Univ.of I ! 1 51 YV/4 TT I!: rary i \ 4 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/kingshighwayorilOOnewt “ A company was gathered round a stranger, who was address- ing them.” King’s Highway. frontispiece. p. 20. THE KING’S HIGHWAY; OB, Jllusstratfons of ifo Commandments. BY THE REV. RICHARD NEWTON, D.D., AUTHOR OP “ 2ILLS FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE “ BEST THINGS “ THE GIANTS, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM,” ETC. itfo-fork: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 680 BROADWAY. 1863. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New-York. JOHN A. GRAY, Printer & Stereotyped, 16 and 18 Jacob 8«. SO CONTENTS PACT! I.— THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.— Part 1 9 II.— THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.— Part II 42 HI.— THE SECOND COMMANDMENT 71 IV.— THE THIRD COMMANDMENT 102 V.— THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT 136 VI. — THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT 172 VII. — THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT 209 VIII.— THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH COMMANDMENTS 245 IX.— THE NINTH COMMANDMENT 279 X.— THE TENTH COMMANDMENT 310 ;tt PREFACE. A highway is a road, or way laid out, and prepared for people to walk in. In a country governed by a king, it is expected of him to have public roads made for the convenience of the people. Such a road, when made, is called u the king's highway .” Now this world is God’s country. It be- longs to Him. He is the owner, and king of it. We should expect Him, therefore, to have a highway prepared for His people to walk in. And He has such a way. We read in the Bible, — Isaiah xxxv. 8, — that there shall be “ an highway ; it shall be called the way of holiness. The redeemed shall walk in it.” This way means, the path of obedience to God’s commandments. It is this path which is intended by u The King’s Highway.” When we repent of our sins, and believe in Jesus as 6 PREFACE. our Saviour, and try to love and serve Him, this is the way He wishes us to walk in. Hence, He says to us, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Whatever we do from love is always pleasant. And “ The King’s Highway” is a pleasant way to walk in, be- cause those who walk in it are prompted by love. May God give grace to all who read this little volume, truly to love that Saviour who died for them, and to show that love by walk- ing in “ The King’s Highway and may He bring us all, at last, in safety to that blessed home above, to which this Highway leads ! For the series of very appropriate and beau- tiful “ Hymns on the Commandments,” con- nected with this volume, I am indebted to the ready pen of my dear brother, the Eev. Wil- liam Newton, of West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is intended to have them published by themselves for the use of Sunday-schools. RICHARD NEWTON. 1 $\w • 120 . THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 121 We ought not to take God’s name in vain, because it is cowardly . We ought not to do it, again , because it is VULGAR. It is contrary to good manners. Really polite people will not do it. The poet Cow- per once wrote these lines about swearing. It would be worth while for every boy in our land to commit them to memory ; — “ It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme Lightly appealed to on each trifling theme ; Maintain your rank ; vulgarity despise ; To swear is neither brave, polite, nor wise.” True politeness will always lead us to avoid doing any thing that will hurt the feelings of others. If you are invited out to tea, and, while sitting at the table, the person who invited you, or any one else of the company, should speak unkindly and disrespectfully of your father, or mother, you would feel that it was very impolite. But Jesus is the best friend His people have. He is dearer to them than father, or mother, husband, or wife. It is, there* 11 122 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. fore, impolite in the highest degree, for any one to speak lightly, or disrespectfully of Him, in the presence of those who love Him. A Southern planter had a favorite negro servant, who was ordered to stand opposite to him, and wait at table. His master was a profane person, and often took the name of God in vain. Whenever he did so the negro made a low and solemn bow. On being asked why he did this, he replied, that he never heard that great name mentioned, but it filled his soul with awe and reverence. His master was a gentleman. And though he did not fear God, yet, out of politeness, he gave up swear- ing, because he was not willing to hurt the feelings of his servant. A merchant and ship-owner, of New York, was standing, at the entrance of his store, conversing with a gentleman on business. A pious sailor, belonging to one of his vessels, came to the store to enter it ; but observing that the door was occupied, modestly stepped aside, not willing to interrupt the conversation. While waiting there, he heard the name of THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 123 Jesus profanely used, and, on turning to look, he observed that it was his employer who was speaking. Instantly changing his position, and standing in front of the gentlemen, with his head uncovered, and his hat under his arm, he addressed the merchant in this lan- guage ; — “ Sir, will you excuse me if I speak a word to you ?” The gentleman, recognizing him as one of the crew of his vessel, recently arrived, and supposing he might have something to say about the business of the ship, told him to speak on. “ You won’t be offended, then, sir, with a poor ignorant sailor, if he tells you his feel- ings ?” said he. “ Certainly not,” replied the merchant. “ Well, then, sir,” said the honest-hearted sailor, with much feeling, “ will you be so kind as not to take the name of my blessed Jesus in vain ? He is a good Saviour ? He took my feet out of ‘ the horrible pit and miry clay, and established my goings.’ Oh, sir ! don’t, if you please, take the name of my Jesus in 124 THE KING S HIGHWAY. vain ! He never did any one any harm, bat is always doing good.” This was said with so much earnestness and feeling, that the gentleman was quite touched. His eyes filled with tears, and he said ; — “ My good fellow, God helping me, I will never again take the name of your Saviour in vain.” “ Thank you, sir,” said the honest tar ; and, putting on his hat, he went away to his work. We ought not to take God’s name in vain, because it is vulgar . Again , ive ought not to do it because it is WICKED. To do this is to break one of God’s com- mandments. Many a person allows himself to get into the habit of swearing, who would be frightened at the thought of robbery or murder. And yet, robbery and murder are only sins against our fellow-creatures ; but swearing is a sin directly against God. The wickedness of any act depends, a good deal, on the character of the person against whom it is committed. But think how great, how THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 125 glorious God is ! All the kings on the earth, and ten thousand times more, are as nothin*? compared to Him. Oh ! how great the wicked- ness, how awful the sin of taking His holy name in vain ! Surely, if people only thought a moment about this, they would never do it. A clergyman, and his friend, once went to attend a religious convention in a certain city. During their stay there, they stopped at the house of a physician. He was a very intelli- gent, gentlemanly man, but very much in the habit of profane swearing. The clergyman was told of the doctor’s bad habit, before he went there, and had made up his mind to say something to him about it, when he heard him make use of an oath. To his surprise and gratification, however, the doctor never swore once, all the time they were there. On the evening before they went away, the clergyman said ; — “ Doctor, we are going to leave you to- morrow ; we can not go away without thank- ing you, most heartily, for all your kindness ; and yet, allow me to say, there is one thing, 11 * 126 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. my dear sir, in which we have been disap- pointed.” “ Disappointed ?” said the doctor. “ Yes, sir, but most agreeably.” “ How so, sir?” “We were told, my dear sir, that you were very unguarded in your speech, and that we should often hear profane language from you. But, during our whole stay, we have not heard a single profane word used ; and we are agree- ably disappointed to find that you have been misrepresented.” “ No, sir,” replied the doctor, “ I have not been misrepresented. I am sorry to say that I have fallen into the bad habit of using pro- fane language ; but, sir, how could I be so im- polite as to swear before religious people, and one of them a clergyman ?” The eyes of the minister filled with tears, while he earnestly grasped the doctor’s hand, and exclaimed ; — “ My dear sir, you surprise me. Can it be that an intelligent man, like you, will pay more regard to a fellow-creature, a worm of THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 127 the dust, like yourself, than to the Great Crea- tor, the Lord of heaven and earth ?” “ Gentlemen,” said the doctor, “ I never be- fore saw the folly and wickedness of profane swearing, as I see it now. I will never swear again.” We ought not to take God’s name in vain, because it is wicked . There is only one other reason , I will speak of, why we ought not to do this, and that is, be- cause it is DANGEROUS. The commandment says, “ God will not hold those guiltless,” who do it. This means that God will certainly punish them for it. The Bible tells us that God “ will bring every work into judgment, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” It tells us, again, that “ for every idle word that men speak, they must give ac- count at the last day.” And if for every “ idle word,” much more for every profane word. But God does not always wait till the day of judgment, before He punishes men for tak- ing His name in vain. He often punishes them for it now, in this life. 128 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. A few years ago, two soldiers laid a wager to see who could swear the most oaths. After one of them had uttered many shocking ones, he paused a moment, and said he could think of hut one more, which should he his last. But before he had time to speak it, he was struck speechless, and remained so for three hours, when he died. His body, by order of the officers, was made a public spectacle to the other soldiers, and the people in the neighbor- hood, as a warning against swearing. Some years ago, a lady and gentleman set off, upon ponies, to make an excursion, from Margate to Ramsgate, in England. They were accompanied by two boys, who belonged to the place, and whose employment was to at- tend on persons making excursions, and drive the ponies. One boy, named John, was about seventeen years old ; the other, named George, was about thirteen. John was a very wicked, profane boy. When they were about a mile on their way, a violent storm overtook them, accompanied with tremendous peals of thunder, and awful flashes of lightning. This obliged THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 129 the lady and gentleman to stop, and seek shel- ter, in a neighboring cottage. The boys, with their ponies, went under a shed. John was very angry on account of the delay. He cursed the lightning, and the thunder, and the rain, and the God who sent them. George was frightened, and begged him to stop. Then John called him a coward and a fool ; and, with a dreadful oath, he swore that he would go on, in spite of the storm. But, just as he was start- ing, a terrible flash of lightning came. It burnt his clothes, and struck him dead upon the spot. This produced a great excitement in the neighborhood. Thousands of people came to look at the spot. A sign was set up at the place, as a warning to all who went by. These were the words upon it ; — “ Header, pre- pare for eternity. A boy was struck dead here, while in the act of swearing.” I remember, some time since, hearing of a rich man, who had a large plantation. He was the most terribly profane man that had ever been known in the neighborhood. He could hardly speak a word, on any subject, 130 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. without mingling it with oaths. It was per- fectly shocking to hear him speak. At length he was seized with a stroke of something like paralysis. This left him in good health, only he had lost the use of his limbs. And the re- markable thing about it was, that the power of speech was taken away from him, except that he could still swear. Profane words were all that he could utter. He used to be carried about his plantation by his servants, in a sort of hand-carriage, and the only words that ever fell from his lips, were dreadful oaths and curses. How awful this must have been ! What a terrible illustration it affords of that passage of scripture — Psalm cix. IT— 19 — in which God says, that because the wicked “ love cursing, it shall come into their bones like oil, and they shall clothe themselves with cursing like a garment.” Surely this man was so clothed. A dreadful garment it must have been to wear ! I might go on, for a great while, giving you examples of the danger of swearing, but I will only mention one more. There was a man employed by a farmer, in THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 131 the neighborhood of a country town, to work on his farm. His name was James B . On account of his singular profaneness, he was known through all the neighborhood, as “ wicked Jim.” One evening he was playing cards, with his companions, and frequently lost the game. At last, he threw down the cards, in great anger, and swore dreadfully at his own eyes, cursing them as being of no use to him. Shortly after, he was seen to rub his eyes, as though they were painful. Then he went to wash them, at the pump. The next morning he was stone blind. He has never seen a ray of light since. These cases show us what the commandment means when it says, “ God will not hold them guiltless , that take His name in vain.” We see from them that we ought not to break this commandment, because it is dangerous. Thus we have had five reasons why we should not take God’s name in vain. It is useless to do so ; it is cowardly , vulgar , wicJced, and dangerous. I have tried to answer the three questions 132 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. proposed, and to show you, first, what is meant by the name of Gocl ? It means His titles and attributes . Secondly , how this name is taken in vain ? By using it lightly , falsely , profanely. Thirdly, Why we should not do this? It is useless, coivardly, vulgar, tvicked, and danger- ous. My dear children, I spoke, at the beginning of this sermon, about oaks growing out of acorns. Now, if we wanted to prevent any oak trees from growing, the best plan would be not to put any acorns in the ground, would it not ? And so, if you want never to swear big oaths, the best plan is not to make use of little ones. There are a great many little oaths that people use without thinking. But these only prepare the way for using othei oaths. There are many persons who are unwilling to swear by the name of God, but who think nothing of swearing “ by George,” or “ by jin- go,” or by something else. Others are ever ready to exclaim “ “ good gracious,” or “ mercy on us,” and the like. These are the beginnings THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 138 of swearing. They are to profane swearing what acorns are to the oak. When you hear persons using these expressions, you may say to yourself ; — “ There, the acorn has sprouted. By and by it will come to an oak.” Our Saviour said, when on earth, “ Let your yea, be yea, and your nay, nay ; for whatso- ever is more than this cometh of evil.” This means that we should use plain language, with- out swearing of any kind. And this is what the third commandment requires of us. Then let us all pray with David — Psalm cxli. 3 — “ Set a watch, 0 Lord, before my mouth ; and keep the door of my lips or, in the language of our ante-communion service, let us pray — “ 0 Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.” May God give us all grace to do so for Jesus’ sake I Amen. 12 134 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. HYMN ON THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. Almighty God, while we Our youthful voices raise, And offer up to Thee The tribute of our praise, Oh ! may Thy love our hearts inflame, And teach us to adore Thy Name. Thy Name, in beauteous hues Of light, of life, and love, Throughout creation shines, Around, beneath, above — And all on earth, in air, and sea, Pour forth a song of praise to Thee ! But in the Saviour’s face We read its fairest lines. Oh ! with what wondrous grace, The Name of Jesus shines; As children in His arms He pressed, And with His choicest blessing, blessed Oh ! may we never dare To act that wicked part ; Nor offer up a prayer That comes not from the heart : Or speak that Name, in careless phrase, That heaven adores and earth obeys. THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. Dear Saviour, to our hearts, Thy Name in mercy show, The blessings it can give, Oh ! may we early know. Thus shall we yield it honor due, And others win to love it, too. And when, before Thy Throne, We all at last appear ; Thy Name of Love , alone, Shall be our safety there. In it we’ll stand before Thy Face, Perfect, through Thy abounding grace I Y. %\t fjmtjj CflwmattjtniunL “ Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hal- lowed it.”— Exodus xx. 8-12. )HAT is the difference between day, and night ? One is light, and the other is dark. What is the differ- ence between summer, and winter ? One is warm, and the other is cold. What is the difference between a bird, and a fish ? One lives in the air, and the other lives in the water. What is the difference between a rose, and a lily ? One is red, and the other is white. What is the difference between sugar, and vinegar ? One is sweet, and the ( 136 ) THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 187 other is sour. Yery well. Now, what is the difference between the fourth commandment, and any of the rest ? There is one word in this commandment, which we do not find in any of the others. It is the first word that occurs in it. What is it ? The word — “ l Remember ” If you tur^ to the first commandment, does it begin- • “ Remember that thou have no other god before me ?” No. There is no “ remember ' about it. Does the fifth begin — “ Remember that thou dost honor thy father and thy moth er?” Not at all. We do not find this word in any of the others. This is singular. It means something. It shows us that there was one thing in which this commandment differed from all the rest ; it was this ; — the fourth commandment was an old command ment : the rest were all new ones. I do not mean to say that the people did not know that it was wrong to steal, and to kill, and to commit such like sins ; but I mean to say, that God had not before given the people laws on these subjects, as He did at Mount 12 * 138 THE KING S HIGHWAY. Sinai. But He had given them the law about the Sabbath ; and this is the reason why, when we come to this law, we find it beginning — “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” We must know a thing before we can re- member it. If you go to a new school, the teacher first tells you what the rules of the school are, and then expects you to remember them. He would be a very unreasonable teach- er, if he expected you to remember them before you knew them. You can’t keep a thing in your hand till you get it there. And it is just so with the mind. To know a thing is to get it in the mind. To remember it, is to keep it there, after you have got it. Now, this law, or commandment about the Sabbath, was given to Adam and Eve in Paradise. It had always been known after that. It is the oldest law in the world. It was the first law God ever made for people, in this world, to mind. And this is the reason why the commandment begins with the word — “ Remember.” Now, let us look at this fourth command- THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 139 ment. In order to understand it, there are* three questions for us to ask and answer. The first question is ; What is meant by the Sabbath day ? The second question is ; How must we keep it holy ? and the third question is ; Why should we do this ? Now, for the first question ; What is meant by the Sabbath day ? The word Sabbath means rest. The Sabbath day means the day of rest. The Bible tells us that God was occupied, for six days, in making the world. By the close of the sixth day He had finished all that He wanted to make. The sun, and the moon, and the stars, and this world, and every thing in it, was completed. “ And God looked on all that He had made, and behold, it was very good . 77 Then, on the seventh day, He rested. This doesn’t mean that God was tired , as you, or I, should be, if we had been working hard all the week. God never can be tired. If He had gone on mak- ing worlds, without stopping a moment, for six years instead of six days, or for six hun- dred, or six thousand years, He would not 140 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. ’ have felt in the least tired. "When it says that “ God rested,” it only means that He stopped, or ceased from the work of creating, or making, worlds. He had made as many as He wanted, and then He stopped. In this way “ He rested on the seventh day, and hal- lowed it,” or made it holy. He did this in order to teach Adam, and Eve, and all their children, that He wanted them always to stop their work on this day, and keep it holy in the same way. The Sabbath day was first kept in Paradise. What a nice time Adam and Eve must have had, when the Sabbath day came in that beau- tiful garden ! They had no church, like this, to go to. But every grove, the shade of every tree, was a church. The whole garden was one great church. The congregation was small — it was made up of just two people — but it was a very attentive one. They had no printed Bible, like ours, and no ordained minister to preach them a sermon. Their Bible was all around them. Every blade of grass, every trembling leaf, every opening, fragrant, beau- THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 141 tiful flower, preached a sermon to them. Every thing they saw seemed to have a tongue with which to speak to them of the power, and good- ness, the wisdom, and the love of God. They had no organ, and no choir, to help them, when they wanted to sing the praises of God. But the gentle wind, that made sweet music as it swept through the trees of the garden, was their organ ; the warbling birds, as they sang among the branches ; the rippling brooks, as they murmured softly through the groves ; — these were their choir to hymn “ their Great Creator’s praise.” Thus the Sabbath day was kept, in Para- dise. How pleasant it must have been, to spend a Sabbath there ! And the Sabbath day was kept after Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise. Enoch kept it, when he “ walked with God,” upon the earth. Noah kept it, in the ark. Abra- ham and Jacob kept it. The Israelites kept it, in the wilderness, before they came to Mount Sinai. And it was remembered and kept by those who loved God, in after ages. 142 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. The seventh day was kept as the Sabbath till after our Saviour rose from the dead. Then His apostles and followers were directed to keep the first day of the week, instead of the seventh. And this has been observed ever since. This is the day we keep. The first day of the week is our Sabbath. This has been kept for nearly two thousand years. W e keep this day in memory of the resurrection of Jesus. The seventh day used to be* observed in memory of the work of creation, which was then finished ; but the first day is kept now in memory of the work of redemption, which was finished when Jesus rose from the dead. By the Sabbath day is meant a day of rest. This is the answer to our first question. The second question is ; How must we keep THIS DAY HOLY ? Two things are necessary if we would keep the Sabbath properly ; — one is, To stop work- ing ; — the other is, To spend it in worshipping God, and thinking and learning about Him. It is necessary to stop working, if we would keep the Sabbath. God’s command is very THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 143 positive about this. It says — “ Six days shalt thou labor and do all that thou hast to do : but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt do no manner of worlcJ 1 This is very strong language. And it is very plain, too ; nobody can mistake it. But suppose a man stops working himself, is it any harm to let his servants, or his children work? Of course it is. Just as much as though he did the work himself. The com- mandment says — “ Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle.” And God told the Jews in another place, that he spoke these words on purpose that their servants and their cattle should rest, as well as themselves. This shows us how good, and kind, and tender God is, that He thinks about, and takes care even of the very cattle. The Bible tells us that God is “ good unto all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” The fourth com- mandment shows us how true this is. If this commandment were properly obeyed, what a quiet time there would be all over the 144 THE KING S HIGHWAY. world, one day in seven ! All stores would be closed. All factories would be stopped. All labor would cease. There would be no cars running, no engines puffing, no sound of saw or hammer heard ; but every person and thing would be at rest. How calm and peaceful every thing would be ! But is it not lawful to do some particular kinds of work on Sunday ? Certainly. Our Saviour said it was lawful for a man to loose his horse from the stable and lead him away to the pump, or the creek, to get a drink of water, on the Sabbath. He said it was lawful for a man, if he had an ox, or an ass, that had fallen into a pit, to pull it out on the Sabbath. Suppose a vessel is wrecked on the coast, and the passengers, if not relieved, must soon perish ; would it not be right for any, who could do so, to go and help them ? Of course. Suppose a building takes fire ; is it not lawful to try to put it out ? Surely it is. And so it is right for the dairy-maid to milk her cows, and for the physician to visit his patients, and for those who are nursing the sick to do and get THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 145 all that is necessary for their comfort. It is right to do good , on the Sabbath day. Works of mercy, and works of necessity, may be done, without breaking this commandment. But ail other works must be stopped. Is it enough, however, merely to stop work- ing ? Suppose a man stops working, and then lies in bed all day ; is that keeping the Sab- bath holy? No; surely not. Suppose he stops working, but spends the day in visiting among his friends ; is that keeping the Sab- bath holy ? No. Suppose he stays at home, and reads newspapers ; is that keeping the Sabbath? No. If a company of boys go out and romp in the woods, or fly their kites, or play marbles ; or if a company of girls get their dolls out, and dress, and undress them, they are not working ; but are they keeping the Sabbath? Not at all. It is not enough to stop working ; we must spend the day in ivor shipping God , and learn - ing and thinking about Him . Whatever else we do is breaking the Sabbath. When God tells His people, by the prophet Isaiah, how 13 146 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. they ought to keep the Sabbath, He says they should “ call it a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable and they should “ not do their own ways, nor find their own pleasure, nor speak their own words.” Isaiah lviii. 13. Here we see how God would have us keep the Sab- bath. It is His day. It is set apart for Him. He intends that we should employ the day — not a part of it, but the whole of it — in wor- shipping Him, in reading, and talking, in think- ing, and learning about Him. It is God’s day, and should be employed in things that have reference to Him. This is the way in which we should keep the Sabbath holy ; — by stop- ping worlc ; and by worshipping God , and learn- ing and thinking about Him. And now we come to the third question : W hy should we DO this ? I will mention three reasons. One of these refers to God ; one refers to ourselves ; and one refers to our country . Now, what is there in reference to God, which shows us why we ought to keep this commandment? There is His example and command. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 147 God’s example is a reason why we should keep the Sabbath day holy. God kept it so Himself. “ He rested from all His work.” He did this to set us an example. [* But some people think the Sabbath was only intended for the Jews. How can we show that this is not so ? Several things about the Sabbath show it. The time when it was first kept shoivs it. It was first kept in the garden of Eden. But were there any Jews in Paradise ? No. The Jews sprung from Abraham, and Abraham didn’t live till more than 2,000 years after Adam was driven out of Paradise. Then the work from which God rested when j He kept the first Sabbath shoivs that it was not intended for the Jews only . In what work had God been engaged for the six days before the first Sabbath ? Making the world. But was the world made for the Jews only ? No ; it was made for the Gentiles also ; yes, and * The portion, included in brackets, may be omitted in reading the sermon ; but it was thought too impor- tant a part of the argument to be left out. 148 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. much more for the Gentiles than for the Jews ; for the Gentiles possess a hundred times more of the world than the Jews ever did. And then , the company in which God put the fourth commandment , shows that it was not in- tended for the Jews only . What company was ' this ? It was the company of the ten command- ments. He made it one of the ten. These were written on — what? Tables of stone. If a law is written on stone, that shows it is intended to last. If you write any thing on the sand by the sea-shore, how long will it last ? Till the next wave rolls over it. That washes it clean out. If you write any thing with chalk, or lead pencil, it is easily rubbed out. If you write it with ink, in a book, it may soon be de- stroyed. But write it on stone, and it will last. God did give the Jews some laws which were for themselves alone. These were written with ink, in a book. But the fourth commandment was not put among these. It was intended to last for ever : it was meant for all the world. For this reason it was put in company with the ten commandments, and written on stone.] THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 149 God was the first to keep the Sabbath Him- self. His example is a reason for keeping it. Then his command is another reason for keeping it. Suppose a person should go into the presence of' the queen of England, when she was sitting on her throne, before all her nobles and princes, and, taking a book containing the laws of the kingdom, should deliberately throw it on the floor, and trample on it ; — what would be thought of that person ? They would consider that he was insulting the queen. His conduct would be considered outrageously wicked. And so it would be. He would be taken up, and put in prison. Unless it could be proved that he was crazy, he would most likely be hung. But this is only what every Sabbath-breaker does in the presence of the great Kings of kings. No person can break the Sabbath without trampling on His laws. One morning a gentleman was going to church. He was a happy, cheerful Christian, who had a very great respect for the Sabbath. He was a singular man, and would sometimes IB* 150 THE KING S HIGHWAY. do and say what children are apt to call very “ funny things.” As he was going along he met a stranger, driving a heavily loaded wagon through the town. When this gentleman got right opposite to the wagoner, he stopped, turned round, and, lifting up both hands, as if in horror, he exclaimed, as he gazed under the wagon : — “ There, there, — you are going over it ! You have gone right over it !” The driver was frightened. He drew up his reins in an instant ; cried — “ Whoa — whoa !” and brought his horses to a stand. Then he looked down under the wheels, expecting to see the mangled remains of some innocent child, or at least some poor dog, or pig, that had been ground to a jelly. But he saw nothing. So, after gazing all about, he looked up to the gentleman who had so strangely arrested his attention, and anxiously asked ; — “ Pray, sir, what have I gone over ?” “ Over the fourth commandment ,” was the quick reply. “ ‘ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ ” THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 151 The farmer found it hard work to start his wagon again, and it was very dull driving all the rest of that day. Just so every Sabbath-breaker treats God’s commandment. God says ; — “ Remember the Sabbath day.” But oh ! how many people forget it ! A gentleman was going along a country road one Sunday. A person came up to him, and, bowing politely, said ; — “ Sir, did you pass three men driving a flock of sheep along this road ?” “ Yes, sir,” replied the gentleman ; “ and I noticed that one of them had a blue jacket on, and that they all had short memories.” “ Short memories !” said the stranger ; “ I don’t see how you could tell what sort of memories they had.” “ Certainly, I could,” said the gentleman, “ for you know God has said — £ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy !’ But those men had all forgotten it. They had short memories.” Ah ! how many people there are with just such memories ! It is often very inconvenient 152 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. to have a short memory, in reference to other things ; but in reference to God, it is very dangerous to have such a memory : for we read in the Bible these solemn words ; — “ The wicked shall be turned into hell ; and all the people that— -forget — God ! ” Ps. ix. 17. God had a right to demand all our time, if He had chosen ; but He claims only one day out of seven. How ungrateful and wicked it is, when people are not willing to give Him even that ! One Sunday a gentleman was going to church. On his way he saw a company of large boys, playing, on the common. He wanted very much to show them how wrong it was for them to be so doing ; but he knew that if he began to reprove them they wouldn’t listen to him. So die walked leisurely up to them, and sat down on the grass. Presently, in a pleasant, familiar tone, he said ; — “ Boys, I want to tell you a story.” Directly they all gathered, unsuspectingly, around him, and he began as follows ; — “There was once a good man, who was THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 153 noted for liis kindness and liberality. At the time of which I speak, he was on a journey. As he was pursuing his way, along a lonely road, he met a man who represented himself as having suffered a great loss, in consequence of which he was in deep distress. With his usual kindness the good man instantly drew out his purse ; and after examining it, he said, 1 1 have only seven dollars with me ; but I think that with one dollar I can get to the end of my journey, and you shall have the rest. 7 With this he handed the man the six dollars. Wasn’t that generous? Wouldn’t you have thought that the beggar must have gone off feeling very grateful and contented? Cer- tainly, we should have expected this. But he did no such thing. He was not a beggar at all, but a robber ; and seeing that the good man had still one dollar in his purse, he knocked him down with a club, and stole his last dollar from him.” The boys were very indignant on hearing this. They all cried out against the shameful conduct of the robber. One of them went so 154 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. far as to say he didn’t think anybody could be found quite so wicked as that. “ Now, stop,” said the gentleman ; “ let me tell you, boys, this is just what you are doing. God has emptied, not His purse, but His heart, for your benefit. He has given you freely six days, out of the seven, for your own use. He has kept only one for Himself, to be kept holy, and spent in worshipping Him ; and yet you are so mean as to rob Him even of that ! ” The boys hung down their heads. They had not a word to say, but broke up their play and went off. Thus there is a reason that refers to God, why we should keep the Sabbath day holy. His example , and His command should lead us to do so. But there is also a reason that refers to our- selves. Keeping the Sabbath is necessary for our health and life. Here is my watch. Suppose I should con- clude not to wind it up to-night ; what would THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 155 happen to it ? It would stop. It is necessary to wind a Avatch up, if you want it to keep going. Now, our bodies and minds are just like a watch. They need to be wound up con- tinually, or else they will stop going. These are wound up by resting. When we go to bed, and sleep, at night, we are getting wound up for the next day. You know how often, when night comes, you feel tired, heavy, and good for nothing. If you sit down to read a book, or study a lesson, you very soon fall asleep over it. Just like a watch that is run down, you are ready to stop. But after a good, long sleep, you wake up bright, fresh, strong, and ready for any thing. The reason is, you are wound up. But suppose you should resolve not to sleep any more ; what would be the consequence? You would go crazy, and die. Some watches need to be wound up every day, and others only once a week. When we buy a watch, or clock, we always ask the maker of it how often it is necessary to be wound up. And we always follow his direc- tions, because we know that, as he made it, he 156 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. understands all about it. But God is the Maker of our bodies and souls. These are like a watch, or machine, that must be wound up regularly. The Maker knows best how often to wind them up. If we ask Him, He says ; — “ Every night, and once a week besides.” God has given us the night and the Sabbath to rest in, and get wound up. They are both necessary. We can not get on long, or well, without them. Some people think they know better than God. They try to do without resting on the Sabbath, but they always suffer from it. William Pitt, the great statesman of Eng- land, had so much business to attend to, that he resolved to work on Sunday as well as week days ; but in a short time it brought on a stroke of apoplexy, and he died. Lord Castlereagh, another great English statesman, did the same thing. It drove him crazy, and he blew his brains out with a pistol. A gentleman, who had been engaged as a merchant, in a very extensive business, for twenty years, once said to a friend ; — “ Sir, if THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 157 it had not been for the Sabbath, I should have been in my grave long ago . 77 “ No doubt of it , 77 said his friend ; “ don 7 t you remember Mr. H , who used to be one of our most successful merchants? He said he could not spare time for the Sabbath. He found it the best day of the week in which to plan new voyages. He always spent his Sab- baths in that way. Well, he has been in the Insane Asylum for years, and will probably die there . 77 Men who labor six days in the week, and rest one, can do more work, in all kinds of business, and in all parts of the world, and do it better, than those who labor seven. This experiment has been tried, over and over again. It was tried once in a large grist-mill. For a number of years the mill had been kept going seven days in the week. Then the owner made a change. He ordered the men to stop the works at eleven o 7 clock on Saturday night, and not to start them till one o’clock on Mon- day morning. Thus he allowed his men a full Sabbath every week. The result was, that the 14 158 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. very same men actually ground fifty thousand bushels more in a year, than had ever been ground, in that establishment, in a single year before. And this is just as true in regard to horses and cattle as it is to men. A gentleman was travelling, on horseback, in Pennsylvania. He stopped at a tavern on Saturday evening. The next morning the landlord asked him if he wanted to have his horse ready. “ Not till to-morrow,” said he. “ I never travel on the Sabbath, unless in case of absolute necessity. I am on a long journey, and wish to perform it as soon as possible. I have been long accustomed to travel on horse- back, and have found, that if I stop on the Sabbath, my horse will travel further during the week than if I do not.” There were two neighbors, in the State of New York. They each started on the same day, with a drove of sheep, for a distant mar- ket. One started several hours before the other, and travelled every day, without re- gard to the Sabbath. The other rested every THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 159 Sabbath. Yet this man arrived at the market first, with his sheep in better condition, and got better prices for them than the other. In giving an account of his journey, he said, that on Monday he drove his sheep about seventeen miles ; on Tuesday sixteen, and so on lessening one each day till Saturday, when he drove them only about eleven miles. But on Monday, after resting the Sabbath, they could travel seventeen miles again ; and so on, each week. You see the sheep were wound up, by resting, as well as the man. But his neighbor’s sheep, which were not allowed to rest on the Sab- bath, ran down before they arrived at the market, and could not travel more than six or eight miles a day. Thus we see that keeping the Sabbath is necessary to our health and life. It is necessary , also , to our prosperity and happiness . God designs the Sabbath to be a blessing to those who keep it, and He will make it a blessing to them. Those who neglect it will always suffer from it, in some way, or other. 160 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. There were once fifteen young men, board- ing at a private boarding-house, in the city of New York. They were all engaged in business, with equally fair prospects of success. Six of them paid no regard to the Sabbath. In the course of time, all of those six either failed in business, or came to a miserable end. The other nine regarded the Sabbath, and with one exception they all prospered, and rose to prominent positions. A clergyman, who had been for many years chaplain to the Maryland Penitentiary, took great pains to find out what it was which first led the prisoners to go astray, and, in ninety- nine cases out of a hundred, he found that Sabbath-breaking was the beginning of their wicked courses. A young man was going to be hung for mur- der. 4 As he stood upon the scaffold, he spoke to the great crowd, gathered round, in this manner ; — “ My friends, you have come to see a man die. Let me advise you to take warning by me. The beginning of my ruin was Sabbath-break THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 161 ing. This led me into bad company ; — from bad company, I went to drinking ; — from drinking, to robbing orchards and gardens ; — from this, to house-breaking ; — and from this, to murder. Thus I have been brought to my present sad condition. Many of you are young : in an especial manner let me warn you to beware of Sabbath-breaking.” We often find people suffering loss from breaking the Sabbath, but they will surely prosper who keep it. There was a young farmer once, who had a large quantity of grain in the field, which was cut, and dried, and ready for the barn. From the appearance of the sky, one Sunday morning, he thought there was going to be a change of weather. Fearing that if a wet spell should set in, he might lose his har- vest, he called his men together, and pro- posed that they should go to work and gather in the grain. His grandmother, a good, pious woman, who lived with him, tried hard to persuade him not to do it. But he wouldn 7 t listen to her. He and his men went to work 14 * 162 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. with all their might. By the middle of the afternoon they had the grain all in. A thou- sand sheaves of grain were snugly stowed away in the barn. By that time it had begun to rain. “Now, grandmother,” said the young man, with great glee, as he entered the house, “it’s all safe. Let it storm as much as it pleases, my harvest is safe under my roof.” Just as he spoke these words, there came a vivid flash of lightning, and a tremendous peal of thunder. It seemed to shake the house to its very foundations. Presently some one ex- claimed ; — “ Oh ! the lightning has struck the barn ! ” They all rushed out, and, sure enough, it was even so. The barn was in flames, and the sheaves which the Sabbath-breaker thought so safe, were all burned up before his eyes. I might go on for a long time telling you about different cases, which show the evil that follows from breaking the Sabbath, and the blessing that follows from keeping it ; but I will only mention one more. There was a boy, once, working in a factory, in England. His name was Willie. He re- THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 163 ceived only five shillings a week ; but that was the principal dependence of his poor mother. He was a good boy, and always went with his mother to church on Sunday. His employer was not a Christian man. He had a short memory. He forgot God. On one oc- casion he was in a hurry to get some work done, and he gave notice to his hands, on Satur- day, that he wanted them to work all the next day. Willie was very much tried to know what to do. He couldn’t bear to think of breaking the Sabbath. Yet, if he didn’t go to work, he was afraid he should lose his place, and then, what would his poor mother do ? At last he resolved to do right, and leave the rest to God. So he went to church, and kept the Sabbath, as God has commanded. The next morning, as he was going into the fac- tory to begin his work, his master met him. “ Where were you yesterday, sir J? ” “ I went to church, sir, ” said Willie. “ Then you may go to church again to-day, for I don’t want you here,” was his reply. Poor Willie felt very badly. When he 164 the king’s highway. thought of his mother, he couldn’t help crying. But he thought that would do no good ; so he wiped away his tears, and set out to seek for a new situation. He called at several places, but the only answer he received was — “We don’t want any boys.” At last he called on a gentleman, who asked him why he had left his last place. His ready reply was— “ Because I wouldn’t work on Sunday, sir.” The gen- tleman was pleased with this ; so he engaged him to work, and promised to give him ten shillings a week. So Willie found that God blessed him for keeping the Sabbath. Thus we see there is a reason that refers to ourselves why we should keep the Sabbath. It is necessary to our health and life : to our prosperity and happiness . But there is a reason that refers to our coun- try — why we should keep the Sabbath day holy . Breaking the Sabbath does great harm to our country . Keeping the Sabbath does great good to it. You know there is a country in Europe called Holland. The land there*s very low. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 165 In some places it is lower than the sea. The only way in which they can keep the sea from overflowing it, is by building great walls, or banks of earth, which are called dykes. One of the greatest evils that could happen to Hol- land, would be to have those dykes broken down ; for then the sea would rush in, drown- ing the people, and destroying the country. In the Bible, wickedness is compared to floods of water. The greatest harm that can happen to a country is to have these floods let loose upon it. To protect us from this harm, God has given us the Sabbath. It is God’s wall of defence around our country. Wherever the Sabbath is properly kept, like the dykes of Holland it rolls back the floods of wicked- ness, and prevents them from sweeping in ruin over the land. But every Sabbath-breaker is trying to throw down these protecting walls, and let the sea of wickedness come rushing in upon us. You know that in France, during the Revo- lution, at the close of the last century, they tried the experiment how they could get along 166 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. without the Sabbath. They resolved to have no- Sabbath. They burnt the Bible. They said there was no God ; no heaven ; no hell. The result was dreadful. All kinds of wickedness prevailed. The prisons and dun- geons were crowded full of prisoners. These prisoners were the best people in the land. They were taken, by cart-loads, every day, and beheaded. The blood of the people was shed like water. That time was called “ The reign of Terror.” It was the most dreadful time ever known in the history of the world. They had broken down the Sabbath — God’s protect- ing wall — and wickedness rolled over the land in a flood. Every Sabbath-breaker is helping to do this same thing here. Breaking the Sabbath does great harm to the country. But keeping the Sabbath does great good to our country. You know that, in the land of Egypt, they have no rain. Instead of rain, they depend on the overflowing of the river Nile. This river runs all through Egypt. Every year it rises over its banks, and spreads itself gently THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 167 over all the land. This overflowing of the Nile fertilizes the soil, and makes every thing grow. Thus the Nile is the greatest possible blessing to Egypt. The comfort of the people, and their very life, depend upon it. This river Nile rises far away up among the moun- tains of Abyssinia. Now, suppose that the governor of Egypt had entire power over the Nile. Suppose that, whenever he chose, he could stop, or dry up those distant springs, and prevent the river from rising. And suppose he should tell the people, that if they did not mind his laws, and do what he told them, he would dry up the springs of the river, and not let it rise. Then would it not be a very dan- gerous thing to disobey that governor ? And would it not be very important for the peo- ple of Egypt to try and please their gov- ernor? Yes. And every man who kept his laws, would be doing the greatest good to his country. Well, now, we have no such river as the Nile in this country. For the power to fertilize our land, and make things grow in it t 168 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. we depend, not upon a river, but on the dews and the rains. And God, our Governor, has entire power over these. He can give them, or withhold them, just as He pleases. Break- ing the Sabbath provokes God, and tempts Him to take them away. Keeping the Sab- bath pleases Him, and He promises to send dews, and rains, and peace, and plenty on those who honor His Sabbaths. The Sabbath-keeper does great good to his country. Now we have had three questions. The first was — Wliat does the Sabbath day mean ? It means a day of rest. The second was — How may it be Jcept holy ? By stopping work • — by, worshipping God — thinking and learning about Him. The third was — Why should we keep it holy ? In answer to this, we had three reasons. One refers to God ; — His example and com- mand. Another refers to ourselves ; — our life, and health ; — our happiness, and prosperity. The other refers to our country. Breaking the Sabbath does it great harm ; keeping the Sabbath does it great good. THE FOUBTH COMMANDMENT. 169 Now, my dear children, I hope, wherever you go, you will be the firm and decided friends of the Sabbath. Some people think they must keep the Sabbath in one place, though they may break it in another. “Johnny,” said a mother to her little boy, who was playing marbles on the front pave- ment, “You mustn’t play marbles there; don’t you know it is Sunday ? go into the yard, if you want to play.” Johnny stopped a mo- ment, and then asked — “ But, mother, isn’t it Sunday in the yard, as well as on the pave- ment ? ” It is no particular place that makes the Sab- bath ; it belongs to all places. Some people think there is no harm in doing any thing on the Sabbath, if others do not see them. “ Here, James,” said a God-forgetting man, to his son, who attended the Sabbath-school, “ I want you to carry this parcel to such a place.” “ Not to-day, father, if you please, for this is the Sabbath.” “ Put it in your pocket,” said the father. 15 170 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. “ God can see it in my pocket as well as out,” answered the little boy. Whether at church, or at home ; in the city, or the country ; among friends, or among strangers — oh ! be sure that you always “ Re- member the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” HYMN ON THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. This day is the Day of the Lord, And we to His Temple repair ; We come, at the call of His Word, To thank Him with praise and with prayer. Oh ! may we remember that He, The God of our spirit, is here ; Our actions He clearly can see, Our thoughts, ere they’re spoken, can hear. We’ll think not of work or of play, Nor talk of our meat or our drink ; But, find all our pleasure, to-day, In thoughts He would have us to think. We’ll talk of His works and His ways, We’ll tell o’er the marks of His love ; And learn the first notes of that praise We would sing with the ransomed above. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. m And while we, thus gladly, receive The blessings this day can impart ; We’ll strive, just as freely, to give To those who are stricken in heart. Oh ! why should their eyes be in tears, If we can their troubles remove ? Let us lighten the clouds of their fears, By the sunshine of kindness and love Thus, best shall we hallow the day, That tells us that Jesus arose; We’ll welcome its earliest ray, And keep it, in peace, till its close. And then, when these Sabbaths are o’er, We’ll hope, at the last, to ascend Where sin shall disturb us no more, And the Sabbath of God have no end. VI. u Honor thy father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” — Exodus xx. 12. ^0 you remember bow many tables of stone there were, on which the Ten Commandments were written ? * Two. There is another question I want to ask. I remember, when I was a little boy, this question was asked me, and I gave a wrong answer to it. One day the min- ister was catechising the children, in the church to which I went, and he asked us this question — “ How many commandments were there on each of the tables ?” None of the other chil- dren answered the question, so I thought I would answer it. I was a little fellow, and had not learned much about the command- (112) THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 173 ments ; but I understood enough about divi- sion, to know that the half of ten is five ; and, thinking that was the most natural division to make, I spoke out, and said — “ Five on each, sir.” The good minister shook his head, and said, “ No ; that’s not right.” Then he went on to tell us that the commandments, when written on the two tables given to Moses, were divided, not according to number, but according to subjects. He told us that these ten commandments all referred to two great subjects. These are, our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbor. Our duty to God takes in four of the commandments. Our duty to our neighbor takes in six. And so there were four commandments on the first table, and six on the second. That was the way in which I learned how many commandments were on each of the tables. I never forgot the lesson I learned that day. It is about thirty-five years ago since this took place. It seems like a long while to look back to ; and yet I remember it just as clearly, as though it only occurred yesterday. 15 * 174 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. Now, we have got through with the first table of the commandments. We have con- sidered the four which relate to our duty to God. To-day we begin the second table. The fifth commandment was the first on the second table. With this begins the subject of our duty to our neighbor. What are the words of the fifth commandment ? “ Honor thy father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Notice, my dear children, how this second table of the commandments begins. God is going to show us our duty to our neighbor. How does He begin ? Not by telling us how kings ought to reign, or soldiers ought to fight, or how merchants ought to conduct their busi- ness ; but, how hoys and girls ought to hehave at home ! This is the most important thing for every young person to consider. God thought it important enough for Him to write it, with his own finger, on a table of stone. That shows us how very important it is. When THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 175 you want to do any thing well, you must be careful to begin right. Suppose you are going to raise a tune. Well, you must be careful to start it on the proper key. But if you want to sing “ Old Hundred , 77 and start it with the key-note of “ Yankee Doodle , 77 why you never could get on with it. You would have to stop. You would be sure to break down, and have to begin again. And so, if you begin to put up a house, and lay the foundation wrong ; or to build a ship, and make a mistake in laying the keel ; you’ll have to take it all down, and begin again. Oh ! it is very important to begin right. It is so in every thing. And it is so in trying to do our duty to our neighbor. The fifth commandment shows us how we must begin to do this. We must begin at home. You show me a boy or girl, who is not a good son or daughter, who does not honor father and mother, and I will show you one who will not make a good man, or woman. What does the fifth commandment require us to do? To honor our father and mother. 176 THE KING S HIGHWAY. This starts two questions for us to consider. The first is : How are we to honor our FATHER AND MOTHER ? The second is : Why should we do this ? You see there are just two words on which these questions hang. One is the word — How ? The other is the word — W iiy ? If you look into your wardrobe you will see pegs, or hooks, on which things are hung. Just so these two words — How ? and, Why ? are the hooks on which this whole sermon will be made to hang. There are four things to hang on the first hook ; and two on the second. Now we come to the first hook ; — How ? How are we to honor our parents ? Four things are to go on this hook. If we describe these things according to grammar, we may call one of them a noun ; that is, the name of a thing • the other three are adjectives , which qualify the noun, or show what sort of a thing it is. The first thing to go upon this hook — How ? — is the word — obedience. To honor our parents means to obey them. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 1*77 But then, our obedience must be of the right kind, or else it will be no honor to them. The other day I was coming home from New York. In the seat before me, in the car, sat a plain woman, with two children, a boy and a girl. They were going out to Ohio. I was sorry to see that the children didn't seem to mind much what their mother said. After a while, I saw the mother trying to get some- thing out of a basket on another seat. I thought, perhaps, she had some cakes or candy in it, and that she wanted to give these to the children, to make them mind what she said. But when she got the basket open, she drew out from it, not cakes or candy, but a rope, about a yard long, and as thick as my little finger. It had a knot on each end of it ; and she doubled it up, and held it in her hand,, and shook it at the children, whenever she told them to do any thing. She would say — “ John, sit down there," and shake the rope at him. Down John would sit. “ Mary, move over into that other seat." “ John, put down that window, this minute." 178 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. John obeyed, instantly. He knew what would come if he didn’t. These children obeyed their mother, but did they honor her? No. They didn’t honor their mother ; they honored the rope. That kind of obedience might be called rope’s-end obedience. It isn’t good for much. The motive that leads to it is the fear of pun- ishment. This is a wrong motive. But if we want to have right actions, we must be sure and have right motives. We ought to obey our parents, because it is the will of God that we should do so ; and because we love them. These are the proper motives for obedience to our parents. What are these motives ? The will of God ; and Jove to our parents. Now, suppose that the woman, I have spoken of, had pursued a different plan. Suppose that, instead of shaking that rope at her chil- dren all the while, she had taken her Bible and said to them ; — “ My dear children, this is God’s word. In it God speaks to us, and tells us what He wants us to do. Let me read to you what God says about children. Here in Exodus, 20th chapter THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 179 and 12tla verse, He says — * Honor thy father and mother ; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee/ Now, you see, when I tell you to do any thing, or not to do it, it is just the same as if God told you. When you obey me, you obey God. When you disobey me, you disobey God : yes, the great, the good, the glorious God, whom all the angels of heaven obey. Only think what a dreadful thing it must be to disobey Him !” Suppose she had spoken to them in this way, and that, instead of scolding, and slapping, and storming at them continually, she had been kind, and tender, and affectionate, in her treat- ment of them. Then she would have taught them to obey her from the right motives — be- cause it is the will of God, and because they loved her. After this she might have left the rope behind her. Now we have got one thing on the hook — How ? It is the noun — obedience. Obedience is necessary if we would honor our parents. But it must be the right kind of obedience. 180 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Here we want our adjectives to qualify the noun. It must be a ready obedience . Now we have tivo things on the hook — How ? If we want to honor our parents by our obedience, we must not stop to ask questions about what we are told to do, or try to find out the reason for it. It is reason enough that our parents tell us to do a thing. I was reading, the other day, about two little girls, who had a dear, good mother, whom they loved very much. She was poor, how- ever, and often had to be away from home all day, on business. On these occasions, the children always looked forward, with great interest, to their mother’s return in the even- ing. That was the happiest hour of the day to them. One day, when she was absent, they had been making something nice for her, which they knew would please her very much. This made them unusually anxious for their mother’s return that day. The hours rolled slowly away, and it seemed, to the impatient waiters. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 181 as if the evening never would come. At last they spied their mother coming up the lane. Then they scampered down the garden walk to meet her. But instead of opening her arms to receive them, as usual, they saw her motion- ing them to go back. When she got nearer, she said, in a stern voice, “ Go back, directly, into the house, and don’t come near me till I call you.” This was a great disappointment to the poor girls. One of them began to cry, as if her heart would break. She couldn’t understand it, and thought it very hard for their mother to treat them so. The other told her to wait a little while, for she was sure that mother had some good reason for what she did, which would make it all right, when it was explained to them. Presently, when their mother had changed her dress, and washed herself, she came out of her room, with her usual smile upon her face, and was as kind to them as ever. Then she told her little girls that on her way home, she had stopped to visit a poor family. On 16 182 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. entering the house, she found that one of the children had just died of the scarlet fever. She had helped to lay out the dead child. They knew that that dreadful disease was catching. It is often carried in a person’s clothes, so that others may take it in that way. She was afraid her daughters might take it, if they came near her, before she had had time to wash, and change her clothes. This ivas the reason why she told them to go back, and keep away from her. Then the girls saw how right it was to obey their mother readily , whether they understood the reason for what they were told to do, or not. Beady obedience is necessary, if we would honor our parents. But absent obedience, as well as present, is necessary. I mean by this, that we must obey our par- ents when we are away from them, as well as when we are with them. Now we have three things on the hook — Hoiv ? Obedience ; ready ; absent . A little boy, about seven years old, was on a visit to a lady, who was very fond of him. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 18 B Although lie was a great way from home, he behaved very well, and endeavored to do every thing that he thought would have pleased his parents, had they been present. One day, at breakfast, there was some hot bread upon the table. It was handed to him ; but he refused to take it. “ Don’t you like hot bread ?” asked the lady of the house. “ Yes, ma’am,” said he, “ I’m very fond of it.” “ Then, my dear, why don’t you take some ?” “ Because my father doesn’t want me to eat hot bread.” “ But your father is a great way off, and will never know any thing about it. You had bet- ter take some for once, if you like it. It will do no harm.” This was very wrong in the lady. She ought to have been ashamed of herself. She was tempting her little visitor to break the fifth commandment. But listen to the little boy’s answer. “ No,” said he, “ I will not dis- obey my father, although he is not here to see 184 THE KING ? S HIGHWAY. me. He might never know it, but I should know it, and that would be enough.” This boy honored his father, by his obedience, when absent. Let me tell you about another boy, who honored his father in this way. A circus had come to the town in which he lived. The great tent was pitched, and the sound of the lively music drew great crowds, especially of the young people, to the ground. Among these a little boy was seen, looking about, with a great deal of curiosity. “ Holloa, Johnny !” said a man who knew him — •“ going to the circus ?” “ No, sir,” answered Johnny ; “ father don’t like ’em.” “ Oh ! well, I’ll give you money to go, Johnny,” said the man. “ Father don’t approve of them,” answered Johnny. “ Well, go in for once, and I’ll pay for you.” “ No, sir,” said Johnny, “ my father would give me money, if he thought it best ; besides, I’ve got twenty-five cents of my own, and that’s twice the price of admission.” THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 185 “ I’d go, for once, Johnny, if I were yon ; it’s wonderful, the way the horses do,” said the man. “ Your father wouldn’t know it.” “ I sha’n’t do it,” said the boy. “ Why not ?” asked the man. “ ’Cause,” said Johnny, twirling his bare toes in the sand, “ after I had been, I couldn't loolc my father right in the eye, and I can noiv .” Yes, that little fellow honored his father. Whenever you are tempted to do any thing which would prevent you from looking your father, or mother, “ right in the eye,” you may depend, there is something wrong about it. But if we would honor our parents, as this commandment requires, our obedience must not only be ready , and absent , as well as pres- ent ; it must also be affectionate obedience. This is the fourth word on the hook — How ? We have on it — obedience ; ready ; absent ; affectionate . We must obey our parents out of love to them. If we love them as we ought, we shall not only do all that they tell us, but shall try 16 * 186 THE KING S HIGHWAY. to do every thing that we know will please them, whether they tell us to do so or not. You all remember the story of Washington, when he was a boy. He had set his heart on entering the navy, and going to sea. His mother had yielded a reluctant consent. She said he might go ; but, it was evident that she wanted him to stay. A midshipman’s commis- sion had been obtained for him. The vessel was about to sail. The servant was at the door with his trunk. He went in to say good- bye to his mother. He found her in tears. He saw the look of deep distress that was in her face ; but she said not a word. That was enough for him. He went out, and said to his servant, “ Take my trunk back again to my room. I will not break my mother’s heart, to please myself.” He gave up his commission, and stayed at home. When his mother heard what he had done, she said, — “ George, God has promised to bless those who honor their parents, and He will bless you !” How true those words were ! God did bless George Washington ; and made THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 187 him a blessing to his country, and to the world. Washington gained many victories afterwards, but this was the most important victory he ever gained. He conquered the British, at Trenton, and at Monmouth, and at Yorktown. But when he gave up his own will, to please his mother, he conquered himself '. And the Bible tells us, that, “ He who ruleth his own spirit, is greater than he that taketh a city.” Affectionate obedience , will lead us to show all possible respect and love for our parents. You sometimes hear children speak very lightly of their father and mother. They break the fifth commandment when they do so. The Hon. Thomas H. Benton was for many years a United States senator. When mak- ing a speech in New York once, he turned to the ladies present, and spoke about his mother in this way ; — “ My mother asked me never to use tobacco, and I have never touched it, from that day to this. She asked me never to gam- ble, and I never learned to gamble. When I was seven years old she asked me not to drink. I made a resolution of total abstinence. That 188 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. resolution I have never broken. And now, whatever service I may have been able to render to my country, or whatever honor I may have gained, I owe it to my mother.” That was honoring his mother. We read, in ancient history, of a certain city which was besieged, and at length obliged to surrender. There were two brothers in that city, who had, in some way or other, obliged the conquering general. In conse- quence of this, he gave them permission to leave the city before it was set on fire, and to take with them as much of their most valuable property as they could carry. Presently the young men appeared at the gates ‘of the city, one of* them carrying his father, and the other his mother. They regarded them as the most valuable of their possessions. That was hon : oring their parents, indeed ! Affectionate obedience will lead us to taJce care of our parents , and provide for their comfort in every way we can . In heathen countries, we know, it is very common for children to cast off all care of THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 189 their parents. When they get sick, or grow old, their children either forsake them, and leave them to perish with hunger ; or actually put them to death, and so get them out of the way. But they have no Bible to teach them the fifth commandment. They have never heard God’s voice saying to them ; — “ Honor thy father and mother.” But we have this commandment. And God expects us to take care of our parents, and do all we can to make them comfortable, when they are sick, or aged, or poor. It is a great privilege to have a dear father, or mother, to shelter and comfort when growing old. I thank God for allow- ing me this privilege, and I would not give it up, for the wealth of the world. There is a celebrated charity school in Lon- don, called the “ Blue Coat School.” It bears this name, because the scholars there all wear blue coats, with long skirts to them. I remember reading about one of the boys in this school, who was in the habit of saving part of his own meals, and all the bits and scraps he could gather from the table, after 190 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. their meals were over. He used to put them in a box near his bed, and keep them there. This led the other scholars to talk against him very much. At first they thought he was greedy, and kept them there to eat at night, when the rest were asleep. Some of them watched him, but he was never seen to eat them. Once or twice a week he used to make a bundle of the contents of the box, and go away with it. Then the boys thought that he meant to sell them, and keep the money. They concluded that he was a mean, miserly fellow. They re- fused to let him play with them. They joked about him, and called him hard names, and per- secuted him in many ways. But he bore it all patiently, and still went on, saving and carry- ing away all he could honestly get. At last they complained of him to their teacher. The boy was watched, when he took away the next bundle. He was seen to go into an old worn-out building, occupied by some of the poorest people in the city. There he made his way up to the fourth story of THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 191 the building, and left his bundle with a poor old couple. On inquiry it was found that these were his parents. They were honest, worthy people, whom age and poverty had reduced to such a condition of want, that their chief dependence was the food thus furnished by their son. He was willing to deprive him- self of food, and bear the reproach and per- secution of his school-mates, in order to do what he could for the support of his parents. Yfhen the managers of the school heard of it, they provided relief for the poor boy’s parents, and gave him a silver medal, for his praiseworthy conduct. Certainly he deserved the medal. That boy kept the fifth command- ment. He honored his father and mother. One day a minister was hearing the children of his congregation say the Catechism. He asked a little boy to repeat the fifth command- ment. He did so, very well. “ Now, my little man / 7 said the minister, “do you know what it means, to 1 honor your father and mother ?’ 77 Instead of trying to explain it, in a low, trem- bling voice, and with his face all covered with 192 THE KING S HIGHWAY. blushes, he said ; — “ Yesterday, I showed some strange gentlemen over the mountain. The sharp stones cut my feet, and the gentlemen saw they were bleeding. They gave me some money to buy me shoes. I gave it to my mother, for she had no shoes either, and I thought I could go barefoot better than she could.” How clearly that dear boy understood the commandment ! Yes, and how sweetly he practised it ! But what a beautiful example Jesus set us here ! See, there He is, hanging on the Cross, outside of the walls of Jerusalem. A little company of women are standing near the cross. The mother of Jesus is among them, and so is His disciple John. The great, rough nails have been driven through His hands and feet. The blood is trickling down from the cruel wounds. His limbs are quivering with the pain. Oh ! how dreadful His sufferings must be ! Yet He forgets His own pain and agony, to think about, and take care of, His mother THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 193 We read in the gospel ; — “ Now, when Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple stand- ing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His moth- er, Behold thy Son ! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother ! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” How wonderful this was ! How beautifully it sets the example of Jesus before us, to teach us how to honor our father and mother ! Now we have done with the first question ; Hoiv are we to honor our parents ? On the hook— How? we have hung how many words ? Pour. What are they ? Obe- dience ; ready ; absent ; affectionate . The second question is Why should we do this ? • Which word in this question makes the hook, on which the whole question hangs ? Why. We have two words to hang on this hook. They are the words — blessing — and — curse. There is a blessing promised to those who keep this commandment ; and a curse de- nounced upon those who break it. The bless- ing is spoken of in the commandment itself : 17 194 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. the curse is spoken of in other parts of the Bible. Here we have a blessing promised to those who keep this commandment . God says, “ Honor thy father and thy moth- er ; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” It is worth while to notice, that this is the only one of the commandments which has a dis- tinct promise connected with it. Hence, the apostle says — Ephes. vi. 2 — “ Children, obey your parents, which is the first commandment with promise.” But let us see what this promise means. Doe§ it mean that all persons who obey their parents shall live to a great age ? No. It can not mean this, because we know that a great many good, and obedient children, die while they are quite young. You must remember that God gave these commandments to the Jewish nation just before they went in to take possession of the land of Canaan. They were to occupy that land during their good be- havior. And here God promises, that if they THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 195 keep His commandments, and especially this one, He would let them stay in that land, a long, long time. This is one thing that the promise means. But this promise refers to us, as well as to them. The Jews considered long life, as one of the greatest of temporal blessings. And the meaning of the promise, in reference to us, is, that God will surely reward those persons who honor their parents, even in this life, with such blessings as He sees to be best for them. Let me show you what I mean. Gustavus, the king of Sweden, in one of his journeys, stopped at the cabin of a poor peasant, and asked for a drink. An interesting young girl gave him a drink, without knowing who he was. She seemed to be in great poverty. The king became very much interested in Ber, and offered, if she would come to Stockholm to put her in a better position. The girl said, she would not leave her present home. “ Why not ?” asked the king. “ Because,” said the girl, “ my mother is poor, and sickly, and has no one but me to take care of and comfort her : 196 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. and nothing that any one could offer, would tempt me to leave her.” The king entered the cabin to see the girl's mother. There, stretched on a bedstead, whose only covering was a little straw, he beheld an aged female, weighed down with years, and many infirmities. His heart was touched at the sight, and he said ; — “ I am sorry, my poor woman, to find you in so destitute and suffer- ing a state.” “Alas, sir !” said the aged woman, “ I should be miserable, were it not for the kindness and attention of that dear, good girl. She labors to support me, and does every thing she can for my comfort. May God remember it to her for good,” she added, as she wiped away a tear. The good king could hardly speak. Pres- ently he slipped a purse of gold into the hand of the daughter, and said ; — “ Continue to take care of your mother, and I will help you to do it more effectually. Good-bye.” On his return to Stockholm, he made arrange- ments to have a sum of money paid to the “ I am sorry, my poor woman, to find you in so destitute and suf- fering a state.’ ’ King’s Highway. p. 196. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 197 poor woman every year, enough to keep her, comfortably, as long as she lived ; and after her death, to be continued to her daughter. This was the way in which God fulfilled the promise of this commandment to that young girl. It was the king who did it ; but it was God who put it into his heart to do it. He is the God, “ from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed . 77 Let me give you another illustration of the same thing. There was an honest tradesman who lived, and kept a shop, in a small town in France, some distance from Paris. He had a large family ; and by patient industry, and atten- tion to business, he had managed to main- tain them comfortably, and earn for himself a good reputation. But, at last, owing to the un- expected loss of a large sum of money, he was unable to pay what he owed to the merchants in Paris, from whom he bought his goods. He went to see his creditors. He told them frankly how he was situated, and begged them to allow him a longer time, and let him have 17 * 198 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. some more goods to carry on his business with ; and he would pay them as soon as he could. They believed he was honest, and consented to do so, all except one man. This was the per- son to whom he owed the most. His wealth was very great, but his heart was very hard. He said ; — “ No, sir, you are going to fail, and I’ll make you pay me at once.” An officer was sent immediately to arrest the poor man, and put him in jail. From his cell, in the prison, he wrote home to his wife and family, telling them of his situation. This threw them into great distress. At first they knew not what to do. After talking the matter over, a good while, the eldest son, of the family, a fine young man, resolved to go to Paris and see this cruel creditor, and try to persuade him to release his father from prison. He arrived at the house of the merchant, sent in his name, and asked permission to see him. The proud, money-loving man, thought of course the son had come to pay his father’s debts. He admitted him into his presence ; but as soon as he found out the object of the THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 199 young man’s visit, lie flew into a violent pas- sion, and declared lie would either have the money, or the bones of his father. On hear- ing this, the young man fell down on his knees, and with uplifted hands, and tears rolling down his cheeks, he addressed the merchant in this manner ; — “ Sir,” said he, “ if I go home without my father, I shall see my poor mother die with a broken heart. The credit of my father’s shop will be utterly ruined ; and we, his children, will be turned out as beggars, and vagabonds, into the open street. I have this one, the last request to make ; — let me be sent to jail in- stead of my father, and keep me there till all that he owes you is paid !” The merchant walked up and down the room in great agitation. The young man continued his cries and entreaties. At last, quite over- come by the affection and devotion of the noble-minded youth, he took him kindly by the hand, and told him to rise. He then gave him an order for the release of his father. Soon after he took the young man into busi- 200 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. ness with him, gave him his only daughter in marriage, and finally left him the heir of all his property. What a beautiful illustration this is of that passage of scripture, which says — “ Children, obey your parents, that it may be well with you.” This young man honored his parents, and God blessed him. We ought to honor our parents, because of the blessing promised to those who do so. This is one thing on the hook — Why ? It is the blessing. But there is another thing on this hook. It is the, curse. There is a curse denounced against those who do not honor their parents. I said*this curse is not mentioned in the com- mandment. We find it in other places. In Deut. xxvii. 16, we read these solemn words ; — “ Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother." In Proverbs xxx. 17, God speaks in this awful way ; — “ The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 201 pick it out, and tlie young eagles shall eat it.” It is enough to make the flesh creep upon our bones, and the blood run cold in our veins, to read these passages. God’s curse hangs over every boy and girl who refuses to keep this fifth commandment. They can not pros- per in their ways. Let me give you one or two illustrations of the way in which God’s curse sometimes comes on those who break this commandment. “ Mother, let me go to the common, and see them fire the cannon,” said George, to his Mother, on the Fourth of July. “ No, my son, I had rather you would not,” said his mother. “ Accidents so often happen, that I am afraid to have you go.” “ But other boys go, mother.” “ Yes, my son, I know it ; but other boys get hurt, too. If you go, Willie will want to go, too, and I shall feel anxious about you all the time*” George was the oldest son of his widowed mother, and it was not strange that she feared 202 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. to have him exposed to danger. But, in spite of his mother’s command, he resolved that he icould go ; so, while his mother was busy get- ting tea, he stole out at the back door, and away he ran to the common, intending to get back before his mother missed him. Just as he arrived there, the men were load- ing the cannon for the last time. They wanted to make a very loud noise. To help in doing this they put in turf, and other things. Now, all is ready. The match is lighted. It is applied to the touch-hole. Bang ! . goes the gun, with a tremendous explosion. It has burst. The fragments fly in every direction. George has just reached the ground. He is standing a good way off, yet he is the only one injured. A large piece of the cannon hits him ; it cuts him almost in two. In an instant he is dead. Ah ! how dreadful for his poor mother ! But how still more dreadful for the poor boy ! — to be killed in the very act of breaking God’s commandment ! Let me give you another illustration. There was a poor widow, in a New England THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 203 town, who had two sons. The eldest, Charles, was ten years old. He began, soon after his fathers death, to go with wicked companions. In spite of his mother’s entreaties and com- mands, he would go with them. Well, before he was twelve years old, he was taken up for stealing. Then he was taken away from his mother, and put in a reform school, or house of refuge, in a distant city. He had not been there long before he was taken sick. A dangerous fever broke out among the boys. A kind-hearted gentleman gave his mother money to pay the expenses of the journey, and she went to visit her sick boy. When she reached the place, she found him very ill. He was too ill to be with the rest of the boys. His mother found him in a room by himself. There he lay, stretched upon the bed, and looking so pale, and thin, that even his mother hardly knew him. It was a sad, and sorrow- ful meeting. She talked with him, and wept over him a long while. Then she took out a little handkerchief, and wiped his forehead 204 THE KING S HIGHWAY. with it, and told him it was his brother’s at home. “ Oh ! mother / 7 said Charles, “ lay it on my breast : I want it near my heart . 77 Soon he asked ; — “ Does brother mind you ? 77 “ Sometimes , 77 she replied. “ Oh ! tell him to obey you always, ahvays. If I had done so, I never should have been here . 77 And he buried his face in the bed- clothes, and sobbed, and cried as if his heart would break. Poor Charles died of the fever caught in the place to which he was taken for breaking the fifth commandment. One more illustration is all I will give you. Some years ago there was an Irish gentle- man, residing in the western part of Pennsyl- vania. At one time he was very well off. He had an only son, who was very wild, and wicked. He squandered all his father 7 s prop- erty, and reduced him to poverty. The old man lost his wife. Then his health failed ; and, to fill up the cup of his sorrows, he lost his sight. He was left poor, friendless, blind. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 205 forsaken. At last he found a shelter in the alms-house of Franklin county. One day, while the blind old man was living in the alms-house, his wicked, and ungrateful son, passed through the place* He was told of his father’s situation, and that he wanted him to come and see him ; but, although he passed within two hundred yards of the alms- house, he refused to stop and see the kind father whom he had ruined. Now, mark the result. The very day he passed the alms-house, on his way to Gettysburg, in an open carriage, he was overtaken by a severe storm, and caught a bad cold. The cold fell upon his eyes. In a little while he lost his sight entirely. He lay sick at Gettysburg till all his money was spent. Then he was taken to the Franklin county alms-house. On the very day that he was taken in* his father, who had died the day before, was taken out. He was put into the same room ; he died upon the same bed ; he was buried in the same grave ; and then his guilty spirit followed his neglected, and broken- 18 206 THE KING S HIGHWAY. hearted father to the judgment seat of Christ. What a fearful illustration this was of the solemn words ; — “ Cursed be he that setteth light by his father, or his mother.” Now, my dear children., we have had two questions asked, and answered. How are we to keep this commandment? and why should we do it ? How ? and Why ? are the important words in these questions. They are the two hooks on which the whole sermon hangs. On the first hook — How ? — we hung four words ; — one noun, and three adjectives. The noun is — obedience. The adjectives are — ready ; ab- sent; affectionate. On the other hook — Why? — we hung two words, viz : the blessing ; — and the curse. Here we have the whole sermon reduced, as it were, into just eight words ; — How? — Obe- dience ; ready ; absent ; affectionate. Why ? blessing ; curse. You might almost write them on your finger-nail. These eight words form the bones that make the skeleton of this ser- mon. It is easy to remember them ; and then THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT, 207 you can hardly help remembering the rest* in connection with them. My earnest hope is, that you will all re- solve, by the help of God, always to keep this commandment. And if you really want that help, there is nothing better for you to do than, every day, to use those two short, and appropriate prayers, which we use in church, every Sunday morning, when we re- peat the commandments. This is one ; — “ Lord, have mercy upon us ; and incline our hearts to keep this law !” And this is the other ; — “ Lord, have mercy upon us ; and write all these Thy laws in our hearts, we beseech Thee !” Offer these pray- ers with all your hearts, and ask God to hear you, for Jesus 7 sake. This will be be- ginning right. And so, by the help of God you will be able to — “ Honor your father, and mother ; that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God giveth you.” 208 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. HYMN ON THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. Thou shalt honor thy father, the guide of thy youth, And yield him the homage of love and of truth ; Thou shalt honor thy mother, whose love, unto thee, The greatest of G-od’s earthly blessings shall be. How sweet, when we hear this Commandment, to say, 11 Lord, if Thou wilt help me, I’ll strive to obey ; I’ll bend down the force of my own stubborn will, And bid every passionate feeling, Be still ! My father ! my mother ! How true should I prove ! How well should I serve you ; how faithfully love ! How yield to each wish the regard that is due ; And do all the things you would have me to do ! The love of a parent — oh ! who can repay ? From life’s early dawn to the close of its day, It shines on each pathway ; it blesses each lot ; And remembers us still ; though by all else forgot ! If thus earthly parents regard us with love, Oh ! what shall we say of our Father above ? Lord, make us Thy children, in spirit, that we May be always just what Thou wouldst have us to be I VII. Shllr “ Thou shalt not kill. ,, «— Exodus xx. 13. )HIS is one of the shortest of the ten commandments. There are only four words in it. The second command- ment has ninety-one words in it, and the fourth commandment has ninety- seven. It is wonderful to notice how very short God’s laws are. Here is God’s great law against killing, written out in four short words, or just sixteen letters. Now, if you go to a lawyer, and ask him to show you one of man’s laws against kill- ing, you will find it very different from this. He will go to his hook case, and take down one of his law-books, and turn to the chapter on killing ; and then, if you compare that 18 * ( 209 ) 210 THE king’s highway. chapter with this 13th verse of the 20th chap* ter of Exodus, you will see what a wonderful difference there is between God’s law and man’s law. I did this very thing, the other day, when I was beginning this sermon. I borrowed the law-book, from a friend, and took it to my study. I found that the chapter on killing contained twenty-four large pages, closely printed, and in small type. I did not attempt to count the number of words in that chapter. It would have taken too much time. It would have been almost like trying to count the grains in a handful of sand, from the sea-shore. There were thousands of words ; yes, tens of thou- sands, and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of words in that chapter, which contained man’s law about killing, for every single word in this sixth commandment, which contains God’s law about killing. “ THOU SHALT NOT KILL ! ” This is the commandment we are to consider to-day. It is one of the most important of all the commandments. THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 211 But, you notice there are no limits put to this law. It would seem, when we first look at it, as if it were unlawful for us ever to kill any thing. Can this be the meaning of the law ? Certainly not. You know we all eat meat. Every day we have upon our tables, beef, or mutton, or veal, or chickens, or fish. The oxen, or sheep, or calves, from which this meat came, were killed before those joints of meat could be obtained for our tables. . The butchers killed those cattle. Was it wrong for them to do so ? Not at all. God has given us permission to kill these animals. He created them to furnish food for man. Again ; — in some parts of the country hun- gry wolves, and savage bears, prowl about. They devour the sheep of the farmer, and do great mischief. The farmer tries all he can to kill these savage beasts. Is it wrong for him to do so ? No. Sometimes we hear of dogs going mad, and biting people. Then every one tries to kill them. Is this wrong ? No. A good many years ago, king George the 212 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. Third, of England, sent an army over to this country, to burn our towns, and kill our peo- ple, and make our forefathers submit to unjust laws. General Washington raised an army, and fought against the English. Was this right ? Certainly. It is right to protect our lives, and liberties. If any are killed in doing this, it is not our fault. Again ; — suppose a wicked man knows there is money in a certain house. He resolves to get it. Before he can do this, he will have to kill the people in the house. This he deter- mines to do. He arms himself with a sharp knife. At midnight he enters the house. He creeps softly to the bedside, where the inmates of the house are quietly sleeping. He plunges his knife into their bosoms. He leaves them weltering in their blood. He clutches the gold, which he covets, in his blood-stained hands, and goes away. But soon he is found out. He is proved guilty of the murder. He is condemned to be hung. Is it right to put him to death ? Certainly. God tells us, over and over again, THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 213 in the Bible, that “ the murderer shall be put to death. 77 Some people say that these are Old Tes- tament laws, but that the New Testament has set them aside. This is a mistake. It is true that the New Testament breathes a spirit of peace, and love, in our intercourse with one another ; but it says nothing to magistrates about not putting murderers to death. I only remember one place in the New Testament, where the duty of a ruler, or magistrate, in this respect, is spoken of, and there — Bom. xiii. 14 — St. Paul tells us that the ruler, — “beareth not the sword in vain ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath , upon him that doeth evil. 77 It is perfectly plain, from this passage, that the New Testament, as well as the Old, teaches us that it is right for magistrates and rulers to put murderers to death. If we pretend to say that it is not right, we set ourselves up as being wiser, or kinder, or better than God. Well, then, it is plain that there are some limits to this commandment. When God says ; 214 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. — “Thou shalt not kill He does not mean that we should not kill savage beasts, or poi- sonous reptiles, when they come in our way. He does not mean that we should not defend our lives, and liberties, when they are assault- ed. And He does not mean that magistrates should not put hard-hearted, blood-thirsty mur- derers to death. These are exceptions to the commandment. In such cases, to kill is not to break this law. Now we come to the commandment itself. “ Thou shalt not kill.” There is one question to be asked, and an- swered here. What does this commandment FORBID ? It forbids injury to the lives of others ; and injury to our own lives. We may do injury to the lives of others, by our actions, and by our feelings. If a man meets another in the woods, and plunges a dagger into his breast, that he may get his watch, and money, does he break this commandment? Yes. But, suppose that, in- stead of getting his money in this way, he makes 215 CXF ' THE COMMANDMENT. a poisonous drink, and sells it to the man, without telling him what is in it ; would this be breaking the commandment? Yes. It is just as bad to kill with poison, as to kill with a dagger. And killing slowly, is just as much a breach of this commandment, as kill- ing quickly. There are many people, in this country, who make, and sell, drinks, of this kind. They call them wine, or brandy, or gin, or whisky. These are often made out of the most poisonous things that can be men- tioned. The people who make these liquors call them by wrong names. Then they sell them to people to drink. They do this when they know that they are poisonous. But they are willing to do it for the sake of money. Are not such persons guilty of killing in the sight of God ? Certainly. Suppose a man stands at his door, and thoughtlessly fires a pistol into a crowd that is pressing by. One person in the crowd is killed. Is the man, who fired the pistol, guilty of his death ? Certainly. Suppose I am a king. I don’t think my 216 THE KING S HIGHWAY. country is large enough. I want to have part of my neighbor’s country. I raise an army, and march into that country. The king of that country brings his army to oppose mine. A great battle is fought. Twenty thousand men are killed. Who killed those men ? I did, of course. Perhaps I never fired a single gun, on shed a single drop of blood, with my own hand ; yet every drop of blood shed, in that battle, would rest on my head. Remem- ber this when you read about what are called great heroes, and conquerors. Look at Napoleon Bonaparte ! He resolved to invade Russia. There was no necessity for it. But he resolved to do it, to please himself. He raised a great army of near 500,000 men. He marched to Moscow. He took it. The Russians set fire to it. It was burnt down. Winter set in. Napoleon was defeated, and driven back. This grand army was destroyed. More than half a million of men were killed in that one campaign. Who killed them ? Napo- leon Bonaparte. What a grand murderer he was ! Think of this, when you hear, or read, of THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 217 * what is called, — his glory ! W ould you like to be in Napoleon’s place, when he comes to stand before the judgment-seat ? No, no; not for ten thousand such kingdoms as France. This commandment forbids all actions that ivould injure the lives of others. But, at the same time, it forbids all feelings that ivould injure the lives of others. Suppose you wanted to prevent any more oak trees from growing, what would be the best way of doing it ? To destroy all the acorns. Suppose it should be found out that chickens were a great nuisance ; that they gave rise to a dangerous disease ; and that it be- came necessary to prevent them from increas- ing ; what would be the most effectual way of doing it ? To break all the eggs that were laid. Yes, do this, and the chickens would soon disappear. Now, just what acorns are to oaks ; — or, what eggs are to chickens — . feelings are to actions. They are the seed, the eggs, out of which actions spring. Control the acorns, and you control the oaks. Con- trol the eggs, and you control the chickens. 19 218 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Control the feelings, and you control the actions. This is just what God’s law does. It comes into our hearts, and teaches us to control their feelings. It tells us, — that “ He who hateth his brother is a murderer.” — 1 John, iii. 15. Who was the first murderer, of whom we read in the Bible ? Cain. Do you suppose he be- came a murderer all at once? No ; he came to it by degrees; just as the acorn grows into the oak. There was a day when Cain had the first feeling of hatred, or anger, to- wards his brother. That feeling was the acorn, out of which the oak-tree of murder grew. If, when that feeling first sprung up in his heart, Cain had checked it, at once, that would have been like plucking up the acorn as soon as it began to sprout. , Then no oak- tree would have grown from it. Cain never would have been a murderer. Now acorn-murder is just as bad, in the sight of God, and just as much a breaking of this com- mandment, as oak-tree murder . I mean by this Kiug’e, Highway. LAIN AND ALEE. p. 218 . THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 219 that heart-murder is as sinful in God’s sight as hand-murder . If we indulge angry and hateful feelings, in our hearts, towards a person, that makes us murderers, in God’s sight. The rea- son is, that if we let these feelings stay there, and grow, they will soon make us real mur- derers. Ah ! my dear children, how many heart-murderers there are among us ! How many who have the guilt of murder on their souls, without having the blood of murder on their hands ! Now, suppose you should find out that, in one corner of the room, in which you sleep, there was a nest of young rattlesnakes ; and that at any time they might spring out of their nest, and bite you ; what would you do ? Search the room, find out the nest, and have the young snakes killed. That would be the only wise and safe course. But let me tell you, that in the corner of your heart there may be something worse than a nest of rattle- snakes. Is anger or hatred allowed to dwell there ? If so, that is worse than a rattlesnake. If you do not overcome it, it may spring up 220 THE KING S HIGHWAY. suddenly, sometime or other, and make you a murderer in a moment. I remember, when I was a boy at school, a case of this kind occurred. One of the schol- ars, whose name was James, had a terrible temper. The least thing, that displeased him, would throw him into a rage, and then he would act in the most violent manner. He never seemed to feel how dreadfully wicked it was ; or to be afraid of the consequences that might follow from it. One day, during recess, he stretched himself on a bench, to take a nap. One of the boys thought he would have a little fun, with James. He took a feather, and leaned over the bench, and began to tickle him, in the ear. James shook his head, and cried ; — “ Quit that.” Pres- ently he felt the feather again ; — “ You quit that, I say,” he exclaimed, very angrily. The boy very thoughtlessly went on with his mis- chief. Then James sprung from the bench, seized a pair of compasses, lying on the desk near him, and threw them at the boy with all Lis might. They struck him on the side of the THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 221 head. They entered his brain. He fell down ; never spoke again ; and was carried home a corpse. How dreadful this was ! Here was the young serpent that had been allowed to nestle in this boy’s heart, springing up sud- denly to its full growth, and making a mur- derer of him. Oh ! watch against these young serpents ! And if you find them in your heart, take that heart to Jesus, and ask Him to give you His grace to resist and overcome them. Thus we have seen what the commandment forbids, in reference to others. It forbids all actions and feelings that may injure their lives. But the commandment also forbids injuuy TO OUR OWN LIVES. Almost every day we hear, or read, about some people killing themselves. Sometimes they do it by jumping into the river, and drowning themselves. Sometimes they do it by hanging, or by shooting, or by taking poi- son. This is called “ committing suicide,” or, killing one’s self. Now, I need hardly tell you that this is breaking the sixth com- mandment. Every body knows this. I think 19 * 222 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. there is not much danger of any of you break- ing the commandment in this tvay. Y ery few persons, who have been taught in Sunday- school, and who know what God's command- ments are, are ever found breaking the sixth commandment in this way. * But there are other ways in which we may break this commandment, by injuring our own lives, besides blowing out our brains ; or jumping into the river ; or taking a dose of arsenic. And in these ways a great many people break the sixth commandment, without thinking what thay are doing. I might speak of a number of these ways : but I will only speak of three. One of these is connected with eating : another with drink- ing : and another with dressing. There is a great deal of killing done in each of these ways. But perhaps some of you will be ready to say “ Bear me, it's very strange to talk about people's killing themselves by eating. Why, it's pretty sure that they '11 kill themselves if THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 223 they don't eat.” That’s true enough. And yet, many people kill themselves by what they eat : and by the way in which they eat. When we are young, we do not know what i3 safe and proper for us to eat, till we are taught. God has made the young of other creatures very different, in this respect, from the young of our race. Here is a young chicken, just hatched. It runs about, at once, looking for something to eat. It is not necessary for the old hen to give it a list of articles which it mustn’t eat. If the young chick finds a nice crumb of bread, or a dead fly, or a fat little worm, it doesn’t run t$ its mother, and say ; — “ Mother, will it hurt me to eat this?” No; but it snaps it up in a minute, and then looks out for another. But when we are children, we don’t know what is good for us to eat. We need to be taught ; and we must mind what is taught us, about eating, or else we shall make our- selves sick, and perhaps kill ourselves. I suppose there is never a summer that passes by, but what more or less children kill them- 224 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. selves by eating green apples, and unripe fruit of different kinds. They are told not to eat these things ; but they forget what has been told them, or else they don’t mind it. They like the taste of the fruit • they go on eat- ing it ; they get sick ; they die. Does God kill those children ? No. They kill themselves. Did you ever hear the fable of the “ Con- ceited Fly ” ? There was an old fly, once, that lived in a sugar refinery. She was a wise and prudent fly. When the great boiler was in operation, and clouds of sweet-smelling steam were rising from it, she had noticed that a great many of her friend and neigh- bors were drawn towards it. But she saw that when they got near to it, they suddenly disappeared, and never came back again. She didn’t understand what it was that killed them, but she knew it was dangerous, and she kept away from it. She had a daughter, who was very conceited, as young people are apt to be. The old fly never went from home, without cautioning her young one not to go near the boiler. THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 225 One day, when the old fly was away, the young one went out to take a little turn round, and stretch her wings. The boiler was going. The steam from the boiling juice was rising in clouds. Its sweet smell was very pleasant, and attractive. She said to herself ; — “ How silly it is, of my mother, to be so much afraid of that steam. Vm sure it smells too nice to do one any harm. Til just go and taste a lit- tle of it, and get back before mother comes home.” She flew towards the boiler ; the hot, scald- ing steam struck her before she knew what she was doing, and down she tumbled into the boiler. How many a child has acted over the part of the conceited fly, and has found out, when it was too late, the folly of such a course ! W e break this commandment when we eat what we are told is not good for us. And grown people break it, too, by eating what they have found out disagrees with them. Whatever we find that makes us sick, or dis- agrees with us, we should regard as poison. 226 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. If we go on eating those things, we break this commandment by doing so. But we may break this commandment, also, by the way in which ice eat , as well as by what we eat. By eating too fast , we may injure ourselves. You know the food that we eat is received into the stomach. There it is mixed with juices, and, by a sort of churning motion, it is turned into a white, pulpy substance, something like thickened milk. This is turned into blood, and the blood is sent all over our bodies, to keep the bones, and flesh, and skin in good condi- tion. But, in order to get the food we eat into a proper state to be received into the stomach, God has given us two rows of teeth. These are like little millstones. They are intended to grind up our food, into very fine pieces, be- fore we swallow it, and send it down to the stomach. Our food is not fit to go into the stomach, until it is well ground, and made quite fine. But when we are in a hurry, and eat our meals fast, we don’t take time enough THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 227 to grind up our food, or to chew it well. We swallow it in lumps, and send it down to the stomach, in pieces so large, that it can’t be churned up into the white, pulpy substance, out of which the blood is made. The stomach has a world of trouble with these large, un- ground pieces of food. It doesn’t know what to do with them. And pain, and sickness, and suffering, and, sometimes, even death, are occasioned, by not giving the teeth time to do their duty, when we eat. Well, then, when, you sit down to eat your meals, remem- ber the sixth commandment : — “ Thou shalt not kill.” Recollect, that you break this com- mandment, when you eat too. fast * We break it also, ivhen we eat too much . If you put too much cargo in a vessel, what will become of it ? It will sink. If you put too heavy a burden on a horse, a mule, or camel, what will it do ? Fall down, and wait till you take some of it off. Now, when we eat too much, we overload the stomach. It can’t do its work properly. The food we eat, lies like lead on the stomach, 228 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. and great pain and suffering follow. In this way, dyspepsia, rush of blood to the head, and many troublesome diseases, are caused. Hundreds of persons bill themselves, every year, by eating too much . This is breaking the sixth commandment. Perhaps some of you are ready to ask ; — How may we know when we eat too much ? When we eat just as much as we can, we eat too much. We should always stop while feel- ing as if we could take a little more. Ee- member, we may break the sixth command- ment by eating too much . But drinking is another way in which peo- ple may kill themselves. Most of the wines and liquors made, or sold, in this country, have poisonous substances ‘ mixed up with them. It is estimated that about 30,000 people kill themselves with drink- ing liquors, in this country, every year. This church will seat over a thousand people. Only think of as many people as would fill this church full thirty times, being killed, in one year, by drinking ! This is dreadful to THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 229 think of ! Surely, we should all try to put a stop to this terrible slaughter ! Every one, who is in the habit of drinking liquor, is help- ing to encourage thousands to break this com- mand. And those who indulge freely in drink- ing, often kill others as well as themselves. A young man and his wife were going to attend a Christmas party, at the house of a friend, some miles distant. “ Henry, my dear husband/ 7 said the wife, “ won 7 t you promise me not to drink too much at the party to-day ? 77 “ Yes, Millie, 111 promise not to do it. You may trust me. 77 Then he wrapped the baby-boy in a nice soft blanket, and they started. The horses were soon prancing over the road, and the husband and wife talked pleasantly together, as they rode on. “ Now, don 7 t forget your promise, 77 whis- pered his wife, as they entered the house. Poor thing ! she little knew the anguish that was before her. The party passed off pleasantly. The time for returning came. The wife went down 20 230 THE KINGS HIGHWAY. from the upper chamber to join her husband. The moment her eye rested on him, her heart sank. She saw he had forgotten his prom- ise. He was intoxicated. They rode home in silence. The poor mother pressed her babe closely to her grieved, and sorrowing heart. Presently they came to a dark, and swollen stream which they had to cross. As they came near to the stream, he said — “ Millie, give me the baby to hold, till we cross the creek. I can’t trust him with you.” She hesitated. He spoke again in angry tones. Then she resigned her darling babe, closely wrapped in the great blanket, to his arms. Their noble horse bore them safely over the dark waters, and when they reached the opposite bank of the stream, the mother asked for the child. He placed the bundle carefully in her arms ; she clasped it to her bosom, and uttered a piercing shriek ! No babe was there ! It had slipped from the blanket, and the drunken father knew it not. The loud shriek of his wife aroused him. He turned just in time to see the little rosy face THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 231 rise one moment above the dark waters, and then sink forever ! Who can imagine the ter- rible feelings of that father’s heart? to say nothing of the mother’s grief. By drinking, that miserable father had killed his own, his only darling child ! Oh ! boys, remember the sixth commandment when you are tempted to drink ! And girls, beware of forming a con- nection for life with one who is in the habit of drinking. But, then, there is another thing that we spoke of, as leading people to break this com- mandment ; — it is dkessing. Multitudes of people are killed by the way in which they dress themselves. W earing thin shoes is one of these ways. How many females, especially, you see, walking the streets in shoes scarcely thicker than brown paper. In these they will go over the pavements that are being deluged with water ; or, even in the winter-time, when melting snow covers them. These paper-like shoes afford no protection to the feet. The feet get wet ; then a bad cold is taken ; then consumption follows ; and death 232 THE KING S HIGHWAY. ensues. Hundreds of persons die, every year, in this way. Is it right to say that God has taken them out of the world? Not at all. They take themselves out. They are just as much guilty of suicide, as if they had taken poison, or hung themselves up by a rope. The sixth commandment is often broken over a thin pair of shoes . But tight-lacing is another way in which people kill themselves. Some persons think that the smaller they can make their waists look, the more beautiful they appear. Now, if you consider the body of a wasp as the proper model of beauty, for the human body, then this would be true. But this is not so. This practice is very wicked, because it is very injurious. Just look, for a moment, at that part of the body to which this lacing is ap- plied. Right in the centre is the heart. Near the heart is the liver, and the lower part of the lungs. The heart, you know, is the most im- portant part of our whole body. It is about as large as a man’s fist. Its shape is some* THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 233 thing like a large pear. It is divided into two parts. The work which the heart has to do, is, to act the part of a pump. God has given it a wonderful power of opening, and closing itself. Its business is to send the blood all over our bodies, by a sort of pumping motion. If you put your two fists, one over the other, and open, and shut them, you will get an idea of the way in which the heart does its pumping. When it opens, it lets the blood in. When it closes, it forces it out. This opening and closing is what we call the beat- ing of the heart. You can feel it when you place your hand on your left side. You can even hear it at night, when all is still. Close by the heart is the lower part of the lungs. The lungs are like a pair of bellows. Every time we breathe, they are filled up with air, and swell themselves out all around. Now, the heart must have room to open and shut. And the lungs must have room to be filled with air. To give them room, and keep any- thing from pressing against them, God has built around them a bone-fence. We call it 20 * 234 THE KDjjGr S HIGHWAY. the ribs. These are pieces of bone, bent like hoops, and fastened into the back bone of our body. But they are fastened by a sort of gum-elastic hinge, or band, that can stretch, and shrink, just as may be necessary. Hence, when you draw a long breath, your lungs fill up, and your ribs swell out. When you breathe out that air, every thing falls back again to its former position. In the lower part of the waist, these ribs do not meet in front. There is a space between them, so that they can rise, and fall, as the breathing goes on. But when the waist is tightly laced, these ribs are pressed in upon the heart and lungs ; and neither of them has room to do its work properly. They are crowded, and cramped, and don’t know how to get on. If they could only speak for themselves, what a terrible outcry they would make. Then, when one of these tight-laced ladies was sailing smoothly up or down the street, her poor suffering heart and lungs would be screaming dreadfully, and muffled cries of “ murder,” — murder,” — would be heard, sounding out from her bosom. THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 235 One of the best physicians in the city told me, the other day, that two-thirds of all the deaths among females, are caused by thin shoes, and tiglit-lacing. But then there is another thing connected with dressing, which leads to the breaking of this commandment ; I mean, wearing low-necked dresses . You know, in old times, when soldiers used to wear armor, if a man went into battle with his helmet or his breast-plate off, his enemies would be sure to aim an arrow at the part that was left uncovered, and so wound or kill him. Now, this life is like a battle-field. The enemies we have to fight against are diseases, of different kinds. The armor we have for our bodies is proper clothing. If we leave the clothing off certain parts of our body, which ought to be kept covered, some of these enemies will attack us in those very parts, and do us a great deal of harm. Colds, and consumptions, are among these enemies. The arrows they shoot with are drafts of cold air. Two of the most tender and delicate parts of our body, 236 THE KING S HIGHWAY. and the most dangerous to leave uncovered, are the back of the neck, or between the shoulders, and under the arm. Let a blast of cold air strike you, in either of these places, when left uncovered, and you might almost as well have a sharp-pointed steel arrow, or a loaded pistol, shot at you. Yet these are the very parts, which those miserable, low-necked dresses leave uncovered. "When I see little children, and young ladies, and even married ladies, too, sometimes, wearing these sort of dresses, it makes me shudder. It brings up to my mind the thought of a hacking cough, a sick-cham- ber, and an early grave. Thousands of per- sons kill themselves in this way. And in this way the sixth commandment is broken, by many who never think what they are doing. But there is something else to be said about these low-necked dresses, when they are worn by grown-up young ladies. You know the seventh commandment says, “ Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Among other things for- bidden by this commandment, is the doing anything that is indelicate, or immodest. Now, THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 237 these low-necked dresses are in the highest degree immodest. I never can cease wonder- ing how any virtuous, and pure-minded female can allow herself to wear one of them, in the presence of a large company of people. Those who wear these dresses break two command- ments at once. They break the sixth com- mandment over the back of their neck ; and they break the seventh commandment over the front of it. Many persons have worn these dresses, without thinking about the two-fold evil connected with them. But if any lady will go on wearing them, after these evils have been plainly pointed out, I, for one, should have a very poor opinion of such a lady. Thus, my dear young friends, I have tried to answer the one question started at the be- ginning of this sermon. That question is ; — What does this commandment forbid? It forbids injury to the lives of others , and injury 1o our own lives . We may injure the lives of others by our actions and by our feelings . We may injure our own lives, by drowning, 238 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. shooting, hanging, or poisoning. But, in addi- tion to this, we may do it by certain things connected with eating , drinking , and dressing . In connection with eating, we spoke of eating ivrong things; — eating too fast ; — and eating too much . In connection with dressing, we spoke of thin shoes ; tight-lacing ; and low- necked dresses . I intended to have had another question in this sermon. That question was ; — Why does this commandment forbid killing ? Then I should have tried to show you that it forbids killing ; — because life is so valuable ; because, when once taken away, we cannot restore it ; and because of the punishment God has threat- ened to inflict on those who take it away. But it would have required another sermon to consider these reasons properly. We must let them go, therefore. Before closing, however, I must say a word or two about this commandment. I suppose there is not one person here, however young, who has not broken it, I don’t mean to say that we have all been murderers outright. THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 239 But we have all had angry feelings towards others, and this has made us murderers in heart. We have all reason, therefore, to re- pent, before God, for the sin we have com- mitted in this respect. We should all pray earnestly for pardon for the past, and for grace to help us to do better for the future. We may all learn a lesson on this subject from a little girl, of whom I was reading lately. Her name was Alice. One evening her mother had company, and her older sister, Sarah, took her up stairs, to put her to bed. As Sarah was undressing Alice, she noticed that she seemed very sad, and that tears were running down her cheeks. She asked her what was the matter ; but Alice gave her no answer. “ Tell me, child, what ails you,” said Sarah. Still Alice said nothing ; only she sighed, and seemed greatly troubled. When it was time to kneel down by her little bed and pray, Alice knelt, and bowed her head ; but no words came from her lips. Sarah thought this was very strange. Then Alice arose, and crept into her bed, so silent, so sad, so tearful, 240 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. that Sarah was frightened. She went down stairs and joined the company. There she seized the first opportunity of mentioning it to her mother. “ I will run up, directly,” said she, “ and see what ails the child.” “ She is not sick, mother,” said her sister, “ only it seems as if something were troubling her mind.” Presently the mother escaped from the par- lor, and went up to the chamber of her little one. She trod very softly, lest Alice might have fallen asleep ; but as she drew near she heard low sobs and cries. “ My child,” said her mother, tenderly, stoop- ing down to her bedside, “ what troubles you ? Tell me.” “ Oh ! mother, I am so glad you have come,” cried Alice, uncovering her head, and seizing her mother’s hand : “ I can’t say my prayers, and I can’t go to sleep.” “ Do tell me what’s the matter with my dear daughter.” “ Oh ! mother, I killed cousin Ruth in my THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 241 heart to-day, I did ;” and the tears flowed afresh. “ She got angry, and I wished her dead. That makes me a murderer. I can’t ask God’s forgiveness till I’ve made up with Ruth. He won’t hear me, for my heart has had anger and hatred in it, and not love. Oh ! mother !” and the poor child wept as though her heart would break. Her mother tried to comfort her, but there lay the cold, heavy weight of sin upon her bosom, and she could take no comfort. “ Oh ! if I could only see Ruth, and we could make up ; then I could pray, and go to sleep,” she said, piteously. “ Mother, can’t I go to Ruth’s house ?” Her mother thought a moment. She felt that to help her child to think and feel rightly on this subject was the most important of all things. “ Yes, my child, you shall go,” she said. Ah ! if she had been one of those mothers who always send their children to bed in charge of servants, what a golden opportunity she would have lost of doing her child good ! 21 242 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Alice’s father was called, who, wrapping his weeping child in a blanket, carried her into the next door house, where her cousin Ruth lived. She was taken to Ruth’s bedside. It was a melting scene, to witness the confession, the prayer for forgiveness, and the kiss of reconciliation. Then Alice wiped away her tears ; and, laying her head on her father’s shoulder, she asked to be carried home. Once more in her own chamber, Alice kneeled down and prayed God to forgive her for the sin of hating Ruth. “ Give me love in my heart,” she cried, earnestly, “ because 4 God is love and because it was love which made Jesus die on the cross for us ; and, oh ! keep me from hating and killing any body in my heart.” So did little Alice pray. Oh ! what a prayer was that ! Sin, and conscience, love, and hatred, had been fighting in her heart. But love gained the victory. Can we not remem- ber feeling towards somebody just as Alice felt towards Ruth? Let us learn from the example of Alice what to do. We should ask the forgiveness of those towards whom we THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 243 have felt anger or hatred. Then we should ask God’s forgiveness, and pray for His grace to take away all these wicked feelings from our hearts, and fill them with love. It is love to God, and love to our fellow-creatures, which makes us the children of God ; and it is hatred, and anger, and strife, which make us the chil- dren of the devil. Let us remember the words of the hymn : “ Whene’er the angry passions rise, And tempt our thoughts and tongues to strife, To Jesus let us lift our eyes, Bright pattern of the Christian life. 11 His fair example let us trace, To teach us what we ought to be ; Make us, by Thy transforming grace, Dear Saviour, daily more like Thee!” 244 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. HYMN ON THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. « Our hands may not be red with blood, Yet we may murderers be ; For every causeless, angry thought Is murder, Lord, with Thee ! Chorus. Oh / then to Christ , the Living Stream , We'll come without delay ; And in the Fountain of His Blood , Wash all our guilt away . There’s many a deed of murder done, Where blood has ne’er been spilt ; For angry thoughts and words are one With deeds of crimson guilt. Chorus. Yes ! in our hearts we often kill, And think the deed unknown ; Forgetting that each secret thought Is spoken at Thy throne. Chorus. Great God ! we can not fully tell How such a thing can be ; We only feel how much of sin Within us Thou must see / Chorus. VIII. “ Thou shalt not commit adultery.” — Exodus xx. 19. f HAY E not written a sermon on this com- mandment, because it is not so much adapted for children, as for older per- ? sons. Many things that it refers to can only be understood by grown-up people. The seventh commandment is intended to preserve us from all impurity of heart and life. It requires us to be modest, and virtuous in all our thoughts and feelings, as well as in our actions, and our dress. It forbids the use of any indecent language ; the reading of books,' or looking at pictures, that contain any- thing immoral, or impure. It would lead up all to seek and maintain — u A heart in every thought renewed, And full of love divine ; Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, A copy, Lord, of Thine.” 21 * ( 245 ) Ctframatt&miKt. “ Thou shalt not steal.” — Exodus xx. 15. We read in ancient history of a king, who, when he published his laws, had them written on plates of brass, but set up on pillars so high that the people could not read them. Still, if they did not keep the laws he made, he said he would punish them. This. was very unreasonable. It was very wicked. How differently from this God acted in publishing His laws ! He first came down upon the top of Mount Sinai, and spoke the words of His laws in a voice like thunder. All the people around the mountain heard distinctly every word He said. Then He wrote His laws on tables of stone, that wouldn’t wear out, so that the people might always have a copy of them near at hand, and read, and understand theft. And now, we have these laws printed in our ( 246 ) THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 247 Bibles. And these Bibles we have always near us. They are in our churches, in our schools, and in our homes, so that we can turn to them at any time, and find out just what God wants us to do, or not to do. God s laws are not only easy to get at, but they are very plain, when we do get at them. They are very short ; and very simple. When we read the laws that men make, they are wrapt up in so many words, and some of them are such strange words, that it is very hard, oftentimes, to find out the meaning of them. What could be shorter, or more simple, than this eighth commandment, which contains God’s great law against stealing ? 11 Thou slicdt not steal ” Four little words make it up. There is not a single unnecessary letter in it. It is so plain that anybody can understand it. I suppose the youngest scholar in an infant school can tell what it means. In speaking about this commandment, the chief thing to be considered is, the different ways in which it may be broken. 248 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. You know it often happens, when you are going along a road, that you find it dividing itself into two or more roads. These are called branches, or forks, of the road. The road, or way we are considering now, that is, the way of breaking the eighth commandment, divides itself into five forks, or branches. These represent five different ways in which this commandment may be broken ; or five different ways of stealing. Suppose we call these forks by the first five letters of the alphabet. Then we shall have fork A , fork B , fork C , fork D , and fork E. Fork A — is the way of stealing hy forget- fulness. Somebody said once, that “ man is a‘ bun- dle of habits.” This is true. Some of these habits are good habits, but a great many more are bad ones. Among these bad habits, none is so common as a bad memory. This is the habit of forgetting things. People with these bad memories borrow things from their neighbors and friends, and forget to return them. Now to the persons who lend those THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 249 tilings, it is just as bad as if a thief should come into their house and steal them. Um- brellas, and books, and things of that kind, are most likely to suffer in this way. Let me show you how it happens. Here is Mr. John Smith. He breaks the commandment by going through fork A. For instance, John Smith is going to his store one day, when he is overtaken by a shower of rain. He stops under an awning at first ; but the rain pours on. Presently, he says to. himself, “ What shall I do ? I can’t stay here all day ; and yet I don’t want to get wet through. Ah ! I see, there is my friend J ohnson’s ; I’ll just step in there, and borrow an umbrella.” He gets the umbrella, promising to see it safely returned. He carries it home, puts it on the hat-stand in the entry, or in the closet under the stairs, and forgets all about it. There is no mark upon the umbrella to show whose it is. It is never returned ; and so Mr. Johnson loses his umbrella. Isn’t it all the same to him as if his umbrella had been stolen? Cer- tainly. Mr. John Smith would be offended if 250 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. any one should call him a thief. Yet practi- cally he is just as bad. Perhaps you are ready to say, “ Ah ! but he didn’t intend to steal ; he only forgot. He merely had a bad memory.” Yes, but then he should not forget. He has no business to have a bad memory. He could help this if he chose. Do you suppose he ever forgets when breakfast, or dinner-time comes ? Do you think he has a bad memory when other people borrow umbrellas from him ? Oh ! no. His memory is excellent then. This shows that people can control their memory if they want to do so. Memory is a thing of habit. W e can get into the habit of forgetting things, if we are not careful ; and we can get out of it, if we try properly. If we neglect to try, then we shall break this commandment by go- ing through the fork A, which is the way of forgetfulness. Take another case. Here are two boys, James and Robert. They both go a good deal through this fork A. They both have bad memories. James is spending an evening with Robert. Robert shows him his Christmas THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 251 presents. Among these is a beautiful set of Abbot’s historical works. The last of the se- ries James has never read. He asks the loan of it, promising to take great care of it, and return it the next time he comes to see Robert. The book is lent ; but Robert forgets to put down, on a piece of paper, the name of the book, and of the person who borrows it. Everybody should do this ivho lends books . James takes the book home ; reads it about half through ; gets tired of it ; puts it away on one of the upper shelves of the bookcase, and forgets to return it. The book never gets back to its owner. Robert finds, after awhile, that one book is missing out of his set of Ab- bot’s works ; — but he can’t remember who bor- rowed it. Borrowing is just as bad as stealing, in such cases. I have had a good-sized library of books stolen from me in this way. What a good thing it would be if all the people who travel over this fork A, would, every once in awhile, overhaul their hat-stands, and closets, and book-shelves, to find out what 252 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. things they have there which do not belong to them, and return these to their proper owners. I should have to put up some new shelves in my library, if I could only, get all my lost books back again. The fork A, or forgetful- ness , is one branch of the way in which the eighth commandment is broken. Fork B — or cunning, is another branch of it. Did you ever see a counterfeit bank note ? This is a note which somebody has made to look so much like a good note, that most peo- ple are not able to tell the difference. It passes for a good note, though it is not worth a straw. And gold and silver coin are coun- terfeited in the same manner. The people who make them think themselves very cunning. But they are not a bit better than thieves. Counterfeiting is a great sin. When those who are guilty of it are caught, in this coun- try, they are put in prison. In England, the law is more severe than with us. There, coun- terfeiters formerly used to be hung ; but now, they are transported to Botany Bay, when THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. ■ 253 cauglit, and proved guilty. And those wha 2?ass counterfeit money, if they know it, are just as bad as those who make it. Sometimes you hear people say, “Well, we took it for good money, and therefore we have a right to pass it again . 77 But this is not true. If they take it for good money, and pass it away again before they discover that it is bad, then, of course, they are not to blame. But if they find out that it is bad, then they cannot at- tempt to pass it without breaking the eighth commandment. But, a great many other things may be coun- terfeited, as well as money. You have all heard of the Yankee pedlar, who made wood- en nutmegs, and sold them for real ones. This was counterfeiting ; it was stealing, or break- ing the eighth commandment by cunning . And this is true of every way in which people get up an imitation of something that is real, and valuable, and sell it for the real thing. You know how men who deal in horses, will take a horse that is diseased, and good for nothing, and manage to hide his faults, or the 22 254 THE KING S HIGHWAY. symptoms of his disease, and then sell him for a good horse. In a day or two, the purchaser finds that he is of no use. So jewelry, and such like things, are made of brass, and sold for gold. So medicines are sold, as warranted to cure certain diseases, when those who make them know they have no more power to cure such diseases than so much water ; and per- haps not half as much. All these are only so many different ways of stealing, or breaking the eighth commandment. And there are scores of such ways, in which people are said to live by their wits. This fork B takes in all the various tricks, and contrivances by which cunning men man- age to get money out of people, without giving them anything really valuable in return. They may get rich in this way, and think themselves very smart, and pride themselves for their cun- ning ; — but they are no better than thieves, and robbers, after all. When God shall come to reckon with them at last, they will find that the real name, for what they called smartness , was stealing . This is the name by which God THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 255 calls it. Oh ! there are great multitudes of people found breaking the eighth command- ment along this fork B. Y ery many of the shows, and exhibitions ; the pretended inventions, and discoveries, of which we hear so much, in our large cities, be- long to this branch of our subject. This fork B is the place for them. It takes in all who try to get money by anything that may prop- erly be called a humbug , instead of by honest labor. We pass on now to fork C. Here ive find all those who break the eighth commandment by DECEIT. Sometimes this deceit leads people to keep back money that belongs to others, when they think it won’t be discovered. A very good story in illustration of this, is told of the Duke of Buccleuch, a Scotch noble- man. One day the duke had bought a cow in che neighborhood of Dalkeith, where he lived. The cow was to be sent home the next morning. Early in the morning, the duke was taking a walk, in a very common dress. As he 25G THE KING’S HIGHWAY. went along, he saw a boy trying, in vain, to drive the cow to his residence. The cow was very unruly, and the poor boy couldn’t get on with her at all. The boy, not knowing the duke, bawled out to him, in the broad Scotch accent : “ Hie, mun, come here and gie’s a han’ wi’ this beast.” The duke walked slowly on, not seeming to notice the boy, who still kept calling for his help. At last, finding he couldn’t get on with the cow, he cried out in distress, “ Come here, mun, and help us, and as sure as anything I gie ye half I get.” The duke went, and lent a helping hand. “ And now,” said the duke, as they trudged along after the cow, “ how much do ye think ye’ll get for the job ? ” “I dinna ken,” said, the boy, “ but I’m sure o’ something, for the folks up at the big house are gude to a’ bodies.” As they came to a lane, near the house, the duke slipped away frcpn the boy, and entered by a different way. Calling a servant, he put a sovereign into his hand, saying, “ Give that to the boy who brought the cow.” THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 257 He then returned to the end of the lane where he had parted from the boy, so as to meet him on his way tack. “ Well, how much did you get?” asked the duke. “ A shilling,” said the boy, “ and there’s half o’ it to ye.” “But surely you got more than a shilling,” said the duke. “ No,” said the boy ; “ as sure as death that’s a’ I got and d’ye no think it’s plenty ?” “ I do not,” said the duke ; “ there must be some mistake ; and as I am acquainted with the duke, if you return I think 111 get you more.” They went back. The duke rang the bell, and ordered all the servants to be assembled. “ Now,” said the duke to the boy, “ point me out the person who gave you the shilling.” “ It was that chap there, with the apron,” said he, pointing to the butler. The butler fell on his knees, confessed his fault, and begged to be forgiven ; but the duke indignantly ordered him to give the boy the sovereign, and quit his service immediately. “ You have lost,” said the duke, “your money, your situation, and 3 our character, by your deceitfulness ; learn, 22 * ' 258 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. for the future, that honesty is the best policy.” The boy now found out who it was that had helped him to drive the cow ; and the duke was so pleased with the manliness, and honesty of the boy that he sent him to school, and pro- vided for him at his own expense. This butler was in fork C. He broke the commandment by deceit, and trying to keep back from another what belonged to him, when he thought he would not be found out. Merchants, and storekeepers are very much tempted to go through fork C, by representing their goods as better than they are ; or by not telling frankly the imperfections of the goods, when they know all about them. For instance, a lady goes into a store to buy a dress. She finds one of the color she wants. If she could be sure the colors would not fade, she would take it. She says to the storekeep- er, “Will these colors stand?” “Oh! yes, madam, they are the very best colors to wear. They will stand as long as the dress lasts.” The lady buys the dress on this assurance, though all the while the storekeeper knows the THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 259 colors will not stand at all. In this way he steals the lady’s money. That man’s place is in fork C. A gentleman from the country placed his son with a dry goods merchant, in Broadway, New York. For a time all went well. One day a lady came into the store to purchase a silk dress, and the young man waited on her. She liked the article. The price was agreed upon, and he began to unfold and measure off the goods. While he was doing this he dis- covered a flaw in the silk. The lady did not notice it. He might have sold it without say- ing any thing about it. Many a shopkeeper would have done so. But this young man was honest. He understood the meaning of the eighth commandment. He did not belong to fork 0. He said to the lady, “ Madam, I deem it my duty to tell you that this silk is imper- fect. I have just discovered a flaw in it.” Of course the lady didn’t take it. She left the store without buying any thing. The merchant saw what had taken place, and was very angry. He wrote at once to the 260 THE KING S HIGHWAY. father of the young man, asking him to come and take his son away ; “ for,” said he,” he will never make a merchant.” The father, who had great confidence in his son, was very much grieved, and hastened to the city to find out what was the matter. “ What do you mean by saying my son will not make a merchant ?” he asked. “ I mean, he has no tact,” was the answer. “ Only a day or two ago, he told a lady, who was buying a piece of silk, that the goods were damaged, and I lost the bargain. Now, sir, that is no way to do business. Purchasers must look out for themselves. If they don’t see what is wrong about the goods, it would be foolishness for me to point it out.” “ And is that all the fault you have to find with my son ?” asked the father. “ Yes, sir, he is very well in other respects.” “ Then I love my son. better than ever, and I thank you for telling me of this matter ; but I wouldn’t have him another day in your store for the world.” Now I do not mean to imply that people THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 261 who keep dry goods stores are more apt to do business in this way than any other people. I know many honorable men among them, who would rather never sell another piece of goods than do as this merchant wanted his young man to do. But you will find some people in every branch of business who are ready to act in just this way. They call it having business tact, or talent. God calls it stealing — break- ing the eighth commandment. If we could go along one of our business streets, and find out who, among the storekeepers, act as this New York merchant acted, I wonder how many signs there would be, on the corner of which might be written, — Pork C ! This class takes in all who break the eighth commandment by deceit . But now roe go a few steps further , and take a turn into fork D. In this branch of the way we find those who break the commandment by EXTORTION. This word means wringing, or squeezing out. All those people, are found in this fork, 2G2 THE king’s HIGHWAY. wlio are never willing to give a fair price for any thing. There is a very large class of this sort of people. If you go a shopping with them, you find them always trying to beat down the price of things. No matter whether the price is high or low, they want to get it a little lotver. They do not consider whether the price asked for a thing is a fair, honest price, or not ; however low it may be, they are not satisfied unless it is put lower still. If an article, worth five dollars, is offered them for two dollars and a half, they will offer two dol- lars for it. Here is a lady, who is a housekeeper, be- longing to fork D. She wants some straw- berries. There is a poor girl going by with a basket full on her head. She stops the girl at the front door, and asks the price of her strawberries. “ Twenty-five cents a quart, ma’am,” says the girl. “ I’ll take sis quarts, if you’ll let me have them for twenty cents.” “ Indeed, ma’am, that’ll take away all my profit.” THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 263 “ Well, I won’t give you a cent more.”' The big tears roll down the cheeks of the poor girl as she measures out the strawberries. She has a poor widowed mother, with a sick little baby brother, at home, who have nothing to depend on but what she makes by selling her berries. The thirty cents which the rich lady has wrung from her, — might I not say stolen from her ? — would have been, oh ! such a help and comfort to them ! And yet this lady will go out, by and by, and spend dollars by the dozen on herself, for things that she really does not need at all. This is cruel. It is mean. It is wicked. This is what the Bible calls, oppressing the poor, or “grinding the faces of the poor and God threatens dread- ful things against those who do it. That lady little thinks that she is breaking the eighth commandment over the head and heart of that poor girl ; but she is ; and when God cctwa to reckon with her, she will find it out. Fork D, in big letters, ought to be written over her door. But people along this fork hrwk the corn- 264 THE HINGES HIGHWAY. mandment by not giving those who iconic for them as much wages as they deserve ; and, by not paying them their wages when due. The labor of poor people is all they have in the world. It is their fortune. To take this away from them is the worst kind of stealing. What multitudes of women, in all our large cities, get their living by making shirts, vests, or pantaloons. And see what they get for their labor. From a printed list of prices paid to tailor esses for sewing, put into my hands by a friend, I find that for making men’s thick, heavy sat- inet coats, they get seventy-five cents apiece. It must take a woman at least two days to make one of these. That gives her thirty - seven and a half cents for a whole day's labor ! For making thick cassimere pants, full-trim- med, they get only thirty-seven and a half cents. A woman would have to work very hard to finish one of these in a day. For making summer pants they get from ten to fifteen cents a pair. No woman could make more than two pair a day. This would give THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 2G5 her from twenty to thirty cents for a whole day’s work ! In a recent report of the Union Benevolent Society, of this city, a visitor states that she visited a family, the mother of which was mak- ing fine shirts, all^but the bosoms, for which she received one dollar a dozen ! I suppose it would be impossible for any woman to make more than one shirt a day, if she kept close at it, sewing hard from morning till night. This would give her eight cents and a half for a hard day’s ivork ! These are simple facts. If this is not stealing, what is it ? It is the worst kind of stealing ; stealing the health and life of poor destitute women ! But perhaps some of you are ready to say, u Well, we are only children, mere boys and girls. We don't hire working men and wo- men ; and what is the use of talking to us about these things ?” Yes, I know many of you are but children, only boys and girls now. But do you always expect to be children ? Are you going to re- main boys and girls forever ? No. By and 23 268 THE KING ? S HIGHWAI. by you will be men and women, fathers and mothers, masters and mistresses. Then you will have servants and working people to hire. And I am preaching to you about these commandments for the future, and not for the present. I want you to be better men and women, better fathers and mothers, better masters and mistresses, than those who have gone before you. Now think of the hundreds and thousands of poor women who are working early and late, using up their fingers, and' eyes, and ener- gies, for such a miserable pittance as that just spoken of above ! How shameful it is ! They are actually digging their graves with their fingers, while others are getting rich by them. Well might one of England’s poets write a song about it. It was called “ The Song of the Shirt.” It described a poor woman at her work, in this way ; — 11 With fingers weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red, A woman sat in unwomanly rag Plying her needle and thread — THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 267 Stitch — stitch — stitch ! In poverty, hunger, and dirt, And still with a voice of dolorous pitch, She sang the 1 Song of the Shirt.’ 11 Work — work — work ! Till the brain begins to swim ; Work — work* — work ! Till the eyes are heavy and dim : Seam, and gusset, and band, Band, and gusset, and seam, Till over the buttons I fall asleep, And sew them on in a dream I u Work — work — work ! My labor never flags ; And what are its wages ? A bed of straw, A crust of bread — and rags. That shatter’d roof — and this naked floor — A table — a broken chair — And a wall so blank, my shadow I thank For sometimes falling there ! “ Work — work — work I From weary chime to chime ; Work — work — work ! As prisoners work for crime. Band, and gusset, and seam, Seam, and gusset, and band, Till the heart is sick, and the brain benumb’d, As well as the weary hand.” 268 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Who can help feeling the greatest pity for multitudes of poor women, who are suffering all the dreadful evils which this song so touch- ingly describes ? A great man\ nch people break this com- mandment in the way of which we are now speaking. If we should ge through the streets in which our wealthy people live, how many we should find on whose elegant marble, or brown stone houses we might write, Fork D ; the meaning of which would be — This man got rich by extortion ; i. e., by making the poor labor for him, and not giving them the pay that their labor deserved. And then other 'people in Fork D break this commandment by not paying the poor their icages as soon ^ they are due . For instance, here is a lady who has had a beautiful silk dress made. She is going to a party ; or perhaps she is going to get married in it. She puts it on, and goes in o company, and enjoys herself ; but the poor dressmaker is not paid. The lady does not intend to cheat her out of the money. She says to herself ; — THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 261) “ It's only a few dollars. It don’t make any difference. I’ll pay her some other time.” It makes no difference to the rich lady ; — but it makes a wonderful difference to the 'poor wo- man . Perhaps it is winter, and her fuel is all gone, and she has to sit shivering in the cold, be- cause the money which the rich lady owes her for making that dress is not paid. Perhaps she is without food, and she and her children have to go hungry to bed, because that rich lady has neglected to pay her what she owes. She groans and cries in her misery. God hears those cries, and writes them in His book against that thoughtless lady. Just hear what the Bible says about this. “ Behold, the hire of the laborers, which is of you kept back , crieth ; and the cries are entered into the ears of the Lord.” — James v. 4. Do you know that God made a law among the Jews about this very thing ? You will find it in Dent. xxiv. 15. This law required the Jews always to pay those who had been working for them, before the sun ivent down . 23* 270 THE KING 7 S HIGHWAY. How kind, and tender God is, to think about the poor, and take care of them in this way ! When you grow up to be men and women, be sure that you always pay the poor well , who work for you. Yes, and pay them at once . There is an old proverb, which says, “ He gives twice who gives quickly” And it is just as true of paying. But don’t wait till you grow up. Talk about this matter at home, now. Don’t live in fork D yourselves ; ana if you can help it, don’t let any of those about you live in it. People in fork D, break this commandment by extortion . Fork E is the only other branch of this sub- ject that we shall speak of. Those loho dwell in this fork break the commandment by vio- lence and fraud. The word violence here, takes in all the burglars or housebreakers, the thieves and highway robbers, who are locked up in our prisons, or are prowling about our streets. It requires no argument to prove that these peo- ple break the commandment ; we are all agreed THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 271 about this. I have no fear that any of you will be found in this fork. It is very seldom, indeed, that those who have been taught in Sabbath-schools, when young, are ever found at last, in such company as this. But the other side of this fork E, takes in a great many of what are called the most wealthy and respectable of our people. They break the eighth commandment by fraud , or cheating. Sometimes we hear that a bank is broken. We ask what caused that bank to fail? It turns out, that the president and directors of the bank took the money which was put in it, and used it in business, as if it had been their own. Perhaps they didn’t intend to keep the money. They meant to put it back again, by and by. But their business didn’t succeed. The money was lost. They never could get it again to put back. And when the poor wid- ows and orphans, whose money had been put in the bank, to be kept safely, came to ask for it, it was not there. The bank had failed. The money was lost. 272 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. Now, those officers had no more right to take this money, and use it in this way, than they had to go and break open another bank, and steal the money locked up in it. Man's law won't punish those men. It calls their con- duct only “ a breach of trust." God's law calls it stealing . Those men break the eighth commandment, just as truly as the midnight robber does, who creeps into your house, and steals away your money while you are asleep. Officers of government are often found liv- ing in this foi;k E. Sometimes we read in the newspapers about some public officer, who had money to collect for the government. He disappears suddenly from home. He has gone to California, or to Europe. What is the matter? Why, he owes some $50,000, or $100,000 to the government, and he can't pay it. But how did he come to owe the govern- ment all that money ? He took that much money, which belonged to the government, and used it for himself, and now he can't put it back again. Well, what is he called in the newspapers ? He is called “ a defaulter /" A THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 273 defaulter ! That doesn't sound so very badly. It seems to speak of him as if he were not much to blame. It represents him as guilty of only a slight mistake, a trifling fault. He is only “ a defaulter ! ” But the real meaning of this word, when applied to such a man, is, thief , or roller ! Remember, my dear children, as long as you live, that if ever you have any money left in your charge, belonging to another person, you have no more right to use that money as your own, than you have to break into your neigh- bor's house and steal his money. The people in fork E, break this command- ment by violence , and fraud. Thus we have gone through five different forks. Let us see if we can recollect them, and the way in which the commandment is broken in each of them. Fork A, by forget- fulness ; — Fork B, by cunning ; — Fork C, by deceit ; — Fork D, by extortion ; — Fork E, BY VIOLENCE AND FRAUD. There is a very important question to be considered, in closing this subject. The ques- 274 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. tion is , — Hoio shall ive keep out of these Forks ? There are two things for us to do, if we would keep out of them. W e must resist little temp- tations . This is one thing to do. Every thing must have a beginning. I remember reading once, about a man who was going to be hung for robbery and murder. On the scaffold he said he began to steal by taking a farthing from his mother’s pocket, while she was asleep. Many children begin to steal, at the sugar- bowl, or the cake-basket. To take the small- est thing that does not belong to us, without permission, is stealing. A little girl was once taken by her mother into a shop. As she stood there, she saw a basket of oranges exposed for sale. They looked ripe and juicy. While her mother was engaged in another part of the store, she kept looking at the oranges. They made her mouth water. The thought came into her mind — Oh ! I wish I had one of them ! This was the beginning of the temptation. She ought to have resisted this, and turned away THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 275 from them. But she didn’t. She kept looking at them. The longer she looked, the more she wanted one. At length, watching an oppor- tunity, when no one saw her, she took an orange, hid it under her apron, and walked away. In a moment her conscience began to trouble her. She felt very uncomfortable. Presently she sidled up to the basket, and put the orange back in its place. Still she kept looking at it. She was tempted again to take it, and again she put it back. As she walked home with her mother, she looked, and felt very sad. When they were alone, she burst into tears, and said ; — “ ‘Oh ! mother, I’ve cracked one of the command- ments ! I didn’t break it, — indeed, I didn’t quite break it, mother, — but I’m sure I cracked it.” This little girl did very right in putting the orange back. This kept her from quite break- ing the commandment. But if she had resisted the beginning of the temptation, by turning away from the orange, the moment she felt a desire for it, she would not even have cracked 276 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. the commandment. We must resist little temp- tations , if we would keep out of the different forks in which this commandment is broken. And then there is another thing to do. We must pray to God to keep us from temptation . This is what Jesus has taught us to do every day, when, in using the Lord’s prayer, we say — “ Lead us not into temptation.” There was a good man, once, named John Bradford. Whenever he saw any one taken to prison, or to the gallows, he used to say, “ But for the grace of God, there goes John Brad- ford.” He meant to say, that if God had not kept him from the way of temptation, or given him grace to resist it, he too might have been a thief, or a murderer. And this is true of us all. If we would not be found breaking this commandment, we must pray to God to keep us from temptation, or to give us grace to re- sist it. We can do nothing right without God’s help. In every thing then, that we do, and es- pecially in our attempts to keep His command- ments, we must always pray for the help of God’s grace, and Holy Spirit. There is a THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 211 beautiful Collect in the Prayer-Book, very suitable to use after thinking about God’s commandments. It is the Collect for the First Sunday after Trinity. Here it is. “ 0 God, the strength of all those who put their trust in Thee ; mercifully accept our prayers ; and, because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without Thee, grant us the help of Thy grace, that in keeping Thy commandments, we may please Thee, both in will and deed ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” 278 THE KING S HIGHWAY. HYMN ON THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. Children, can you tell me who This command of God breaks through ? Only he who picks and steals ? Or the wish to do so feels ? If I should, when all alone, Something from another take ; Would my sin to God be known ? Would I this Commandment break ? Yes, the eye of God can see, In the dark as in the light ; I should just as guilty be, As if thousands saw the sight. If I should refuse to give Words and deeds of love to men; Though I might as others live ; Would I not be stealing then ? Yes, for I to all men owe Active love for J esus’ sake ; When I do not this- bestow, Then I this Commandment break. Higher yet this sin extends — Eor it steals the spirit’s love, Erom the very best of Friends : Robbing e’en the God above ! Save us from this sin we pray : — - Help us, Lord, to love Thee more ; Teach us to begin to-day, If we have not loved before ! IX. Uintlr taimstt&ram. tl Thou shalt not hear false witness against thy neighbor.’ * — Exodus xx. 16. HIS commandment is about bearing witness. At once the question arises, f What is to bear witness ? As com- monly understood, this refers to what takes place in courts of law, where a person is being tried for some offence with which he is charged. Suppose you are in the market. While you are standing there, two men get to quarrelling. From words they fall to blows. At last one of them draws a dagger and stabs the other. If the wounded man dies, the other will be brought into court, by and by, to be tried for his life. Then, you, and the rest of the peo- ple who saw the fight, would be summoned ( 279 ) 280 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. into court as witnesses. This means, that you would have to stand up there, and tell all that you knew about the quarrel, every thing that you saw and heard. When you were telling this, you would be bearing witness. If you gave a correct account, you would be a true witness. But, if you kept back part of what you saw and heard, or told about it differently from the way in which it took place, then you would be bearing false witness. It is a great sin to bear false witness, because before a per- son begins to speak as a witness, he is obliged to take a solemn oath that he will tell nothing but the truth ; and to tell a lie after this, is very dreadful. Simple-minded persons, and very young children, are not allowed to appear as witnesses in court, because they are not sup- posed to understand how solemn the oath is, which they are required to take before they speak as witnesses. Not very long ago, a little girl, only nine years old, was brought forward as a witness, in the trial of a person for stealing. The robbery had been committed in the house of THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 281 the little girl’s father. She had seen it. Her testimony was very important. The lawyer who was defending the thief, didn’t want this little girl to appear as a witness. He knew that what she had to say, would be very much against his side of the question. So when she was brought in, he said to her ; — “ Emily, do you know the nature of an oath ?” “ I don’t know what you mean, sir,” said she. “ There , may it please your honor,” said the lawyer to the judge ; “ she doesn’t understand the nature of an oath. Is not this sufficient evidence that she is not fit for a witness ? I submit that she be rejected.” “ Let us see,” said the judge. “ Come here, my little daughter. Have you ever taken an oath ?” The red blood rose to her face and neck, at the very thought of it, as she answered, — • “ No, sir.” “ I do not mean a profane oath,” said the judge. “Were you ever a witness in court before ?” 24 * 282 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. “ No, sir.” “ Do you know what book this is ?” said the judge, handing her a Bible. “ Yes, sir ; it is the Bible.” “ Have you ever read that book ?” “ Yes, sir ; I read it every evening.” “ Do you know what the Bible is, my child ?” “ It is the Word of the Great God.” “ Now, my little dear, place your hand upon this book.” She put her hand upon it tremblingly. He then repeated to her the form of the oath taken by one who is to be a witness. With her hand upon the Bible, she said ; — “ I do solemnly swear, that what I am now about to say, is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help me God.” “ Now, my dear,” said the judge, “you have sworn as a witness ; do you know what the result will be if you do not speak the truth ?” “ Yes, sir.” “ What ?” “ I shall be locked up in the State Prison.” “ Any thing else ?” THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 283 “ Yes, sir ; I can not go to heaven.” “ How do you know that ?” She took the Bible, ran her fingers over the leaves, and turned to the 20th chapter of Exo- dus, the 16th verse, and read ; — “ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” “ I learned that,” said she, “ before I could read the Bible.” “ Has any one told you that you were to be a witness in. this case?” asked the judge. “ Yes, sir ; after mother heard that I was to be called, she took me to her room, and asked me to tell her the ten commandments ; and mother and I knelt down, and prayed that I might understand how wicked it was to bear false witness against a neighbor ; and that God would help me to tell the truth, if I had to go court to-morrow. And when I went away mother kissed me, and said to me “ Remember the ninth commandment, and re- member that whatever you say in court, God hears every word of it.” “Do you believe this?” asked the judge. 284 the king's highway. while a tear glistened in his eye, and his lip quivered with emotion. “Yes, sir," said the child, in a way which showed that she meant what she said. “ God bless you, my child," said the judge, “ you have a good mother. This witness is competent," he added. “ If I were on trial for my life to-day, and innocent of the charge, I would pray God to give me such a witness as this child. Let her be examined." This little girl told the truth when she was called upon to speak, as a witness, in court. But we should feel as if we were in court, at ail times, when we open our lips to speak. This world is like a great court. God is the Judge. Whenever we speak, we speak as wit- nesses about some person or thing. God, the Judge, has a great book, in which He writes down every thing we say. Whenever we say anything that is not true, we are bearing false witness. God says, “ for every idle word we speak, we must give account in the day of judgment." And if for every idle word, much more for every false word. THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 285 This commandment requires us, as the Cate- chism says, “ to keep our tongues from evil- speaking, lying, and slandering.” Slandering means saying any thing that will injure the character of another person. Those who do this break the commandment. There was a company of ladies once at the house of a clergyman. As he entered the room, he heard them speaking, in a low voice, of an absent friend. “ She’s very odd says one. “ Yes, very singular indeed says an- other. “ Do you know, she often does so and so ? ” says a third, mentioning certain things to her discredit. The clergyman asked who it was. When told, he said ; — “ Oh ! yes, she is odd ; she’s very odd ; she’s remarkably singu- lar. Why, would you believe it ?” he added, in a slow, impressive manner ; “ she teas never heard to speak ill of any absent friends /” A clergyman was once examining the children of an infant school upon the commandments. He put his hand on the head of a little boy, and said ; — “ My little man, can you tell me what the ninth commandment means, by 286 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. ‘ bearing false witness against your neigh- bor ?’ ” The boy hesitated a while, and then said ; — “ It means telling lies, sir.” The minister didn’t exactly like this answer, so looking at a little girl, who stood next to him, he asked ; — “ "What do you say ?” "Without waiting a moment, she replied ; — “ It’s when nobody does nothing, and somebody goes and tells of it.” “ Yery good,” said the minister. The little girl’s answer was a very funny one ; but the little boy’s was true. Bearing false witness is telling lies ; and telling lies is bearing false witness. "We break the ninth commandment, every time we tell a lie. We sometimes hear people talk about different kinds of lies. They call some little lies, and others big lies ; some white lies, and others UacJc lies. But the Bible only speaks of one kind of lies. Every lie that is spoken, is big enough, and black enough, to break the ninth commandment. This commandment is so plain that it needs THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 287 very little explanation. In talking about it then, it will only be necessary to give some reasons why we should not tell a lie, or bear false witness. I wish to speak of reasons why we should not break this commandment. And I wish you to remember, that whether I speak of breaking this commandment, or of bearing false witness, or of lying, I mean the same thing. The first reason why we should never bear false witness, or tell a lie, is, because it is a mean thing. Who was the first person of whom we know, that ever a told a lie ? Satan. Where was this lie told ? In the garden of Eden. Satan bore false witness against God. He contra- dicted God. He told Eve that she would not die, if she ate of the forbidden fruit — that it would do her good instead of harm. Satan will be known forever as the first liar . This is the reason why the Bible calls him — “ the father of lies.” In this way he got Adam and Eve turned out of Eden ; and filled the world with mis- ery, sorrow, and death. 288 THE KING'S HIGHWAY. This was mean of Satan. He did it out of spite. Adam and Eve had done him no harm. But because he was miserable himself, he couldn't bear to see any body else happy. So without being able to do himself any good, he tried to do them the greatest harm that he could. He is the meanest person that can be found. But every liar, or slanderer, every one who bears false witness, is becoming like Satan. To lie is to do Satan's work. This is his mark. Who wants to bear it ? It is one of the mean- est of all things. It is a shameful, a disgrace- ful thing to tell a lie. There is no greater offence that can be given to a respectable, honorable person, than to call him a liar. And the reason is that all such persons know how mean and contemptible a thing it is to tell a lie. When some miserable wretch is hung on the gallows because he is so wicked that he is not fit to live in decent society, wouldn't you be offended if any one should tell you that you were like him ? Certainly. But Satan is the THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 289 1 meanest and wickedest of all creatures, and there is nothing that helps to make ns like him more than lying. It is said that there is one place in Indian where, when a person is found guilty of lying,, he is taken to a public place, and, in the pres- ence of a multitude of people, his mouth is> sewed up. A gentleman once sent his servant to mar- ket with the direction to bring home the lest. thing he could find. He carried home a< tongue. He was sent again with the direction to bring home the worst thing he could find.^ Again he brought home a tongue. This was^ right. For the tongue is the best thing in the world, when properly used ; or the worst when not so used. The Bible calls it our u glory when used to speak the truth, and to praise God. But when used for lying and swearing,, it calls it “a fire — a world of iniquity — an un- ruly evil, full qf deadly poison.” A false tongue is a disgraceful thing; but one that speaks the truth, is an honor and glory. Let me give you an example of this. 25 290 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. There was once a little boy named Duncan. The boys used to call him tl True Duncan ,” because he would never tell a lie. One day during recess, he was playing with an axe, in the school yard, and while he was chopping a stick, the teacher’s cat, old Tabby, came along. Duncan let the axe fall right on poor Tabby’s back, and killed her. What to do he knew not. She was the master’s pet, and used to sit on a cushion at his side, while he was hearing the lessons. Duncan stood and looked at the dead crea- ture. His face grew red, and the tears stood in his eyes. All the boys came running up, and every one had something to say. One of them was heard whispering to the others thus ; — “ Now, fellows, we’ll see whether Duncan can’t make up a fib as well as the rest of us.” “ Not he,” said Tom Pooley, who was Dun- can’s friend. “ Not he ; I’ll warrant you, Duncan will be as true as gold.” John Jones stepped up, and taking the cat by the tail, said; — “ Here, boys, I’ll just fling THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 291 her into the alley, and we can tell Mr. Cole, that the butcher’s dog killed her ; you know he worried her last week.” Some of them thought that this would do very well. But Duncan looked quite angry.' His cheeks swelled, and his face grew redder than before “No!” said he; “no! Do you think I would lie for such a creature as that? It would be a lie , a lie!” Bach time he used the word his voice grew louder. Then he picked up the poor thing in his arms, and carried her into the school-roCm. The boys followed to see what would happen. The master looked up, and said ; — “ What is this ? my poor Tabby killed ? Who could have done me such an injury?” All was silent for a little while. As soon as Duncan could get his voice, he said ; — • “ Mr. Cole, I am very sorry— but here is the truth. I killed poor Tabby. Indeed, sir, I am very sorry. I ought to have been more careful, for I saw her rubbing her side against the log. I am more sorry than I can tell, sir.” 292 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Every one expected to see Mr. Cole get very angry, take down his rattan, and give Duncan a sound thrashing. But instead of this, he put on a pleasant smile, and said ; — “ Duncan, you are a brave boy ! I saw and heard all that passed in the yard, from my window above. I had rather lose a hundred cats than miss such an example of truth and honor ixx my school. Your best reward is what you now feel in your own conscience ; but I beg you to accept this handsome pen- knife, as a token of my approbation.” Duncan took out his handkerchief, and wiped his eyes. The boys couldn’t keep in any longer; and when Tom Pooley cried, “ Three cheers for True Duncan,” they all joined, and made the school-house ring with a hearty hurrah. The teacher then said ; — “ My boys, I am glad you know what is right, and that you approve it ; though I am afraid some of you could not have done it. Learn from this time that nothing can make a lie necessary Suppose Duncan had taken your evil advice, THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 293 and come to me with a lie ; it would have been instantly detected, and instead of the honor of truth, he would have had only the shame of falsehood.” We should never bear false witness, or tell a lie, because it is a mean thing. The second reason why we should not do it is, because it is an unpkofitable thing. People generally expect to make some- thing when they tell a lie. They think it will be profitable to them. You remember about Gehazi, the servant of Elisha. When Naaman was cured of his leprosy, by the prophet, he felt so thankful that he wanted the man of God to take ever so much money from him. But Elisha re- fused to take any thing. Gehazi thought this was very foolish. It seemed to him like a good opportunity to get some money. So he ran after hTaaman, told him a lie, and asked for a talent of silver, and two suits of clothes, in the name of his master. He said his mastei wanted these for two theological students, who had just come to see him. A talent of silver 294 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. was worth nearly two thousand dollars. The- ological students must have been better off then, than now, if they were in the habit of receiving such princely presents. Naaman was so glad to think he was cured of his dreadful leprosy, that he was ready to give away almost any thing he was asked for. He made Gehazi take two suits of clothes, and two talents of silver, instead of one. I know not how much the clothing was worth ; but the two talents of silver were worth between three and four thousand dollars. And when Gehazi had got these treasures carried to his home, and stowed safely away, we may im- agine how he chuckled to himself, and rubbed his hands with glee, at the thought of his gains. “ A pretty good day’s work !” he may have said to himself. “ They may talk as they please about the -unprofitableness of lying. I think I’ve done quite a profitable business to-day !” But wait a little. He goes into the room where his master is. Elisha looks sternly at him, and asks ; — Where have you been, Gehazi?” THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 295 “ Nowhere, sir;” says the miserable man, used to lying now, but trembling, and turn- ing deadly pale. Then Elisha began and told him what he had done, and gave him a lecture on lying: the latter part of which, at least, he would never forget. It ended in these dreadful words ; — “ The leprosy there- fore of hTaaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever !” As quick as light- ning the fearful disease broke out upon him. “And he went out from the presence of Elisha, a leper, as white as snow.” Poor G-ehazi! You have lost your situa- tion, your health, your character, all at once ! What do you think of lying, now? I am very sure if he could speak to us now, in answer to this question, he would say ; — “I can tell you from my own experience, children, that lying is unprofitable.” And Ananias and Sapphira could tell us something about this matter, too, if they could speak. And what multitudes besides could testify to the same thing ! A shopkeeper has a piece of damaged 29G THE king’s HIGHWAY. goods which he wishes to be rid of. A per- son comes into his store, and offers to buy it, if he will warrant it a good article. Now, he thinks he can profit by telling a lie. He says it is of the very best quality, sound, and good. He sells the article. The purchaser finds he is deceived. He sa;ys to himself ; — “I’ll never buy any thing at that store again !” And thus, without any reference to the sin he committed, his lying is unprofitable. A fashionable lady, once, was busy doing something in wdiich she did not wish to be in- terrupted. She called her servant, and said : “Biddy, I wish to be undisturbed to-day. If any body calls for me, tell them lam not at home.” How many fashionable ladies and others, do this, without reflecting that they are not only breaking the ninth commandment themselves, but teaching their servants to break it also ! In the evening this lady found, to her great distress, that one of her particular friends had been taken suddenly ill, and died during the day. She was very anxious to see her, and sent several messengers to bid her come, THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 297 but these were always told she was not at home. You can imagine how dreadfully she must have felt when she understood this. After all these instances of the unprofit- ableness of lying, I must give you one story to show the profitableness of telling the truth, u before leaving this part of our subject. It is related of a Persian mother that, on giving her son forty pieces of silver as his portion, she made him swear never to tell a lie, and then said ; — u Go, my son ; I consign thee to God : we shall not meet again till the day of judgment.” The youth went away, and the party he travelled with was attacked by robbers. One fellow asked the boy what he had got, and he said ; — “ Forty dinars are sewed up in my garments.” The robber laughed, and thought he was only jesting. Another asked him the same question and received the same answer. At last the chief called him, and asked him what he had. He said ; — “I have told two of your people already, that I have forty dinars 298 THE KING S HIGHWAY. sewed up in my clothes.” He ordered the clothes to be ripped open, and found the money. “ And how came you to tell this?” asked the chief. “Because,” replied the child, “I would not 0 be false to my mother, to whom I promised never to tell a lie.” “Child,” said the robber, “art thou so mindful, at thy tender years, of thy duty to thy mother, and am I insensible, at my age, of the duty I owe to God? Give me thy hand, that I may swear repentance on it.” He did so. His followers were all struck with the scene. “You have been our leader in guilt,” said they to the chief, “ now be the same in the path of virtue.” They immediately gave back what they had stolen, and began at once to lead an honest life. We ought not to lie, or bear false witness, because it is unprofitable. The third reason why we ought not to do this is because it is DANGEROUS. Lying is like letting water through a bank. THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 299 When it once begins to run, there is no telling where it will stop. Here is a large ship. It is made up of a vast number of great pieces of timber, all fastened together. It is very strong. It can cross the ocean, breasting the storms, and rid- ing over the angry billows, without receiving any harm. But what holds those pieces of timber together, and makes that ship so strong ? Why, the bolts of iron, or copper, which are driven through her timbers. Now, suppose it were possible, all at once, to draw every bolt and fastening out of that ship, as she sails over the ocean? What would become of her? She would fall to pieces directly, and all her cargo would be lost. Well, every family, every village, or town, is like such a ship. It is made up of a number of persons bound together. And what binds them together? Wh y, tfuth, or confidence. Truth among people in society, is like the bolt in the ship. If nobody told the truth, and people had no confidence in one another, 300 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. they could no more live together, in families, or communities, and do business together, than a number of pieces of timber, without bolts to fasten them together, could make a ship. Would it not be very dangerous to have a person on board a ship who had a machine for drawing the bolts out, and who was trying to use it all the time ? Certainly it would. Well, lying is such a machine, in families, and societies. Every one who bears false witness, in any way, is using this machine. He is trying to draw the bolts out of families, and societies, so that they can’t hold together. This is very dangerous. Let me show you what injury may be done by lying. There was a large river, across which seve- ral dams were built within the distance of a few miles. These dams were built to form as many ponds, and carry on as many mills. But during a severe storm, which greatly swelled the river, the upper dam was carried away. This brought the flood with so much pressure on the second dam, that that went, THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 301 too ; and so with all the rest, one after another. If the first dam had been strong enough to resist the pressure of the current, none of the others would have given way. So it is with falsehood, and other sins. It we stop the first lie, we stop all the rest. If we are not disobedient the fi.rst time, we never shall be disobedient. If we do not use the first profane word, we never shall use the second . It is consenting to the first sin that does all the mischief. Some time since, a youth about fifteen years of age, whose name was James, came to this city to reside. He was employed as a clerk in a store. He was faithful at first, and his employer liked him very much, and treated him with great confidence. One day he stepped into the store of a young man whose acquaint- ance he had formed. He was offered a glass of wine. He hesitated, but finally yielded, and drank it. On the following day, this young man called in at the store where James was employed. His employer was not in at the time. James thought he must return the 26 302 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. kindness of his young friend, on the previous day, and accordingly he treated him to a glass of wine. But, in drawing the liquor, he did not close the stop-cock securely, and it was left running a little. As his employer passed through the store, he discovered it. “Have you been at this barrel, James?” he asked. The youth hesitated, as if there was a strug- gle in his breast between right and wrong, but finally replied, — “ No , sir.” Here the first dam was carried away. We shall see how the others followed. His employer looked as if he doubted it, but said no more. The next day the young man came in again, and said to the owner of the store ; — “Will you sell me a barrel of wine, such as J ames gave me yesterday ?” The gentleman gave a searching look at James, who felt almost ready to sink into the earth. He took the first op- portunity to see the young man, and asked him to tell his employer that he drew the wine THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 803 himself. Here was another dam gone. The young man promised to do so, if he would treat him to an oyster-supper. James agreed. Both parties fulfilled the agreement. But James had no money of his own, and hence he took some from the drawer in the store to pay for the supper. Here was another dam gone. After the oyster-supper, he was invited to gamble. At first he declined ; but then, think- ing he might make as much money as he had taken from his employer, and thus be able to replace it, he yielded. He played, and lost. But still, supposing he might win, he continued to take money from the store, until it was missed. Seeing that he was likely to be de- tected, he resolved one night that he would take two hundred dollars that were in the desk, and endeavor to' win enough to replace all he had taken from his employer. At midnight he arose. He entered the store, took the two hundred dollars, and went to the gambling house, where he lost the whole . How he was desperate. What could he do ? He did this. Knowing that his employer had money 304 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. in a certain bank, he forged a check in his name. He hastened to the bank and presented it. It was discovered to be a forgery. He was taken up, and sent to the penitentiary. Thus all the dams were swept away. And all this followed from that first lie. If James had told the truth then, the first dam would have been protected, and all the others saved. This shows the truth of our third reason. We ought not to bear false witness, or tell a lie, because it is a dangerous thing. Our fourth and last reason is , we ought not to do it, because it is a WICKED thing. There are two things that show us how wicked it is to bear false witness. What God SAYS of those who do it ; and what God does with them. These both show us how wicked it is. Now, look at what God says of those who lie, or bear false witness. He says in one place ; — “ Ye shall not deal falsely, neither lie, one to another.” Levit. xix. 11. He says in another place ; — “ The Lord hates a false witness that speaketh lies.” THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 305 Prov. vi. 19. Again He says; — “lie that speaketh lies shall perish.” Prov. xix. 5. He says ; — u A lying tongue is but for a moment.” Prov. xii. 19. And in another place, he says; — a Lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord.” Prov. xii. 22. How fearfully wicked that must be, about which God uses language so strong as this ! Who would want to be an abomination before Him who is the wisest, and best, and most gracious of all beings ? When you are tempted to tell a lie, of any kind, or under any circumstances, think of what God says about lying, and say to yourself, — shall I make myself hateful in the sight of God ? What God says of lying, shows how wicked it is. But then look at what God does with liars ! You know we read in the last two chapters of the New Testament, of a glorious vision which the apostle John had of heaven. As it appeared before him, it was more beautiful than any thing he had ever seen or thought of. It was like a great city. Its foundations were of precious stones. Its walls were made of 26* 306 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. jewels. Its gates were made of pearl. Its streets were payed with golden stones, but the gold was like crystal, as transparent as glass. A river of clear water flowed through the city. On each side of the river, the tree of life was growing. He saw the throne of God, and of the Lamb, within the city. There is no night there. No sorrow — no crying — -no sin. He saw the angels going in and out of the city. He saw the redeemed from among men, there too. Thejf were clothed in white raiment, and were walking with Jesus beside that beautiful river. Presently, he came to the gate of the city. When he looked over the gate, he saw some writing. This writing told who they were that should not be allowed to enter into the city. He was very anxious to read that writing, and find out who they were, who should never go into that beautiful place. He read the writing. He has told us what it was. This was part of it; — “ There shall in no wise enter herein , any thing that — MAKETH A lie !” Think of this. No admit • tance for liars . This is written as with a THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 307 sunbeam over the gate of heaven. Bear this in mind, when you are tempted to tell a lie. But if liars can not enter heaven, what be- comes of them ? If God does not let them go into that glorious city, what does He do with them ? There is one dreadful passage of scrip- ture which tells us. We read, Rev. xxi. 8, “ All liars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.” This is fearful indeed ! What God says of liars, and what God does with them, both help to prove how wicked a thing it is to lie. Thus we have had four reasons why we should not bear false witness. Let us see if we can recollect them. We ought not to do it, in the first place , because it is a MEAN thing ; secondly , because it is an UNPROFITABLE thing ; thirdly , because it is a dangerous thing ; and ) fourthly , because it is a WICKED THING. In conclusion, my dear children, let me en- treat you to make it a point, on every occa- sion, to speak the truth. Let this be a settled 308 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. rule with, you ; a rule, too, that shall never be broken. Let nothing ever tempt you to tell a lie. God calls Himself “ The God of truth.” He loves the truth ; and while “lying lips are an abomination to Him,” those that speak truly are said to be “His delight.” Speaking the truth, is the thing that espe- cially distinguishes Him. And this is one of the ways in which we should strive to be like God. What an honor it is for any young person to have it said of him, he always speaks the truth ! A crown of gold upon the head, would not be half so desirable an orna- ment, as a crown of truth. “ Oh ! ’tis a lovely thing for youth To walk betimes in wisdom’s way ! To fear a lie, to speak the truth, That we may trust to all they say.” If you ever find yourself saying what is not true, repent of it as a great sin. Pray God, for Jesus’ sake, to forgive you. And ask Him to give you grace to forsake every false way and word ;■ — to hate lying, and al- ways to love and speak the truth. * THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 309 HYMN ON THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. I must not let my tongue A word of falsehood speak, Which .may my humblest neighbor wrong, And God’s commandments break. Nor must I seek to throw Suspicion on his deeds ; For I may not the motive know, From which the act proceeds. I must not harshly judge, When others go astray ; Or in my spirit bear a grudge, To prompt the words I say. For, when I look within, And see the evil there, I scarcely think another’s sin Can with my own compare ! Then let the law of love My guide in all things be ; And may I by its judgment prove The good and ill I see. Dear Saviour ! let me keep Thy pattern in my view, And always strive to think and speak As thou would'st have me do ! X. tbmih Commmibimni “ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house ; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife ; nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” — Exodus xx. 17. , UPPOSE that we were farmers. We move out to the West, and buy a farm. A large part of our farm is covered with forest trees. We want to clear a portion of it, and turn it into fields, where we can raise Indian corn, or wheat. We cut down the trees, and split up, and haul away the timber. But after all this, the stumps remain in the ground ; and if nothing is done to them, they will soon begin to sprout up again. It is very important for us, as farmers, to get those stumps all removed. Somebody has invented a machine, that is (310) THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 311 called a “Root Extractor.” It lias great, strong, iron hooks. These are fastened to the roots, and then, by turning a wheel, or crank, connected with some very powerful machin- ery, the tough, crooked, gnarled roots are torn out by main force. It would be a grand thing for us, on our western farm, to have one of these Root Extractors. Then, how nicely we should get our field cleared ! We should go to work, with one stump after another ; and, in a little while, they would be all gone, and we should have no more trouble with them, t My dear children, our hearts are like a field, full of trees. This field has to be cleared. The trees here, are our sins, the wicked feel- ings and tempers that belong to us. When we are converted, and our hearts are renewed, by the grace of Jesus, then these trees are cut down. But the roots of them remain. Even when we become Christians, we find the roots of our old sins springing up again. And cov- etousness is the worst of these roots. You re- member that St. Paul says, — “ The love of money,” — (this means, coveting, or desiring 312 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. money) — “is the root of all evil ” — 1 Tim. vi. 10. It is very important for us to have these roots removed. Now the tenth commandment may well be called God’s great “ Boot Extractor.” If we pray to Him for grace to understand, and keep it, we shall find that it pulls up sin by the roots from our earts, and prevents it from growing there.. This is what the command- ment was intended to do ; and this is what it does, wherever it is properly kept. It plucks sin up by the roots, and leaves the ground of our hearts clear, for the good seed of God’s grace to grow in. Now let us look at this commandment. “ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house ; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife ; nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” The first four words of this commandment contain the substance of what it requires of us. “ Thou shalt not covet.” To covet means, to wish for something that belongs to another. THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 313 Sometimes we see a company of children, standing at the window of a store. It may be a jeweller’s store. One of them says, — “ Oh ! I wish I had that gold watch!” Another says, — “I wish I had that beautiful diamond ring!” A third says, — “Ah! but I wish I had that splendid silver pitcher !” Those children do not think what they are doing. Wishing, means coveting. The tenth commandment says, — “ Thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” They are breaking this commandment, as they stand there, wishing for, or coveting their neigh- bor’s goods. Here is a money-changer’s office. In the window are vessels full of gold and silver coin, of different kinds. Bundles of bank- notes, too, are lying piled up there. There comes a man along. Perhaps he is very poor. He stands before that window. He gazes on those shining stores, — those heaps of notes, — and as he gazes, the desire to possess them springs up in his heart, and he whispers to himself, — “Oh ! how I wish I had that money !” 27 314 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. In indulging that wish, he is coveting his neighbor’s silver and gold ; and thus he breaks the commandment. This wishing, or coveting, if it be allowed to remain, will grow up into the desire to get that money. If the man can not get it in a right way, he will try to get it in a wrong way. It will make him a thief, or robber. Here you see how coveting is to stealing, just what the root is to the tree. The tree grows out of the root ; and so steal- ing grows out of coveting. But the tenth commandment forbids us to covet. Hence I say, it is God’s great root extractor. It pulls up these roots of evil from our hearts. Whenever we allow ourselves to covet, or to wish for any thing that belongs to another, we are guilty of the sin of breaking this com- mandment. It is a very plain commandment. There is no difficulty in understanding what it means. It is not necessary to say any thing more for the purpose of explaining it. The most important thing is for us to consider some of the reasons why we should not covet. There are four reasons to be considered. THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 315 We should not covet , in the first place, because it IS UNSATISFYING. If we get the things we covet, instead of being satisfied, we shall only want more. If yon put a tub, without any bottom to it, under a pump, and begin to pump the water into it, how long will it take you to fill it ? You never can fill it. Well, our covetous de- sires are like a tub without a bottom. And trying to get satisfied, by indulging them, is just like trying to fill a tub with water, when there is no bottom to it. Suppose here is a fire burning. How soon will it go out, if you keep putting on wood ail the time? It won’t go out at all. If you want to make it go out, you must stop putting on w T ood. A Christian father, once, wanted to teach his little son this lesson, so that he would not be likely to forget it. He asked him this question ; — “Willie, when do you suppose a man will have money enough to satisfy him ?” “When he’s got a thousand dollars more than he needs to pay all his expenses.” 316 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. “ No ;” — answered his father. “ When he’s got five thousand more than he needs,” said Willie. “ No — said the father again. “ Ten thousand.” “No.” “ Twenty thousand.” “ No.” “ Fifty thousand.” “No.” Willie thought he would make one more desperate guess, that would be sure to hit the mark. So he cried out ; — “Well, when he’s got a hundred thousand dollars.” But still his father met him with the same short answer, “ No.” “ Then I’ll give it up,” saidWillie, in despair. “When he has got, — alittle more , — than he now has,” said his father, “ and that is — never. If he gets one thousand, he wishes to have two. When he gets two , he wants Jive; then he wants ten, — then twenty — fifty, — then a hun- dred thousand, and so on, till he has grasped THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 817 the whole world ; and then, like Alexander, he would be ready to weep because there were no other worlds for him to possess.” Not long ago, a rich farmer died, in Ches- ter county, Pennsy 1 vania. When a young man, he was quite poor. After a while he managed to buy a few acres of land. From time to time he added more and more to them, till he found himself the owner of the largest farm in the township. Afterwards, as he was very successful, he managed to buy first one farm, and then another, till seven or eight of the largest farms, in the neighborhood, belonged to him. At last he took sick. The physician came to see him. He told him his disease could not be cured. He must die in a short time. On hearing this, his reply was ; — u Oh! what a pity ! If I could only live fifteen years longer, I should own all Chester county .” u How strange it is,” said a young man, one day, to Dr. Franklin, “ that when men get rich, they are just as unsatisfied, and anxious to make money, as when they were poor.” ' 27 * 318 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. There was a little child playing in the room near them. “ Johnny, come here,” said Dr. F. The little fellow came up to him. “ Here, my man, is an apple for you,” said he, hand- ing one from a fruit-basket on the table. It was so large that the child could hardly grasp it. He then gave it a second, which filled the other hand ; and picking out a third, remark- able for its size and beauty, he said, “ Here’s another.” The child tried hard to hold this last apple between the other two ; but it drop- ped on the carpet, and rolled away over the floor. On seeing this, he burst into tears. “See,” said Dr. F., “there is a little man with more riches than he can enjoy, but not satisfied.” Before the time of our Saviour, there was a celebrated Grecian king, whose name was Pyrrhus. He had a flourishing kingdom, with every thing about him to make him comforta- ble. But being a great soldier, he was not satisfied without trying to conquer other coun- tries. He was preparing to go to war with the Romans. One day, before they started, a THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 319 wise man, named Cineas, belonging to his court, said to him — “ Sire, the Eomans are a brave, and warlike people ; but if we conquer them, what shall we do next?” “ The Eomans once conquered,” answered Pyrrhus, “no city will resist us; we shall then be the masters of all Italy.” “ Having subdued all Italy, what shall we do next?” asked Cineas. “Then we shall take Sicily,” said Pyrrhus. “Will that put an end to the war?” in- quired Cineas. “ By no means,” replied Pyrrhus. “ Then Lybia and Carthage will soon be ours ; and no enemies will be able to stand before us.” “Very true,” said Cineas ; “ and when all these are in our possession, what shall we then do ?” “Then,” said the king, smiling, “we shall stay at home, and enjoy ourselves.” “ Well, sire,” observed the wise man, “and why can’t we stay at home, and enjoy our- selves now , without all this trouble and dan- ger ?” 320 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. But Pyrrlius would not take the advice of his friend. He went to war. He was finally killed in battle, and never found the enjoy- ment which he had promised himself. We should not covet, because it is unsatis- fying . This is the first reason. Again, we should not covet , because it is DIS- GRACEFUL. This is the second reason. We read of some places where, when peo- ple commit certain sins, they are punished by having the first letter of the word that repre- sents their sin, branded with a red-hot iron upon the cheek, or forehead. Here, for instance, is a man who has been thieving. He is a thief. He has the letter T burnt upon his brow. Wherever he goes, he carries the mark of his sin upon him. Every one who sees him, knows that he is a thief Would not that be a dis- graceful thing? Yes. Would you want to keep company with such a person, or have any thing to do with him ? Certainly not ; unless you knew that he had truly repented of his sin, and would never steal again. But a person who covets , is very nearly re- THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 321 lated to a thief., They are first cousins to each other. Nay, the relationship is closer than that. They are like the same person, or thing, as seen at different times, and under different circumstances. Let me illustrate this. Here, for instance, is a chicken almost ready to be hatched ; and there is a chicken that is already hatched. What is the difference between them ? Why, one is in the shell, while the other is out of it. That is all the difference. There is noth- ing in the world but the thickness of that thin shell, which separates one of them from the other. A slight tapping, — a very little peck- ing, on the end of that shell, and it is broken through ; and then out comes the chicken as lively and active as its little brother that came out yesterday. Now just such is the relation that exists be- tween a covetous person and a thief. There is nothing but a thin shell that separates them from each other. The covetous person is a thief in the shell. The thief is a covetous per- son out of the shell. Let a covetous person 322 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. see something that he desires very much ; and let an opportunity of taking it be offered, and how very soon, like the chicken ready to be hatched, he will break through the shell, and come out in his true character as a thief. Now, suppose that God, in His providence, should cause to come out upon the foreheads of people, in lines as of fire, a letter repre- senting the sin that each one had committed, what would be the difference between the marks on the forehead of a thief, and of a covetous person ? They would both have the same letter. This same disgraceful, dreadful T would be on each. There it would stand, the blazing, burning mark of sin and shame, on each ; only the thief would have a rather larger, brighter T, than that seen on the fore- head of the covetous person. Then, surely, if coveting is so closely related to thieving, we should be very careful that we do not covet, because it is disgraceful . This is the second reason. But again , we should not covet , because it is injurious. This is the third reason. THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 328 There are several ways in which it is inju- rious to indulge a covetous spirit. Sometimes it is injurious to a person’s char- acter . There was once a nobleman, in Italy, who was going to be married. Great prep- arations were made for the wedding feast. Every thing necessary for the occasion had been procured, except some fish, of which the Italians are very fond. But the sea had been so rough for many days, that the fishermen in the neighborhood had been quite unsuccessful. The day before the wedding was to take place, however, a fisherman came along, who had a fine large turbot for sale. He knocked at the gate of the nobleman’s residence, and inquired if they wanted any fish. The porter who kept the gate was a very covetous man. He was ready to take advantage of every opportunity to get a little money, whether the way of get- ting it was right or wrong. He told the fish- erman that they wanted a fish very much, in his master’s house, and as it was for a wedding feast, they would be willing to give a good price for it; but he said he would not let the 324 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. man in, unless lie would promise to give Mm one half of what he might get for it. The fisherman thought this was so unjust that, at first, he refused to do it. But finding he could not get in any other terms, he con- sented. . As he went in, however, he made up his mind to teach the porter a lesson that he would not soon forget. He was ushered into the presence of the nobleman, who was so delighted to see so fine a fish, that he offered to give the man any price he might ask for it. “ You will think, perhaps, I am naming a strange price,” said the fisherman, “when I tell you that a hundred lashes, laid on my bare back, is the price of my fish, and I will not take any thing else far it.” The nobleman was greatly surprised. He thought the man was joking, and tried to reason him out of his strange notion. But finding the fisherman resolute in his demands, he said ; — “ Well, well, the poor fellow is certainly crazy. We must have the fish, however. THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 325 Give him his price, and let him be paid in my presence ; but lay it on very lightly.” As soon as fifty lashes had been given him, he cried; — “ Hold, hold! I have a partner in this business, and he must have his share of the price of the fish.” “ What !” exclaimed the nobleman, “ is it possible that there are two such mad fellows in the world ? Who is your partner, and he shall be sent for at once ? ” “ You need not go very far for him,” said the fisherman; “you will find him at your gate, in the shape of your own porter, who would not let me in until I promised he should receive half of what I got for my turbot.” “Oh! oh!” said the nobleman, “bring him in instantly. Let him have his share, by all means ; and lay it on soundly.” The porter received his share of the price asked for the fi&h. Then he was immediately discharged, while the fisherman was amply re- warded. The porter lost his character and his situation. He certainly found covetous- ness injurious. It injured his character. 28 326 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Sometimes covetousness is injurious by causing great trouble to others , besides the per- son who is guilty of this sin. Look at the case of Achan, mentioned in the Bible. Joshua, 7th chapter. The children of Israel have just crossed over Jordan. They are about to take the city of Jericho. God * charges them to put all the people in the city to death, and not to take any of the spoils of the city to themselves, but to set it all apart for His service. He commands them solemnly to mind this order, and declares that if they do not, it will bring a curse upon them, and be a trouble to the whole nation. Now the walls of Jericho have fallen down. The city is taken. The people in it are put to death. The Israelites are gathering all the spoil together, according to God’s command- ment. There is Achan. He enters a fine looking house. No one is with him. He finds a wedge of gold, a bag of silver, and a beauti- ful garment. How tempting they look ! He covets them. He says to himself ; — “ How I THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 827 Bhould like to have these ! And why may I not? There is no one here to see. They won’t be missed, amid all the spoil of this great city. I’ll take them.” He carries them quietly away; digs a hole in his tent, and buries t\em there. He thinks no one has seen him. Poor, foolish man ! he forgets that “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil, and the good.” God saw it all, and the Bible tells us how He made it kmnyn. The Israelites go on to take another city. They send their army against it. Their army is defeated, and a number of soldiers killed. They come back discouraged. All the people are afraid. Look at Joshua, their brave cap- tain. He has rent his clothes, and fallen to the ground ; there he spends the day, weeping and praying before the ark of the Lord. All the elders of Israel are there with him. Their clothes are rent, and their heads covered with ashes. The progress of a large army is stopped, and hundreds of thousands of people are plunged in sorrow and distress. And what 328 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. has occasioned all this trouble? The covet- ousness of one man ! You know how his sin was found out, and how he was punished for it. Joshua told Achan that he had troubled all Israel. And so he had. • A grain of sand is a small thing. But sup- pose I open my watch, and drop it in among the works, what effect will it have ? It will stop it. Yes, and unless it is gotten out, the watch will be of no use. The different tribes of Israel were like the wheels of a great watch. Achan’s one sin was like the grain of sand dropped in among them. It stopped the watch. It could not be set in motion again until the grain of sand was taken out. The sin of Achan occasioned great trouble to others, as well as himself. In this way covetousness is injurious. And then it is often injurious too , as occa- sioning the death of those who are guilty of it. I might mention a great many instances, to illustrate this part of our subject, but I shall give you only two. THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 329 Some years ago, there was a large ship, called the Kent, going from England to the East Indies. On her voyage she canght fire. The flames could not be put out. While she was burning, another vessel came in sight, and offered to take off her crew and passengers. The sea was very rough, and the only way to get the people off the burning ship, was to let them down by ropes, from the end of a boom, into the little boats that were tossed about, like corks, by the rough waves below. One of the sailors, who knew that the mate had a large quantity of gold in his possession, determined to get it, and take it with him. So he broke into the mate’s cabin, forced open his desk, and taking two thousand dollars in gold pieces, put them in a belt, and fastened it round his waist. His turn came to leave the burning ship. He got out to the end of the boom, slipped down the rope, and let go, expecting to drop right into the boat that was beneath him. But a sudden movement of the waves carried the boat out of his reach, and he was plunged into the sea. He was an ex- 28 * 330 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. cellent swimmer, and if it had not been for the gold he had coveted, he would have risen like a cork to the surface, and soon been safe in the boat. But the weight of the money round his waist, made him sink like lead, in the mighty waters. He never rose again to the surface. Ah ! as he felt the golden weight dragging him deeper and deeper down into the vast ocean, he must have understood, plainly enough, how injurious covetousness is ! Here is another example of the same kind. Some years ago there was a man living in a certain town in France, whose covetous feel- ings had become so strong as to make him a miser, of the very worst kind. By oppressing the poor, and taking advantage of them in every possible way, he had become exceed- ingly rich. The king wanted to borrow some money from him, but, thinking the interest offered for it was not enough, and fearing that perhaps he might never get it back again, he pretended that he had not got as much money as the king wanted. He said he had met with heavy losses^ THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 331 which had left him quite poor. Then he was afraid that his neighbors, who, he knew, all dis- liked him very much, might report to the gov- ernment how rich he was ; and that perhaps somebody would be sent to search his house, and so he might lose some of his much-loved gold. He resolved, therefore, to hide his treas- ures, so that, if a search was made for them, they could not be found out. For this pur* pose, he had a large cave dug in the cellar of his house. This was walled up, and arched over, with a door in the top of it, from which he could go down by a ladder. The door was furnished with a spring lock, which, on being shut, would fasten of itself. Here he stowed all his bags of gold and silver, with the feeling that now his treasures were perfectly secure. After a while, the miser suddenly disap- peared. Inquiries were made for him ; the house was searched; the woods were ex- plored ; the ponds were dragged, but no trace of him could be found. The people supposed that he had taken his money and gone to live in some place where he was not known. S32 THE king’s HIGHWAY. Some time after, the house in which he had lived was sold. The new owner made some alterations and repairs. While the workmen were engaged in these, they found the trap door to the miser’s cave. They broke it open. They got a light and went down. The first thing that met their eyes at the foot of the % ladder, was the ghastly skeleton of the wretched miser, while all around him lay heavy bags of gold, and great chests of untold treasure. He had gone down to look at his treasures, — to worship his golden god, — and while there, the door had shut upon him, and fastened him in. No human being could hear the loudest shout he might have raised. There he was left to die a miserable, lingering death, in the midst of the gold he so much coveted. There was gold in bags ; gold in chests; gold piled in heaps ; gold for a pillow ; and gold strewed under him to lie upon, but in the midst of it all, he starved to death ! What an illustration of the sad effects of covetousness ! “ Thou shalt not covet !” Why ? Because it is injurious . THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 333 The fourth and last reason why we should not covet is , because it is sinful. It breaks this commandment. And the worst thing you can say of any sin is, that it breaks God’s law. Remember this, whenever you are tempted to covet any thing. You break God’s commandment by it. How sinful this is ! But by coveting we break two command- ments at once. Besides breaking the tenth, we at the same time break the first command- ment, by committing this sin. You know the first commandment forbids idolatry. It says, “ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” But the Bible tells us that “ covetousness is idolatry.” Coloss. iii. 5. This means, that when people become covetous they put their gold in the place of God. They love it more than they love God ; they think of it more than they think of God ; they trust to it more than they trust to God. This is making a god of it ; and idolatry consists in having some other god than the Lord. But there is even more than this to be said 334 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. about covetousness. The covetous man breaks the whole ten commandments at once . Do you ask how I make this out? Easily enough. You know our Saviour said the ten commandments were all embraced in two; viz., to love God with all our hearts ; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. But the covetous man loves his gold with all his heart. By this # he breaks the first four commandments. He loves his gold more than he loves his neighbor. By this he breaks the last six commandments. What a dreadfully wicked thing covetousness is ! St. Paul tells us, as was said at the be- ginning of this sermon, that covetousness, or “the love of money, is the root of all evil.” This means, that it leads people to commit all kinds of sin. It makes them unkind, hard- hearted, cruel, and unjust. It leads to vio- lence, bloodshed, and murder. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico, they killed so many people, that it might al- most be said they waded in blood to get posses- sion of it. And what was the chief object they had in view ? It was to get the gold, THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 335 which, was found there in such wonderful profusion. When the emperor found he could not pro- tect his city against the fierce invaders, he col- lected his principal treasures together, and threw them into the lake on which his capital was built. The Spanish general, Cortes, was sojpLuch disappointed at finding so little gold, that he ordered a huge gridiron to be made, and then put the emperor on it, and roasted him over a slow fire to make him tell where his treasures were. The history of the world is full of the hor- rible things that men have done from a desire to get gold. Let me give just one as a sample. Some years since a seafaring man was re- turning home after a long absence. He had left home as a boy ; he was now a full-grown man, and so altered in appearance that he was sure nobody would know him. He had been very successful in business, and was now quite rich. His old parents were very poor, and he was going back to make them comfortable for the rest of their days. 336 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. When he arrived at his native village he made himself known to some of the compan- ions of his boyhood, and told them his object in returning. He found that his parents were keeping a small inn, on the outskirts of the village. He resolved to go and take lodgings at their house for the night, as a traveller, but not to make himself known to them till the next day. He entered into conversation with the old people very freely and familiarly. At supper- time he pressed them to sit up, and eat with him. He asked them many questions about their family, and particularly about a son who had gone to sea when a boy, and whom they had long since thought to be dead. But still they never suspected who he was. The evening passed away very pleasantly. Bed-time came. The old lady showed him to his room. As he bade her good-night, he shook her warmly by the hand, at the same time slipping a purse of gold into it, and tell- ing her to take care of it till the morning. She showed the gold to her husband. They THE TENTH COMMANDMENT, 337 were greatly surprised. Supposing that their lodger must have a great amount of gold with' him, they began to covet it. This cursed root of all evil often brings forth and ripens its terrible fruit very quickly. It did so now. They resolved to murder the unsuspecting, traveller, and get his gold. At the still hour of midnight they crept softly to his bedside. There he lies, sleeping quietly. The sharpened knife is raised a moment, and plunged into his heart. He groans, and dies. They search his trunk. They clutch his gold. A hole is dug in the cellar, and the body buried out of sight. Next morning some of the neighbors come in, and inquire eagerly for the traveller who had arrived the night before. The old people seem greatly confused, but stammer out, that he had risen early and gone away. “ Surely not,” said the neighbors, “for it is- your own son, who has just returned from sea„ to make the evening of your days happy. He resolved to lodge one night with you as a stranger, and make himself known in the morning.” 29 338 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. Who can describe the horror of those wretched murderers, when they found that they had dyed their hands in the blood of their own long lost child ! Oh ! how sinful a thing that covetousness must be which could lead to such a dreadful crime ! We have considered four reasons why we should not covet. Because it is unsatisfying ; because it is DISGRACEFUL ; because it is INJURI- OUS ; and because it is SINFUL. Now, my dear children, we have concluded our sermons on the commandments. This last one makes an excellent finish to them. You know that when a carpenter drives in a nail, which he wishes shall hold very fast, he takes his hammer, and if it be a wrought iron nail, he bends down the end of it where it has come through, and drives it again into the wood. This is called clenching the nail. This makes it sure. Now it can not be drawn out. And .just in the same way the tenth com- mandment is a sort of clencher to all the rest. If we keep this commandment properly, we shall be in very little danger of breaking any THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 339 of the others. It directs our attention to our hearts ; and teaches us to keep them right. If we can only keep our hearts right, we shall not have much trouble with any thing else. This is the reason why the Bible says, “ Keep thine heart with all diligence , for out of it are the issues of life.” But the very hardest thing we have to do, is to keep the heart right. If we attempt to do this in our own strength, we shall succeed about as well as if we should stand at the door of our house, and try to keep the air out, by beating it with our fists. In spite of all we can do, evil thoughts will creep in, and covet- ous desires will spring up. W ell, what should we do, when we find them there ? We should be sorry for having them, and ask God to for- give us, and take them all away. What a beautiful Collect that is before the command- ments, in the Ante-Communion service ; and how clearly it shows us the only true way in which we can get rid of our evil thoughts ! “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no 340 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit; that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name, throngh Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” And when we feel our need of the help of God’s grace to enable us to keep His com- mandments, how beautifully we are taught to pray for this grace in the Collect which fol- lows the commandments, in the service just referred to ! “ 0 Almighty Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments ; that through thy most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.” If we pray thus, with all our hearts, we shall find these commandments like fences set up on either side of “The King’s Highway and we shall find that way leading us right through the wilderness of this world, to the THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 341 glory and blessedness of our Father’s house above. May it please God to guide us all into this glorious way, and bring us at last to His heavenly rest, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. 29 * 342 THE KING’S HIGHWAY. HYMN ON THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. I must not nurse within my soul, One spark of sin’s unhallowed fire ; Or yield my heart to the control Of aught that speaks a wrong desire. If others, in the flush of health, Can richly dress and brightly shine ; I must not envy them their wealth, Or wish that aught of theirs was mine. If God should call me to he poor, Still I’ll he thankful for my lot : For Jesus trod this path before, And well I know He murmured not ! I must not turn with envious eyes, On aught that others may possess ; Or wish, whatever God denies, To make their sum of blessings less. Is there, then, nought beneath, above, That I may covet to possess ? Yes, there’s the Saviour’s boundless love, With which He waits, my soul to bless ! To me, this treasure, Lord, impart ; Thy pardoning grace, oh ! let me prove ; Write Thou Thy Laws upon my heart, And make me covet all Thy Love ! *