religious love inculcated with 
 maternal tenderness by her, and very often it is the means of 
 forming their character for life. Precious is the woman who in 
 this respect acts the real mother to the best of her abilities. 
 
 215
 
 2l6 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 She can hardly fail of stamping upon the minds of her children 
 some salutary impressions which can never be effaced ; and 
 when she is called to change the mortal for the immortal, the 
 genuine expression of those whom she guided in childhood 
 will be, " We loved, but not enough, the gentle hand that reared 
 us. Gladly we would now recall that dearest friend, a mother,- 
 whnse mild converse and faithful counsel we in vain regret." 
 
 Helpless childhood incessantly occupies the attention of the 
 parents ; their kindly feelings are moved toward them the more 
 on account of their utter weakness and dependence. The 
 mother, in particular, cheerfully foregoes her accustomed 
 amusements and confines herself to the charge of her children. 
 With what tenderness and patience does she watch over them 
 day and night, and with joy perceives in them the dawning of 
 reason and listens to their lisping prattle ! The love of parents 
 for their offspring is a species of affection that belongs to the 
 nature of man ; and though, strictly speaking, it is not of itself 
 a moral virtue, yet they are monsters who -are without it. 
 
 On the other hand, the long term of the dependent condition 
 of children is what chiefly generates filial affection, accompanied 
 with respect, reverence and obedience. " What," says an able 
 writer, " if the human offspring, like the young partridge or 
 quail, could shift for themselves almost as soon as born ? 
 What if they could soon become their own protectors and pro- 
 viders ? Small, if any, would be the ties of filial love. But by 
 means of their long condition of dependence and tutelage, there 
 are superinduced in their minds sentiments and habits of love, 
 respect and submissiveness which seldom wear off in the suc- 
 ceeding periods of life, and are carried into society with un- 
 speakable benefit." 
 
 The child, conscious of its own weakness and dependence, 
 finds none on earth to look for protection, food and raiment but 
 the tender and ever-attentive parents, who, in its estimation, are 
 pre-eminent in wisdom and worth. Hence, it receives their in-
 
 CHILDHOOD. 217 
 
 structions into willing ears, barkens to their advice and treasures 
 up their precepts in its memory. In parents' hands children 
 are capable, in several important respects, of being moulded 
 like soft wax. Thus every family is of itself a little govern- 
 ment, groups of families forming a particular society and 
 these making a commonwealth or nation, which is exalted by 
 righteousness or debased by vice in proportion as the discipline 
 of the general mass of families that compose it is good or bad. 
 
 " It has often been observed," says an able writer, " that some 
 of the most illustrious of human characters were early moulded 
 to the model of excellence by the maternal hand. I might ad- 
 duce a number of such cases from the records of history, but 
 shall mention only one for the present. 
 
 " Sir Philip Sidney, born about the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, was the wonder of the age in which he lived ; for 
 though he died about the age of thirty, his fame as a wise and 
 profound statesman was spread over all Europe ; and he was not 
 less distinguished for religion and moral virtues, and particularly 
 for generosity and tenderness of nature. It has been remarked 
 of him that ' the most beautiful event of his life was his death.' 
 He received a mortal wound at a battle in Flanders ; and thirst- 
 ing from excessive bleeding immediately after, he turned away 
 the offered water from his own lips to give to a dying soldier, 
 with these words, ' Thy necessity is still greater than mine.' " 
 
 This extraordinary man was indebted for the rudiments of his 
 education to his illustrious and excellent mother. She was the 
 eldest daughter of the duke of Northumberland, who had been 
 beheaded in a preceding reign. Her tender melancholy, oc- 
 casioned by the tragical events in her family, together with the 
 mischance of sickness that had impaired her beauty, inclined 
 her to hide herself from the gay world and to bestow her atten- 
 tion almost exclusively on the education of her children. " It 
 was her delight," says a biographer of Sir Philip, " to form their 
 early habits and virtue, to direct their passions to proper objects,
 
 2l8 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 and to superintend not only their serious occupations but even 
 their amusements." 
 
 "... To see a mother, highly accomplished and capable of 
 shining in the first circles of fashionable life, forego the pleasure 
 of amusement and the ambition of show for the sake of bestow- 
 ing personal attention upon her children, and spending the best 
 of her days in fashioning their minds and manners upon the 
 purest .models, guiding them with discretion and alluring them 
 to the love of excellence by precept and example, is one of the 
 most charming spectacles furnished in this fallen world." 
 
 " And what though it be not in the power of such a mother 
 to make a Philip Sidney of her son ? What though nature has 
 gifted her children with no uncommon strength or brightness 
 of intellect ? Yet, with the divine blessing, she may have such 
 an influence on the moral frame of their young and tender 
 minds that they will be disposed to improve their natural 
 talents, whatever they be, and to employ them honorably. 
 The benefits in this respect which highly capable mothers might 
 confer on their children during a few first years of their earthly 
 existence are far beyond the power of calculation, since these 
 benefits would likely descend from one generation to another 
 down to distant posterity. ' Delightful task !' In comparison 
 with the pure and sublime results which the faithful perform- 
 ance of it gives, poor and wretched indeed is the whole sum 
 that can possibly be extracted from the amusements of fashion."
 
 MANHOOD. 
 
 (VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE.) 
 
 i 
 
 " Careful and troubled about many things." LUKE x, 41. "Man is born unto 
 trouble." JOB v. 7. "Is of few days, and full of trouble." JOB xiv. I. "Man at 
 his best estate is altogether . . . vanity" Ps. xxxix. 5.
 
 MANHOOD 
 
 IN THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 THE skies so bright in life's blooming morning are now o'er- 
 cast with lowering clouds, and the distant mutterings -of the 
 coming storm are heard. Manhood sees youthful visions pass 
 away ; stern realities are encountered ; the lightnings flash and 
 the thunders roar; the whirling tornado comes rushing on; the 
 monarch oaks are prostrated on the plain, and mark the wild 
 and furious course of the tempest. Nature itself at times shows 
 signs of approaching dissolution ; pent up fires break forth from 
 beneath the earth's surface ; volcanoes and earthquakes seem to 
 shake its firm foundations. 
 
 The engraving represents man in the prime of life, laden with 
 a full cargo of cares, anxieties, troubles and disappointments, 
 having the anchor of hope for ballast. He struggles manfully 
 against cross currents, swelling floods and dashing billows, 
 while floating wrecks are seen around him. In the back- 
 ground, amid the " war of elements," hostile armies are con- 
 tending ; the strongly-built fortress is blown to atoms ; the 
 towering column raised by the proud warrior of a former age 
 to perpetuate the fame of deeds of blood to coming ages is 
 leveled to the dust. Amid all these scenes he who trusts in 
 God will safely make his passage. 
 
 As youth emerges into manhood, his cherished plans seem 
 farther from their accomplishment. The bubbles or castles seen 
 in the air seem more dim and distant He may occasionally, 
 perhaps, obtain some of the objects of his ardent wishes. 
 
 " He clasps the phantoms and finds them air." 
 
 221
 
 222 MANHOOD IN THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 When he has attained his manhood, an event to which he 
 looked forward with bright expectations, the sky becomes some- 
 what heavy with clouds ; he finds that it is necessary to use 
 strong exertions to keep clear of " breakers ahead ;" he is beset 
 by counter-currents as he advances in the widening stream ; 
 while avoiding one danger he runs into another, and is finally 
 overpowered with weariness ; his mind is perplexed and filled 
 with anxieties and cares that thicken upon him as he passes 
 down the stream, which soon carries him to the end of his 
 earthly career. 
 
 Instead of the pleasures that youth expected when he should 
 arrive at more mature life, manhood finds among his fellows 
 selfishness, depravity, malice and contentions, war, bloodshed 
 and devastations. Things which in his youthful state he thought 
 durable, he now sees crumbling away. His earthly hopes waver, 
 and he is troubled about the future ; care corrodes the enjoy- 
 ments which are still in his possession. Alas ! if the poor man 
 has all his hopes and aspirations centred in this life, he will, in 
 the hour of keen affliction, when all his prospects are blighted, 
 sink in the mighty waters. On the other hand, the passenger 
 down the stream of life who trusts in God, and looks to Him 
 who made him, is safely guided o'er its treacherous depths, 
 though stormy billows rage around. 
 
 Man is described in Buck's "Theological Dictionary" as "a 
 being consisting of a rational soul and organic body." By some 
 he is defined as "the head of the animal creation, a being who 
 feels, reflects, thinks, contrives and acts, who has the power of 
 changing his place upon the earth at pleasure, and possesses the 
 faculty of communicating his thoughts by means of speech, and 
 who has dominion over all other creatures on the face of the 
 earth." We shall here present the reader with a brief account 
 of his formation, etc. Man was made the last of all the crea- 
 tures, being the chief and masterpiece of God's work. He is a 
 compendi'Xim of the creation, and is therefore sometimes called
 
 MANHOOD IN THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 22$ 
 
 a little world, or the world in miniature. Something of the 
 vegetable, animal and rational are concentrated in him ; spirit 
 and matter, yea, heaven and earth, centre in him. He is the 
 bond that connects them both together. 
 
 The constituent and essential parts of man as created by God 
 are two, body and soul. The one was made out of dust, the 
 other was breathed into him. The body is formed with the 
 greatest precision and exactness, every muscle, vein, artery and 
 even the smallest fibre being arranged in its proper place, and 
 acting in subservience to each other for the good of the whole. 
 Ps. cxxxix. 14. It is also made erect, to distinguish it from the 
 four-footed animals, which look downward to the earth. Man 
 was made to look upward to the heavens, to contemplate them 
 and the glory of God therein displayed to look up to his 
 Creator, to worship and adore him. The soul is the other part 
 of man which is a substance or subsistence ; is not an accident 
 or quality inherent in subject, but capable of subsistence with- 
 out the body. 
 
 According to Linnaeus and Buffon, there are six different 
 divisions of mankind. The first are those under the Polar re- 
 gions, comprising the Laplanders, Esquimaux, Greenlanders, 
 Kamschatkans, etc. ; the second is the Tartar race, comprising 
 the Chinese and Japanese ; the third are the southern Asiatics, 
 or inhabitants of India ; the fourth are the natives of Africa ; 
 the fifth, the natives of America ; the sixth, the Europeans and 
 their descendants. 
 
 The condition of man has been divided into four parts the 
 primitive state, fallen state, gracious state and future state. In 
 his state of innocence God, it is said, made man upright (Eccl. 
 vii. 29), without any imperfection, corruption or principle of de- 
 pravity in his body or soul, with light in his understanding, holi- 
 ness in his will and purity in his affection. Being thus in a 
 condition of holiness, he was necessarily in a state of happiness. 
 Yet he was not without law, for in addition to the law of nature
 
 224 MANHOOD IN THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 God added a positive injunction not to eat of the forbidden 
 fruit (Gen. ii. 17) under the penalty of death. 
 
 Man's righteousness, however, though universal, was not im- 
 mutable, as the event has proved. How long he continued in a 
 state of innocence we know not, but it is supposed to have been 
 but a short time. The positive command which God gave him 
 he broke by eating the forbidden fruit. The consequence of this 
 evil act was that man lost the chief good; his body became sub- 
 ject to corruption, and his soul was exposed to misery. 
 
 Although man has fallen by his iniquity, yet he is not left 
 finally to perish. The Divine Being, foreseeing the fall, in infi- 
 nite love and mercy made provision for his relief. Jesus Christ 
 came in the fullness of time to be his Saviour, and, by virtue of 
 his sufferings, all who believe are justified from the curse of the 
 law. By the influences of the Holy Spirit man is regenerated, 
 united to Christ by faith and sanctified. True believers, there- 
 fore, live a life of dependence on the promises of obedience to 
 God's word, a life of holy joy and peace, With a blissful hope 
 of immortality. 
 
 With regard to those who are impenitent and who continue 
 in sin, they will in the future state be punished with everlasting 
 destruction and be banished from the presence of the Lord and 
 the glory of his power. 2 Thess. i. 9. But the righteous shall 
 rise to immortal life, to glory and everlasting joy. All will be 
 tried in the judgment day, and sentence will be pronounced ac- 
 cordingly. The wicked will be driven away in their wickedness, 
 and the righteous be saved through life eternal.
 
 OUR ELDER BROTHER. 
 
 "The first-born among many brethren." ROM. viii. 29. "ffe is not ashamed to 
 
 call them brethren.* HEB. ii. II. " Your adversary, the devil, . . . a lion . . . 
 
 scekeih whom he may devour." I PET. v. 8. "/ was delivered out of the 
 
 of the /ion." 2 TlM. iv. 17. 
 
 15
 
 OUR ELDER BROTHER. 
 
 OUR divine Redeemer calls his disciples his brethren, and being 
 the "first-born among many brethren," as stated in the Scrip- 
 tures, he can be appropriately called by his followers their 
 " Elder Brother." Although in his divine nature he is infinitely 
 superior to men or angels, yet, notwithstanding his dignity, he 
 is not ashamed to call his disciples "his brethren," however 
 weak, ignorant or despised they may be. In consequence of 
 their peculiar union and relationship to their Elder Brother, it 
 is believed they will hereafter be exalted to the highest rank 
 among the heavenly host. 
 
 The accompanying engraving is intended to represent the ad- 
 vantages of a family which, though situated in a wilderness, has 
 an elder brother both able and willing to defend and protect 
 the younger members from the surrounding dangers of a new 
 country. In some parts it is unsafe for young children to go 
 abroad without a protector. Wild beasts and poisonous rep- 
 tiles lurk about their pathway. Parents often entrust the care 
 of their youngest children to the oldest, who are able to take 
 the charge. The superior size and strength of the oldest son, 
 combined with tender regard for the welfare of his brothers and 
 sisters, constitute him a fit guardian and guide. 
 
 The elder brother, now entrusted with the care of the little 
 flock, advances with caution and circumspection. The first 
 thing met with on the pathway is a deadly serpent, coiled up 
 amidst the luxuriant foliage. It is ready to spring upon the 
 unwary passer-by and strike its poisonous fangs into the flesh 
 
 of its unsuspecting victim. The elder brother, by his superior 
 
 in
 
 228 OUR ELDER BROTHER. 
 
 intelligence knowing where these reptiles may be expected, is 
 on the alert, and by one sudden and well-directed blow from his 
 sword he cuts off the head of the poisonous creature, whose 
 separated parts are seen on the pathway. 
 
 The next enemy encountered is a rampant lion, which, 
 " roaming about seeking whom he may devour," rushes out of 
 the adjoining thicket to attack the passing travelers. The elder 
 brother now presses forward with his well-poised weapon, and 
 gives a deadly thrust into the vital part of the enraged and roar- 
 ing beast, who flees from the encounter or perishes on the 
 highway. 
 
 Notwithstanding all our transgressions and the degradation 
 to which we have reduced ourselves, the Lord Jesus Christ by 
 his assuming our nature has become one with us, in order that 
 his sufferings might atone for our sins, and that we might be 
 justified by his righteousness. We are sanctified by his Spirit, 
 and he is not ashamed to own us for his brethren. There is in 
 the Psalms a remarlcable prophecy of the sufferings and subse- 
 quent glory of our Lord, in which he is introduced as saying, 
 " I will declare thy glory unto my brethren" and as engaging to 
 celebrate the praises of Jehovah in the church of redeemed sin- 
 ners. He is represented also by the prophet as saying, " Be- 
 hold, I and the children which God hath given me." These, 
 with several other expressions of the same nature, are found in 
 the sacred volume, and all imply the same equality of nature 
 and endeared affection as exhibited in the relation of brethren 
 and children. 
 
 One of the most important characters in which our elder 
 brother is acting, or is to act, is that of an advocate and then a 
 judge at the last day. Then will be seen the immense import- 
 ance of having both the Advocate and Judge on our side. The 
 apostle, in Rom. ix. 13, says : " He that spared not his own son, 
 but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
 him also freely give us all things ?" All that is in heaven and
 
 OUR ELDER BROTHER. 22g 
 
 earth, the universal creation, as their portion, are not so great a 
 display of his free love for his people as the gift of his co-equal 
 Son, to be the atonement on the cross for their sins. " Who 
 then can lay any to the charge of God's elect ?" Will it be that 
 Being who has justified them by shedding his own blood for 
 them, and who now is their Advocate, who ever liveth before 
 the throne to plead for them ? Surely not. 
 
 Satan may indeed accuse the brethren ; the world may revile 
 them ; many/ may suspect and censure them ; their own con- 
 sciences may reproach them for many things ; the law may con- 
 vict and condemn for former and later transgressions ; but the 
 Redeemer, their Elder Brother, pleads their cause, and God 
 himself pronounces them righteous, silences their accusers, 
 pacifies their conscience, clears their characters and shows the 
 law magnified and justice satisfied in the obedience and suffer- 
 ings of their surety. And who then can make any charge 
 against them ? If they look forward to the day of judgment, 
 whose condemnation shall they feaj? The Judge himself will 
 be, in some sense, the same person who loved them, their Elder 
 Brother who protected them and finally died for their sins, and 
 rose for their justification, who at the right hand of the Father 
 now and for ever lives to plead their cause and exert his 
 almighty power for their benefit. Even now he quashes all 
 accusations brought against them ; he defeats the machinations 
 of their enemies ; he manages all things for their good, and is 
 perfecting his work in them ; and will he then forsake the work 
 of his own hands and at last condemn them to hell ? It is 
 impossible. 
 
 In the closing verses of the eighth chapter of Romans the 
 apostle asks : 
 
 " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? 
 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or 
 famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ?
 
 230 OUR ELDER BROTHER. 
 
 " For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, 
 
 " Nor height, nor depth, nor any other crea- 
 ture, shall be able to separate us from the love of 
 God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 The confidence expressed by the apostle at the end of this 
 chapter, says one, is rational as it is bold. On the premises laid 
 down by him in reference to which he has most logically con- 
 ducted his whole argument, the conclusion at which he arrives 
 is as natural and forcible as it is legitimate. The true followers 
 of Christ can never be forsaken by him ; and his church, which 
 is founded on a rock, can never be shaken down by persecution. 
 What God does for his Church in general (the collective body 
 of those who love, obey and trust in the Lord Jesus) he does 
 for every individual in that body, and no one who truly trusts 
 in our Elder Brother shall ever be confounded. The conclusion 
 of this chapter " is founded on the grand and solid principles of 
 the Gospel ; it is imbued with the teachings of inspiration ; it 
 breathes the true spirit of Christian magnanimity; it raises our 
 minds above all things created, and shows in a bright and 
 heavenly view the greatness of soul and the strong consolation 
 which the Gospel inspires."
 
 THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 
 
 "The Lord passed by, . . . a strong "wind rent the mountains, . . . and brake 
 in pieces the rocks ; . . . and after the -wind an earthquake, . . . after the fire 
 a still small voice ; . . . and when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in a 
 mantle, . . . and stood at the entering in of the cave." I KINGS xix. 11-13.
 
 THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 
 
 AFTER the prophets of Baal had been destroyed by the direc- 
 tion of Elijah, the prophet of the Lord, Jezebel their protector 
 threatened immediate vengeance by taking the life of Elijah. 
 He therefore fled into the wilderness through which Moses had 
 led the children of Israel. He reached Horeb, the mount of 
 God, and went into a cave on or near the spot where God mani- 
 fested himself to Moses after the passage of the Red Sea by the 
 Israelites. While here the word of the Lord came to Elijah, 
 bidding him to go forth and stand on the mount before the Lord. 
 
 " And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great 
 and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in 
 pieces the rocks before the Lord ; but the Lord 
 was not in the wind : and after the wind an earth- 
 quake : but the Lord was not in the earthquake : 
 
 " And after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord 
 was not in the fire : and after the fire a still small 
 voice. 
 
 " And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he 
 wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and 
 stood in the entering in of the cave." I Kings xix. 
 II, 12, 13- 
 
 There appears to have been in this manifestation of God to 
 Elijah an intended reference to that with which Moses was fa- 
 vored when the Lord caused his goodness to pass before him, 
 and to the terrific solemnities from Mount Sinai, compared with 
 
 233
 
 234 THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 
 
 the mild majesty with which he communed with Israel above 
 the mercy-seat. It was preceded by a vehement wind, rending 
 the mountains and rocks, also by an earthquake, still more tre- 
 mendous, and by a fire, similar, perhaps, to that of Mount Sinai 
 at the delivery of the law. " All these efforts," says Dr. Scott, 
 " are no doubt produced by the ministry of angels." But the 
 Lord was made known by his more immediate presence not 
 by these terrors, but by " a still small voice." 
 
 This intimated that the miraculous judgments and the terrific 
 displays of the Lord's power and indignation proper for the 
 intimidation of his enemies, or to excite attention, were only 
 preparatory to the real good intended, and which must be 
 effected by the energy of the Spirit, accompanied by the persua- 
 sive instructions of his Word. Thus in the first ages of Chris- 
 tianity man's attention was called to the preaching of the Gospel, 
 which, as " a still small voice," was the power of God to sal- 
 vation. 
 
 The following extracts are from a sermon by the Rev. Mr. 
 Aspinwall, recently delivered to his people : 
 
 " The thought which I would strive to impress, in conclusion, 
 is this, that the most usual and effective method which the Lord 
 employs in order to convince and convert our moral and spirit- 
 ual nature is by the still small voice. 
 
 " Miracles were used by him as instruments and means to 
 prove to men that the message came with the authority of the 
 Divine Being who could perform the miraculous deed. Miracles 
 were therefore to introduce and establish the truth ; they were 
 intended to accomplish this result ; but when that end was at- 
 tained, their mission was completed. They never could fulfill 
 the work of conversion, because they made no appeal to the 
 heart. 
 
 " Amidst all the wonders and even the terrors of Sinai, the 
 Israelites set up their golden calf, and from the open tomb of 
 Lazarus some went away to plot the death of Jesus. How
 
 THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 235 
 
 many were the mighty works which the Saviour did while upon 
 earth, and yet how few were his followers ! How great the 
 spiritual harvest on the day of Pentecost when, as St. Peter 
 preached, the still small voice of the Holy Ghost moved the 
 hearts of men and a multitude were converted to the faith of 
 the risen Jesus ! 
 
 " We are too apt to think, as Elijah doubtlessly did, that our 
 spiritual life is to be begun and carried on by some violent and 
 extraordinary interposition of God, and thus, by ever waiting 
 for some influence of this kind to carry us, as it were, away 
 captive, we neglect to listen to and heed the still small voice 
 which may be pleading with us. 
 
 " One man says : ' Oh, if I could only see a miracle, my 
 doubts would all disappear, and I would repent and believe !' 
 Another is in hourly expectation of some stunning blow which 
 shall induce him, as a result, to give his heart to Christ. The 
 youth expects that advancing years will do the work; he is 
 hoping to be a Christian when he is older. Some are even 
 looking forward to death as the messenger which, in all its 
 terror, is to convert the soul, but all the while the still small 
 voice of the Spirit or the awakened conscience is crushed and 
 neglected, notwithstanding the fact that the Lord is in the voice. 
 
 ..." Remember that God is not far from every one of us. 
 Let us ever be looking for him and listening for his voice, 
 haply feel after him and find him. Let us recognize his pres- 
 ence and his call in all the little daily wants of life, and then we 
 shall never have any reason to question whether he is talking 
 with us or not. . . . Oh how often has the still small voice of 
 Jehovah spoken to us ! yea, at times, by some unexpected and 
 crushing appeal, has he entered our household and stood by our 
 very side, uttering his warning with an unmistakable accent. 
 How constant has been the loving invitation he has issued from 
 the sacred feast which he himself instituted to be kept in remem- 
 brance of him ! How frequently and tenderly has he pleaded
 
 236 THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 
 
 with us in a thousand different ways, by a still small voice, to 
 give our hearts to him ! 
 
 " I earnestly warn you, dear friends, that those of you who 
 are waiting for some special, loud demonstration and call from 
 on high shall not be disappointed in your expectations. The 
 summons shall come, for the Son of man shall descend with a 
 mighty shout, and the holy angels with him ; the loud trumpet- 
 blast shall sound ; neither the living nor the dead shall doubt 
 or hesitate to obey. That voice will not then proclaim peace 
 and pardon through a sacrifice and love, but will say, ' Come 
 forth, ye men and women, to the judgment-day !' " 
 
 "The Lord often works more effectively," says an able com- 
 mentator, "when proper means are used, with quiet assiduity 
 and perseverance, without any of that bustle and vehemence 
 which excites the public attention. Attempts to produce genu- 
 ine reformation, in either doctrine or worship, by coercive means 
 and the secular arm, bearing down all before it like the strong 
 wind, the earthquake and the fire, generally promise more than 
 they effect ; and even when the magistrate's authority is regu- 
 lated in a proper manner in repressing impiety and immorality, 
 and countenancing zealous ministers in their labors, it only 
 makes way for the 'still small voice' of the Gospel, by means 
 of which the Holy Spirit performs his precious work upon the 
 heart." 
 
 The faithful minister, even when he is deprived of the proper 
 support and protection of the magistrate and is driven into ob- 
 scure places, may expect great usefulness by this power accom- 
 panying his labors. The Word of God is also, indeed, "like a 
 fire and a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces," and the 
 whole of it should be preached with zealous plainness and faith- 
 fulness; but the ministration of condemnation and the awful 
 terror of the divine displeasure only precede and make way for 
 the ministration of righteousness and peace.
 
 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS. 
 
 " The mystery of godliness : God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spin.', 
 teen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up 
 into glory." I TlM. iii. 1 6.
 
 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS. 
 
 THE word Mystery is used by religious writers to denote a 
 truth revealed by God above our natural reason, or anything in 
 the character and attributes of God in the divine providence not 
 revealed to man. The word is also used to denote those things 
 which remain in part incomprehensible after they are revealed, 
 such as the incarnation of Christ, the resurrection of the body, 
 etc. In fact, we are encompassed with mysteries on every side. 
 Man is a mystery to himself; he cannot explain the union of 
 his soul and body. No philosopher can tell why he can move 
 a finger, or why he can see, hear and act ; while his eyes are 
 closed in sleep, and his limbs remain motionless as in death. 
 
 The print which accompanies this subject, " The Mystery of 
 Godliness," represents in the foreground the raising of Lazarus 
 from the dead. In this event the human and divine natures dis- 
 tinctly appear, making it apparent that God was manifest in the 
 flesh. Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, were inti- 
 mate friends of our Lord ; and when Lazarus became sick, they 
 sent for him, saying, " He whom thou lovest is sick." Jesus 
 however did not arrive at Bethany till four days after the death 
 of Lazarus. When Mary met Jesus, she fell down at his feet, 
 saying, " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
 died." Seeing Mary and the Jews with her weeping, he groaned 
 in the spirit and was troubled. When he came to the grave 
 the sacred historian says "Jesus wept." "This verse," says a 
 commentator, " though the shortest in the Bible, is inferior to 
 none." Thus far our Divine Master shows himself one of our 
 nature, yet without sin, and could weep with those that wept. 
 
 239
 
 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS. 
 
 The stone that covered the grave of Lazarus being removed, 
 Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, appealing and addressing God 
 as his Father, and thanking him for opportunity to display his 
 power. " And when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud 
 voice, 'Lazarus, come forth /' " as one that had power in himself, 
 and by the same energy which created the world caused him 
 that was dead to come forth in an instant to life and health. 
 Being bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, with his face 
 wrapped about with a napkin, he ordered the spectators to loose 
 him and let him go. 
 
 Beginning on the left of the engraving, in the background 
 we see the infant Jesus with his mother, the Virgin Mary. In 
 the central part is depicted his baptism by John, and above the 
 Spirit descends from heaven like a dove upon him. On the 
 right are seen the missionaries of the Cross preaching to the 
 Gentiles, and in the upper portion of the print, in the distance, is 
 a representation of our Lord's ascension into glory. 
 
 Commentators on the verse on which our illustrations are 
 founded say that the order of the words is somewhat transposed, 
 and that the true construction of the verse should be as follows : 
 "God, manifested in the flesh, was justified by the Spirit, seen 
 of angels," etc. (See Dr. Scott's "Commentary" I Tim. iii. 16.) 
 This is the order of events which has been followed in this 
 article. 
 
 The mystery -of godliness is confessedly very great. It never 
 could have been thought of had it never been revealed; it could 
 not be received except by faith, and it must be very imperfectly 
 understood by man in his present state, being closely connected 
 with infinite and incomprehensible objects. It is to be noted 
 that it " is the mystery of godliness" The revelation and belief 
 of it have always been and are the beginning and spring of all 
 pious dispositions and affections in the hearts of fallen men, and 
 of all spiritual worship of God in the world. The substance 
 and centre of this great mystery is this : God was manifest in
 
 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS. 241 
 
 the flesh as dwelling in the man Christ Jesus, so that whoever 
 saw, or contemplated by faith, this express " image of the invis- 
 ible God," saw the Father also. 
 
 Justified in the Spirit. The high character which our Lord 
 claimed " I and the Father are one," " he that hath seen me 
 hath seen the Father," etc. is fully justified by the stupendous 
 miracles he performed, by his power over the forces of nature, 
 the winds and waves being subjected to his will. The Jewish 
 priests and rulers put him to death because, being a man, he 
 made himself " God." He was justified in this by the descent 
 of the Holy Spirit upon him at his baptism, by the voice from 
 heaven at the transfiguration on the holy mount, and by the 
 pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and disciples 
 who bare witness to his resurrection and ascension to heaven. 
 
 He was seen of angels. During the whole of the great events 
 which took place while our Lord dwelt among us he was seen 
 of angels. The "morning stars that sang together" when he 
 called the world into existence saw their incarnate Lord laid " a 
 babe in the manger," and sang, " Glory to God in the highest, 
 peace on earth and good will toward men." They saw him fast- 
 ing forty days in the wilderness and tempted by the devil ; they 
 witnessed his agonies in the garden, and in both cases they were 
 employed to minister unto him ; they saw their incarnate 
 Master give up the Ghost amidst cruel indignities on the cross ; 
 they witnessed and attended his resurrection and ascension ; 
 they now behold his glory, sing his praise and execute his man- 
 dates, and they shall be his attendants when he shall come to 
 judge the world. 
 
 Preached unto the Gentiles. This was a kind of mystery to 
 many to whom Paul preached, that the Gentiles should be 
 made fellow-heirs with Jews and be admitted into the kingdom 
 of God. Paul and others, having received a commission to 
 preach Christ's Gospel everywhere, proclaimed that their 
 Divine Master had pulled down the middle wall or partition 
 
 16
 
 242 MYSTERY OF GODLINESS. 
 
 which had existed so many ages between the Jews and Gentiles. 
 A new era was to be commenced ; the ceremonial law was to 
 be abolished ; a new kingdom was to be set up, with Christ as 
 King ; his Gospel was to be preached to all nations, and all who 
 would receive it would be granted pardon and salvation. 
 
 Believed on in the world. He was received as the promised 
 Messiah, the Anointed of God, and the only Saviour of fallen 
 man. " This is a most striking mystery of godliness, that one 
 who was crucified as a malefactor, whose kingdom is not of this 
 world, and whose doctrines are opposed to all the sinful propen- 
 sities of the human heart, should, wherever his Gospel is 
 preached, be acknowledged as the only Saviour of sinners, and 
 the Judge of quick and dead" Notwithstanding their preju- 
 dices, many of the Jews believed on Christ, and a great many 
 of the priests themselves became obedient to the faith. 
 
 Received up into glory. Even the human body of our Divine 
 Master, which was crucified, dead and buried, and rose incor- 
 ruptible, was seen and handled by his disciples after his resur- 
 rection. This body was seen taken up in the most visible and 
 palpable manner toward heaven, and was witnessed by over five 
 hundred brethren at once. This is indeed a part of the great 
 mystery of godliness, which, while we have every reasonable 
 evidence to believe, we have not sufficient power to comprehend. 
 His reception into glory, where he ever appears as an Intercessor 
 and Advocate, is a mystery of godliness of inconceivable im- 
 portance to the human race.
 
 VOLUNTARY HUMILITY. 
 
 (RIGHTEOUS OVERMUCH.) 
 
 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility, and worship- 
 ing of angels." COL. ii. 18. " Which things have indeed a show of -wisdom in 
 will-worship and humility, and neglecting the body.'' 1 COL. ii. 23. "Be not right- 
 eous overmuch," EcCL. vii. 16.
 
 VOLUNTARY HUMILITY. 
 
 "Be not righteous overmuch" 
 
 " Let no man beguile you of your reward in a 
 voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, 
 intruding into those things which he hath not 
 seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." Col. 
 ii. 1 8. 
 
 IT can be seen in this passage that there is an allusion to the 
 Olympic or Grecian games so prevalent at the time this Epistle 
 was written, when the judge of the contest assigned the prize 
 or reward to the victors. Of the words " voluntary humility 
 and worshiping of angels," considerable difference of opinion 
 exists as to what and to whom the words apply. Some suppose 
 that the apostle here alludes to the Essenes, who were remark- 
 ably strict and devout, spending the principal part of their time 
 in contemplation of the Divine Being, abstaining from all sen- 
 sual gratification, and affecting to live the life of angels upon the 
 earth. Others interpret the passage as referring to the adora- 
 tion of angels, which appears to have been practiced among the 
 Jews, who in some instances considered them as a sort of medi- 
 ators between God and man. 
 
 We may feel assured that our Divine Master requires from 
 his creatures nothing but " reasonable service." And it is de- 
 clared by his apostle that " whatsoever things are true," or what 
 is agreeable to unchangeable truth, may be learned from the 
 nature or state of created things, or that which comes immedi- 
 ately from God by revelation. And in addition to other virtues, 
 " whatsoever things are of good report," or whatsoever things 
 
 245
 
 246 VOLUNTARY HUMILITY. 
 
 the public agree to acknowledge as useful and profitable to men, 
 such as charitable and beneficent institutions of every kind, if 
 they promote the welfare of mankind esteem them highly, and 
 lend your influence to sustain them accordingly. 
 
 " There are many parts or appearances of religion," says one, 
 " which may be carried to a pernicious extreme." One may be 
 too tenacious of insignificant forms and inventions ; he may pre- 
 tend to kinds and degrees of what he may call righteousness, 
 which the Scriptures do not require ; he may perhaps fast twice 
 a week, or even attempt, after a fashion, to fast forty days, and 
 otherwise afflict his body by austerities not required by the 
 Gospel. His boldness and zeal may border on rashness and 
 rage; his conscientiousness may degenerate into superstition, 
 his benevolence into indiscretion, waste and profusion, and his 
 good nature into folly. 
 
 The engraving prefixed to this article or subject shows seve- 
 ral forms in which voluntary humility has been exhibited during 
 the Christian era. The monastic life, which is the principal 
 source from which most of these manifestations have proceeded, 
 was first instituted in Egypt by St. Anthony in the fourth cen- 
 tury. He was an illiterate youth ; and hearing the words of our 
 Lord to the young ruler " Sell all that thou hast and give to 
 the poor" he took the passage literally as applying to himself, 
 and accordingly distributed his patrimony, deserted his family 
 and retired to a desert eastward of the river Nile. His example 
 and lessons induced many to follow him. St. Anthony lived to 
 a great age, formed his followers into a regular body and pre- 
 scribed rules for their conduct. His system was soon intro- 
 duced into various countries, and was followed with such enthu- 
 siasm that the whole East was filled with a set of indolent 
 mortals, who, abandoning all human connections, advantages, 
 pleasure and concerns, wore out a miserable kind of life, and 
 endured various kinds of sufferings in order to arrive at a more 
 close and rapturous communication with God and angels. The
 
 VOLUNTARY HUMILITY. 247 
 
 system was introduced into the European countries, and various 
 orders of monks, such as Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, 
 etc., were founded. 
 
 On the right of the engraving is seen a member of one of 
 these monastic orders, with ragged clothing, barefoot, with a 
 rope about his body. He has taken the oath of poverty, chas- 
 tity, or celibacy, etc., and belongs to that class called Mendi- 
 cants, or Begging Friars. His order was sanctioned by the 
 highest Catholic authorities to travel over the country, to ad- 
 dress all ranks of people and to sustain themselves by begging. 
 These Mendicants at first became very popular all over Europe, 
 and were regarded with the utmost esteem and veneration. 
 Many made it an essential part of their last wills that their 
 bodies after death should be wrapped in old ragged Dominican 
 or Franciscan habits, and be interred among the Mendicants. 
 The people confided to them not only their spiritual, but also 
 their temporal, interests, such as making treaties with nations, 
 presiding in councils, governing courts, levying taxes and other 
 occupations totally inconsistent with their monastic character 
 and profession. After a while they became so arrogant and pre- 
 sumptuous as to declare they had a divine commission to illus-r 
 trate and maintain the religion of Jesus to the exclusion of all 
 other teachers. By this and other means they lost their credit 
 in the sixteenth century. The remains of these religious orders 
 still exist, though perhaps under other names, but their over- 
 righteous manifestations have been much restricted., 
 
 The spirit of "voluntary humility" is not confined to any par- 
 ticular religious denomination, but exists to some extent among 
 Protestants. On the right and central part of the engraving 
 several men and women, who belong to one of the Protestant 
 denominations in the United States, are engaged in some of 
 their religious exercises, creeping round their church floors on 
 their hands and knees like little children, and in this manner 
 receiving the teachings of the Gospel. Partly in the background
 
 248 VOL UNTAR Y HUMILITY. 
 
 is a representation of the "Holy Stairs" consisting of twenty- 
 eight marble steps, traditionally said to have belonged to Pilate's 
 house, and ascended and descended by our Saviour during his 
 passion. They are now kept under a portico by the side of the 
 principal edifices of Rome ; they are an object of great attrac- 
 tion, and are allowed to be ascended by penitents only on their 
 knees. These stairs were ascended by Martin Luther, the Re- 
 former, when a monk. As he was humbly creeping up the 
 stairs he thought he heard a voice of thunder in his heart, cry- 
 ing, "The just shall live by faith," and in amazement and shame 
 he rose from his knees and fled from the place. 
 
 In the background is seen one of the " Pillar Saints," or 
 " Stylites," who stood motionless on the tops of lofty columns 
 for many years, and to the end of life, to the great astonishment 
 and reverence of the ignorant multitude. This institution was 
 founded by Simeon, a monk of Syria, in the fifth century, who, 
 in order to be nearer heaven, says Mosheim in his "Church His- 
 tory" "spent thirty-seven years, in the most uncomfortable 
 manner, on the tops of five different pillars, of six, twelve, 
 twenty-two, thirty-six and forty cubits' elevation, and in this way 
 procured for himself immense fame and veneration." His ex- 
 ample was followed, but not fully equaled, by many persons in 
 Syria and Palestine even down to the twelfth century. Simeon, 
 the great exemplar of voluntary humility and over-righteous- 
 ness, died at the age of about sixty-nine. The top of the last 
 pillar which he occupied was three feet in diameter, surrounded 
 by a balustrade. Here he stood day and night and in all 
 weathers. Through the night, and till 9 o'clock A. M., he was 
 constantly engaged in prayer. After this time he would address 
 the admiring crowd below, hearing and answering their ques- 
 tions, sending messages, writing letters, etc. He generally ate 
 but once a week, and wore a long sheepskin robe and a cap of 
 the same material. His beard was remarkably long, and his 
 frame extremely emaciated.
 
 YOUTH. 
 
 (VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE.) 
 
 "Flee also youthful lusts." 2 TIM. ii. 22. "Remember thy Creator in the days 
 of thy youth.'" ECCLES. xii. I. "Those that seek me early shall find me." PROV. 
 /iii. 17. "/ have written you, young men." \ JOHN ii. 14.
 
 YOUTH 
 
 ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 HAVING emerged from childhood, Youth is represented as 
 equipped for life's voyage. He is impelled forward by Time, 
 who is personified by a boatman sitting at the helm of the little 
 bark, having his hour-glass before him to mark the duration of 
 his attendance. In the prow is the anchor of Hope. It remains 
 in the boat as long as Time is at the helm. His chart-book is 
 the Bible, in which the course he is to pursue is accurately laid 
 down, and it is a safe guide in all the counter-currents through 
 which he may be obliged to pass, and all the storms and tem- 
 pests he may be obliged to encounter. 
 
 As he advances the skies grow brighter; Fancy's bubbles, 
 with rainbow hues, lend their enchantment to the scene, and a 
 brilliant future opens before his vision. He is delighted, and 
 lifts up his hands in admiration. In the distance he sees the 
 votaries of pleasure, apparently without care or sorrow, joining 
 in the merry dance amid pleasant groves and bowers and de- 
 lightful gardens, with golden and luscious fruits ripening in their 
 grateful shade. He sees castles, palaces and the magnificent 
 mansions of Wealth and Power, and hopes to tread those 
 princely courts and be an honored guest within their walls. 
 Fame's elevated dome and Glory's lofty tower lift their heads 
 on high in the distance, while the trumpet blast proclaims the 
 hero of the hour. By some rare chance, perhaps, Youth hopes 
 to see his name emblazoned on his country's tablets, to be read 
 by thousands yet unborn. 
 
 251
 
 252 YOUTH ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 " Youth," says one, " begins his voyage with skies brighten- 
 ing above him, his little barque gently gliding down the tranquil 
 waters. The air is full of fragrance, wafted from the sunny 
 shores on either side, and in the far distance melodious voices 
 and fluttering pinions of smiling fairies seem to call him onward. 
 Life to him is a beautiful summer morning, and he dreams not 
 that storms may overshadow the heavens and darkness gather 
 over his way. The smiles of Hope are not yet dimmed by dis- 
 appointment. He eagerly listens to the voice of the syren, 
 unconscious of the fact that treachery may be concealed by a 
 smiling face, or the serpent may lurk beneath the rose. Every- 
 thing around him betokens enjoyment, and the glowing future 
 lies before him full of beauty and promise. Happy Youth ! 
 golden hour of innocence ! Too soon will thy beauty and 
 brightness pass away, and the stern realities of care and disap- 
 pointment dispel thine enchantment. Onward floats his barque ; 
 placidly glides the stream; calm and untroubled smile the 
 skies." 
 
 Youth is devoid of cares, consequently of many distresses. 
 Were it otherwise, we should have no old men ; nay, perhaps 
 not one even of middle age. " It is in the order of a most gra- 
 cious God," says a celebrated commentator on Eccles. xi., " that 
 the young should rejoice in their youth ; but they should make 
 such a moderate use of all their enjoyments that they shall not 
 be confounded in the day of judgment But, O young man ! if 
 thou wilt follow the propensity of thine own heart, the noisy 
 mirth of the fool and the dissipation of the profligate, go on! 
 take thy full swing ; but take this with thee, that for all these 
 things God will judge thee ; therefore remove all filthiness of 
 the flesh and spirit. Childhood and youth are vanity ; they pass 
 away. Eternity alone is permanent. Live for eternity." 
 
 " Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth," is a 
 divine command. Consider that he is your Creator, your loving 
 and affectionate Father. In youth memory is strong and tena-
 
 YOUTH ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 253 
 
 cious ; but through the perversion of the heart by sin, young 
 people are apt to have a vivid recollection of everything but 
 God. Remember him in iky youth, in order that you may have 
 a long and blessed life, that you may be saved from the corrup- 
 tion into which many young people run, and the evils they 
 entail upon themselves by giving way to the sinful propensities 
 of their own hearts. As in youth all the powers are more active 
 and vigorous, so they are capable of superior enjoyments. It 
 will be easier for you to believe, hope, pray, love, obey and bear 
 your cross than it can be in old age and decrepitude. 
 
 All the wickedness and misery of man emanate from forget- 
 fulness of God, to which he is exceedingly prone from his 
 youth. To those who seek God early, peculiar promises are 
 given, for it is declared, " They that seek me early shall find 
 me." The aged may seek and find, but never with such advan- 
 tages as presented themselves had they sought him in the 
 morning of life. Youth is peculiarly blessed with golden op- 
 portunities ; it is the time of learning, the time of discipline, the 
 time of improvement, the time for acquiring useful, solid and 
 gracious habits. As the first fruits always belong to God, the 
 fleeting hours of youth should be consecrated to his service. 
 His Spirit now strives; his ministers now exhort; you have 
 now health ; sin has not so much dominion over you as it will 
 have in after life when beset by the snares and temptations of 
 the ungodly. 
 
 The following, relative to the dangers, etc., with which youth- 
 ful life is surrounded, particularly of boys and young men, is 
 mainly extracted from Sampson's " Brief Remark -er," a valuable 
 work published about the beginning of the present century : 
 
 " Our life is beset with perils at every step, but no period of 
 it is quite so perilous as that in which the boy or youth is 
 stepping into manhood. Then it is that his feeling is fervid, his 
 hope is vivid and his self-confidence at the highest. Then it is 
 that his heart is most susceptible to the allurements of pleasure,
 
 254 YOUTH ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 and it is then that many spurn alike the trammels of restraint 
 and the counsels of friendship. 
 
 " Untaught by experience, the wayward youth despises the 
 experience of others. Wise in his own conceit, he scorns the 
 monitions of age and riper judgment. Full of himself, he feels 
 no need of direction or advice, and regards it as an insult to his 
 understanding. He feels a sentiment of indignation and disdain 
 toward those who should presume to teach him how to behave. 
 His sense is deceived ; ' his soul is in a dream ; he is fully con- 
 fident that he sees things clearly, and yet he sees them in a 
 false mirror, exactly as they are not.' 
 
 " Nor is it always the youths of the least promise that are 
 the most in danger. On the contrary, those of forward propen- 
 sities, of lively imaginations and of strong passions withal are 
 in peculiar peril during those green years in which occurs the 
 critical period of transition from the condition of boyhood to 
 that of manhood. The very qualities that distinguish them and 
 set them above their fellows, diminish the likelihood of their 
 establishing a sober staidness of character, and oftentimes are 
 the means of launching them into the whirlpool of dissipation, 
 where all is lost ; where reputation, morals and whatever is esti- 
 mable in human beings are all engulphed together. 
 
 " How many striking instances have we beheld in which 
 hopeful boys, living in a quiet, peaceful and moral community, 
 have been allured by the attractions of city life, who have for- 
 saken their father's farm with what they term its drudgery, in 
 the vain pursuit of an easier calling, and who have been ruined 
 by their unwise choice ! They place themselves heedlessly in 
 the path of temptation, imagining they will have sufficient self- 
 control to withstand the evil influences. How many young 
 men, and young women, too, by resorting to the crowded city, 
 fall into the numerous snares by which they are surrounded, 
 and become morally ruined in body and soul, a disgrace and
 
 YOUTH ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 2$ 5 
 
 misery to their parents and to the friends in whose hearts they 
 were enshrined ! 
 
 " But the dangers we have enumerated are vastly diminished 
 while the immature youth remains under the paternal roof or 
 ' the well-ordered home.' There he finds it not so easy to 
 sever himself from salutary restraints, and there he must neces- 
 sarily feel some respect for the opinions of the society in whose 
 bosom he was born and educated, some reverence for paternal 
 authority, and some regard for the feelings of near kindred. But 
 when he leaves the haven of home and is pushed into the stream 
 of life, it is more than an even chance that he will founder in its 
 treacherous depths, if he has not previously been under the 
 guidance of moral and religious principle. In his new situation 
 it often happens that he encounters unexpected inducements to 
 lead him astray, and at the same time he feels relieved from 
 the authority and influence which had heretofore repressed his 
 wayward propensities ; and if vicious and artful companions, 
 yet assuming an air of gentility, entrap him in their toils, his 
 ruin in all probability is sealed. 
 
 " It was in clear view of these affecting circumstances that 
 the celebrated Christian poet, Cowper, penned the following 
 lines : 
 
 " ' My boy, the unwelcome hour is come 
 
 When thou, transplanted from thy genial home, 
 Must find a colder soil and bleaker air, 
 And trust for safety to a stranger's care.' " 
 
 It is hard to mourn over the death, but it is sometimes still 
 harder to mourn over the life, of a beloved child. When a 
 parent sees a son whom he had expected would be the solace 
 of his old age, an honor to the family, and an ornament to 
 society when he sees him, at the instant of his highest hopes, 
 turn to the ways of folly, no heart but one thus exercised can 
 realize the sharpness of the pang. This is sorrow indeed ; and 
 the best that parents can do to prevent it, or rather all that they
 
 2$6 YOUTH ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 can do, is to lay themselves out, in good earnest, faithfully to 
 train up their children in the way they should go. 
 
 Good education is the most important and desirable thing in 
 the world, but it is of wider scope than most people imagine. 
 What is called learning is only a part of it, and so far from 
 being the most essential part, it is only the husk. In vain will 
 you employ your endeavors to educate your children unless 
 you give seed to the heart as well as culture to the understand- 
 ing ; unless you morally train the subjects with assiduous and 
 well-directed care ; unless you take at least as much pains to 
 make them well-principled and of virtuous manners as to make 
 them shine in learning and' accomplishments ; for intellectual 
 improvement, if their morals be neglected, will tend to render 
 them wise only to do evil. 
 
 If you instill into their minds a strict regard for truth, honesty 
 and integrity, and a deep reverence for all that is sacred if you 
 train them up in habits of industry, temperance and love of 
 order it is then, and only then, you can reasonably expect 
 they will pass uncontaminated through the perilous crisis before 
 them, and that their manhood will be crowned with honor.
 
 THE APOSTLES' CREED. 
 
 "And these three are one." I JOHN v. 7. "Christ died for our sins according to 
 the Scriptures" l COR. xv. 3. " This Jesus hath God raised up." ACTS ii. 32. 
 "He asfendeth up on high." EPH. iv. 8. "fff ez>er liveth to make intercession" 
 HEB. vii. 25. "There shall be a resurrection." ACTS xxiv. 15. 
 17
 
 THE APOSTLES' CREED. 
 
 THE engraving affixed to this article is principally designed 
 to illustrate the prominent declarations pictorially set forth in 
 this Creed. The first words " I believe in God, the Father 
 Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his 
 only Son, our Lord," and near the close, " I believe in the Holy 
 Ghost " all imply a belief in the Trinity three persons, but 
 one God one in three, and three in one. This is expressed 
 under the symbol of the triangle, which in some sense is com- 
 posed of three equal parts, but in reality forms a single figure, 
 or emblem, as is seen in the upper portion of the print. 
 
 Beginning at the birth of Christ, and going downward on the 
 left of the engraving, and then upward, the declarations or events 
 appear nearly in the order in which they stand in the Creed. 
 In the foreground, in the lower portion of the print, our Saviour 
 is shown as crucified, dead and buried. He is also represented 
 as rising from the dead, then ascending to heaven to the " right 
 hand of God the Father Almighty, and from thence he shall 
 come to judge the living and the dead." This evidently refers 
 to that day " when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and 
 all the holy angels with him. . . . Before him shall be gathered 
 all nations." Matt. xxv. 32. Paul also appears to refer to this 
 event when he says : 
 
 " For this we say unto you by the word of the 
 Lord, . . . The dead in Christ shall rise first ; then 
 we which are alive and remain shall be caught up 
 together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord 
 in the air : and so shall we be ever with the Lord." 
 
 259
 
 2<50 THE APOSTLES' CREED. 
 
 On the right of the engraving is seen a large assemblage, 
 representing the catholic Church, or rather "the Holy Church," 
 as it was anciently called, upward from which are seen figures 
 representing the resurrection of the body, which is now changed. 
 They are attended by ministering angels, who conduct them to 
 life everlasting in regions above. The expression, " Commu- 
 nion with saints," which appears in front of the assemblage of 
 the Holy Church, signifies the union and fellowship which all 
 Christians have, or ought to have, with each other, although 
 they may be distinguished by various names. Strictly speaking, 
 there is but one Church in the world, and every one who is 
 truly a Christian belongs to it ; they are all of one family, 
 having one Father, and as such are entitled to all the privileges 
 of the family, in one bond of love. Therefore those whom God 
 hath joined let no man put asunder. 
 
 On one side of the triangle is a representation of a king on 
 his throne, significant of that Being before whom all nations 
 will be gathered at the last day to receive their reward for all 
 things done in the body. On the right of the print is seen a 
 city, illustrative of the New Jerusalem, which descended out of 
 heaven from God, and in which are mansions for the righteous, 
 made without hands, eternal in the heavens. 
 
 The mode of teaching religious truth in the first centuries was 
 extremely simple and remote from all the rules of the philoso- 
 phers and all the precepts of human art. This is manifest not 
 only from the epistles of the apostles, but from all the histories 
 of those times which have come down to us. None of the 
 apostles nor any of their immediate disciples collected or 
 arranged the principal doctrines of Christianity in a scientific or 
 regular system. Provision, however, was early made that the 
 books of the Old and the New Testaments should be put into 
 the hands of all Christians, that they should be publicly read in 
 their assemblies, and be applied both to enlighten their minds 
 with truth and to advance them in piety.
 
 THE APOSJ^LES' CREED. 26 1 
 
 " There is indeed extant," says Dr. Mosheim, the celebrated 
 author of the "Institutes of Ecclesiastical History" "a brief sum- 
 mary of Christian doctrines, which is called the Apostles' Creed, 
 and which, from the fourth century onward, was attributed to 
 Christ's ambassadors themselves. But at this day all who have 
 any knowledge of antiquity confess unanimously that this is an 
 erroneous opinion and without foundation. Those judge far 
 more wisely and rationally who think that this Creed arose from 
 small beginnings, and was gradually enlarged as occasions re- 
 quired, in order to exclude new errors from the Church." 
 
 Although the Apostles' Creed was not composed in a council 
 of apostles, as is supposed by some, yet it appears to have been 
 the general Creed of the Christian Church from at least the 
 close of the second century down to the Reformation. Nor did 
 it undergo any great or material change, as appears from the 
 formulas of faith given by Irenaeus, A. D. 175, and by Tertul- 
 lian, A. D. 192, with the forms of the creeds of all subsequent 
 writers to the present time. Besides serving as the general test 
 of Christian orthodoxy, the principal use of this Creed in the 
 third and following centuries was to guide teachers and others 
 in the cardinal principles of Christianity. It is a most valuable 
 monument of the Church, because it shows what in the early 
 ages were considered as the great, the peculiar and the essential 
 doctrines of the Gospel viz., those all-important facts which 
 are summarily recounted in this Creed. The common form of 
 it in the fourth century, as used in most churches in Europe, 
 Asia and Africa, excepting some slight verbal discrepancies, 
 was as follows : 
 
 " I believe in God the Father Almighty, and in 
 Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord, 
 who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy 
 Ghost, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, 
 arose from the dead on the third day, and sits on
 
 262 THE APOSTLES' CREED. 
 
 the right hand of the Father, whence he will come 
 to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy 
 Spirit, the holy Church, the remission of sins and 
 the resurrection of the body." 
 
 A few centuries later it attained in the Roman Church its 
 ampler form, in which it has since been adopted by most Prot- 
 estant churches, and in their form of public worship the Creed 
 is repeated as follows : 
 
 " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker 
 of heaven and earth : and in Jesus Christ his only 
 Son our Lord ; who was conceived by the Holy 
 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary ; suffered under 
 Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he 
 descended into hell, the third day he rose from 
 the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth 
 on the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; 
 from thence he shall come to judge the quick and 
 the dead. 
 
 " I believe in the Holy Ghost ; the holy Cath- 
 olic Church ; the communion of saints ; the for- 
 giveness of sins ; the resurrection of the body ; 
 and the life everlasting. Amen."
 
 THE THIEF. 
 
 "Thou shall not steal." Ex. xx. 15. "A treasure in the heavens . . . that failfth 
 not, where no thief approacheth. neither moth corrupteth." I-t'KK xii. 33. "Every 
 one that itealeth shall be cut off." ZECH. v. 3. "Let him that stole, steal no more.' 1
 
 THE THIEF. 
 
 ROBBERY, OPPRESSION, ETC. 
 
 THE engraving is from one of Holbein's expressive designs, 
 showing a thief, or highwayman, in the darkness of the forest, 
 robbing a helpless woman of her goods. The robber has left 
 his horse behind, and having probably secreted himself by the 
 roadside, has sprung out of his hiding-place and seized her 
 before she could make an outcry. He is armed, booted and 
 spurred, ready to mount his horse ; he seizes the poor woman's 
 goods, springs on his horse, and by the aid of his spurs soon 
 puts himself beyond the reach of successful pursuit. The figure 
 of Death is introduced, and is seen with his bony finger grasp- 
 ing the neck of the thief. This may be considered as indicative 
 or emblematic of the fate which awaits him. He died by strang- 
 ulation, as did Judas, who was a thief before him. 
 
 Judas Iscariot, who was a professed follower of Jesus, ap- 
 pears to have found fault with Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who 
 anointed the feet of our Lord with costly ointment, and he said, 
 " Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and 
 given to the poor ?" It is stated that he had no sympathy for 
 the poor ; he was a thief, and his object was to gain possession 
 of the money, as he was the treasurer of the company of dis- 
 ciples who attended our Lord. He was covetous : this was 
 " his own iniquity," and neither his profession nor his apostolic 
 office had subdued this base propensity, a change which divine 
 grace alone could effect. He thought that if the price of the 
 
 265
 
 266 THE THIEF. 
 
 ointment had been put into the bag, he could have taken a 
 larger amount without being detected. 
 
 Above the Holbein cut was affixed the text, " Lord, I am 
 oppressed; undertake for me" (Isa. xxxviii. 14), and underneath 
 were the following lines : 
 
 " Men to destroy with fell intent, 
 The thief by night does rise, 
 But now to spoil an aged dame 
 Of a full basket tries. 
 
 " ' I suffer wrong !' she cries, and God 
 
 Sends Death to her relief, 
 Who by tlie hangman's certain gripe 
 Strangles the greedy thief." 
 
 Dr. Scott, in his comment on the eighth commandment 
 " Thou shalt not steal " says : " This commandment is the law 
 of love in respect to property." The productions of the earth 
 are obtained by labor; property is thereby accumulated, which, 
 if justly obtained, descends rightfully to the owner's posterity 
 or heirs. From this and similar causes strict adherence to 
 business pursuits combined with rigid economy originates the 
 difference in men's worldly circumstances. That portion which 
 we honestly obtain " is the bread which God hath given us," 
 and with this we should be satisfied. But men's passions crave 
 more; sloth refuses to labor; hence force and fraud are em- 
 ployed to get unlawful possession of the property of others. 
 
 It is not necessary to enumerate those violations of which 
 human laws take cognizance ; but men may in various ways 
 break the divine law and yet escape punishment. Fraudulent 
 bargains, abuse of confidence, impositions upon the ignorant or 
 credulous, covetousness, extortion, exorbitant demands, de- 
 ceitful combinations to enhance the price of goods or labor, or 
 to lower the wages of the poor, will all be condemned at the 
 tribunal of God as violations of this law, though perhaps 
 hardly censured in human society. Nations and provinces
 
 THE THIEF. 267 
 
 which have become infamous through rapine and plunder, 
 smiling defiance at human justice, will be adjudged wholesale 
 robbers in common with the meanest culprit. 
 
 Defrauding the public constitutes a most atrocious transgres- 
 sion of this law, whether it be done by oppressive rulers, who 
 burthen the people with merciless taxation, or by those who 
 embezzle the treasures committed to their stewardship, or by 
 smuggling and in various ways evading the payment of taxes. 
 Contracting debts to support vanity and luxury, or in pursuit 
 of some selfish scheme of aggrandizement, or for anything not 
 absolutely necessary, without a fair prospect of payment ; taking 
 advantage of humane laws to evade payment when the insolv- 
 ents have sufficient means for the purpose ; all extravagance in 
 excess of the liberal allowance of man's income, and slothful- 
 ness, or unnecessary subsistence on charity, are violations of 
 the commandment, " Thou shalt not steal." 
 
 For men to withhold necessary relief from deserving objects 
 of compassion, or for employers to grind the poor so low in 
 their wages as scarcely to permit of decent subsistence, in order 
 that they may live in affluence and enrich their own families, is 
 absolutely inconsistent with the demands of the law of God. 
 Every species of gambling originates from an unhallowed desire 
 or hope of increasing our possessions by proportionally impov- 
 erishing others. The influence of lotteries, so far from being 
 less criminal than other species of gambling, is in fact the most 
 demoralizing upon public morals in the community in which 
 such practice is tolerated. It abets and sanctions by law an 
 imposition which opens the door to fraud and villany. Any 
 argument proving the unlawfulness for two or three men to cast 
 lots for money or to game in any other way is much more con- 
 clusive in the case of a million of persons indulging in a similar 
 illegitimate practice through the medium of a public lottery. 
 
 In connection with the foregoing subject may be added the 
 following extract from "The Brief Remarker on the Ways of
 
 268 THE THIEF. 
 
 Man." It is entitled " Forgetting old debts and the shuffling 
 off the payment of small ones." 
 
 " There may be found a large number of men in this country 
 who, though not of the Hebrew stock, nevertheless cleave fast 
 to that part of the old Mosaic law which enjoins a release. 
 They think, or seem to think, that the debts incurred by them 
 are so much the less binding in proportion to the number of 
 years that have elapsed since they were contracted, and when a 
 debt has stood for seven years without being liquidated they 
 lay the flattering unction to their soul that it has been for ever 
 cancelled in the chancery of equity and conscience. This is the 
 case more particularly with small debts, of which many persons 
 exhibit a convenient lack of recollection, but whose memories 
 in other respects are remarkably retentive. 
 
 " It is a curious fact, of no very auspicious omen, that while 
 most other things have been growing dearer, promises have 
 been growing cheaper, and may appropriately be compared to 
 
 
 
 drugs that operate speedily or not at all. They become stale, as 
 it were, by time, so that the longer the exaction of a promise is 
 forborne the more difficult it is to obtain settlement; hence 
 small debts that have waxen old are as bad as lost, being 
 scarcely worth the trouble of collecting. 
 
 " Nor is it altogether among the baser class that this delin- 
 quency is prevalent. You may find it among men of high 
 standing and of honorable feelings in most other respects. 
 They would scorn the imputation of weakness or falsehood or 
 roguery, but nevertheless permit themselves to forget their 
 promises, especially in little matters, and the rather, perhaps, 
 from thinking that their creditors, out of respect or fear, would 
 as lief lose the debt as urge for payment in good earnest. This 
 tardiness is frequently characteristic of men mild in temper, 
 courteous in their manners, kind and neighborly, hospitable in 
 their homes, and, in short, of excellent reputations, save in this 
 single particular. If you are in distress and need their charity,
 
 THE THIEF. 269 
 
 they will give ; but if they owe you, they shuffle off payment 
 without any regard to your interest or feelings. 
 
 Marvelous inconsistency ! Are they so blind as not to see 
 that withholding just dues, of however small amount, is posi- 
 tive injustice ? that it scarcely makes any difference in the moral 
 scale whether one filches from his neighbor or intentionally 
 retains what belongs to him ? Are they unaware that such 
 laxity destroys their credit and blots their reputation ? that it 
 attaches to them a general suspicion of want of principle, or 
 rather of willful falsehood and dishonesty ? Are they conscious 
 of the smothered indignation that burns in the bosoms of those 
 they so lightly disappoint ? of the hard and bitter things that 
 are privately said of them on this account even by their friends ? 
 or, finally, are they ignorant of the fact that the public interest 
 suffers more from this species of evil than from all the theft and 
 robbery committed in the land, and that if all men acted in this 
 respect like them there would be an end to private credit and 
 mutual confidence ? 
 
 Small debts are entitled to be regarded as obligations of 
 honor. A man of strict integrity and competent means will be 
 particularly careful to discharge spontaneously and punctually 
 those trifling demands which it is so unpleasant even to ask for, 
 and much more to dun for, over and over again. A sincerely 
 honest man, having the wherewithal at his command, will not 
 say to his neighbor, " Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will 
 pay." On the contrary, it is a fixed rule with him, so far as his 
 circumstances will permit, to settle without delay, without hesi- 
 tation, ungrudgingly, and without giving his neighbor the 
 trouble and pain of repeated requisition and importunate 
 solicitations. 
 
 23*
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 
 
 THE WORLD TO COME. 
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE is a term used to signify existence with- 
 out the aid of the body, in contradistinction to the theory of 
 materialists, who maintain that the soul of man is material, or 
 that the principle of perception and thought is not a substance 
 distinct from the body, but the result of corporeal organization. 
 Some of this class maintain that man is nothing more than what 
 we now see of him, and that there is nothing but matter in the 
 universe. 
 
 The engraving affixed to this article, with the stanzas con- 
 nected with it, is intended to illustrate the subject now before 
 the reader. The following lines were written by Thomas Camp- 
 bell, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1777. His longest 
 and greatest poem was the " Pleasures of Hope," published in 
 1799, and the young author immediately found himself pos- 
 sessed of a brilliant reputation, taking rank among the first 
 poetic names of the age. He died in 1844, and was buried in 
 the Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. 
 
 THE SOLDIER'S DREAM OF HOME. 
 
 Our bugles sang truce, for the night-clouds had lowered 
 
 And sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, 
 And thousands had sunk to the ground overpowered 
 
 The weary to sleep and the wounded to die. 
 
 While reposing that night on my pallet of straw, 
 
 By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain, 
 At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw, 
 
 And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again. 
 270
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 
 
 (THE SOLDIER'S DREAM OF HOME, Etc.) 
 
 "In. a dream, in a vision of the night, -when deep sleep falleth upon men, . . . 
 thrn he openeth the ears of men." JOB xxxiii. 15, 16. "Cornelius . . . saw in a 
 vision . . . an angel . . . coming in to him." ACTS x. 1-3. "Whether in (he 
 body, or out of the body, I cannot tell." 2 COR. xii. 2.
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 2?$ 
 
 Methought from the battle-field's dreadful array 
 
 Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track ; 
 'Twas autumn, and sunshine arose on the way 
 
 To the home of my father who welcomed me back. 
 
 I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft 
 
 In life's blooming march when my bosom was young ; 
 
 I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft, 
 
 And knew the sweet strain that the corn -reapers sung. 
 
 Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore 
 From my home and my weeping friends never to part ; 
 
 My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er, 
 
 And my wife sobbed aloud in her fullness of heart : 
 
 " Stay, stay with us ! rest ! thou art weary and worn !" 
 
 And fain was the war-broken soldier to stay : 
 But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn, 
 And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away. 
 
 In the foreground of the engraving a Scotch Highland soldier 
 is seen asleep on the field, completely overpowered by the 
 bloody struggle of the day. A truce, or suspension of hostili- 
 ties, has been agreed upon by the commanders of the contend- 
 ing parties, and the bugle's blast has proclaimed the intelligence, 
 so that each army can send forth parties to attend their com- 
 rades who lie dead or wounded on .the field of battle. The 
 soldiers who have borne the heat and burden of the day can 
 now seek repose on any part of the field where they have been 
 stationed. As it is a well-known fact that wolves and other 
 wild animals will follow an army on their march to feed on the 
 killed or wounded, fagots and brushwood are collected and set 
 on fire, the flames of which scare off the ravenous creatures 
 that follow them. 
 
 The soldier has sunk into a deep sleep; he sees not; he 
 neither hears nor heeds anything which is about him ; in the 
 eye of the materialist, the man has perished, and is nothing but 
 a dead mass of matter. In a certain sense this is true, for that 
 which constituted the man has departed, and now assumes an- 
 other sphere of existence. In a moment of time he has been 
 
 18
 
 2/4 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 
 
 transported to a far distant country, to the house of his father, 
 and feels himself cordially welcomed to the home of his child- 
 hood. He betakes himself to the pleasant fields over which he 
 had so often rambled in life's blooming morn ; he hears again 
 the bleating of his own favorite goats from the mountainous 
 heights to which they have ascended ; he hears once more " the 
 sweet strains that the corn- reapers sing," and inwardly vows 
 never again to leave his loved country and kind friends to roam 
 over inhospitable climes. As a final climax to the sweet vision, 
 he sees his wife and children rapidly pressing forward to meet 
 him ; the children embrace and kiss their loving father ; his wife 
 sobs aloud ; husband and wife embrace each other ; their cup 
 of happiness is full and running over; their faces are wet with 
 mingled tears of ecstatic bliss and joy; the husband and father 
 is entreated to remain ; they say : 
 
 " ' Stay, stay with us ! rest ! thou art weary and worn !' 
 And fain was the war-broken soldier to stay." 
 
 The deep thunder of the morning gun dispels the sweet 
 vision, and the soldier finds himself again on the field of battle ; 
 the truce is broken, and the dread preparations for another 
 bloody conflict are going on ; " sorrow returns," and he knows 
 not what will become of him before the day or even the present 
 hour closes. 
 
 The following is a description of what has been termed the 
 trance of the Rev. William Tennent, of Freehold, N. J., pastor 
 of the First Presbyterian church in that place for more than 
 forty-three years. Mr. Tennent was remarkable for his piety 
 and devotion to the Christian cause. Being desirous of entering 
 the ministry, he commenced the study of divinity under the 
 direction of his brother, Rev. Gilbert Tennent, pastor of the 
 church at New Brunswick, and while here was thrown into a 
 remarkable trance and remained as dead for a number of days 
 Preparations were duly made for his interment, and the time of
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 2?$ 
 
 his funeral was appointed. The account of his restoration from 
 apparent death and what he saw, heard and experienced during 
 the three days of suspended vitality are presented in his "Life," 
 ascribed to the Hon. Elias Boudinot, LL. D., and published 
 in the "Evangelical Intelligencer" Philadelphia. The evidence 
 establishing the truth of what is related concerning this trance 
 is undoubted. 
 
 " After a regular course of theological study, Mr. Tennent 
 made preparation for his examination by the presbytery, as a 
 candidate for the Gospel ministry. His intense application 
 affected his health. . . . He grew worse and worse. His spirits 
 failed him, and he began to have doubts of his final happiness. 
 One morning he was conversing in Latin with his brother on 
 the state of his soul, when he fainted and died away. In the 
 evening, his physician and friend returned from a ride in the 
 country and was greatly affected at the news of his death. He 
 could not be persuaded that it was certain. . . . He had the 
 body restored to a warm bed, and insisted that the people who 
 had been invited to the funeral should be requested not to 
 attend. To this the brother objected, as absurd the eyes being 
 sunk, the lips discolored, and the whole body cold and stiff. 
 However, the doctor prevailed. . . . The third day arrived, and 
 no hopes were entertained for his recovery, excepting by the 
 physician, who never left him, night or day. The people were 
 again invited and assembled to attend the funeral. The doctor 
 still objected, and at last confined his request to one hour, then 
 to half an hour, and finally to a quarter of an hour. He had 
 discovered that the tongue was much swollen and threatened to 
 crack. He endeavored to soften it by an emollient ointment, 
 using a feather in its application, when the brother came in at 
 the expiration of the last period, and, mistaking the doctor's 
 efforts as an attempt to feed the deceased, manifested some 
 resentment, and in a spirited tone said : ' It is shameful to be 
 feeding a lifeless corpse !' and insisted with earnestness that the
 
 276 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 
 
 funeral should immediately proceed. At this critical and im- 
 portant moment, the body, to the great alarm and astonishment 
 of all present, opened its eyes, gave a dreadful groan, and sank 
 again into apparent death. In about another hour, the eyes 
 again opened, another groan proceeded from the body, and 
 again all appearance of animation vanished. During the third 
 hour life seemed to return with more power, and a complete 
 revival took place. 
 
 " Mr. Tennent continued in such a weak and low state for six 
 weeks, that great doubts were entertained of his recovery, and 
 it was about twelve months before he was completely restored. 
 . . . On examination he was found to be totally ignorant of 
 every transaction of his life previous to his sickness. He could 
 not read nor write a single word, and required the same method 
 of instruction as is taken with childen in elementary education. 
 Afterward he began to learn the Latin language under the 
 tuition of his brother. One day as he was reciting a lesson in 
 Cornelius Nepos, he suddenly started and clapped his hand to 
 his head as if suffering acute pain. His brother inquired the 
 cause of his distress, and he replied that he felt a sudden shock 
 in his head, and immediately it seemed that he had read that 
 book before. By degrees his recollection was restored, and he 
 could speak the Latin as fluently as before his sickness." 
 
 This affair produced a great sensation at the time, as the 
 parties most directly concerned were extensively known and 
 respected as persons of the highest intelligence and moral 
 worth. The writer of the memoirs of Mr. Tennent was greatly 
 interested in these uncommon events, and on a favorable occa- 
 sion earnestly pressed him for a minute account of his views 
 and apprehensions whilst lying in this extraordinary state of 
 suspended animation. When first approached upon the subject 
 he was extremely reluctant to give any intelligence of his mys- 
 terious perceptions or feelings, but after repeated importunity
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 2"J"J 
 
 he finally consented, and proceeded with a solemnity not to be 
 described. 
 
 " While I was conversing with my brother," said he, " on the 
 state of my soul and the fears I had for my future welfare, I 
 found myself in an instant in another state of existence, under 
 the direction of a superior Being, who ordered me to follow 
 him. I was accordingly wafted along, I knew not how, till I 
 beheld at a distance an ineffable glory, the impression of which 
 on my mind it is impossible to communicate to mortal man. I 
 immediately reflected on my happy change and thought, Well, 
 blessed be God ! I am safe at last, notwithstanding all my fears. 
 I saw an innumerable company of happy beings surrounding the 
 heavenly Light, all engaged in acts of adoration and joyous 
 worship, but I did not perceive any bodily shape, or representa- 
 tion, in the glorious appearance. I heard things unutterable ; 
 and their songs and hallelujahs of thanksgiving and praise filled 
 my soul with unspeakable rapture and the bliss of the saints. 
 I then applied to my Conductor for permission to join the happy 
 throng, whereupon he tapped me on the shoulder and said, 
 ' You must return to earth.' A sword through my heart could 
 not have produced greater agony than this announcement. The 
 next moment I saw my brother and the doctor standing before 
 me engaged in dispute. The three days during which I had 
 appeared lifeless, seemed to me not more than ten or fifteen 
 minutes. The idea of returning to the world of sorrow gave 
 me such a shock that I fainted repeatedly." He concluded : 
 " So impressive was the effect upon my mind of what I had 
 seen and heard that I sincerely believe, if it be possible to live 
 for any length of time beyond the trials and vicissitudes of this 
 sublunary sphere, such was my privileged experience. The 
 ravishing sounds of the songs and hallelujahs that I heard, and 
 the precise words that were uttered, were not out of my ears 
 when awake for at least three years. All the kingdoms of the 
 earth were in my sight as nothing but vanity, and so great were
 
 278 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 
 
 my ideas of heavenly glory that nothing which did not in some 
 measure relate to it could command my serious attention." 
 
 It is not a matter of surprise that, after such an affecting 
 account, solicitude should have been felt for further information 
 as to the words or at least the subjects of praise or adoration 
 which Mr. Tennent had heard ; but when he was requested to 
 communicate these, he decidedly objected, saying, " You will 
 know them, with many other particulars, hereafter, as you will 
 find the whole account among my papers " which precluded 
 all further anxiety. Mr. Tennent died March 8, 1777, aged 71 
 years, and was buried under the centre aisle of the Presbyterian 
 church in Freehold, near Monmouth Court-house. This build- 
 ing is still standing, and is the one in which Mr. Tennent 
 preached during the time of his ministry. The battle of Mon- 
 mouth took place June 28, 1778, the next year after his death. 
 The storm of battle raged around the parsonage and the church 
 near by, and marks of the conflict are still to be seen. The fol- 
 lowing appears in a note in the printed account given of Mr. 
 Tennent : 
 
 [" It was so ordered, in the course of Divine 
 Providence, that the writer was sorely disappointed 
 in his expectation of obtaining the papers here 
 alluded to. Such, however, was the will of 
 Heaven. Mr. Tennent's death happened during 
 the Revolutionary war, when the enemy separated 
 the writer from him, so as to render it impracti- 
 cable to attend him on a dying bed ; and before it 
 was possible to get to his house after his death 
 (the writer being with the American army at Val- 
 ley Forge), his son came from Charleston and 
 took his mother, and his father's papers and prop- 
 erty, and returned to Carolina. About fifty miles 
 from Charleston the son was taken suddenly sick, 
 and died among entire strangers; and never since,
 
 IMMATERIAL LIFE. 2/9 
 
 though the writer was left executor to the son, 
 could any trace of the father's papers be discov- 
 ered by him."] 
 
 In the foregoing accounts we have a demonstration of the 
 " immaterial life " in the experience of two persons whose pur- 
 suits in this life differ widely from each other. The one is a 
 soldier, the other a Christian minister. In " The Soldier's 
 Dream," the highest point of happiness, so far as this world is 
 concerned, is reached ; the other account is that of a devoted 
 Christian, who aspires to something more than this earthly 
 abode can give, one of that class who " desire a better country" 
 that is, heavenly " the world to come." The experience of 
 Mr. Tennent is something like that of St. Paul, who was 
 " caught up into heaven " and heard unspeakable words. Both 
 appear to have been taken to paradise, a place of supreme de- 
 light, a state of happiness beyond the power of human language 
 to describe. Paul, in 2 Cor. xii., speaking of visions and reve- 
 lations of the Lord, says, concerning himself, " I knew a man in 
 Christ . . . (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot 
 tell : God knoweth ;) how that he was caught up into paradise, 
 and heard unspeakable words." Paul, it appears, in his vision, 
 or trance, did not know whether his spirit had left his body or 
 not, and it is not to be supposed that Mr. Tennent or any other 
 person will have the knowledge granted which was withheld 
 from the apostle to the Gentiles.
 
 OLD AGE 
 
 ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 AT length " Old Age comes creeping on " Time's passen- 
 ger ; he is bent over by the weight of years and wasted by the 
 toils of life ; his sun is setting in the western sky. The tall 
 oak is leafless, and its trunk and branches show that life is de- 
 parted. The walls of the stately mansion seen in the back- 
 ground crumble and fall, and the whole structure will soon 
 become a shapeless mass of ruins. Old Age, here represented 
 as a Christian passenger, nears his heavenly home ; his little 
 barque is shattered, and his boatman, Time, who is at the helm 
 no more, in shadowy form departs. His passenger, wearied 
 perhaps by his voyage, looks upward through the misty clouds 
 and darkness brooding round ; he sees the light of heaven, and 
 longs to go and join the hosts above. 
 
 Old Age, though often oppressed with many infirmities, is 
 also attended with many favors and blessings. Though the 
 outward man (the flesh) may be perishing, yet the inward man 
 (the spirit) may be renewed day by day. It will be perceived 
 that in the engraving representing Old Age he has rid himself 
 of much of the freight or baggage, consisting of cares, anxie- 
 ties, etc., with which his boat was pverloaded when he was in 
 the prime of manhood. Bunyan, in his "Pilgrim's Progress," 
 describes the matured Christian as on the " Delectable Moun- 
 tains." "These mountains," says a celebrated commentator, 
 " seem intended to represent those calm seasons of peace and 
 comfort which consistent believers often experience in their old 
 
 280
 
 OLD AGE. 
 
 (VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE.) 
 
 "His days are determined, . . . than hast appointed his bounds that he cannot 
 pass." JOB xiv. 5. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was : and the 
 spirit shall return unto God who gave it." ECCLES. xii. 7.
 
 OLD AGE ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 283 
 
 age. They have survived, to a considerable degree, the vehe- 
 mence of their youthful passions, and have honorably performed 
 their parts in the active scenes of life ; they are established, by 
 long experience, in the simplicity of dependence and obedience ; 
 the Lord graciously exempts them from peculiar trials and 
 temptations ; their acquaintance with the ministers and people 
 of God is enlarged, and they possess the respect, confidence 
 and affection of many esteemed friends ; they have much leisure 
 for communion with God and the immediate exercises of 
 religion, and they converse with their brethren on the loving- 
 kindness and truth of the Lord till their ' hearts burn within 
 them.' Depending on the promises and perfections of God, in 
 assured faith and hope, they anticipate their future happiness 
 ' with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' " 
 
 Skenandoa, the Indian chieftain, who died at the age of one 
 hundred years, was in his youth a brave and intrepid warrior, 
 and in riper years, one of the noblest counselors among the 
 North American tribes. He possessed a vigorous mind, and 
 was alike sagacious, active and persevering. As a friend and 
 ally, he was mild and gentle in his disposition and faithful to his 
 engagements. In the Revolutionary war, his influence induced 
 the Oneidas to take up arms in favor of the Americans, and 
 among the Indians he was distinguished by the appellation of 
 " the white man's friend." Although he could speak but little 
 English, and in his extreme old age was blind, yet his company 
 was always sought. To a friend who called upon him a short 
 time before he died, he thus expressed himself through an 
 interpreter : 
 
 " I am an aged hemlock. The winds of an hun- 
 dred winters have whistled through my branches ; 
 I am dead at the top. The generation to which I
 
 284 OLD AGE ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 t 
 
 belonged has run away and left me. Why I live, 
 the great Good Spirit only knows. Pray to my 
 Jesus that I may have patience to wait for my ap- 
 pointed time to die." 
 
 Honored chief ! his prayer was answered. He was cheerful 
 and resigned to the last. For several years he kept his dress 
 prepared for the grave. Again and again he came to Clinton 
 to die, longing that his soul might be with Christ, and his body 
 in the narrow house near his beloved Christian teacher Rev. 
 Mr. Kirtland, the missionary to the Oneidas. While the am- 
 bitious but vulgar great look principally to sculptured monu- 
 ments and riches in the temple of earthly fame, Skenandoa, in 
 the spirit of the only nobility, stood with his loins girded, wait- 
 ing the coming of the Lord. 
 
 " There is often," says a sensible writer, " a premature decay 
 in mind. Ere the corruptible body stoops with age, the immor- 
 tal part shows evident signs of impairment. It not only grows 
 forgetful, but feebler in intellect ; and this may frequently happen 
 to persons well informed and of excellent intellectual faculties. 
 So far as it comes by the immediate act of God, which could 
 not be foreseen, it is a calamity that we only can deplore with 
 humble reverence of the righteous hand that inflicts it. But in 
 most cases it is owing to preventable causes, such as intemper- 
 ate drinking, gluttony, debauchery and the train of kindred vices 
 which war against the whole man, and bring both the body and 
 mind to premature decay and ruin. But not to speak of the 
 causes which are so well known, there is one that is but little 
 noticed, namely, habitual neglect or inaction of our rational 
 faculties. 
 
 " Intellect often degenerates for want of exercise. Mental 
 activity is no less necessary for sustaining the faculties of the 
 mind, than is corporeal exercise, for producing vigor and alert- 
 ness of the body. Nothing, it is said, so much strengthens the
 
 OLD AGE ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 285 
 
 memory as the frequent employment of it, by which it gains 
 retentiveness as it were mechanically; whereas, on the other 
 hand, habitual disuse never fails to abate its power. Our reason, 
 also, is a faculty to which exercise gives development, growth 
 and strength. We learn to reason by reasoning ; we learn to 
 walk by walking as one whose limbs have long been confined 
 and motionless loses, in some degree, their natural activity. 
 Moreover, even speech is lost by long disuse. It is related of 
 persons who, after several years spent in solitude and utter seclu- 
 sion from the company of their fellow-beings, have been unable 
 even to articulate their mother tongue when first restored to 
 society. Such was the case with Alexander Selkirk, whose 
 real history is veiled under the pleasing tale of Robinson 
 Crusoe." 
 
 As the body which we at present inhabit, loses its elasticity 
 and vigor by the law of nature in which it is created, so the 
 soul, in its mysterious connection with it, is somewhat affected 
 by the change, and desires repose, which often degenerates into 
 inaction and imbecility. As long as we remain in the world, we 
 are in a state of trial. To those who wish the prolongation of 
 their rational faculties, and who desire to make old age " their 
 best days," the writer ventures to suggest the following short 
 hints : 
 
 1 . "Be temperate in all things " in your desires as well as 
 your enjoyments. 
 
 2. Cultivate contentment and cheerfulness of temper. "A 
 cheerful heart doeth good like a medicine." Like a medicine it 
 harmonizes and invigorates the body and the mind; while 
 morbid melancholy and peevishness powerfully tend to impair 
 both, 
 
 3. So educate and train up your children, if children you 
 have, that they will be likely to become not only the support, 
 but the delightful companions of your old age. 
 
 4. When the years draw nigh, or actually come, in which the
 
 286 OLD AGE ON THE VOYAGE OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 hand of time begins to bear hard upon you, beware of sinking 
 into mental torpitude and inaction. By reading and contempla- 
 tion, exercise daily the faculties of memory, of reason and of 
 judgment. 
 
 5. Neither withdraw from society, nor give society occasion 
 to withdraw from you. As fast as the friends of your youth 
 drop away by death, make to yourself other friends from suc- 
 ceeding generations. It is not meet that the old should consort 
 with none but the old ; it tends to deepen the shade of the 
 gloomy valley through which they are passing, and to acceler- 
 ate the impairment of their minds. The company and conver- 
 sation of the young nay, even the prattle of little children 
 are animating to well-tempered age ; and on the other hand, age 
 that carries with it experience and good information, and pos- 
 sesses a due mixture of pleasant humor with becoming gravity, 
 has in it the power to please as well as to profit the susceptible 
 and ingenuous minds of the younger portion of society. 
 
 In conclusion : Lay hold on wisdom as the only sure anchor 
 of age. " In her right hand is length of days." The firm 
 belief and steadfast practice of our holy religion yielding the" 
 consolations of hope, which to the aged can no longer spring 
 from the prospect of earthly enjoyments tend greatly in every 
 way to invigorate the understanding and to preserve it from 
 decay.
 
 THE HEAVENLY ELEVATOR 
 
 "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, Lord." Ps. cxxx. I. "Thou . . . 
 shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth." Ps. Ixxi. 2O. "He brought 
 me up also out of an hon-ible pit." Ps. xl. 2.
 
 THE HEAVENLY ELEVATOR. 
 
 THE leading object of this emblem or similitude is to show 
 the state of men at this time in a moral aspect, with attending 
 circumstances. The elevator represented is used for the pur- 
 pose of raising a person from a lower position to a higher or 
 more lofty one. It is depicted as being lowered down a pit, or 
 cavern, made in the earth by some convulsion .of nature in 
 ancient times. This chasm extends a great distance, running 
 in various directions, and is very narrow in some places, but 
 wider in others, so that a large number of persons can live in 
 it. No one, however, can get out of these lower regions unless 
 he has assistance from some power superior to his own. 
 
 Quite a number of persons occupy different situations at the 
 bottom of the pit. On the right is seen a decrepit beggar, for- 
 saken by his fellow-creatures; some of his limbs are injured 
 by disease. The poor outcast, finding no relief from any human 
 source, looks upward and implores divine help. The Lord of 
 the country above and below, the Father of mercies, has heard 
 his cry, and, lo ! the Heavenly Elevator is immediately seen 
 descending by the cords of Love into the pit where the poor 
 creature is sitting. Forbidding as he may appear to those 
 around him, the heavenly angelic conductor assists him to get 
 into his beautiful vehicle, which is immediately drawn up to 
 the upper regions, where a mansion has been prepared for him 
 by the beloved Son of the Father of mercy and Lord of all. 
 
 On the left, opposite the beggar, is one who is seeking after 
 the way of life. His eyesight has been partially impaired by 
 the glare of the false lights which have been set up in these 
 
 19 280
 
 290 THE HEA VENL Y ELE VA TOR. 
 
 gloomy regions by the enemies of God and mankind, which 
 only 
 
 " Lead to bewilder, and dazzle to blind." 
 
 He has now come, however, in his wanderings, near the Heav- 
 enly Elevator, and is able to discern on his pathway the glim- 
 merings of the true light which comes from above. He hears 
 the message of Salvation, believes, implores divine mercy and 
 help from on high, enters the Elevator, and is drawn upward to 
 regions of eternal light and joy. 
 
 A vast number of persons located in these deep pits and val- 
 leys, have no relish for the truths of which they have been 
 informed by the messengers sent them from above. They love 
 darkness because their deeds are evil. In the various windings 
 of the passages which men traverse, the light emanating from 
 the higher regions in some measure passes down into the open- 
 ings of the gloomy depths. The great King sends messages by 
 his servants to those who are fallen, warning them of the con- 
 sequences of their evil course, the ruin which will overwhelm 
 them if they continue in their wickedness. He offers them free 
 pardon for all their offences, and urges them to accept salvation 
 from all the evils which will surely come upon the ungodly. A 
 way, a refuge, an ark of safety, is provided without money and 
 without price. 
 
 Instead of complying with the advice, warnings and entreaties 
 given by a God of mercy and compassion, they turn a deaf ear 
 to all his commands and blessed promises. They prefer to 
 walk in their own counsels and continue with their old com- 
 panions ; they have teachers of their own, who profess superior 
 wisdom to those who had been, sent to warn them of the judg- 
 ment to come. They begin to distrust the threatenings* against 
 sin, and cling to the delusion that, however they may live here, 
 it will all be well with them hereafter. Thus they deceive them- 
 selves and others, and continue in their chosen ways, rejecting
 
 THE HE A VENL Y ELE VA TOR. 2Q I 
 
 the counsel of God, despising the offers of mercy, and refusing 
 the salvation provided for them by Jesus Christ. 
 
 That mankind are in a fallen state is a truth too obvious to 
 be successfully denied. The wisest heathens have acknowledged 
 this fact, but have given no rational account why man became 
 so depraved and wretched. Many absurd theories have been 
 adopted. Reasonings about fate, decrees, foreknowledge and 
 predestination bring out no light on these hidden subjects. 
 Speculation about the origin of evil, conjecture on the length 
 of time the world has existed, or why he was suffered to be in 
 the state he now finds himself, will avail nothing to him who 
 asks the question. Perhaps some of the class who live in these 
 lower regions begin to find fault with the dispensations of the 
 great Being who created all things, and while they are breaking 
 his commandments, abusing his mercies and despising his grace, 
 ask, with brazen effrontery, " Why hast thou made us thus ?" 
 and with blasphemous implication, " Who has resisted thy 
 will ?" charging the eternal God with being the author of their 
 crimes. 
 
 The fact that we are fallen and sinful creatures, and unfit for 
 happiness, either here or hereafter, we cannot set aside. The 
 great questions which concern us most are, Is there any way 
 to get out of our state of darkness, sin and misery, and be ele- 
 vated to a higher and better life ? Does our Maker care for us, 
 and will he assist us to rise above our fallen state ? Does he 
 delight in the happiness of his poor creatures ? Have we any 
 evidence of his goodness and mercy ? To all these important 
 inquiries an affirmative answer can be given. His tender mer- 
 cies are over all his works. He causeth the grass to grow for 
 cattle, and herb for the service of man, enabling him to bring 
 forth food out of the earth ; he openeth his hand and satisfieth 
 the desire of every living thing. 
 
 When we look upward and see the vast expanse of the crea- 
 tion of God worlds on worlds we are led to exclaim, " What
 
 THE HE A VENL Y ELE VA TOR. 
 
 is man that thou art mindful of him ?" Does he indeed have 
 any particular care for or over us ? Doe's he really visit us ? 
 John says : " In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word 
 was God ... all things were made by him . . . the Word was 
 made flesh, and dwelt among us." All that we can comprehend 
 of the Deity we see manifested in the person of Jesus Christ, 
 who dwelt among us. What was the meaning of his life and 
 character? Is his humility like self-seeking? Was he not 
 touched with the feeling of our infirmities ? and did he weep 
 with those who wept, and show compassion to the multitude 
 that followed him ? 
 
 Our Lord at the grave and at the resurrection, of Lazarus 
 shows himself as man and as God. When he saw the sisters 
 and the friends of Lazarus weeping, he groaned in the Spirit 
 and was troubled. Our Divine Master, notwithstanding his 
 amazing dignity and excellence, here shows himself to be tndy 
 man, and did not feel it beneath him to sympathize, with the 
 distressed relatives and friends, and weep with them. Jesus had 
 humanity in his perfection, and humanity unadulterated is gen- 
 erous and sympathetic. Behold the man in his heartfelt trouble 
 and in his flowing tears ! Jesus now came to the grave and 
 commanded that the stone that covered it should be taken 
 away. He then lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, " Father, 
 I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and I know that thou 
 hearest me always." By this act he invoked the supreme God, 
 showing that he was one with the Father ; and the miracle now 
 to be performed before the multitude was to demonstrate that it 
 was the act of God alone. Jesus now shows himself as God 
 manifested in the flesh. He cries with a loud voice, " Lazarus, 
 come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and 
 foot with grave-clothes. . . . Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, 
 and let him go." The last period of our Lord's life on earth 
 shows him as a sufferer. Who can enter into the full meaning 
 of the agony and bloody sweat in the garden of Gethsemane ?
 
 THE HE A VENL Y ELE VA TOR. ?93 
 
 Why should infinite love and purity be compelled to bear the 
 indignity of being spit upon, buffeted, scourged and finally put 
 to death as one of the worst of criminals by a race which he 
 came to save, elevate and redeem from the depths of sin and 
 misery ? Here was infinite love. We can only exclaim with 
 the apostle John, " Behold what manner of love the Father be- 
 stowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" we 
 who have been elevated by divine grace from the pit of destruc- 
 tion into the regions of eternal light and day. 
 
 It is worthy of observation that the apostle himself, though 
 evidently filled with God's love, and walking in the fullness of 
 his light, does not attempt to describe it. He calls on the world 
 to behold it, to contemplate it and wonder at it. " What manner 
 of love," both as to quantity and quality, as the original word is 
 said to imply the length, the breadth, the depth, the height 
 he does not attempt to describe. John further says, " It doth 
 not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear we 
 shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." John had 
 seen this glory on the mount at his transfiguration, but even 
 this was partially obscured in order to enable the disciples to 
 bear the sight, for then they were not like him. But when they 
 shall be like him they shall see him as he is, in all the splendor 
 of his infinite majesty.
 
 KING ALCOHOL, AND HIS PRIME MINISTER. 
 
 THE principal figure in the engraving is King Alcohol, the 
 great monarch who holds sway over a vast multitude of the 
 human race. He is elevated on a cask, or barrel, containing 
 the beverage by which his subjects are first deceived, then poi- 
 soned, and finally subdued and made the willing slaves of a 
 powerful and tyrannic master. The deceitful tyrant holds in his 
 right hand a goblet containing the fatal liquor, " which at the 
 last biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." In his left 
 hand Alcohol grasps the black flag of Death, significant of his 
 power and supremacy. Death is standing close by the king, 
 and may be considered as his Prime Minister. He holds the 
 " mixed wine," or some other compounded liquor, which per- 
 forms in a rapid manner the work of his kingly patron. 
 
 On the left is seen the saloon, or dram-shop, into which so 
 many young men are enticed and become debauched in body 
 and mind, useless to themselves and others, and a curse and 
 burden* on mankind. On the right, under the black flag, are 
 seen the effects of the reign of Alcohol. In the background 
 are the jail and almshouse ; nearer may be observed the drunken 
 husband, the worse than widowed wife and the children. 
 
 " The effect of ardent spirits on the brain," says Dr. Beecher 
 in his celebrated lectures, " and on the members of the body is 
 among the last results of intemperance and the least destructive 
 part of the sin. It is the moral ruin which it works in the soul 
 that gives it the denomination of giant wickedness. If all who 
 are intemperate could drink to insensibility and then awake from 
 
 294
 
 KING ALCOHOL AND HIS PRIME MINISTER. 
 
 " Who hath -woe ? Who hath sorrow ?" PROV. xxiii. 2O. "Strong drink is 
 raging." PROV. xx. I. "The drunkard shall come to poverty." PROV. xxiii. 21. 
 "At the last it biteth like a serpent." PROV. xxiii. 32.
 
 KING ALCOHOL, AND HIS PRIME MINISTER. 297 
 
 the debauch with intellect and heart uninjured, it would strip 
 the crime of most of its appalling evils. . . . The use of ardent 
 spirits daily, as ministering to cheerfulness or bodily vigor, 
 ought to be considered as intemperance. . . . Nature may hold 
 out long against this sapping and mining of the constitution 
 which daily tippling is carrying on ; but, first or last, this foe of 
 life will bring to the assault enemies of its own formation, whose 
 power the feeble and the mighty alike will be unable to with- 
 stand. ... A resort to intoxicating drinks as a means of invig- 
 orating the intellect or to produce pleasurable sensation is also 
 intemperance. It is a distraint upon Nature to extort in a short 
 time those results of mind and feeling which in her own unim- 
 pelled course would flow with less impetuosity, but in a more 
 equable and healthful current; and whatever you thus gain 
 through stimulants is only so much intellectual and vital power 
 cut off at the latter end of life." 
 
 A multitude of persons who are not accounted drunkards 
 create disease and shorten their days by what they denominate 
 " a prudent use of ardent spirits." " Let it therefore be en- 
 graven upon the heart of every one that the daily use of intoxi- 
 cating liquors in any form or in any degree is intemperance." 
 Experience has decided that any stimulus applied statedly to 
 the stomach, raising its muscular tone above the point which 
 can be sustained by food and sleep, produces, when it has passed 
 away, debility. The life-giving power of the stomach is, of 
 course, as much below the tone of cheerfulness and health as it 
 was injudiciously raised above it, or, in other words, as much 
 as you have been raised above, so much you will have to be 
 sunk below, your common course. 
 
 Of all the ways to destruction which the feet of deluded 
 mortals tread, that of the intemperate is the most dreary and 
 appalling. The passion for artificial stimulus to supply the 
 deficiencies of healthful aliment is like the rage of thirst and 
 the ravenous demand of famine. It is famine, for the artificial
 
 298 KING ALCOHOL, AND HIS PRIME MINISTER. 
 
 excitement has become as essential now to strength and cheer- 
 fulness as simple nutrition once was. But Nature, taught to 
 habituate herself to what she once did not need, demands grati- 
 fication now as inexorable as death, and to most men as irresist- 
 ible. The denial is a living death. The stomach, head, heart 
 and arteries, the veins and every muscle and nerve feel the ex- 
 haustion and the restless, unutterable wretchedness that puts 
 out the light of life and curtains the heavens and carpets the 
 earth with sackcloth. All these varieties of sinking nature call 
 upon the wretched man with trumpet tongue to dispel this 
 darkness and raise the ebbing tide of life by the application of 
 the cause which produced these woes, and which, after a mo- 
 mentary application, will revive them with deeper terrors and 
 more urgent importunity, for each repetition renders the dark- 
 ness deeper and the torments of self-denial more irresistible and 
 intolerable. 
 
 " At length the excitability of nature flags, and stimulants of 
 higher power and in greater quantities are required to rouse the 
 impaired energies of life, until at length, the whole process of 
 dilatory murder and worse than purgatorial suffering having 
 been passed over, the silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is 
 broken, the wheel at the cistern stops, and the dust returns to 
 the earth as it was, and the spirit to God who gave it. 
 
 "These sufferings of animal nature are not, however, to be 
 compared with the moral agonies which convulse the soul. It 
 is an immortal being who sins and suffers ; and as his earthly 
 house dissolves, he is approaching the judgment-seat in antici- 
 pation of a miserable eternity. He feels his captivity, and in 
 anguish of spirit clanks his chains and cries for help. Con- 
 science thunders ; remorse goads ; and as the gulf opens before 
 him he recoils and trembles and weeps and prays and resolves 
 and promises and reforms, and ' seeks it yet again.' He makes 
 further resolves, and weeps and prays, and ' seeks it yet again.' 
 Wretched man ! he has placed himself in the hands of a giant
 
 KING ALCOHOL, AND HIS PRIME MINISTER. 299 
 
 who never pities and never relaxes his iron grip. He may 
 struggle, but he is in chains ; he may cry for relief, but it comes 
 not. Lost! lost! may be inscribed upon the door-posts of his 
 dwelling. 
 
 " In the mean time these paroxysms of his moral nature de- 
 cline, and a fearful apathy, the harbinger of spiritual death, 
 comes on. His resolution fails, with consequent depression of 
 both mental energy and vigorous enterprise ; nervous irritation 
 ensues ; the social affections lose their fullness and tenderness ; 
 conscience loses its power and the heart its sensibility, until all 
 that was lovely and of good report vanishes and leaves the 
 wretch abandoned to the appetites of a ruined animal. In this 
 deplorable situation reputation expires, business falters and be- 
 comes perplexed, and temptations to drink multiply as the 
 morbid inclination increases and the power of resistance de- 
 clines. And now the vortex roars, and the struggling victim 
 buffets the fiery wave with feebler stroke and warning supplica- 
 tion, until despair flashes upon his soul, and with an outcry that 
 pierces the heavens he ceases to strive and disappears." 
 
 Dr. Beecher in his six sermons on Intemperance, published 
 by the American Tract Society, gives the following answer to 
 the question, "What, then, is this universal, natural and .national 
 remedy ?" 
 
 " It is the banishment of ardent spirits from the 
 list of lawful articles of commerce by a correct 
 and efficient public sentiment. 
 
 " Nothing should now be said by way of crimination for the 
 past, for verily we have all been guilty in this thing ; so that 
 there are but few in the land whose brother's blood may not 
 cry out against them from the ground on account of the bad 
 influence which has been lent in some way to the work of 
 destruction. 
 
 " We are not, therefore, to come down in wrath upon the dis-
 
 3OO KING ALCOHOL, AND HIS PRIME MINISTER. 
 
 tillers and importers and venders of ardent spirits. None of us 
 are sufficiently without sin to cast the first stone ; for who 
 would have imported or distilled or have vended if all the nomi- 
 nally temperate in the land had refused to drink? It is the 
 buyers that have created the demand for ardent spirits and made 
 distillation and importation a gainful traffic; and it is the custom 
 of the temperate, too, which inundates the land with so much 
 and such unmanageable temptation. Let the temperate cease 
 to buy, and the demand for ardent spirits will fall in the market 
 three-fourths, and ultimately will fail wholly, as the generation 
 of drunkards shall hasten out of time. 
 
 " To insist that men whose capital is embarked in the produc- 
 tion or vending of ardent spirits shall manifest the entire mag- 
 nanimity and self-denial which is needful to save the land, 
 though the example would be glorious in them, is more than 
 we have a right to expect or demand. Let the consumer do 
 his duty, and the capitalist, finding his employment unproduc- 
 tive, will quickly discover other channels of useful enterprise. 
 
 " This however cannot be done effectually so long as the 
 traffic in ardent spirits is regarded as lawful and is patronized 
 by men of reputation and moral worth in every part of the 
 land. . . . That no measures will avail short of rendering ardent 
 spirits a contraband of trade is nearly self-evident. 
 
 " Could intemperance be stopped did all the rivers flow with 
 inebriating and fascinating liquids ? Surrounded as it is by the 
 seductions of company and every artifice of entertainment, it is 
 more tempting and fatal than if it flowed as freely as water. 
 Then, like the inferior creation, men might be expected to 
 drink when athirst and to drink alone. But intemperance is a 
 social sin, and on that account exerts a power terrific and 
 destructive as the plague."
 
 THE CURATE. 
 
 "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God?' I PET. iv. II. "Take 
 heed to the ministry thou hast received." COL. iv. 17. "Thou shalt speak my -words 
 unto them whether they will hear or forbear." EZEK. ii. 7. "Apt to teach, patient." 
 \ TIM. ii. 21.
 
 THE CURATE. 
 
 THE curate is one of the lower order of clergymen who rep- 
 resents the incumbent of a church, priest or vicar, and officiates 
 in his stead. He is represented as preaching to the congrega- 
 tion. Holbein has given us a representation of the curate or 
 preacher as he appeared more than three centuries since. The 
 sleepy hearer is seen in the congregation a sight which is 
 sometimes noticeable in more modern religious assemblies. 
 
 Death with a stole about his neck, the insignia of a priest, is 
 represented as standing behind the curate in the pulpit, holding 
 something like a scroll, on Avhich the word "Amen" is written. 
 If, as it may be supposed, the preacher has been holding forth 
 on the frailty of human life, the certainty of the approach of 
 Death, it is quite proper that Death should add his amen to the 
 doctrine. The following is the selected scriptural quotation : 
 
 " Woe unto them that call evil good, and good 
 evil; that put darkness for light, and light for 
 darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for 
 bitter." Isa. v. 20. 
 
 " Woe to you, impious hypocrites, 
 
 Who evil goodness term; 
 And evil to be truly good, 
 With equal fraud affirm ; 
 
 " Who dark for light, with falsehood great, 
 
 And light for dark, embrace; 
 Bitter for sweet who substitute, 
 And sweet for bitter place." 
 
 303
 
 304 THE CURATE. 
 
 This quotation and the lines following were added after Hol- 
 bein's drawings were first published, and were aimed at the 
 false and hypocritical preacher. There is nothing in the draw- 
 ing that appears to indicate a person of this description. It is, 
 no doubt, a representation of a faithful preacher addressing a 
 plain congregation. The females and those advanced in years 
 are sitting on short-legged stools, as was customary in ancient 
 times. There was nothing corresponding to the pews of our 
 modern churches. 
 
 In connection with the short-legged stools, or " creepies," as 
 they are called by the Scotch, quite an important* event took 
 place in the religious history of Scotland. In 1637, Charles I. 
 endeavored to establish the Episcopal form of worship in St. 
 Giles's cathedral in Edinburgh. It was in one of the chapels 
 of this cathedral that Jenny Geddes, the old Scotch woman, 
 made the famous outbreak against what she supposed to be 
 the first introduction of popery into Scotland under the mask 
 of prelacy. The service had proceeded with its usual solemnity 
 till the dean announced the collect for the day, when Jenny's 
 wrath could no longer be suppressed. She arose, and in a loud 
 voice uttered an opprobrious epithet, at the same time hurling 
 her " creepie," on which she had been sitting, at the head of the 
 dean (see engraving), who luckily escaped the intended blow. 
 The whole congregation, however, was broken up in a scene of 
 confusion and disorder. Hume, the historian, says : " No sooner 
 had the dean opened the book than a multitude of the meaner 
 sort, most of them women, interrupted the service by clapping 
 their hands, cursing and crying out, 'A pope! a pope! anti- 
 christ! stone him!''" After the disturbers had by force been 
 expelled, the multitude without threw stones at the doors and 
 windows. Such were the demonstrations of the people against 
 the introduction of the liturgy that no further attempts were 
 made in Scotland at this period. 
 
 From the general state of society in these early times it
 
 THE CURATE. 305 
 
 appears that the common clergy were possessed of but little 
 more refinement than their flocks. Even after the Reformation 
 it was the custom of some patrons having the hereditary right 
 of presentation to bestow advowsons and benefices on their 
 bakers, butlers, falconers, horse-keepers, etc., instead of other 
 recompenses for their long and faithful services. A writer of 
 this period, speaking of the difficulties encountered by a candi- 
 date for the ministry after qualifying himself at some university, 
 says the most probable course he will have to take is " to teach 
 school, turn lecturer or curate, for which he shall have falconer's 
 wages (ten pounds per annum and his diet, or some small sti- 
 pend) so long as he can please his patron or the parish. If 
 they approve him not (for usually they do but a year or two, 
 being as inconstant as they that cried ' Hosanna 1 one day and 
 ' Crucify him ' the next, serving, as it were, man instead of God), 
 he must go and look for a new master. If they do approve 
 him, what is his reward ? . . . He wears out his time for his 
 provender." 
 
 The writer continues : " If, after this expense of time, ex- 
 haustion of bodies and spirits, our substance and patrimonies, 
 we cannot purchase those small rewards which are ours by law 
 and the right of inheritance, a poor parsonage or a vicarage of 
 fifty pounds per annum but must pay to the patron for a 
 lease of a life (a spent and worn-out life) either in annual pen- 
 sion or above the rate of a copy-hold, and that with the hazard 
 and loss of our souls by simony and perjury, and the sacrifice 
 of all our spiritual preferments, both present and to come what 
 father after a while will be so improvident as to bring up his son 
 to this necessary beggary ?" 
 
 Another thing which tended to demoralize the people at large 
 was ''The Book of Sports" a book or declaration drawn up by 
 Bishop Morton in the reign of King James I. to encourage 
 recreations and sports on the Lord's day. It was to this effect : 
 " That for his good people's recreation his majesty's pleasure 
 
 20
 
 306 THE CURATE. 
 
 was, that after divine service they should not be disturbed, 
 letted or discouraged from any lawful recreations, such as 
 dancing, either by men or women ; archery for men ; leaping, 
 vaulting or any such harmless exercises; nor prevented from 
 having May games, Whitsnnales or Morris dances, or setting up 
 of May poles, or engaging in sports therewith connected, pro- 
 vided the same be conducted without unnecessary disorder or 
 disturbance of divine service; and that women should have 
 leave to carry rushes to the church for the decoration of it 
 according to their old customs ; withal, prohibiting all unlawful 
 games on Sundays only, as bear-baiting, bull-baiting, interludes, 
 etc., and at all times, in the meaner class of people, interdicting 
 bowling. No recusant (i. e., papist) was to have the benefit of 
 this declaration, nor such as were not present at the whole of 
 divine service, nor those who did not keep to their own parish 
 churches that is, Puritans." 
 
 " This declaration was ordered to be read in all the parish 
 churches of Lancashire, which abounded with papists, and 
 Wilson adds that it was to have been read in all the churches 
 of England, but that Archbishop Abbot, being at Croydon, 
 flatly forbade its being read there. In the reign of Charles I., 
 Archbishop Laud requested the king to republish the declara- 
 tion, which was accordingly done. The court had their balls, 
 masquerades and plays on Sunday evenings, while the youth of 
 the country indulged in their Morris dances, May games, etc. 
 The severe pressing of this declaration made sad havoc among 
 the Puritans, as it was to be read in their churches. Some, 
 after publishing it, immediately read the fourth commandment 
 to the people ' Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy ' 
 adding, 'This is the law of God the other, the injunction of 
 man.' Some urged its publication upon their curates, whilst 
 great numbers refused to comply. The consequence was that 
 several clergymen were actually suspended for not reading it."
 
 WINTER. 
 
 "He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth" JOB xxxvii. 6. "The waters are 
 hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen." JOB xxxviii. 30. "He 
 giveth snow like wool. . . . He casteth forth his ice like morsels" Ps. cxlvii. 16, 17.
 
 WINTER. 
 
 DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY. 
 
 WINTER, the cold season of the year, is represented, or per- 
 sonified, in the accompanying engraving as an old man, wrapped 
 up in thick clothing, partially sheltered by a temporary cover- 
 ing, on which the pendant icicles appear. He has a fire near 
 his feet. A tree that withstood the storms of many years is at 
 last broken at the top and in the last stages of decay, emblem- 
 atic of him who appears by its side. In the back-ground the 
 lads are seen skating, and on the farther shore of the pond is the 
 family sleighing-party, who at this season visit their friends. In 
 the distance the farmer is sledding the wood which is to last 
 him through the coming year. 
 
 " See ! Winter comes, to rule the varied year, 
 Sullen and sad, with all his rising train 
 Vapors and clouds and storm. Be these my theme 
 These that exalt the soul to solemn thought 
 And heavenly musing. . . . 
 
 " 'Tis done ! Dread Winter spreads his latest blooms. 
 How dead the vegetable kingdom lies ! 
 How dumb the tuneful ! How wide extends 
 His desolate domain ! Behold, fond man ! 
 See here thy pictured life ! Past some few years 
 Thy flowering Spring, thy Summer's ardent strength, 
 Thy sober Autumn, fading into age 
 And pale, concluding Winter comes at last 
 And shuts the scene. Ah ! whither now are fled 
 Those dreams of greatness ? those unsolid hopes 
 Of happiness ? those longings after fame ? 
 I Those restless cares ? those busy, bustling days ? . . . 
 
 Lost between good and ill, that shared thy life, 
 All now are vanished ! Virtue alone survives 
 
 309
 
 310 WINTER. 
 
 Immortal, never-failing friend of man, 
 His guide to happiness on high." . . . 
 
 At the commencement of the wintry season the days grow 
 shorter, the cold becomes more intense, and ice and snow soon 
 follow. The cattle can no longer browse in the fields, but must 
 be brought into farm-yards and housed from inclement storms. 
 Amid the devastations of the expiring year, the pines and hem- 
 locks remain unchanged in living green, though wintry storms 
 may rage around fit emblem or type of those who in conscious 
 virtue hold fast their integrity through the changing scenes of 
 life. Whether the sun of prosperity shines, or the chilling blasts 
 of adversity prevail, they remain unchanged still. 
 
 In the midst of winter, generally in the northern climes, the 
 earth is crusted with ice, and the watery element becomes a 
 pavement strong. By and by the air becomes less keen, and 
 falling snow-flakes shut out the vision round. The soft, silent 
 shower descends, casting a snowy mantle o'er hill and dale. 
 Through the night the gentle rain with magic wand has crys- 
 tallized the woods, and when the morning sun shines forth, what 
 fairy scenes appear! All, all is silvered. The tall tree that 
 lifts its head on high, and the humble sapling, are coated with 
 bright splendor in the bewildering, glistening wilderness around. 
 The shrubs and smaller trees with their shining load bend to 
 the earth ; while the monarch oak refuses to yield, and many 
 of its crackling branches fall to the ground. 
 
 In Febmary the farmer looks forward with hope and plans 
 out his labors for the approaching spring. With repeated blows 
 of the trusty ax, he lays the monarch of the forest low. Far to 
 the west, where solitude has reigned unbroken and untraversed 
 since creation's dawn, save by savage beasts or man more 
 savage still, the woodman's ax lets in the light of day, and 
 smiling fields and villages arise. 
 
 The forest falls : huge trunks lie scattered round, furnishing 
 the fuel for the year, or, wrought by skillful hands, form the
 
 WINTER. 3 1 1 
 
 stately structure, dwellings for high and low, and shelter from 
 summer's heat and winter's cold. Navies, too, are furnished, 
 and the tall ship that floats to distant climes must come from 
 thee. 
 
 Full of life and glee, the lad and his companions haste to 
 frozen lakes and ponds, and whirl in circuits round on their 
 swift-gliding skates, while all about is mirth and joy. The sun 
 mounts upward ; stern winter relents ; its heart is broken, for 
 the sunbeam melts to tears earth's snowy mantle, and here and 
 there a spot of living green appears. 
 
 The following extracts are from the Winter Piece in "Her- 
 veys Meditations" written by James Hervey, a clergyman and 
 author of considerable celebrity, who lived at Weston Flavel, 
 near Northampton, England, where he died in 1758. 
 
 " See how the day is shortened ! The sun, detained in fairer 
 climes, or engaged in more agreeable services, rises, like an 
 unwilling visitant, with tardy and reluctant steps. . . . The 
 flowery world lies dead ; and the tuneful tribes are struck dumb. 
 The trees, stripped of their verdure and lashed by storms, 
 spread their naked arms to the enraged and relentless heavens. 
 Fragrance no longer floats in the air, but chilling damps hover 
 or cutting gales blow. Nature, divested of all her beautiful 
 robes, sits like a forlorn, disconsolate widow in her weeds ; 
 while winds in doleful accents howl, and in repeated showers 
 weep. . . . 
 
 " As I walk along the fog it seems at some little distance to 
 be almost solid gloom ; but when I approach and enter it I find 
 myself agreeably mistaken, it being much thinner than it ap- 
 peared. Such is the case with regard to the sufferings of the 
 present life : they are not, when experienced, so dreadful as a 
 timorous imagination surmised. So sometimes the face of things 
 wears the more pleasing form. The sober evening advances to 
 close the short-lived day. The firmament is clear and unsul- 
 lied ; the stars in thronging multitudes glitter through the fair
 
 312 WINTER. 
 
 expanse, while the frost pours its subtle and penetrating influ- 
 ence all around, sharp and intensely keen all the long night. . . . 
 When, late and slow, Morning opens her pale eye, in what a 
 curious disguise is Nature dressed! The icicles, jagged and 
 uneven, are pendant from the houses ; a whitish film encrusts 
 the windows, where mimic landscapes and fancied figures are 
 traced. . . . 
 
 " Oh, 'tis severely cold ! Who is so hardy as not to shrink 
 at this pinching weather ? Every face is pale ; even the gelid 
 lips hardly forbear quivering. Ye that sit easy and joyful in 
 your commodious house, be mindful of your brethren in the 
 cheerless tenement of poverty. . . . Oh, remember that many 
 of your fellow-creatures amid all the rigor of these inclement 
 skies are emaciated with sickness, or pining with hunger. ' Let 
 their loins bless you ' for comfortable clothing. 
 
 " Now the winds cease ; . . . they have wafted an immense 
 freight of clouds, which empty themselves in snow. At first a 
 few scattered flakes come wandering down the saddened sky ; 
 this slight skirmish is succeeded by a general onset ; then, large 
 and numerous and thickly wavering, they descend in a con- 
 tinual flow. All night the fleecy showers in silence softly fall. 
 In the morning when we awake what a surprising change ap- 
 pears ! Is this the same world ? There is no diversity of color. 
 I can hardly discern the trees from the hills on which they 
 grow. ... At the great Creator's command the self-same 
 substance assumes the most different shapes. ... If he so 
 ordains, the water is moulded into hail and discharged upon 
 the earth like a volley of shot, or is consolidated into ice, . . . 
 and the same element is scattered in hoarfrost like ashes."
 
 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 
 
 " The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him." Ps. clxv. 18. " The Lord is 
 good to all." Ps. cxlv. 9. "Jn every nation he that . . . worketh righteousness is 
 accepted." ACTS x. 35. "Bow down and worship before the Lord" Ps. xcv. 6.
 
 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER, 
 
 BY ALEXANDER POPE. 
 
 ALEXANDER POPE was born in London in 1688. His father 
 being a Catholic, his son was educated in that faith. He early 
 displayed a poetic talent, and distinguished himself by several 
 productions of great merit In 1729, Lord Bolingbroke, his 
 friend, entreated him to turn his attention to moral subjects, for 
 which his peculiar powers seemed to be adapted. In accord- 
 ance with this he produced his "Essay on Man" This work, 
 which may be placed at the head of ethical poems, exhibits a 
 most singular faculty for reasoning under the shackles of verse, 
 and is distinguished by the energetical brevity of its style and 
 the beauty of its poetry. It was, however, denounced by some 
 writers as a system of materialism. 
 
 In consequence of this criticism it is presumed the following 
 note was prefixed to his "Universal Prayer" : " It may be proper 
 to observe that, the 'Essay on Man' having been unjustly sus- 
 pected of a tendency toward fate and naturalism, the author 
 composed this Prayer as the sum of all, to show that this system 
 was founded in free-will and terminated in piety ; that the First 
 Cause was the Lord and Governor of the universe as well as 
 the Creator of it, and that by submission to his will (the great 
 principle enforced throughout the Essay) was not meant the 
 suffering ourselves to be carried along by a blind determination, 
 but a resting in a religious acquiescence and confidence full of 
 hope and immortality. To give all this the greater weight, the 
 
 315
 
 316 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 
 
 poet chose for his model the Lord's Prayer, which of all others 
 best deserves the title prefixed to this paraphrase." 
 
 [The engraving affixed to this article is designed to represent 
 men of various climes in acts of religious worship directed to 
 the Great Father of the human race. On the left is seen a 
 Jewish high priest offering incense according to the ancient 
 method of worship. Immediately below him is seen the North 
 American Indian, who, having thrown his tomahawk and scalp- 
 ing knife into the fire, raises his calumet, or pipe of peace, 
 toward the " Great Spirit," in token of his wish to be at peace 
 with him. On the left are the Mohammedan and others of East- 
 ern nations, laying aside the weapons of war and bowing down 
 or prostrating themselves before the Lord their Maker. Ethiopia 
 raises upward her manacled hands unto God. The European, 
 having the Book of God, draws near the throne of his Heavenly 
 Father with supplications and praise. Before the company is a 
 flaming fire, the ancient emblem of the presence of the Divinity. 
 The Great Father of all sits above on his throne, beholding all 
 things, past, present and future. The orb and sceptre, signifi- 
 cant of his sovereign and almighty power, are seen near him. 
 The glorious rainbow, the token he has set in the clouds of 
 heaven, shows that he is a covenant-keeping God. It appears 
 in brightness before the throne as an evidence that all his prom- 
 ises will be fulfilled and his mercy endure for ever till time shall 
 be no more.] 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 
 
 " DEO OPT. MAX." 
 [To God, our best and greatest Friend.] 
 
 1. Father of all ! in every age, 
 
 In every clime adored, 
 By saint, by savage and by sage 
 Jehovah, Jove or Lord ! 
 
 2. Thou great First Cause, least understood, 
 
 Who all my sense confined 
 To know but this, that thou art good, 
 And that myself am blind ;
 
 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 317 
 
 3. Yet gave me, in this dark estate, 
 
 To see the good from ill, 
 And, binding Nature fast in Fate, 
 Left free the human will. 
 
 4. What conscience dictates to be done, 
 
 Or warns me not to do, 
 This teach me more than hell to shun, 
 That more than heaven pursue. 
 
 5. What blessings thy free bounty gives 
 
 Let me not cast away, 
 For God is paid when man receives : 
 To enjoy is to obey. 
 
 6. Yet not to earth's contracted span 
 
 Thy goodness let me bound, 
 Or think thee, Lord, alone of man 
 When thousand worlds are round. 
 
 7. Let not this weak, unknowing hand 
 
 Presume thy bolts to throw, 
 And deal damnation round the land 
 On each I judge thy foe. 
 
 8. If I am right, thy grace impart 
 
 Still in the right to stay ; 
 If I am wrong, oh teach my heart 
 To find that better way. 
 
 9. Save me alike from foolish pride, 
 
 Or impious discontent 
 At aught thy wisdom has denied 
 Or aught thy goodness lent. 
 
 10. Teach me to feel another's woe, 
 
 To hide the fault I see : 
 
 That mercy I to others show, 
 
 That mercy show to me. 
 
 11. Mean though I am, not wholly so, 
 
 Since quickened by thy breath ; 
 Oh lead me wheresoe'er I go 
 Through this day's life or death ! 
 
 12. This day be bread and peace my lot; 
 
 All else beneath the sun 
 Thou know'st if best bestowed or not, 
 And let thy will be done.
 
 318 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 
 
 13. To thee whose temple is all space, 
 
 Whose altar, earth, sea, skies, 
 One chorus let all beings raise ! 
 All nature's incense rise ! 
 
 In the first stanza of this Prayer, Mr. Pope has been charged 
 with setting forth that it is of little importance what kind of 
 deity was worshiped Jehovah, Jove or Lord. This it is be- 
 lieved was far from the intention of the poet. It is presumed 
 that he meant to convey the idea that there has been in every 
 nation, even in those we call savage, some who worship the true 
 God. Although the heathen nations had no written revelation, 
 God has otherwise made a discovery of himself to all his 
 rational creatures, "even his eternal power and Godhead." 
 
 Our North American Indians are believed to be as far re- 
 moved from civilization as any heathen nation on our globe. 
 Well-authenticated accounts are given of individuals who, 
 though living in regions isolated from the benign influence of 
 Christianity, appear to have correct views of the being and 
 attributes of the true God as he is revealed to us in the Scrip- 
 tures. Before the arrival of the first European settlers, an 
 Indian mother, having lost all her children in their infancy, 
 became deeply impressed that there was a great Good Being 
 above us, the " Great Spirit" who ruled all things, and if she 
 called on him he would spare her child. Her prayer was 
 answered, and when the Pilgrim fathers of New England arrived 
 her son had attained the estate of manhood and became a Chris- 
 tian teacher to his countrymen. 
 
 The poet, in the second and third stanzas, acknowledges that 
 the great First Cause, though but little understood, has taught 
 him to know and feel that he is a good Being, the Author of 
 life and happiness, and that, though he feels himself in a blind 
 and dark state, yet God has given him to know the difference 
 between good and evil. He governs nature by unchangeable
 
 THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 319 
 
 laws which cannot be altered, yet leaves the human mind free 
 to act as it pleases. 
 
 In the fourth verse, " What conscience dictates," etc., has ref- 
 erence to that faculty of the soul which is sometimes called 
 "God's -vicegerent," the "light within," the teachings of which 
 should be sacredly observed. Whatever we do should be done 
 because it is right and well pleasing to God our Father not 
 from any servile fear of punishment, nor from any mere selfish 
 desire for heaven and happiness. 
 
 The fifth verse, indicates that if we are blessed with a full 
 competence we ought to accept with gratitude the gifts which 
 God bestows, and not imagine that it would be more acceptable 
 to him to deny ourselves the comforts of life when we are sur- 
 rounded with abundance. Let us therefore eat with thankful- 
 ness what is set before us, and imitate the example of our Divine 
 Master, who, when invited to a feast, accepted the invitation. 
 
 In the sixth verse, we are admonished not to be too much 
 bound up in the little world we see around us, but look upward 
 and see the universe of God above us worlds on worlds, more 
 than can be numbered, inhabited, it may be, by countless beings 
 of which we in our present state can have no conception. 
 
 In the seventh verse, the poet, feeling his weakness, implores 
 the Almighty not to let him denounce his judgments against 
 those whom he supposed to be the enemies of God, nor to deal 
 out anathemas or damnation to all in the land whom he sup- 
 posed to be heretics or sinners, those who do not accept his 
 views on religious matters. Something of this spirit was mani- 
 fested by the disciples of our Lord who wished to have fire sent 
 down from heaven to consume the Samaritans, who would not 
 receive them. Our Divine Master condemned this feeling by 
 saying, " The Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but 
 to save them." On another occasion the disciples forbid one 
 that was casting out devils in his name, but Jesus said, " Forbid 
 him not."
 
 32O THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 
 
 In the eighth and ninth verses, the petitions are continued. 
 The petitioner prays that if he is in the right path he may have 
 grace to continue in it ; but if he was wrong, he prays that he 
 may be taught to find the better way. He also prays to be 
 delivered from all pride and impious discontent in the lot in 
 which Providence has placed him, and to say heartily, " Thy 
 will be done !" 
 
 In the tenth and eleventh verses, "Teach me to feel an- 
 other's woe, to hide the fault I see," both from my own eyes 
 and the eyes of others, we have a petition in perfect accord- 
 ance with the scriptural precept, " Weep with those who weep," 
 and which is exemplified in the most powerful manner by our 
 Divine Master at the grave of Lazarus, the brother of Martha 
 and Mary. The verse continues, " That mercy I to others show, 
 that mercy show to me." This prayer is already answered by 
 our Lord " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain 
 mercy." Mean, weak and feeble though I am, God is my 
 Maker, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Jesus Christ is not ashamed 
 to call us his friends and brethren, and by his Spirit we are 
 made complete in him and also " made heirs of God and joint- 
 heirs with his Son, Jesus Christ." 
 
 In the twelfth verse, the suppliant prays for his daily bread 
 and peace and all things , necessary for his peace and happiness 
 while he remains on the earth. But while he wishes for these 
 blessings he is content to leave it to his Heavenly Father to 
 grant them or not, convinced that all will be well. 
 
 In the last stanza or verse, all creation are called upon to 
 worship that Being who is everywhere 
 
 " In the void waste as in the city full " 
 
 whose temple is all space, whose altar is all earth, sea and skies, 
 and to join in one grand chorus of adoration and praise.
 
 BRIDLING THE TONGUE. 
 
 THE IMAGINATION, TEMPER AND ACTION. 
 
 "Behold we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us." JAMES iii. 30. 
 "If any man . . . bridleth not his tongue , . . this man's religion is vain." JAMES 
 i. 26. " Whoso keepeth his mouth and tongue keepeth his soul from trouble." 
 PROV. xxi. 23. 
 
 21
 
 BRIDLING THE TONGUE, 
 
 THE IMAGINATION, TEMPER AND ACTION. 
 
 THE annexed engraving represents a fiery, high-spirited and 
 rather ungovernable horse. His master and owner is bringing 
 him under subjection by curbing him with a bit and bridle, 
 which he has succeeded in putting on his head. By this means 
 he has obtained the control of the animal and made him obedi- 
 ent to his will. In like manner the tongue, which is called an 
 "unruly member," must be curbed by bit and bridle. Our 
 excited passions have sometimes been symbolized under the 
 figure of wild horses in need of a strong hand to bring them 
 under proper restraint. 
 
 The tongue is the most untamable thing in nature. We have 
 the scriptural assertion, " Every kind of beasts and birds and of 
 serpents is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind." But not 
 so with the tongue. A person can bridle his tongue, or hold it ; 
 but no sooner does he take off the bridle or let go his hold than 
 this little member runs wild, and out slips something from it, in 
 the moment of passion or levity, which the speaker presently 
 wishes back. 
 
 Pythagoras, the ancient philosopher, imposed on his pupils 
 constant silence for months and years together ; but as soon as 
 they were permitted to talk, their language was unruly and 
 impertinent. To withhold the tongue from speaking at all 
 would destroy its purpose and usefulness rather than tame it. 
 Let it be exercised only at appropriate times and in an appro- 
 priate manner. Unruly tongues, on the contrary, produce " a 
 
 323
 
 324 BRIDLING THE TONGUE. 
 
 world of iniquity." Some are " full of deadly poison." Such 
 are they who curse men and blaspheme God, and who utter lies 
 for mischief or for sport. In this class is found the deceitful 
 tongue, "whose words are smoother than oil, yet they are 
 drawn swords." There is the sly, whispering tongue which 
 " separateth very friends." " The words of a tale-bearer are as 
 wounds." He wounds others thereby and himself too, for the 
 mouth of such a fool is his destruction. 
 
 An impertinent, meddling tongue makes bad worse, even 
 when employed in offices of friendship. When Job was smitten 
 from head to foot, the busy tongues of his wife and his friends 
 were a sorer plague to him than all his pains. And thus it often 
 happens that a person under misfortune suffers as well from the 
 meddlesome interference of friends as from the maliciousness 
 of enemies. 
 
 There are also fiery tongues. " The tongue is a fire." Such 
 is the tongue of the passionate man or woman whose mouth, 
 foaming with rage, casteth abroad words which are as "fire- 
 brands, arrows and death." They set the atmosphere in com- 
 motion like the hot breath issuing from the mouth and nostrils 
 of the fiery horse represented in the annexed engraving. Such 
 also is the tongue of the slanderer and backbiter, which, being 
 itself " set on fire of hell," puts whole neighborhoods and com- 
 munities in a flame, and " setteth on fire the course of nature " 
 through every generation, producing the most extensive mis- 
 chief all over the earth. This evil spirit, " working on man's 
 apostate nature, and exciting him to express his abominable 
 thoughts by his tongue, disseminates from one to another, all 
 over the land, atheism, infidelity, heresies, blasphemies, im- 
 moralities, slanders, emulations, discords and lewdness, in 
 immensely various forms, more refined and plausible, or more 
 gross and vulgar, according to the company in which it is 
 intended to produce its effects." 
 
 Since no one can quite tame the tongue, "what," says an
 
 BRIDLING THE TONGUE. $2$ 
 
 able writer, " is the best way to manage it ? First," he urges, 
 " correct the heart and keep that with all diligence. The fool- 
 ishness of the lips is first uttered in the heart. ' For out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' Next carefully 
 bridle the tongue. Keep the bit firmly secured at all times, 
 especially in the moment of sudden anger and in the hour of 
 joy and conviviality. Self-command, as respects the tongue, is 
 as necessary as it is difficult ; for we are told, by divine author- 
 ity, ' If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, 
 and able also to bridle the whole body.' 
 
 " As it is of very great importance that we should rule our 
 tongues, so on the other hand it is of much importance that we 
 be guarded against the unruly tongues of others. And here I 
 lay down one important caution and commend it to the particu- 
 lar remembrance of the young and inexperienced : Beware of 
 intimacy with those whose tongues are calumnious toward 
 almost every one except the present company, to whom they 
 are ever smooth and fair. For he who commonly indulges 
 himself in calumniating or ridiculing the absent plainly shows 
 his company what it has to expect from him after he leaves it." 
 
 Massillon, the great French preacher and eloquent divine, 
 who was born in 1663, speaking of the slanderer, says: "His 
 tongue is a devouring fire, which tarnishes whatever it touches, 
 and exercises its fury on the good grain equally as on the chaff, 
 on the profane as on the sacred, which, wherever it passes, 
 leaves only desolation and ruin, turning into vile ashes what 
 only a moment before had appeared to us so precious and bril- 
 liant ; ... it blackens what it cannot consume ; ... it is a mean 
 envy, which, while injuring the prosperity of others, makes 
 them the subject of its censures, and studies to dim the splen- 
 dor of whatever outshines itself a disguised hatred, ... an 
 unworthy duplicity which praises to the face and tears in pieces 
 behind the back. . . . 
 
 " Slander is a barbarity, which is exercised to pierce an ab-
 
 326 BRIDLING THE TONGUE. 
 
 sent brother ; a scandal, in which we become a subject of shame 
 and sin to those who listen to us; an injustice, by which we 
 steal from our brother what is dearest to him. It is a restless 
 evil, which disturbs society, spreads dissension through cities 
 and countries and disunites the strictest principles; it is the 
 source of hatred and revenge ; it fills wherever it enters with 
 disturbances and confusion, and is everywhere an enemy to 
 peace and comfort and Christian good-breeding. Lastly, it is 
 an evil full of deadly poison. Whatever flows from it is infected, 
 and pollutes whatever it approaches. Even its praises are em- 
 poisoned ; its applause is malicious ; its silence is criminal ; its 
 gestures, motions and looks are charged with venom, ever ready 
 to destroy the unsuspecting. 
 
 " Still more dreadful is this evil when it is found among those 
 who are the professed disciples of Jesus Christ. Ah ! the 
 Church formerly held in horror the exhibitions of gladiators, 
 and denied that believers brought up in the tenderness and 
 benignity of Jesus Christ could innocently feast their eyes with 
 the blood and death of these unfortunate slaves, or form a harm- 
 less recreation of so inhuman a pleasure. But these present 
 more detestable shows, for they bring upon the stage not 
 infamous wretches devoted to death, but members of Jesus 
 Christ, their brethren, and entertain the spectators with wounds 
 which they cowardly inflict on persons who have devoted them- 
 selves to God."
 
 
 TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR GOOD. 
 
 "Count them happy who endure." JAS. v. II. "Let Patience have her perfect 
 work." JAS. i. 4. "7 have learned by experience" GEN. xxx. 27. "Rejoice in 
 hope of the glory of God." ROM. v. 2. *
 
 TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR GOOD. 
 
 " We glory in tribulations also ; knowing that tribulation 
 worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, 
 hope : and hope maketh not ashamed : because the love of God 
 is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." Rom. v. 3-5. 
 
 THE apostle Paul in Romans v. states that the sufferings or 
 trials we endure for the testimony of Christ become the means 
 of our purification and the increase of our happiness. The 
 engraving represents the order of the Christian graces as they 
 tend upward after suffering tribulation. In the first ages of the 
 Christian Church, while under the Pagan governments, thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of Christians were put to death. 
 All sorts of cruelties and indignities were inflicted upon them. 
 They were regarded as the offscouring of the country; they 
 were thrown to the wild beasts and put to the sword. 
 
 The engraving also shows two forms of ignominious persecu- 
 tion which many have suffered in more modern times on account 
 of their religious principles, even in countries professedly Chris- 
 tian. Women, too, have suffered the punishment of the lash, 
 and others have had their feet, hands and even their heads 
 thrust into the stocks for not conforming to the religion estab- 
 lished by law. The primitive Christians even gloried that they 
 were accounted worthy to suffer for their Lord and Master, con- 
 sidering it a pledge of the divine favor. 
 
 PATIENCE, is the first Christian grace mentioned after tribula- 
 tion. It is that calm and unruffled temper with which a good 
 
 329
 
 33O TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR GOOD. 
 
 man bears the evils of life. " Patience," says an eminent writer, 
 " is apt to be ranked by many among the more humble and 
 obscure virtues, belonging to those who groan on a sick-bed or 
 who 'languish in a prison ; but in every circumstance in life no 
 virtue is more important both to duty and to happiness. It is 
 not confined to a situation of continued adversity; it princi- 
 pally, indeed, regards the disagreeable circumstances which may 
 occur; but prosperity cannot be enjoyed any more than adver- 
 sity can be borne without it. It must enter into the temper and 
 form the habit of the soul .if we would pass through the world 
 in tranquillity and honor." 
 
 " Patience," says Mr. Jay, " must be displayed under provoca- 
 tion. Our opinions, reputation, connections, offices and busi- 
 ness render us widely vulnerable. The characters of men are 
 extremely different; their pursuits and interests perpetually 
 clash. Some try us by their ignorance, some by their folly, 
 some by their perverseness, and some by their malice. Here 
 then is an opportunity for the triumph of patience." 
 
 After Patience (represented by a female figure), the next sub- 
 ject introduced is Experience. By a "patient continuance in 
 well doing," and quietly waiting for the Lord in all difficulties, 
 perils and sufferings, an enlarged experience is acquired, an ex- 
 perimental acquaintance with their own weakness without the 
 divine aid. They have experienced the reality and power of 
 grace in their hearts after repeated trials in the furnace of tribu- 
 lation and afflictions. They can recollect, it may be, that when 
 in the deep waters of adversity, when about to sink in the 
 mighty flood, some friendly hand was sent for their deliverance. 
 They can also see how they have been rescued from death 
 during their younger days, and when on the bed of sickness and 
 affliction how often they have experienced the faithfulness of 
 God to his promises, and his readiness to answer their own 
 prayers and those of others. 
 
 Having experienced the grace and loving-kindness of our
 
 TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR GOOD. 33! 
 
 Heavenly Father in the past, we are disposed to put our trust in 
 him in all situations yet to come. We have received so much 
 spiritual benefit by means of the sufferings and tribulations we 
 have already passed through that we trust we may be equally 
 profited by those yet to come ; and this hope prevents us from 
 dreading coming trials. We hope to surmount them all, and 
 find that all things work together for good to those who love 
 God. A hope that is not rationally founded will have its expec- 
 tations cut off, and shame and confusion will be the portion of 
 its possessor. But our hope is of a different kind : it is founded 
 on the goodness and truth of God, and our religious experience 
 shows us that we have not misapplied it nor exercised it on 
 wrong or improper objects. 
 
 The last grace mentioned by the apostle in the preceding 
 summary is the Love of God. This love is the fulfilling of the 
 law, and it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We 
 have the most solid testimony of God's love to us by that meas- 
 ure of it which he has communicated to our hearts. This love 
 is the spring of our actions, the motive of our obedience. God 
 is love, and we know that we are of God by " the Spirit he hath 
 given us." 
 
 THOMAS GRAY, celebrated for his poetic compositions, was 
 born in London in 1716, and died in 1771. His father, though 
 of correct morals, was so harsh and violent in his disposition 
 that his wife, an excellent woman, was forced to separate from 
 him. It was owing to her exertions and those of her sister, who 
 were in the millinery business, that the poet was given the ad- 
 vantage of a university education. The painful domestic cir- 
 cumstances of his youth lent a melancholy and pensive reflection 
 to Gray, which is visible in his poetry. His Hymn, here intro- 
 duced, consists of six stanzas, of eight lines each.
 
 332 TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR GOOD. 
 
 HYMN TO ADVERSITY. 
 
 1. Daughter of Jove, relentless power, 
 
 Thou tamer of the human breast, 
 Whose iron scourge and torturing hour 
 
 The bad affright, afflict the best ! 
 Bound in thy adamantine chain, 
 The proud are taught to taste of pain ; 
 And purple tyrants vainly groan 
 With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and alone. 
 
 2. When first thy sire to send on earth 
 
 Virtue, his darling child, designed, 
 To thee he gave the heavenly birth, 
 
 And bade thee form the infant mind. 
 Stern, rugged nurse ! thy rigid lore 
 With patience many a year she bore ; 
 What sorrow was thou bad'st her know, 
 And from her own she learned to melt at others' woe. 
 
 3. Scared at thy frown terrific, fly 
 
 Self-pleasing Folly's idle brood, 
 Wild Laughter, Noise and thoughtless Joy, 
 
 And leave us leisure to be good. 
 Light they disperse, and with them go 
 The summer friend, the flattering foe. 
 By vain prosperity received, 
 To her they vow their troth, and are again believed. 
 
 4. Wisdom, in sable garb arrayed, 
 
 Immersed in rapturous thought profound, 
 And Melancholy, silent maid, 
 
 With leaden eye, that loves the ground, 
 Still on thy solemn steps attend ; 
 Warm Charity, the general friend; 
 With Justice, to herself severe, 
 And Pity, drooping soft the sadly pleasing tear. 
 
 5. Oh ! gently on thy suppliant's head, 
 
 Dread goddess, lay thy chast'ning hand ! 
 Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad, 
 
 Nor circled with the vengeful band 
 (As by the impious thou art seen), 
 With thund'ring voice and threat'ning mien, 
 With screaming Horror's funeral cry, 
 Despair and fell Disease and ghastly Poverty.
 
 TRIBULATION WORKETH FOR GOOD. 333 
 
 6. Thy form benign, O goddess, wear! 
 
 Thy milder influence impart ! 
 Thy philosophic train be there 
 
 To soften, not to wound, my heart ! 
 Thy generous spark, extinct, revive ! 
 Teach me to love and to forgive ! 
 Exact my own defects to scan ! 
 What others are to feel, and know myself a man ! 
 
 ( I .) In the first stanza the poet addresses Adversity as the 
 offspring of the Deity and as the tamer of human passion, whose 
 iron scourge, at the time it is applied, tortures and affrights the 
 wicked, and to the righteous brings affliction, but it afterward 
 yields the peaceful fruits of righteousness. Binding the proud 
 in adamantine chains, they are taught to feel her power ; while 
 tyrants, though clothed in imperial purple, are made to groan 
 in pain, unpitied and alone. 
 
 (2.) When the Almighty sent Virtue, his darling child, to the 
 earth, he gave to Adversity her birth, and bade her form the 
 infant mind. Stern, rugged nurse ! her rigid lessons Virtue 
 studied for many a year with patience. She learned what 
 sorrow was, and therefore could sympathize and weep with 
 those that wept. 
 
 (3.) Scared at the frown of Adversity, Folly's idle brood, 
 wild Laughter, Noise and thoughtless Joy, flee from her pres- 
 ence. The lessons of Virtue can now be heard and appreciated. 
 The noisy crowd, the summer friends, the flattering foe, disperse 
 and are received into favor by vain Prosperity. To her they 
 vow allegiance, and are again believed. 
 
 (4.) Wisdom, in sable garb, deeply immersed in thought, and 
 Melancholy, with leaden eye that loves the ground, moving in 
 silence, still attend the solemn steps of Adversity, with sweet 
 Charity, the warm friend of all ; and Justice, to herself severe, 
 and Pity, dropping soft the sadly pleasing tear. 
 
 (5.) Oh! gently on thy suppliant's head, Adversity, lay thy 
 chastening hand ! Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad, nor with thy
 
 334 TRIBULATION "WORKETH FOR GOOD. 
 
 vile companions, with their horrid serpent aspect, circling round 
 with direful vengeance (as by the wicked thou art seen), with 
 thundering voice and piercing scream of fell Despair, Disease 
 and Poverty. 
 
 (6.) Thy form, O Adversity ! let it appear in benignity, at- 
 tended by Wisdom, tender Pity and sweet Charity. Thy gen- 
 erous spirit, which appears to be extinct, oh revive ! and teach 
 us to love and forgive each other. Teach me to scan my own 
 defects ; what others are, to feel ; to know myself to be a man, 
 and subject to the same infirmities as others. 
 
 "The afflictions of a good man," says an elegant writer, 
 "never befall without a cause, nor are sent but on a proper 
 errand. These storms are never allowed to rise but in order to 
 dispel some noxious vapors, and restore salubrity to the moral 
 atmosphere. . . . Who that for the first time beheld the earth 
 in the beginning of winter, bound up with frost or drenched by 
 floods of rain or covered with snow, would have imagined that 
 Nature, in this dreary and torpid state, was working toward its 
 own renovation in the spring? Yet we know by experience 
 that these vicissitudes of winter are necessary for fertilizing the 
 earth. . . . Let us therefore quietly submit to Providence; 
 let us conceive this life to be the winter of our existence. 
 Now the rains must fall and the winds roar around us, but, 
 sheltering ourselves under Him who is the ' Covert from the 
 tempest,' let us wait in patience till the storms of life shall ter- 
 minate in an everlasting calm."
 
 THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 
 
 "Behold an Israelite indeed, in -whom is no gttile /" JOHN i. 47. "Hereafter ye 
 shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son 
 of man." JOHN i. 51.
 
 THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 
 
 IN the beginning of our Lord's ministry, after he had been 
 declared by John, his forerunner, to be the "Lamb of God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world," two of John's dis- 
 ciples, who heard him then speak, immediately followed our 
 Lord, who invited them to his residence. " One of the two 
 which heard John speak . . . was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 
 He first findeth his brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have 
 found the Messias ; which is, being interpreted, the Christ." The 
 day following, " Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, 
 We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the proph- 
 ets, did write." Nathanael, who appears to be one of those 
 " waiting for the consolation of Israel," asked, " Can there any 
 good thing come out of Nazareth ?" Philip, not caring, or per- 
 haps not able to enter into this subject, says, " Come and see." 
 
 As Nathanael approached, our Lord at once said of him, 
 " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile !" He is a 
 worthy descendant of the patriarch Jacob, who not only professes 
 to believe in Israel's God, but worships him in sincerity and 
 truth ; he is an honest, upright person, a man of faith and 
 prayer, a genuine son of Israel, while most of his countrymen 
 or neighbors have nothing but the name and outward form of 
 Israelites. " In him there is no guile." His profession of 
 religion was not leavened with any degree of hypocrisy ; he was 
 the same man before God as he appeared to be among men ; 
 his general conduct was devoid of insincerity and dishonesty 
 a really upright, godly man. To find a man living in the midst 
 
 22 337
 
 338 THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 
 
 of so much corruption, walking in uprightness before his 
 Maker, was a subject worthy the attention of God himself. 
 Behold this man ! and while you admire, imitate his conduct. 
 
 Nathanael, though probably superior to most of his fellow- 
 disciples in mental acquirements, was not yet aware of the 
 divinity of Christ, and with consistent frankness asked, " Whence 
 knowest thou me ?" He inquired whence he had his informa- 
 tion and by what means he thus knew him. Our Lord, wishing 
 to give Nathanael a proof of his divinity, replied that he had 
 seen him under a particular fig tree before Philip called him. 
 Probably Nathanael was at this time engaged in devotion, pour- 
 ing out his heart for the speedy salvation of Israel. Nathanael, 
 though perfectly sincere, seems at first puzzled at the fact that 
 Christ the Deliverer should come out from such a place as 
 Nazareth, being contrary to all the teachings he had received 
 on the subject. He was without guile, as a little child, and 
 wished to know what the truth was, so that he might follow it. 
 All such desires and prayers will most assuredly be granted. 
 
 Nathanael, as soon as our Lord had told him that he had 
 seen him under the fig tree before Philip had called him, was at 
 once convinced that he was in the presence of a Divine Being, 
 as none but God knew what was passing in his mind. He at 
 once said, "Rabbi" (or teacher, as the word should be trans- 
 lated), " thou art the Son of God " (the promised Messiah) ; 
 " thou art the King of Israel ;" thou art the true descendant of 
 David, who art to sit on that spiritual throne of which the 
 throne of David was the type. This appears to be the first 
 acknowledgment of the divinity of our Lord by any of his dis- 
 ciples. In honor of his faith 
 
 " Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I 
 said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, be- 
 lievest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than 
 these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I
 
 THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 339 
 
 say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, 
 and the angels of God ascending and descending 
 upon the Son of man." 
 
 Our Lord here assured Nathanael that, as he had believed in 
 him -by means of this single discovery of his power, he should 
 be favored with the sight of still greater things, for "hereafter," 
 or henceforth, he would see " heaven open, and the angels of 
 God ascending and descending upon the Son of man," for they 
 would minister to him in human nature as their glorious Lord. 
 This may refer to Jacob's ladder, which typified Christ as the 
 medium of communication between heaven and earth, and it 
 may be explained figuratively to signify the whole course of 
 Christ's miracles till his ascension to heaven, which was testi- 
 fied to the apostle by angels. 
 
 " Heaven open." " This," says Dr. Clark, " seems to be a 
 figurative expression." Christ may mean that a clear and abun- 
 dant revelation of God's will should now be made unto men. 
 By the angels "ascending" and " descending " is to be under- 
 stood that a perpetual intercourse should now be opened be- 
 tween heaven and earth by the medium of Christ, who was God 
 manifested in the flesh. Our Lord is represented as an ambas- 
 sador of God to men. The whole concern of man's salvation 
 shall be carried on henceforth by an incessant intercourse be- 
 tween heaven and earth. It is heaven opened to earth and 
 heaven on earth. The Church militant and the Church tri- 
 umphant become one; both are absorbed in heaven, and in 
 unison see and adore their common Lord. Neither the world 
 nor the Church is left to the caprices of time or chance. Where- 
 soever we are studying, hearing or meditating, his eye is upon 
 us. He notes our wants, our weaknesses and our petitions. 
 Let us then be without guile, deeply, habitually sincere, serious 
 and upright, and then we may be assured that not only the eye 
 but the hand of our Lord shall ever be on us for good.
 
 34O THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 
 
 Stephen, the first martyr, is declared to be a man full of faith 
 and the Holy Ghost, and therefore was an Israelite indeed. The 
 way, or the ladder, between heaven and earth was now opened 
 or established, and Stephen at his death, 
 
 " being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stead- 
 fastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and 
 Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, 
 Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son 
 of man standing on the right hand of God." Acts 
 vii. 55, 56. 
 
 Stephen had been appointed an officer of the church at Jeru- 
 salem to see that their alms were properly distributed among 
 the poor, especially among the Grecian widows. He now also 
 engaged in works of holiness, preaching God's Word, which 
 he delivered with great power. He becomes a leading spirit, 
 and stands in the front rank of the Lord's host ; consequently 
 the enemies of the Gospel were fiercely opposed to him. They 
 charged him with speaking blasphemous words against Moses 
 and against God ; they stirred up the people, and came upon 
 him and caught him, and brought him to the council, who 
 called upon him to answer the charges against him. Stephen 
 now referred to Jewish history, and told them how the old 
 prophets had been persecuted, and, probably knowing he was 
 preaching his last sermon, feared not to charge them with the 
 crime of crucifying the Just One. When they heard these 
 things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him 
 with their teeth. When he spoke of seeing Christ at the right 
 hand of God, they stopped their ears and ran upon him and 
 cast him out of the city and stoned him. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon, in one of his sermons, says : " The death-scene 
 of Stephen is the only martyrdom recorded in the New Testa- 
 ment in detail. The Holy Ghost, foreseeing that there would 
 be martyrdoms enough before the Church's history should end,
 
 THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 341 
 
 admonishes us that we should never lack memorials ... It is 
 equally remarkable that this is the only death-scene in the New 
 Testament which has been described at length, with the excep- 
 tion of our Lord's. Of course we are told of the death of other 
 saints, and facts relating thereto are mentioned ; but what they 
 said when they died, and how they felt in passing out of the 
 world, are left unrecorded, probably because the Holy Spirit 
 knew that we should not lack for holy death-beds and triumph- 
 ant departures. These he well knew would be every-day facts 
 to the people of God. . . . To live like Jesus most nearly con- 
 cerns us. A triumphant death may be the crown, but a holy 
 life is the head that must wear it. 
 
 " The most notable peculiarity of Stephen's death was, that it 
 was full of Jesus in four ways : Jesus was seen, invoked, trusted 
 and imitated. First, the Lord Jesus was seen, probably in the 
 council of the Sanhedrim. The vision seemed to roll away the 
 firmament and set open the gates of heaven ; and I ' saw the 
 Son of man standing at the right hand of God.' " 
 
 This is the only place in Scripture where Jesus is called the 
 Son of man by any one but himself. Perhaps he was spoken 
 of in this manner in reference to the warning which Jesus gave 
 his enemies " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on 
 the right hand of power." He had spoken those words in all 
 probability to the very men who heard Stephen bear witness 
 that it was even so. Stephen saw his Lord standing. Now, our 
 Lord is generally described as sitting ; but it was as if the sym- 
 pathizing Lord had risen up to draw near to his suffering serv- 
 ant, eager both to sustain him and receive him when the conflict 
 is over. Jesus rose from the throne to gaze upon himself suffer- 
 ing again in the person of one of his beloved members. The 
 place occupied by the Lord " was at the right hand of God." 
 
 Next, notice that Jesus was invoked, for that is the meaning 
 of the text. " They stoned Stephen, calling upon " (or invoking) 
 " God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." At such a
 
 342 THE TRUE ISRAELITE. 
 
 time we need an almighty and divine Saviour ; we want " God 
 over all, blessed for ever," to come to our rescue in this solemn 
 article. So Stephen called upon Jesus and worshiped him. 
 Stephen next " trusted Jesus," and confided in him only, for we 
 find him saying, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He felt that 
 his spirit was about to leave the body, to fly into the unknown 
 world. Perhaps a shiver of natural awe came over him at the 
 yreat mystery, even as it comes over us when we think of being 
 disrobed of the familiar garment of our body ; but he put his 
 unclothed spirit in the hands of Jesus, and all fear and care was 
 dispelled. 
 
 Observe that in Stephen we see Jesus imitated. It was so 
 even in little circumstances. Jesus died without the gate so 
 did Stephen ; Christ died pleading for his murderers so does 
 Stephen " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Stephen 
 prays no more for himself, but intercedes for his enemies, and 
 then closes his eyes and falls asleep. This is the simple and 
 sublime art of dying. The day's work is done ; the doors are 
 fastened; the watchmen guard the streets. Come, let us fall 
 asleep. With Jesus seen, invoked and trusted, it is sweet to 
 die. Stephen died as a conqueror. He was the victor, not his 
 enemies. They stoned his body, but his soul had vanquished 
 them. It was not in their power to move him. His quiet look 
 defied their fury. He went home to his God, to hear it said 
 " Well done, good and faithful servant . . . enter thou into the 
 joy of thy Lord."
 
 THE SINNER'S TRIAL. 
 
 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." EZEK. xviii. 4. "Christ died for our sins 
 according to the Scriptures" \ COR. xv. 3. " Mercy rejoiceth against judgment"' 
 JAS. ii. 13. " We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus" I JOHN ii. I.
 
 THE SINNER'S TRIAL. 
 
 A PARABLE, BY REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 [THE following account, copied from a religious newspaper, is 
 descriptive of a parable used by Mr. Spurgeon, the celebrated 
 Baptist preacher of London, in one of his sermons delivered in 
 that city at the commencement of his ministry there. In the 
 illustrative engraving three figures are represented the sinner, 
 the Law and Mercy. The sinner is brought before a tribunal 
 of justice to answer for the sins he has committed. Law, with 
 an angry countenance, points to his stony tablet, on which are 
 inscribed the various statutes which the culprit has broken, and 
 demands that the penalty shall now be inflicted. The poor 
 wretch before the throne, clothed in filthy rags, is speechless 
 and apparently helpless. Mount Sinai in the distance flashes 
 fire, and in a voice of thunder denounces the transgressor. 
 Mercy sits benignantly on her throne, on which is depicted the 
 emblematic figure of a " Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
 world."] 
 
 " Mercy sat placidly on her throne till there stepped in one 
 with a fiery countenance. He spoke with a voice like thunder, 
 and out of his eyes flashed lightning. ' Who art thou ?' said 
 Mercy. He replied, ' I am the Law of God.' ' And what hast 
 thou to say?' 'I have this to say' (and he lifted up a stony 
 tablet, written on both sides) : ' these ten commandments this 
 wretch has broken. My demand is blood, for it is written, " The 
 soul that sinneth shall die." Die he must, or justice must.' The 
 
 345
 
 34^ THE SINNERS TRIAL. 
 
 wretch trembles ; his knees knock together ; the marrow of his 
 bones melts within him as though it were ice dissolved by fire, 
 and he shakes with very fright. Already he thought he saw the 
 thunderbolt launched at him ; he felt the lightning penetrate into 
 his soul ; hell yawned before him in imagination, and he thought 
 himself cast away for ever. 
 
 " But Mercy smiled, and said, ' Law, I will answer thee. This 
 wretch deserves to die. Justice demands that he should perish. 
 I award thee thy claim.' And oh ! how the sinner trembles ! 
 ' But there is one yonder who has come with me to-day my 
 King, my Lord ; his name is Jesus ; he will tell you how the 
 debt can be paid and the sinner be enabled to go free.' Then 
 Jesus said, ' O Mercy ! I will do thy bidding. Take me, Law ; 
 put me in a garden ; make me sweat drops of blood ; then nail 
 me to a tree ; scourge my back before you put me to death ; 
 hang me on the cross ; let blood run from my hands and feet ; 
 let me descend into the grave ; let me pay all the sinner oweth ; 
 I will die in his stead.' And the Law went out and scourged 
 the Saviour, nailed him to the cross, and, coming back with face 
 all bright with satisfaction, stood again at the throne of Mercy, 
 who said, ' Law, what hast thou now to say ?' ' Nothing,' said 
 he ; ' fair angel, nothing.' ' What ! not one of these commands 
 against him ?' ' No not one. Jesus, his Substitute, has kept 
 them all has paid the penalty for his disobedience ; and now, 
 instead of his condemnation, I demand of Justice that he be 
 acquitted.' 
 
 " ' Stand thou here,' said Mercy ; ' sit on my throne. I and 
 thou together will now send forth another summons.' The 
 trumpet rang again. ' Come hither, all ye who have aught to 
 say against this sinner why he should not be acquitted.' And 
 up comes another one who often troubled the sinner, one who 
 has not so loud a voice as that of the Law, but still piercing and 
 thrilling a voice whose whispers were like the cutting of a 
 dagger. 'Who art thou?' says Mercy. 'I am Conscience.
 
 THE SINNER'S TRIAL. 347 
 
 This sinner must be punished. He has done so much against 
 the Law of God that he must suffer the penalty. I demand it, 
 and I will give him no rest till he has been convicted nor even 
 then, for I will follow him even to the grave, and persecute him 
 with pangs unutterable.' ' Nay,' said Mercy ; ' hear me.' And 
 while he paused for a moment she took a bunch of hyssop and 
 sprinkled Conscience with the blood, saying, 'The blood of 
 Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Now hast 
 thou aught to say ?' ' No,' said Conscience ' nothing. 
 
 "Covered is his unrighteousness; 
 From condemnation he is free." 
 
 Henceforth I will not grieve him ; I will be a good Conscience 
 unto him through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.' 
 
 "The trumpet rang the third time, and growling from the 
 innermost vaults up there came a grim, black fiend, with hate in 
 his eyes and hellish majesty on his brow. He is asked, ' Hast 
 thou aught against that sinner ?' ' Yes,' said he ; ' I have. He 
 has made a league with hell and a covenant with the grave, and 
 here it is, signed with his own hand. He asked God to destroy 
 his soul in a drunken fit, and vowed he would never turn to 
 God. See ! here is his covenant with hell !' ' Let us look at 
 it,' said Mercy; and it was handed up, while the grim fiend 
 looked at the sinner and pierced him through with his black 
 looks. ' Ah ! but this man had no right to sign the deed,' said 
 Mercy. ' A man must not sign away another's property. This 
 man was bought and paid for long beforehand ; he is not his 
 own ; the covenant with death is annulled, and the league with 
 hell is rent in pieces. Go thy way, Satan!' 'Nay,' said he, 
 howling again ; ' I have something else to say : that man was 
 always my friend; he ever listened to my insinuations; he 
 scoffed at the Gospel ; he scorned the majesty of Heaven. Is 
 he to be pardoned, whilst I return to my hellish den, for ever 
 to bear the penalty of guilt ?' Said Mercy, ' Avaunt, thou fiend !
 
 34-8 THE SINNERS TRIAL. 
 
 these things he did in the days of his unregeneracy ; but this 
 word " nevertheless " blots them all out. Go to thy hell ! take 
 this for another lash upon thyself. The sinner shall be par- 
 doned, but thou, never, treacherous fiend !' 
 
 " Then Mercy smilingly turned to the sinner, and said, ' Sin- 
 ner, the trumpet must be blown for the last time !' Again it 
 was blown, but no one answered. Then the sinner stood up, 
 and Mercy said, ' Sinner, ask thyself the question ask thou of 
 Heaven, of earth, of hell, whether any can condemn thee.' And 
 the sinner said, in a loud, bold voice, ' Who shall lay anything 
 to the charge of God's elect ?' And he looked into hell, and 
 Satan lay there, biting his iron bonds ; and he looked on earth, 
 and earth was silent ; and the majesty of the sinner did even 
 climb to heaven itself, and he repeated, ' Who shall lay anything 
 to the charge of God's elect ?' " 
 
 The following dialogue, entitled " JESUS JUSTICE SINNER," 
 from "Quarles' Emblems," is introduced here as relevant to the 
 preceding subject. Francis Quarles, an English poet, was born 
 in 1592, at Rumford, Essex, and received his education at 
 Christ's College, Cambridge. He had a pension granted him 
 by Charles L, as a consideration for having made himself known 
 by several works on religious subjects. For a time he held the 
 situation of secretary to Archbishop Usher, in Ireland. He died 
 
 in 1644. 
 
 PSALM CXLIII. 2. 
 
 "Enter not into judgment with thy servant : for in thy sight shall no man 
 living be justified" 
 
 JESUS JUSTICE SINNER. 
 
 Jesus. Bring forth the prisoner. Justice. Thy commands 
 Are done, just Judge. See ! here the prisoner stands. 
 
 Jesus. What has the prisoner done ? Say ! what's the cause 
 Of his commitment ? Justice. He hath broke the laws 
 Of his too gracious God conspired the death 
 Of that great Majesty that gave him breath, 
 And heaps transgression, Lord, upon transgression.
 
 THE SINNERS TRIAL. 349 
 
 Jesus. How knoweth this ? Justice. E'en by his own confession. 
 His sins are crying, and they cried aloud ; 
 They cried to Heaven they cried to Heaven for blood. 
 
 Jesus. What sayest thou, sinner ? Hast thou aught 
 That sentence should not pass ? Hold up thy head, 
 And show thy brazen, thy rebellious face. 
 
 Sinner. Ah me ! I dare not ; I'm too vile and base 
 To tread upon the earth much more to lift 
 Mine eyes to Heaven. I need no other shrift 
 Than my own conscience. LORD, I must confess 
 I am no more than dust, and no whit less 
 Than my indictment styles me. Ah ! if thou 
 Search severe, with too severe a brow, 
 What flesh can stand ? I have transgressed thy laws. 
 My merits plead thy vengeance, not my cause. 
 
 Justice. LORD, shall I strike the blow ? Jesus. Hold, Justice ! stay ! 
 Sinner, speak on ! what hast thou more to say ? 
 
 Sinner. Vile as I am, and of myself abhorred, 
 I am thy handiwork, thy creature, LORD, 
 Stamped with thy glorious image, and at the first 
 Most like to thee, though now accurs'd, 
 Convicted caitiff, and degenerous creature, 
 Here trembling at thy bar. Justice. Thy fault's the greater. 
 LORD, shall I strike the blow ? Jesus. Hold, Justice 1 stay ! 
 Speak, sinner ! hast thou nothing else to say ? 
 
 Sinner. Nothing but mercy, mercy, LORD ! my state 
 Is miserably poor and desperate ; 
 I quite renounce myself, the world, and flee 
 From LORD to JESUS, from thyself to thee. 
 
 Justice. Cease thy vain hopes ! my angry GOD has vowed, 
 Abused Mercy must have blood for blood. 
 Shall I yet strike the blow ? Jesus. Stay, Justice I hold I 
 My bowels yearn ; my fainting blood grows cold 
 To view the trembling wretch. Methinks I spy 
 My Father's image in the prisoner's eye. 
 
 Justice. I cannot hold. Jesus. Then turn thy thirsty blade 
 Into my sides ; let the wound be made. 
 Cheer up, dear soul ; redeem thy life with mine. 
 My soul shall smart ; my heart shall bleed for thine. 
 
 Sinner. O groundless deeps ! O love beyond degree 1 
 Th' offended dies to set th' offender free I
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES, AND THAT 
 OF HOBAB. 
 
 IN the tenth chapter of Numbers, when the children of Israel 
 were being organized to march to Canaan, the Promised Land, 
 it is stated that Moses, their leader, invited Hobab, his brother- 
 in-law, the son of Raguel, the Midianite, to join the company, 
 saying, " We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord 
 said, I will give it you : come thou with us, and we will do thee 
 good : for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. 
 
 " And he said unto him, I will not go ; but I 
 will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred." 
 
 Moses, it appears, entreated him, saying, " If thou go with 
 us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto 
 us, the same will we do unto thee." As we hear no more about 
 Hobab, it is presumed that it was a final separation. His choice 
 was to remain where he was, thus turning his back on the 
 promises of God, choosing to be with his old friends and com- 
 panions rather than to go with the company marching on toward 
 Canaan. 
 
 Moses, the Hebrew lawgiver, was born in Egypt, where his 
 people were in bondage to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and " when 
 he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter, choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God 
 rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Being 
 obliged to flee to the land of Midian, in Arabia, to save his life, 
 the Lord called him from thence to be the leader of the children 
 
 350
 
 MOSES THE HEBREW, AND HOBAB THE ARABIAN. 
 
 "Choosing rather to suffer affliction . . . than enjoy the pleasures of sin." HEB. 
 xi. 25. "The wicked will not seek after God" Ps. x. 4. "Did not choose the fear 
 of the Lord." PROV. i. 29.
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES, AND THAT OF HO BAB. 353 
 
 of Israel out of Egypt to the land of Canaan. When at Mount 
 Sinai, Moses was called up to the summit of the mountain into 
 the thick darkness where God was. The Israelites received the 
 divine law on tablets of stone, written with the finger of God ; 
 they also received their national institutions from God by the 
 hand of Moses. 
 
 The Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, given to Moses by 
 God himself, are the most ancient code of laws in existence, 
 forming a complete summary of all the duties which mankind 
 owe to God and each other, and enforcing these duties by the 
 powerful motives of gratitude, hope and fear. By it man is 
 directed to adore and love the true God, the Author of all good ; 
 it commands him to reverence his holy name and to observe 
 stated times for his worship. Four of these commands I. Thou 
 shall not kill; 2. Thou shali not commit adultery ; 3. Thou shalt 
 not steal ; 4. Thou shalt not bear false witness have formed the 
 basis of all criminal law in all civilized nations. The concluding 
 commandment is directed against selfishness, the source of all 
 crime. 
 
 " Moses is incontestably the chief personage in history in a 
 sense in which no one before nor since has appeared. In the 
 tradition of the desert, whether late or early, his name predom- 
 inates over every one else. . . . He must be considered, like all 
 the saints and heroes of the Bible, a man of marvelous gifts, 
 raised up by Divine Providence for a special purpose, and he was 
 led into a closer communion with the invisible world than ever 
 was vouchsafed to any one else in the Old Testament. Besides 
 being the leader of the Hebrews or Israelites, he is the greatest 
 example of a prophet in the Old Testament. He appears as the 
 centre of a prophetic circle for the first time named. He was, 
 in a sense peculiar to himself, the founder and representative of 
 his people. All that is told of him indicates a perfect disinter- 
 estedness or withdrawal of himself, a preference for the cause 
 of his nation to his own interests, which makes him the most 
 
 23
 
 354 THE CHOICE OF MOSES, AND THAT OF h < 4J3. 
 
 complete example of Jewish patriotism. In the transfiguration 
 on the mount, Moses appears by the side of Elijah. As the 
 author of the law, he is contrasted with Christ, as the Author 
 of the Gospel. Christ was, like Moses, the great Prophet of 
 the people, and, like him, out of the midst of the nation." 
 
 Moses and Hobab may be considered as the types or repre- 
 sentatives of the two classes of men those who serve God, and 
 those who serve him not ; and their history and the people with 
 which they were connected show the wisdom of the one and 
 the folly of the other. One chose this world for his portion, 
 the other the next. Both appear to be educated in the same 
 faith ; but one apparently has cast off the faith of his fathers, 
 while the other retained it. 
 
 The Hebrews, or Israelites, to whom the oracles of God were 
 committed, were a prosperous and happy people as long as they 
 practiced the precepts inculcated therein. All the idolatrous 
 nations were subdued before them ; Jerusalem, their great city 
 and temple, was built the praise and delight of the whole earth, 
 and the desire of all nations came into it. Here it is that the 
 great High Priest of the human race entered the Holy of Holies, 
 once for all, a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, 
 having neither beginning of days nor end of life. He for ever 
 sanctifies all who come unto him, and has opened the gate of 
 heaven to all believers. All the types and shadows have met 
 in him ; he has magnified the Law and made it honorable ; a 
 new dispensation is given ; the old and new are consolidated 
 into one ; a new kingdom is established, of which there shall 
 be no end. 
 
 The consequences of the choice of Hobab and persons of his 
 mind are seen even in these latter times in their descendants. 
 There has been but little change in Arabia and its vicinity since 
 the time of Moses. Hobab was probably an Arab chieftain, 
 and of that class who roam about, often pitching their tents on 
 the sands of the deserts, whose hands are against every man,
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES, AND THAT OF HO BAB. 355 
 
 and every man's hands against them. It was in Arabia that 
 Mohammed was born, in A. D. 569, at Mecca, near the Red Sea, 
 who, about the thirty-eighth year of his age, retired to the 
 desert, and professed to hold conference with the angel Gabriel, 
 who delivered to him, from time to time, portions of the Koran 
 (the sacred book of the Mohammedans), containing revelations 
 from God, which he required his prophet (Mohammed) to com- 
 municate to the world. 
 
 The Mohammedan religion is a compound of Paganism, Juda- 
 ism and Christianity. Mohammed formed the scheme of estab- 
 lishing a new religion, or, as he expressed it, of replanting the 
 only true and ancient one professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, 
 Moses and Jesus and all the prophets, by destroying the gross 
 idolatry into which most of his countrymen had fallen, and 
 weeding out the corruptions which the later Jews and Christians 
 had fallen into, as he thought, and introduced into their religion, 
 by reducing it to its original purity, which consisted chiefly in 
 the worship of one God. Mohammedans believe in the doc- 
 trine of fate that is, whatsoever takes place in this world, good 
 or bad, is irrevocably fixed by the decree from all eternity. 
 
 The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary that, according to a 
 tradition of Mohammed, he who dies without performing it may 
 as well die a Jew or a Christian, and the same is expressly com- 
 manded by the Koran. The Mohammedan priests who conduct 
 their public worship are called Imans, and they have a set of 
 ministers called Sheiks, who preach every Friday (the Moham- 
 medan Sabbath), something like the manner of Christian preach- 
 ers. Their houses of worship are denominated Mosques, many 
 of which are magnificent and richly endowed. 
 
 Mohammed's first converts were his wife, his servant, his 
 pupil and his friend. In the process of time some of the citi- 
 zens of Mecca were introduced to the private lessons of the 
 prophet. They yielded to the voice of enthusiasm, and repeated 
 the fundamental creed, "There is but one God, and Mohammed
 
 3 $6 THE CHOICE OF MOSES, AND THAT OF HO BAB. 
 
 is his prophet." Being opposed in propagating his doctrines, he 
 was obliged to flee. His flight, called the Hegira (A. D. 622), is 
 the era of his glory. He betook himself to Medina, was joined 
 by the brave Omar, and thence commenced propagating his 
 religion by the sword. He divided his spoil among his follow- 
 ers, and from all sides the roving Arabs were allured to the 
 standard of religion and plunder. The prophet sanctioned the 
 license embracing the female captives as their wives and concu- 
 bines, and the enjoyment of wealth and beauty was the type of 
 paradise. " The sword," says Mohammed, " is the key of 
 heaven and hell. A drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a 
 night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting 
 and prayer. Whoever falls in battle receives forgiveness of his 
 sins. At the day of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent 
 as vermilion and odoriferous as musk, and the loss of his limbs 
 shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." 
 
 The rapid success in the propagation of this new religion was 
 owing to causes that are plain and evident, and must remove 
 our surprise when they are attentively considered. The terror 
 of Mohammed's arms and the repeated victories which were 
 gained by him and his successors were no doubt the irresistible 
 arguments that caused such multitudes to embrace his religion 
 and submit to his dominion. Besides, his law was well adapted 
 to the corrupt nature of man, and, in a particular manner, to the 
 opinions of Eastern nations and the vices to which they were 
 naturally addicted. Their articles of faith were few in number 
 and extremely simple, and the duties required were neither 
 many nor difficult, nor such as were incompatible with their 
 appetites or passions. The gross ignorance at this period among 
 the Eastern nations, with the bitter dissensions which prevailed 
 among those who professed Christianity in the East, and the 
 assassinations and bloodshed accompanying their contentions, 
 caused the very name of Christian to be odious to many, and 
 made easy the introduction of another religion.
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES, AND THAT OF HO BAB. 357 
 
 In a few years Mohammed subdued all Arabia and a part of 
 Syria. In the midst of his victories he died at the age of sixty- 
 three, A. D. 632, being poisoned, it is stated, by a Jewish female. 
 He was buried on the spot where he expired, but his remains 
 were afterward removed to Medina, whither innumerable pil- 
 grims to Mecca often turn aside to bow in devotion before the 
 humble tomb of their prophet. His successors extended their 
 conquests till their empire embraced many countries in the 
 East, and the Saracens overrun the northern provinces of Africa, 
 and A. D. 713 conquered the principal part of Spain, and at one 
 time threatened the conquest of Europe and the extermination 
 of Christianity. 
 
 The religion of Mohammed was popular among the Eastern 
 nations because of the rewards which he promised his follow- 
 ers. In this particular the paradise of the Mohammedans dif- 
 fered in some respects from that of the Gothic nations of 
 Europe. This latter people delighted in war and bloodshed, 
 and deemed it a pleasure to drink beer out of the skulls of their 
 enemies, and the ideas of a large number corresponded with 
 scenes of this nature in a future state. The Eastern or Oriental 
 nations in their burning climate considered happiness to consist 
 in luxurious enjoyment and repose ; hence Mohammed promised 
 his followers that after death they should enter into pleasant 
 gardens and shady groves, where cool fountains and rivers of 
 water should continually flow, and rivers of milk, wine and 
 honey. Here also stood the tree of happiness, laden with all 
 manner of delicious fruits of tastes unknown to mortals. In 
 these delightful gardens they would be attended by the fwuris 
 or maidens of surpassing beauty.
 
 THE KNIGHT, OR SOLDIER. 
 
 THE annexed cut is one of the most striking of the Holbein 
 series. The knight is seen engaged in a desperate conflict with 
 the king of terrors. The knight, or soldier, is encased in armor 
 from head to foot. Death is partially clad in a coat of mail, 
 with a lance large enough for a giant, which, with venomous 
 ferocity, he thrusts entirely through the body of the knight, who 
 thrusts his sword deeply into the skull of his assailant ; but it 
 is of no avail ; his career is finished, as is indicated by the 
 setting sun ; the hour-glass is thrown down, and the sands of 
 his life cease to run. In the engraving, above the Holbein cut, 
 is a representation of a Knight Templar on horseback, armed for 
 battle. Underneath are effigies of four Knights Templar in the 
 Temple church, London, whose remains were buried here prob- 
 ably as early as the thirteenth century. The scriptural quota- 
 tion is placed above the cut, and the stanzas which follow are 
 inscribed below : 
 
 "/ a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight and pass 
 away. And the mighty shall be taken away without hand." Job xxxiv. 2O. 
 
 " Against the man who war excites, 
 
 And does mild peace despise 
 (Peace that to all great blessings brings), 
 The people shall arise. 
 
 "To courage only shall they trust, 
 
 This tyrant fierce to tame ; 
 And fall he shall, but by a stroke 
 No human hand shall aim. 
 
 " To him who, to oppress mankind, 
 
 Shall mighty arms employ, 
 Resistless Death shall suddenly, 
 
 By an ill fate, destroy." 
 358
 
 " When a strong man armed . . . his foods are in peace. But when a stronger 
 than he shall come . . . he taketh . . . all his armor." LUKE xi, 21, 22. "What 
 nan is he that liveth and shall not see death ?" Ps. Ixxxix. 4$,
 
 THE KNIGHT, OR SOLDIER. 361 
 
 Knighthood, or chivalry, was an institution which formerly 
 had a great influence on mankind. It attained its greatest 
 height during the Crusades or religious wars in Europe. The 
 knights were the most effective soldiers of the day, distinguished 
 for a romantic love of adventure, a love of arms and the rewards 
 of valor, an eagerness to protect the oppressed, and to avenge 
 wrongs, also for high sentiments of honor and religion, and a 
 specially devoted attachment to the female sex. The institution 
 had for its principal object the correction of the evils which 
 existed in society, during the prevalence of the feudal system 
 among the European nations. 
 
 The sons of noblemen who were destined for chivalry, at the 
 age of seven years, entered on a course of education which was 
 to prepare them for the performance of its duties and the enjoy- 
 ment of its honors. From the age of seven to fourteen, these 
 young aspirants were given the name of valet, or page. They 
 were kept in active employment, and became accustomed to the 
 duties of obedience by waiting on the master and mistress of 
 the castle at home and abroad. By the ladies of the castle they 
 were at the same time taught the rudiments of religion and 
 devotion to the female sex, and the first impressions made on 
 their minds were those of love, gallantry, honor and bravery. 
 They were taught that the only means of attaining to the high- 
 est honors were respectful devotion to the ladies and skill and 
 courage in warfare. 
 
 At the age of fourteen the pages received the title of armiger, 
 or esquire, and then were authorized to bear arms. Their edu- 
 cation, however, was not completed until they were twenty-one 
 years of age. The esquire prepared the repast in the morning ; 
 at dinner he as well as the pages attended at the table, and pre- 
 sented to the lord and his guests the water used for washing. 
 The knights and esquires never sat at the same table, not even 
 in the case of a father and son. The esquires often made the 
 beds of their lords. Each of them had his respective duties,
 
 362 THE KNIGHT, OR SOLDIER. 
 
 such as 'squire of the chamber, the carrying-'squire, etc. They 
 practiced every exercise by which strength and activity of the 
 body could be promoted ; they learned to endure hunger and 
 thirst, and accustomed themselves to wield the sword, thrust 
 the lance, strike with the ax and to wear armor. No exercise, 
 however, was more important than that of horsemanship. 
 
 The full dignity of knighthood was seldom conferred on the 
 'squires before the age of twenty-one. To prepare for this honor 
 they were obliged to submit to severe fastings, to spend nights 
 in prayer in a church, to receive the sacrament, to bathe, to put 
 on white robes, confess their sins and hear sermons in which 
 Christian morals were explained and enforced. The candidate 
 then took an oath, consisting of twenty-six articles, in which, 
 among other things, he swore he would be a good, brave, loyal, 
 just, generous and gentle knight, a champion of the Church and 
 clergy, a protector of the ladies, and a redresser of the wrongs 
 of widows and orphans. While on his knees he received from 
 the hands of the knights and ladies the various parts of his 
 armor, and in the last place his sword. The concluding sign 
 of being dubbed, or adopted into the order of knighthood, was 
 a slight blow given by the lord on the neck or cheek. He was 
 then proclaimed a knight " in the name of God and the Saints." 
 
 The character of a true knight, although containing many 
 defects, was distinguished by much that was praiseworthy and 
 noble. His whole course was directed by a regard for re- 
 ligion, though it must be confessed that the religion of the 
 times consisted more in forms and ceremonies than in its genu- 
 ine spirit. The knight was distinguished for his perfect fidelity 
 to his word, his modesty, generosity and courtesy. By being 
 dubbed a knight he was invested with many dignities, which 
 were not limited to his own country, but extended throughout 
 the greater part of Europe. He had a right to roam through 
 the world in search of adventures, and was authorized to pro- 
 pose a trial of skill with the lance with all of his order he met
 
 THE KNIGHT, OR SOLDIER. 363 
 
 and to combat with fury if they did not acknowledge the lady 
 to whom he devoted himself to be the most beautiful in the 
 world. 
 
 The tournaments, so famous in the Middle Ages, were mili- 
 tary exercises performed by two parties of knights or cavaliers. 
 No amusements were so delighted in by the gallant knights or 
 beauteous ladies, or by kings, the nobility and gentry, as these 
 images of war. These exhibitions were often splendid, far 
 beyond the present age, especially at coronations, the marriage 
 of princes, victories, etc. No knight who had blasphemed God 
 or offended the ladies, or had been false or ungrateful, was 
 allowed to enter these contests. At the tournament the space 
 enclosed within the lists was surrounded by sovereign princes, 
 nobles, knights of renown and all that rank and beauty had dis- 
 tinguished among the fair. Covered with armor, and known by 
 their emblazoned shields, the combatants rushed forward to a 
 strife, without enmity, but not without danger. The ladies 
 were the supreme judges of the tournaments, and of victory 
 little less glorious, and perhaps at the moment more deeply felt, 
 than in the field, since no battle could assemble such witnesses 
 of valor. 
 
 The orders of knighthood, or chivalry, were of two kinds 
 the religious and the military. Some of the religious orders 
 were those of Templars, St. James, Alcantrava, the Lady of 
 Mercy and St. Michael. In the religious orders the cavaliers, 
 or knights, were bound by the three great monastic vows of 
 chastity, poverty and obedience. The military orders were imi- 
 tations of the religious. Those of the Garter, the Golden Fleece 
 and St. Michael, in France, were clearly of chivalric origin. 
 Many others which now exist in Europe cannot boast of such a 
 descent. All these various orders had particular rules by which 
 they professed to be governed, but they varied with the spirit 
 of the times. The Knights Templar, who became quite famous, 
 were founded by Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, for the defence
 
 364 THE KNIGHT, OR SOLDIER. 
 
 of the holy sepulchre and the protection of the Christian pil- 
 grims. After the ruin of Jerusalem, about 1186, they spread 
 themselves throughout Europe, and flourished for a consider- 
 able period ; but as their prosperity increased they became cor- 
 rupted, till their order was suppressed. 
 
 Chivalry, though faulty in several particulars, yet in some 
 respects had a powerful influence in changing the manners of 
 society in a barbarous age. It refined and promoted social 
 intercourse, and softened, in many respects, the horrors of war. 
 By thinning the ranks of robbers and ruffians, it added to the 
 safety and order of society. A nice sense of honor and a strict 
 regard for truth were cherished by its maxims. But perhaps 
 the most important effect of this institution was the delicate and 
 respectful attention paid to women, whereby they were deliv- 
 ered from the degradation so common in savage and barbarous 
 nations. In short, it was a great corrector of the evils of the 
 feudal system haughtiness, tyranny, oppression and misrule. 
 It cannot be denied, however, that the principles of chivalry 
 were much superior to the practice of its professors, and that it 
 fell far short of preserving purity. " It is difficult," says one, 
 "to define the precise period of the duration of chivalry. It 
 was a light which was kindled in a dark age, and it went out 
 when that age was beginning to be brightened with superior 
 luminaries. Viewing the subject in its great and leading bear- 
 ings, chivalry may be said to be coeval with the Middle Ages 
 of Europe, and all its power ceased when new systems of war- 
 fare were matured, when the revival of letters was complete and 
 general, and the Reformation of religion gave a new subject for 
 the feelings and thoughts of men."
 
 BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 
 
 THE AMERICAN HERO. 
 
 "... \They\jeopardedt iheir lives unto the death in the high places of the field." 
 JnDG. v. 18. "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" MATT. 
 xxvi. 52.
 
 THE AMERICAN HERO, 
 
 [BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.] 
 
 THIS celebrated "Sapphic Ode" so popular in the American 
 army during the Revolutionary war, was written by Nathaniel 
 Niles on the very night the news of the battle of Bunker Hill 
 reached Norwich, Connecticut. It was composed under the 
 powerful excitement or inspiration of the moment when the 
 fearful scenes attendant upon the bloody conflict first became 
 known. When sung in the Continental army the effect pro- 
 duced was equal to that of the "Marseillaise" in France, or 
 " Bruce's Address." The moral, religious and sublime ideas 
 conveyed by "The American Hero" are far superior to the 
 French hymn of Liberty or the war-song of the Scotch 
 "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 Mr. Niles graduated at Princeton in 1766, and studied theol- 
 ogy with the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, of Connecticut. He became a 
 licensed preacher, and was somewhat known as a political and 
 theological writer. Probably on account of his infirm health 
 he never settled in the ministry, and only occasionally exercised 
 his vocation. He often represented the town of Norwich in the 
 General Assembly until he removed to Vermont, where he 
 became a civil magistrate, a farmer and a judge of one of the 
 courts. He died in 1828, at the age of eighty-eight. 
 
 [The accompanying engraving is partially copied from Colonel 
 Trumbull's celebrated painting entitled " The Battle of Bunker 
 Hill, or the Death of General Warren." The prominent figure 
 represents the dying American hero, General Warren, giving 
 
 367
 
 368 THE AMERICAN HERO. 
 
 up his life's blood for the salvation of American liberty. 
 Although he was in the highest office among his countrymen, 
 . yet, seeing that a bloody contest was inevitable on the heights 
 of Charlestown, he volunteered as a private soldier under the 
 New England or rather the first American flag raised at the 
 opening of the Revolution. (This emblem is represented within 
 the oval in the lower part of the print.) Several things are 
 suggested by the scene presented in the illustration : First, the 
 foundations of American liberty were laid in suffering and 
 blood. The real commander of the American forces took the 
 lowest rank among his men, the position of a servant. Though 
 he and his countrymen suffered an apparent defeat, yet morally 
 they gained the greatest victory of the Revolution. The scene 
 also illustrates the scriptural passage, "They that take the 
 sword shall perish by the sword." The British government 
 endeavored to enforce their oppressive acts against the Ameri- 
 cans by the force of arms. In the first conflict they suffered a 
 fearful loss of their best troops. They were finally defeated 
 after an immense loss of treasure and human life. Major Pit- 
 cairn, who ordered the first fire on the American militia at Lex- 
 ington, by which eight of them were killed, perished in the 
 same manner, being shot dead by the Americans as he was 
 advancing up Bunker Hill.] 
 
 1. Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight of 
 Death and Destruction in the field of battle, 
 
 Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson, 
 Sounding in death-groans ? 
 
 2. Death will invade us by the means appointed, 
 And we must all bow to the king of terrors ; 
 Nor am I anxious, if I am prepared, 
 
 What shape he comes in. 
 
 3. Infinite Goodness teaches us submission, 
 Bids us be quiet under all his dealings 
 Never repining, but for ever praising 
 
 God, our Creator.
 
 THE AMERICAN HERO. 369 
 
 4. Well may we praise Him ! All His ways are perfect, 
 Though a resplendence, infinitely glowing, 
 
 Dazzles in glory on the sight of mortals, 
 Struck blind by lustre. 
 
 5. Good is Jehovah in bestowing sunshine 
 
 Not less his goodness in the storm and thunder : 
 Mercies and judgment both proceed from kindness, 
 Infinite kindness ! 
 
 6. Oh, then, exult that God for ever reigneth ! 
 Clouds which around Him hinder our perception 
 Bind us stronger to exalt His name and 
 
 Shout louder praises ! 
 
 7. Then to the wisdom of my Lord and Master 
 I will commit all I have or wish for ; 
 Sweetly as babes sleep will I give my life up 
 
 When called to yield it. 
 
 8. Now, Mars, I dare thee, clad in smoky pillars, 
 Bursting from bomb-shells, roaring from the cannon, 
 Rattling in grapeshot, like a storm of hailstones, 
 
 Torturing 
 
 9. Up the bleak Heavens let the spreading flames rise, 
 Breaking, like ./Etna, through the smoky columns, 
 Low'ring, like Egypt, o'er the falling city, 
 Wantonly burnt down. 
 
 10. While all their hearts quickly palpitate for havoc, 
 Let slip your bloodhounds, nam'd the British lions, 
 Dauntless as death stares, nimble as the whirlwind, 
 
 Dreadful as demons ! 
 
 11. Let oceans waft on all your floating castles, 
 Fraught with destruction, horrible to nature; 
 Then, with your sails filled by a storm of vengeance, 
 
 Bear down to battle ! 
 
 12. From the dire cavern, made by ghostly miners, 
 Let the explosion, dreadful as volcanoes, 
 
 Heave the broad town, with all its wealth and people, 
 Quick to destruction ! 
 
 13. Still shall the banner of the King of heaven 
 Never advance where I am afraid to follow.: 
 While that precedes me, with an open bosom, 
 
 War, I defy thee ! 
 24
 
 370 THE AMERICAN HERO. 
 
 14. Fame and dear freedom lure me on to battle, 
 While a fell despot, grimmer than a death's-head, 
 Stings me, with serpents fiercer than Medusa's, 
 
 To the encounter. 
 
 15. Life, for my country and the cause of freedom, 
 Is but a trifle for a worm to part with ; 
 
 And if preserved in so great a contest, 
 Life is redoubled. 
 
 The battle of Bunker Hill is one of the most remarkable 
 and stirring events recorded in modern history. This hill is in 
 Charlestown, on the north side of Charles River, opposite 
 Boston. On the i/th of June, 1775, a redoubt or breastwork 
 was thrown up on its summit in order to compel the British 
 troops to evacuate Boston. As soon as the morning light dis- 
 covered the entrenchments of the Americans, a severe cannon- 
 ade was commenced from the ships and batteries to destroy the 
 progress of the works. The roaring of the cannon alarmed the 
 inhabitants of Boston and the surrounding towns, and soon the 
 steeples, the roofs of houses and the adjacent hills were covered 
 with spectators to witness the conflict. Almost every family 
 had a relative on the battle-field, and mothers, wives, sisters 
 and daughters gazed with an agony of suspense on the scene 
 before them. About 2 o'clock, between three and four thousand 
 British troops under General Howe landed at the foot of the 
 hill. Forming themselves in apparently invincible order, they 
 moved forward to carry the entrenchments. The Americans 
 suffered them to approach within about eight rods, when they 
 discharged a shower of musket-balls into their ranks with such 
 a deadly effect that hundreds of their assailants lay weltering in 
 blood, and the remainder fled in dismay. 
 
 In a short time the British troops were rallied, and with great 
 bravery again advanced to the attack. Thinking to divert the 
 attention of the Americans, they set on fire and reduced to 
 ashes the town of Charlestown, consisting of about five hun- 
 dred wooden buildings. The roaring of the flames, the crash-
 
 THE AMERICAN HERO. 37 1 
 
 ing of falling timber, the dreadful shrieks of the dying and 
 wounded, and the desolation by fire presented an awful scene. 
 On the second attack the Americans permitted the enemy to 
 advance still nearer than before, when they opened a terrible 
 fire upon them, producing such carnage that they fled in dismay 
 to the banks of the river. At this time General Clinton, who 
 had observed the battle from Boston, crossed over with a rein- 
 forcement to assist his countrymen. By his exertions the troops 
 were again rallied and marched up to the entrenchments with 
 fixed bayonets. The Americans, having expended their ammu- 
 nition and having no bayonets, were obliged to retreat. The 
 British loss was over one thousand men ; that of the Americans, 
 one hundred killed and three hundred wounded. 
 
 In the ode (stanzas I, 2) the Christian hero asks the ques- 
 tion, Why should we mortals tremble at the sight of death 
 on the field of battle, where blood is flowing and death-groans 
 are heard ? He is safe, whatever may befall him. He knows 
 that death will come, sooner or later, by the means appointed. 
 God is his Father and Friend. He fears no evil. Feeling pre- 
 pared for death, he is not anxious " what shape he comes in." 
 
 In the four succeeding stanzas or verses (3, 4, 5, 6), the infinite 
 goodness of God is set forth. It teaches us submission to his 
 will, and bids us be quiet and still under all his dispensations, 
 knowing that we are made perfect through suffering. We are 
 never to repine at our lot, but for ever praise our Creator, for he 
 is love itself. We are dazzled and overpowered in beholding 
 what manner of love has been bestowed upon us. The good- 
 ness of God is seen and acknowledged even by Pagans. He is 
 no less good even in the storm and tempest, than in the sun- 
 shine. Oh, then, exult that such a God reigneth ! Though 
 clouds and darkness may hinder our perception, let us render 
 louder praises.
 
 372 THE AMERICAN HERO. 
 
 The Christian hero, convinced that God reigns, cheerfully 
 commits himself to the guidance of his Lord and Master for all 
 he wishes here and hereafter. Sweetly as a babe sleeps in the 
 arms of a tender mother, so the true hero, feeling that the eter- 
 nal God is his refuge, and underneath and round about him are 
 the everlasting arms, calmly and joyfully gives up his life when 
 called to yield it. 
 
 Prepared for life or death, the hero, in verses 8, 9, dares the 
 hovering death-storm bursting from bomb-shells and thunder- 
 ing from cannon, rattling in grapeshot like a storm of hail- 
 stones. Upward to the heavens the flames of Charlestown 
 arise; the church-tower looms up in a pyramid of fire amid the 
 smoky columns, 
 
 " Low'ring, like Egypt, o'er the falling city, 
 Wantonly burnt down." 
 
 In verses 10, II, 12 is given a description of the soldiers, the 
 ships of war, etc. The hearts of the enemy's soldiery palpitate 
 for havoc ; the bloodhounds, named the British lions, are daunt- 
 less as death, nimble as the whirlwind, dreadful as demons. 
 Verse II, has an allusion to the frigate "Glasgow" and the 
 floating batteries in Charles River, which, with their shot and. 
 shells "fraught with destruction," in the conflict at Bunker Hill, 
 bore down to battle. Verse 12, is descriptive of mining opera- 
 tions, often resorted to in war, as when a deep excavation is 
 made in the earth underneath a fortification or city, and explo- 
 sive materials therein deposited, which, when touched by fire, 
 blow everything above 
 
 " Quick to destruction." 
 
 The last three verses of the ode (13, 14, 15) show that, not- 
 withstanding all the foregoing dangers and terrors, the Christian 
 hero declares that he is not afraid to follow the banner of the 
 King of heaven with an open bosom wherever it leads, defying 
 a world in arms against him. A name among the noble com- 
 pany of martyrs and his dear country's freedom lure him on to
 
 THE AMERICAN HERO. 373 
 
 battle. Stung by the serpents of a despot fiercer than those on 
 the head of Medusa, he is urged on to the encounter. He feels 
 it easy to part with the life of a feeble creature for his country's 
 good ; but if preserved in the great contest, it is redoubled. 
 
 The following hymn, written by John Pierpont, was sung at 
 the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument in 
 1825: 
 
 Oh ! is not this a holy spot ? 
 
 'Tis the high place of freedom's birth! 
 God of our fathers ! is it not 
 
 The holiest spot of all the earth ? 
 
 Quench'd is thy flame on Horeb's side ; 
 
 The robber roams o'er Sinai now ; 
 And those old men, thy seers, abide 
 
 No more on Zion's mournful brow. 
 
 But on this hill thou, Lord, hast dwelt, 
 
 Since round its head the war-cloud curl'd, 
 And wrapp'd our fathers, where they knelt 
 
 In prayer and battle for a world. 
 
 Here sleeps their dust : 'tis holy ground ; 
 
 And we, the children of the brave, 
 From the four winds are gather'd round 
 
 To lay our offering on their grave. 
 
 Free as the winds around us blow, 
 
 Free as the waves below us spread, 
 We rear a pile that long shall throw 
 
 Its shadow on their sacred bed. 
 
 But on their deeds no shade shall fall, 
 
 While on their couch thy sun shall flame; 
 Thine ear was bow'd to hear their call, 
 
 And thy right hand shall guard their fame.
 
 THE PEASANT. 
 
 THE accompanying engraving from Holbein's drawing shows 
 a peasant countryman of Germany engaged in tilling the ground. 
 The plough he is using has two wheels attached to it, exhibiting 
 the style in which this important implement of husbandry was 
 formerly constructed in Europe. It is drawn by a team of four 
 horses, and Death appears to be acting as teamster. Above the 
 print is seen a reaper with his sickle, the only instrument used 
 in former times for cutting the grain to bind into sheaves. Un- 
 derneath, the gleaner appears gathering up the stray heads of 
 grain which fall from the hands of the reapers. Above the cut 
 was placed the scriptural text, " In the sweat of thy face shalt 
 thou eat bread." Gen. iii. 19. Underneath are the following 
 lines : 
 
 " Bread for thyself, thy labor great, 
 
 Thou shalt for thyself obtain, 
 And from the ground, without great toil, 
 No sustenance shalt gain. 
 
 " After a long use of things below, 
 
 And num'rous labors past, 
 Pale Death to all these cares and toils 
 Shall put an end at last." 
 
 The peasantry of Europe were formerly in a state of vassal- 
 age or slavery to their lords or chiefs, who were the owners of 
 the soil. Even at the present time, there are millions who are 
 enslaved by ignorance and the oppressive laws by which they 
 are governed. Till quite recently, the lower classes in Poland 
 and Russia were bought and sold with the farms on which they 
 
 374
 
 THE PEASANT. 
 
 "He that plougheth should plough in hope." I COR. ix. IO. "Doth the ploitghtnan 
 plough all day to so-w ? Doth he not open and break the clods of his ground ' ?" ISA. 
 xxviii. 24. "/ the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread" GEN. iii. 19.
 
 THE PEASANT. 377 
 
 lived, and their lives were in a great measure at the disposal of 
 the lords who owned them. Like beasts of burden they bowed 
 to the yoke ; and if they groaned under painful servitude, they 
 seldom thought of deliverance. Since the commencement of the 
 present century great changes have taken place in the civilized 
 world. The common people, those who have to labor for their 
 bread, are in almost every country being elevated from a state 
 of ignorance. They are beginning to understand their rights 
 as human beings, and are taking measures to maintain them. 
 
 It appears to have been originally designed that man should 
 spend part of his time in moderate labor. Adam was placed in 
 the garden of Eden to till and dress it. It is only when men 
 are obliged to labor immoderately and thus become brutalized 
 that the blessing is turned into a curse. " Man," says one, " is 
 a being compounded of mind and matter, and a great part of 
 his necessary labor is such as tends to show the superiority of 
 the former over the latter. The forests he subdues and turns 
 into fruitful fields. Earth, air, fire and water are all laid by him 
 under contributton, and he compels them, as it were, to minister 
 not only to the necessities, but also to the comforts and embel- 
 lishments, of life. By the busy round of contrivance and labor 
 his faculties are developed ; his body is made stronger and 
 healthier, his morals more virtuous or less corrupt, and his life 
 more contented and happy ; for he rejoices in the work of his 
 hands ; nor does he feel the burden of time which hangs so 
 heavily on the sons and daughters of sloth." 
 
 If it saemed meet to the all-wise Creator that man in his 
 primeval state should be subject to labor, that he should be 
 made to dress the garden and to keep it, much greater is the 
 urgency in his present condition, in which idleness is sure to be 
 prolific of vice. After man fell from his first estate, the earth 
 also underwent a change. Thorns and thistles grew up in the 
 place of nourishing plants and beauteous flowers. The heat 
 consumed by day and frosts by night; obstacles to ease and
 
 THE PEASANT. 
 
 urgent calls to labor multiplied, so that man was compelled to 
 eat his bread in the sweat of his face. 
 
 Among the vain sons and daughters of men are those who 
 despise labor, even should their circumstances need it, as though 
 the point of honor lay in a useless, improvident and helpless 
 career. This is Folly's pride. Whoso despiseth labor, despiseth 
 the ordinance of heaven. Not only is labor made necessary by 
 the law of our general nature, but it is enjoined by the divine 
 law of God "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work'' 
 The truly wise, so far from despising honest toil, ever hold it in 
 esteem. To honor useful labor, to encourage the industrious, 
 to bring up children to habits of early industry and frugality 
 and on the other hand to discountenance and hold in reproach 
 a life of sloth, of improvidence and of dissipation is indispen- 
 sable and should be deeply impressed on the public mind. 
 These are truly republican sentiments and habits, and so far as 
 they prevail, will there be order and thrift in any free republic, 
 especially in our own country, in which there is such a wide field 
 for industry. 
 
 There are multitudes who pass along the stream of life with- 
 out laboring at the oar or paying anything for their passage, so 
 that the burden of their fare falls unreasonably upon their fel- 
 low-passengers. This is an evil of a very serious and dangerous 
 character, for such idlers not only unjustly tax the community, 
 but corrupt it. To say that it were as well for their country 
 that they had never been born, and were unworthy to be num- 
 bered in the aggregate population to say this, is saying too 
 little. They not only do no good, but they do much harm ; 
 they not only prey upon the fruits of other men's industry, but 
 they deprave public morals. It is the nature of this kind of 
 gentry to multiply very fast if not checked, for besides bringing 
 up their children, if children they have, in their own way of 
 living, they are perpetually making converts from the families 
 of their neighbors, leading astray, by their example and entice-
 
 THE PEASANT. 379 
 
 ments, a great many youth, who but for them might have been 
 industrious and useful to society. 
 
 In some countries the arm of the law has enforced industry, 
 as a political measure, upon every person within their jurisdic- 
 tion. The Hollanders in particular, in the early days of their 
 republic, considered idle persons as politically criminal, and 
 punished idleness as a crime against the commonwealth. Those 
 who had no visible means of support were called upon to give 
 an account of their mode of procuring a living; and if the 
 explanation proved unsatisfactory, they were put to labor. 
 Those thrifty Hollanders are said to have employed also the 
 following singular expedient : They constructed a kind of box 
 sufficiently large for a man to stand in and exercise his bodily 
 faculties. In the interior was placed a pump. The vagrant or 
 idler was put into this receptacle, which was so constructed that 
 water would constantly flow into it through holes in the bottom 
 and sides, so that the lazy culprit was compelled to work at the 
 pump with all his might to keep himself from drowning. The 
 medicine, it is said, was a certain cure for the disease, inasmuch 
 as no one was ever known to work at the pump a second time. 
 
 Though such laws as the above may be condemned as an 
 infringement on personal liberty in a free country, yet it is 
 desirable that everything should be done consistent with human 
 rights to restrain notorious idleness and dissipation. As regards 
 children over whom, in a certain sense, the community exer- 
 cises supervision it should be in the power and be made the 
 duty of the political guardians of the public welfare to see to it 
 that they receive such culture as will be likely to strengthen 
 and adorn rather than to weaken and deprave society. For this 
 reason, when profligate parents are manifestly leading their chil- 
 dren in their own footsteps, they should be taken from the 
 dominion of such unworthy custodians and placed under the 
 care of those who are willing to train them in habits of virtuous 
 industry. Such procedure would be an act of beneficence and
 
 380 THE PEASANT. 
 
 enlightened charity to the children themselves, and would give 
 to the general community a vast number of sound and useful 
 members, who else would grow up to prey upon its earnings 
 and poison its morals. If suitable pains were taken with the 
 rising generation to induce them to form sober and industrious 
 habits by example, by the incitements of persuasion, and even 
 by reasonable coercion whenever force is necessary, the effects 
 would be happy beyond measure ; a vast amount of mischief 
 and crime would be prevented; the officers of justice would 
 have little to do ; our jails would be comparatively empty. 
 
 " Labor," says an able writer, " is either mental or bodily or 
 mixed. There are none whose lot produces greater ' weariness 
 of the flesh,' as well as of the noblest part of humanity, than 
 men of close and unremitting study, and there are none whose 
 industry is more useful to mankind. The man of talents and 
 of correct moral principles who in solitude, and perhaps in 
 neglected poverty, employs discreetly the faculties of his mind 
 to enlighten and instruct his fellow-beings in their immortal and 
 even their mortal interests, is a benefactor to the community 
 rather than a burden." 
 
 Nevertheless he, even he, errs wofully if he neglects his 
 body. It is a trite saying or direction, " Love labor : if you do 
 not want for food, you may want for physic." It is lamentable 
 to see how many men of study, how many promising youths, 
 waste away their strength, impair their constitutions and bring 
 upon themselves incurable diseases and premature death solely 
 for want of a proper mixture of bodily exercise with strenuous 
 labor of the mind. 
 
 Neither wealth nor rank nor sex can excuse a person in health 
 and of competent faculties from all and every kind of useful 
 labor, either of body or mind or of both. Many a young gen- 
 tleman would feel himself dishonored by doing anything called 
 work, and many a young lady would blush to be found em- 
 ployed in a really useful occupation, even though both were in
 
 THE PEASANT. 381 
 
 circumstances imperatively demanding their industry. The 
 ancient Jews had a laudable custom or law which compelled all 
 parents to teach each of their sons some useful occupation or 
 trade whereby they might be able to sustain or take care of 
 themselves should any reverse of circumstances overtake them. 
 There have not been wanting instances where persons in exalted 
 stations and possessed of wealth have not disdained to toil with 
 their own hands and to perform their share of the labor neces- 
 sary to sustain human life. The celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 lodging at the house of a noble duke, early in the morning 
 overheard the duchess inquiring of her servants whether the 
 pigs had been fed, and with a significant smile asked her, as he 
 was going to the table, if her pigs had had their breakfast. She 
 archly replied : " They have all been fed except the strange 
 that I am now about to feed."
 
 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD 
 
 AND MADAGASCAR PARABLE. 
 [With a pictorial illustration connected with the last paragraph.] 
 
 PROVIDENCE is defined to be the superintendence and care 
 which God exercises over creation. The arguments for this are 
 found in the nature of that Being who created all things, who 
 preserves and upholds all by his mighty power. It may appear 
 to some unthinking minds that it is almost too much to believe 
 that the Almighty concerns himself with the small individual 
 affairs of every creature he has made, and exercises some gen- 
 eral superintendence over the whole. But he has declared that 
 not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice, and that 
 the hairs of our head are all numbered. Nothing therefore is 
 too minute for his care and inspection. 
 
 Providence has been divided into immediate, mediate, ordi- 
 nary and extraordinary, common and special, universal and par- 
 ticular. Immediate providence is that which is exercised by 
 God himself, without the use of any instrument or second cause; 
 mediate providence is that which is exercised by the use of 
 means ; ordinary providence is that which is exercised in the 
 common course of means and by the chain of second causes ; 
 extraordinary is that which is out of the common way, as mirac- 
 ulous operations ; common providence pertains to the welfare of 
 the whole world ; special relates to the Church ; universal con- 
 cerns the general upholding and preserving all things; particular 
 relates to individuals in every action and circumstance. 
 
 382
 
 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, 
 
 AND MADAGASCAR PARABLE. 
 
 "// is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Ps. cxviii. 8. 
 " The kinsfs heart is in the hand of the Lord ; . . . he turneth it -whithersoever he 
 will." PROV. xxi. I.
 
 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 385 
 
 The uniform doctrine of the Scriptures is that through the 
 universe of God nothing happens without his permission. While 
 he is guiding the sun and moon in their course through the 
 heavens, while in this inferior world he is ruling among empires, 
 stilling the raging of the waters and the tumults of the people, 
 he is at the same time watching over the humble good man who 
 in the obscurity of his cottage is serving and worshiping him. 
 In what manner Providence interposes in human affairs, by what 
 means it influences the thoughts and counsels of men, and, 
 notwithstanding the influence it exerts, leaves them the freedom 
 of choice, are subjects of dark and mysterious nature, and have 
 given rise to many an intricate controversy. 
 
 Nothing can be more clear, from the testimony of the Scrip- 
 ture, than that God is directing and overruling the whole course 
 of events so as to make every one of them answer the designs 
 of his wise and righteous government. He can arrange the 
 whole series of external causes in order to bring about the 
 accomplishment of his purposes. The hearts of all men are in 
 his hands, to turn them wheresoever he will as rivers of water. 
 He can also make the smallest incident the instrument of his 
 providence for overthrowing the most labored plans of men. 
 
 The truth of the foregoing doctrine appears to have been 
 acknowledged even in comparatively unenlightened nations, as 
 will appear in the following account given by a missionary in 
 the island of Madagascar, on the eastern coast of Africa. The 
 narrative was given by a native convert to the Christian faith, 
 who, after his baptism, assisted the missionary in preaching the 
 Gospel to his fellow-countrymen. " My informant," says the 
 missionary, " told me that his ancestors in instructing their chil- 
 dren used often to relate it." The following is the substance of 
 this 
 
 MADAGASCAR PARABLE. 
 
 Once there were two friends, one of whom put his confidence 
 in God, the other in man. One day, in conver~~ f ; OP ^ " said 
 
 25
 
 386 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 
 
 to the other, " Friend, in whom do you confide to aid you and 
 help to feed and clothe you ?" " God," replied the other, " is 
 my hope in everything." " But," said the other, " supposing 
 you went on a journey, would you trust in God to send you 
 food to eat ?" " Certainly," replied the other. " The God in 
 whom I trust is able to feed me." " Ah !" responded the ques- 
 tioner, " in all my wanderings my confidence is in people like 
 myself" 
 
 Each firmly holds his own opinion, and they set out together 
 on a journey to a distant part of the country. Arriving at a 
 certain village, the people asked them their business. The one 
 who trusted in his fellow-beings, whom we shall name Tmst- 
 in-man, replied, " My friend here trusts in God to feed him 
 wherever he may go, but I place my confidence in my fellow- 
 men." The villagers, having consulted, said, " Let them both 
 live in the same house, in order that we may see if God will 
 feed the one that trusts in him." 
 
 As soon as the food had been prepared, the head man of the 
 village sent a servant to call Tntst-in-man, but ordered him not 
 to invite the other. " Let the God in whom he trusts," they 
 said, " give him food." The orders given to the servant were, 
 " We invite you who trust in men like yourself to come and 
 dine with us." On his arrival at the house where the strangers 
 dwelt, by some apparent blunder or mistake he said, "You who 
 trust in God we invite to dine with us." So off went Trust-in- 
 God, as we shall call him, with the messenger. As soon as the 
 dinner had been finished and the guest had taken his departure, 
 the people were angry with the messenger, and said, " Why did 
 you call Tmst-in-God instead of the other?" 
 
 The next time food was prepared they sent another person, 
 charging him to follow implicitly the words of their message. 
 As soon as he had left the house, fearing he should forget the 
 words, he repeated them to himself "Mr. Trust-in-man, we 
 invite you to dine with us." But when he arrived at the door,
 
 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 387 
 
 in some unaccountable manner he made the same mistake as the 
 first messenger, by saying, "Mr. Trust-in-God, we invite you to 
 dine with us." After the guest had finished his meal and taken 
 his departure, the villagers became furious at the messengers 
 for having invited the wrong person. Trust-in-man, by this 
 time suffering with hunger, was obliged to cook something for 
 himself. Thinking that matters would not change for the better 
 in this village, Tnist-in-man persuaded his companion to set out 
 for more favorable quarters, but he invariably encountered the 
 same discouragements or something worse in every place they 
 visited. 
 
 Feeling that thus far he had been worsted in the adventure, 
 Trnst-in-man said to his companion, "Let us take the matter 
 before the king." The proposition was accepted, and on pre- 
 senting themselves to his majesty he immediately demanded 
 their business. Trust-in-man said : " I put my trust, your 
 majesty, in men like myself, while my friend here trusts in God 
 whom he has never seen ; neither has he confidence in you, O 
 king ! nor, in his opinion, does he think that you can put him 
 to death. This, our controversy, we have brought before your 
 wise men, and they not being able to decide it, we have brought 
 the matter before your majesty." 
 
 The king gave them to understand that if his wise men 
 could not determine the point, neither could he. He however 
 ordered food for both, and when they had eaten he sent them 
 away, first giving each (for a purpose of his own) a lamba, or 
 cloth, one green, the other white. On their way, Trust-in-man, 
 who wore the white lamba, said to his friend, " Let us exchange 
 lambas, as my wife is fond of green." Trust-in-God,w\\Q wished 
 to oblige his companion, made the exchange with him. After 
 the two friends had left the palace, the king called his execu- 
 tioners and ordered them to follow the two men and kill the 
 one who wore the green lamba. "For," said the king, "he 
 professes to trust in God and has no confidence in me." The
 
 388 THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 
 
 executioners started off and soon overtook the two men. Lay- 
 ing hold of the one who wore the green lamba, they killed him 
 on the spot. They then took possession of the fatal emblem, 
 which they presented to the king as a guarantee that his will 
 had been accomplished. 
 
 In what manner Providence interposes in human affairs and 
 by what means he influences the thoughts and counsels of men 
 and, notwithstanding the influence exerted, leaving them their 
 own choice or freedom of will are subjects of a mysterious 
 nature, which the human mind cannot fathom. In fact, we are 
 surrounded by mysteries we cannot explain in the manifold 
 wonders of creation. But though the mode of divine operation 
 remains unknown, the fact of an overruling influence, or Provi- 
 dence, is everywhere clearly apparent in the moral as in the 
 natural world. In how many instances have we found ourselves 
 in subjection to a higher Power, on whom depended the accom- 
 plishment of our designs, when lo ! some little unforeseen event 
 has turned the whole tide of affairs and blasted our hopes. 
 
 To accomplish our aims often requires a combination of cir- 
 cumstances far beyond our power; but with the Almighty, 
 nothing is impossible. The hearts of all men are in his hand, 
 to turn them wheresoever he will, as rivers of water. Accident, 
 chance and fortune are words we often hear, but they are words 
 used in an improper manner ; they are no other than names for 
 the mysterious operations of Providence. The Lord maketh 
 the wrath of man, as he maketh the rain and hail, to obey his 
 word. "A maris heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth 
 his steps:'
 
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN. 
 
 " Your adversary the devil ivalketh about seeking -whom he may devour." I PET. 
 v. 8. " Ye are of your father the devil, . . . for he is a liar." JOHN viii. 44. 
 "Come, let us smite him -with the tongue." JER. xviii. 18. " Full of cursing ; . . . 
 under his tongue is mischief" Ps. x. 7.
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN. 
 
 THE apostle Paul in the course of his ministry encountered 
 much opposition from evil men ; like his Divine Master he suf- 
 fered as a wrong-doer ; he was scourged and imprisoned, and 
 was in as great peril from his own countrymen as he was from 
 the heathen. He suffered much from slander. It appears that 
 in the Corinthian Church there was a false apostle who claimed 
 to be a minister of Christ, and by this means had acquired con- 
 siderable influence over the minds of the brethren. He repre- 
 sented Paul as a despicable person in his ministry, and it seems 
 he was. even charged with being actuated by selfish motives in 
 preaching the gospel to obtain money, influence, etc. 
 
 Paul, having received his commission to preach the Gospel 
 from the Lord himself, was sent to proclaim the truth and found 
 a church at Corinth. Satan also sent his servant, or messenger, 
 to the same place. As Satan himself is transformed into an 
 angel of light, his messengers appear in the same character, and 
 by his teachings, his lies and slanders of Paul, endeavored to 
 turn the Church of God into a synagogue of Satan. By this 
 means the apostle was sorely buffeted. In order to clear his 
 own character, he felt himself compelled to give an account of 
 his personal experiences in the Christian life. After relating 
 what sufferings he had endured in preaching Christ, he says : 
 
 " It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. 
 I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 
 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, 
 (whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether 
 
 391
 
 39 2 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN. 
 
 out of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) 
 such a one caught up to the third heaven. 
 
 "And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, 
 or out of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) 
 how that he was caught up into paradise, and 
 heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful 
 for a man to utter. . . . 
 
 " And lest I should be exalted above measure 
 through the abundance of the revelations, there 
 was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger 
 of Satan to buffet me. . . . 
 
 " For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, 
 that it might depart from me. And he said, . . . 
 My grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is 
 made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. xii. 19. 
 
 It appears that fourteen years had elapsed before Paul men- 
 tioned this extraordinary vision, and he seems to have been 
 reluctant to relate it to his brethren lest some of them might be 
 led to think more highly of him than he deserved, and perhaps 
 to undervalue other faithful ministers by the comparison. The 
 vision appears to have been given to him especially for his own 
 support and encouragement amidst his various labors and suf- 
 ferings ; and as no revelations of divine truth, needful to be 
 known and believed by Christians or ministers, were made to 
 him, it was not only impossible, but even unlaivful, if it could 
 have been done, to relate what he had heard and seen. The 
 apostle was not disposed to forget that he was but a feeble man, 
 wholly dependent on mercy and grace amidst all his honorable 
 and extraordinary distinctions. His multiplied revelations were 
 therefore followed by trials of a distressing nature, lest they 
 should prove an incentive to spiritual pride. 
 
 What Paul saw in the third heavens is believed to have been, 
 in its own nature, of a humbling tendency ; yet when he came
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN. 393 
 
 among his brethren he would be apt to think, however other- 
 wise abased, that celestial glories had been revealed to him that 
 none of them had seen. The thought of being thus favored 
 might have engendered in his heart a feeling of selfish pride, 
 producing a long train of evil consequences. But his gracious 
 Lord, perceiving the danger, counteracted these effects by 
 "giving him a thorn in the flesh," "the messenger of Satan'' 
 The precise form of this affliction or trial is not stated, but 
 undoubtedly gave him constant pain and uneasiness. Com- 
 mentators on this passage suppose these arose from the personal 
 defects of which he was conscious, which gave his enemies, 
 especially the false apostles, a pretext for deriding and reviling 
 him. This was mortifying to him, and doubtless they afforded 
 Satan and his angels or messengers an opportunity of tempting 
 him to impatience and to discouragement in his labors. 
 
 These obstacles seemed likely to interfere with his usefulness 
 in being thus constantly harassed and " buffeted." He there- 
 fore thrice besought the Lord Jesus that this "thorn in the 
 flesh" might be removed. The Lord however did not see fit 
 to grant his request, as he knew that this severe trial was need- 
 ful to keep him humble and also to illustrate the power of his 
 own grace. He was therefore pleased to keep his servant in 
 affliction, but at the same time he assured him by immediate 
 revelation that divine aid would certainly be afforded him in a 
 measure sufficient to support and comfort him in his trying cir- 
 cumstances, and enable him to fulfill his ministry notwithstand- 
 ing. The divine power accomplished its most perfect work by 
 means of the " weakness " of those who were thus enabled to 
 bear and perform such things as in themselves they conscien- 
 tiously considered they were unfit to undertake. Thus was the 
 apostle's mind composed. With heartfelt joy he "gloried in 
 his infirmities," in order that the power of Christ might be 
 manifested. 
 
 The engraving designed to illustrate, in a measure, this sub-
 
 394 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN. 
 
 ject, is a representation of a Christian who is going forth on 
 some errand of mercy and benevolence, having in his hand the 
 Book of God, by which he is guided in all his ways. Satan, the 
 enemy of God and man, " the accuser of the brethren," sends 
 his messengers to oppose and buffet God's servants; and to 
 worry and harass them to such an extent as will ultimately 
 induce them to leave the path of duty which they are pursuing. 
 This is illustrated on the left of the print by a man partly con- 
 cealed, the enemy of the worthy man who is walking in the 
 way of God's commandments. Not wishing to betray himself 
 as the originator of some scurrilous slander, the cowardly 
 wretch starts his dogs to bark at and worry the unsuspecting 
 traveler from the flowery paths of virtue. 
 
 In the Christian's career " there are diversities of gifts, but 
 the same spirit." Many a Christian man may regret that he has 
 not the tongue of eloquence so that he could preach Christ to 
 his fellow-men. But patient endurance of evil and the spirit 
 which he manifests in his daily walk and conversation are des- 
 tined to preach Christ with better effect than can be done by 
 any other method. That sublime precept, " Love your ene- 
 mies," so contrary to the feelings of our fallen nature, cannot be 
 obeyed by any one except God helps him. If he truly performs 
 the command, he glorifies God and shows forth the power of 
 Jesus Christ in a manner that cannot be gainsaid. Many of the 
 insults and provocations we receive when we are among our 
 fellow-men are from the messengers of Satan, who are suffered 
 to tempt or try us. It is said, " Blessed is the man that endureth 
 temptation, for he shall receive the crown of life." 
 
 In the engraving dogs are seen barking furiously at the man 
 of God. He does not, however, appear to be much disturbed 
 at their presence. He knows that he is about his Master's work, 
 and that he is under the protection of One who is both able 
 and willing to furnish all that is necessary for his welfare. Pos- 
 sibly the curs may follow him so closely and bark at him so
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN. 395 
 
 furiously that he is tempted to strike at them and drive them 
 away, but this in almost every case would only increase his dif- 
 ficulties : the dogs would become more rabid, and perhaps fly 
 at him, tear his clothes and mangle his body. In most cases 
 of this kind, when we are assailed either by the tongues of men 
 or the fury of animals, it is wise discretion to endure their 
 onslaughts with patience and meekness. If our assailants per- 
 ceive that we are not particularly disturbed by their foul lan- 
 guage or the noise they may make, their exertions to impede us 
 in our upward course will soon be brought to an inglorious 
 termination. 
 
 It may happen sometimes that even our friends are the mes- 
 sengers of Satan, as is evidenced in the account given of the 
 afflictions of Job. " When Satan deprived Job of his children," 
 says Dr. Scott, " he reserved his wife to be his tempter." 
 Although she had shared with him the loss of his children, yet 
 it is probable she was full of hard and rebellious thoughts, 
 which, it appears, she refrained from openly expressing. But 
 when this additional calamity oppressed Job, she was driven to 
 despair for help, and upbraided him for adhering to his religion, 
 seeing that God rewarded his fidelity and resignation with 
 nothing but one dire calamity after another. 
 
 Her counsel was evidently suggested by Satan, who spoke by 
 her, as, through the serpent, he had spoken to Eve, and through 
 Eve to Adam. It appears that Job's wife, herself driven to des- 
 peration, instigated her husband to despair and blasphemy, to 
 " curse God " and die (perhaps by suicide), and thus end his 
 sufferings. Job's reply was admirable : " What ! shall we receive 
 good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil ?" The 
 temptation was repulsed and the tempter baffled.
 
 LABOR OF THE MIND. 
 
 THE engraving shows one who is devoting close attention to 
 the steam issuing from the pot of boiling water, which has been 
 generated by making a fire underneath. He perceives that the 
 vapor is possessed of considerable force to move upward such 
 a lid as covers the top of the pot or kettle. The formation of 
 steam was of so common occurrence that comparatively few, 
 until late years, had given the subject that thorough investiga- 
 tion which its merits demanded. Some, however, to whom the 
 Almighty has given the spirit of understanding, have availed 
 themselves of the seemingly trifling incident above mentioned 
 to make still further researches into the mysteries of this subtle 
 agent, and the practical application of these long-continued 
 experiments has finally culminated in results of the most bene- 
 ficial character to all classes of mankind. 
 
 In consequence of the discovery and utilization of steam 
 power, the habitable area of the earth's surface has been greatly 
 enlarged, and millions have availed themselves of the induce- 
 ments thus offered. It also performs a vast amount of labor 
 formerly confined to man and animals, and it may be said to 
 triumph over the forces of nature and to exhibit the superiority 
 of the mind over the body. 
 
 In the lower part of the engraving is a representation of 
 what is claimed to be the first propeller ever made. It was con- 
 structed in 1796 by John Fitch, of Connecticut, and was ex- 
 perimented on by him on the Collect pond in New York city. 
 The boiler was of twelve gallons capacity, with a small truck-
 
 LABOR OF THE MIND. 
 
 " This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and 
 excellent in working." ISA. xxviii. 29. "I wisdom dwellwith Prudence, and find out 
 knowledge of witty inventions" PROV. viii. 12.
 
 LABOR OF THE MIND. 399 
 
 plank fastened with an iron bar placed transversely. In the 
 year 1785, Mr. Fitch (without any knowledge of a steam engine 
 being in existence) conceived the project of propelling a vessel 
 by the force of condensed vapor. In 1787 he obtained a 
 patent for the application of steam in navigation. A boat was 
 built on this principle in Philadelphia the same year, which 
 moved at the rate of eight miles an hour. 
 
 The following extracts are from No. xxvii. of the "Brief Re- 
 marker" entitled "Of productive labor other than that of the 
 hands:". 
 
 " ' KNOWLEDGE is power.' This was a favorite maxim of 
 Bacon, so eminent in the ranks of philosophy. 
 
 " The weakness of man is marvelously strengthened by his 
 knowledge. It is owing to his superior intelligence that he 
 acquires dominion over the various races of animals, of which 
 many are much stronger and swifter than he ; over the stubborn 
 earth and over the powerful elements fire, air and water. 
 Naked came he into the world, and naked must he have 
 remained had not the inspiration of the Almighty given him 
 understanding and furnished him with motives to employ this 
 noble faculty in an infinite variety of useful ways. 
 
 " Man is of feeble body ; his main strength lies in his mind. 
 Apart from his superior intellectual faculties, he would be one 
 of the most helpless, forlorn and wretched animals on the face 
 of the earth. 
 
 " The invaluable worth of knowledge, and of education by 
 which it is acquired, has. ever been, in all civilized countries, the 
 standing theme of profound discussion, or more often of splen- 
 did but empty declamation, so that only scanty gleanings are 
 left to the modern pen. There is, however, one respect in which 
 the subject has neither been exhausted nor frequently touched : 
 it is the intimate connection between knowledge and productive 
 labor. 
 
 " Productive labor, so essential to the sustenance and support
 
 4OO LABOR OF THE MIND. 
 
 of mankind in general, is of a two-fold nature direct and 
 indirect. 
 
 " Direct productive labor consists of that bodily exercise, that 
 ' sweat of the face,' by means of which we are furnished with 
 food and raiment and with all the various necessaries and ele- 
 gances of life. By this is life sustained and its luxuries acquired, 
 and in this way the great bulk of mankind is necessarily en- 
 gaged. Those who labor with their hands in husbandry and in 
 the various useful arts are, as it were, the strong pillars that sup- 
 port the living world. But then they are in nowise entitled to 
 arrogate the honor to themselves exclusively. ' The hand can- 
 not say to the eye, I have no need of thee.' 
 
 "Indirectly, there are in the common vineyard productive and 
 efficient laborers other than those who work with their hands. 
 They are the ones who invent, conceive, plan, guard and regu- 
 late, so that, after all, mind is an essential and most eminent 
 operator throughout the whole process. I will barely suggest 
 a few particulars, leaving it to the reader to enlarge upon them 
 and to combine them with the others which are alike obvious. 
 
 " Very little would it signify, though we had hands to labor, 
 if we knew not how to use them skillfully, assisted by the inven- 
 tions of those who have preceded us. Without the aid of the 
 arts our hands must be idle or work to no purpose. In all the 
 multitudinous occupations in which the world is engaged, 
 whether upon land or water, whether for the sustenance or 
 the adornment of life, there is a never-ceasing dependence upon 
 the arts. And how were the arts explored and how brought to 
 the wonderful state of perfection which they now exhibit ? By 
 intense labor of the mind. 
 
 " From one generation to another many are known who have 
 never toiled with their hands, but have labored abundantly, 
 efficiently and usefully with their intellects. Their inventions 
 and improvements have directed and guided manual labor, and 
 have facilitated and abridged it in a marvelous manner and
 
 LABOR OF THE MIND. 40 1 
 
 degree. Assuredly their efforts are to be regarded as belonging 
 to the highest class of productive labor; assuredly he who con- 
 tributes to the general stock of knowledge in the arts is a bene- 
 factor of the public and entitled to the gratitude of all, and 
 certainly the laboring man is bound to encourage the arts which 
 so mightily aid the work of his hands not that he ought to 
 think lightly of mere science : it is the mother of the arts, and 
 in sundry instances it has undesignedly and unconsciously led 
 to the discovery of them. The star-gazers of Chaldea never 
 once dreamed of the vastly important practical purposes to 
 which the world in succeeding ages would apply the knowledge 
 of astronomy. 
 
 " Again, it is to be considered and distinctly remembered that 
 the laboring class spend their strength for naught unless the 
 fruits of their industry be securely guarded from plunder and 
 robbery, and against the hand of rapaciousness, in whatever 
 manner or under whatever guise it may assail them. Hence, 
 of necessity there must be government, laws and courts of 
 justice, and also lawgivers, executive and judicial officers, 
 advocates, etc. Now, all these must be paid out of the common 
 fund. But provided they discharge their duties ably and faith- 
 fully, and are content with reasonable recompense, no laborer is 
 more worthy of his hire. By no means are they to be regarded 
 as drones in the hive. As they are the necessary guardians 
 over the general treasure which manual labor accumulates, they 
 have a right to a share of it. At the same time special care 
 must be taken, on the part of the general community, lest the 
 guardians of its rights and property, like the ravenous sons of 
 old Eli, should make such free use of the flesh-hook as to leave 
 little else to the community but the broth. 
 
 " Moreover, since laws can afford us no effectual protection 
 unless the morals of the community be preserved from general 
 corruption, it clearly follows that the professional men who 
 faithfully devote their time and attention to the interest of pure 
 
 26
 
 402 LABOR OF THE MIND. 
 
 morality are really, though indirectly, productive laborers in 
 even the secular sense of the term. 
 
 " In this connection I will particularly instance the venerable 
 ministers of our holy religion, who leaving out of the question 
 all considerations of the future life greatly increase the amount 
 of productive labor by the weight of their exhortations and 
 influence against idleness and profligacy. At the same time 
 they no less contribute to the security of the fruits of labor by 
 the generally moralizing effects of their ministrations. In the 
 same light are to be regarded the well-qualified and faithful 
 instructors of children and youth, being the most productive 
 and useful of laborers. 
 
 " Neither is it true that no labor is hard except that of the 
 hands. On the contrary, many an excellent man by intense 
 labor of mind in his profession has worn himself out much 
 sooner than he would have done had he employed an equal 
 measure of industry in the labors of the field." 
 
 One of the greatest discoveries of the present age is that of 
 the " magnetic telegraph." The credit of this discovery, or inven- 
 tion, cannot with propriety be given to any single mind. It ap- 
 pears to have been consummated by a series of experiments for 
 a number of years by such men as Professors Henry, of Prince- 
 ton College, Morse, Gale, Mr. Vail and others, of whom it may 
 be said, in the language of Elihu to Job, " There is a spirit in man : 
 and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." 
 
 It is by the " labor of the mind " of such men as above named 
 that the mysterious power of electricity has been brought to 
 light and utilized. By this wondrous power we can converse 
 with each other, with almost the quickness of thought, through 
 oceans and over continents, though separated thousands of 
 miles. In 1844 the first electric telegraph in the United States 
 was completed, and the first message (or one of the very first) 
 was an appropriate acknowledgement of that power by which 
 all these things are accomplished "What hath God wrought /"
 
 STORMINO OF STONY POINT/- 
 
 HEAVEN TAKEN BY STORM. 
 
 " The kingdom of heaven suffer eth violence, and the -violent take it by force." MATT. 
 xi. 12. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it -with thy might." EcCLES. ix. lo. 
 "They . . . obtain a corruptible crown ; but we an incorruptible" I COR. ix. 25.
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER; 
 
 OR, HEAVEN TAKEN BY STORM. 
 
 IT is well known by those acquainted with church history 
 that many learned, pious and useful ministers of the Gospel 
 were ejected from the public exercise of their ministry by the 
 "Act of Uniformity," passed in the year 1662, during the reign 
 of King Charles II. Among those who suffered in conse- 
 quence of this measure was the Rev. THOMAS WATSON, who 
 was dispossessed of his charge at St. Stephen's, Walbrook, 
 London. Mr. Watson was educated at Emanuel College, Cam- 
 bridge, where he was noted as a close student. He was so well 
 known in London for his piety and usefulness that he was 
 singled out by the " Friendly Debate." His Christian influence 
 pervaded all classes and conditions of society. After his eject- 
 ment he continued in the exercise of the ministry in the city, 
 as Providence gave opportunity, for many years. His strength 
 having failed, he retired to Essex, where he died suddenly in 
 his closet while engaged in prayer. His work, entitled "Heaven 
 taken by Stonn" was much esteemed by religious people at the 
 time it was written, and its moral tone is appreciated by many 
 of the present generation. The full title reads thus : 
 
 "THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER; or, Heaven taken by Storm. 
 Showing the holy violence a Christian is to put 
 forth in the pursuit after glory." 
 
 Some extracts are here given from this book, showing the 
 nature of the work, and also a specimen of the style of writing 
 and preaching of many of the Puritan divines of that age. 
 
 405
 
 406 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 
 
 To illustrate the nature and the violent measures and force 
 used in taking a stronghold, a representation is given in the 
 annexed engraving of the "Storming of Stony Point" during 
 the American Revolutionary War. The following account is 
 given by General Wayne : 
 
 "On the 1 5th instant (July, 1779), at twelve o'clock, we took up our line of 
 march from Sandy Beach, distant fourteen miles from this place (Stony Point, on 
 the Hudson River, N. Y.). The roads being exceedingly bad and narrow, and 
 having to pass over high mountains, through deep morasses and difficult defiles, we 
 were obliged to move in single files the greater part of the way. At eight o'clock 
 in the evening, the van arrived within one mile and a half of the enemy. ... At 
 half after eleven o'clock, being the hour fixed on, the whole force moved forward. 
 The van of the right, consisting of one hundred and fifty volunteers under the 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury, advanced with unloaded muskets and fixed 
 bayonets, preceded by twenty picked men and a vigilant and brave officer, to remove 
 the abatis and other obstructions. The van of the left consisted of one hundred 
 volunteers, under the command of Major Stewart, with unloaded muskets and fixed 
 bayonets, also preceded by a brave and determined officer and twenty men, for the 
 same purpose as the other. 
 
 " At twelve o'clock the assault was to begin on the right and left flanks of the 
 enemy's works, whilst Major Murfey amused them in front; but their advance 
 was seriously obstructed by a deep morass, which at this time was overflowed by 
 the tide, and which, with other obstructions, rendered the approaches more diffi- 
 cult than was apprehended, so that it was about twenty minutes after twelve before 
 the assault began ; previously to which I had placed myself at the head of Febir- 
 ger's regiment, or the right column, and gave the troops the most pointed orders 
 not to fire on any account, but to place their whole dependence on the bayonet, 
 which order was literally and faithfully obeyed. Neither the deep morass, the for- 
 midable and double rows of abatis, nor the strong works in front and flank, could 
 damp the ardor of the troops, who, in the face of a most tremendous and incessant 
 fire of musketry and of cannon loaded with grapeshot, forced their way at the point 
 of the bayonet through every obstacle, both columns meeting in the centre of the 
 enemy's works at the same time. 
 
 " The number of prisoners taken in the fort was five hundred and forty-three. 
 The American loss in killed was sixty-three. Rewards were conferred upon the 
 officers and men, according to the promise of General Wayne. Congress ordered 
 three different medals struck in honor of Wayne, Fleury and Stewart. On the left 
 of the engraving is a copy (somewhat reduced) of that given to General Wayne. 
 It represents a female figure presenting the wreath and crown of victory to the 
 valiant hero. Over the figure is a Latin inscription, interpreted, ' The American 
 Congress to General Anthony Wayne? " 
 
 The work from which the following extracts are taken is pre- 
 fixed by the text in Matthew xi. 1 2
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 4O/ 
 
 "The kingdom of heaven siiffereth violence, and the violent 
 taketh it by force" 
 
 What is meant by the kingdom of heaven? Some inter- 
 pret it as the doctrine of the Gospel which reveals Christ and 
 heaven, which opinion is held by Erasmus. " But I," says Mr. 
 Watson, " rather by the kingdom of heaven understand glory ;" 
 and the same impression is entertained by the learned Beza and 
 others. This kingdom " suffereth violence" a metaphor from 
 a town or castle that holds out in war, and is not taken but by 
 storm. So the kingdom of heaven will not be taken without 
 violence. " The violent take it by force." 
 
 The earth is inherited by the meek. Matt. v. 5 ; heaven is 
 inherited by the violent. Our life is military; Christ is our Cap- 
 tain ; the Gospel is the banner ; the graces are our spiritual 
 artillery, and heaven is only taken in a forcible way. This vio- 
 lence concerns men as Christians. Though heaven be promised, 
 yet we must contend for it. " What thy hand findeth to do, do 
 it with all thy might." Our work is great; our time is short; 
 our Master is urgent; we had need, therefore, to summon 
 together all the powers of our soul, and strive, as in a matter 
 of life and death, to arrive at the kingdom above. We must not 
 only put forth diligence, but violence, and by this is meant holy 
 violence, which is of a two-fold character. We must be violent 
 for the truth. Here Pilate's question will be presented, " What 
 is truth ?" Truth is either the blessed Word of God, which is 
 called the Word of Truth, or those doctrines which are deduced 
 from the Word and agree with it. 
 
 This holy violence is exhibited when we are strenuous for 
 our own salvation. " Give all diligence to make your calling 
 and election sure." The Greek word signifies anxious careful- 
 ness, or serious occupation of one's thoughts about the business 
 of eternity, such care as engages the serious consideration of 
 both head and heart. In this channel of religion should all 
 Christian zeal be concentrated.
 
 408 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 
 
 The question appropriately presents itself, What is implied by 
 this holy violence? It implies three things I. Resolution of 
 the will ; 2. Vigor of affection ; 3. Strength of endeavor. 
 
 i. Resolution of the will. " I have sworn, and will perform it, 
 that I will keep thy righteous judgments." Whatever obstructs 
 my journey heavenward, though there be a lion in the way, I 
 will encounter it, like a resolute commander that charges 
 through the whole body of the army. The Christian is resolved, 
 come what will, that heaven shall be his portion. Where this 
 resolution is formed, danger must be despised, difficulties tram- 
 pled upon, terrors contemned. The first principle of holy vio- 
 lence, consequently, is resolution of will. I will have heaven, 
 whatever it cost me, and this resolution must be in the strength 
 of Christ. 
 
 Resolution is like the bias to the bowl, which carries it 
 strongly. Where there is but half a resolution, a will to be 
 saved and a will to follow sin, it is an impossibility to be violent 
 for heaven. If a traveler be undecided, sometimes he will ride 
 this way and sometimes that ; he is violent for neither. 
 
 2. Vigor of the affections. The will proceeds upon reason. The 
 judgment being informed of the excellency of a state of glory, 
 and the will being resolved upon a voyage to that holy land, the 
 affections now follow, and become fired in their passionate long- 
 ings after heaven. The affections are prone to violence. " My 
 soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." The rabbins note 
 here that David saith not, " My soul hungereth" but " thirsteth" 
 because naturally we are more impatient of thirst than hunger. 
 See with what violence and rapidity David's affections were car- 
 ried after God. 
 
 The affections, like the wings of a bird, speed the soul in its 
 flight after glory. Where the affections are aroused, violence is 
 offered to heaven. 
 
 3. Strength of endeavor. When we struggle for salvation as 
 a matter of life and death, we employ this form of violence. It
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 409 
 
 may be a commonplace matter simply to talk of reaching 
 heaven, but in order to gain the victory we must put on the 
 Christian's armor and engage in the conflict with all our 
 strength nay, we must even implore the help of Heaven itself 
 in order to secure the crown. 
 
 Offering violence to one's self, in a spiritual sense, consists in 
 mortification of sin. Self is the flesh, to which violence is 
 offered. Taking heaven by force is explained as meaning the 
 mortification of the flesh. The flesh is a bosom traitor ; it. is 
 like the Trojan horse within the walls, doing all the mischief. 
 The embraces of the flesh resemble the ivy clinging to the oak, 
 and sucking its strength for its own leaves and berries ; so the 
 flesh, by its deceptive embraces, destroys the noblest feelings of 
 the heart ; it lusteth against the Spirit, and by yielding to its 
 unhallowed influence the purest feelings of morality are effectu- 
 ally subdued ; it chokes and stifles holy emotions ; it sides with 
 Satan and is true to his interests. 
 
 What may one do to offer violence to himself and thus mor- 
 tify the flesh? i. Withdraw the fuel that makes lust burn; 
 avoid all temptation ; shun that which nourishes sin. He who 
 would suppress the gout or kindred affections is careful to avoid 
 those meats which are noxious. They who pray that they may 
 not be led into temptation must be careful not to lead them- 
 selves into temptation. 2. Fight against fleshly lusts with faith 
 and prayer. The best way to combat with sin is upon our 
 knees. 
 
 Look upon the Word as a spiritual magazine out of which to 
 procure all your weapons to fight against sin and Satan. The 
 Word of God is a consecrated sword that cuts asunder the lusts 
 of the heart. When pride begins to lift itself up, the sword of 
 the Spirit destroys this sin. " God resisteth the proud." When 
 passion vents itself, the Word of God, like Hercules' club, beats 
 down this angry fury. " Anger rests in the bosom of fools." 
 
 When lust boils, the Word of God cools the intemperate
 
 410 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 
 
 heat. No unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom 
 of Christ. The weapons of righteous warfare are always at our 
 command with which to ward off temptation. 
 
 Look upon the Word as a spiritual glass by which to dress 
 yourself. It is a looking-glass for the blind. 
 
 Take heed of too much violence after the world. The world 
 cools good affections. The earth puts out the fire. The world's 
 silver trumpet sounds a retreat and calls men off from their par- 
 suit after heaven. It hindered the young man from following 
 Christ " He went away sorrowful." Whereupon saith our 
 Saviour, " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the 
 kingdom of God !" 
 
 The world so blinds men's eyes and fetters their feet that 
 they do not see to walk in the way of " God's commandments." 
 Mithridates, king of Pontus, being worsted by the Romans, and 
 fearing he should not escape them, caused a great deal of silver 
 and gold to be scattered along the way, and while this was 
 being gathered by the Roman soldiers he cunningly eluded 
 their pursuit. A somewhat similar stratagem is followed by 
 Satan, who, knowing the great temptations of riches, throws 
 them in men's way. In their eagerness to accumulate an inor- 
 dinate store of this world's wealth, they lose sight of the 
 watchfulness necessary to the soul's salvation. 
 
 I have observed some who, Jehu-like, have driven along furi- 
 ously in the cause of religion, until finally overcome by the 
 machinations of the world. " Their chariot-wheels have been 
 pulled off, and they have driven on heavily." Were a man 
 to climb a steep rock with weights attached to his legs, his 
 ascent would unquestionably be retarded. In like manner, 
 men's golden weights hinder their progress up the steep rock 
 leading to salvation. The world's music charms men to sleep, 
 and while in this state of forgetfulness they are not competent 
 to labor. 
 
 Take heed of indulgence in lust. A life spent in sin will
 
 THE ^CHRISl^IAN SOLDIER. 411 
 
 subdue all violence for heaven ; it enfeebles and saps the founda- 
 tions of morality, and, like Samson shorn of his locks, the 
 physical man becomes utterly prostrated. Sin is the soul's sick- 
 ness. Disease conquers the stoutest frame, and so dispirits its 
 victim that he becomes unfit for any violent exercise. A sick 
 man cannot run a race. Living in sin allures a man from the 
 performance of his duties or blunts his sensibility of their exist- 
 ence. The more active the heart is in sin, the more apt it is to 
 become dead to prayer. How can he be earnest with God for 
 mercy whose heart accuses him of secret sin ? Guilt breeds 
 fear, and that which strengthens fear weakens violence. Adam 
 having sinned was afraid and hid himself. When bereft of his 
 innocence, he lost his violence. 
 
 Therefore lay the axe to the root; let sin be hewn down. 
 Not only abstain from the commission of sin, but let the love 
 of it be mortified, and let every evil habit be put to the 
 sword. Many willingly forsake all sins save one. Hold fast to 
 one sin and lose one soul ! One pernicious habit is a fetter. A 
 man, may lose the race as well by having one fetter on his leg 
 as if he had more. I have read of a great monarch who, flying 
 from his enemy, took the crown of gold from his head and cast 
 it away, that he might run the faster. The besetting sin which 
 thou wearest as a crown of gold must be thrown aside. 
 
 When a soldier faints on the field, he unconsciously lets fall 
 his sword. David thus chides himself out of his melancholy : 
 " Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou dis- 
 quieted within me ? Hope thou in God." A sad heart makes 
 a dull action. The trumpet and drum are used in battle to 
 excite and quicken the soldiers' spirits that they may fight more 
 vigorously. Cheerfulness is like music in battle ; it rouses the 
 Christian's animation, whereby he is incited to greater activity 
 in the performance of duty. What is done with cheerfulness is 
 done with corresponding delight, and under this benign feeling 
 the soul more swiftly pursues its heavenward flight.
 
 412 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 
 
 Take heed of consulting with flesh and blood. As soon con- 
 sult with the devil as the flesh. The flesh, we repeat, is a 
 bosom traitor. The most dangerous enemy lies in ambush. The 
 flesh cries out, " There is a lion in the way," and will bid thee 
 " spare thyself," as Peter did Christ " Oh, be not so violent for 
 heaven : spare thyself." It saith, as with Judas, " What needs 
 all this waste ?" what needs all this praying and wrestling ? 
 why dost thou sacrifice thy strength ? The flesh cries out for 
 ease ; it loathes to put its neck under Christ's yoke. 
 
 But may a child of God say, " I fear I am none of those vio- 
 lent ones that shall take heaven. I find such a deadness of 
 heart in duty that I question whether I shall ever, arrive at the 
 kingdom" ? 
 
 This deadness of heart may arise from natural causes. Weak- 
 ness of body may occasion indisposition of mind. Thy prayers 
 may be weak because thy body is weak. A lute that is cracked 
 cannot send forth so sweet a sound as if it were whole. 
 
 The indisposition of soul is perhaps only casual, and for a 
 time it may be in a deep fit of melancholy or in desertion. 
 When the sun leaves our climate, the earth is, as it were, in 
 desertion, and the trees are without blossom or fruit. But this 
 is only temporarily. With the approach of spring the sun's 
 rays increase in warmth, and now the herbs flourish and the 
 trees put forth their fruit. 
 
 This comparison peculiarly applies to man. When God hides 
 his face, there is deadness upon a Christian's heart ; his prayers 
 lack warmth and are unavailing. But on the return of the Sun 
 of Righteousness he becomes divinely animated, and exhibits 
 as much vigor and life in his operations as ever; he now 
 recovers his first love. Therefore, thou weak Christian, be not 
 discouraged so long as thou dost not abandon thyself to thy 
 distemper. A dead heart is thy burden. Look up to Christ, 
 thy High Priest, who is merciful to bear with thy infirmities 
 and is mighty to help them.
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S VISION OF THE IMAGE. 
 
 FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 The head gold, or the Assyrian empire ; breast and arms of silver, or the Per- 
 sian empire; belly and thighs of brass, or. the Grecian empire; legs of iron, and 
 feet part iron and part clay, or the Roman empire. DAN. ii.
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 RELIGIOUS commentators and writers have comprised the his- 
 tory of the world under FOUR MONARCHIES, succeeding each 
 other in different forms to the end of time. This is in accord- 
 ance with the vision or dream of Nebuchadnezzar (the Chaldean 
 or Assyrian monarch), the interpretation or meaning of which 
 is given by the Hebrew prophet Daniel in the second chapter 
 of the book of Daniel : 
 
 " Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This 
 great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee ; 
 and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of 
 fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his 
 thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of 
 clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, 
 which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, 
 and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the 
 brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and 
 became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors ; and the 
 wind carried them away, that no place was found for them : and 
 the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and 
 filled the whole earth. 
 
 " This is the dream ; and we will tell the interpretation thereof 
 before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings : for the God 
 of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and 
 glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts 
 of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thy 
 hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this 
 head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom infe- 
 rior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall 
 bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be 
 strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and sub- 
 dueth all things : and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it 
 break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet 
 and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom 
 shall be divided ; but there shall be in it of the strength of the 
 iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 
 
 415
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, 
 so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And 
 whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mirfgle 
 themselves with the seed of men : but they shall not cleave one 
 to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the 
 days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, 
 which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be 
 left toother people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
 these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou 
 sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
 and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the 
 silver, and the gold ; the great God hath made known to the 
 king what shall come to pass hereafter : and the dream is cer- 
 tain, and the interpretation thereof true." Dan. ii. 31-45. 
 
 The prominent figure in the annexed engraving represents 
 the image described in Nebuchadnezzar's vision ; the four 
 smaller divisions indicate the kingdoms of which the image is 
 the emblem. The first kingdom, the Assyrian, shows Moses, 
 the great lawgiver, presenting the ten commandments, also the 
 wall of Babylon, the tower of Babel and the Pyramid of Egypt. 
 The Persian monarchy is signified by Cyrus the Persian, who 
 holds in his hand a decree, by which the Jews are allowed, after 
 a captivity of seventy years, to return to Jerusalem. He was 
 the conqueror of Babylon, the wonder of the world. The 
 Grecian monarchy is represented by Alexander the Great, who, 
 having subjected Europe, Africa and Asia to his dominion, wept 
 because there " were no more worlds to conquer." The Roman 
 monarchy, or empire, is shown by Julius Caesar on horseback, 
 with lieutenants on each side. He extended his conquests in 
 all directions, and held dominion over remote provinces. The 
 Christian era commenced at the time the Romans were masters 
 of the world. 
 
 THE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. 
 
 The Assyrian, the first great monarchy, commences after the 
 Deluge and extends through a course of eighteen hundred 
 years to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Persian. 
 
 The only authentic history of the earlier periods of the world
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 417 
 
 is found in the book of Genesis. The first great event after the 
 Flood, or Deluge, was the building of the tower of Babel, which 
 took place about 2247 B. c. As it was designed for improper 
 purposes, it incurred the disapprobation of God, who miracu- 
 lously confounded their language, and thus dispersed them. 
 
 The foundation of the Assyrian empire was laid by Ashur, 
 the grandson of Noah. Nimrod, his great-grandson, is -said to 
 have founded Babylon, which, history says, was the most splen- 
 did city in the world. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was 
 sixty miles in circumference. The Assyrian and Babylonian 
 empires continued separate for a while, but at length were 
 united in one by mutual conquests. 
 
 The Mosaic writings represent Egypt, about four hundred 
 and fifty years after the Flood, as a well-regulated kingdom. 
 The great fertility of the soil on the banks of the Nile, it is sup- 
 posed, caused Egypt to become populous and civilized at an 
 early period. Accordingly, Europe was the seat of arts and 
 learning, while Greece and Italy were in a barbarous state. 
 
 Though the Egyptians were advanced in civilization, yet they 
 were low and degraded in their religious opinions. Their two 
 principal gods were Osiris and Isis, which are supposed to be 
 the sun and moon. Besides these, they worshiped the ox, the 
 dog, the cat, the crocodile, the ibis or stork, etc. The bull Apis 
 had a splendid temple erected to him ; great honors were paid 
 him while living, and still greater after his death. The golden 
 calf set up by the Israelites near Mount Sinai appears to have 
 been an imitation of the god Apis. 
 
 About four hundred and seventeen years after the Flood, 
 mankind appear to have lost, in a great measure, the knowledge 
 and worship of the true God. Abraham, a descendant of Shem, 
 was born in Chaldea, and in the midst of an idolatrous people 
 retained the knowledge of the true religion. By divine direc- 
 tion he removed into Canaan, which was appointed to be the 
 
 residence of his posterity. To Abraham God committed the 
 27
 
 41 8 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 true faith, and formed of his family a peculiar people, to whom 
 his will was revealed, and from whom the Messiah, or Saviour, 
 was to proceed. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, had twelve 
 sons, who were the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. 
 
 The Phoenicians were among the first civilized nations in the 
 world. They are called Canaanites in the Scriptures, from their 
 living in the land of Canaan. Inhabiting a sterile country on 
 the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, they turned their atten- 
 tion to commerce, in which they held high reputation in the 
 time of Abraham. Tyre and Sidon, their principal cities, were 
 the most ancient of any we read of in history, and were, in the 
 early ages, the greatest seats of commerce in existence. The 
 Phoenicians colonized various places bordering on the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea and its islands at an early period. 
 
 Civilization seems to have been introduced into Greece by a 
 colony of Phoenicians, who founded the kingdom of Argos four 
 hundred and ninety years from the Deluge and 1857 B. c. The 
 most celebrated States or republics of Greece were Athens, 
 Sparta and Thebes; the two leading States were Athens and 
 Sparta. The former, the capital of Attica, was founded by a 
 colony from Egypt. It was the most famous city in Greece, 
 being distinguished as the seat of learning and the arts. It was 
 also celebrated for its commerce, wealth and magnificence, and 
 was the birthplace of many illustrious men. 
 
 The Hebrews, or Israelites, having remained in Egypt two 
 hundred and fifteen years, were, by the direction of God, assem- 
 bled under Moses, their leader, and commanded to leave the 
 country. By a miracle they passed through the Red Sea, 
 and the Egyptian army in pursuing them were all drowned. 
 Although God continually performed miracles before the Israel- 
 ites to supply their wants, yet they murmured against him. 
 For this the nation was compelled to wander forty years between 
 Egypt and Canaan, and those who were twenty years old and 
 upward at the exodus finally died in the wilderness.
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 419 
 
 While at Mount Sinai the Israelites received the divine law 
 and their national institutions from God himself by the hand of 
 Moses. At this time, it is supposed, their number amounted to 
 three millions. This vast multitude were formed into a regular 
 body, and the utmost order was observed in their marches and 
 encampments. Moses, having arrived in sight of Canaan, died 
 on Mount Nebo, and Joshua, his successor, conducted the 
 people into the promised land. 
 
 After the death of Moses and Joshua, the Israelites were 
 under the direction of leaders called judges for the space of 
 about three hundred and fifty years. The people, dissatisfied 
 with the immediate government of God, desired a king, in 
 order to be like the nations around them. 
 
 About iioo B. c., Saul was appointed their sovereign. He 
 was a warlike prince, but was finally killed, with his three sons, 
 on Mount Gilboa. He was succeeded by David, who was dis- 
 tinguished for his skill in war, music and poetry. He restored 
 the purity of the Hebrew worship, conquered the enemies of 
 his country, and commenced building Jerusalem, which after- 
 ward became the royal residence. He made an alliance with 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, then a powerful 
 and wealthy kingdom, and collected materials for building the 
 magnificent temple of Solomon. 
 
 When Solomon succeeded to the throne of his father, David, 
 the Israelitish nation had reached its height of splendor and 
 power. The dedication of Solomon's temple at Jerusalem took 
 place 1004 B. c. The building of this structure was completed 
 in seven years. An immense amount of gold was used in its 
 construction, and it was probably the most superb and costly 
 edifice the world ever saw. The reign of Solomon was attended 
 with peace, prosperity and abundance ; but toward the close of 
 his life he became luxurious and effeminate, and by the sin of 
 idolatry brought dishonor and distress upon the nation. 
 
 About thirty years after the dedication of the temple, ten
 
 420 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 tribes of the Israelites revolted from Rehoboatn, the son of Solo- 
 mon, and formed a separate kingdom, which was called the 
 kingdom of Israel. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin con- 
 tinued their allegiance to Rehoboam, and formed the kingdom 
 of Judah. The ten tribes of Israel for about two hundred and 
 fifty years existed in a separate kingdom, of which Samaria was 
 the capital. Their kings were idolaters, and the nation was 
 sunk in wickedness. 
 
 A century after the captivity of the ten tribes, Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, king of Babylon, took Jerusalem by storm, after a siege of 
 twelve months. The city, with the temple built by Solomon, 
 was leveled to the dust about five hundred and eighty- eight 
 years before the coming of Christ. All the principal persons 
 and skillful artists, together with the sacred treasures of the 
 temple, were taken away and the country laid waste. The Jews, 
 according to the prophecy of Daniel, one of the captives, 
 remained in captivity just seventy years, and were restored to 
 their country by Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, who per- 
 mitted them to rebuild their city and its temple. The Scripture 
 narrative in the Old Testament ends about one hundred years 
 after this period. ' 
 
 THE PERSIAN MONARCHY. 
 
 There is but little known respecting the early history of the 
 Persians. They acquired prominence and power by the con- 
 quest of Cyrus, who is celebrated both in profane and sacred 
 history. Cyrus was the son of a Persian nobleman, and mar- 
 ried the daughter of the king of the Medes. By this means 
 Persia and Media became one kingdom. He conquered the 
 Lydians, made himself master of Sardis, their capital, and took 
 prisoner their king, Croesus, so celebrated for his vast riches ; 
 he conquered Babylon, subjected the greater part of Asia Minor, 
 and made himself master of Syria and Arabia. He was a great 
 and virtuous king. The latter part of his life was spent in regu-
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 421 
 
 lating his vast conquests, and he was beloved not only by his 
 own natural subjects, but also by those of the conquered nations. 
 The Persian empire continued for two hundred years, when it 
 was ended by the conquest of Alexander the Great. 
 
 Cyrus having defeated Belshazzar, the king of Babylon 
 retreated to his capital, which the Persians immediately be- 
 sieged. The city was fortified in such a manner that it seemed 
 impossible to take possession of it. It was, however, taken by 
 stratagem. A channel was dug to turn the course of the river 
 Euphrates, which passed through the city. A great festival 
 was to be celebrated in the capital, on which occasion the Baby- 
 lonians were accustomed to pass the whole night in drinking 
 and debauchery. On this night, Cyrus opened the channel to 
 receive the water of the Euphrates, which soon became dry, 
 and marched his troops along the bed of the river into the city. 
 Belshazzar and his nobles, reveling with wine, which they drank 
 from the sacred vessels taken from the temple of Jerusalem, 
 were suddenly startled by the appearance of a handwriting on 
 the wall, warning the king of the destruction of his kingdom. 
 The troops of Cyrus, finding the gates open on the banks of the 
 river, entered the city almost without resistance and slew Bel- 
 shazzar and his attendants. 
 
 The government of Persia was an absolute monarchy; the 
 will of the monarch was law, and his person was held sacred. 
 He always appeared with great pomp and dignity, having a 
 body-guard of thirteen thousand men, besides another guard 
 of ten thousand horsemen, styled the immortals, their number 
 being always the same. The king, like the rest of the Eastern 
 monarchs, styled himself the "king of kings." 
 
 From the time of Cyrus the Persians were desirous of con- 
 quering the Grecian States, in which Athens and Sparta had 
 gained a pre-eminence. 
 
 After the civil wars in Greece, Philip of Macedon brought 
 the whole of that nation under his dominion. He formed a
 
 422 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 project for the conquest of Persia ; but having been assassinated 
 by one of his captains, he was succeeded by Alexander, his 
 son, who entered into his father's designs of conquest. Having 
 subjugated all in his immediate vicinity, he went into Egypt, 
 which he also subdued, and founded, at the mouth of the Nile, 
 the city of Alexandria. After his return from Egypt he met 
 Darius at the head of seven hundred thousand men, and a battle 
 took place, in which three hundred thousand Persians were slain. 
 Darius fled from province to province, and was finally murdered 
 by one of his officers. This ended the Persian monarchy, which 
 had existed two hundred and six years from the time of Cyrus 
 the Great. 
 
 GRECIAN MONARCHY. 
 
 After Alexander had conquered Persia he projected the con- 
 quest of India, fully persuaded that the gods had decreed him 
 the sovereignty of the globe. He penetrated India, where 
 Porus, a powerful monarch, was defeated and taken prisoner. 
 He continued his course to the Ganges, and would have 
 advanced to the Eastern Ocean had it not been for the oppo- 
 sition of his soldiers, who, seeing no end to their toils, refused 
 to proceed any farther eastward. He therefore returned to the 
 Indus and caused his army to sail down that river to the ocean. 
 From this point he sent his fleet to the Persian Gulf, and with 
 the main body of his army marched across the desert to 
 Persepolis. 
 
 Having subjected Europe, Asia and Africa, Alexander is said 
 to have wept because there were " no more worlds to conquer" 
 He now abandoned himself to every excess of luxury and 
 debauchery. In a drunken frolic he fired the city of Persepolis, 
 the ruins of which astonish the traveler to this day by their 
 grandeur and magnificence. Owing to his continued intemper- 
 ance, he became arrogant and cruel, killing his best friend, Clitus, 
 in the heat of passion. During an entertainment which he 
 gave to one of his officers at Babylon he drank to such excess
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 423 
 
 that it brought on a fever, of which he died, 324 B.C. After his 
 death his dominions were divided among his four principal 
 officers. The empire of the great conqueror continued in a 
 troubled and unsettled state till the Romans became the masters 
 of the world. 
 
 ROMAN MONARCHY, OR EMPIRE. 
 
 Rome, the last of the four great empires of antiquity, became, 
 after the conquest of Greece, the leading object of attention. It 
 rose gradually from small beginnings to almost universal em- 
 pire. The duration of the Roman power, or that of its history, 
 embraces a period of twelve centuries, from the foundation of 
 Rome to the destruction of the empire after the Christian era. 
 The great interval may be divided into three grand and distinct 
 epochs, or periods, namely: I. Rome under the kings ; 2. The 
 republic ; 3. The emperors. The regal or kingly government 
 having been abolished, a republican form was established. The 
 supreme power, which belonged to the senate and people, was 
 committed to two consuls, whose authority was limited to a 
 year. During this period the first Punic or Carthaginian war 
 was undertaken by the Romans against Carthage B. c. 264, and 
 lasted twenty-four years. The second Punic war commenced 
 after an interval of twenty-three years. In this struggle Han- 
 nibal, the Carthaginian general, distinguished himself at first by 
 victories over the Romans. He was finally subdued at Zama, 
 about five days' journey from Carthage. 
 
 The third Punic war commenced about fifty years after the 
 close of the second. This was caused by the Romans demand- 
 ing that the Carthaginians should leave their city. They rose 
 up in opposition, and after a desperate conflict which lasted for 
 three years the city was taken by Scipio and was destroyed by 
 a fire which raged for seventeen days. Those of .the inhabitants 
 who disdained to surrender were either massacred or perished 
 in the flames. Thus was Carthage, which had flourished for 
 seven hundred years, and contained, at the commencement of
 
 424 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 
 
 the war, seven hundred thousand inhabitants, reduced to ashes ; 
 and even Scipio, the Roman consul, wept over the ruins of the 
 proud rival of his country. 
 
 Julius C&sar by his military services extended the Roman 
 power over many nations. Fifty- five years before Christ he 
 invaded Britain and obtained advantages over the natives. His- 
 torians state that in his expeditions into Gaul, Germany and 
 other places, during the space of ten years, Caesar conquered 
 eight hundred cities, subdued three hundred tribes or nations, 
 and defeated in battle three million men, of whom about a million 
 were slain and an equal number made prisoners. Having con- 
 quered all opposing nations, he turned his attention to the 
 improvement of his country. He reformed the calendar, regu- 
 lating the year according to the course of the sun. He was the 
 recipient of great honors, having been made imperator, or 
 emperor, and his person was declared sacred. These proceed- 
 ings created jealousy among his countrymen, and he was assas- 
 sinated in the senate house by conspirators forty-four years 
 before the commencement of the Christian era. 
 
 In the year 31 B. c. the Roman commonwealth was ended, 
 and Octavius became emperor of Rome, but soon after received 
 the title of Augustus Caesar. 
 
 According to many religious writers the division of the 
 Roman power into the Eastern and Western empires might be 
 denoted by the two legs and feet on which the image stood ; 
 and the ten toes on each foot represented the ten kingdoms 
 into which the whole empire was at length broken. 
 
 The civil wars which weakened the State, and the conjunction 
 of the Romans with the conquered nations, and afterward with 
 the Goths, Vandals and other barbarians who subverted the 
 empire, was denoted by the compounding of the iron and the 
 potter's clay, which could not unite or strengthen each other. 
 Thus the Roman empire decayed in strength, even when it was 
 growing more extensive, and it evidently began to decline till
 
 THE FOUR MONARCHIES. 425 
 
 it was divided into many subordinate kingdoms. This is also 
 represented by the Romans mingling themselves with the seed 
 of men, or of other nations, by alliances or intermarriages, 
 which tended to the subversion of the empire. Yet this mon- 
 archy may be considered as still existing in the toes, or king- 
 doms, into which it was severed. 
 
 During the prevalence of the Roman authority, or the " days 
 of those kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which 
 shall never be destroyed" or fall under the power of any con- 
 queror seeing it would break in pieces and consume all those 
 kingdoms and shall stand for ever. This was represented by 
 " a stone cut out without hands," which smote the image and 
 utterly destroyed it, and became a great mountain which filled 
 the whole earth. This evidently designates the kingdom of 
 Christ, which is to overcome all others and continue for ever, 
 unbroken, eternal.
 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY. 
 
 [The engraving for this article maybe considered as emblem- 
 atic of uprightness of character. The emblem is founded on, 
 or suggested by, Dr. Franklin's theory given in his directions 
 to learn the art of swimming. The venerable doctor, accepting 
 the principle that the human body is specifically lighter than 
 water, says, in substance, that one who has fallen into that ele- 
 ment might escape drowning, at least for a considerable time, 
 were he to abstain from struggling and plunging and let his 
 body down, with the feet foremost, thus assuming a somewhat 
 perpendicular position, except throwing his head back as far as 
 possible, because in that attitude the face would be quite above 
 the surface of the water. In the lower section of the print is 
 seen a representation of two honest men on horseback, en- 
 gaged in a business transaction, which is described at the close 
 of this article.] 
 
 "Young men," says the "Brief Remarker" "as soon as they 
 are entitled to the rights of personal independence, launch out 
 in what is figuratively called the ocean of life." Indeed we are 
 all in that ocean some in deeper and others in shoaler water ; 
 some going forward smoothly with the tide, and others having 
 the tide against them. Sometimes we have fair wind and 
 weather, and at other times we are under a dark sky, assailed 
 by tempestuous winds that raise aloft the foaming billows. 
 What then is the safest course at all times and for persons of 
 all ranks and conditions ? Why, it is told in only three words 
 Mind the perpendicular / Many a young man, and many a man 
 not young, have I seen engulfed and lost, not by reason of his 
 
 426
 
 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY. 
 
 "He that lualkcth uprightly ivalketh surely." PROV. x. 9. "Order my steps in 
 thy word." Ps. cxix. 133. "Show me thy -ways, O Lord." Ps. xxv. 4. "Let integ- 
 rity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee." Ps. xxv. 21.
 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY. 429 
 
 wanting skill and alertness, but because he failed to keep him- 
 self in a perpendicular attitude ; whereas never did I see a single 
 individual totally submerged who had always been duly careful 
 in that particular. 
 
 Even though there were nothing to fear or hope beyond the 
 grave, honesty would be the best policy, inasmuch as it carries 
 one through this world with most safety in the long run, as well 
 as with honor. " He that walketh uprightly walketh surely." 
 He travels in a plain and safe path ; a fair character is his sup- 
 port, and the laws of society are his protection. As long as a 
 man holds fast his integrity he cannot be quite undone, for 
 though by adverse winds he be threateningly submerged in the 
 treacherous waves, his face will still be above water ; though he 
 should suffer the loss of all things else, yet the consciousness 
 of strict integrity will buoy him up, and the knowledge that 
 others possess of his virtues will give him a chance to repair 
 his broken fortunes, or at least will secure him that good name 
 which is better " than precious ointment." On the contrary, 
 " he that perverteth his way shall be known." 
 
 Though deceit and knavishness may sometimes procure mo- 
 mentary advantages, they are but momentary, and are much 
 more than countervailed by the lasting ill consequences which 
 they never fail to bring after them ; for not only does dishonesty 
 create much inward disquietude, but it places one under very 
 great disadvantages in his intercourse with the world. Not- 
 withstanding all his arts of cunning, his base designs are sure 
 to be exposed ; and when a man's character is so depraved as 
 to arouse suspicion in the minds of those with whom he is 
 immediately associated, even his honest acts will be questioned 
 as arising from sinister and impure motives. It will be sus- 
 pected that the plague of leprosy still remains, either in " the 
 warp or in the woof." Young men should form fixed reso- 
 lutions at the outset of life never to swerve from the perpendic- 
 ular in a single instance no, not even for the most trivial
 
 430 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY. 
 
 purpose, for one trespass against the laws of honesty leads to 
 another by a sort of natural and necessary connection ; so that 
 though there be many who in their intercourse with the world 
 have never been guilty of one dishonest act, yet there are few 
 who have been guilty of one only, because the first, by corrupt- 
 ing the moral principle, weakens the power of resisting the 
 next temptation, and because one knavish deed often requires 
 another, and sometimes several, to conceal it ; and lastly, rooted 
 depravity of heart is more difficult to eradicate than any other 
 moral malady, inasmuch as the perversion of the principle of 
 integrity is the corruption of the fountain of all moral virtue. 
 He who has seen an inbred, thoroughly-practiced rogue con- 
 verted into a downright honest man has at least one marvelous 
 thing to communicate. 
 
 TWO HONEST MEN. 
 
 Many years since two aged men, living near, or in the State 
 of Pennsylvania, traded, or, in common parlance, "swapped" 
 horses, on this condition, that after a week's trial the one who 
 thought he had the best of the bargain should pay to the other 
 two bushels or bags of wheat. The time of trial having 
 expired, the two men loaded their horses with the wheat, and, 
 as it happened, met each other about halfway from their 
 respective homes. " Where art thou going ?" said one. " To 
 thy house with the wheat," answered the other. " And whither 
 art thou riding ?" " Truly," replied the first, " I was taking the 
 grain to thy house." Each, pleased with his bargain, thought 
 the wheat justly due to his neighbor, and was going to pay it. 
 
 True honesty's a virtue rare, 
 
 Too little seen on earth ; 
 Many its praises may declare, 
 
 But few show forth its worth. 
 
 " 'Tis naught! 'tis naught !" the buyer says; 
 
 " The quality is poor ; 
 'Tis worth but half the price," but strives 
 The bargain to secure.
 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND HONESTY. 43! 
 
 But when the bargain he has made, 
 
 And gained the end in view, 
 He straightway boasts his skill in trade, 
 
 What cunning craft can do. 
 
 Two men in Pennsylvania State, 
 
 Of honesty possessed, 
 Their horses " swapped," but could not tell 
 
 Which horse would prove the best. 
 
 Loving their neighbor as themselves, 
 
 They sought each ether's good, 
 And so, with friendly hearts agreed, 
 
 This plan was understood : 
 
 Should one his bargain chance to find 
 
 The best, two bags of grain 
 Should be the surplus he would bring 
 
 To make it right again. 
 
 Each thought his neighbor's horse the best ; 
 
 Each proved an honest man, 
 For each concluded now to act 
 
 Upon their settled plan. 
 
 Said one, " I think in this affair 
 
 I have the advantage quite, 
 And so in duty bound I'll go 
 
 And make the matter right." 
 
 He took his wheat : away he went 
 
 His journey to pursue, 
 When, lo ! halfway he met his friend, 
 
 Mounted and loaded too. 
 
 1 I'm glad to see thee, friend," he cried : 
 
 "As we our word have given, 
 
 I find my bargain proved the best ; 
 
 This grain will make it even." 
 
 With much surprise his friend replied, 
 
 " My errand is the same : 
 My trade was best ; to bring thy due, 
 
 Loaded like thee I came." 
 
 How they at last the matter fixed 
 
 We know not ; but 'tis plain 
 That mid the tricks and arts of trade 
 
 Some honesty remains.
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 
 
 IN the central part of the annexed engraving is a representa- 
 tion of Sir Matthew Hale, the lord chief-justice of England, in 
 the public house in Bedford, giving the wife of John Bunyan a 
 hearing in the case of her husband, who was at that time impris- 
 oned in the Bedford jail for preaching the Gospel. He felt a 
 spirit of compassion for the poor woman, but the laws were 
 so framed at that time that it was impossible for him to grant 
 her the favor she so eagerly solicited. He gave her advice, 
 however, what course to pursue in order to secure the desired 
 end. Lord Hale, as he is sometimes called, was born in 1609 
 and died in 1676. He was the foremost judge of his age, dis- 
 tinguished alike for his love of justice and for his many Chris- 
 tian virtues. He was one of the most upright judges that ever 
 sat upon the English bench. Richard Baxter said : " I believe 
 he would have lost all he had in the world rather than do an 
 unjust act." 
 
 In the lower portion of the cut are seen the emblems of 
 Justice and Uprightness. The even balances, or scales, signify 
 that equal and exact justice should always be given ; the sword 
 and the olive branch on the altar show that the violation of law 
 must be punished, whereby peace is sustained. The column 
 and the plummet show that everything should be done with 
 uprightness of intention. 
 
 In the upper part of the print is a representation of the two 
 tables of stone given to Moses on Mount Sinai, on which the 
 Ten Commandments are inscribed. These are the most ancient 
 
 432
 
 INESTIMABLE BENEFITS OF LAW. 
 
 "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. . . . But if thou do 
 that which is evt'i, 6e afraid ; . . . for he is the minister of God, a revenger /<> 
 execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." ROM. xiii. 3, 4. 
 
 28
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 435 
 
 code of laws now in existence, and are a complete summary of 
 all the duties which mankind owe to God and each other. They 
 enforce the observance of these duties by the powerful motives 
 of gratitude, hope and fear. Man is directed by them to adore 
 and love the true God, the Author of all good ; they command 
 him to reverence his holy name and to observe stated times for 
 his worship. Four of these commandments I. Thou shalt 
 not kill ; 2. Thou shalt not commit adultery ; 3. Thou shalt 
 not steal ; 4. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
 neighbor have formed the basis of all criminal law in all civil- 
 ized nations. The concluding commandment is directed against 
 selfishness, the principal source of crime. 
 
 Of all human institutions, that of law is of primary import- 
 ance. The benefit of government consists not so much in its 
 being a guard against external as against internal violence. It 
 is not certain that a people living without government would be 
 invaded from abroad, but it is quite certain they would invade, 
 pillage and murder one another at home. In every age and in 
 every country in which man has existed without the restraint 
 of law, he has exhibited the most brutal ferocity to his fellow- 
 man. There may have been isolated cases in which, under 
 the circumstances, some have been impelled by their own free 
 will to do right, but their number and strength have never been 
 sufficient to stem the tide of violence without aid from the arm 
 of civil government. In fact, where anarchy has prevailed the 
 more virtuous have ever been condemned as its victims. 
 
 If we trace back the stream of time as far toward its source 
 as the light of history will permit, we shall find that no tyranny 
 has been so horrible as that of anarchy. In the antediluvian 
 ages, when no regular government of general extent was per- 
 haps known, "the earth was filled with violence." Those 
 giants, or " men of renown," as the sacred penman terms them, 
 were, there is reason to believe, daring and mighty robbers, 
 who, at the head of their companies of bandits, scoured the
 
 43 6 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 
 
 surrounding countries, committing pillage, murder and rape 
 wherever they went. 
 
 In the patriarchal ages there were men of exalted piety to 
 whom their own children and domestics exhibited the most 
 exemplary obedience. But even then well-regulated civil gov- 
 ernment was scarcely known anywhere, else the most venerable 
 patriarch would hardly have been so distressed with fear for the 
 honor of his aged wife, while his own life was in imminent peril 
 on her account, during their journey together to Egypt, which 
 at that time was renowned for arts and sciences above any coun- 
 try in the world. 
 
 There were also dark periods of anarchy and its horrible con- 
 comitants in the history of the tribes of Israel, " when every 
 man did that which was right in his own eyes," when the high- 
 ways were shunned, and when travelers frequented byways only, 
 for fear of the swarms of murderers and robbers that infested 
 the country. 
 
 In the heroic ages of ancient Greece there was very little 
 of government or law mere brutal strength, united with fero- 
 cious courage, being the only passport to eminence. The The- 
 seuses and the Herculeses were renowned and deified for their 
 valorous exploits against robbers not that they themselves 
 were scrupulous of committing robbery and murder every now 
 and then, but because they had been the means of extirpating 
 a race of banditti more execrable than themselves. 
 
 The age of chivalry in modern Europe bore a considerable 
 resemblance to the heroic ages of Greece. Chivalry, or knight- 
 errantry, had its origin in the deplorable condition of anarchy 
 in which the countries of Europe were placed. The knights- 
 errant, or roving knights, were professedly the protectors of the 
 weaker part of the community, and particularly of the fair sex, 
 whose champions they pretended to be, but whose ravishers 
 they very frequently proved themselves. The licentiousness of 
 manners during the anarchial age of chivalry was, if we may
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 437' 
 
 credit the fragments of its history, both general and shockingly 
 enormous. 
 
 Even as late as the ninth century, no general maritime law 
 existed in Europe, and, in consequence of this unprotected con- 
 dition of the seas, piracy was not only tolerated, but even held 
 in honor. The petty sovereigns of the nations along the Baltic 
 provided each of their sons with one or more ships, and enjoined 
 it upon them to make their fortunes by piracy or plunder. A 
 comparatively recent illustration of this outlawed state of affairs, 
 and yet bearing a close affinity to those that have been adduced 
 above, may be cited in the case of Scotland, which, it is well 
 known, has been for a long time and is at present one of the 
 most upright countries on the face of the earth ; yet only three 
 centuries since, for want of stable government, it was a land of 
 robbers and ruffians. 
 
 Camden, in his "Britannia" speaking of the robberies com- 
 mitted by the Scotch borderers in the sixteenth century, says : 
 " They sally in troops out of their own borders under cover of 
 darkness, and pursue their journey through unfrequented by- 
 ways and intricate windings. In the daytime they refresh 
 themselves and their horses, lurking till nightfall in holes which 
 they had previously pitched upon, when they continue their 
 journey to the ill-fated locality on which their designs are 
 centred. Having seized their booty, they return home by the 
 same tortuous and concealed passages which they had selected 
 in the start. The more skill a captain evinces in leading his 
 command through these wild deserts, crooked turnings and 
 deep precipices, in the thickest mist and darkness, the greater 
 is his reputation, and he is regarded as a man of superior 
 mental qualifications. They exhibit such wonderful cunning 
 that they are rarely captured with their spoils, except when 
 tracked by the bloodhounds of their victims. Should they fall 
 into the hands of those whom they have victimized, they have 
 so much persuasive eloquence and so many smooth and insinu-
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 
 
 ating words at command that if they do not move their judges, 
 nay, even their adversaries notwithstanding their outraged 
 feelings to have mercy, they nevertheless incite them to 
 admiration and compassion." 
 
 Two important particulars clearly follow from these historic 
 sketches. The one is that, since we live in an age of regulated 
 government and superior civilization, in which life, character 
 and property are well secured by law, we cannot too highly 
 prize those blessings ; and secondly, it behooves all persons 
 possessing any regard for religion or morals, or even for their 
 own personal interests, to use their best endeavors in preserving 
 social order, and to set their faces steadfastly against all wanton 
 violation of good and wholesome laws. Neither is it an unim- 
 portant part of Christian education to teach and habituate chil- 
 dren to prize and venerate the blessed institutions of good 
 government and law. 
 
 A gentleman who lived in the eastern part of England was 
 possessed of a large estate and had two sons, the elder of whom 
 was of a rambling disposition and went abroad. On the death 
 of the father the younger son destroyed the will and seized upon 
 the estate. He publicly announced that his elder brother was 
 dead, and also bribed false witnesses to attest the truth of his 
 assertion. 
 
 In the course of time the missing brother returned home in 
 miserable circumstances. His unfeeling relative treated him 
 with scorn and told him he was an impostor and a cheat. The 
 poor fellow, without money or friends, was in a most pitiable 
 situation. He told his story in the parish and placed his case 
 in the hands of an attorney, who evinced great confidence in 
 the unfortunate man's story, although the burden of evidence 
 appeared to be against him. However, he undertook the case, 
 and accordingly entered an action in the assizes, or "court, in 
 Chelmsford, Essex. 
 
 While the lawyer was making preparations to conduct the
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 439 
 
 trial the happy thought presented itself that he would consult 
 with Lord Hale and reveal to him the full particulars of the 
 mysterious transaction. The judge heard the case attentively, 
 and promised him all the assistance in his power. 
 
 When the suit came on the chief-justice entered the hall dis- 
 guised as a miller. He walked round the room and stared like 
 an ignorant countryman. Having found the poor fellow whose 
 cause was about to be tried, he approached him and said : 
 " Honest friend, how is your cause likely to go to-day ?" 
 " Why," replied the plaintiff, " my cause is in a very precarious 
 condition, and if I lose I am ruined for life." " Well, honest 
 friend," replied the miller, " if you will take my advice I will 
 let you into a secret which perhaps you are ignorant of: every 
 Englishman has the right and privilege to challenge each jury- 
 man through the whole twelve. Now, if you insist upon your 
 privilege, without giving any reason therefor, and, if possible, 
 secure my appointment in the place of one whom you may 
 reject, I will do you all the service in my power." 
 
 This proposition was accepted, and accordingly, when the 
 clerk had called over the names of the jurymen, the plaintiff 
 offered positive objection to one of them. The judge on the 
 bench seemed highly offended at this presumption. " What do 
 you mean," said he, " by challenging that gentleman ?" " I 
 mean, my lord, to claim my right as an Englishman without 
 furnishing any excuse whatever." 
 
 The judge himself had been highly bribed, but desiring to 
 conceal this fact, and having confidence in the superiority of his 
 party, with a semblance of candor he said : " Well, sir, as you 
 claim your privilege in this one instance I will grant it. Whom 
 do you wish to supply the place of the individual you have 
 rejected ?" " My lord," he replied, " I only desire the appoint- 
 ment of an honest man." Looking around the room, his eye 
 quickly detected the unpretending miller. "There," said he, 
 pointing across the room, " is a miller, and if it please your
 
 44 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 
 
 lordship I would be content to have him make up the comple- 
 ment." The miller was accordingly chosen. 
 
 Shortly after the clerk of the court had administered the oath, 
 and before the beginning of arguments, a dextrous little fellow 
 came into their apartment and slipped ten guineas into the 
 hands of eleven of their number, but gave the miller only five. 
 He observed that they had all accepted the bribe as well as 
 himself, and to his next neighbor he said, in a soft whisper : 
 "How much did you get?" "Ten pieces," was the reply. 
 But he made no mention at this time of the amount which he 
 had himself received. 
 
 The pleading was opened by counsel for the plaintiff, and 
 every scrap of evidence bearing on the case he adduced in favor 
 of his client. The younger brother was provided with a great 
 number of witnesses and pleaders, who, as well as the judge, 
 were thoroughly bribed. In their evidence they deposed that 
 they were in the same country with the brother at the time of 
 his death and saw him buried. The counselors freely availed 
 themselves of this trumped-up testimony, and everything tended 
 in favor of the younger brother. The judge summed up the 
 evidence with great gravity and deliberation. " And now, gen- 
 tlemen of the jury," said he, "we confide this important case, 
 with its mysterious surroundings, to your care, and sincerely 
 trust you will render a verdict in keeping with your most 
 solemn convictions." 
 
 They deliberated but a few minutes before they agreed in 
 favor of the younger brother. The judge said : " Gentlemen, 
 are you agreed ? and who shall speak for you ?" " We are all 
 agreed, my lord," answered one of the jury, "and our foreman 
 will speak for us." " Hold, my lord !" interposed the miller ; 
 "we are not all agreed." "Why?" asked the judge, in a very 
 surly manner. " What is the matter with you ? What reasons 
 have you for disagreeing ?" " I have several reasons, my lord," 
 replied the miller. " The first is, they have given all these gen-
 
 THE ALL-IMPORTANCE OF LAW. 441 
 
 tlemen of the jury ten broad pieces of gold, and to me they 
 have given but five, which, you know, is not fair. Besides, I 
 have many objections to make to the false arguments of counsel 
 and the contradictory evidence of the witnesses." With this 
 the miller began a discourse which revealed such deep penetra- 
 tion of judgment, such extensive knowledge of law, expressed 
 with such energetic and manly eloquence, that both the judge 
 and court were overwhelmed with astonishment. 
 
 In the midst of his masterly appeal in defence of justice, the 
 judge, struck with terror, said : " Where did you come from, 
 and who are you ?" " I came from Westminster Hall," replied 
 the miller ; " my name is Matthew Hale ; I am lord chief-justice 
 of the king's bench. I have observed the iniquity of your pro- 
 ceedings this day, and I therefore order you to come down 
 from a seat you have disgraced and from a position you have 
 proved yourself unworthy to hold. You are one of the corrupt 
 parties in this shameful transaction. I now assume the author- 
 ity to lay aside the verdict of this jury, and shall hear the testi- 
 mony as truthfully presented." 
 
 Having finished his remarks, Sir Matthew took his seat upon 
 the bench, presenting an odd appearance in a miller's costume. 
 He reviewed the case from its commencement, carefully sifting 
 out every ingredient of falsehood. He clearly and truthfully 
 presented the elder brother's claim to the estate, in defiance of 
 the contradictory evidence of the witnesses and the false reason- 
 ing of the lawyers, exposing the sophistry and villany of all 
 engaged in the fraudulent scheme, and gained a complete vic- 
 tory in favor of truth and justice.
 
 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK. 
 
 THE accompanying engraving is an illustration of a pastoral 
 scene described by a celebrated poet, in which the distinctive 
 natures of the shepherd and his flock are faithfully delineated. 
 In his poem the writer says : 
 
 " Deep in rich pasture will thy flocks complain? 
 Not so ; but to their master is denied 
 To share their sweet serene." 
 
 The flock are depicted as being in a clover-field, or some 
 other luxuriant pasture, and feeding in the most unrestrained 
 manner. One of the number, having eaten to repletion, is 
 reposing at the feet of its master, completely satisfied ; nothing 
 more nor higher is desired ; the cup of its enjoyment is full. 
 On the other hand, the shepherd, or master of the flock, appears 
 troubled and discontented. He has, perhaps, all that is neces- 
 sary for food, raiment and shelter; his flock are obedient to his 
 call ; he can shield himself, on some shady bank, from the hot 
 rays of the sun, resting beneath the leafy branches of over- 
 arching trees, where he may feel himself secure from all out- 
 ward difficulties and dangers. His occupation is easy ; he is 
 removed from the turmoil and strife of active life, and to all 
 appearance should glide calmly and quietly down the stream 
 of time to his final destination. 
 
 Surely, says one, a man in this situation, having few of the 
 cares and perplexities of life, and surrounded by such cheering 
 scenes, should be contented with his lot. But is it so ? Observe 
 
 442
 
 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT. 
 
 "Thou . . . satisfies! the desire of every living thing ." Ps. cxlv. 16. "Be content 
 with suck things as ye have.' 1 '' HEB. xiii. 5. "/ made me great works ; I buildcd, . . . 
 planted, . . . gathered silver and gold ; . ... I looked on the works, . . . and behold, 
 all was vanity and vexation of spirit" ECCL. ii. 4 II.
 
 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT. 445 
 
 the countenance of the shepherd in the engraving : he seems 
 uneasy and troubled about something. It certainly cannot be 
 owing to his surroundings ; his flocks are in rich pasture, and 
 have everything they desire ; the scenery before him is of the 
 most picturesque and enchanting description ; flowers of varied 
 and beauteous hues are blooming around him and fill the air 
 with their delicious fragrance ; he hears the warblings of melo- 
 dious birds in the surrounding groves, and all nature seems 
 wooing him to sweet repose. 
 
 The cause of this difference between the shepherd and his 
 flock is owing to the difference of their natures. It is said by 
 divine inspiration that man was formed in the image of his 
 Maker, a statement implying that he has something within or 
 connected with him that corresponds with the nature of his 
 Creator. Man in a certain sense can transport himself in an 
 instant 
 
 " To the farthest verge of creation." 
 
 Looking upward, he may transport himself to unknown 
 worlds and scan the movements of distant planets. In fact, he 
 can train himself to understand that there is a Being above who 
 made him and everything that he can behold or think of, and 
 who sustains all things by his mighty power. Man has also a 
 moral nature; he can discern the difference between good and 
 evil ; he feels condemned and unhappy when he does wrong, 
 and experiences a feeling of joy or satisfaction in the perform- 
 ance of a righteous act. 
 
 So far as we know, the animal creation have no conception 
 of anything like the foregoing. A fox may suddenly pounce 
 upon a hen, the mother of a helpless brood, that are thus left 
 to perish from hunger while their guardian and protector is 
 devoured at leisure by its captor. We do not, in any measure, 
 consider the fox accountable for the deed, as he acts in accord- 
 ance with the law of his nature, but we will shoot him if we 
 can, in order to free ourselves from his incursions. Were a man
 
 44-6 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT. 
 
 to steal a fowl under such circumstances, we would not only 
 blame him, but would detest and punish him for his crime. 
 
 Man was created in the image of God, but fell from his first 
 estate by transgression, becoming disordered and corrupt in his 
 mind. He has, however, some traits or peculiarities of his 
 first condition : he shrinks at annihilation, and longs for immor- 
 tality and for something he cannot find in this fallen world. 
 The shepherd in his animal nature may be pleased with his 
 flock and have all his immediate wants supplied, but he cannot 
 feel contented; he pines for something more, and "feels an 
 aching void within." His own happiness " being his only end 
 and aim," he pursues various objects for this purpose. The pos- 
 session of wealth may be the chief concern of his thoughts. 
 By care and close application he accumulates a fortune, but 
 contentment does not follow. If riches increase, the responsi- 
 bilities and uncertainties attendant upon their investment also 
 accumulate ; cares and anxieties press upon him ; by storms at 
 sea and fires on land much of his wealth may be destroyed, and 
 by the failure of banking institutions, competitions in business, 
 betrayal of trusts, etc., many of his possessions pass away, and 
 finally despondency and blank despair are apt to take possession 
 of his soul. On the contrary, should fortune smile upon him, 
 he is not likely to betray a feeling of satisfaction, but oftentimes 
 the sum total of happiness is much below that of him who toils 
 and struggles for his daily bread. 
 
 If fame or high social position be the aim of life, he will find 
 that the acquisition of either will not bring satisfaction. The 
 slander of malicious tongues often proves a "sharp sword;" the 
 bitter reproaches and invectives of enemies generally poison the 
 enjoyments derived from these sources. John Quincy Adams, 
 who spent most of his life in elevated political stations, is said 
 to have declared that the most miserable and unhappy part of 
 his existence was when he was President of the United States. 
 Even the great Washington, the Father of his Country, is said
 
 CONTENT AND DISCONTENT. 447 
 
 to have stated that he would not, if he had his choice, be will- 
 ing to live his life over again. Alexander the Great, the con- 
 queror of the world, who had attained the summit of military 
 glory, was not satisfied, but wept because there were " no more 
 worlds for him to conquer'' 
 
 Solomon, the king of Israel, appears to have tried everything 
 of a worldly nature that could give satisfaction to the human 
 mind. He had abundant means to give everything a fair trial. 
 He was considered the wisest of men ; he acquainted himself 
 with all the philosophical and scientific knowledge of the age in 
 which he lived. He also turned himself to behold wisdom and 
 folly, the nature of virtue and vice ; this was attended with much 
 weariness and perplexity of mind and vexation of spirit. He 
 turned his attention to that which men pursue as the supreme 
 good ; he gathered gold and other treasures in abundance ; he 
 made magnificent buildings ; he planted vineyards ; he had gar- 
 dens and orchards having in them everything beautiful to the 
 eye and pleasant to the taste ; he had servants and maidens, and 
 servants were born in his house ; he procured men-singers and 
 women-singers and musical instruments of every kind ; he had 
 great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were 
 in Jerusalem before him ; and whatsoever his eyes desired or 
 heart could wish of this world he had. But in vain ! He was 
 not contented, but on all his possessions he inscribed " vanity 
 and vexation of spirit."
 
 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, the French emperor, was born in the 
 island of Corsica, August 15, 1769. He was in many respects 
 one of the most remarkable characters that have left a record in 
 the pages of history. He was distinguished for his military 
 genius and civil talents, and was in the opinion of many a man 
 of the greatest energy of body and mind that ever existed. 
 After receiving the rudiments of a classical education, he en- 
 tered a military school, where he was distinguished by the 
 gravity of his character and his close application to the study 
 of mathematics and other branches of scientific pursuit. At the 
 age of sixteen he received the commission of second lieutenant 
 in the army. He commenced his military career during the 
 stormy period of the French Revolution, at the close of the 
 last century. 
 
 In 1795, Napoleon was called to Paris to suppress the insur- 
 rection against the National Convention. His cannon dis- 
 persed the mob and restored order out of bloody confusion. 
 The surrounding nations of Europe, fearing the prevalence of 
 French ideas of republican " liberty and equality," combined 
 against him. By a series of brilliant victories he subdued the 
 forces of continental Europe, with the exception of Russia. 
 This power refused to submit to the dictation of Napoleon, and 
 seemed to be the only nation that barred his progress toward 
 universal conquest. 
 
 The French emperor now raised from the different nations 
 under his sway an army of nearly half a million of disciplined 
 troops, marched into Russia, and after several bloody contests 
 
 448
 
 NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 
 
 "For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in 
 blood." ISA. ix. 5. "ffow are the mighty fallen !" z SAM. i. 19. " Whosoever be- 
 lieveth in him should not perish" JOHN iii. 16. 
 29
 
 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 451 
 
 penetrated to Moscow and entered the city on September 15, 
 1812. The Russians in their despair set fire to their ancient 
 capital, and then deserted it. The fire raged furiously, present- 
 ing, in the language of Napoleon, " an ocean of flame," and laid 
 most of the city in ashes, rendering it untenable. This great 
 sacrifice on the part of the Russians appears to have been the 
 turning-point against the fortunes of Napoleon. His resources 
 were cut off in an enemy's country ; the extreme severities of a 
 Russian winter came upon him, and he was obliged to flee. 
 Thousands of men and horses perished in the snow, and his 
 army became a disordered multitude before the pursuing Rus- 
 sians. Three-fourths of his troops perished, or were made 
 prisoners. 
 
 Arriving at Paris, Napoleon raised a formidable force, but the 
 nations of Europe rallied against him ; he was defeated, and was 
 banished to Elba. From this island he escaped to France, where 
 he was received with open arms. He again rallied the people, 
 but was defeated at Waterloo. In 1815 he was banished to St. 
 Helena, a rocky islet in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he 
 died May 5, 1821, after a captivity of five and a half years. In 
 1840, Louis Philippe, the French monarch, having obtained 
 permission of the British government, sent his own son with a 
 frigate to St. Helena and brought the remains of Napoleon to 
 Paris, where they were deposited with great pomp beneath the 
 dome of the Hospital des Invalides. 
 
 Though Napoleon was ambitious, his desire was not for mere 
 self-aggrandizement, for he sought the advancement of France. 
 He contended in self-defence and the defence of France against 
 the crowned heads of Europe, who hated him as the monarch 
 of the people. Napoleon was a statesman as well as a warrior. 
 What he would have accomplished had he been left to govern 
 France in peace may be judged from the great benefits which 
 he wrought while engaged in almost incessant hostilities. The 
 Code Napoleon will remain an imperishable monument to his
 
 45 2 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 memory in the annals of jurisprudence of France and Europe, 
 and throughout the empire magnificent public edifices, fortifica- 
 tions, harbors, canals, roads, etc., with the schools, still speak 
 of the energy with which he improved and embellished the land 
 whose throne he occupied. 
 
 Napoleon in person was below the middle size, and quite 
 slender during his youthful days; he was familiarly called by 
 his soldiers (who almost adored him) "the Little Corporal." 
 In the latter part of his life he became quite corpulent. His 
 complexion was a clear olive, his features regular; an air of 
 subdued melancholy was the prevailing characteristic of his 
 countenance when in repose, but he had the power of dismiss- 
 ing all expression from his features when he chose to baffle 
 scrutiny. The engraving affixed to this article is from an 
 authentic representation of his appearance when at St. Helena, 
 standing on one of the rocky elevations of that island with his 
 military hat by his side. On the right of the print his grave is 
 seen in the valley below, under the drooping willows ; the 
 ocean is seen in the distance. 
 
 The print itself may be considered as a fit emblem of the in- 
 stability of all human things. Napoleon at one period of his 
 life was the most powerful ruler on the globe, and the crowned 
 heads of Europe trembled at his approach. At the time when, 
 to human appearance, he was about to sway the sceptre of uni- 
 versal dominion over the nations of the earth, he was suddenly 
 checked in his pathway ; he surrendered himself a prisoner, was 
 banished to a rocky islet in mid-ocean, where he could say, in 
 the language of Ossian, 
 
 " I am alone, and on the hill of storms." 
 
 He passed away far distant from the place of his former great- 
 ness and glory ; his remains were deposited in a lone valley ; 
 his requiem is still heard at the noise of the sounding surge ! 
 When Napoleon was sent to St. Helena as a state prisoner,
 
 NAPOLEON' 1 S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 453 
 
 several of his devoted friends, out of personal respect, deter- 
 minedto share his captivity. General Bertrand and Count Mon- 
 tholon, with their wives and children, Count Las Casas, Gen- 
 eral Gourgand, Dr. O'Meara, an Irish gentleman and surgeon, 
 these, with eleven servants, constituted a household of about 
 twenty-five in number. The French captives resolutely per- 
 sisted in treating the emperor with all that deference and respect 
 due to his former greatness and character. In 1819, according 
 to the request of the friends of Napoleon that another physician 
 might be sent from Europe, Dr. Antommarchi arrived at St. 
 Helena. He was accompanied by two ecclesiastics, the abbes 
 Buonavita and Vignali, as the emperor had earnestly desired 
 that the ordinances of religion might be regularly administered 
 to his household. After an interview with the abbes, the em- 
 peror said, in the solemn accents of a man on the verge of the 
 grave, " Hereafter we will have the communion service every 
 Sabbath; we will observe the sacred days recognized by the 
 Concordat. I wish to establish the religious ceremonies which 
 are celebrated in France; on these occasions we will erect a 
 movable altar in the dining-room." 
 
 In the evening the emperor was alone with Count Mon- 
 tholon. The count was not a religious man. He has frankly 
 said, " In the midst of camps I have forgotten religion." Napo- 
 leon with great joy informed Montholon of his intention to 
 attend mass the next day. He then uttered the following re- 
 markable confession : 
 
 " Upon the throne, surrounded with generals far from devout 
 I will not deny it I had too much regard for public opinion, 
 and far too much timidity, and perhaps I did not dare to say 
 aloud, ' Yes, I am a believer.' I said, 'Religion is a power, Apolitical 
 engine! But yet / am a Christian ; and if it should have been 
 necessary to have confessed my faith at the price of martyrdom, 
 I should have found all my firmness. Yes, I should have en- 
 dured it rather than deny my religion. But now that I am at
 
 454 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 St. Helena, why should I dissemble that which I believe at the 
 bottom of my heart ? Here I live for myself. I wish for a 
 priest ; I desire the communion of the Lord's Supper, and to 
 confess what I believe. I will go to the mass. I will not force 
 any one to accompany me there, but those who love me will 
 follow me." 
 
 General Bertrand was an avowed unbeliever, and often dis- 
 pleased Napoleon by speaking disrespectfully of sacred things. 
 The emperor was one day about this time conversing with him 
 upon the subject of atheism : " Yes, there is a divine Cause, a 
 sovereign Reason, an infinite Being. That Cause is the Cause 
 of causes ; that Reason is the Reason creative of intelligence. 
 There exists an infinite Being compared with whom you, Gen- 
 eral Bertrand, are but an atom ; compared with whom I, Napo- 
 leon, with all my genius, am truly nothing a pure nothing. 
 Do you understand ? I perceive him God. I see him, have 
 need of him ; I believe in him. If you do not perceive him, if 
 you do not believe in him, very well so much the worse for 
 you. But you will, General Bertrand, yet believe in God. I 
 can pardon many things, but I have a horror of an atheist a 
 materialist. Think you I can have any sympathies in common 
 with the man who does not believe in the existence of the soul, 
 who believes that he is but a lump of clay, and who wishes that 
 I may also be, like him, a lump of clay ?" 
 
 General Montholon, after his return to Europe, said to M. de 
 Beaterne, " Yes, the emperor was a Christian. With him faith 
 was a natural and fundamental principle. The religious senti- 
 ment was immediately roused when in the slightest degree 
 summoned by an exterior sensation or an incidental thought. 
 When anything cruel or irreligious presented itself, it seemed 
 to do violence to his deepest feelings; he could not restrain 
 himself. He protested, he opposed and was indignant. Such 
 was his natural character. I have seen it yes, I have seen it; 
 and I, a man of camps, who had forgotten my religion, I con-
 
 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 455 
 
 fess it, who did not practice it, I at first was astonished, but 
 then I received thoughts and impressions which still continue 
 with me the subjects of profound reflection. I have seen the 
 emperor religious, and I have said to myself, ' He died a Chris- 
 tian, in the fear of God !' I cannot forget that old age is upon 
 me that I must soon die ; and I wish to die like the emperor." 
 
 The conversation at St. Helena very frequently turned upon 
 the subject of religion. One day Napoleon was speaking of the 
 divinity of Christ. General Bertrand said : " I cannot conceive, 
 sire, how a great man like you can believe that the supreme 
 Being ever exhibited himself to men under a human form, with 
 a body, face, mouth and eyes. Let Jesus be whatever you 
 please the highest intelligence, the purest heart, the most pro- 
 found legislator, and in all respects the most singular being who 
 has ever existed I grant it. Still, he was simply a man who 
 taught his disciples and deluded credulous people, as did Or- 
 pheus, Confucius, Brahma. Jesus caused himself to be adored 
 because his predecessors Isis and Osiris, Jupiter and Juno, had 
 proudly made themselves objects of worship. The ascendency 
 of Jesus over his time was like the ascendency of the gods and 
 the heroes of fable. If Jesus has impassioned and attached to 
 his chariot the multitude, if he has revolutionized the world, I 
 see in that only the power of genius and the action of a com- 
 manding spirit which vanquishes the world as so many con- 
 querors have done Alexander, Caesar, you, sire, and Moham- 
 med with a sword." 
 
 Napoleon promptly replied : " I know men, and I tell you 
 Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance 
 between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of 
 other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is 
 between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance 
 of infinity. We can say to the authors of every other religion, 
 ' You are neither gods nor the agents of deity. You are but 
 missionaries of falsehood, moulded from the same clay with the
 
 NAPOLEON 1 S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 rest of mortals. You are made with all the passions and vices 
 inseparable from them. Your temples and your priests pro- 
 claim your origin!' Such will be the judgment, the cry of con- 
 science, of whoever examines the gods and the temples of 
 paganism. . . . 
 
 " It is not so with Christ. Everything in him astonishes me. 
 His Spirit overawes me, and his words confound me. Between 
 him and all else in the world there is no possible term of com- 
 parison. He is truly a being by himself. His ideas and his 
 sentiments, the truths which he announces, his manner of con- 
 vincing, are not explained either by human organization or by 
 the nature of things. His birth and the history of his life, the 
 profundity of his doctrine, which grapples the mightiest difficul- 
 ties, and which is of those difficulties the most admirable solu- 
 tion, his gospel, his apparition, his empire, his march across the 
 ages and the realms, everything, is for me a prodigy, a mystery 
 insoluble, which plunges me into a reverie from which I cannot 
 escape a mystery which is there before my eyes ; a mystery 
 which I can neither deny nor explain. Here I see nothing 
 human. 
 
 "The nearer I approach the more carefully I examine. 
 Everything is above me, everything remains grand of a 
 grandeur which overpowers. His religion is a revelation from 
 an intelligence which certainly is not that of man. There is 
 there a profound originality which has created a series of words 
 and of maxims before unknown. Jesus borrowed nothing from 
 our sciences. One can absolutely find nowhere but in him alone 
 the imitation or the example of his life. He is not a philosopher, 
 since he advances by miracles, and from the commencement his 
 disciples worshiped him. He persuades them far more by an 
 appeal to the heart than by any display of method and of logic. 
 Neither did he impose upon them any preliminary studies or 
 any knowledge of letters. All his religion consists in believing. 
 
 " In fact, the sciences and philosophy avail nothing for salva-
 
 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 457 
 
 tion ; and Jesus came into the world to reveal the mysteries of 
 heaven and the laws of the Spirit. Also he has nothing to do 
 but with the soul, and to that alone he brings his gospel. The 
 soul is sufficient for him, as he is sufficient for the soul. Before 
 him the soul was nothing. Matter and time were the masters 
 of the world. At his voice everything returns to order. Science 
 and philosophy become secondary. The soul has reconquered 
 its sovereignty. All the scholastic scaffolding falls as an edifice 
 ruined before one single word faith. . . . 
 
 " Moreover, consult the philosophers upon those mysterious 
 questions which relate to the essence of man and to the essence 
 of religion. What is their response ? Where is the man of 
 good sense who has ever learned anything from the system of 
 metaphysics, ancient or modern, which is not truly a vain and 
 pompous ideology, without any connection with our domestic 
 life, with our passions ? Unquestionably, with skill in thinking 
 one can seize the key of the philosophy of Socrates and Plato, 
 but to do this it is necessary to be a metaphysician ; and, more- 
 over, with years of study one must possess special aptitude. 
 But good sense alone, the heart, an honest spirit, are sufficient 
 to comprehend Christianity. 
 
 " The Christian religion is neither ideology nor metaphysics, 
 but a practical rule which directs the actions of man, corrects 
 him, counsels him, and assists him in all his conduct. The 
 Bible contains a complete series of facts and of historical men 
 to explain time and eternity such as no other religion has to 
 offer. . . . 
 
 "I search in vain in history to find the person similar to 
 Jesus Christ or anything which can approach the gospel. 
 Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature, can 
 offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or ex- 
 plain it. Here everything is extraordinary. The more I con- 
 sider the gospel, the more I am assured that there is nothing 
 there which is not beyond the march of events and above the
 
 45 8 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 human mind. Even the impious themselves have never dared 
 to deny the sublimity of the gospel, which inspires them with a 
 sort of compulsory veneration. What happiness that book pro- 
 cures for them who believe it ! What marvels those admire 
 there who reflect upon it ! Book unique, where the mind finds 
 a moral beauty before unknown, and an idea of the Supreme 
 superior even to that which creation suggests ! Who but God 
 could produce that type, that ideal of perfection, equally exclu- 
 sive and original ? . . . 
 
 " It is not a day nor a battle which has decided it. Is it the 
 lifetime of a man ? No. It is a war, a long combat of three 
 hundred years, commenced by the apostles and continued by 
 their successors and by succeeding generations of Christians. 
 In this conflict all the kings and all the forces of the earth were 
 arrayed on one side ; upon the other I see no army, but a mys- 
 terious energy, individuals scattered here and there in all parts 
 of the globe having no other rallying sign than a common faith 
 in the mysteries of the cross. 
 
 " What a mysterious symbol ! The instrument of the pun- 
 ishment of the man-God ! His disciples were armed with it. 
 ' The Christ,' they said, ' God has died for the salvation of men.' 
 What a strife, what a tempest, these simple words have raised 
 around the humble standard of the sufferings of the man-God ! 
 On the one side we see rage and 'all the furies of hatred and 
 violence ; on the other there is gentleness, moral courage, in- 
 finite resignation. For three hundred years spirit struggled 
 against the brutality of sense, the conscience against despotism, 
 the soul against the body, virtue against all the vices. The 
 blood of Christians flowed in torrents. . . . 
 
 " You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and 
 of the enthusiasm they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers ; 
 but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests with an 
 army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory ? My armies 
 have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army
 
 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 459 
 
 forgot Hannibal. Such is our power! A single battle lost 
 crushes us, and adversity scatters our friends. 
 
 " Can you conceive of Csesar, the eternal emperor of the 
 Roman Senate, from the depths of his mausoleum governing 
 the empire, watching over the destinies of Rome ? Such is the 
 history of the invasion and conquest of the world by Christian- 
 ity ; such is the power of the God of the Christians ; and such 
 is the perpetual miracle of the progress of the faith and the gov- 
 ernment of his Church. Nations pass away, thrones crumble, 
 but the Church remains. What is, then, the power which has 
 protected this Church thus assailed by the furious billows of 
 rage and the hostility of ages ? Where is the arm which for 
 eighteen hundred years has protected the Church from so 
 many storms which have threatened to engulf it ? 
 
 " In every other existence but that of Christ how many im- 
 perfections ! Where is the character which has not yielded, van- 
 quished by obstacles ? Where is the individual who has never 
 been governed by circumstances or places, who has never suc- 
 cumbed to the influence of the times, who has never com- 
 pounded with any customs or passions ? From the first day to 
 the last he is the same always the same, majestic and simple, 
 infinitely firm and infinitely gentle. 
 
 " Truth should embrace the universe. Such is Christianity, 
 the only religion which destroys sectional prejudice, the only 
 one which proclaims the unity and the absolute brotherhood of 
 the whole human family, the only one which is purely spiritual 
 in fine, the only one which assigns to all, without distinction, 
 for a true country the bosom of the Creator God. Christ proved 
 that he was the Son of the Eternal by his disregard of time; 
 all his doctrines signify one only and the same thing, eternity. 
 
 " It is true that Christ proposed to our faith a series of mys- 
 teries. He commands with authority that we should believe 
 them, giving no other reason than those tremendous words, ' I 
 am God.' He declares it. What an abyss he creates by that
 
 460 NAPOLEON'S VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 declaration between himself and all the fabricators of religion ! 
 What audacity, what sacrilege, what blasphemy, if it were not 
 true! I say more: the universal triumph of an affirmation of 
 that kind, if the triumph were not really that of God himself, 
 would be a plausible excuse and a reason for atheism ! 
 
 " Moreover, in propounding mysteries Christ is harmonious 
 with Nature, which is profoundly mysterious. From whence 
 do I come ? whither do I go ? who am I ? Human life is a 
 mystery in its origin, its organization and its end. In man and 
 out of man, in nature everything is mysterious, and can one 
 wish that religion should not be mysterious ? The creation and 
 the destiny of the world are an unfathomable abyss, as also is 
 the creation and destiny of each individual. Christianity at 
 least does not evade these great questions ; it meets them boldly, 
 and our doctrines are a solution of them for every one who 
 believes."
 
 OUT OF PLACE. 
 
 BRUTALITY, QUARRELING AND FIGHTING. 
 
 " Why hast thou (hen broken down her hedges, , . . the boar out of the wood doth 
 waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it." Ps. Ixxx. 12, 13. "If ye bite 
 and devour, . . . take heed that ye be not consumed." GAL. v. 15.
 
 OUT OF PLACE. 
 
 BRUTALITY, QUARRELING, FIGHTING, ETC. 
 
 THE Church of God has sometimes been compared to a hand- 
 some garden laid out in beautiful walks and ways, adorned with 
 flowers, having trees and plants bearing luscious and healthful 
 fruits gratifying to the taste, as the beauteous flowers are to the 
 eye. It is a place for those who love God and keep his com- 
 mandments. The garden of Eden was the place where the 
 Creator of all things put our first parents. They were holy 
 and happy; they moved along the delightful walks of the 
 garden, for the light of their Father and God shone upon their 
 pathway. 
 
 Since this period sin has entered the world, and the children, 
 or rather the Church, of God has been through many afflictions 
 and fiery trials. The walls of the fair heritage have been broken 
 down by ravenous and unclean beasts ; they enter and lay waste 
 the beautiful creation of God around them ; they act according 
 to their natures ; they have no appreciation of the delightful 
 scene. In the upper part of the annexed engraving the wild 
 boar of the wood is seen at the foot of the vine, tearing up the 
 earth to get at the roots on which he feeds ; his companion is 
 seen on a bed of roses endeavoring to wallow as he is accus- 
 tomed to do in the filthy mire. The beautiful flowers are tram- 
 pled down and crushed beneath the feet of filthy swine. Such 
 unclean creatures are truly " out of place " in the garden into 
 which they have entered. 
 
 In the lower part of the cut two savage dogs appear fighting, 
 
 463
 
 464 OUT OF PLACE. 
 
 biting and tearing each other, paying no regard to the beautiful 
 exotic plants procured and cultivated at so much expense. 
 The dogs, in their struggles to obtain the mastery over each 
 other, overturn and break the flower-pots and ruin the flowers 
 which they contain, which were with great care and attention 
 raised to such perfection that they glowed with beauty. Be- 
 tween the swine and dogs this beautiful spot has been rendered 
 a scene of desolation. In the back, near the broken enclosure, 
 Christianity is personified by one who is looking over the scene 
 and weeping in distress. 
 
 From the earliest period of the Christian dispensation we 
 find that persons of corrupt minds, impure and unholy in life 
 and conversation, to serve their own purposes have joined 
 themselves to the Christian assemblies or Church of God. 
 These persons, whatever they claim to be, are totally " out 
 of place " when assuming the Christian name. Persons of this 
 stamp have been in, or rather have connected themselves with, 
 the Christian Church in all ages. The apostle Paul, in his last 
 and affecting interview with the elders of the Ephesian church, 
 
 says: 
 
 " For I know this, that after my departure shall 
 
 grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing 
 the flock. Also of your ownselves shall men 
 arise, speaking perverse things to draw disciples 
 after them." 
 
 What Paul here foretold came to pass, as is stated by John in 
 the book of Revelation, in his message to the church of 
 Ephesus : 
 
 " I know thy works and thy labor and thy 
 patience. And how thou canst bear with them 
 that are evil ; and how thou hast tried them 
 which say they are apostles, and are not, and 
 hast found them liars. . . . Thou hatest the 
 deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which also I hate."
 
 OUT OF PLACE. 465 
 
 This last sect are supposed to be the Gnostics, who taught 
 the most impure doctrines and followed the most impure prac- 
 tices. They taught that a community of wives was lawful, 
 that adultery and fornication were things indifferent, etc. The 
 churches of Smyrna, Pergamos and Thyatira also had among 
 them those who, according to the testimony of the apostle, 
 were guilty of the same practices above named. The swine, 
 considered as the most unclean of the animal creation, repre- 
 sented in the engraving, are a proper emblem of the characters 
 named above, who have in all ages, to a greater or less extent, 
 laid waste the garden or heritage of the people of God. 
 
 The fighting dogs seen in the lower part of the engraving 
 may represent what may be termed the moral vices of mankind, 
 such as anger, hatred, malice, revenge, passions which produce ' 
 strifes, wars, bloodshed and murder, all of which are totally out 
 of place in the Church of God. 
 
 Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, gives a list of the 
 crimes which abounded in consequence of the want of that love 
 which is the fulfilling of the law. He warns them of the conse- 
 quences which will ensue from the violation of the law of love. 
 He says " that if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that 
 ye be not consumed one of another." It appears from these 
 expressions that the Galatian churches were in a state of great 
 distraction ; there were continual altercations among them ; 
 they had fallen from the grace of the gospel ; and as Christ no 
 longer dwelt in their hearts by faith, pride, anger, ill-will and 
 all unkind and uncharitable tempers took possession of their 
 souls, and they were in consequence continually destroying 
 each other. "Nothing," says one, "is so destructive to the 
 peace of man and to the peace of the soul as angry religious 
 disputes, and where they prevail religion in general has but 
 little place." 
 
 It appears that in the first Christian assemblies many things 
 were done which were " out of place." The apostle, in I Cor. 
 
 30
 
 466 OUT OF PLACE. 
 
 i 
 
 xi. and xiv., points out several abuses which had crept in 
 among them. It appears that the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, intended as a sacred memorial of his death, was converted 
 into a luxurious feast to gratify the animal appetite. Those of 
 them who had the gift of tongues were perhaps moved to show 
 their gift to speak out in the public assemblies in a language 
 which was not understood. It also appears that several would 
 be speaking at one time on various subjects in the same meet- 
 ing ; this the apostle condemns, and tells them that God is not 
 the author of such confusion. A celebrated commentator on 
 these passages says : " Let no one interrupt another, and let all 
 be ready to prefer others to themselves, and let each feel a spirit 
 of subjection to his brethren. God grants no ungovernable gifts. 
 How often is a work of God marred and discredited by the 
 folly of men ! for nature will always, and Satan too, mingle 
 themselves, as far as they can, in the genuine work of the Spirit 
 in order to discredit and destroy it." 
 
 A vast amount of evil has been perpetrated in the world 
 under the guise of religion that is entirely " out of place " in 
 anything that belongs to the kingdom of God. Our Lord told 
 his disciples that the time would come that whosoever killed 
 them would think that they did God service. Rivers of blood 
 have been shed to extirpate what has been called heresy. Men, 
 women and children have been murdered in a general massacre 
 in the name of Christ even in comparatively modern times. 
 Doctrines have been preached by professed reformers in the 
 name of Christ which violate all the sacred precepts of Chris- 
 tianity. There are some sects or classes of men who consider 
 themselves too holy to keep God's commands, as in the case of 
 those who forbid marriage, which God has ordained to replenish 
 the earth ; while, on the other hand, we have those who revile 
 the institution as contrary to Christian liberty and love.
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 "Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand 
 of the oppressor" JER. xxii. 3. "He beareth not the sword in vain" HEB. xiii. 4. 
 " The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance" Ps. cxii. 6.
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL, the lord protector of the Commonwealth 
 of England, was born in Huntingdon, England, April 15, 1599, 
 of highly-respectable parentage. He received the rudiments of 
 his education at the grammar school of his native place, and 
 was afterward for a time at Sidney-Sussex' College, Cambridge. 
 When the civil wars commenced between King Charles I. and 
 the Parliament, Cromwell, being an ardent asserter of the peo- 
 ple's rights, joined the parliamentary forces with a troop of horse 
 which he raised in Cambridge, and of which he was commander. 
 He was soon entrusted with the command of the army, and 
 finally became the lord protector of the commonwealth. Like 
 Moses, he refused an earthly crown, but desired another, " that 
 is, a heavenly." 
 
 One of the most striking acts of his public life was that of 
 dissolving the Long Parliament, or, as it is often called, the 
 " Rump Parliament." This body was evidently unfit to per- 
 form the duties with which it was entrusted. Cromwell, con- 
 sidering it his religious duty to dissolve the assembly, literally 
 forced them to retire from the place where they were sitting. 
 The engraving annexed to this article represents the scene. 
 Underneath, at the left, is seen the grammar school where 
 Cromwell received his early education ; on the right is seen 
 " Slepe Hall," which Cromwell occupied during his residence at 
 St. Ives. It was torn down some twenty years since. Crom- 
 well at this period of life, it is well known, professed to meet 
 with a remarkable change in his views on the subject of re- 
 ligion. He adopted those of the Puritans of that age, and he 
 
 469
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 ever after retained them. It appears that he first commenced 
 his outward dissent from the Established Church at this house, 
 and that he had religious prayer-meetings in the back part of 
 the house, or the kitchen, seen on the right. 
 
 Perhaps no man who ever exercised the sovereign power 
 has been more slandered than Oliver Cromwell. He has been 
 called a usurper and tyrant, a fanatic and hypocrite. If bring- 
 ing order out of confusion, tranquillity to a distracted country, 
 security to personal rights and property, toleration and religious 
 freedom to all, be usurpation and tyranny, then he is amenable 
 to this charge. As to the charge of fanaticism and hypocrisy, 
 it confutes itself, as these characteristics cannot be united in one 
 person. His private character as a son, a father and a husband 
 was all that is praiseworthy, and there is no proof that he was 
 ever guilty of a single unjust or immoral action as an individual 
 throughout his public career. 
 
 After a lapse of two centuries the character of Oliver Crom- 
 well is beginning to be appreciated. Distinguished and able 
 writers are beginning to vindicate the fame of perhaps the most 
 invincible general, the most consummate* statesman and the 
 wisest ruler ever placed at the head of his countrymen. His 
 army, composed of the sons of independent freeholders and 
 farmers, men of sober habits and regular lives, his officers those 
 who feared God, but no other being, formed the bravest and 
 most efficient that England ever saw, and with Cromwell at its 
 head was never defeated in a pitched battle. " His court was 
 the purest in Europe ; a purer the world has rarely seen." 
 
 The following extracts respecting Cromwell are from a work 
 by Thomas Carlyle, now at the head of Oxford University, 
 England. It is entitled Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches. 
 The first extracts relate to the dissolution of the Long Parlia- 
 ment, the last to the close of his life. While the Parliament 
 were sitting as usual and debating on an obnoxious bill, Crom- 
 well came into the house and sat down as if he were in an or-
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 471 
 
 dinary place. As the question was about being put, " That this 
 bill do now pass " 
 
 " Cromwell rose up, put off his hat and spake. At the first 
 and for a good while he commended the Parliament for their 
 pains and care of the public good, but afterward he changed his 
 style, told them of their injustice, delays of justice, self-interest, 
 and other faults, rising higher and higher into a very aggra- 
 vated style indeed. An honorable member, Sir Peter Went- 
 worth by name, not known to my readers and by me better 
 known than trusted, rises to order, as we phrase it : 'It is a 
 strange language this unusual within the walls of Parliament 
 this. And from a trusted servant too, and one whom we have 
 so highly honored; and one ' ' Come, come !' exclaims my 
 lord general in a very high key; ' we have had enough of this;' 
 and, in fact, my lord general, now blazing all up into clear con- 
 flagration, exclaims, ' I will put an end to your prating,' and 
 steps forth into the floor of the house, and clapping on his hat, 
 and occasionally stamping the floor with his feet, begins a dis- 
 course which no man can report. ' Heavens!' he is heard say- 
 ing, ' it is not fit that you should sit here any longer. You 
 have sat too long here for any good you have been doing 
 lately. You shall now give place to better men ! Call them 
 in,' adds he, briefly, to Harrison, in a word of command, and 
 some twenty or thirty grim musketeers enter, with bullets in 
 their snaphances, grimly prompt for orders, and stand in an 
 attitude of carry arms. Veteran men, men of might and men 
 of war, their faces are as the face of lions and their feet are as 
 swift as the roes upon the mountains, not beautiful to honorable 
 gentlemen at this moment. 
 
 "'You call yourselves a Parliament,' continues my lord gen- 
 eral, in a clear blaze of conflagration ; ' you aje no Parliament ; 
 I say you are no Parliament. Some of you are drunkards ;' 
 and his eye flashes on poor Mr. Chaloner, an official of some 
 value addicted to the bottle ; ' some of you are ' and he glares
 
 4/2 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 into Harry Martin and the poor Sir Peter who rose to order 
 ' lewd livers both, living in open contempt of God's command- 
 ments, following your own greedy appetites and the devil's 
 commandments. Corrupt, unjust persons ' and here I think 
 he glanced at Sir Balstrode Whitlocke, one of the Commission- 
 ers of the Great Seal, giving him and others very sharp lan- 
 guage, though he named them not 'corrupt, unjust persons, 
 scandalous to the profession of the gospel. How can you be a 
 Parliament for God's people ? Depart, I say, and let us have 
 done with you. In the name of God, go !' 
 
 "The house is of course all on its feet uncertain, almost, 
 whether not on its head. Such a scene as this was never seen 
 before in any House of Commons. History reports, with a 
 shudder, that my lord general, lifting the sacred mace itself, 
 said, ' What shall we do with this bauble ? Take it away !' and 
 gave it to a musketeer. 'And now fetch him down,' says he to 
 Harrison, flashing on the speaker. Speaker Lenthall, more an 
 ancient Roman than anything else, declares he will not come 
 till forced. ' Sir,' said Harrison, ' I will lend you a hand ;' on 
 which Speaker Lenthall came down and gloomily vanished. 
 They all vanished, flooding gloomily, clamorously, out to their 
 ulterior business and respective places of abode. The Long 
 Parliament is dissolved. ' It's you that have forced me to this,' 
 exclaims my lord general. ' I have sought the Lord -night and 
 day that he would rather slay me than put me upon the doing 
 of this work.' "... 
 
 He died, this hero Oliver, in resignation to God, as the brave 
 have all done. "We could not be more desirous he should 
 abide," says the pious Maidston, " than he was content and will- 
 ing to be gone." The struggle lasted, amid hope and fear, for 
 ten days. Some miscellaneous traits and confused gleanings 
 of last words, and then our poor history ends. 
 
 Oliver, we find, spoke much of " the covenants," which in- 
 deed are the grand axis of all in that Puritan universe of his :
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 473 
 
 two covenants, one of works, with fearful judgment for 'our 
 shortcomings therein ; one of grace and unspeakable mercy 
 gracious engagements ; " covenants " which the eternal God 
 has vouchsafed to make with his feeble creature man. Two, 
 and by Christ's death they have become one ; there for Oliver 
 is the divine solution of this our mystery of life. " They were 
 two," he was heard ejaculating " two, but put into one before 
 the foundation of the world !" And again : " It is holy and 
 true, it is holy and true, it is holy and true ! Who made it 
 holy and true ? The Mediator of the covenant !" And again : 
 " The covenant is but one. Faith in the covenant is my only 
 support. And if I believe not, He abides faithful !" When his 
 children and wife stood weeping around him, he said : " Love 
 not this world. I say unto you it is not good that you should 
 love this world ! No, children, live like Christians ; I leave you 
 the covenant to feed upon." 
 
 Yea, my brave one, even so ! The covenant and eternal soul 
 of covenants remain sure to all the faithful, deeper than the 
 foundations of the world, earlier than they and more lasting 
 than they. 
 
 Look also at the following dark hues and bright immortal 
 light beams struggling amid the dark vapors of death. Look, 
 and conceive a great sacred scene, the sacredest this world sees 
 and thinks of it ; do not speak of it in these mean days which 
 have no sacred word. " Is there none that says, Who will de- 
 liver me from this peril ?" moaned he once. Many hearts are 
 praying, O wearied one ! " Man can do nothing," moaned he ; 
 " God can do what he will." Another time, again thinking of 
 the covenant, " Is there none that will come and praise God, 
 whose mercies endure for ever ?" 
 
 Here also are ejaculations caught up at intervals, undated, in 
 those final days : " Lord, thou knowest, if I do desire to live, it 
 is to show forth thy praise and declare thy works !" Once he 
 was heard saying, " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
 
 474 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 the living God." " This was spoken three times," said Maid- 
 ston, " his repetitions usually being very weighty, and with 
 great vehemence of spirit. Thrice over he said this, looking 
 into the eternal kingdoms." But again : " All the promises of 
 God are in him : yes, and in him amen, to the glory of God by 
 us by us in Jesus Christ." " The Lord hath filled me with 
 as much assurance of his pardon and his love as my soul can 
 hold." " I think I am the poorest wretch that lives, but I love 
 God, or, rather, am beloved of God." " I am a conqueror, and 
 more than a conqueror, through Christ, that strengtheneth me !" 
 
 On or near the night of the same stormy Monday, two or 
 three days before he died, we may place that prayer His High- 
 ness was heard uttering, which, as taken down by his attend- 
 ants, exists in many old note-books. In the tumult of the 
 winds the dying Oliver was heard praying : 
 
 " Lord, though I am miserable and wretched, I am in cove- 
 nant with thee through grace. And I may, I will, come to thee, 
 for thy people. Thou hast made me, though very unworthy, 
 a mean instrument to do them some good and thee service ; and 
 many of them have set too high a value upon me, though others 
 wish and would be glad of my death. Lord, however thou do 
 dispose of me, continue and go on and do good for them. Give 
 them consistency of judgment, one heart and mutual love, and 
 go on to deliver them, and with the work of reformation, and 
 make the name of Christ glorious in the world; teach those 
 who look too much on thy instruments to depend more upon 
 thyself. Pardon such as desire to trample upon the dust of a 
 poor worm, for they are thy people too. And pardon the folly 
 of this short prayer, even for Jesus Christ's sake. And give us 
 a good night if it be thy pleasure. Amen." 
 
 Thursday night the writer of our old pamphlet was himself 
 in attendance on His Highness, and has preserved a trait or 
 two, with which let us hasten to conclude. To-morrow is Sep- 
 tember third, always kept as a thanksgiving day since the vie-
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 475 
 
 tories of Dunbar and Worcester. Maidston heard the wearied 
 one, that very night before the Lord took him to his everlast- 
 ing rest, thus with oppressed voice speaking : " Truly God is 
 good ; indeed he is ; he will not leave me." This saying, God 
 is good, he frequently used, and used it with much cheerfulness 
 and fervor of spirit in the midst of his pains. Again he said : 
 " I would be willing to live to be farther serviceable to God and 
 fiis people, but my work is done. Yet God will be with his 
 people." 
 
 He was very restless nearly all of the night, speaking often 
 to himself; and there being something to drink offered him, he 
 was desired to take the same and endeavor to sleep; unto which 
 he answered, " It is not my design to drink or sleep, but my 
 design is to make what haste I can to be gone." 
 
 Afterward, toward morning, he used divers holy expressions, 
 implying much inward consolation and peace. . Among the rest 
 he spake some exceedingly self-debasing words, annihilating 
 and judging himself. And truly it was observed that a public 
 spirit to God's cause did breathe in him as in his lifetime, so 
 now to his very last. 
 
 When the morrow's sun arose, Oliver was speechless; be- 
 tween three and four in the afternoon he lay dead. Friday, 
 September, 1658: "The consternation and astonishment of all 
 people," writes Fauconberg, "are inexpressible; their hearts 
 seem as if sunk within them. My poor wife ! I know not what 
 on earth to do with her. When seemingly quieted, she bursts 
 out again into a passion that tears her very heart in pieces. 
 Hush, poor weeping Mary ! Here is a life-battle right nobly 
 done. Seest thou not ? 
 
 " ' The storm is changed into a calm 
 
 At his command and will ; 
 So that the waves which raged before 
 Now quiet are, and still.
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 " 'Then are they glad, because at rest, 
 
 And quiet now they be; 
 So to the haven he them brings 
 Which they desired to see.' 
 
 " Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord ; blessed are the 
 valiant that have lived in the Lord. Amen, saith the Spirit, 
 amen. They do rest from their labors, and their works follow 
 them." 
 
 " Their works follow them !" As I think this, Oliver Crom- 
 well's works have done and are still doing. We have had our 
 "revolutions of eighty-eight" officially called glorious, and 
 other revolutions not yet called glorious, and somewhat has 
 been gained for poor mankind. Men's ears are not now slit off 
 by rash officials : officials will for long henceforth be more cau- 
 tious about men's ears. The tyrannous Star Chambers, brand- 
 ing-irons, chimerical kings and surplices at All-hallow tide 
 they are gone or swiftly going. Oliver's works do follow him. 
 The works of a noble man, bury them under what guano moun- 
 tains and obscene owl-droppings you will, do not perish can- 
 not perish. What of heroism, what of eternal light, was in a 
 great man and his life is with very great exactness added to the 
 eternities and remains for ever a new divine portion of the sum 
 of things, and no malevolent voice in the least avails in the mat- 
 ter. But we have to end here.
 
 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 
 
 " Train up a child in the way he should go ; and when old, he will not depart from 
 it." PROV. xxii. 6. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? 
 then may ye do good that are accustomed to do evil. 1 ' JER. xiii. 23.
 
 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 
 
 TRAINING up a child in the way he should go consists not 
 altogether in pointing out the way, but also, and chiefly, in 
 accustoming him to walk therein. As the tree grows up 
 straight or crooked, according to the direction given it when 
 a sapling, when there is a tendency to go crooked it should be 
 immediately attended to, and some means adopted to make it 
 stand in an upright position, such as is seen in the engraving. 
 If a child shows a tendency to go into a crooked or downward 
 course, he should be checked forthwith. The rod of correction 
 (Prov. xxii. 15), or some other forcible measure, may be used 
 to keep those under our charge from going astray. 
 
 In the lower part of the engraving is seen a child with a lamb 
 by her side, indicating peace, innocence and happiness. The 
 child is in a beautiful place, having flowers in her hands. In 
 'the distance is seen a schoolhouse and church, or a house of 
 worship, where she has been trained to walk in wisdom's ways, 
 which are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are paths of 
 peace. On the right are seen two boys fighting each other 
 like wild beasts, whose early training has been neglected ; 
 they were suffered to grow in the indulgence of their evil 
 passions. They are in the pathway of desolation, and the skies 
 above them are angry and lowering. 
 
 Of the importance of early training we are deeply sensible in 
 its application to the inferior animals, and our practice accords 
 with our way of thinking. In training up young animals for 
 use a colt, for instance, or one of the canine breed much 
 
 479
 
 480 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT,' ETC. > 
 
 care is taken to break them betimes of their faults, and to 
 render them docile and such as we wish them to be at 
 mature age. 
 
 Because experience teaches us that if their faults are per- 
 mitted to grow up with them, they become inveterately fixed 
 and exceedingly hard to cure ; we know that if the one be suf- 
 fered to kick, and the other, to snarl and bite at everybody that 
 comes near them, or if any other faults be permitted to " grow 
 with their growth," it would be unreasonable to expect to 
 fashion them in after time, when age shall have matured and 
 confirmed their ill habits and redoubled their obstinacy. Rightly 
 judging on this point, we are practical, because, forsooth, it 
 would be a pity the young animal should be spoiled for want 
 of attention to his breeding. 
 
 How much less care in this respect is ordinarily paid to the 
 breeding of the human offspring ! Not that we are sparing of 
 pains and expense for the purpose of imbuing the young mind 
 with the rudiments of learning ; but having done this, we un- 
 scrupulously leave undone a still more important part, namely, 
 the care to settle those habits without which the possession of 
 learning can turn to no good account. 
 
 It is foolish to expect that children accustomed to do evil 
 will in after life learn to do well no less foolish than to look 
 for the growth of a fragrant flower in the spot where you had 
 dropped only the seed of a thistle. For the generality of 
 human beings are throughout life such, or nearly such, as 
 early custom had fashioned them, no animal being more willful, 
 more obstinate in the wrong, or harder to be cured of the ill 
 habits which early custom had riveted. 
 
 Few subjects have employed a greater number of tongues 
 and pens than that of education, and yet few subjects are so 
 generally misunderstood. Most admit the importance of edu- 
 cation, and are forward to laud it, though perhaps scarcely one 
 in twenty is sensitive of the full meaning of the term.
 
 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 481 
 
 Education, in the common or popular acceptation, is made to 
 mean mere learning ; so that when people talk of education they 
 generally understand by it little or nothing else than teaching 
 children reading, writing, orthography, grammar, arithmetic, and 
 so on ; and when they have got these, and whatever else of 
 learning is taught in the schools, they are accounted well edu- 
 cated, and it is thought to be altogether their own fault if 
 they fail to act well their part in the journey of life. Often it is 
 said that such and such youths have an excellent education, 
 when nothing further is intended by it than their having been 
 accurately taught in the rudiments of what is called learning. 
 But that learning is not the whole of education, nor even the 
 most essential part of it, is a truth evinced by the divine testi- 
 mony concerning Abraham here adduced : " I know him, that 
 he will command his children and his household after him to 
 do justice and judgment." 
 
 Abraham, one of the greatest and best of the race of Adam, 
 was, peradventure, of all men the most careful to train up his 
 children in the way they should go, and his unequaled care in 
 that respect was the means of entailing distinguishing blessings 
 upon his posterity. Yet till several ages and centuries after 
 Abraham's day nothing which we call learning had existence in 
 the world. There were no writers nor readers ; not even the 
 letters of the alphabet were known by anybody living. 
 
 What has been said above is by no means meant to depre- 
 ciate learning, which is to be regarded as one of the choicest 
 of human blessings, far more to be valued than treasures of 
 gold and silver. Indeed, we can hardly be sufficiently thankful 
 that we live in an age so far exceeding all former times in the 
 facility of the means of imparting learning to the rising genera- 
 tion, and for zealous co-operation to diffuse it among all classes 
 of society. A happy prospect will this open, provided the 
 means be directed to the right end. Otherwise, giving children 
 learning makes them wise but to do evil ; for the increase of 
 
 31
 
 482 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 
 
 faculty effected by learning will be turned to good or ill, to 
 benefit or mischief, according to the direction it receives in the 
 early years of life. 
 
 Now, as learning only supplies ability, the great thing is to 
 turn that ability to good account, to prevent its running into 
 mischief, and to incline it toward things that are excellent. For 
 what though one had all the learning of the schools ? So much 
 worse would it be for himself,and society, if he turned it to bad, 
 instead of good account. 
 
 Though a man have all knowledge, if he have not sound 
 moral principle with it, he is the more dangerous and pestilent 
 in proportion to his superior advantages and faculties. 
 
 Every day's experience gives proof of this. The fraternity 
 of forgers, swindlers and cheats, so numerous and formidable at 
 the present instant, consists, for the most part, of men of good 
 education, as far as mere learning is to be regarded. Of that 
 they have more than an equal share. But their early moral 
 education, having been neglected, their learning is a curse to 
 themselves and all about them. Who would not choose his 
 son should rather never learn to write, than be tempted and led 
 by means of his adroitness in penmanship to the commission 
 of felonious deeds that would fix him in " durance vile " for 
 years or for life? And who can reasonably expect that the 
 learning given his children will not be abused to their own 
 shame, and to the shame of their kindred, unless he takes at 
 least as much pains to shape aright their moral frame as in 
 schooling them ? 
 
 Moral education, without which there is nothing of literature 
 or of science but is liable to be perverted to the worst purposes, 
 is to be begun from the cradle. The first step is to teach the 
 infantile subject implicit obedience to parental authority, and 
 then to rule with such moderation and sweetness that it shall 
 entirely trust and love the hand that guides it. In this way the 
 good impressions made upon the young mind are likely to be
 
 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 483 
 
 indelible, and there is ground to hope that the moral and re- 
 ligious instructions you instill will sink deep in the heart. Nor 
 is it precept alone that will suffice. Though "precept upon 
 precept " be given children, and their memories be stored never 
 so well with moral and religious lore of the purest kind, it will 
 be of little avail except a corresponding example be daily pre- 
 sented before their eyes. 
 
 "It is well known to the students in ornithology that the 
 younglings of singing birds listen to the old ones and carefully 
 learn their notes." Like those little birds, or rather like little 
 apes, children are prone to mimic whatever is done or said in 
 their presence, and especially the ways and manners of their 
 parents and instructors, so that the example set before them by 
 those who have the care of their education, together with that 
 of their young companions, has of all human means, perhaps, 
 the greatest influence in forming and fixing their characters for 
 life. It is a proverbial saying that habit is second nature, 
 meaning, I conceive, that whatever of taste, appetite, inclination 
 or affection we acquire by habit becomes as natural to us as if 
 it were born with us. This is a thing obvious to general expe- 
 rience and observation. But there is one thing near akin to it 
 which, though not quite so obvious, is perhaps equally true. 
 It is this : the second nature that has grown out of evil habits 
 cleaves to us, in some degree, as long as we live, and that not- 
 withstanding real principles of piety at heart. 
 
 The truth is that any one who contracts bad habits admits 
 into his garrison inveterate and restless foes which he can 
 never entirely expel. Sometimes he may seem to get a com- 
 plete mastery of them when suddenly they muster anew their 
 rebellious forces and quite overpower him ; and even then 
 though by the force of moral and religious principle, along 
 with ever-wakeful vigilance, he keeps under these foes, yet 
 they give him incessant alarm, inquietude and vexation. They 
 are the torment of his life, and embitter his last moments. In
 
 484 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 
 
 many a virtuous bosom there is a hard struggle between princi- 
 ple and propensity, between a deep sense of duty, morality and 
 religion and the violence of appetites and passions that had 
 been nourished by habit till they were grown up to gigantic 
 strength a struggle in which, though virtue gain the victory, 
 it is gained at the expense of pains which are neither few nor. 
 small of pains comparable to those occasioned by cutting off a 
 hand or plucking out an eye so true is it that vicious habits 
 are either our ruin and destruction or, at the best, they will be 
 a plague to us, however much we may wish and strive to uproot 
 them utterly from our minds and hearts. 
 
 It was with reference to the almost invincible force of habit 
 that the wise man penned the aphorism so worthy to be put in 
 letters of gold and hung up in the mansion of every rising 
 family : " Train up a child in the way he should go, and when 
 he is old he will not depart from it." Upon the same principle 
 of the power of habit, if, reversing the aphorism, you train up 
 your child in the way he should not go, if you countenance his 
 faults, if you encourage rather than check his vices, there are 
 many chances to one that shame and ruin will be his portion. 
 But though this is clearly the voice of truth and experience, 
 yet many infatuated people lull themselves in the expectation 
 that the faults of their children will be cured by time a notion 
 no less fatal than it is false. Indeed, time may perchance cor- 
 rect the errors of inexperience or the mere follies of childhood 
 and immature youth, but not immoralities, not real viciousness 
 of disposition and action, not falsehood, fraud, profaneness, prof- 
 ligacy, or any real vice that can be named. Diseases of the 
 mind, like those of the body, usually become the more inveter- 
 ate by time. Time ripens the inceptive faultiness into habit, 
 and time again strengthens and confirms the incipient habit. 
 Every day adds something to its strength, every new indul- 
 gence gives it a firmer root, and it incorporates itself at last 
 with the very fibres of the heart. See the gnarly oak which no
 
 EARLY TRAINING, HABIT, ETC. 485 
 
 arm of flesh can bend, which nothing but the bolt of heaven 
 can rive ; this same oak was once a pliant twig. 
 
 Guard, then, with utmost care let parents guard their chil- 
 dren, and let all those of the young who have come to years 
 of discretion guard themselves against the inceptive impress 
 of any and every vicious habit ; 
 
 "When the fox has once got in. his nose, 
 He soon finds means to make his body enter." 
 
 In Dr. Mather's excellent little tract, published more than a 
 century since, entitled Essays to do Good, the learned author 
 lays down for himself the following rule in regard to the treat- 
 ment of children : " I will never use corporeal punishment 
 except it be for an atrocious crime, or for a smaller fault 
 obstinately persisted in." The celebrated Dr. Rush of Philadel- 
 phia appears to have been of the same opinion. Nor is it at all 
 inconsistent with the maxim in Holy Writ : " He that spareth 
 the rod, hateth his son." " For," says the Brief ' Remarkcr, " by 
 no fair interpretation can this last be made to mean that the 
 discipline of the rod is necessary in other cases than the afore- 
 mentioned." 
 
 " Obedience is the first lesson to be inculcated upon a child. 
 Ere it can discern between good and evil it should be taught to 
 obey. Then it is that the task is comparatively easy, and the 
 lesson may be taught by a small measure of prudent enforce- 
 ment. . . . The child should be habituated to passive obedi- 
 ence, and at the same time be permitted to enjoy freedom of* 
 action in things indifferent. . . . Lay upon it none but neces- 
 sary and wholesome restrictions. ... As to stubbornness or 
 obstinate disobedience, it must be mastered by severe discipline ; 
 and if nothing else will do, it must be with blows ; and the 
 earlier, the better. But for the rest, mild and persuasive 
 methods are far preferable."
 
 THE VICAR OF BRAY; 
 
 OR, THE TIME-SERVING CHARACTER. 
 
 OUR Lord during his mission on the earth often addressed 
 large crowds of people of various characters and stations in life 
 which were very similar, undoubtedly, to any great assemblage 
 collected on some public occasion at the present day the high 
 and low, the rich and poor, the noble and ignoble. On one oc- 
 casion, our Lord being surrounded by a large crowd in a desert 
 place, as it was in the evening of the day, his disciples requested 
 him to send the multitude away to the .villages to buy food for 
 themselves, there being only " five loaves and two fishes " to be 
 obtained at the place where they were assembled. Our Lord, 
 having compassion on the people, commanded the five loaves 
 and two fishes to be brought to him ; and looking up to heaven 
 and blessing God, he gave them to the multitude. About five 
 thousand men, besides women and children, did eat and were 
 filled, and then they were sent away. Jesus himself went in a 
 mountain to pray, and during the night crossed to the other 
 side of the sea. 
 
 The next day the people, having found out that Jesus was 
 preaching over the sea, went thither, and having found him, 
 said, " Rabbi, whence earnest thou thither?" Our Lord, per- 
 ceiving that they followed him not on account of any relish for 
 the divine truths which he uttered, but because of the secular 
 advantages they derived from it, he tells them, " Ye seek me,
 
 THE VICAR OF BRAY. 
 
 ." Ye seek me . . . because ye did eat of the loaves and -were filled." JOHN vi. 26. 
 " With their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetous* 
 ness" EZEK. xxxiii. 31. " Who -will show us any good ?" Ps. iv. 6.
 
 THE VICAR OF BRA Y. 489 
 
 not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the 
 loaves and were filled" " Five loaves and two fishes " may be 
 considered as the real principle or guide which moves a great 
 multitude in our present day. 
 
 The accompanying engraving is a view of the church or 
 building in which the accommodating vicar, or clergyman, offi- 
 ciated. The term of " vicar of Bray " has for a long time been 
 used as synonymous with a time-serving character. The build- 
 ing itself is somewhat emblematical of the preacher who labored 
 within its walls. It is ajstructure of various materials and of no 
 particular order of architecture. Underneath the view of the 
 church is a representation of a weather-cock, so often seen on the 
 top of buildings to show the course of the wind. Whichever 
 way the wind blows that way the weather-cock points or goes. 
 For this reason the weather-cock is always considered as an 
 appropriate emblem for one who changes his principles for 
 gain. 
 
 Bray is a small village about one mile from Maidenhead, and 
 is now considered a part of the royal domain, being attached to 
 the liberties of Windsor Castle and retaining some peculiar 
 privileges, among which is an exemption from tolls in the adja- 
 cent market towns. The church is a spacious structure. 
 
 The story of the vicar of Bray is told with some variations, 
 but the fact is not questioned ; it is said that his name was 
 Simon Simonds. Fuller, in his Church History, speaking of 
 Bray, says, " The vivacious vicar thereof, living under King 
 Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, 
 was first a papist, then a Protestant, then a papist, and then a 
 Protestant again." This vicar, being taxed by one for being a 
 turncoat, " Not so," said he, " for I always kept my principle, 
 which is this to live and die vicar of Bray." This creed, 
 which the spirit of it, at least is not a dead letter even at the 
 present day, has been amplified into the following song :
 
 49 THE VICAR OF BRA Y. 
 
 THE VICAR OF BRAY. 
 
 In good King Charles's golden days, 
 
 When loyalty had no harm in't, 
 A zealous High Churchman I was, 
 
 And so I got preferment ; 
 To teach my flock I never missed. 
 
 Kings are by God appointed; 
 And those are damned who do resist 
 And touch the Lord's anointed : 
 And this is law, I will maintain 
 
 Until my dying day, sir, 
 That whatsoever king shall reign 
 I will be vicar of Bray, sir. 
 
 When royal James obtained the throne, 
 
 And popery came in fashion, 
 The penal laws I hooted down, 
 
 And read the declaration ; 
 The Church of Rome I found would fit 
 
 Full well my constitution, 
 And had become a Jesuit, 
 
 But for the revolution. 
 And this is law, etc. 
 
 When William was our king declared 
 
 To ease the nation's grievance, 
 With this new wind about I veered, 
 
 And swore to him allegiance ; 
 Old principles I did revoke, 
 
 Set conscience at a distance ; 
 Passive obedience was a^oke, 
 
 And pish for non-resistance. 
 And this is law, etc. 
 
 When gracious Anne ascends the throne, 
 
 The Church of England's glory, 
 Another face of things was seen, 
 
 And I became a Tory ; 
 Occasional conformists base 
 
 I cursed their moderation, 
 And thought the Church in danger was 
 
 By such prevarication. 
 And this is law, etc. 
 
 When George in pudding-time came o'er, 
 And moderate men looked big, sir, 
 
 I turned a cat-in-pan once more, 
 And then became a Whig, sir;
 
 THE VICAR OF BRAY. 491 
 
 And so preferment I procured 
 
 By our new faith's defender, 
 And always every day abjured 
 
 The Pope and the Pretender. 
 And this is law, etc. 
 
 The illustrious house of Hanover 
 
 And Protestant succession, 
 To these I do allegiance swear 
 
 While they can keep possession; 
 For, by my faith and loyalty, 
 
 I never more will falter, 
 And George my lawful king shall be 
 Until the time shall alter. 
 And this is law, I will maintain 
 
 Until my dying day, sir, 
 With whatsoever king shall reign 
 I will be vicar of Bray, sir. 
 
 The following passages from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress give 
 a characteristic conversation of several persons introduced into 
 that work, who give their views and principles on religious 
 matters, etc., with a frankness equal to the vicar of Bray. 
 Their names were Mr. By-ends, Mr. Hold-the-world and Mr. 
 Money-love, all of the town of Fair-speech, who all professed to 
 be pilgrims going to the heavenly city. Christian and Hopeful 
 being in sight, Mr. Money-love asked of By-ends who they 
 were. 
 
 "By-ends. Why, they, after their headstrong manner, con- 
 clude that it is their duty to rush on their journey all weathers, 
 and I am waiting for wind and tide. They are for hazarding 
 all for a clap, and I am for taking all advantages to secure my 
 life and estate. They are for holding their notions though all 
 other men be against them, but I am for religion in what and 
 so far as the times and my safety will bear it. They are for re- 
 ligion when in rags and contempt, but I am for him when he 
 walks in his golden slippers and applause. 
 
 "Hold-the-world. Ay, and hold you there still, good Mr. By- 
 ends. For my part, I can but count him as a fool that, having 
 the liberty to keep what he has, shall be so unwise as to lose it.
 
 49 2 THE VICAR OF BRA Y. 
 
 Let us be wise as serpents. It is best to make hay while the 
 sun shines. You see how the bee lieth still at winter, and 
 bestirs her only when she can have profit and pleasure. God 
 sometimes sends rain and sometimes sunshine ; if they be such 
 fools to go through the first, yet let us be content to take fair 
 weather along with us. For my part, I like that religion best 
 that will stand the security of God's good blessings to us ; for 
 who can imagine, that is ruled by his reason, since God has be- 
 stowed upon us the good things of this life, but that he would 
 have us keep them for his sake ? Abraham and Solomon grew 
 rich in religion, and Job says that a good man should lay up 
 gold as dust ; but he must not be such as the men before us, 
 if they be such as you have described them. 
 
 " Money-love and his companions, being agreed on this mat- 
 ter, concluded no more words were needed ; for he that believes 
 neither Scripture and reason (and you see that we have both on 
 our side) neither knows his own liberty nor seeks his own safety. 
 By-ends now proposed the question, Supposing a man a min- 
 ister or a tradesman, etc. should have an advantage lie before 
 to get the good blessings of this life, yet so that he can by no 
 means come by them except, in appearance at least, he become 
 extraordinary zealous in some points of religion that he meddled 
 not with before ; may he not use this means to attain this end 
 and yet be a right honest man ? 
 
 " Money-love (in reply to By-ends' question) says : Suppose 
 a minister or tradesman, a worthy man, possessed of but a small 
 benefice [salary], and has in his eye a greater, more fat and 
 plump by far ; he has now an opportunity of getting it, so that 
 by being more studious, by preaching more frequently and zeal- 
 ously, and, because the temper of the people requires it, by 
 altering some of his principles; for my part, I see no reason 
 why a man may not do this, provided he has a call ay, and 
 more than a great deal besides, and yet besides. For why ? 
 
 " 1st. His desire of a greater benefice is lawful, since it is set
 
 THE VICAR OF BRA Y. 493 
 
 before him by Providence, and may get it if he can, making no 
 question for conscience' sake. 2d. Besides, his desire after that 
 benefice makes him a better preacher, etc., . . . which is accord- 
 ing to the mind of God. 3d His complying with the temper 
 of his people, by deserting some of his principles, to serve them, 
 this argueth that he is of a self-denying temper, of a sweet, win- 
 ning deportment, and so more fit for the ministerial function. 
 I conclude, then, that a minister that changes a small for a 
 great should not for so doing be judged as covetous, but rather 
 as one that pursues his call and the opportunity put into his 
 way to do good. 
 
 " Now to the second part of the question, which concerns the 
 tradesman. Suppose such a one to have but a poor employ in 
 the world, but by becoming religious he may mend Kis market, 
 perhaps get a rich wife, or more and far better customers to his 
 shop ; for my part, I see no reason but this may be lawfully 
 done. For why ? 
 
 " 1st. To become religious is a virtue, by what means a man 
 becomes so. 2d. Nor is it unlawful to get a rich wife or more 
 custom to my shop. 3d. Besides, the man who gets these, by 
 becoming religious, gets that which is good of them that are 
 good by becoming good himself; so then here a good wife, 
 and good customers, and good gain, and all these by becoming 
 religious, which is good ; therefore to become religious to get 
 all these is a good and profitable design. 
 
 " This answer to Mr. By-ends' question was highly applauded 
 by them all. . . . And because, as they thought that no man 
 was able to contradict it, they determined to put this question 
 to Christian and Hopeful, who were yet within call. It was 
 agreed that old Mr. Hold-the-world should propound the ques- 
 tion, and bid them to answer it if they could. 
 
 " When the question was presented, Christian replied : Even 
 a babe in. religion may answer ten thousand such questions. 
 For if it be unlawful to follow Christ for loaves, as it is, how
 
 494 THE VICAR OF BRAY. 
 
 much more abominable is it to make of him and religion a 
 stalking-horse to get and enjoy the world! Nor do we find 
 any other than heathen, hypocrites, devils and witches of this 
 religion. Hamor and Sechem, who were heathens, were cir- 
 cumcised in order to obtain the daughter and cattle of Jacob ; 
 the Pharisees made long prayers to get widows' houses ; Judas 
 the devil was religious for the bag ; Simon the witch was also 
 of this religion, for he would have had the Holy Ghost that he 
 might have got money therewith. . . . To answer the question 
 as I perceive you have done is heathenish, hypocritical and 
 devilish, and your reward will be according to your works. 
 
 "After this answer By-ends, Money-love and their com- 
 panions stood staring one upon another, but had not where- 
 with to answer Christian. Hopeful also approved of the 
 soundness of Christian's answer; so there was great silence 
 among them. Mr. By-ends and his company also staggered 
 and kept behind them, that Christian and Hopeful might outgo 
 them. Then said Christian to his fellow : If these cannot stand 
 before the sentence of men, what will they do with the sentence 
 of God ? and if they are mute when dealt with by vessels of 
 clay, what will they do when they shall be rebuked by the 
 flames of a devouring fire ?"
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 BURNS' BIRTHPLACE. 
 
 " Ye fathers, . . . bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 
 EPH. vi. 4. "Settcth the poor on high . . . and maketh him families like a foe?:." 
 Ps. cvii. 41. "And ye shall teach them your children." DEUT. xi. 19.
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR, ROBERT BURNS. 
 
 ROBERT BURNS, Scotland's celebrated poet, was born in a 
 cottage in the south-western part of that country, in Ayrshire. 
 His father was a gardener, but six years after the birth of the 
 poet he became a tenant of a farm, and his two sons, Robert 
 and Gilbert, as they grew up, were taught to labor in the fields 
 to earn their bread. In consequence of this, their means of 
 education were somewhat limited. Robert, however, made a 
 diligent use of the little opportunity he enjoyed. Burns' ex- 
 cellent and exemplary father died in 1784, after manfully strug- 
 gling against adverse circumstances. Difficulties continued, 
 particularly with the poet, to such an extent that he was com- 
 pelled to seek a living in the sugar-fields of Jamaica. To raise 
 the means to convey him to that island, Burns had an edition 
 of his songs and poems printed at Kilmarnock. 
 
 The extraordinary merit of these remarkable productions, 
 although mostly in the Scottish dialect, was so appreciated by 
 the public and the literati of Edinburgh that he was drawn to 
 that city, where he became the "lion" of the season of 1786. 
 A large number of copies of his work was sold ; the proceeds 
 enabled him to clear off his pecuniary embarrassments and con- 
 summate his matrimonial engagements with his " bonny Jean." 
 After the death of William Burns, the father of the poet, the 
 family removed to Mossgiel, a farm about a mile from Mauch- 
 line, and eleven miles from Ayr. Here Robert Burns lived 
 during the period of his life extending from his twenty-fifth to 
 32 497
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 his twenty-eighth year, and here he wrote his principal poems. 
 He afterward removed to the farm of Ellisland, near Dumfries. 
 After Burns had become known to the public by his poems 
 he was appointed an exciseman, and it was hoped that by this 
 means, with the scanty income he obtained from his farm, he 
 could enjoy comfortable subsistence. His farming operations, 
 proving unsuccessful, were soon discontinued. The hard duties 
 of a gauger, although distasteful to the bard, were honorably and 
 with scrupulous fidelity discharged, but the life he led was one 
 of vexation and temptation, as the incessant warfare maintained 
 between his high instincts and his low circumstances at times 
 drew him to excesses for which his unseared conscience bitterly 
 upbraided him. The poetic fame he had earned and dearly 
 valued, with the extraordinary conversational powers with 
 which he was gifted, brought him into association with men 
 of letters and opulence. His society was also courted by all 
 the " fast " livers of the ancient burgh of Dumfries, and of the 
 " ten muirland parishes " which were in his official " ride " as 
 an exciseman. By this means he contracted bad habits, which 
 shattered his constitution, and he was soon brought to an un- 
 timely grave, leaving an impoverished widow and four children. 
 He died at Dumfries, July 21, 1796, and his remains are there 
 covered by a mausoleum erected in 1815. The prefixed cut 
 gives a view of the house in which Burns was born as it ap- 
 peared October 24, 1853. The engraving was made from a 
 drawing taken on the spot at that time. Additions have been 
 made since the poet's birth, both at the north and south ends. 
 The addition at the north is used as a stable or barn ; Burns' 
 cottage is the central part of the building, having a sign on both 
 sides of the door, one of which reads thus : 
 
 " BURNS' COTTAGE. The Ayrshire Poet was born under this roof, the 25th 
 January, A. D. 1759; died 2ist July, A. D. 1796, aged thirty-seven and a-half 
 years." 
 
 On the other sisrn
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 499 
 
 " D. Richie, licensed to retail Wines, Spirits and Ales." 
 
 The Cotters Saturday Night is a composition which endears 
 the memory of Robert Burns to every true Scotchman, wherever 
 he may be located. He was one of the common people, one of 
 that great and most important class who labor for their subsist- 
 ence, equally distant from the aristocracy and the ignorant and 
 impoverished class in a civilized country. Burns describes in a 
 most tender and graphic manner the hopes, the fears and aspira- 
 tions in a Scotch family who are brought up in the fear and love 
 of God, and in habits of industry and economy. It is much to 
 be regretted that he did not devote more of his efforts to pro- 
 duce a higher class of poetry, for much of what he has written 
 will be, to say the least, of little or no benefit to mankind. The 
 scene which appears below the view of Burns' birthplace repre- 
 sents William Burns, the father of the poet, engaged in his 
 family devotions, reading from the big Bible, as is described in 
 the poem. 
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, 
 
 Their homely joys and destiny obscure ; 
 Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile 
 
 The short but simple annals of the poor. Gray. 
 
 I. 
 My loved, my honored, much respected friend, 
 
 No mercenary bard his homage pays ; 
 With honest pride I scorn each selfish end, 
 
 My dearest meed a friend's esteem and praise : 
 To you I sing in simple Scottish lay 
 
 The lowly train in life's sequestered scene ; 
 The native feelings strong, the guileless way ; 
 
 What Aiken in a cottage would have been ; 
 Ah ! though his worth unknown, far happier there I ween. 
 
 II. 
 November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh ; 
 
 The shortening winter day is near a close ; 
 The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh ; 
 
 The blackening train o' craws to their repose;
 
 500 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 The toil-worn cotter frae his labor goes ; 
 
 This night his weekly moil is at an end, 
 Collects his spades, his mattocks and his hoes, 
 
 Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend, 
 And weary, o'er the moor, his course does hameward bend, 
 
 in. 
 At length his lonely cot appears in view, 
 
 Beneath the shelter of an aged tree ; 
 Th' expectant wee things toddlin' stacher thro' 
 
 To meet their dad wi' flichterin' noise an' glee. 
 His wee bit ingle, blinking bonnily, 
 
 His clean hearthstane, his thriftie wifie's smile, 
 The lisping infant prattling on his knee, 
 
 Does a' his weary, carking cares beguile, 
 An' makes him quite forget his labor and his toil. 
 
 IV. 
 Belyve the elder bairns come drapping in, 
 
 At service out amang the farmers roun' ; 
 Some ca' the pleugh, some herd, some tentie rin 
 
 A cannie errand to a neighbor town ; 
 Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman grown, 
 
 In youthful bloom, love sparkling in her e'e, 
 Comes hame perhaps to shaw a braw new gown, 
 
 Or deposit her sair-won penny-fee, 
 To help her parents dear, if they in hardship be. 
 
 v. 
 Wi' joy unfeigned brothers and sisters meet, 
 
 An' each for other's welfare kindly spiers ; 
 The social hours, swift wing'd, unnoticed fleet; 
 
 Each tells the uncos that he sees or hears ; 
 The parents, partial, eye their hopeful years ; 
 
 Anticipation forward points the view. 
 The mother, wi' her needle an' her shears, 
 
 Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new ; 
 The father mixes a' wi' admonition due. 
 
 VI. 
 Their master's an' their mistress's command 
 
 The younkers a' are warned to obey, 
 An' mind their labors wi' an eydent hand, 
 
 An' ne'er, tho' out o' sight, to jauk or play : 
 " An' oh, be sure to fear the Lord alway, 
 
 An' mind your duty duly morn an' night ; 
 Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray, 
 
 Implore his counsel and assisting might : 
 They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright."
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. $01 
 
 VII. 
 But hark ! a rap comes gently to the door. 
 
 Jenny, wha kens the meaning o 1 the same, 
 Tells how a neibor lad cam o'er the moor 
 
 To do some errands and convoy her hame. 
 The wily mother sees the conscious flame 
 
 Sparkle in Jenny's e'e and flush her cheek; 
 Wi' heart-struck anxious care inquires his name, 
 
 While Jenny hafHins is afraid to speak ; 
 Weel pleased the mother hears its nae wild, worthless rake. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Wi' kindly welcome Jenny brings him ben; 
 
 A strappin' youth, he taks the mother's e'e; 
 Blythe Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en ; 
 
 The father cracks of horses, pleughs and kye. 
 The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy, 
 
 But, blate and lathefu', scarce can weel behave; 
 The mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy 
 
 What makes the youth sae bashfu' an' sae grave, 
 Weel pleased to think her bairn's respected like the lave. 
 
 IX. 
 
 O happy love, where love like this is found ! 
 
 O heartfelt raptures, bliss beyond compare ! 
 I've paced much this weary mortal round, 
 
 And sage experience bids me this declare : 
 If heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare, 
 
 One cordial in this melancholy vale, 
 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair 
 
 In other's arms breathe out the tender tale 
 Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale. 
 
 x. 
 
 Is there, in human form that bears a heart, 
 
 A wretch, a villain, lost to love and truth, 
 That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art, 
 
 Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth ? 
 Curse on his perjured arts, dissembling smooth ! 
 
 Are honor, virtue, conscience, all exiled ? 
 Is there no pity, no relenting ruth, 
 
 Points to the parents fondling o'er their child, 
 Then paints the ruined maid and their distraction wild ? 
 
 XI. 
 But now the supper crowns their simple board, 
 
 The halesome parritch, chief of Scotia's food ; 
 The soupe their only hawkie does afford, 
 
 That yont the hallan snugly chows her cood;
 
 5O2 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 The dame brings forth, in complimental mood, 
 To grace the lad, her weel-hained kebbuck, fell, 
 
 An' aft he's prest, an' aft he ca's it guid ; 
 The frugal wifie, garrulous, will tell 
 
 How 'twas a towmond auld, sin' lint was i' the bell. 
 
 XII. 
 
 The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face 
 
 They round the ingle form the circle wide; 
 The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace 
 
 The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride ; 
 His bonnet reverently is laid aside, 
 
 His lyart haflfets wearing thin and bare : 
 Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, 
 
 He wales a portion with judicious care; 
 And " Let us worship God," he says with solemn air. 
 
 Xin. 
 They chaunt their artless notes in simple guise ; 
 
 They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim : 
 Perhaps " Dundee's " wild, warbling measures rise, 
 
 Or plaintive " Martyrs," worthy of the name, 
 Or noble " Elgin " beets the heavenward flame, 
 
 The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays ; 
 Compared with these, Italian trills are tame ; 
 
 The tickled ears no heartfelt raptures raise; 
 Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise. 
 
 XIV. 
 The priest-like father reads the sacred page 
 
 How Abram was the friend of God on high ; 
 Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage 
 
 With Amalek's ungracious progeny ; 
 Or how the royal bard did groaning lie 
 
 Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire; 
 Or Job's pathetic plaint and wailing cry; 
 
 Or rapt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire ; 
 Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre. 
 
 XV. 
 Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme 
 
 How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed ; 
 How He who bore in heaven the second name 
 
 Had not on earth whereon to lay his head ; 
 How his first followers and servants sped 
 
 The precepts sage they wrote to many a land; 
 How he who lone in Patmos banished 
 
 Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand, 
 And heard great Bab'lon's cloom pronounced by Heaven's command.
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT, 503 
 
 XVI. 
 Then, kneeling down to heaven's eternal King, 
 
 The saint, the father and the husband prays; 
 Hope " springs exulting on triumphant wing " 
 
 That thus they all shall meet in future days; 
 There ever bask in uncreated rays, 
 
 No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear, 
 Together hymning their Creator's praise, 
 
 In such society yet still more dear, 
 While circling Time moves round in an eternal sphere. 
 
 XVII. 
 Compared with this, how poor Religion's pride, 
 
 In all the pomp of method and of art, 
 When men display to congregations wide 
 
 Devotion's every grace except the heart ! 
 The Power, incensed, the pageant will desert, 
 
 The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole ; 
 But haply, in some cottage far apart, 
 
 May hear, well pleased, the language of the soul, 
 And in his Book of Life the inmates poor enroll. 
 
 XVIII. 
 Then homeward all take off their several way; 
 
 The youngling cottagers retire to rest; 
 The parent pair their secret homage pay, 
 
 And proffer up to Heaven the warm request 
 That He who stills the raven's clamorous nest 
 
 And decks the lily fair in flowery pride 
 Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best, 
 
 For them and for their little ones provide, 
 But, chiefly, in their hearts with grace divine preside. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, 
 
 That makes her loved at home, revered abroad ; 
 Princes and lords are but the breath of kings : 
 
 "An honest man's the noblest work of God;" 
 And certes, in fair Virtue's heavenly road, 
 
 The cottage leaves the palace far behind : 
 What is a lordling's pomp ? a cumbrous load, 
 
 Disguising oft the wretch of human kind 
 Studied in arts of hell, in wickedness refined. 
 
 ,xx. 
 
 O Scotia ! my dear, my native soil, 
 
 For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent, 
 Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil 
 
 Be blest witli health and peace and sweet content ;
 
 5O4 THE COTTER^ S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 And oh may Heaven their simple lives prevent 
 
 From luxury's contagion, weak and vile ! 
 Then, howe'er crowns and coronets be rent, 
 . A virtuous populace may rise the while, 
 
 And stand a wall of fire around their much-loved isle. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 O Thou who poured the patriotic tide 
 
 That streamed thro' Wallace's undaunted heart, 
 Who dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride, 
 
 Or nobly die, the second glorious part 
 (The patriot's God peculiarly thou art, 
 
 His friend, inspirer, guardian and reward) ! 
 Oh, never, never, Scotia's realm desert, 
 
 But still the patriot and the patriot bard 
 In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard. 
 
 " Among the serious poems of Burns," says his biographer, 
 "Saturday Night is entitled to the first rank." After the intro- 
 ductory stanza, in the second and third the cottager is intro- 
 duced as returning from his labors. The chilly winds of 
 November blow loud with angry roar, and the wintry day is 
 near a close ; the beasts are released from the plough and the 
 blackening rows of craws (rooks) are going to their repose. 
 The hoes, spades and mattocks are collected, and the weary 
 cotter homeward bends his way. His expectant " wee things " 
 (little children), tottling and staggering along to meet their 
 " dad " (father), with noise and glee, his " wee-bit ingle blink- 
 ing bonnily " (his little fire burning pleasantly), the smile of his 
 wife, the lisping infant prattling on his knee, make him quite 
 forgetful of his labor and toil. 
 
 Stanzas four, five and six describe the return and meeting of 
 the elder " bairns " (children) after their weekly service among 
 the farmers in the vicinity. Some drive the plough or attend to 
 the cows and herds of cattle ; some go on errands to the neigh- 
 boring town. Jenny, their eldest hope, a woman grown, in 
 youthful beauty, comes home to show the new gown she has 
 earned, or perhaps brings her wages to assist " her parents dear, 
 if they in hardship be." With joy unfeigned the brothers and
 
 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 505 
 
 sisters meet, inquire of each how they get along, and tell of the 
 news they have heard. " The parents, partial, eye their hopeful 
 years," and look forward in bright anticipation to what their 
 loved children may become. The mother, with her needle and 
 shears, " makes the old clothes look almost as well as the new." 
 While the mother is making and mending the outward part, the 
 father, with due admonition, aims to better the inward or moral 
 part of his children. 
 
 In the sixth stanza the parents instruct their young children 
 that they must obey their masters and mistresses and perform 
 their labors with cheerfulness and diligence, and not play or 
 trifle away their time even when they are out of sight. " And 
 oh, be sure to fear the Lord alway, and mind their duty duly 
 morn and night," lest they be led into temptation. 
 
 In the seventh stanza is described the commencement of an 
 acquaintance of the deepest moment to the parties concerned. 
 Jenny, the eldest hope of her parents, comes home from her 
 week's service. Soon after, a gentle rap comes on the door. 
 Jenny, who knows the meaning of the same, tells how a lad 
 came over the moor to do some errand and convoy her home. 
 Her mother asks his name ; Jenny is half afraid to tell. Her 
 mother is pleased to learn that he is no wild, worthless rake 
 who is come to see her daughter. He is kindly invited in. 
 He is a " strappin* " youth (tall and handsome) ; he takes the 
 mother's eye. The father enters into conversation with the 
 visitor about the various animals of the farm. The youngster's 
 heart overflows with joy, but he is so " blate and lathefu' " 
 (bashful and sheepish) that he scarce can well behave. The 
 mother can see what makes the youth so, and is well pleased to 
 see that her child is so respected by others^ 
 
 In the ninth stanza the poet describes in glowing colors the 
 happiness of virtuous love ; in the tenth he denounces a curse 
 on the villain who by his perjured arts could betray sweet 
 Jenny's unsuspecting youth. In the eleventh stanza the frugal
 
 506 THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 supper, of which the wholesome "parritch" (oatmeal porridge) 
 is the most important dish, " they round the ingle " (fire) " form 
 a circle wide." The father, with his " lyart haffets " (thin gray 
 hairs) on his temples wearing thin and bare, turns o'er the big 
 " ha'-Bible," once his father's pride; he "wales" (chooses) a 
 portion with judicious care ; he says with solemnity, " Let us 
 worship God." They raise their artless notes ; they tune their 
 hearts perhaps in " ' Dundee's ' wild, warbling strain, or plaintive 
 ' Martyrs,' worthy of the name, or noble ' Elgin ' " adds fuel to 
 "the heavenward flame." 
 
 " The priest-like father reads the sacred page how Abram 
 was the friend of God," of Moses, of David, the royal bard, of 
 "Job's pathetic plaint" or "Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire." As 
 the poem is approaching its conclusion, it rises in grandeur, 
 sublimity and pathos. " Perhaps the Christian volume is the 
 theme, how He who bore in heaven the second name " and shed 
 his blood to save a lost race " had not on earth a place to lay 
 his head." The apocalyptic vision of John on Patmos is de- 
 scribed. Then, kneeling down, the father and husband prays. 
 
 " Hope ' springs exulting on triumphant wing ' 
 That thus they all shall meet in future days." 
 
 The last two stanzas conclude with noble and exalted senti- 
 ments of patriotism ; the poet implores that God will save Scot- 
 land, his dear native land, from evil, that patriots "may in 
 bright succession rise, her ornament and guard."
 
 CAPTIVITY OF THE JEWISH NATION. 
 
 "And she being desolate shall sit on the ground." ISA. iii. 26. "For Jerusalem 
 is ruined and Judah is fallen." ISA. iii. 8. " I make a full end of all nations, . . . 
 yet will I not make full end of thee." JER. xxx. II.
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, 
 
 AND CAPTIVITY AND DISPERSION OF THE JEWS. 
 
 THE siege and destruction of the city and temple of Jeru- 
 salem, the subversion of the whole political constitution of the 
 Jews, their captivity and dispersion among the nations of the 
 earth and their preservation as a distinct people are the most 
 remarkable events recorded in history. The Jews as a body 
 having rejected our Lord as their Saviour, he foresaw the ruin 
 and desolation coming upon them, and foretold to his disciples 
 the destruction of the temple. When Jesus was about to leave 
 the temple, his disciples came to him, probably to show him the 
 exceeding strength and durability of its walls and foundations ; 
 their Master said unto them, " Verily I say unto you, There 
 shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be 
 thrown down." 
 
 The above words seem to have been the last spoken by our 
 Lord as he left the temple, into which he never afterward en- 
 tered ; and when he reached the Mount of Olives, he renewed 
 the discourse. From this mount, on which our Lord and his 
 disciples now sat, the whole of the city, and particularly the 
 temple, were clearly seen. This part of our Lord's prediction 
 was fulfilled in the most literal manner. Josephus says, book 
 vii., c. i : " Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish 
 the whole city and temple, except the three towers Phasaelus, 
 Hippicus, Mariamne, and a part of the western wall, and these 
 were spared ; but all the rest of the wall was laid so completely 
 even with the ground by those who dug it up to the foundation 
 
 (09
 
 5IO DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 that there was left nothing to make those who came thither be- 
 lieve it had ever been inhabited." Maimonides, a Jewish rabbin, 
 in Tract Taanith, c. 4, says, " The very foundations of the tem- 
 ple were digged up, according to the Roman custom." As our 
 Lord sat upon the Mount of Olives his disciples came to him 
 privately, saying, " Tell us when shall these things be, and 
 what the sign of thy coming?" Our Lord replies, "The first 
 sign is false Christs ; for many shall come in my name." Jo- 
 sephus says that there were many who, pretending to divine- 
 inspiration, deceived the people, leading out many to the desert, 
 declaring that God would there show them the signs of liberty, 
 meaning redemption from the Roman power, and that an 
 Egyptian false prophet led thirty thousand men into the desert, 
 who were almost all cut off by Felix. (See Acts xxi. 28.) It 
 was a just judgment for God to deliver up that people who had 
 rejected the true Christ into the hands of false ones. Soon 
 after our Lord's crucifixion, Simon Magus appeared, and per- 
 suaded the people of Samaria that he was the " great power of 
 God" (Acts viii. 9, 10), and boasted among the Jews that he 
 was the son of God. 
 
 Of the same stamp and character was also Dositheus the 
 Samaritan, who pretended that he was- the Christ foretold by 
 Moses. 
 
 About twelve years after the death of our Lord, when Cas- 
 pius Fadus was procurator of Judea, arose an impostor of the 
 name of Theudas, who said he was a prophet, and persuaded a 
 great multitude to follow with their best effects to the river Jor- 
 dan, which he promised to divide for their passage ; and saying 
 these things, says Josephus, he deceived many almost the 
 very words of our Lord. 
 
 A few years afterward, under the reign of Nero, while Felix 
 was procurator of Judea, impostors of this stamp were so fre- 
 quent that some were taken and killed almost every day. The 
 next signs given by our Lord are wars and rumors of wars, etc.
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 511 
 
 These may be seen in Josephus, especially as to the rumors of 
 wars when Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the tem- 
 ple of God, and the Jews, refusing to obey his orders, had every 
 reason to expect a war with the Romans, and were in such con- 
 sternation on the occasion that they even neglected to till their 
 land. 
 
 " Nation shall rise against nation." This portended the dis- 
 sensions, insurrections and mutual slaughter of the Jews, and 
 those of other nations who dwelt in the same city together, as 
 particularly at Caesarea, where the Jews and Syrians contended 
 about the right of the city, which ended in the total expulsion 
 of the Jews, above twenty thousand of whom were slain. The 
 whole Jewish nation, being exasperated at this, flew to arms, 
 and burnt and plundered the neighboring cities and villages of 
 the Syrians, making an immense slaughter of the people. (The 
 Syrians in return destroyed not a less number of the Jews.) 
 The Tyrians also put many Jews to death, and imprisoned 
 more. The people of Gadara did likewise, and all the other 
 cities of Syria, in proportion as they hated or feared the Jews. 
 At Alexandria the Jews and heathen fought, and fifty thousand 
 of the former were slain. The people of Damascus conspired 
 against the Jews, and assaulting them unarmed, killed ten 
 thousand of them. 
 
 " Kingdom against kingdom." This portended the open 
 wars of different tetrarchies and provinces against each other. 
 First, that of the Jews and Galileans against the Samaritans for 
 the murder of some Galileans going up to the feast at Jeru- 
 salem, while Cumanus was procurator. Second, that of the 
 whole nation of the Jews against the Romans and Agrippa and 
 other allies of the Roman empire, which began when Jessius 
 Florus was procurator. Third, that of the civil war in Italy 
 while Otho and Vitellius were contending for the empire. It is 
 further added that "there shall be famines and pestilences." 
 There was a famine foretold by Agabus (Acts xi. 28), mentioned
 
 512 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 by Suetonius, Tacitus and Eusebius, which came to pass in the 
 days of Claudius Caesar, and was so severe at Jerusalem that 
 Josephus says many died for lack of food. Pestilences are the 
 usual attendants of famines, as the scarcity and badness of 
 provisions generally produce epidemic disorders. 
 
 The fourth sign, earthquakes or popular commotions. 
 " Earthquakes in divers places." If we take the meaning 
 of the word in the first sense, then it means particularly those 
 popular commotions and insurrections which have already been 
 noted, and this I think to be the true meaning of the word ; but 
 if we confine it to earthquakes, there were several in those times 
 to which our Lord refers ; particularly one at Crete in the reign 
 of Claudius ; one at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos (see Gro- 
 tius) ; one at Rome, mentioned by Tacitus ; one at Laodicea in 
 the reign of Nero, in which the city was overthrown, as were 
 likewise Hierapolis and Colosse (see Tacit., Annal., lib. 12 and 
 lib. 14); one at Campania, mentioned by Seneca; one at Rome 
 in the reign of Galba, mentioned by Suetonius in the life of that 
 emperor. Add to all these a dreadful one in Judea, mentioned 
 by Josephus (Wars, b. iv., c. 4), accompanied by a dreadful tem- 
 pest, violent winds, vehement showers and continual lightnings 
 and thunders, which led many to believe that these things por- 
 tended some uncommon calamity. 
 
 The fifth sign, fearful portents. To these St. Luke adds that 
 there shall be " fearful sights and great signs from heaven," 
 chap. xxi. ii. Josephus, in his preface to the Jewish Wars, 
 enumerates these : First a star hung over the city like a sword, 
 and a comet continued a whole year. 2d. The people being as- 
 sembled at the feast of unleavened bread, at the ninth hour of 
 the night, a great light shone about the altar and the temple, 
 and this continued for half an hour. 3d. At the same feast a 
 cow led forth to sacrifice brought forth a lamb in the midst of 
 the temple. 4th. The eastern gate of the temple, which was of 
 solid brass and very heavy, and could hardly be shut by twenty
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 513 
 
 men, and was fastened by strong bars and bolts, was seen at the 
 sixth hour of the night to open of its own accord. 5th. Before 
 sun-setting were seen all over the country chariots and armies 
 fighting in the clouds and besieging cities. 6th. At the feast 
 of Pentecost, when the priests were going into the inner temple 
 at night to attend their service, they heard first a motion and 
 then a voice as of a multitude saying, Let us depart hence, 
 /th. What Josephus reckons one of the most terrible signs of 
 all was that one Jesus, a country fellow, four years before the 
 war began, and when the city was in peace and plenty, came to 
 the feast of tabernacles, crying up and down the streets day and' 
 night : " A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice 
 from the four winds ! A voice against Jerusalem and the tem- 
 ple, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice 
 against all the people !" Though the magistrates endeavored 
 by stripes and tortures to restrain him, yet he still cried with a 
 mournful voice. And this he continued to do for several years 
 together, going about the walls and crying with a loud voice, 
 " Woe, woe to the city, and to the people and the temple !" and 
 as he added, " Woe, woe to myself!" a stone from some sling or 
 engine struck him dead on the spot. It is worthy of remark 
 that Josephus appeals to the testimony of others who saw and 
 heard these fearful things. Tacitus, a Roman historian, gives 
 very nearly the same account with that of Josephus. History, lib. 5. 
 
 CAPTIVITY AND DISPERSION OF THE JEWS. 
 The engraving relative to the captivity of the Jewish people 
 is an enlarged copy of the reverse side of one of the Roman 
 coins of the emperors Vespasian and Titus, struck at Rome in 
 commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, A. D. 
 70. The conquered country is represented by a weeping widow, 
 solitary and alone, sitting on the ground under a palm tree, 
 guarded by a Roman soldier. Over her head are the words 
 CAPTA " (Judea captive). The letters at the bottom 
 
 33
 
 514 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 (S.C.) signify "Senatus Consultu" /. e., by a decree of the Senate. 
 On the obverse or face of the coin are the head and name of the 
 reigning emperor. This coin (still extant) is a striking record 
 of the truth of the prophet's words : 
 
 " How doth the city sit solitary, that was full 
 of people ! How is she become as a widow ! she 
 that was great among the nations, and princess 
 among the provinces, how is she become tribu- 
 tary ! She weepeth sore in the night. . . . Judah 
 is gone into captivity because of affliction, and 
 because of great servitude : she dwelleth among 
 the heathen, and findeth no rest." Lam. i. 1-3. 
 
 About forty years after our Lord had foretold the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, the Roman government sent several armies against 
 the Jews to quell their factious and rebellious spirit. The Roman 
 forces, under Vespasian, took the cities of Galilee, Chorazin, 
 Bethsaida, Capernaum, etc., where Christ had been especially 
 rejected, and murdered numbers of the inhabitants. When 
 preparing to besiege Jerusalem, Vespasian, being chosen em- 
 peror, returned to Rome, and gave the command of his forces 
 to his son Titus. Titus, having made several assaults without 
 success, resolved to surround the city (nearly four English miles 
 in circumference), which was with incredible speed completed 
 in four days. The wall was strengthened with forts at proper 
 distances, so that all hope of deliverance was cut off; none 
 could make his escape from the city, and no provisions could 
 be brought into it, thus fulfilling our Lord's words, "Thine 
 enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, 
 and keep thee in on every side." 
 
 Titus, one of the most merciful of generals, did all in his 
 power to persuade them to an advantageous surrender, but they 
 scorned every proposal. He now prosecuted the siege with 
 vigor. In addition to the other calamities that now befel them,
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 515 
 
 the Jews were divided into factions among themselves, mur- 
 dered each other with blind fury and burnt their provinces. 
 No history can furnish us with a parallel to the miseries of the 
 Jews rapine, murder, famine and pestilence within, fire and 
 sword and all the horrors of war without. While the famine 
 prevailed, the house of a Jewish lady named Miriam was re- 
 peatedly plundered of provisions. Her sufferings became so 
 extreme that she entreated, and sometimes attempted to pro- 
 voke, those that plundered her to put an end to her miserable 
 life. At length she killed her infant son and broiled its flesh ; 
 and having satisfied her present hunger, she concealed the re- 
 mainder. The smell of it soon brought the voracious soldiers 
 to her house. They threatened her with torture if she did not 
 give up her provisions. Being thus compelled, she showed 
 them the mangled remains of her son. At this horrid spectacle 
 the soldiers, inhuman as they were, stood aghast, and, struck 
 with horror, rushed from the house. 
 
 The report of this transaction having spread through the 
 city, the terror and consternation of the Jews became universal ; 
 they for the first time began to think themselves forsaken of 
 God. Titus, on hearing of this account, was filled with surprise 
 and indignation. " Soon," said he, " shall the sun nevermore 
 dart his beams on a city where mothers feed on their own chil- 
 dren, and where fathers no less guilty choose to drive them to 
 such extremities rather than lay down their arms." 
 
 Titus now pushed the siege with still greater vigor, and en- 
 deavored to obtain possession of the temple, the preservation 
 of which he strongly desired. A Roman soldier, urged on, as 
 he said, by a divine impulse, seized a firebrand, and getting on 
 his comrades' shoulders, threw it into the window of the tem- 
 ple, and immediately set this noble edifice, the pride and glory 
 of the Jewish nation, in flames. Titus immediately gave orders 
 to extinguish the fire. He threatened, he entreated, his soldiers, 
 and used every exertion to stop the progress of the fire, but all
 
 5l6 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 in vain. The exasperated soldiers, bent on destroying the city, 
 either did not hear or did not regard him. 
 
 " These were the days of vengeance, that all things which 
 were written might be fulfilled." These were the days in which 
 all the calamities predicted by Isaiah, Joel, Daniel and other 
 prophets, as well as those foretold by our Saviour, met in one 
 common centre, and were fulfilled in the most terrible manner 
 on that generation. It is supposed that there were between two 
 and three millions of people in Jerusalem at the time that Titus 
 surrounded the city, that being the usual number who assem- 
 bled from various parts at the time of the passover. Joseph us 
 computes the number of those who perished in the siege at 
 eleven hundred thousand, besides those who were slain in other 
 places. 
 
 The preservation of the Jews in the midst of the miseries 
 they have endured, and throughout their dispersion among all 
 nations for eighteen hundred years, is truly wonderful, and may 
 well be considered as the " standing miracle of Christianity." 
 The religions of the world depend on temporal prosperity ; they 
 triumph under the protection of a conqueror ; they languish and 
 sink with sinking monarchies. Paganism, which once held pos- 
 session of the earth, is now nearly extinguished. The Christian 
 Church, though sublime and glorious in its objects, and attested 
 by " the noble company of martyrs," was considerably dimin- 
 ished by the persecutions it endured, nor was it easy to repair 
 the breaches made in it by acts of violence. The Jews as a re- 
 ligious body have remained the same through all their troubles 
 and dispersions. 
 
 The " burning bush " seen by Moses has ever been an apt 
 emblem of the state of the Jewish people. They have ever 
 been surrounded by flames, but they have never been con- 
 sumed. They have been expelled in different times from 
 almost every part of the world, but this has served only to 
 spread them in all regions. Kings have often employed the
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 517 
 
 severity of edicts, and the hand of the executioner to rid the 
 world of their presence. Princes and people, pagans, Moham- 
 medans and professed Christians, disagreeing in so many things, 
 have united in the design of exterminating them, but have not 
 been able to succeed. From age to age they have been ex- 
 posed to misery and persecution, yet they still remain, in spite 
 of the ignominy and the hatred which has pursued them in all 
 places, whilst the greatest monarchies are fallen and nothing 
 remains of them but the name. 
 
 The ceremonies essential to the Jewish religion can no more 
 be observed ; the ritual law, which cast such a splendor on the 
 national worship and impressed the pagans so much that they 
 sent their presents and victims to Jerusalem, is absolutely 
 fallen into disuse, for they have no temple, no altar. Their 
 land itself seems to be under a never-ceasing curse. Pagans, 
 Christians, Mohammedans in a word almost all nations 
 have by turns seized Jerusalem. To the Jew only has God re- 
 fused the possession of this small tract of ground so neces- 
 sary for him, since he ought to worship on the mountains 
 of Zion. 
 
 From the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus the Jews have 
 been scattered, agreeably to the prediction of Isaiah, from one 
 end of the earth to the other. They remain still scattered 
 among all nations in. the earth; Jerusalem is still "trodden 
 down by the Gentiles," and will be " till the times of the Gen- 
 tiles shall be fulfilled;" then the Jews will be restored. In 
 late modern times the state of the Jews has been greatly ame- 
 liorated, although much prejudice still remains. An editor of 
 one of the leading Christian journals, in combating this prej- 
 udice, truly says, " That ancient and most gifted people, which 
 has given to us our sacred books, our dearest faiths, our most 
 precious hopes, and which at this moment contains not only 
 more wealth, but more genius of every kind, than any other 
 people on earth." 

 
 THE POWER OF LOVE. 
 
 IN Chambers 's Miscellany there is an article entitled " Love is 
 power," which shows the powerful effect this disposition, when 
 carried out into action, has had upon mankind in various situa- 
 tions. Even in the lower order of creation, the animals, we 
 often see the effect of gentleness and kindness. The engraving 
 shows in its central part the Arabian horse, who is made a 
 domestic companion. The Arab allows him to sleep in the 
 same tent with the family; children repose on his neck and 
 hug and kiss him without the least danger. 
 
 It is a matter of common observation that when unloving 
 words or looks are resented by the like, a complete division 
 takes place between the parties. The hatred of the first person 
 is deepened; he becomes a more unpleasant neighbor than he 
 was before. And because bad words have been used to him his 
 pride is touched, and he is determined to show no symptom of 
 relenting. But if, on the contrary, the object of his antipathy 
 had refrained from bitter words or looks, and addressed him in 
 a friendly manner, his first angry feelings, which were probably 
 of a slight kind, would have given way, and he would have 
 been at once reconciled. Thus the evil would have been cut 
 short at the very first, and those would have been friends, who 
 otherwise would be sure to become enemies perhaps for the 
 remainder of their lives. Now, if we consider how many disad- 
 vantages attend our having the ill-will of our neighbors, we 
 shall be at no loss to see how important it is for us to prevent 
 them by all proper means from becoming our enemies. And 
 
 518
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE 
 
 " TTie fruit of the Spirit is love." GAL. v. 22. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; 
 , . for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head" ROM. xii. 20.
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE. 521 
 
 not only this, but let us also reflect on the sad fact that our 
 neighbor is unhappy in being our enemy; we are concerned 
 that we do not become, however innocently, as we may think, 
 the cause of his being haunted by unpleasant feelings. We are 
 therefore bound, out of kindness to him, to act in such a way as 
 to save him from the wretchedness of becoming our enemy. 
 People will say it is difficult to be kind to one who has looked 
 or spoken or acted harshly toward us, but a moment's reflec- 
 tion on what are his interests in the case will go a great way to 
 enable us to check angry feelings, and to call up the kind for- 
 giveness which is so sure to win him to our friendship. It is 
 not, in reality, difficult to act in this way when the other party 
 has no just cause for being angry with us. The serenity of a 
 mind at peace with itself rather disposes us to be forgiving. 
 Should the case be otherwise, and we feel any cause for re- 
 proaching ourselves, then we are doubly called upon to do all 
 that in us lies by due expressions of contrition to restore the 
 peace. Though the anger of the offended person should appear 
 unreasonably great, still it is our duty to seek to appease it, so 
 that permanent enmity should be prevented. 
 
 LOVE IS POWER BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 
 
 An affecting and beautiful example occurs in the history of 
 David. Pursued by Saul in the wilderness of Engedi, he was 
 lying concealed with his few followers in a cave, when the king 
 and his party entered. David might have killed the king, if he 
 had chosen, and his friends advised him to do it, but he re- 
 solved upon a better course. He only cut off the skirt of 
 Saul's robe. When the king had departed, David followed 
 and called after him. "And when Saul looked behind him, 
 David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. 
 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, 
 saying, Behold, David seekest thy hurt ? Behold, this day thine 
 eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to-day
 
 522 THE POWER OF LOVE. 
 
 into mine hand in the cave : and some bade me kill thee ; but 
 mine eye spared thee : and I said, I will not put forth my hand 
 against my lord ; for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my 
 father, see ; yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand ; for in 
 that I cut off the skirt of thy robe and killed thee not. And it 
 came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these 
 words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son 
 David ? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said 
 unto David, Thou art more righteous than I : for thou hast re- 
 warded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. Where- 
 fore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto 
 me this day." 
 
 The following is from an English paper : Many years ago a 
 warehouseman published a scurrilous pamphlet, in which he 
 endeavored, but very unsuccessfully, to hold up the house of 
 William Grant Brothers to public ridicule. William remarked 
 that the man would live to repent what he had done, and this 
 was conveyed by some talebearer to the libeler, who said, " Oh, 
 I suppose he thinks I shall some time or other be in his debt ; 
 but I will take good care of that." It happens that a man in 
 business cannot always choose who shall be his creditors. The 
 pamphleteer became a bankrupt, and the brothers held an 
 acceptance of his which had been endorsed to them by the 
 drawer, who had also become a bankrupt. The wantonly- 
 libeled men had thus become creditors of the libeler. They 
 now had it in their power to make him repent of his audacity. 
 He could not obtain his certificate without their signature, and 
 without it he could not enter into business again. He had ob- 
 tained the number of signatures required by the bankrupt law, 
 except one. It seemed folly to hope that the firm of "the 
 brothers" would supply the deficiency. What! they who had 
 cruelly been made the laughing-stocks of the public forget the 
 wrong and favor the wrong-doer? He despaired. But the 
 claims of a wife and children forced him at last to make the
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE. $2$ 
 
 application. Humbled by misery, he presented himself at the 
 counting-house of the wronged. 
 
 Mr. William Grant was there alone, and his first words to 
 the delinquent, "Shut the door, sir!" were sternly uttered. 
 The door was shut, and the libeler stood trembling before the 
 libeled. He told his tale and produced his certificate, which 
 was instantly clutched by the injured merchant. " You wrote a 
 pamphlet against us once," exclaimed Mr. Grant. The sup- 
 plicant expected to see his parchment thrown into the fire. 
 But this was not its destination. Mr. Grant took a pen, and 
 writing something upon the document handed it back to the 
 bankrupt. The poor wretch expected to see " rogue, scoundrel, 
 libeler," inscribed, but there was the signature of the firm in fair 
 round characters. " We make it a rule," said Mr. Grant, " never 
 to refuse signing the certificate of an honest tradesman, and we 
 have never heard that you were anything else." The tears 
 started in the poor man's eyes. " Ah !" said Mr. Grant, " my 
 saying was true. I said that you would live to repent writing 
 that pamphlet. I did not mean it as a threat; I only meant 
 that some day you would know us better, and be sorry you had 
 tried to injure us. I see you repent of it now." " I do, I do !" 
 said the grateful man ; " I bitterly repent of it." " Well, well, my 
 dear fellow, you know us now. How do you get on ? What 
 are you going to do?" The poor man stated that he had 
 friends who could assist him when his certificate was obtained. 
 " But how are you off in the mean time ?" And the answer 
 was that, having given up every farthing to his creditors, he 
 had been compelled to stint his family of even the common 
 necessaries that he might be enabled to pay the cost of his cer- 
 tificate. " My dear fellow, this will not do ; your family must 
 not suffer. Be kind enough to take this ten-pound note to your 
 wife from me. There, there, my dear fellow ! Nay, do not cry ; 
 it will be all well with you yet. Keep up your spirits, set to 
 work like a man, and you will raise your head among us yet."
 
 524 THE POWER OF LOVE. 
 
 The overpowered man endeavored in vain to express his 
 thanks ; the swelling in his throat forbade words. He put his 
 handkerchief to his face, and went out the door crying like a 
 child. 
 
 LOVE IS POWER WITH INFERIORS. 
 
 A kindly manner of dealing with those who are in an inferior 
 rank to ourselves, demonstrations of an unaffected concern for 
 their interests, behavior calculated to foster and never to wound 
 or bruise their self-respect, must always tend, if consistently, 
 perseveringly followed out, to evoke the better nature of ser- 
 vants, and make them agreeable and obliging inmates of a 
 household. 
 
 A story is told in the French army that a company of soldiers 
 conducted themselves gallantly and always behaved well under 
 one captain, and in the reverse manner under his successor, 
 when, on inquiry, it was ascertained that the sole cause was in 
 a small difference of manner between the two officers. The one 
 always said, " Come on, my dears," and the other " Go on, my 
 dears." The one captain put himself on a human level with his 
 men, and thus won their regard ; the other acted as if he had 
 stood on a height above them. It is exactly so with servants. 
 Where their feelings of self-esteem feelings as sure to be 
 planted in them as in the highest nobility on earth are re- 
 spected and an appeal made to their kindly sympathies, they 
 are forced by something in their own bosoms to act as duty 
 requires. In the other case it will always be up-hill work. 
 
 Mr. Holt gives the following account of Colonel Collins, 
 governor of the settlement at the Derwent River, in Van Die- 
 men's Land, from 1804 till his death, in 1810: "This gentleman 
 had the good- will, the good wishes and the good word of every 
 one in the settlement. His conduct was exemplary and his 
 disposition the most humane. His treatment of the runaway 
 was conciliatory, and even kind. He would go into the forests 
 among the natives to allow these poor creatures, the runaways,
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE. $2$ 
 
 an opportunity of returning to their former condition, and, half 
 dead with cold and hunger, they would come and drop on their 
 knees before him, imploring pardon for their behavior. ' Well/ 
 he would say to them, ' now that you have lived in the bush, 
 do you think the change you made was for the better ? Are 
 you sorry for what you have done?' 'Yes, sir.' 'And will 
 you promise never to go away again ?' ' Never, sir.' ' Go to 
 the storekeeper, then,' the benevolent Collins would say, ' and 
 get a suit of slops and your week's rations, and then go to the 
 overseer and attend to your work. I give you my pardon, but 
 remember that I expect you will keep your promise to me.' 
 
 " I never heard of any other governor or commandant act- 
 ing in this manner, nor did I ever witness much leniency from 
 any governor. I have, however, been assured that there was 
 less crime and much fewer faults committed among the people 
 under Governor Collins than in any other settlement, which I 
 think is a clear proof that mercy and humanity are the best 
 policy." 
 
 LOVE IS POWER IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 
 
 There is no moral principle applicable to private or domestic 
 life which is not equally applicable in public affairs, whether 
 between one little society and another or between State and 
 State. This is not generally seen and acknowledged ; but as it 
 is quite true, the world is rapidly becoming aware of the fact. 
 
 Mrs. Child, an American writer, has related an instance of 
 the benefits of the law of kindness in approaching to the charac- 
 ter of the public. She tells us that some years ago she met 
 a hardworking, uneducated mechanic of the State of Illinois 
 who pleased her greatly by what he told her of his past life. 
 He was one of thirty or forty New Englanders who had about 
 twelve years before associated themselves as friends of Chris- 
 tian peacefulness, and gone forth to make a settlement of their 
 own in the Western wilderness. In their new home " they were 
 industrious and frugal, and all things prospered under their
 
 526 THE POWER OF LOVE, 
 
 hands. But soon wolves came near the fold in the shape of 
 reckless, unprincipled adventurers, believers in force and cun- 
 ning, who acted according to their creed. The colony of prac- 
 tical Christians spoke of their depredations in terms of gentlest 
 remonstrance, and repaid them with unvarying kindness. They 
 went farther they openly announced, ' You may do us what 
 evil you may choose; we will return nothing but good.' 
 Lawyers came into the neighborhood, and offered their ser- 
 vices to settle disputes. They answered, ' We have no need 
 of you. As neighbors we receive you in the most friendly 
 spirit, but for us, your occupation has ceased to exist.' ' What 
 will you do if rascals burn your barns and steal your harvests ?' 
 ' We will return good for evil. We believe this is the highest 
 truth, and therefore the best expediency.' When the rascals 
 heard this, they considered it a marvelous good joke, and said 
 and did many provoking things which seemed to them witty. 
 Bars were taken down in the night, and cows let into the 
 cornfields. The Christians repaired the damages as well as 
 they could, put the cows in the barn, and at twilight drove them 
 gently home, saying, ' Neighbor, your cows have been in my 
 field. I have fed them well during the day, but I would not 
 keep them all night lest the children should suffer for the want 
 of their milk.' 
 
 " If this were fun, those who planned the joke found no heart 
 to laugh at it. By degrees a visible change came over these 
 troublesome neighbors. They ceased to cut off the horses' 
 tails and break the legs of the poultry. Rude boys would say 
 to a younger brother, ' Don't throw that stone, Bill ! When I 
 killed the chicken last week, didn't they send it to my mother 
 because they thought chicken broth would be good for poor 
 Mary ? I should think you would be ashamed to throw stones 
 at their chickens.' Thus was evil overcome with good till not 
 one was found to do them willful injury. 
 
 " Years passed on and saw them thriving beyond their neigh-
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE. $2? 
 
 bors, yet beloved by all. From them the lawyer and the con- 
 stable obtained no fees. The sheriff stammered and apologized 
 when he took their hard-earned goods in payment for the war 
 tax. They mildly replied, ' 'Tis a bad trade, friend. Examine 
 it in the light of conscience, and see if it be not so.' But while 
 they refused to pay such fees and taxes, they were liberal to a 
 proverb in contributions for all useful and benevolent purposes. 
 At the end of ten years the public lands which they had chosen 
 for their farms were put up for sale by auction. According to 
 custom, those who had settled and cultivated the soil were con- 
 sidered to have a right to bid it in at the government price, 
 which at that time was one dollar and twenty-five cents per, 
 acre. But the fever of land speculation chanced to run un- 
 usually high. Adventurers from all parts of the country were 
 flocking to the auction, and capitalists from Baltimore, Philadel- 
 phia, New York and Boston were sending agents to buy up 
 Western lands. No one supposed that custom, or equity, would 
 be regarded. The first day's sale showed that speculation ran 
 to the verge of insanity. Land was eagerly bought in at seven- 
 teen, twenty-five and forty dollars an acre. 
 
 "The Christian colony had small hopes of retaining their 
 farms. As first settlers they had chosen the best land, and 
 persevering industry had brought it into the highest cultivation. 
 Its market value was much greater than the acres already sold 
 at exorbitant prices. In view of these facts, they had prepared 
 their minds for another remove into the wilderness, perhaps to 
 be again ejected by a similar process. But on the morning 
 that their lot was offered for sale, they observed with grateful 
 surprise that their neighbors were everywhere busy among the 
 crowd begging and expostulating : ' Don't bid on these lands ! 
 These men have been working hard on them for ten years. 
 During all that time they never did harm to man or brute. 
 They are always ready to do good for evil. They are a blessing 
 to any neighborhood. It would be a sin and a shame to bid on
 
 528 THE POWER OF LOVE. 
 
 their lands. Let them go at the government price.' The sale 
 came on ; the cultivators of the soil offered one dollar and 
 twenty-five cents, intending to bid higher if necessary. But 
 among all that crowd of selfish, reckless speculators not one bid 
 over them. Without one opposing voice the fair acres returned 
 to them. I do not remember a more remarkable instance of evil 
 overcome with good. The wisest political economy lies folded 
 up in the maxims of Christ." 
 
 LOVE IS POWER WITH THE LOWER ANIMALS. 
 
 In past time man's unkindness to man has not been more 
 conspicuous than his unkindness to the lower animals. In 
 most parts of the earth these have constantly been sufferers 
 from his rude impulses and recklessness ; and the consequence 
 is that most animals have acquired, from the effect of habit 
 transmitted through generations, a fear and a hatred of man 
 which we ought to be humiliated in contemplating, and which 
 is in itself a negative, if not positive, evil, since there is a great 
 pleasure to be derived from the kindly companionship of ani- 
 mals ; and of all this we are deprived, except when we take 
 pains with some special creature. It is by many thought prob- 
 able that from the dragooning system which we pursue toward 
 animals we have never yet realized one half of the benefits which 
 the domestic races are calculated to confer upon us. Take the 
 horse alone for an example, and hear what a contemporary 
 writer has said about him : 
 
 " In Europe the sagacious powers of this noble animal are 
 most imperfectly developed. In fact, notwithstanding his out- 
 ward beauty and his pampered form, he exists here in a state 
 of utter degradation, for he is generally under the power and in 
 the company of beings of the lowest grade ignorant, brutal, 
 capricious and cruel coachmen, cabmen, grooms, carmen, 
 horse jockeys, post-boys, butchers and blacklegs, many of 
 them without sense, temper or feeling, fellows infinitely below
 
 THE POWER OF LOVE. $2$ 
 
 the generous creatures they torment in the scale of creation. 
 Some are well fed, it is true, and duly exercised, and happy 
 their fate ; the rest are abused with a cruelty that has become 
 proverbial. Now, what knowledge can a horse acquire under 
 such treatment ? How is he to display, to exercise, to increase, 
 the powers bestowed on him by nature ? from whom is he to 
 learn ? Being gregarious by nature, he is here secluded from 
 his own species ; he is separated, except for a short time, from 
 his master, who attends only to his animal propensities. When 
 not employed about a heavy, cumbersome machine, ' dragging 
 his dull companion to and fro,' he is shut up in the walls of a 
 stable. But this beautiful creature, we repeat, is existing all 
 the time in a degraded state, or, as the newspapers call it, in a 
 false position. Who does not know how soon the horse will 
 meet every advance of kindness and attention you make to him, 
 how grateful he will be, how studious of your will, how anxious 
 to understand you, how happy to please and satisfy you ? 
 
 "We have possessed two horses at different times which, 
 with only the treatment that they would experience from a 
 master fond of animals under his protection, would follow us 
 with the attention of dogs, sometimes stopping to graze on 
 the banks of the road till we had advanced many hundred 
 yards, and of their own accord, and apparently with delight, 
 cantering forward and rejoining us. In fact, they were gentle, 
 intelligent and pleasing companions ; and this was produced 
 rather by total abstinence than from any positive solicitation or 
 attention on our parts." 
 
 The writer proceeds to remark the great gentleness, sagacity 
 and serviceableness which mark the horse in the East, particu- 
 larly in Arabia, and which qualities seem to depend entirely on 
 the better treatment the horse there receives. The Arab makes 
 his horse a domestic companion. 'He sleeps in the same tent 
 with the family. Children repose upon his neck and hug and 
 kiss him without the least danger. He steps amongst their 
 
 34
 
 530 THE POWER OF LOVE. 
 
 sleeping forms by night without ever injuring them. When 
 his master mounts him, he manifests the greatest pleasure ; and 
 if he by any chance falls off, he instantly stands still till he is 
 again mounted. He has even been known to pick up his 
 wounded master and carry him in his teeth to a place of safety. 
 Unquestionably, these beautiful traits of character have been 
 developed in the animal by a proper course of treatment. The 
 same law holds good here as amongst men. Treat these in a 
 rational, humane and confiding manner, and you bring forth 
 their best natural qualities, but, on the contrary, visit them with 
 oppression and cruelty, and you either harden and stupefy them 
 or rouse them to the manifestation of wrathful feelings which 
 may prove extremely uncomfortable to yourself. It is prob- 
 able, then, that, from the way in which we use most animals, 
 we never have experienced nearly so much advantage from 
 their subserviency as we might have done.
 
 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GARDINER. 
 
 "h not this a brand plucked out of the fire ?" ZF.CH. iii. 2. " IVho hath delivered 
 us from the power of darkness and hath translated its into the kingdom of his dear 
 Son." COL. i. 13.
 
 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GARDINER. 
 
 THE most prominent part of the engraving is from a print 
 representing Colonel Gardiner, published in London in 1797. 
 The lower section is from a drawing made by the author of 
 this volume when on a visit to Scotland, in October, 1853. It 
 represents the monument erected to his memory, with his house 
 in the background, a few rods from the Tranent station, on the 
 North British Railway, ten miles from Edinburgh. The fol- 
 lowing inscription appears on the monument : 
 
 " To Colonel Gardiner, who fell in the battle of 
 Preston-pans, 2ist September, 1745. His valor, 
 his scorn of death, to Fame's proud meed no im- 
 pulse owed; his was a pure, unsullied zeal for 
 Britain and for God. He fell ! he died ! the exult- 
 ing foe trod careless o'er his noble clay. Yet not 
 in vain our champion fought in that disastrous 
 day. Erected by public subscription, 1853. This 
 neighborhood, alike hallowed by his life and re- 
 nowned by his death, gratefully accepts the guar- 
 dianship of his memory." 
 
 Colonel Gardiner, so well known to the religious world by 
 his life, written by the celebrated Dr. Doddridge, was born at 
 Carriden, in Linlithgowshire, January 10, 1687. His mother 
 took great care to instruct him in the true principles of Chris- 
 tianity. He however entered the army at a very early age, 
 and at fourteen held an ensign's commission in a Scottish regi- 
 
 33
 
 534 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GARDINER. 
 
 ment in the Dutch service. Living among dissolute persons, 
 he became one of the most distinguished of them, and employed 
 himself in the pursuit of pleasure with such apparent satisfaction 
 that he was called by a kind of dreadful compliment the " happy 
 rake." He, however, afterward used to relate that when some 
 of his dissolute companions were congratulating him on his dis- 
 tinguished felicity, a dog at that time being in the room, he 
 could not forbear groaning inwardly, and saying to himself, 
 " Oh that I were that dog !" The remarkable change which 
 took place in his feelings in July, 1719, effecting an entire 
 change in his conduct, is minutely described by Dr. Doddridge. 
 He had spent the evening, " and if I mistake not it was the 
 Sabbath," in some gay company, and had an unhappy assigna- 
 tion with a married woman, of what rank or quality is not cer- 
 tainly known, whom he was to attend exactly at twelve. The 
 company broke up about eleven ; and not judging it convenient 
 to anticipate the time, he went into his chamber to kill the 
 tedious hour, perhaps with some amusing book, or in some 
 other way. But it happened very accidentally that he took up 
 a religious book which his good mother or aunt had, without 
 his knowledge, slipped into his portmanteau. It was called, if 
 I remember the title exactly, The Cliristian Soldier ; or, Heaven 
 taken by Storm [see page 405], and was written by Mr. Thomas 
 Watson. Guessing by the title of it that he should find some 
 phrases of his spiritualized in a manner which he thought 
 might afford him some diversion, he resolved to dip into it; 
 but he took no serious notice of anything he read in it, and yet 
 while this book was in his hand an impression was made upon 
 his mind, perhaps God only knows how, which drew after it a 
 train of the most important and happy consequences. 
 
 He thought he saw an unusual blaze of light fall upon the 
 book while he was reading, which he at first imagined might 
 happen by some accident in the candle ; but lifting up his eyes, 
 h'- perceived, to his extreme amazement, that there was before
 
 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GARDINER. $35 
 
 him, as it were suspended in the air, a visible representation of 
 the Lord Jesus on the cross, surrounded on all sides with glory ; 
 and he was impressed as if a voice, or something equivalent to 
 a voice, had come to him to this effect (for he was not confident 
 as to the very words) : " O sinner, did I suffer this for thee, and 
 are these thy returns?" But whether this were an audible 
 voice, or only a strong impression on his mind equally striking, 
 he did not seem very confident, though to the best of my re- 
 membrance he rather judged it to be the former. Struck with 
 so amazing a phenomenon as this, 'there remained hardly any 
 life in him, so that he sunk down in the arm-chair in which he 
 sat, and continued he knew not exactly how long insensible. 
 
 It may easily be supposed he was in no condition to make 
 any observation upon the time in which he remained in an in- 
 sensible state, nor did he, throughout all the remainder of the 
 night, once recollect that criminal and detestable assignation 
 which had before engrossed all his thoughts. He rose in a 
 tumult of passions not to be conceived, and walked to and fro 
 in his chamber till he was ready to drop down in unutterable 
 astonishment and agony of heart, appearing to himself the vilest 
 monster in the creation of God, who had all his lifetime been 
 crucifying Christ afresh by his sins, and now saw, as he assur- 
 edly believed, by a miraculous vision the horror of what he had 
 done. With this was connected such a view of both the maj- 
 esty and goodness of God as caused him to loathe and abhor 
 himself, and to repent as in dust and ashes. He immediately 
 gave judgment against himself, and was astonished that he had 
 not immediately been struck dead in his wickedness ; and he 
 settled it as a point with himself for several months that the 
 wisdom and justice of God did most necessarily require that 
 such an enormous sinner should be made an example of ever- 
 lasting vengeance. 
 
 Ever after this period Colonel Gardiner led a most exemplary 
 life in all the varied and trying situations in which he was placed.
 
 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GARDINER. 
 
 Charles the Pretender having landed in Scotland, Sir John Cope, 
 commander-in-chief of the forces in North Britain, mustered a 
 body of troops at Preston-pans, near Colonel Gardiner's resi- 
 dence. The following account is from Dr. Doddridge : 
 
 He (Colonel Gardiner) continued all night .under arms, wrap- 
 ped up in his cloak, and generally sheltered under a rick of 
 barley which happened to be in the fields. About three in the 
 morning he called his domestic servants to him, of whom there 
 were four in waiting. He dismissed three of them with most 
 affectionate Christian advice, and such solemn charges relating 
 to the performance of their duty and the care of their souls as 
 seemed plainly to intimate that he apprehended it at least very 
 probable he was taking his last farewell of them. 
 
 He saw a party of the foot-guards, who were then bravely 
 fighting near him, and whom he was ordered to support, had 
 no officer to head them ; upon which he said eagerly, in the 
 hearing of the person from whom I had this account, " Those 
 brave fellows would be cut to pieces for the want of a com- 
 mander," or words to that effect. While he was speaking he 
 rode up to them and cried out aloud, " Fire on, my lads, and 
 fear nothing." But just as the words were out of his mouth, a 
 Highlander advanced toward him with a scythe fastened to a 
 long pole, with which he gave him such a deep wound on his 
 right arm that his sword dropped out of his hand ; at the same 
 time, several others coming about him while he was thus en- 
 tangled with that cruel weapon, he was dragged off from his 
 horse. 
 
 The moment he fell, another Highlander, who, if the king's 
 evidence at Carlisle may be credited, was one McNaught, who 
 was executed about a year after, gave him a stroke either with 
 a broadsword or a Lochaber-axe (for my informant could not 
 exactly distinguish) on the hinder part of his head, which was 
 the mortal blow. All that his faithful servant saw farther at 
 this time was that as his hat was falling off he took it in his left
 
 CONVERSION OF COLONEL GARDINER. S37 
 
 hand and waved it as a signal for him to retreat ; and added, 
 what were the last words he ever heard him speak, " Take care 
 of yourself;" upon which the servant retired. From the mo- 
 ment in which he fell it was no longer a battle, but a rout and 
 carnage. 
 
 The cruelties which the rebels (as it is generally said under 
 the command of Lord Elcho) inflicted on some of the king's 
 troops after they had asked quarter were dreadfully legible on 
 the countenances of many who survived it. They entered Col- 
 onel Gardiner's house before he was carried off the field ; and 
 notwithstanding the strict orders which the unhappy duke of 
 Perth (whose conduct is said to be very humane in many in- 
 stances) gave to the contrary, everything of value was plun- 
 dered, to the very curtains of the beds and hangings of the 
 rooms. His papers were all thrown into the wildest disorder, 
 and his house made a hospital for the reception of those who 
 were wounded in the action.
 
 RELIGION, POEMS, ETC., OF THE GOTHS 
 AND SCANDINAVIANS. 
 
 THE ancient inhabitants of the more northern parts of Europe 
 are generally known in history as Scandinavians or Goths. 
 Under this last name they directed their arms against the 
 Roman empire, and finally, under Alaric, one of their most 
 celebrated kings, plundered Rome, A. D. 401, and produced 
 disorders and revolutions in the West of Europe. The religion 
 of the Scandinavians or Goths was most intimately connected 
 with their manners. Their supreme divinity, or god, was Odin, 
 who was described as the terrible and severe being, the father 
 of carnage and the avenger, from whose union with Frea, the 
 heavenly mother, sprung inferior divinities. 
 
 It is stated that they held three great principles, or funda- 
 mental doctrines of religion : " To serve the supreme being 
 with prayer and sacrifice, to do no wrong or unjust action, and 
 to be intrepid in fight." The principles are the key to the 
 Edda, or sacred book of the Scandinavians, which, though it 
 contains the substance of a very ancient religion, is not of 
 itself a work of high antiquity, being compiled in the thirteenth 
 century by Snorro Sturtson, supreme judge of Iceland. 
 
 Among the subordinate deities who sprung from Odin was 
 Thor, who perpetually wars against Loke and his evil giants, 
 who envy the power of Odin and seek to destroy his works. 
 Among the inferior deities were the virgins of the Valhalla, 
 whose office was to administer joys to the heroes in paradise. 
 These joys were fighting, ceaseless slaughter and drinking beer 
 out of the skulls of their enemies, with a renovation of life to 
 
 538
 
 SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION, POEMS, ETC. 
 
 FINGAL'S CONFLICT WITH THE SPIRIT OF LODA. 
 
 " They knew not God ; . . . vain in their imagination, . . . their heart was <fark~ 
 ened." ROM. i. 21. " Ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods." GAL. 
 iv. 8. "One that beateth the air." \ COR. ix. 26.
 
 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS. 541 
 
 furnish a perpetuity of the same pleasures, The favorites of 
 Odin were all who die in battle, or, what was equally meritori- 
 ous, by their own hand. 
 
 As the Scandinavians believed this world to be the work of 
 some superior intelligence, so they held all nature to be con- 
 stantly.under the regulation of an almighty will and power, and 
 subject to a fixed and unalterable destiny. These notions had 
 a wonderful effect on the national manners and on the conduct 
 of individuals. The Scandinavian placed his sole delight in 
 war; he entertained an absolute contempt of danger and death, 
 and his glory was estimated by the number he had slain in 
 battle. The death song of Regner Lodbrok, king of Denmark, 
 who fell into the hands of his enemies, was thrown into prison and 
 condemned to be destroyed by serpents, is a beautiful picture 
 of the Scandinavian character. The following is an exact trans- 
 lation of a part of his song : 
 
 " We have fought with* our swords. I was young when, toward the east, in the 
 bay of Oreon, we made torrents of blood flow to gorge the ravenous beasts of prey 
 and the yellow-footed bird. There resounded the bared steel upon the lofty 
 helmets of men. The whole ocean was one wound. The crow waded in the 
 blood of the slain. When we had numbered twenty years, we lifted our spears on 
 high, and everywhere spread our renown. Eight barons we overcame in the east, 
 before the port of Diminum, and plentifully we feasted the eagle in that slaughter. ' 
 The warm stream of wounds ran into the ocean. The army fell before us. When 
 we steered our ships into the mouth of the Vistula, we sent the Helsingians to the 
 hall of Odin. Then did the sword bite. The waters were all one wound. The 
 earth was dyed red with the warm stream. The swords rung upon the coats-of- 
 mail and clove the bucklers in twain. None fled on that day, till among his ships 
 Herandus fell. Than him no braver baron cleaves the sea with ships ; a cheerful 
 heart did he ever bring to the combat. Then the host threw away their shields, 
 when the uplifted spear flew at the breasts of heroes. The sword bit the Scarfian 
 rocks; bloody was the shield in battle until Rafue, the king, was slain. From the 
 heads of warriors the warm sweat streamed down their armor. The crows around 
 the Indirian islands had an ample prey. It were difficult to single out one among 
 so many deaths. At the rising of the sun I beheld the spears piercing the bodies 
 of foes, and the bows throwing forth their steel-pointed arrows. Loud roared the 
 swords in the plains of Lano. The Virgin long bewailed the slaughter of that 
 morning." 
 
 He thus laments the death of one of his sons in battle :
 
 54 2 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS. 
 
 " When Rogvaldus was slain, for him mourned all the hawks of heaven," as 
 lamenting a benefactor who had so liberally supplied them with prey ; " for 
 boldly," as he adds, " in the strife of swords, did the breaker of helmets throw 
 the spear of blood." 
 
 The poem concludes with sentiments of the highest bravery 
 and contempt of death : 
 
 " What is more certain to the brave man than death, though amidst the storm 
 of swords he stands always ready to oppose it ? He only regrets this life who hath 
 never known distress. The timorous man allures the devouring eagle to the field 
 of battle. The coward, whenever he comes, is useless to himself. This I esteem 
 honorable, that the youth should advance to the combat fairly matched one against 
 another, nor man retreat from man. Long' was this the warrior's highest glory. 
 He who aspires to the love of virgins ought always to be foremost in the war of 
 arms. It appears to me, of truth, that we are led by the Fates. Seldom can any 
 overcome the appointment of destiny. Little did I foresee that Ella was to have 
 my life in his hands in that day when, fainting, I concealed my blood, and pushed 
 forth my ships into the waves, after we had spread a repast for the beasts of prey 
 through the Scottish bays. But this makes me always rejoice, that in the halls of 
 our father Balder (or Odin) I know there are seats prepared where in a short time 
 we shall be drinking ale out of the hollow skulls of our enemies. In the house of 
 the mighty Odin no brave man laments death. I come not with the voice of 
 despair to Odin's hall. How eagerly would all the sons of Aslauga now rush to 
 war did they know the distress of their father, whom a multitude of venomous ser- 
 pents tear ! I have given to my children a mother who hath filled their hearts 
 with valor. I am fast approaching to my end. A cruel death awaits me from the 
 viper's bite. A snake dwells in the midst of my heart. I hope that the sword of 
 some of my sons shall yet be stained with the blood of Ella. The valiant youths 
 will wax red with anger, and will not sit in peace. Fifty and one times have -I 
 reared the standard in battle. In my youth I learned to dye the sword in blood ; 
 my hope was then that no king among men would be more renowned than I. 
 The goddess of death will now soon call me ; I must not mourn my death. Now 
 I end my song. The goddesses invite me away, they whom Odin has sent to me 
 from his hall. I will sit upon a lofty seat and drink ale joyfully with the god- 
 desses of death. The hours of my life are run out. I will smile when I die." 
 
 In connection with the foregoing, several extracts from the 
 Poems of Ossian are given. The poems that go by his name 
 are marked by a simple and sublime wildness, and are claimed 
 by some to be the most poetic compositions in the English lan- 
 guage, and much of the ideal found in them is seen by the 
 poetic eye as it is set forth in the celebrated passage of 
 Shakespeare :
 
 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS. 543 
 
 "The poet's eye in a fine phrenzy rolling 
 Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven ; 
 And as imagination bodies forth 
 The form of things unknown, the poet's pen 
 Turns them into shapes, and gives to airy nothings 
 A local habitation and a name." 
 
 The poems may be characterized, as is the elegy of David 
 over Saul and Jonathan, by a pious and able commentator, "as 
 little relating to religion, but as highly poetical." These songs 
 of Ossian, as they may be called, so full of striking, and even 
 sublime, imagery, were from a people " who delighted in war," 
 violence and blood, whose highest happiness that they could 
 conceive of was that of excited revelry in the halls of Odin, the 
 avenger. Here their passions of revenge, which even in their 
 last moments they held in common with other savages of every 
 race, would be fully glutted by drinking ale out of the skulls of 
 their enemies, and all their animal desires would hereafter be 
 fully gratified. 
 
 The poems of Ossian, which have had an extraordinary repu- 
 tation all over Europe, were translated from the original Gaelic 
 by Mr. Macpherson, a Scotch writer of celebrity. He died in 
 Scotland in 1796, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. He 
 first attracted general notice in 1792 by the publication of some 
 poems attributed to Ossian, the son of Fingal, the king of 
 Morven, the west mountainous coast of Scotland. He died 
 about the year 283. He is described by the bards as one of the 
 best of men, the bravest warrior and one of the most finished 
 characters of the times in which he lived. Ossian, his son, was 
 a bard, a poet and a warrior, who, according to tradition, fol- 
 lowed his father in his wars, and lived to an old age, when he 
 became blind. He married the daughter of the king of Lego, 
 in Ireland. The scene of most of his poems is laid in Scotland, 
 or the coast of Ireland opposite the territories of Fingal, his 
 father. 
 
 The bards and minstrels are said to be originally the disciples
 
 544 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS. 
 
 of the Druids, and had their minds enlarged by being initiated 
 into the learning of that celebrated order. They were gener- 
 ally spared by the victorious king or chieftain, as it was only by 
 their means he could hope for immortality. They attended him 
 in the camp, and contributed to establish his power by their 
 songs. The great actions of their prince were magnified, and 
 the bards could form a perfect hero in their own minds and 
 ascribe that character to the chiefs or their patrons. The 
 prince, flattered by his bards and rivaled by his own heroes, en- 
 deavored to excel his people in merit, as he was above them in 
 station. To this source much that is noble and generous in 
 our barbarian ancestors is to be ascribed. The bards no doubt 
 suppressed whatever was base, ignoble or cruel in their heroes, 
 many of whom were no better than pirates and robbers. 
 
 The engraving affixed to this article is a representation of 
 Fingal in one of his expeditions, engaged with almost super- 
 natural power in a conflict with the " dismal spirit of Loda." 
 He puts his ghostly adversary to flight. In the oval in the lower 
 part of the engraving a representation is given of the bard re- 
 hearsing the deeds of " other years ; a tale of the times of old !" 
 His words are accompanied with music, which 'he brings out 
 from the Irish harp before him. 
 
 CONFLICT BETWEEN FINGAL AND THE SPIRIT OF LODA. 
 
 "The flame was dim and distant; the red moon hid her face in the east. A 
 blast came from the mountain ; on its wings was the spirit of Loda. He came to 
 his place in his terrors, and shook his dusty spear. His eyes appear like flames in 
 his dark face ; his voice is like distant thunder. Fingal advanced his spear in 
 night, and raised his voice on high : 
 
 " ' Son of night, retire ; call thy winds, and fly. Why dost thou come to my 
 presence with thy shadowy arms? Do I fear thy form, spirit of dismal Loda? 
 Weak is thy shield of clouds ; feeble is that meteor, thy sword. The blast rolls 
 them together, and thou thyself art lost! Fly from my presence, son of night; call 
 thy winds, and fly.' 
 
 " ' Dost thou force me from thy place?' replied the hollow voice. 'The people 
 bend before me. I turn the battle in the field of the brave. I look on the 
 nations, and they vanish ; my nostrils pour the blast of death. I come abroad on
 
 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS. 545 
 
 the wings of the wind ; the tempests are before my face. But my dwelling is calm, 
 above the clouds ; the fields of my rest are pleasant.' 
 
 " ' Dwell in thy pleasant fields," said the king. ' Let Comhal's son be forgot. 
 Do my steps ascend from my hills into thy peaceful plains ? Do I meet thee with 
 a spear on thy cloud spirit, O dismal Loda ? Why, then, dost thou frown on me ? 
 Why shake thine airy spear? Thou frownest in vain. I never fled from the 
 mighty in war, and shall the sons of the wind frighten the king of Morven ? No, 
 he knows the weakness of their arms.' 
 
 "'Fly to thy land,' replied the form; 'receive thy wind, and fly. The blasts 
 are in the hollow of my hand ; the course of the storm is mine. The king of Sora 
 is my son ; he bends at the stone of my power. His battle is around Carrio- 
 thura, and he will prevail ! Fly to thy land, son of Comhal, or feel my flaming 
 wrath.' 
 
 " He lifted high his shadowy spear ; he bent forward his dreadful height. Fin- 
 gal, advancing, drew his sword, the blade of dark-brown Luno. The gleaming 
 path of the steel winds through the gloomy ghost. The form falls, shapeless, into 
 the air, like a column of smoke which the staff of the boy disturbs as it rises from 
 the half-extinguished furnace." 
 
 OSSIAN'S ADDRESS TO THE SUN. 
 
 " O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers ! Whence are thy 
 beams, O Sun, thy everlasting light ? Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty ; the 
 stars hide themselves in the sky; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western 
 wave ; but thou thyself movest alone. Who can be a companion of thy course ? 
 The oaks of the mountains fall; the mountains themselves decay with years; the 
 ocean shrinks and grows again ; the moon herself is lost in heaven ; but thou art 
 for ever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course. When the world is 
 dark with tempests, when thunder rolls and lightning flies, thou lookest in thy 
 beauty from the clouds and laughest at the storm. But to Ossian thou lookest in 
 vain, for he beholds thy beams no more whether thy yellow hair flows on the 
 eastern clouds or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. But thou art perhaps 
 like me for a season ; thy years will have an end. Thou shall sleep in thy clouds, 
 careless of the voice of the morning. Exult then, O Sun, in the strength of thy 
 youth! Age is dark and unlovely; it is like the glimmering light of the moon 
 when it shines through broken clouds and the mist is on the hills. The blast of 
 the north is on the plain ; the traveler shrinks in the midst of his journey." 
 
 DEATH OF CUTHULLIN. 
 
 " He rushed, in the sound of his arms, like the terrible spirit of Loda when he 
 comes in the roar of a thousand storms and scatters battles from his eyes. He sits 
 on a cloud over Lochlin's seas. The mighty hand is on his sword. Winds lift his 
 flaming locks. The waning moon half lights his dreadful face. His features, 
 blended in darkness, arise to view. So terrible was Cuthullin in the day of his 
 fame. Torlath fell by his hand, Lego's heroes mourned. They gathered around 
 the chief like the clouds of the desert. A thousand swords arose at once, a thou- 
 sand arrows flew, but he stood like a rock in the midst of a roaring sea. They fell 
 35
 
 54-6 RELIGION OF THE GOTHS. 
 
 around. He strode in blood. Dark Slimara echoed wide. The sons of Ullin 
 came. The battle spread over Lego. The chief of Erin overcame. He returned 
 over the field with his fame. But pale he returned. The joy of his face was dark. 
 He rolled his eyes in silence. The sword hung unsheathed in his hand. His 
 spear bent at every step. 
 
 " ' Carril,' said the chief in secret, ' the strength of Cuthullin fails. My days are 
 with the years that are past. No morning of mine shall arise. They shall seek 
 me at Temara, but I shall not be found. Cormac will weep in his hall, and say, 
 Where is Erin's chief? But my name is renowned, my fame in the song of bards. 
 The youth will say in secret, ' Oh let me die as Cuthullin died ! Renown clothed 
 him like a robe. The light of his fame is great. Draw the arrow from my side. 
 Lay Cuthullin beneath that oak. Place the shield of Caithlat near, that they may 
 behold me amidst the arms of my fathers.' 
 
 " ' And is the son of Semo fallen ?' said Carril, with a sigh. ' Mournful are 
 Tara's walls. Sorrow dwells at Dunscai. Thy spouse is left alone in her youth. 
 The son of thy love is alone. He shall come to Bragsela and ask her why she 
 weeps. He shall lift his eyes to the wall and see his father's sword. Whose 
 sword is that ? he will say. The soul of his mother is sad. Who is that like the 
 hart of the desert in the murmur of his course ? His eyes look wildly around in 
 search of his friend. Connal, son of Bolgar, where hast thou been when the 
 mighty fell? Did the seas of Togorma roll around thee? Was the wind of the 
 south in thy sails ? The mighty have fallen in battle, and thou wast not there. 
 Let none tell it in Selma nor in Morven's woody land. Fingal will be sad, and 
 the sons of the desert mourn.' 
 
 " By the dark rolling waves of Lego they raised the hero's tomb. Luath at a 
 distance lies. The song of bards rose over the dead : 
 
 " ' Blest be thy soul, son of Semo! Thou wert mighty in battle. Thy strength 
 was like the strength of a stream, thy speed like the eagle's wing. Thy path in 
 battle was terrible; the steps of death were behind thy sword. Blest be thy soul, 
 son of Semo, Carborne, chief of Dunscai. Thou hast not fallen by the sword of 
 the mighty, neither was thy blood on the spear of the brave. The arrow came 
 like the sting of death in a blast ; nor did the feeble hand which drew the bow 
 perceive it. Peace to thy soul in thy cave, chief of the isle of mist.' " 
 
 OSSIANS DEATH. 
 
 " Such were the words of the bards in the days of the song, when the king heard 
 the music of harps and the tales of other times. The chiefs gathered from all their 
 hills and heard the lovely sound. They praised the voice of Cona, the first among 
 a thousand bards. But age is now on my tongue, and my soul has failed. I hear 
 sometimes the ghosts of bards, and learn their pleasant song. But memory fails on 
 my mind ; I hear the call of years. They say as they pass along, Why does Ossian 
 sing ? Soon shall he lie in the narrow house, and no bard shall raise his fame. 
 Roll on, ye dark brown years, for ye bring no joy in your course. Let the tomb 
 open to Ossian, for his strength has failed. The sons of the song are gone to rest. 
 My voice remains like a blast that roars lonely on a sea-surrounded rock after the 
 winds are laid. The dark moss whistles there, and the distant mariner sees the 
 waving trees."
 
 PROCRASTINATION. 
 
 " To every thing there is a season, a time to every pttrpose." ECCL. iii. I. "I went 
 by the field of the slothful, . . . and, lo, it was all grown over with, thorns and nettles 
 had covered the face thereof.' 1 PROV. xxiv. 30-31.
 
 PROCRASTINATION. 
 
 " PROCRASTINATION is the thief of time ; 
 Year after year it steals, till all are fled, 
 And, to the mercies of a moment leave 
 The vast concerns of an eternal scene." 
 
 IN religious matters, when one is called to the inconceivable 
 importance pf attending to those things which concern his 
 soul's salvation in the world to come, he is often tempted to 
 put off the contemplation, or procrastinate the subject till he 
 has, like Felix, a more convenient season. When Paul " rea- 
 soned of righteousness, temperance and a judgment to come," 
 Felix trembled ; and many, like him thus affected, will hear no 
 more, and will in effect say to the minister, or the book that 
 alarms them, " Nay," to their own consciences, " Go thy way at 
 this time." They have engagements and other business they 
 prefer to see to at present, and then they hope to be more favor- 
 ably circumstanced or better disposed, and then they will attend 
 to the concerns of their souls. Thus, through procrastination, 
 the hopeful impression wears off; iniquity retains possession in 
 their hearts, and the reason of their neglect of the divine message 
 is clearly explained. Thus the " convenient time " never arrives ; 
 they continue to sin to the end of life against their better know- 
 ledge, which only serves to aggravate their future condemnation. 
 
 Procrastination, so fatal to our well-being hereafter if in- 
 dulged in, is detrimental to our every-day life in our secular 
 affairs. The man seen in the annexed engraving is addicted to 
 the habit of putting off things of importance till the last mo- 
 ment, and has so timed his movements that he is too late to 
 take the train which was to convey him to the place where his 
 
 519
 
 550 PR OCRASTINA TION. 
 
 presence was of highest importance in a business transaction. 
 Seeing it is about leaving the station, he makes desperate exer- 
 tions to reach it in time it may be by only two or three 
 minutes. In addition to his losing his journey, it is possible he 
 may have injured himself for life by his over-efforts to reach the 
 train. 
 
 It is said to be a very ancient English proverb, " Never put 
 off till to-morrow what may be done to-day," and the people of 
 this nation have been distinguished above many others for steady, 
 persevering industry. On the contrary, sluggishness and pro- 
 crastination are stated to be the national attributes of the Span- 
 iards, who, though acting with great spirit when thoroughly 
 roused, continue slothful and dilatory at all other times. " Nor 
 is it a little remarkable," says one, "that there is a Spanish 
 proverb of directly opposite meaning to the English one just 
 now mentioned." Laborde, in his view of Spain, affirms it to 
 be a Spanish proverbial maxim that " One should never do to- 
 day what may be done to-morrow." 
 
 Whether this is owing to nature, or to education and habit, or 
 from whatever cause it may spring, there is in many people a 
 prevailing disposition to procrastinate, or put off for the future, 
 that which may cost us at the present some little extra exertion 
 to accomplish, though they may admit the reasonableness of 
 immediate action. No infatuation is more deplorable, nor yet 
 more general, the whole Christian world over, than the vain 
 hope that leads us to put off from day to day the great work 
 which must be done, or ourselves for ever undone. " But," says 
 the author of the Brief Remarker on the subject of procras- 
 tination, " I am now to speak not of the common and most de- 
 plorable infatuation which relates to the concerns of immortal- 
 ity, but of that that concerns our temporal interests. Of the 
 fatal error of the former, the holy volume and the pulpit give 
 solemn warning ; of some of the mischiefs of the latter, it is 
 mine to treat in this short essay."
 
 PROCRASTINA TION. 5 5 I 
 
 Few things are more ruinous, even to our secular affairs, than 
 customary procrastination. It confuses and blights every kind 
 of worldly business ; for business not attended to in the proper 
 time or season is either not done at all, or, if done, at the cost 
 of much more difficulty and labor. This is shown in the two 
 figures seen in the lower part of the annexed engraving. These 
 men have put off the necessary work of weeding or hoeing their 
 Indian corn till the weeds have grown rank and strong. One 
 lifts his hoe to give it sufficient force to cut up and destroy the 
 weeds. Both of them are laboring under many disadvantages. 
 Instead of getting up early in the morning and working in the 
 cool of the day, it may be awing to their habits of procrastina- 
 tion, they dozed in bed till quite late. The sun is so far up in 
 the heavens that it begins to be hot and overpowering. It is 
 hard hoeing where there is such a growth of weeds. They 
 perspire profusely. One is seen wiping the sweat off his face 
 with his shirt sleeve, and seems to be almost ready to give up 
 working. 
 
 Some farmers double their labor and lose half their profit for 
 want of doing things in the proper season. Their fields are 
 overgrown with bushes and thorns, which a little seasonable 
 labor might have prevented. Their fences, and even their 
 dwellings, are neglected till the cost of repairs becomes in- 
 creased several fold, besides their sustaining many inconveni- 
 ences and serious injuries from the neglect. And so also their 
 crops cost more labor, and at the same time are smaller in bulk 
 or inferior in quality, by reason that much of the labor that had 
 been bestowed upon them was out of season. Nor is it uncom- 
 mon to see farmers of this sort in mighty hurry and bustle. 
 They are behind in their business and running to overtake it, 
 which is the cause of their being so often in a greater hurry 
 than their neighbors. 
 
 Some men are in the habit of letting their accounts lie-unset- 
 tled for several years together. It is no matter, forsooth; they
 
 5$2 PROCRASTINATION. 
 
 are near neighbors and close friends, and can come to a reckoning 
 at any time. At length a settlement between them commences. 
 The accounts of each, however honest, are swelled beyond 
 the expectation of either. On both sides debts are vanished 
 from the remembrance of him who is charged with them. A 
 warm dispute ensues perhaps an arbitration, perhaps an ex- 
 pensive lawsuit ; and these close friends are severed for ever. 
 
 Many a one loses his custom as a mechanic by not doing his 
 work in season. It makes no odds, he thinks, whether the 
 thing be done precisely at the time agreed upon ; but so think 
 not his customers. 
 
 What does not a merchant lose in custom, in credit, by 
 neglecting his books, though it be only a few months or a few 
 weeks ? How hard does he find it to set to rights what might 
 easily have been kept right if he had done the work of each 
 day within the day ! 
 
 Honest Jonathan borrows a sum of money from his particu- 
 lar friend on the express promise of scrupulous punctuality. 
 He has the money at the appointed time ; but being busy here 
 and there, he delays to carry or send it. The money hap- 
 pens to be sorely wanted the very day it becomes due, and 
 with that particular friend Jonathan's credit is utterly lost. 
 
 A clergyman of superior abilities may sometimes appear less 
 intellectual in the pulpit merely from the habit of delaying 
 preparation for Sunday to the very last of the week, when not 
 unfrequently company unexpectedly falls in or he is unex- 
 pectedly called out, so that a considerable proportion of his 
 sermons, composed in an unsettled state of mind, fails to give 
 that due instruction he is called upon by his profession to give 
 to those who look up to him. By timing his preparations he 
 would soon find it would be a great benefit to himself as well as 
 to those that sit under his teachings. 
 
 A physician, it may be, possesses undoubted skill in his pro- 
 fession, but loves talk better than practice. Called away in a
 
 PROCRASTINA TION. 553 
 
 case of pressing emergency, he sets out with speed, but meets 
 an old acquaintance, with whom he commences a conversation 
 respecting the news or politics which occupies him half an 
 hour ; and by the time he arrives at the destination for which 
 he set out all is over. Half an hour sooner, and his patient 
 might have been saved. 
 
 Violent pains and fevery chills seize us ; if they go not off, 
 we will send for the physician to-morrow. Before to-morrow 
 arrives the distemper gains a firmness of fixture that baffles the 
 physician's skill. 
 
 Hark ! the cry of fear and dismay ! The small-pox ! Our 
 children have caught the contagion ; we meant to have them 
 vaccinated, but put it off, and the time for it is now past. 
 
 Some persons neglect to make their wills, though they know 
 that their estates will be inherited contrary to their own minds 
 and the rule of equity if they should chance to die intestate. 
 Knowing this, and sincerely wishing that right may be done to 
 their heirs, they are fully determined to perform the necessary 
 act some time or other. "But why just now? Another time 
 will do as well." And thus they delay to do the thing from 
 year to year, till at last the time for doing it is gone by ; a 
 precious wife or a beloved and deserving child is left to suffer 
 through life the bitter consequences of this neglect.
 
 JEFFREYS, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE AND 
 CHANCELLOR. 
 
 GEORGE JEFFREYS was born at Acton, in Denbighshire, in 
 1648. At the time of the plague in 1666 he was permitted to 
 plead in the courts. In 1683 he was made chief justice of the 
 King's Bench. When James II. came to the throne he was 
 created Baron Jeffreys of Wem, in the county of Salop. When 
 the duke of Monmouth's rebellion was suppressed, he was sent 
 to try the prisoners. While engaged in this business, he was 
 guilty of a series of shocking cruelties on the prisoners, which 
 has rendered his name infamous in the annals of history. Ma- 
 caulay, the celebrated historian, has thus sketched the character 
 of this notorious judge. . 
 
 " He was a man of quick and vigorous parts, but constitu- 
 tionally prone to insolence and to angry passions. When just 
 emerging from boyhood, he had risen into practice at the Old 
 Bailey bar a bar where advocates have always used a license 
 of tongue unknown to Westminster Hall. Here, during many 
 years, his chief business was to examine and cross-examine the 
 most hardened criminals of a great capital. Daily conflicts 
 with prostitutes and thieves called out and exercised his powers 
 so effectually, that he became the most consummate bully ever 
 known in his profession. All tenderness for the feelings of 
 others, all self-respect, all sense of the becoming, were obliter- 
 ated from his mind. He acquired a boundless command of the 
 rhetoric in which the vulgar express hatred and contempt. 
 The profusion of maledictions and vituperative epithets which 
 
 554
 
 THE INFAMOUS JUDGE. 
 
 "Her judges are evening wolves." ZEPH. iii. 3. "How long will ye judge un- 
 fitsffy, and 'accept the persons of the wicked?" Ps. Ixxxii. 2. " The judge asketh for 
 a reward." Mic. vii. 3. " Violence cwereth them like a garment Ps. Ixxiu. 3-6.
 
 JEFFREYS, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. 557 
 
 composed his vocabulary could hardly have been rivaled in 
 the fish-market or the bear-garden. His countenance and his 
 voice must always have been unamiable, but these natural ad- 
 vantages for such he seems to have thought them he im- 
 proved to such a degree that there were few who in his parox- 
 ysms of rage could see or hear him without emotion. Impu- 
 dence and ferocity sat upon his brow. The glare of his eyes 
 had a fascination for the unhappy victim on whom they were 
 fixed ; yet his brow and eyes are said to be less terrible than were 
 the savage lines of his mouth. His yell of fury, as was said by 
 one who had often heard it, sounded like the thunder of the 
 judgment day. These qualifications he carried while still a 
 young man from the Bar to the Bench. He early became 
 common sergeant and then recorder of London. As judge of 
 the city sessions, he exhibited the same propensities which 
 afterward, in a higher post, gained for him an unenviable im- 
 mortality. Already might be remarked in him the most ob- 
 vious vice which is incident to human nature a delight in 
 misery merely as misery. There was a fiendish exultation in 
 the way in which he pronounced sentence on offenders. Their 
 weeping and imploring seemed to titillate him voluptuously, 
 and he loved to scare them into fits by dilating with luxuriant 
 amplification on all the details of what they were to suffer. 
 Thus, when he had an opportunity of ordering an unlucky 
 adventuress, to be whipped at the cart's tail, ' Hangman,' lie 
 would exclaim, ' I charge you to pay particular attention to this 
 lady. Scourge her till the blood runs down. It is Christmas 
 a cold time for madam to strip in. See that you warm her 
 shoulders thoroughly.' He was hardly less facetious when he 
 passed judgment on Ludowick Muggleton, the drunken tailor 
 who fancied himself a prophet. 'Impudent rogue!' roared 
 Jeffreys; 'thou shalt have an easy, easy, easy punishment!' 
 One part of this easy punishment was the pillory, in which the 
 wretched fanatic was almost killed with brickbats.
 
 JEFFREYS, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. 
 
 " The nature of Jeffreys had been hardened to that temper 
 which tyrants require in their worst implements. He had 
 hitherto looked for professional advancement to the corpora- 
 tion of London. He had therefore professed himself a Round- 
 head, and had always appeared to be in a higher state of exhil- 
 aration when he explained to popish priests that they were to 
 be cut down alive, and were to see their own bodies, than when 
 he passed ordinary sentences of death. But as soon as he had 
 got all that the city could give he made haste to sell his fore- 
 head of brass and his tongue of venom to the court. The rene- 
 gade soon found a patron in the obdurate and revengeful James, 
 but was always regarded with scorn and disgust by Charles, 
 whose faults, great as they were, had no affinity with insolence 
 and cruelty. 'That man,' said the king, 'has no learning, no 
 sense, no manners, and more impudence than ten carted street- 
 walkers.' Work was to be done, however, which could be 
 trusted to no man who revered law or was sensible of shame ; 
 and thus Jeffreys, at an age at which a barrister thinks himself 
 fortunate if he is employed to lead an important cause, was 
 made chief justice of the King's Bench. 
 
 " His enemies could not deny that he possessed some of the 
 qualities of a great judge. His legal knowledge, indeed, was 
 merely such as he had picked up in practice of no very high 
 kind, but he had one of those happily constituted intellects 
 which, across labyrinths of sophistry and through masses of 
 immaterial facts, go straight to the true point. Of his intellect, 
 however, he seldom had the full use. Even in civil causes his 
 malevolent and despotic temper perpetually disordered his 
 judgment. To enter his court was to enter the den of a wild 
 beast which none could tame, and which was as likely to be 
 roused to rage by caresses as by attacks. He frequently 
 poured forth on plaintiffs and defendants, barristers and attor- 
 neys, witnesses and jurymen, torrents of frantic abuse inter- 
 mixed with oaths and curses. His looks and tones had in-
 
 JEFFREYS, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. 559 
 
 spired terror when he was merely a young advocate struggling 
 into practice ; now that he was at the head of the most formid- 
 able tribunal in the realm, there were few indeed who did not 
 tremble before him. Even when he was sober, his violence 
 was sufficiently frightful; but, in general, his reason was over- 
 crowded and his' evil passions stimulated by the fumes of intox- 
 ication. His evenings were ordinarily given to revelry. People 
 who saw him only over his bottle would have supposed him to 
 be a man gross, indeed, sottish and addicted to low company 
 and low merriment, but social and good-natured. He was con- 
 stantly surrounded on such occasions by buffoons, selected, for 
 the most part, from the vilest pettifoggers who practiced before 
 him. These men bantered and abused each other for his amuse- 
 ment. He joined in their ribald talk, sung catches with them, 
 and when his head grew hot, hugged and kissed them in an 
 ecstasy of drunken fondness. But though wine at first seemed 
 to soften his heart, the effect a few hours later was very 
 different. 
 
 " He often came to the judgment-seat, having kept the court 
 waiting long, and yet having but half slept off his debauch, his 
 cheeks on fire, his eyes staring like those of a maniac. When 
 he was in this state, his boon companions of the preceding 
 night, if they were wise, kept out of his way, for the recollec- 
 tion of the familiarity to which he had admitted them inflamed 
 his malignity, and he was sure to take every opportunity of 
 overwhelming them with execration and invective. Not the 
 least odious of his many odious peculiarities was the pleasure 
 which he took in publicly browbeating and mortifying those 
 whom in his fits of maudlin tenderness he had encouraged to 
 presume on his favor. 
 
 " When the prince of Orange arrived, and James had aban- 
 doned his kingdom, Jeffreys, knowing his unpopularity, en- 
 deavored to escape in disguise. There was a true retribution in 
 his detection. A scrivener at Wapping whose trade was to
 
 560 JEFFREYS, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. 
 
 serve the seafaring men there with money at high interest had 
 some time before lent a sum on bottomry. The debtor applied 
 to equity for relief against his own bond, and the case came 
 before Jeffreys. The counsel for the borrower, having little 
 else to say, said that the lender was a Trimmer. The chancel- 
 lor instantly fired : ' A Trimmer ! Where is he ? Let me see 
 him. I have heard of that kind of monster. What is it made 
 like?' The unfortunate creditor was forced to stand forth. 
 The chancellor glared fiercely on him, stormed at him and sent 
 him away half dead with fright. ' While I live,' the poor man 
 said as he tottered out of court, ' I shall never forget that terri- 
 ble countenance.' And now the day of retribution had arrived. 
 The Trimmer was walking through Wapping, when he saw a 
 face at the window of an ale-house. The eyebrows had been 
 shaven away, the dress was that of a common sailor at New 
 Castle, and was black with coal-dust, but there was no mistak- 
 ing the savage mouth and eye of Jeffreys. 
 
 " The alarm was given. In a moment the house was sur- 
 rounded by hundreds of people, shaking bludgeons and bellow- 
 ing curses." [The accompanying engraving was mostly copied 
 from an old print showing Jeffreys as being drawn from the 
 ale-house by the mob ; underneath, the figure of infuriated Jus- 
 tice with her balances and sword. Her balances are held un- 
 equally, while with her sword she pierces to the heart the un- 
 protected victim, who, with the broken law, is seen underneath 
 her feet.] 
 
 " The disguised fugitive was saved by a company of train- 
 bands, and he was carried before the lord mayor. The mayor 
 was a simple man who had passed his life in obscurity, and was 
 bewildered by finding himself an important actor in a mighty 
 revolution. The events of the last twenty-four hours, and the 
 perilous state of the city which was under his charge, had dis- 
 ordered his mind and body. When the great man at whose 
 frown a few days before the whole kingdom had trembled was
 
 JEFFREYS, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. 561 
 
 dragged into the justice-room, begrimed with ashes, half dead 
 with fright and followed with a raging multitude, the agitation 
 of the unfortunate mayor rose to the height. He fell into fits 
 and was carried to his bed, whence he never rose. Meanwhile, 
 the throng without was constantly becoming more numerous 
 and more savage. Jeffreys begged to be sent to prison, and an 
 order to that effect was procured from the Lords, who were sit- 
 ting at Whitehall, and he was conveyed in a carriage to the 
 Tower. Two regiments of militia were drawn out to escort 
 him, and found the duty a difficult one. It was repeatedly 
 necessary for them to form as if for the purpose of repelling a 
 charge of cavalry, and to present a forest of pikes to the mob. 
 The thousands who were disappointed of their revenge pursued 
 the coach with howls of rage to the gate of the Tower, bran- 
 dishing cudgels and holding up halters full in the prisoner's 
 view. The wretched man, in the mean time, was in convulsions 
 of terror. He wrung his hands, he looked wildly out, some- 
 times at one window and sometimes at the other, and was heard, 
 even above the tumult, crying, ' Keep them off, gentlemen ! for 
 God's sake, keep them off!' 
 
 "At length, having suffered far more than the bitterness of 
 death, he was safely lodged in the fortress where some of his 
 most illustrious victims had passed their last days, and where 
 his own life was destined to close in unspeakable ignominy and 
 horror, April 18, 1689." 
 
 36
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 
 
 GENTLENESS, MEEKNESS, COURTEOUSNESS. 
 
 THE infant colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was much 
 indebted to the friendship and influence of Massasoit, the Indian 
 prince, or sachem, of those parts, with whom they made a treaty 
 for a tract of land. In 1623, the Plymouth settlers learning that 
 Massasoit was sick and apparently near death, the governor sent 
 Edward Winslow and John Hampden to visit him. Taking 
 Hobamock for a guide through the wilderness, they reached 
 the residence of the sachem, and found him extremely ill. By 
 the use of the medicines they had taken with them and by 
 other services they relieved Massasoit. Gratitude for what they 
 had done prompted him to disclose a conspiracy of the Indians 
 which had for its object the total extirpation of the English. 
 This timely notice seems to have averted the calamity. 
 
 [The accompanying engraving represents the two messengers 
 of the governor of Plymouth colony ministering to Massasoit. 
 In the lower part of the print William Penn is seen extending 
 one hand as a sign of friendship, and holding in the other his 
 celebrated " Treaty." On the left appears the Indian chieftain 
 giving the calumet, or pipe of peace.] 
 
 The following is extracted from Mr. Winslow's narrative : 
 
 "When we came thither, we found the house so full of men 
 that we could scarce get in, though they used their best dili- 
 gence to make way for us. There were they in the midst of 
 their charms for him, making such hellish noise as distempered 
 us that were well, and therefore unlikely to ease him that was 
 
 562
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 
 
 MASSASOIT RELIEVED. PENN'S TREATY. 
 
 " The law of kindness." PROV. xxxi. 26. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 
 obtain mercy." MATT. v. 7. "Do justice and love mercy." MlCAH vi. 8. "Love 
 worketh no ill ; . . . love is the fulfilling of the law" ROM. xiii. IO.
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 565 
 
 sick. About him were six or eight women chafing his limbs to 
 keep heat in him. When they had made an end of their charm- 
 ing, the chief was told that his friends the English had come to 
 see him. Having understanding left, but his sight being wholly 
 gone, he asked who had come. They told him Winnow, for 
 they cannot pronounce the letter /, but ordinarily n in the place 
 thereof. He desired to speak with me. When I came to him 
 and they told him of it, he put forth his hand to me, which I 
 took. Then he said twice, though very inwardly, 'Keen Wins- 
 now T which is to say, Art thou Winslow? I answered, ' Ahhe ' 
 that is, Yes. Then he doubled these : ' Mattaneen wonckanet 
 namen Winsnowf that is to say, O Winslow, I shall never see 
 thee again ! 
 
 " Then I called Hobbamock, and desired him to tell Massas- 
 sowat, that the governor, hearing of his sickness, was sorry for 
 the same ; and though by reason of many businesses he could 
 not come himself, yet he sent me with such things for him as 
 he thought most likely to do him good in his extremity ; and 
 whereof, if he pleased to take, I would presently give him, which 
 he desired ; and having a confection of many comfortable con- 
 serves on the point of my knife, I gave him some, which I could 
 scarce get through his teeth. When it was dissolved in his 
 mouth, he swallowed the juice of it, whereat those who were 
 about him much rejoiced, saying he had not swallowed anything 
 in two days before. Then I desired to see his mouth, which 
 was exceedingly furred, and his tongue swelled in such a manner 
 as it was not possible for him to eat such meat as they had, his 
 passage being stopped up. I washed his mouth and scraped his 
 tongue, and got abundance of corruption out of the same. After 
 which I gave him more of the confection, which he swallowed 
 with more readiness. Then he desired to drink. I dissolved 
 some of it in water, and gave him thereof. Within half an hour 
 this wrought a great alteration in him in the eyes of all that 
 beheld him. Presently after, his sight began to come to him.
 
 $66 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 
 
 Then I gave him more, and told him of a mishap we had, in 
 breaking a bottle of drink which the governor also sent him ; 
 if he would send any of his men to Patuxet, I would send for 
 more of the same, also for chickens to make him broth, and for 
 other things, which I knew were good for him, and would stay 
 the return of his messenger if he desired. This he took mar- 
 velous kindly, and appointed some who were ready to go by 
 two of the clock in the morning ; against which time I made 
 ready a letter, declaring therein our good success, the state of 
 his body, etc., desiring them to send such things as I sent for, 
 and such physic as the surgeon durst administer to him. 
 
 " He requested me that the day following I would take my 
 piece and kill him some fowl and make him some English pot- 
 tage, such as he had eaten at Plymouth, which I promised. 
 After, his stomach coming to him, I must needs make him 
 some without fowl before I went abroad, which somewhat 
 troubled me ; but being compelled to do something, I caused a 
 woman to bruise some corn, and take the flour from it, and set 
 over the grit or broken corn, in a pipkin ; for they have earthen 
 pots of all sizes. When the day broke, we went out, it being 
 now March, to seek herbs, but could not find any but straw- 
 berry leaves, of which I gathered a handful, and put into the 
 same; and because I had nothing to relish it, I went forth 
 again, and pulled up a sassafras root, and sliced a piece thereof, 
 and boiled it till it had a good relish, and then took it out again. 
 The broth being boiled, I strained it through my handkerchief, 
 and gave him at least a pint, which he drank, and liked it very 
 well. After this his sight mended more and more, . . . and he 
 took some rest, inasmuch as we with admiration blessed God 
 for his blessing to such raw and ignorant means, making no 
 doubt of his recovery, himself and all of them acknowledging us 
 as the instruments of his preservation. That morning he caused 
 me to spend in going from one to another amongst those that 
 were sick in the town, requesting me to wash their mouths also
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 567 
 
 and give to each of them some of the same I gave him, saying 
 that they were good folk. This I took with willingness, though 
 it were much offensive to me, not being accustomed with such 
 poisonous savors. 
 
 " The messengers were now returned ; but finding his stomach 
 come to, he would not have the chickens killed, but kept them 
 for breed. Neither durst we give him any physic which was 
 then sent, because his body was so much altered since our in- 
 structions ; neither saw we any need, not doubting now of his 
 recovery if he were careful. Many whilst we were there came 
 to see him ; some, by their report, from a place not less than 
 a hundred miles. Upon this his recovery, he broke forth into 
 these speeches : ' Now I see that the English are my friends 
 and love me ; and whilst I live I will never forget this kindness 
 they have showed me.' Whilst we were there, our entertain- 
 ment exceeded all other strangers." 
 
 In this day, when a civilized people go into a savage country 
 to form settlements, they do not in general take much care to 
 conciliate the natives. Either they take the land from them by 
 force or they do not bargain for it in such a way as to satisfy 
 the aborigines ; and thus the hostility of these rude beings is 
 secured at the very first. Where a satisfactory arrangement 
 has not been made at the start, the settlers are almost sure to 
 fall sooner or later into disputes with the natives. These they 
 seek to determine by the law of force; and thus wars arise 
 which are sure to retard their progress and occasion them great 
 misery. An invariable course of justice and kindness, and a 
 total abstinence from warlike practices, would have a very differ- 
 ent effect, as was proved in the noble instance of William Penn 
 and his followers when they founded the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Penn, who was one of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, 
 went to America in the reign of Charles II., determined to 
 deal with the Indians as he would with any of his own people.
 
 568 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 
 
 To quote Mr. Montgomery's volume, " He bought their 
 land and paid them; he made a treaty with them and ob- 
 served it. ... 
 
 "There were some fertile and excellent lands which, in 
 1698, Penn ascertained were excluded from his first purchase; 
 and as he was very desirous of obtaining them, he made pro- 
 posal to the Indians that he would buy those lands if they 
 were willing. They returned for answer that they had no 
 desire to sell the spot where their fathers were deposited, but, 
 ' to please their father Onas,' as they named Penn, they said 
 that he should have some of the lands. This being decided, 
 they concluded the bargain that Penn might have as much 
 land ' as a young man could travel round in one day,' begin- 
 ning at the great river at Cosquanco (now Kensington), and 
 ending at the great river at Kalapingo (now Bristol) ; and as an 
 equivalent they were to receive a certain amount of English 
 goods. Though this plan of measuring the land was of their 
 own selection, yet they were greatly dissatisfied with it after it 
 had been tried, for the young Englishman chosen to walk off 
 the tract of land walked so fast and far as to greatly astonish 
 and mortify them. The governor observed this dissatisfaction, 
 and asked the cause. 'The walker cheated us,' said the In- 
 dians. ' Ah ! how can that be ?' said Penn ; ' did you not choose 
 yourself to have the land measured in this way?' 'True/ 
 replied the Indians, 'but white brother make a big walk.' 
 
 " Some of Penn's commissioners, waxing warm, said the bar- 
 gain was a fair one, and insisted that the Indians ought to abide 
 by it, and if not should be compelled to it. ' Compelled !' ex- 
 claimed Penn ; 'how can you compel them without bloodshed? 
 Don't you see this looks to murder?' Then, turning with a 
 benignant smile to the Indians, he said, ' Well, brothers, if you 
 have given us too much land for the goods first agreed on, how 
 much more will satisfy you ?'
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 569 
 
 " This proposal gratified them, and they mentioned the quan- 
 tity of cloth and the number of fish-hooks with which they 
 would be satisfied. These were cheerfully given, and the In- 
 dians, shaking hands with Penn, went away smiling. After 
 they were gone, the governor, looking around on his friends, 
 exclaimed, ' Oh how sweet and cheap a thing is charity ! 
 Some of you spoke just now of compelling these poor crea- 
 tures to stick to their bargain^ that is, in plain English, to 
 fight and kill them, and all about a little piece of land.' 
 
 " For this kind conduct manifested in all his actions to the 
 Indians he was nobly rewarded. The untamed savages of the 
 forest became the warm friends of the white stranger. With 
 Penn and his followers they buried the war-hatchet, and ever 
 evinced the strongest respect for them. And when the colony 
 of Pennsylvania was pressed for provisions and none could be 
 obtained from other settlements, which scarcity arose from the 
 increasing number of inhabitants, not having time to raise the 
 necessary food, the Indians cheerfully came forward and assisted 
 the colony by the fruits of their labors in hunting. 
 
 " The first, or as it generally is called the Great, Treaty, was 
 made under the shade of a great elm tree which stood on the 
 banks of the Delaware. It took place near the close of Novem- 
 ber, 1682. The fame of this treaty reached every part of the 
 civilized world. In the address of Penn to the Indians he said 
 that the Great Spirit who made him and them, who ruled the 
 heavens and the earth, and who knew the inmost thoughts of 
 man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in 
 peace and friendship with them and to serve them to the utmost 
 of their power. It was not their custom to use hostile weapons 
 against their fellow-men, for which reason they had come un- 
 armed. They were then met on the broad pathway of good 
 faith and good will; no advantage was to be taken of each 
 other, but all was to be openness, brotherhood and love."
 
 570 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 
 
 " Moved by the love of God and man, he turned, 
 
 A friend indeed, from childhood's stately home, 
 To mingle with the few whom pride had spurned, 
 Afar amid the western wilds to roam. 
 
 " A father's angry frown he heeded not, 
 
 The world's cold taunts, the flattering voice of Fame ; 
 But with a humble sect he cast his lot, 
 And meekly bore his Master's cross of shame. 
 
 " Unarmed, except by Love, in danger's hour 
 
 He moved 'mid savage men ; his power they feel ; 
 All-conquering Love ! more mighty is thy power 
 Than thundering cannon or the glittering steel. 
 
 " Like coals of fire it melts the stubborn will ; 
 
 Those who had lurked like tigers for their prey, 
 With fell design, with murderous aim to kill, 
 
 Those savage foemen, quailed, and owned thy sway. 
 
 " And he who has the garb of Love may stand 
 
 Firm as if circled by a wall of fire ; 
 Hate will not lift 'gainst him the murderous hand, 
 And kindled flames of fell revenge expire. 
 
 " Immortal Penn ! what though a crowd unkind 
 Heaped cruel insult on thine honored name ? 
 E'en prison walls could not suffice to bind 
 The noble spirit, fearless still of shame. 
 
 " Immortal Penn ! thou hast not lived in vain ; 
 
 Thy bright example still shall brightly shine, 
 And numerous voices here and o'er the main 
 With deathless laurels shall thy name entwine. 
 
 " And thou, blest Love ! descended from above, 
 Myriads of voices yet shall pierce the skies, 
 Shall sing the mighty truth that GOD is LOVE, 
 And many a Philadelphia yet shall rise."
 
 AGUE'S PRAYER. 
 
 " Give me neither poverty, nor riches, . . . lest I be poor, and steal ; . . . (nor riches) 
 lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?" PROV. xxx. 8, 9.
 
 AGUR'S PRAYER. 
 
 AGUR, who appears to have been a teacher in Israel, desired 
 with earnestness that two things might be granted before he 
 died. The one relates to spiritual blessings: "Remove far 
 from me vanity and lies " that is, " Deliver me entirely from 
 guilt and sin ; from idolatry, error, delusion and temptation, the 
 word of a lie." The other relates to temporal things ; he 
 prayed : " Give me neither poverty nor riches ; feed me with 
 food convenient for me." 
 
 In the accompanying engraving Agur, the teacher, appears 
 in the foreground with his manuscript roll. Two other figures 
 are also represented. The one seems to be an impoverished man, 
 who lives in a poor-looking house ; the other has riches and is 
 full and portly, and looks with disdain and contempt toward the 
 poor beggarly-looking creature before him. 
 
 Agur prays to be delivered from the situation of each, not so 
 much because of the hardships of the one and the anxieties 
 usually accompanying wealth of the other, as because of the 
 temptations to which they severally expose him. If he lived in 
 great affluence, he feared lest he should grow to be self-suffi- 
 cient and forgetful of God, and so at length be induced to deny 
 his overruling providence, his authority, or even his existence, 
 saying, like Pharaoh, " Who is the Lord ?" On the other hand, 
 if he were left to extreme poverty, he feared lest he should be 
 tempted to perform some dishonest act to procure a subsistence. 
 He therefore wisely prayed for that mediocrity which would 
 keep him at a distance from both temptations. He therefore 
 
 573
 
 5/4 AGUR'S PRAYER. 
 
 asked God for " food convenient " for him, the " daily bread " 
 suited for his station and his real good. 
 
 Dr. Scott, in his commentary, in relation to Agur's prayer, 
 says : " When we suppose one situation to be more exempt 
 from temptation than another, we may properly pray for it. 
 Should the Lord please to afflict us with deep poverty, we 
 ought not to murmur, and we may expect grace sufficient to 
 withstand the powerful temptations of such a condition. But 
 we know the deceifcfulness of our own hearts, and consider 
 what it would be to suffer hunger, cold and the want of all 
 things ; we shall perceive that temptations to impatience, cov- 
 eting and dishonesty would have mighty force in them, and we 
 cannot tell but that we might be led from smaller to greater 
 transgressions, till we arrived at such degrees of guilt as we 
 now shudder to think of. We may in this view, therefore, in 
 humble submission, pray to be preserved from poverty, and to 
 be fed with food convenient for us. On the other hand, when 
 we consider how affluence tends to pride, indolence, self-indul- 
 gence and a worldly mind, how those who are fed to the full 
 and surrounded by abundance are prone to abuse the gift and 
 forget the Giver and refuse obedience to him, we cannot pray 
 to be made rich without contradicting the petition which our 
 Lord himself has taught us : ' Lead us not into temptation.' 
 
 " We are indeed commonly apt to think that we should be 
 able to behave properly and do much good if we were made 
 richer, but this only proves the pride and folly of our hearts. 
 For it is the hardest thing in the world to act wisely in great 
 prosperity ; and the greatest triumph seems to be in the con- 
 version of very rich people, and in preserving them humble, 
 spiritual, dead to the world, devoted to God, and good stewards 
 too of the unrighteous mammon in the midst of all their incen- 
 tives to the contrary vices. So that it will ever be found a wise 
 prayer, though but seldom offered, ' Give me not riches, lest I 
 be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord ?' The more
 
 AGUR'S PRAYER. 575 
 
 advanced Christian will sincerely and frequently present it; 
 every true believer can fervently pray, ' Lord, let me never have 
 more riches than thou shalt enable me to use to thy glory.' And 
 we ought all to be thankful, and doubtless many of us are so, 
 if we enjoy that mediocrity which we are here taught by the 
 Holy Spirit to consider as the safest and happiest condition of 
 life. But how contrary is this to the almost universal eager- 
 ness of men after riches ! In fact, the wisdom of God and the 
 wisdom of the world are diametrically opposite ; and, alas ! there 
 is but a scanty measure of divine wisdom even among the ma- 
 jority of Christians." 
 
 The folly of expecting any satisfactory happiness in the pos- 
 session of great riches is seen in the account of Solomon, the 
 king over Israel in Jerusalem. He says that he " was great, 
 and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem ; 
 also my wisdom remained with me, and whatsoever mine eyes 
 desired I kept not from them : I withheld not my heart from 
 any joy." Solomon made trial of sensual pleasure without 
 stupefying his faculties by excess or rendering himself unfit for 
 business or serious studies. Though he dreadfully forsook the 
 service of God, yet he did not neglect the affairs of his kingdom, 
 nor was he bereaved of his wisdom, as Samson had been of his 
 strength. Yet he freely indulged himself in every pleasure and 
 possessed himself of every object his eye looked at as worthy 
 of his notice or his heart desired, having it in his power to com- 
 pass all his wishes, and being determined to give everything a 
 fair trial. Whilst he was pursuing his schemes he had indeed 
 a momentary pleasure on beholding them advancing to their 
 completion; but this was all. When they were finished, the 
 novelty was over ; their sameness made them vain ; his cares 
 and disappointments rendered them vexatious; and his im- 
 provements entirely failed of affording him satisfaction. 
 
 As to the troubles and anxieties of life and pain and sickness 
 and death, no wisdom or learning can ward them off; so that
 
 AGUR'S PRAYER. 
 
 Solomon himself, in respect to the most important temporal 
 concerns, was upon a level with his meanest subject. Among 
 other things which caused Solomon anxiety and trouble, he 
 was continually wondering what would become of his vast 
 wealth, magnificent buildings and splendid improvements after 
 his decease. He had indeed a son to succeed him in his king- 
 dom, but who knew whether he would prove a wise man or a 
 fool ? He seems to have perceived that Rehoboam was not 
 likely to inherit his wisdom or preserve that prosperity in which 
 he left his kingdom ; yet having rule over all his labor in which 
 he had showed his diligence and wisdom, his successor would 
 have it in his power to overturn the whole. This reflection so 
 disquieted his mind that he rather despaired of deriving good 
 from all his labors about those things " which are under the 
 sun;" and having bestowed great pains to establish the affairs 
 of his kingdom in wisdom, knowledge and equity, his successor, 
 who would enter upon it without any labors of his own, might 
 overthrow all by his neglect or imprudence. 
 
 Solomon saw this to be a great evil, and one which could not 
 be rectified ; through it the incessant labor of others, equally 
 with himself, by day and night, might produce proportionable 
 sorrow and vexation. And yet, such is our folly, there is no 
 end of our cares ; for we see many whose lives are nothing 
 more than mere drudgery, who are never at leisure to enjoy 
 anything they have, but are still engaged in some troublesome 
 employment or other to get more. One main pretence of 
 worldly men in excuse of their eager pursuit of wealth is that 
 they are providing for their children ; but this can afford a re- 
 flecting man no solid satisfaction nay, indeed, it must gener- 
 ally add to the care and vexation derived from other sources. 
 The uncertainty which there must be as to what use their chil- 
 dren will make of their riches whether they will behave wisely 
 or foolishly when they come to have so much in their power, 
 and the fears lest their possessions should do harm to them-
 
 AGUR'S PRAYER. 577 
 
 selves and others is of itself a source of worriment to many a 
 wealthy man of family. Indeed, worldly things were never in- 
 tended for anything more or better than to supply our bodily 
 wants; and our expectation of more from them is one great 
 cause of our trouble and vexation of spirit. 
 
 The result of Solomon's experiments was this that instead 
 of ceaseless cares about getting and hoarding, nothing could be 
 found which deserved to be preferred to a cheerful and liberal 
 use of the fruits of a man's labors. To eat and drink to the 
 moderate satisfaction of our appetites is so far good ; and there 
 is nothing better for a man of earthly enjoyment than to supply 
 his bodily wants. These the dumb animals share equally with 
 human beings, but the rational soul of man requires some better 
 portion. No wonder, then, when he mistakes this for his in- 
 tended good, he is restless and dissatisfied and prone to excess, 
 so that he cannot attain to the comfortable use of the creatures 
 without the special gift of God. In order to attain this and 
 every other gift, we must seek and labor for those things that 
 are above, and not for those " under, the sun ;" and having 
 found acceptance with God, and being "good in his sight," we 
 shall receive of him that wisdom and knowledge which is pro- 
 ductive of solid joy. We must make the best of our situation, 
 dismissing all anxious and useless cares and fears for the future, 
 rejoicing that things are so well with us, and being solicitous 
 for nothing in this world but to obtain a good hope in God by 
 living piously and virtuously and doing good to others with 
 what we have ; and this not remissly and intermittently, but 
 seriously and constantly, as long as we live. Indeed, the chief 
 advantage of worldly possessions consists in the pleasure we 
 derive from doing good with them, and in moderately and 
 cheerfully enjoying the fruit of our labors, which is the gift of 
 God. 
 
 Agur in his prayer, though he desired neither poverty nor 
 riches, yet desired to be fed with food convenient for him ; and 
 
 37
 
 5/8 AGUR'S PRAYER. 
 
 Paul, in his Epistle to Timothy, says, " Having food and raiment, 
 let us therewith be content." This seems to imply that those 
 in the middle ranks of life, equally removed from extremes on 
 either hand/are in the most favored circumstances so far as this 
 world is concerned. Addison, in his Spectator, says, " Content- 
 ment produces, in some measure, all those effects which the 
 alchemist usually ascribes to the philosopher's stone ; and if it 
 does not bring riches, it does the same thing by banishing the 
 desire for them. If it cannot remove the disquietudes arising 
 out of a man's mind, body or fortune, it makes him easy under 
 them. It has, indeed, a kindly influence on the soul of a man 
 in respect to whom he stands related. It extinguishes all mur- 
 mur and ingratitude toward that Being who has allotted him 
 his part to act in the world ; it destroys all inordinate ambition, 
 and every tendency to corruption with regard to the community 
 in which he is placed. 
 
 "All the real pleasures and conveniences of life lie within a 
 narrow compass, but it is the humor of mankind to be always, 
 looking forward and straining after one who has got the start 
 of them in wealth and honor. For this reason there are none 
 who can be properly called rich, who have not more than they 
 want ; there are few rich men in the politer nations, but among 
 the middle sort of people, who keep their wishes within their 
 fortunes, and have more wealth than they know how to enjoy. 
 Persons of a higher rank live in a kind of splendid poverty, and 
 are perpetually wanting, because, instead of acquiescing in the 
 solid pleasures of life, they endeavor to outvie one another in 
 shadows and appearances. Men of sense have at all times be- 
 held, with a great degree of mirth, this silly game that is play- 
 ing over their heads, and by contracting their desires, enjoy all 
 that secret satisfaction which others are always in quest of. 
 The truth is, this ridiculous chase after imaginary pleasures 
 cannot be sufficiently exposed, as it is the source of many evils 
 not only to ourselves, but to those with whom we live. Let a
 
 AGUE'S PRAYER. 579 
 
 man's estate be what it will, he is a poor man if he does not live 
 within it." 
 
 " Content is natural wealth," says Socrates ; and it may be 
 added, Luxury is artificial poverty. Instead of repining under 
 some trial or misfortune, it would be well to reflect how much 
 greater it might have been, as in the case of an honest Dutch- 
 man who, upon breaking his leg by a fall from the mainmast, 
 told the bystanders it was a great mercy it was not his neck. 
 Another instance of this spirit is given in the biography of a 
 good man. When he had the gout upon him, he used to 
 thank God it was not the stone ; and when he had the stone, he 
 was thankful that both distempers were not upon him at the 
 same time. 
 
 Some philosophers tell us that everything that befalls us is 
 ordered by an inexorable fate to which all beings are subject, 
 and it is of no use to complain. Others gravely tell the man 
 who is miserable, that it should be so to keep up the harmony 
 of the universe, and that the scheme of Providence would be 
 perverted were he otherwise. This rather gives despair than 
 consolation. On the contrary, Christianity bears a more tender 
 regard to human nature. It prescribes to every miserable man 
 the means to better his condition nay, it shows him that the 
 bearing of his afflictions as he ought to bear them, will natur- 
 ally aid in the removal of them. It makes him easy here, be- 
 cause it can make him happy hereafter.
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY: 
 
 FRENCH REVOLUTION, INSPIRATION OF PATRIOTISM, ETC. 
 
 THE Marseillaise, the war-song of the French, appears to 
 have had its origin during the stirring and bloody scenes of 
 the French Revolution, near the close of the last century. 
 Previous to this time the French people were borne down by a 
 load of taxation to support the extravagance and profligacy of 
 their monarchs. The nobility and clergy had many privileges 
 which were not allowed to their subjects, especially their ex- 
 emption from taxes. The common people were despised, yet 
 they bore all the burdens and expenses of the State. The feel- 
 ings of liberty were much excited by the success of the Ameri- 
 cans in their revolutionary contest with Great Britain. The 
 French army, who had been sent to assist the Americans, on 
 their return to France carried with them the spirit of the liberty 
 which they had helped to establish in America. Having seen 
 the triumphs of liberty, equality and human rights among the 
 people whom they had been sent to defend, they undoubtedly 
 wished to have the same principles prevail in their own country. 
 The following is 
 
 THE MARSEILLAISE. 
 
 Ye sons of Freedom, wake to glory ! 
 
 Hark ! hark ! what myriads bid you rise ! 
 Your children, wives and grandsires hoary, 
 
 Behold their tears and hear their cries. 
 Shall hateful tyrants, mischiefs breeding, 
 
 With hireling hosts, a ruffian band, 
 
 Affright and desolate the land, 
 While peace and liberty lie bleeding? 
 580
 
 MARSEILLES HYMN. 
 
 INSPIRATION OF LIBERTY, ETC. 
 
 "If thou mayest be made free use it rather." i COR. vii. 21. "He beareth not the 
 sword in vain, for he is the minister of God" ROM. xiii. 4. "He shall break in pieces 
 the oppressor." Ps. Ixxii. 4. "Proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison 
 to them that are bound" ISA. Ixi. I.
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 583 
 
 To arms, to arms, ye brave ! 
 Th' avenging sword unsheathe : 
 March on, march on, all hearts resolved 
 On victory or death. 
 
 Now, now, the dangerous storm is rolling 
 
 Which treacherous kings confederate raise ; 
 The dogs of war, let loose, are howling, 
 
 And, lo ! our fields and cities blaze. 
 And shall we basely view the ruin 
 
 While lawless force with guilty stride 
 
 Spreads desolation far and wide, 
 With crimes and blood his hands imbruing ? 
 
 To arms, to arms, ye brave ! etc. 
 
 With luxury and pride surrounded, 
 
 The vile, insatiate despots dare, 
 Their thirst of power and gold unbounded, 
 
 To mete and vend the light and air; 
 Like beasts of burden would they load us, 
 
 Like gods would bid their slaves adore; 
 
 But man is man, and who is more ? 
 Then shall they longer lash and goad us ? 
 
 To arms, to arms, ye brave ! etc. 
 
 O Liberty ! can man resign thee, 
 
 Once having felt thy generous flame ? 
 Can dungeons, bolts and bars confine thee, 
 
 Or whips thy noble spirit tame ? 
 Too long the world has wept, bewailing 
 
 That falsehood's dagger tyrants wield ; 
 But freedom is our sword and shield, 
 
 And all their arts are unavailing. 
 
 To arms, to arms, ye brave ! 
 
 Th' avenging sword unsheathe; 
 March on, march on, all hearts resolved 
 
 On victory or death. 
 
 M. de Lamartine, in his Histoire des Girondins, published in 
 Paris, gives the following account of the origin of the French 
 national air, the Marseillaise : 
 
 " In the garrison of Strasburg was quartered a young artil- 
 lery officer named Rouget de Lisle, a native of Louis de Sal- 
 nier, in the Jura. He had a great taste for music and poetry, 
 and often entertained his comrades during their long and te- 
 dious hours in the garrison. Sought after for his musical and
 
 584 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 
 
 poetical talent, he was a frequent and familiar guest at the house 
 of one Dietrich, an Alsatian patriot, mayor of Strasburg. The 
 house of Dietrich was poor, his table was frugal, but a seat was 
 always open to Rouget de Lisle. 
 
 " One day there was nothing but bread and some slices of 
 smoked ham on the table. Dietrich, regarding the young 
 officer, said to hrm, with sad serenity, 'Abundance fails at our 
 boards ; but what matters that if enthusiasm fails not at our 
 civic fetes, nor courage in the hearts of our soldiers ?' 
 
 "The night was cold. De Lisle was thoughtful. His heart 
 moved, his head heated. He returned staggering. to his soli- 
 tary room, and slowly sought inspiration, sometimes in the 
 fervor of his citizen soul, and anon at the keys of his instru- 
 ment, composing now the air before the words and then the 
 words before the air. He sang all and wrote nothing, and at 
 last, exhausted, fell asleep, with his head resting on his instru- 
 ment, and awoke not till daybreak. 
 
 " The music of the night returned to his mind like the im- 
 pression of a dream. He wrote it and ran to Dietrich, whom 
 he found in the garden digging winter lettuces. The wife and 
 daughters of the old man were not up. Dietrich awoke them, 
 and called in some friends, all as passionate as himself for 
 music, and able to execute the composition of De Lisle. At 
 the first stanza cheeks grew pale, at the second tears flowed, 
 and at last the delirium of enthusiasm burst forth. The wife of 
 Dietrich, his daughters, himself and the young officer threw 
 themselves, crying, into each other's arms. 
 
 "The hymn of the country was found. Executed some days 
 afterward in Strasburg, the new song flew from city to city, and 
 was played by all the popular orchestras. Marseilles adopted 
 it to be sung at the commencement of the sittings of the clubs, 
 and the Marseillaise spread it through France, singing it along 
 the public roads. From this came the name of the ' Mar- 
 seillaise.' "
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 585 
 
 [The engraving within the oval, copied from a French print, 
 represents De Lisle, the young officer, repeating for the first 
 time the Marseillaise, or Hymn of Liberty. The figure, etc., 
 underneath, are emblematic of Freedom and Liberty; the chains 
 of slavery, the lash of the oppressor, are broken, and the door 
 of the dungeon of the prisoner is opened.] 
 
 The first line of the Marseillaise is addressed to the " sons of 
 Freedom," who are called to arouse themselves to perform deeds 
 of glory, to sustain the efforts of those who are struggling 
 against the tyranny and oppression of their fellow-men. Hark ! 
 hark ! myriad voices call for help. Your helpless children, your 
 loving wives, whose fate is joined with yours, your grandsires, 
 white with age, who have toiled and sweat to bring you up to 
 manhood, see their tears and hear their moans and cries ! Their 
 unfeeling and cruel tyrants, seeing perhaps that it might be dif- 
 ficult to make their own subjects turn their arms against their 
 fellow-countrymen, hire foreign bands whose trade is war and 
 bloodshed ruffians who have no tears to shed for suffering 
 humanity. The sons of Freedom and Liberty, aware of the 
 approaching storm, call upon their countrymen, To arms, to 
 arms, ye brave ! Unsheathe the sword ; march on to death or 
 victory ! 
 
 The French people, thoroughly aroused by enthusiasm for 
 freedom, liberty and equality, were for a time quite successful 
 in obtaining their rights. The surrounding nations, fearful of 
 the prevalence of these French ideas, confederated with each 
 other to stop them. The hostile armies of Austria and Prussia 
 were ready to enter France, and the people imagined their king 
 and the nobility were in league with them. This fact is referred 
 to in the beginning of the second stanza : 
 
 " Now, now, the dangerous storm is rolling 
 Which treacherous kings confederate raise." 
 
 The dogs of war are let loose ; our fields and cities blaze ;
 
 586 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 
 
 our foe spreads desolation all around him ; his hands are im- 
 brued with crimes and blood ! And shall we basely view the 
 ruin, making no effort to stay its progress? To arms, ye 
 brave ! 
 
 The third stanza speaks of the luxury and pride of their 
 oppressors of their unbounded thirst for gold and power 
 who would be glad to mete out and vend the light and air. 
 
 " Like beasts of burden would they load us, 
 Like gods would bid their slaves adore." 
 
 But they are nothing but men like ourselves ; and who is 
 more ? Then the heart instinctively replies : " Why, then, 
 should they longer lash and goad us, when we have the power 
 to prevent it ?" To arms, to arms, ye brave ! 
 
 In the concluding stanza the enthusiastic young officer 
 makes an apostrophe to Freedom or Liberty : 
 
 " O Liberty ! can man resign thee, 
 Once having felt thy generous flame?" 
 
 He goes on, and asks, 
 
 " Can dungeons, bolts and bars confine thee, 
 
 Or whips thy noble spirit tame ? 
 Too long the world has wept, bewailing 
 That falsehood's dagger tyrants wield." 
 
 The hymn in the last lines urges on the sons of Freedom to 
 victory, or to repose on the gory bed of death. 
 
 The foregoing may serve to show that man, though a fallen 
 creature, retains some traces of his original nature, he having 
 been created in the image of his Maker. It is noble, and even 
 glorious, for one to stand forth and be willing to suffer and die 
 for the good of his country. It is also proper for him to ex- 
 press a righteous indignation against the conduct of those whom 
 he sees oppressing and doing wrong and injustice to his fellow- 
 beings. 
 
 It is to be observed that the principal leaders of this French
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 587 
 
 Revolution did not recognize the supreme Being, the Ruler 
 and Deposer of all things. The spirit of infidelity prevailed. 
 The atheistical writings of Voltaire, Rousseau and other French 
 philosophers brought on a fearful state of public morals. 
 
 In 1792 the National Convention commenced their delibera- 
 tions. They abolished the regal government, and declared 
 France a Republic. Louis XVI., the French king, was ar- 
 raigned before their bar, and he was declared guilty of a con- 
 spiracy against the liberties of the nation. On January 21, 
 1793, he was beheaded by the guillotine. After the death of 
 the king, a revolutionary tribunal was erected under Marat, 
 Robespierre and their associates, monsters of depravity and 
 cruelty. Their bloody domination is usually styled "The 
 Reign of Terror." It was during this period that the National 
 Convention suppressed the Christian religion, and declared that 
 "death was an eternal sleep;" they abolished the Christian 
 Sabbath, but a respite from labor was allowed on every tenth 
 day. They also passed a decree that the only French deities 
 hereafter should be Liberty, Equality and Reason. This last 
 deity was represented by a naked female drawn through the 
 streets of Paris in a procession in which all the principal officers 
 of the city and national government joined. The queen and 
 sister of Louis XVI. were guillotined; and as each faction 
 gained the ascendency they put to death all who opposed them, 
 and the blood of victims flowed in every part of France. This 
 state of things continued till the close of the century, when 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, having attained the supreme authority, 
 suppressed republican sentiments, and at the cannon's mouth 
 put down the reign of anarchy and restored order out of bloody 
 confusion. 
 
 During the French Revolution women as well as men 
 were brought into notice as actors, or victims. The queen 
 of France, her sister and the princess de Lamballe fell by the
 
 588 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 
 
 guillotine ; Madame Roland and Charlotte Corday, of the less 
 elevated class, also perished in like manner. 
 
 Madame Roland, wife of I. M. de la Platiere Roland, was 
 born in Paris in 1754, and received from her father, who was an 
 engraver of merit, an excellent education. Early devoted to 
 books, she acquired an extensive knowledge of the arts, and 
 became known for her wit and learning. At the age of twenty- 
 five she married Roland, though much older than herself; and 
 when he was raised to consequence in the Revolution, she lent 
 all the resources of her mind to assist him, and often wrote the 
 despatches and letters which were to issue from his hands. 
 Her house was the rendezvous of the learned, the powerful and 
 the intriguing, and she was the soul of the party, and secretly 
 guided many of the public measures which were proposed in 
 the Convention. Her influence escaped not, however, with- 
 out envy; and when accused, she appeared before the Conven- 
 tion and cleared herself with all the graceful energy of inno- 
 cence. When her husband was proscribed, she hoped to be 
 permitted to remain secure at Paris, but hoped in vain. She 
 was soon after seized and sent to prison, and after five months' 
 confinement she was dragged to the scaffold as the active 
 accomplice of the Girondists. She was guillotined on the 8th 
 of November, 1793, at the age of forty-one, and as she expired 
 she exclaimed, " Liberty ! what crimes are committed in tliy 
 name T 
 
 Charlotte Corday was brought up in Caen, France, where 
 her beauty and accomplishments were seen and admired by 
 Belsunce, the major of the regiment then quartered in the town. 
 The death of this worthy gentleman, who was murdered by 
 some assassins, excited the vengeance of the youthful heroine ; 
 and when she saw her lover branded with the name of conspira- 
 tor and published by Marat, she hastened to Paris, determined 
 to sacrifice the man who had so shamefully abused the object 
 of her affections. She was refused admittance at the house of
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. $89 
 
 Marat, but she obtained it by writing to him that she wished to 
 disclose some secret of importance ; and while the tyrant was 
 engaged in conversation with her, she stabbed him to the heart, 
 and he fell at her feet. Glorying in the deed, she refused to fly. 
 She was dragged to the revolutionary tribunal, where she heard 
 her sentence of death with composure. The serenity and dig- 
 nity of her features were so commanding that a deputy of 
 Mayence, captivated by her beauty, requested to follow her to 
 death, and he had the singular satisfaction of expiring by the 
 same guillotine. She suffered in 1793, aged twenty-four years. 
 
 Washington, the father of his country, in his Farewell 
 Address to his countrymen, says: "Of all the dispositions 
 and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and 
 morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man 
 claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert 
 these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of 
 the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally 
 with the pious, ought to respect and cherish them. . . . Where 
 is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense 
 of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instru- 
 ments of investigation in the courts of justice? And let us with 
 caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained 
 without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence 
 of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and 
 experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can 
 prevail to the exclusion of religious principle." 
 
 Washington never uttered a more correct or important senti- 
 ment on the prosperity, or even the existence, of a free govern- 
 ment than when he said, " Religion and morality are its indis- 
 pensable supports." The Christian religion, which he professed, 
 recognizes the equality of human rights. It is indeed a leveling 
 system ; and when its true principles shall universally prevail, 
 the valley of vice and irreligion shall be leveled upward, the
 
 590 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 
 
 mountains of ignorance and superstition shall be made low, and 
 the highway of righteousness and holiness shall be established. 
 
 The American republic has existed for nearly a century. 
 This has been owing mainly to the prevalence of Christian 
 principles among the leading men of the nation. Without 
 these principles, a republic can exist only in name. The first 
 French Revolution at the outset appeared to be a struggle for 
 human rights, but the people had become so corrupt that the 
 republic they adopted soon degenerated into a bloody tyranny, 
 from which they could find no relief, but in the adoption of one 
 tyrant instead of many. 
 
 It has been generally conceded that, though we are bound to 
 live peaceably with all men as far as we can consistently with 
 other obligations to ourselves and to those under our charge, it 
 may become our duty to take up arms for our defence. This 
 appears to have been the case in the first regular conflict against 
 the Indians in New England. The settlers of Connecticut first 
 located in Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, and purchased 
 their land of the Indians, who were the owners of the soil, and 
 had invited the English to settle in their country on the bor- 
 ders of the Connecticut. The Pequots, the most savage, haughty 
 and warlike tribe in the country, were located in the eastern 
 part of the colony of Connecticut. From the first arrival of the 
 settlers they appeared to be determined to destroy them, and 
 for this purpose they drew a number of tribes in a confederacy 
 to assist them. In 1634, the allies of the Pequots murdered 
 Captain Stone and Captain Norton, with the whole of their 
 crew of eight men, and plundered and sunk their vessel ; the 
 next year they killed a number of persons in various places. 
 When the spring of 1737 set in, they waylaid the roads and 
 fields. The settlers could neither hunt, fish nor cultivate their 
 lands but at the hazard of their existence, and their lives were 
 dark and gloomy in the extreme. The Pequots continued hos- 
 tile during the year 1636, and the greatest part of the winter
 
 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 591 
 
 kept the fort at Saybrook in a state of siege. They took sev- 
 eral prisoners, whom they murdered in a most shocking man- 
 ner, cutting them into pieces. They mocked the dying groans 
 of their victims as they implored the Almighty to help them in 
 their dreadful extremity of suffering. 
 
 In the important crisis that had now come upon the colony, 
 a meeting was convened at Hartford to take measures for the 
 preservation of their lives from their cruel enemies. A force of 
 about ninety men from Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield was 
 raised and put under the command of Captain Mason, who was 
 to sail down the river from Hartford to Saybrook, and from 
 thence to Narragansett Bay, and proceed across the country to 
 the fort of the Pequots, near New London, and attack it by 
 surprise. The following address to the soldiers is generally 
 ascribed to the Rev. Mr. Hooker of Hartford. It was published 
 in London in 1658, in a work entitled Wonder-working Provi- 
 dence of Zioris Saviour in New England. The following is 
 copied from that work, the orthography being retained. The 
 narrator says : 
 
 " The souldiers, arriving in safety in the towne of Hartford, were encouraged 
 by the reverent ministers with some such speech as followes : 
 
 " ' Fellow-souldiers, countrymen and companions in this wildernesse work who 
 are gathered together this day by the inevitable providence of the great Jehovah, 
 not in a tumultuous manner, hurried on by the floating fancy of every hot-headed 
 braine whose actions prove abortive, or, if any fruit brought forth, it hath beene 
 rape, theft, murther, things inconsisting with nature's light, than much lesse with a 
 souldier's valour ; but you, my deare hearts, purposely pickt out by the godly grave 
 fathers of this government, that your prowess may carry on the work, where justice 
 in her righteous course is obstructed, you need not question your authority to exe- 
 cute those whom God, the righteous Judge of all the world, hath condemned for 
 blaspheming of his sacred majesty and murthering his servants. Every common 
 souldier among you is now installed a magistrate ; then show yourselves men of 
 courage. . . . Their swelling pride hath already mounted to the skies and is ripe 
 for confusion ; their crueltie is famously knowne, yet all true bred souldiers receive 
 this as a common maxime : crueltie and cowardice are inseparable companions. . . . 
 And I put to you the question, Who would not fight in such a cause with an agile 
 spirit and undaunted boldnesse? Yet if you look for further encouragement, I 
 have it for you; riches and honour are next to a good cause eyed by every souldier 
 to maintain your own and spoile your enemies of theirs ; although gold and silver 
 be wanting to either of you, yet you have to maintaine that which is farre more
 
 59 2 MARSEILLAISE HYMN OF LIBERTY. 
 
 precious, the lives, the libertyes and new prepared freedomes, priviledges and im- 
 munities of the endeared servants of our Lord Christ Jesus, and your second selves, 
 even your affectionated bosome mates, together with the chief pledges of your love, 
 the comforting contents of harmlesse, prattling and smiling babes. , . . Then 
 march on with cheerful Christian courage, in the strength of the Lord and the 
 power of his might, who will forthwith inclose your enemies in your hands, make 
 their multitudes fall under your warlike weapons, and your feet shall soon be set 
 on their proud necks.' " 
 
 When the army arrived at Saybrook, there being a diversity 
 of opinion among, the officers whether to land their men at 
 Pequot Harbor or proceed to Narragansett Bay, they earnestly 
 entreated Mr. Stone, their chaplain, to pray that they might be 
 guided aright. Mr. Stone, having spent most of the night in 
 prayer, assured Captain Mason that he had done as he was de- 
 sired, and was entirely satisfied with his plan of going to Nar- 
 ragansett ; and on further consultation on the part of the officers 
 they were unanimous for going to Narragansett and then march 
 nearly forty miles through the wilderness to the attack on the 
 fort. The result was a complete success. The fort was entered 
 by surprise and set on fire, and about six hundred Indians per- 
 ished by fire and sword. The most warlike and terrible Indian 
 tribe in New England were defeated, and their existence as a 
 separate nation destroyed. The conquest of the Pequots struck 
 the remainder of the Indian tribes with such terror that, as far 
 as New England was concerned, they gave no open warfare to 
 the English, and the land had rest for nearly forty years.
 
 THE CONSUMMATION; OR, EARTH'S ENDING. 
 
 "The heavens shall vanish away like smoke." ISA. li. 6. "The heavens and the 
 earth . . . are reserved unto fire ; . . . the heavens shall pass away with a great noise" 
 2 PET. iii. 7-10. 
 
 38
 
 CONFLAGRATION OR DISSOLUTION OF 
 THE EARTH. 
 
 THE final consummation or ending of the present order of 
 things is announced in Rev. x. by a mighty angel standing 
 with his right foot on the sea, his left on the earth. In awful 
 sublimity he " lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him 
 that liveth for ever and ever, . . . that there should be time no 
 longer." In 2 Peter iii. it is declared that 
 
 " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in 
 the night; in the which the heavens shall pass 
 away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
 melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the 
 works that are therein, shall be burnt up." 
 
 Peter also says that in the last days scoffers shall come walk- 
 ing in their own lusts and saying, " Where is the promise of his 
 coming ?" for all things continued to remain as they were from 
 the creation, and intimated that, as there had been no change in 
 the past, there would be none for the future. Peter says that 
 Moses had informed them that the earth was in a fluid state ; 
 the chaos, or first matter, was suspended in the heavens, the 
 atmosphere enveloped with water, by means of which it was 
 preserved ; yet because of the wickedness of its inhabitants it 
 was destroyed by a flood by the same waters out of which it 
 was originally made. 
 
 The present earth and its atmosphere are liable to the same 
 destruction, because the same means exist (for " there is still 
 
 695
 
 596 CONFLAGRATION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 water enough to drown the earth, and there is iniquity enough 
 to induce God to destroy it and all its inhabitants "). They are 
 nevertheless kept in store, treasured up, kept in God's store- 
 house, to be destroyed, not by water, but by fire, at the day of 
 judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Peter informs his 
 brethren that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as 
 some men count slackness, but " one day is with the Lord as a 
 thousand years, and a thousand years as one day " that is, all 
 time is as nothing before him, because in the presence as in the 
 nature of God all is eternity ; therefore nothing is long, nothing 
 is short, before him ; no lapse of ages impairs his purposes, nor 
 need he wait to find convenience to execute those purposes. 
 
 " The heavens shall pass away with a great noise " that is, 
 the atmosphere which surrounds the earth will be decomposed ; 
 and the action of fire which accomplishes this will be attended 
 by noise, thunderiogs and explosions which will \^& frequent, loud, 
 confounding and terrific beyond every comprehension but that 
 of God himself. After the heavens have thus passed away, the 
 fire will rapidly seize on all other substances and all terrestrial 
 particles, and the whole frame of nature will be necessarily 
 torn in pieces ; and thus the earth and its works shall be 
 burnt up. 
 
 Traditions of this great event appear to have been prevalent 
 among the ancient nations. The Siamese, it is said, believe that 
 the ground will be parched up with heat, the mountains melted 
 down and the earth's whole surface reduced to a level and then 
 consumed with fire. And the Brahmins of Siam do not only 
 hold that the world shall be destroyed by fire, but also that a 
 new earth shall be made out of the cinders of the old. The 
 ancient Pythagoreans, Platonists, Epicureans, Stoics, etc., appear 
 to have had an idea of the final conflagration. 
 
 " Remembering in the fates a time when fire 
 Should to the battlements of heaven aspire, 
 And all his blazing world above should burn, 
 And all the inferior globe to cinders turn." Ovid.
 
 CONFLAGRATION OF THE EARTH. S97 
 
 Dr. Clarke, in his Commentary, states " that it was the com- 
 mon opinion among the Stoics that, the moisture of the earth 
 being consumed, the whole world would catch fire." The 
 Epicureans held the same sentiment ; and indeed the writings 
 of various authors prove that a tradition of this kind has 
 pretty generally prevailed in the world. But it is remark- 
 able that none have fancied it will be destroyed by water. 
 The tradition founded on the declaration of God was against 
 this opinion ; therefore it was not received. 
 
 Peter, after describing the conflagration of the world, says, 
 
 " Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, 
 look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness," 
 
 in connection with what he had said previously, that all things 
 would be dissolved, that the present earth, though destined to be 
 burnt up, would not be destroyed or annihilated, but its mate- 
 rials would be renewed and refined, purged from all moral and 
 natural imperfection, and made the endless abode of blessed 
 spirits. 
 
 The great poet of our language, Shakespeare, utters the fol- 
 lowing sublime passage respecting the dissolution of the earth : 
 
 " The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
 The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 
 Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve ; 
 And, like the baseless fabric of a vision, 
 Leave not a rack behind."
 
 MILLENNIUM. 
 
 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 MILLENNIUM, " a thousand years," a term generally used to 
 denote the thousand years during which, according to an an- 
 cient tradition in the Christian Church, grounded on some texts 
 in the book of Revelation and other places in the Bible, Christ 
 our Lord shall come and reign with his people on the earth. 
 It is declared by the prophet that " the knowledge of the Lord 
 shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea," and all shall 
 know the Lord from the least unto the greatest. 
 
 In all ages of the Christian Church persons have arisen who, 
 from mistaken views of the prophetical writings of the Old and 
 New Testaments, have presumed to foretell the immediate de- 
 struction of the world, many of them fixing the precise day 
 when it would take place. There have been in every century 
 since the Christian era some who have embraced these views. 
 In the apostles' days it appears that many of the early Chris- 
 tians expected the day of final judgment would speedily come, 
 through which expectation they were betrayed into various 
 practical mistakes. The apostle in 2 Cor. ii. beseeches his 
 brethren not to be shaken in mind or be troubled by such views 
 of their Lord's immediate coming. 
 
 The following are believed to be the leading doctrines advo- 
 cated by the Millennarians, or Second Adventists of the present 
 time : they state that " the Scriptures reveal unto us, in plain 
 language, that Jesus Christ will appear again on this earth ; that 
 he will come in the glory of God, in the clouds of heaven, with 
 
 598
 
 MILLENNIUM. 
 
 NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH. 
 
 " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the 
 kid ; and the calf and the young lion and fading together; and a little child shall 
 lead them.'''' ISA. xi. 6. " The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the 
 top of the mountains.' 1 ' 1 ISA. ii. 2.
 
 MILLENNIUM. 6oi 
 
 all his saints and angels ; that he will raise the dead bodies of 
 his saints who have slept, change the bodies of those that are 
 alive on the earth that are his, and both these living and raised 
 saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There the 
 saints will be judged and presented to the Father without spot 
 or wrinkle. Then the gospel kingdom will be given up to God 
 the Father, and the Father will give the bride to his Son Jesus 
 Christ; and when the marriage takes place, the Church will 
 become the ' New Jerusalem,' the beloved city. 
 
 " And while this is being done in the air, the earth will be 
 cleansed by fire, the elements shall melt by fervent heat, the 
 works of man will be destroyed, the bodies of the wicked will 
 be burnt to ashes, the devil and all evil spirits, with the souls 
 and spirits of those who have rejected the gospel, will be ban- 
 ished from the earth, shut up in the pit, or place prepared for 
 the devil and his angels, and will not be permitted to visit the 
 earth again until a thousand years are fulfilled. This is the first 
 resurrection and the first judgment. Then Christ and his peo- 
 ple will come down from the heavens, or middle air, and live 
 with his saints on the new earth in a new heaven, or dispensa- 
 tion, for ever, even for ever and ever. This will be the restitu- 
 tion of the right owners to the earth. 
 
 " Then will the promise of God to his Son be accomplished : 
 ' I give him the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost 
 parts of the earth for his possession.' Then the whole earth 
 shall be full of his glory ; and then will the holy people take 
 possession of their joint-heirship with Christ, and his promise 
 be verified, ' The meek shall inherit the earth,' and the kingdom 
 of God will have come and his will be done as it is in heaven. 
 After a thousand years shall have passed away, the saints will 
 all be gathered and encamped in the beloved city. The sea, 
 death and hell will give up their dead, who will rise up on the 
 breadths of the earth, out of the city, a great company like the 
 sand on the sea-shore. The devil will be let loose, to go out
 
 6O2 MILLENNIUM. 
 
 and deceive this wicked host. He will tell them of a battle 
 against the saints, the beloved city; he will gather them around 
 the camp of the saints. But there will be no battle ; the devil 
 hath deceived them. The saints will judge them; the justice 
 of God will drive them from the earth into the lake of fire and 
 brimstone, where they will be tormented day and night for ever 
 and ever. ' This is the second death.' After the second resur- 
 rection, or second judgment, the righteous will possess the earth 
 for ever." 
 
 A portion of those who adopt the Second Advent doctrines 
 (the personal coming of Christ in the millennium) are Annihila- 
 tionists, or Destructionists, as they were formerly called. These 
 believe that the wicked after death pass into a state of misery, 
 and before the sentence of annihilation will be executed with 
 more or less torment, preceding or attending the final period, in 
 proportion to the greater or less guilt of the criminal. They 
 claim that most of the figures used to denote the punishment 
 of the wicked typify combustible materials thrown in a fire, 
 which will be entirely consumed if the fire be not quenched. 
 The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, with their inhabitants, are 
 said to have suffered the vengeance of an eternal fire that is, 
 they were so effectually consumed or destroyed that they could 
 never be rebuilt. 
 
 This world, which has been the theatre of so much sin and 
 misery, war and bloodshed, shall be changed, for during this 
 time " swords shall be beat into ploughshares and spears into 
 pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
 neither shall they learn war any more." " There shall be noth- 
 ing to hurt or offend in all the holy mountain," " for the wolf 
 also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid ; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling 
 together, and a little child shall led them." 
 
 [The engraving accompanying this article may be understood 
 in a literal or figurative sense, "as the wolf also shall dwell
 
 MILLENNIUM. 603 
 
 with the lamb, ... the young lion and the falling together ; 
 and a little child shall lead them," etc. The background is 
 illustrative of the Lord's house, which shall be " established in 
 the top of the mountains ; ... all nations shall flow into it," 
 also "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and all his saints."] 
 
 Dr. Scott, the commentator, whose views on this subject are 
 adopted to a considerable extent by the Christian public, on the 
 foregoing passage says: "The effects of divine grace on the 
 minds of men in the times of the Messiah are here represented 
 with much beauty under the most significant emblems. Persons 
 of the most dissimilar dispositions and pursuits, and by nature 
 and custom addicted to various kinds of wickedness, would be 
 so changed by the grace of the gospel that they would become 
 of one heart and one way. The selfish, the penurious, the rapa- 
 cious, the contentious, the ambitious, the savage, the subtle and 
 the malicious would lose their peculiar base dispositions, and 
 become harmless, sincere, peaceful, benevolent and affectionate ; 
 they would live together in harmony, hearken to instruction, 
 and be guided by gentle persuasions and entreaties; so that the 
 change would be as evident and surprising as if the wolf, the 
 tiger, the lion, the bear and other fierce carnivorous animals 
 should learn to be gentle and harmless as the lamb, the kid, the 
 calf, the cow, to associate with them, to graze the pasture, as 
 they do, or to feed on hay and straw, and should be so tract- 
 able that a little child could lead them." 
 
 Mr. Henry, in his commentary, appears to understand the 
 above-named passages literally. He says: "The lion shall 
 cease to be ravenous, and shall eat straw like the ox, as some 
 think that all the beasts of prey did before the fall. The asp 
 and cockatrice shall cease to be venomous, so that parents shall 
 let their children play with them and put their hands upon 
 them." " It appears," says a pious and learned writer, " there 
 were hurtful beasts or poisonous reptiles before the fall, when 
 1 the Lord God brought them to Adam ' to receive their names.
 
 604 MILLENNIUM, 
 
 And as there will be nothing to hurt or destroy, so it may be 
 safely inferred that not only the wicked dispositions and habits 
 of men, but also those of the inferior creatures, will be changed." 
 
 It would seem from the Scriptures that the heavens and the 
 earth, like man, their proprietor and lord, are to perish only for 
 the purpose of becoming immortal. Man dies ; his body mould- 
 ers in the dust, but it is raised again, a spiritual body, prepared 
 for the society of spirits made perfect, who dwell in heaven with 
 God. The earth and the heavens also are to be burned up, and 
 to pass away. " Nevertheless," says the apostle, " we, accord- 
 ing to the promise of God, look for new heavens and a new 
 earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." 
 
 The apostle John informs us that he saw this new heaven and 
 new earth, and from his own knowledge he thus describes them : 
 
 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; 
 for the first heaven and the first earth were passed 
 away ; and there was no more sea. And I John 
 saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down 
 from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
 husband. 
 
 " And I heard a great voice out of heaven, say- 
 ing, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men 
 and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 
 people, and God himself shall be with them, and 
 be their God. 
 
 " And God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither 
 sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
 pain, for the former things are passed away. 
 
 " And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, 
 I make all things new. And he said unto me, 
 Write ; for these words are true and faithful. And 
 he said unto me, It is done."
 
 MILLENNIUM. 605 
 
 In the opinion of a learned and pious commentator, the fol- 
 lowing notes of the celebrated Dr. Priestley concerning the 
 authenticity of the book of Revelation should not be withheld 
 from the learned or pious reader. He says : 
 
 " I think it impossible for any candid person to peruse this 
 book without being struck in the most forcible manner with the 
 peculiar dignity and sublimity of its composition, superior to 
 any other writing whatever; so as to be convinced that, consid- 
 ering the age in which it appeared, none but a person divinely 
 inspired could have written it. These prophecies are also writ- 
 ten in such a manner as to satisfy us that the events announced 
 to us were really foreseen, being described in such a manner as 
 no person without that knowledge could have done. This re- 
 quires such a mixture of clearness and obscurity as has never 
 been yet imitated by any forgers of prophecy whatever. 
 Forgeries, of course written after the events, have always 
 been too plain. It is only in the Scriptures, and especially in 
 the book of Daniel and this of the Revelation, that we find the 
 happy clearness and obscurity in the account of future events." 
 
 A further description of the New Jerusalem is given in the 
 last chapter of the Bible : 
 
 " And he showed me a pure river of water of 
 life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
 of God and the Lamb. 
 
 " In the midst of the street of it, and on either 
 side of the river, was there the tree of life, which 
 bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit 
 every month ; and the leaves of the tree were for 
 the healing of the nations. 
 
 " And there shall be no more curse ; but the 
 throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it ; and 
 his servants shall serve him :
 
 606 MILLENNIUM. 
 
 " And they shall see his face, and his name shall 
 be in their foreheads. 
 
 " And there shall be no night there ; and they 
 need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
 Lord God giveth them light; and they shall 
 reign for ever and ever." 
 
 Bishop Newton, in commenting on this passage, says : " The 
 Church shall endure through all times and changes in this 
 world, and likewise in the world to come. It shall be glorious 
 upon earth during the millennium, and shall be more glorious 
 still in the new earth after the millennium, to all eternity. 
 Earth, purified by fire, shall then become as heaven, or rather 
 it shall be heaven upon earth, God dwelling visibly with men ; 
 and there shall be no more death, which cannot till death shall 
 be totally abolished and till the former things, the first heaven 
 and the first earth, on which sin and death reigned, are passed 
 away. He who sat upon the throne as Judge of the world, de- 
 clares, ' Behold, I make all things new.' He is the Author of 
 this second, as he was of the first, creation; and he commands 
 that these be written for the edification of his Church, with a 
 firm assurance of their truth and certainty." 
 
 John Wesley, in a discourse on the new heaven and the new 
 earth, deplores the state of the animals, into which they were 
 thrown by Adam's apostasy. They also are made to suffer 
 pain and death, like man ; and what vast numbers are under 
 the necessity of destroying the lives of others to save their own 
 life ! Insignificant as they seem, they are the offspring of one 
 common Father, the creatures of the same God of love. 
 
 " But it shall not always be so. He that sitteth on the throne 
 will soon change the face of all things and give a demonstrative 
 proof to all his creatures that his mercy is over all his works. 
 . . . On the new earth no creature will kill or hurt or give 
 pain to any other. The scorpion will have no poisonous sting,
 
 MILLENNIUM. 
 
 the adder no venomous tooth. The lion shall not tear the 
 lamb nor crush his bones. Nay, no creature, no beast, bird or 
 fish, will have any inclination to hurt another, for violence and 
 cruelty shall be known no more. 
 
 This great change foretold by the prophet Isaiah is described 
 by the poet Cowper in the following words : 
 
 " The lion and the leopard and the bear 
 Graze with the fearless flocks ; all bask at noon 
 Together, or gambol in the shade 
 Of the same grove, and drink one common stream : 
 Antipathies are none. No foe to man 
 Lurks in the serpent now; the mother sees, 
 And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand 
 Stretch'd forth to dally with the crested worm, 
 To stroke his azure neck, or to receive 
 The lambient homage of his arrowy tongue. 
 All creatures worship man, and all mankind 
 One Lord, one Father." 
 
 " But the most glorious of all will be the change that shall take 
 place on the poor, sinful and miserable children of men. These 
 have fallen in many respects, as from a greater height so into a 
 lower depth than any other part of the creation. But they shall 
 hear a great voice out of heaven, saying, The tabernacle of God 
 is with men, and they shall be his people, and God himself will 
 dwell with them and be their God. Hence will arise an un- 
 mixed state of holiness and happiness far superior to that 
 which Adam enjoyed in Paradise. ... As there will be no more 
 death, and no more pain or sickness, as there will be no more 
 grieving or parting with friends, so there will be no more sor- 
 row or crying. Nay, there will be a greater deliverance than 
 all this, for there will be no more sin. And to crown all, there 
 will be an intimate union with God, a constant communion 
 with the Father and his son Jesus Christ through the Spirit." 
 
 There is every reason to believe that the new earth will excel 
 Eden, in which Adam and Eve first dwelt. In the living part 
 of the creation were seen the deplorable effects of Adam's 
 apostacy, also in the inanimate, which, after the fall, brought
 
 608 MILLENNIUM. 
 
 forth thorns and thistles. In view of this change opened by 
 the prophecies, a celebrated poet exclaims : 
 
 " Ah ! scenes surpassing fable, and yet true 
 Scenes of accomplished bliss ! Which who can see 
 His soul refreshed with foretaste of the joy? 
 Rivers of gladness water all the earth, 
 And clothe all climes with beauty; the reproach 
 Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field 
 Laughs with abundance; and the land, once lean, 
 Or fertile to its own disgrace, 
 Exults to see its thistly curse repeated, 
 The various scenes woven into one, 
 And that one season an eternal spring. 
 The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence, 
 For there is none to covet : all are full."