AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FRANK G. ALLEN, Minister of the Gospel AND SELECTIONS FROM HIS WRITINGS EDITED BY ROBERT GRAHAM _President of the College of the Bible, Lexington, Ky. _ CINCINNATIGUIDE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. 1887 Copyright, 1887, byTHE GUIDE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. Dedication. To all who love the Old Paths, This Volume, In Memory of One Who Found ThemAnd Walked Therein, Is Respectfully Inscribed, byThe Editor. PREFACE. By prescription, which often has the force of law, a book should haveboth a _Preface_ and an _Introduction_: the first relating to thewriter; the second to the things written. I may well dispense with thelatter, for what is here written the humblest capacity can understand;and it would be cruel to detain him long on the porch who is anxious toenter the building. But, dear reader, a word with you (for that is the meaning of"Preface") before you begin this unpretentious little book, the jointproduction of an author, an editor, and a publisher. It is due the first, to say that he wrote what is here called hisAutobiography in great physical weakness, and without expecting that itwould appear in this form. This will account for its homely garb, andapologize for it, if apology be necessary. Frank Allen had no time tospend upon mere style in anything he wrote. He aimed at clearness andforce of expression, and reached these in a remarkable degree in hislatter days. If any one, therefore, should take up this volumeexpecting to find literary entertainment, he will have the search forhis pains; but if he seeks for what is far better, the secret of a lifedevoted to God and goodness, told in plain, unvarnished English, hewill not be disappointed. When I received from the gifted author the record of his "travel'shistory, " I intended to write his Life, but death came and found us, not him, unprepared; and so, under the constraint of other and pressingduties, my purpose was reluctantly abandoned. Besides, upon examinationit was found that with a few changes and additions here and there, these memoranda, as they came from the hand of their author, could, under the circumstances, appear in that form and do him no discredit. Such is my admiration of this noble man, and such my deference to whatI am sure must be the desire of his friends, that I have preferred tolet _him_ tell in simple phrase the strange story of his struggles andtriumphs; and if its perusal should give the reader half the pleasureit has been to me to prepare it for the press, I shall not have laboredin vain. The book is intended to be a _Memorial Volume_, and especiallyone to encourage young men who, under adverse circumstances, arestriving to qualify themselves to preach the gospel. Bro. Allen wasalways in warm and loving sympathy with these--so much so, that he wasrightly called the young preacher's friend. It is a pleasure to say that such is the veneration of the publishers, The Guide Printing and Publishing Company, for the memory of ourdeceased brother, that but for them this tribute would hardly haveappeared. With a generosity as rare as it is praiseworthy, they haveundertaken to publish the work in the best style of their art, at a lowprice, and without any pecuniary risk to Sister Allen; and, indeed, inall their transactions with her they have given abundant proof that mencan carry into business the benevolent spirit of pure and undefiledreligion. It only remains to be said that whatever profits arise from the sale ofthis book go to the wife and children of its lamented author, and thatshould sufficient encouragement be given, a companion volume containingthe letters and miscellaneous productions of Bro. Allen may in due timebe issued. THE EDITOR. LEXINGTON, Ky. , May, 1887. CONTENTS. Page. PART I. --AUTOBIOGRAPHY. CHAPTER I. Birth and Ancestors. Family Circumstances. "Fist and Skull"Entertainment. Removal to Ohio and Return. Fight with his Mother. Gets Lost. His Father Buys a Farm. The "Improvements. " Plenty ofHard Work. His Opinion of Work and of Play. 1 CHAPTER II. His First School. The School-house. The Teacher. The Order ofReciting. Spelling Matches. First Sweetheart. Extremes in Likesand Dislikes. Fondness for Study. Improvement in Schools. 7 CHAPTER III. His Religious Experience. Tries to be a Methodist. Hopes to Becomea Preacher. Boy Preaching. Attends a Sunday-school. "Chaws" Tobacco. Goes to Love Feast. Mourners' Bench Experience. Is Puzzled andDisgusted. 12 CHAPTER IV. Fun and Mischief. His Little Cousin and the "Gnats. " The AuroraBorealis. A Bumble-bee Scrape. Another Bee Scrape. Justification byFaith Alone. Readiness to Fight. Love of Justice. No Surrender. 17 CHAPTER V. Given to Abstraction of Thought. Cases in Point. Opinion ofDebating Societies. Perseverance. Consumption. Endurance. MoreComfortable Home. Death of his Father. Love of FashionableAmusements. Meets his Future Wife. Is Married. Tribute to hisWife. Her Father and Mother. 25 CHAPTER VI. Goes to Housekeeping. Discussions with Mr. Maddox. Attends Meeting. Is Baptized by William Tharp. Double Damages for an Old Horse. Begins Trading. Moves to Floydsburg. Description of the Place. 31 CHAPTER VII. Tries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician. Tries to Join the Southern Army. Fails Again. His FirstAppointment. Feeling of Responsibility. His Plan. Text. Analysisof Sermon. Buys a Family Bible. Rules of Life. 36 CHAPTER VIII. Resolves to go to College. Friends Oppose. Wife Decides It. HardLiving and Hard Work. Impaired Health. Preaches for his HomeChurch. Father-in-law Dies. "Frank, Be a True Man. " House Robbed. "Scraps. " College Incidents. First Pay for Preaching. Holds SeveralMeetings. Dishonest Preacher. 43 CHAPTER IX. Leaves College. Goes to Alexandria, Ky. An Adventure in Ohio. ABaby _not_ Baptized. Peril in Crossing the River. Opens his School. Makes Some Money. Buys a Nice Home. 52 CHAPTER X. Narrow Escapes. Is Thrown from a Horse. Has Pneumonia. NearlyKilled. Self-possession. Almost Drowned. Eludes Angry Soldiers. Reflections. 58 CHAPTER XI. He Abandons the School-room. Remarkable Meeting near Alexandria. Incidents. Establishes a Church. Mischief-making Preachers. Long and Severe Attack of Typhoid Fever. Does not Lose Hope. Gratitude. 65 CHAPTER XII. Sells out at Alexandria. Moves to Crittenden. Preaches there and atWilliamstown. Low State of these Churches. Plan of Work. Memorizingin Sunday-school. Lack of Church Discipline. One-Man System. Movesto New Liberty. Visits Mount Byrd 71 CHAPTER XIII. History of the Mt. Byrd Church. When Established. Where. CharterMembers. Officers. Preachers. Number of Members. Three ThingsContributing to its Prosperity. New House of Worship. SeriousTrouble in the Church. How Settled. Method of Raising Money. TheChurch Builds Allen a House. Organizes a Sunday-school. How it isConducted 77 CHAPTER XIV. He Moves to Mt. Byrd. Debate with J. W. Fitch. Preaches at Madison, Ind. Protracted meetings at Columbia, Burksville, Thompson'sChurch, Dover, Germantown, Pleasant Hill, Burksville again, BeechGrove, Dover again 88 CHAPTER XV. Begins Preaching at Beech Grove. Debates with Elder Hiner. AmusingIncident. Holds Many Meetings. Debates with Elder Frogge. Debatesagain with Elder Hiner. Repudiates Miller's Book. Sick Again. Holdsmore Meetings 96 CHAPTER XVI. Continues to Evangelize. Dr. Cook's Prescription. Incident atGlendale. Peculiar Feature in the Meeting at Madisonville. TheFractious Preacher at Sonora. Closes his Evangelistic Labors. Establishes the _Old Path Guide_. The Bruner Debate 101 CHAPTER XVII. Visits Midway. Attends the Missouri State Convention. Reflections. Annual Sermons. Last Protracted Meeting. Kindness of Mt. Byrd, Glendale and Smithfield Churches. Gives up Office Work. Goes toEureka, Ill. Country Home. Takes Cold at the Lexington Convention. Goes to Florida 107 CHAPTER XVIII. Organizes a Church at DeLand. Health Improves. Relapses. StartsHome. Resignation. Sells His Interest in the _Guide_. BeginsWriting again. Attends Two Conventions. Goes to Texas. At Homeagain. Works on. 113 CHAPTER XIX. Reflections on his Fiftieth Birthday. What a Wonderful Being isMan! Governed, not by Instinct, but by Reason. Man Lives by Deeds, not Years. How to Grow Old. Half of Life Spent in Satan's Service. Renewed Consecration. Last Three Birthdays. His Trust in God. 118 CHAPTER XX. Conclusion, by the Editor. Tokens of Love from Many. Keeps Writing. Controversy with the _Standard_. Last Meeting with His Mother. Visited by Professors McGarvey and Graham. Commits His Writings tothe Latter. Visits Eminence and Lexington. Many Brethren Come toSee Him. Meeting at Mt. Byrd. Estimate of His Character. TheClosing Scenes. Farewell to His Family. Dies. Funeral Services. 127 PART II. --ADDRESSES. I. --Culture and Christianity: their Relation and Necessity. 137 II. --Self-culture. 159 III. --Plus Ultra _vs. _ Ne Plus Ultra. 175 PART III. --SELECTIONS. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. I. --Christ the Lamb of God. 190 II. --Christ the Bread of Life. 194 III. --Christ the Water of Life. 199 IV. --Christ the Son of God. 202 V. --Christ the Son of Man 212 VI. --Christ the Great Teacher 218 VII. --Christ the Deliverer 223 VIII. --Christ the Great Physician 230 IX. --Christ Our Mediator 236 X. --Christ Our Mediator (continued) 242 XI. --Christ Our High Priest 249 XII. --Christ Our Righteousness 254 PART I. --AUTOBIOGRAPHY. CHAPTER I. Birth and Ancestors. Family Circumstances. "Fist and Skull"Entertainment. Removal to Ohio and Return. Fight with his Mother. Gets Lost. His Father Buys a Farm. The "Improvements. " Plenty ofHard Work. His Opinion of Work and of Play. I was born near La Grange, Oldham county, Ky. , March 7, 1836. Myfather, Francis Myers Allen, was born in Brown county, Ohio, December7, 1807. He was the son of Thomas Allen, who, in 1812, when my fatherwas only five years old, moved from Brown county, O. , to Shelby county, Ky. , and lived on Little Bullskin, a few miles west of Shelbyville. My mother, Sarah A. Gibbs, was a daughter of James L. Gibbs and MaryAshby, and was born in Loudoun county, Va. , April 6, 1808. The familymoved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1810, and lived in Shelbyville. My grandparents on both sides reared large families of industrious, thrifty children, and both grandfathers lived to be quite aged, mymother's father living to be nearly one hundred years old. My parents were married near Simpsonville, in Shelby county, April 9, 1829, and to them were born thirteen children--five boys and eightgirls--ten of whom lived to be grown. I was the fifth child--two boysand two girls being older. The oldest child, a boy, died in infancy. Being poor, both parents and children had to work hard and use stricteconomy to make ends meet. We all knew much of the toils and hardshipsof life, little of its luxuries. Both parents were blessed with goodconstitutions, and had fine native intellects, but they were uneducatedsave in the mere rudiments of the common school. They thought that "toread, write and cipher" as far as the single rule of three, was all thelearning one needed for this life, unless he was going to teach. If myfather's mind had been trained, it would have been one of vast power. He was philosophical, a good reasoner, and possessed of unusualdiscrimination. He had also great coolness and self-possession inemergencies. In illustration of the latter statement, there recurs an incident in myfather's life that will bear recital. In those old-fashioned days of"fist and skull" entertainments on public occasions, it was common foreach county to have its bully. Oldham at different times hadseveral--men of great muscular build and power, whose chief idea offame was that they could "whip anything in the county. " My father was asmall man, weighing only one hundred and thirty pounds, and of apeaceable disposition. Indeed, it was hard to provoke him to pugilisticmeasures. But circumstances caused one of these bullies to force afight upon him at La Grange, in which the man was whipped so quicklyand so badly that no one knew how it was done. The man himselfaccounted for it on the ground that "Mr. Allen came at me smiling. "This caused one or two others, at different times, to seek toimmortalize themselves by doing what the first had failed toaccomplish; but with the same result. Being a farmer, my father was never without occupation, and he alwayshad plenty for his boys to do; hence I knew nothing but hard work onthe farm, except a few school days in winter, from the time I couldpull a weed out of a hill of corn till I reached my majority. In the fall after I was born my parents moved from the farm near LaGrange to Brown county, O. , not far from Hamersville. There theyremained a year; but my mother being much dissatisfied, they moved toFloydsburg, Ky. , and in the following spring, when I was two years old, returned to the old place where I was born. Here the memories of lifebegin. The incidents of daily life from this time forward are fresh inmy memory to-day. Here I had my first and last fight with my mother. When I was three years old, my father, one day in June, was plowingcorn in a field not far from the house. When he went out, after noon, Iwanted to go with him. He took me behind him on the horse to the field. When we got there I wanted to come back. He brought me back. I thenwanted to go to the field. He took me to the field. I then wanted tocome back. He brought me back. I then wanted to go to the field, but heleft me, telling my mother to take me in charge. Because she attemptedto control me I began fighting her. She whipped me with a small switch, and I fought till I fell. Being completely exhausted, I begged myoldest sister to fight for me, and when she refused and I had recovereda little, I got up and went at it again. But when I fell the secondtime, I lay till they took me and put me to bed, and there I remainedseveral days. Though I did not surrender, I never afterwards feltdisposed to renew the engagement. It was almost death to my mother, forshe did not chastise me in anger; her firmness, however, saved me. In the spring of 1840 we moved to a farm some two miles south of LaGrange, on the road leading from that place to Ballardsville. Here welived one year. Only one event worth naming occurred while we livedhere. My mother took myself, an older sister, and a younger brother tovisit a sister she had living in La Grange. It was a beautiful summerday, the roads were good, and we walked. My mother stopped at the houseof a neighbor on the road side for a few minutes, and told us to go on, and be sure not to leave the road. With childish perversity we thoughtthe green fields better than the dusty road, and were soon into them. It was not long till we were completely lost, and naturally wanderedthe wrong way, not thinking to observe the sun and consider our course. So, when we did not put in an appearance, the whole neighborhood wasaroused, and several hours of excitement followed before we were found. My sister Bettie, two years my senior, was captain of this expedition. In the spring of 1841 my father bought a farm of one hundred and twentyacres, lying about three miles southwest from La Grange. Most of theland was poor, and the "improvements" equally so. The house was a hewedlog cabin about 18×20 feet, with clap-board roof held down by weightpoles, and the walls "chinked" with mud. It had a large fire-place atone end, and a chimney made of slats and mortar, familiarly known as a"stick" chimney. The only window was paneless, with a solid shutterhung on leather hinges, propped up with a stick, except when it waswanted down. The floors above and below, were of broad lumber, and laidloose. The door, when closed, was fastened with a big pin. A narrowporch ran along the front, connecting with another at one end of thehouse, between it and the kitchen. This was large and of the same styleof architecture as the house, but what that style was would puzzle anyone to tell. These two rooms and porches, with the smoke-house andhen-house, constituted the "improvements" in that line. Theout-buildings were stables and a crib, of round logs. The fences wereall of rails, and inferior in kind. "Bars" and "slip-gaps" supplied theplace of gates in some places, and in others the fences had to be oftenpulled down for lack of such conveniences. A fine spring gushed fromthe foot of a hill, one hundred yards in front of this humble abode. The location of dwellings, in that age and country, was determinedalmost exclusively by springs. Every other consideration yielded tothis. Here we took up our abode in a home of our own in the spring of 1841, as above stated. The farm was afterwards enlarged by other purchases, and the original still remains in the family. The poverty of the soil, its tendency to produce briars, its large amount of heavy timber, withthe clearing necessary to be done, made it a place specially favorablefor the cultivation of industry. My father was one of those men whonever ran short of work; he always had plenty of it for himself and thewhole family. Recreation was almost unknown, and we had hardly restenough to secure good health. We were not of those who had to resort tobase-ball and foot-ball for exercise; it was ours to combine pleasurewith profit, only the profit was more than the pleasure. There is nodoubt that employment contributes to health of both body and mind. Goodblood, good thought and good morals are born of industry, provided itbe not pushed to the extreme of exhaustion. Children and young peoplemust have relaxation from toil, that both the physical and mentalpowers may recuperate; but not much attention was paid to thisbeneficent philosophy in my father's family. Had there been, it mighthave been better for at least some of his children in after years. There is a golden mean in this, as in other things, which parentssometimes miss in their blind adhesion to a false theory. Rest andlabor are both appointments of God's benevolence. CHAPTER II. His First School. The School-house. The Teacher. The Order of Reciting. Spelling Matches. First Sweetheart. Extremes in Likes and Dislikes. Fondness for Study. Improvement in Schools. At the age of about seven I attended my first school. The house was onmy father's farm, a half a mile from our dwelling. It was constructedof round logs, and had _five_ corners--the fifth was formed at oneend by having shorter logs laid from the corners at an obtuse angle, like the corner of a rail fence, and meeting in the middle. It wasbuilt up thus to the square, then the logs went straight across, forming the end for the roof to rest on; consequently this fifth cornerwas open, and this was the fire-place. Stones laid with mud mortar werebuilt in this corner, extending several feet each way, and wood nearlyas long as the breadth of the house would be filled in. The seats weresplit logs smoothed on the flat side, and supported on legs put in withan auger. From these the feet of the children dangled early and late. There was no support for the back. The house had a dirt floor and aclap-board roof. Light was let in by cutting away part of two logs inthe end. A wide puncheon was fastened just below this for the writers, with a seat to correspond. During winter they pasted paper over theseopenings, and light for the rest of the school came down the chimney. The first teacher we had was an old man by the name of Ballou. He livedon our place, not far from the school-house, and taught for severalyears. He was very poor, did poor teaching, and got poor pay. He wasmaster of only reading, writing and ciphering. There were no classes in the school, and each one went itindependently, studying what suited his taste and ability. Some read inthe Testament, and others in any book they happened to have. In thosedays the rule was that those who got to school first "said first"--thatis, they recited in the order in which they got to the house. Thiswould sometimes get up a great rivalry, and I have known young menliving two miles away to be at school before daylight. The whole day, except an hour at noon, was spent in saying lessons. The old teachersat in his chair, and the pupils went to him one by one, in the orderin which they got to the house, and said their lessons. When they gotaround, the same process was repeated. Sometimes between turns the oldman would take a little nap, and then we all would have some fun. Onemore bold than the rest would tickle his bald head or his nose, and tosee him scratching would afford us much amusement. Each Friday afternoon was spent in a spelling-match. Captains werechosen, and they would "choose up" till the school was divided into twoclasses. Beginning at the head, one of each class would stand up andspell, till one was "turned down;" then another took his place, and soon until all on one side were down. I began at this school in thealphabet, and the second winter I could spell almost every word inWebster's old Elementary Speller. If provided with a sharp knife, and astick on which to whittle, which the kind old man would allow, I couldgenerally stand most of an afternoon without missing. Strange to say, after a few years, when I had given myself to the study of otherthings, it all went from me, and I have been a poor speller ever since. In this school I had my first sweetheart--a buxom, jolly good girl, about six years my senior. To her I wrote my first love letter, andwhen it was done its chirography looked as if it had been struck bylightning; and I had to get an old bachelor friend to help me read it. Here I am reminded of an early tendency to extremes in my likes anddislikes. I had a race one morning with a girl whom I saw coming toschool from an opposite direction, each striving to get into the housefirst. I clearly went in ahead, but she claimed the race and beat meout of it. From this on I had an extreme dislike for her. The spring towhich we all had to go for a drink, was about a hundred yards from thehouse. The path to it passed through a broken place in a large log thatlay across this path. In this I would never walk, nor would I passthrough the gap, but would always climb over that big log. These school days were only during winter, after the crop was allgathered in and before spring work began. After I got large enough tohelp in winter work, my attendance was only "semi-occasional. " After awhile a better school-house was built, a mile further away, and it wasevery way more comfortable, save that we had still the backless slabseats. Here I went at odd times in winter for several years. I hadacquired a great fondness for reading, devouring everything in the wayof books I could lay my hands upon. Especially I had a great passionfor history, biography, geography, natural philosophy, and the like, and I let nothing escape me that the country afforded. I had no moneyto buy books, and had to depend on borrowing them. I soon went througharithmetic, grammar, and the history of the United States. This wasmore than my paterfamilias recognized as essential to a practicaleducation, and hence he was not disposed to let me go to school as muchas the other children, who gave themselves no concern about books outof school. The idea of one's going through grammar, philosophy, or morethan half the arithmetic, "unless he was going to teach, " he regardedas a waste of time. His conception of life and mine were so differentthat there was frequently more or less friction. It was decidedlyunpleasant from youth to manhood to be discouraged and opposed in myone absorbing passion for obtaining an education. My mother sympathizedwith me, but could not help me. The first dollar I ever made I spentfor a book, and for this purpose I saved my hard-earned pennies. Midnight often found me poring over this book by the light of kindlingprepared for the purpose. This was opposed; and thus the struggle wenton during my minority. I can not forbear, before closing this short chapter upon my schoollife, to allude to the great improvement in the matter of commonschools since I was a boy. My native State, though sadly behind many ofher younger sisters, has made some progress in this direction, and Ican but hope this is only an earnest of what is to come. In a fewfavored localities, chiefly the cities, there is ample provision madefor the education of the children of the people, but in the countrydistricts much remains to be done before we are up with the demands ofthe age in regard to the comfort of the pupils as well as thefacilities for the prosecution of their studies. We need more andbetter school-houses, better furniture, and more attractivesurroundings. Well qualified and earnest teachers are not yet as thickas blackberries in Kentucky. When as much attention is bestowed onthese as on jockeys, and on our boys as on our horses, we shall be bothricher and better. CHAPTER III. His Religious Experience. Tries to be a Methodist. Hopes to become aPreacher. Boy Preaching. Attends a Sunday-school. "Chaws" Tobacco. Goesto Love Feast. Mourners' Bench Experience. Is Puzzled and Disgusted. My parents were Methodists, as were their ancestors on both sides. Mymother was uniformly religious, but not fussy about it. I have seen herintensely happy, but never heard her shout. Her religion was a deep, smooth, current without fluctuation. My father was religious more byspells, but still he never went to extremes, and could never "getreligion" at the altar, in the Methodist fashion. This lifelong failureof his discouraged him, causing him at times to become somewhatskeptical and indifferent. But he died, rejoicing in the faith ofChrist as held by the Methodist Church. When about ten years of age I joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. A great revival was in progress at La Grange, and over onehundred persons united with the church. I enjoyed the services, andcontinued to do so for a number of years. Often in those early times Irode to meeting at surrounding churches and private dwellings onhorseback behind my mother. I still remember, as vividly as if it werebut yesterday, the texts and treatment of many of the sermons I heard. In later years I have frequently thought of the fallacies the preachersimposed upon us, and, I charitably believe, upon themselves, in thesesermons, but which neither we nor they could detect for want of correctscriptural knowledge. The thought that I should one day become apreacher impressed me, and it clung to me for years. When afterwards Igrew wild and wicked, this impression possessed me, and many a time, when my good wife would rebuke me for my wickedness, I would say, "Never mind, dear; I'll be a preacher yet. " I had a high regard forpreachers, and from early life was fond of their company; and since Ihave become one myself, the society of good, faithful men of God bringsme as near heaven as I shall ever be in the flesh. It was a common thing with me, when I came home from meeting, to get upone of my own by gathering the children together and preaching to themthe sermons I had heard; and while these were not verbally correct, there was in them the substance of what the preachers had delivered. Iwould sing and pray, and go through the whole performance. I improviseda little pulpit, and had a church after my own notion; I was a greatplagiarist, and in this, too, I copied after some others. I attended the first Sunday-school I ever heard of; it was conducted byFloyd Wellman, a gentleman who afterwards became a prominent andhonored citizen of Louisville. Sunday-schools were then poor things, asI fear many of them are yet. Little question-books, with the answerssupplied, and reading-books, mostly about angelic boys and girls whodied of early piety, furnished the staple of our reading, while butlittle of the Scriptures was taught, or thought about. To chew tobacco seemed to me to be manly; so to let the people see Iwas thus far developed, I prepared me a rough twist of "long green;"this I stuck in my pantaloons pocket, for the occasion, and wheneverything was propitious in the Sunday-school, I drew out the twistand bit off a "chaw. " It raised quite a laugh, in which thesuperintendent himself joined; and this ended for life my chewingtobacco to be seen of men. I often went with my parents to "love feast. " At the first of thesewhich I attended I had an experience of my own. The light-bread was cutinto slips about two inches long and a half an inch wide and thick. Some of these were then divided into small pieces. On the plate whichwas passed around were two long pieces, and I concluded that if therewas any virtue in the thing it would be enhanced by my taking a longone; but when I discovered that all the rest had taken but a bite myphilosophy failed, and I hid the remainder where Rachel hid the gods ofher father Laban. When about fifteen years of age the Methodists had a big revival atMount Tabor, a neighboring country church. In this meeting a great manyof my friends and companions were "getting religion" at the altar ofprayer. I became intensely desirous of the same blessing, and in greatanxiety and hopefulness I went to the altar. Day after day did I go, but only to be disappointed. Every time some would "get through, " andthere would be great rejoicing, till only one young man and myself wereleft. The whole power of the church was then concentrated on us, but tono purpose. In this extremity I began to reason about it as I had notdone before. I had been taught that "God was no respecter of persons;but that in every nation he that feareth him, and workethrighteousness, is accepted with him. " My soul ever recoiled from theidea of His decreeing some men to salvation and others to damnation, irrespective of their own will and conduct. Here, now, I was ashelpless as a stone till God should do this work of grace for me. Whywould he send down the Holy Spirit and convert one on my right, anotheron my left, till the "bench" was vacant, and not convert me? Thepreachers were praying for Him to do it; my father and mother werepraying earnestly for it; the whole church were pleading with Him, andyet He would not do it. I knew I was a sinner; that I wanted salvation;that I was sincere, earnest as the others could be: but all thisavailed nothing. The preachers tried to explain the failure on theground that I was still clinging to the world and my own righteousness;that I had not given my heart wholly to God, etc. This I knew to befalse. I concluded that if a poor, penitent, agonizing sinner with allhis prayers and pleadings, with the whole church earnestly coöperating, could not induce God to save him, he might just as well be decreed todamnation from all eternity. With these reflections I left themourners' bench in disgust, and ever since I have had for it aninexpressible contempt. Time and observation have confirmed me in thisfeeling; and while I cherish a sincere respect for those who inignorance think it is a divine arrangement, and that in resorting to itthey are obeying a command of God, I have none for those who, knowingbetter, still use it as a means of conversion. As often employed byprofessional evangelists, there is so much of clap-trap that it mustbring the whole subject of religion into contempt with sensible people. It is amazing to me that, in view of its entire lack of Scriptureprecept or example, the light and knowledge of this day, and itsfrequent failures, it, and the whole system of which it is an essentialpart, are not laid aside. Having been taught that Methodism and Christianity were identical, andhaving completely lost faith in the former, it was natural enough thatI should become skeptical as to the latter. Only a lingering suspicionthat after all they might be different, saved me from hopelessinfidelity; and had I not in after years learned such to be the case, Ishould have lived and died in rebellion against God. CHAPTER IV. Fun and Mischief. His Little Cousin and the "Gnats. " The AuroraBorealis. A Bumble-bee Scrape. Another Bee Scrape. Justification byFaith alone. Readiness to Fight. Love of Justice. No Surrender. When a boy, I was as full of fun and mischief as an egg is of meat, andI have never got rid of it. With a younger brother and a neighbor boyof my own age, equally mischievous with myself, there was hardly athing in the way of fun and frolic that we were not continually into. Hunting rabbits was our chief sport, and, when we got larger, coons, 'possums and the like at night. There was not a tree of anypeculiarity, or a hole in the ground, for miles around, that we did notknow all about. We knew, also, every fruit tree, from the apple to theblack-haw or persimmon in the same territory, and the time they wereready for company; and we never failed to pay our respects to them allin due time. I would not mention many of the bad things of my earlylife; but that is the way the Bible does with its heroes, and the Bibleis always a safe guide to follow. About all the money we made in our boyhood days was from the sale ofnuts and the flesh and skins of the animals we caught during the falland winter. This was my way of getting books, maps, etc. , to help me inmy studies. I was the recognized leader in all the mischief we did, andmany prophecies were made that I should one day be hanged, and in thisanticipation my father fully shared. My younger brother and I wereconstantly playing practical jokes on each other, and often uponothers. We never became offended, though the pranks were sometimesexceedingly rough; but we were always watching an opportunity to "geteven. " I will relate a few as samples, while others are too bad totell. On one occasion some cousins and their children visited us from Shelbycounty. They were considered quite wealthy for that time. Their littleboy was dressed in very fine clothes, at least, in our estimation, andwe concluded he was putting on airs. We thought we would do him avaluable service by taking him down a little, so we asked him if he hadever seen a singular kind of gnat, which we described. He had not. Weproposed to show him a fine lot--a big nest of them. We affirmed thatthey were nice, harmless things to play with. So we went forth to seethe gnats. We got him to the nest and stirred them up, and in a fewminutes the innocent, unsuspecting boy was covered with yellow jackets. Of course, he ran to the house screaming, and they had a time ingetting them off of him. He was badly stung, but we made it appear thatwe had gone down there to fight them, which was a favorite pastime withus, and that he got too near the nest. Thus we escaped a well-meritedwhipping. About the same time in life my younger brother and I caught a rabbitand dressed it for breakfast. It was Saturday afternoon, and father andmother had gone to her father's, some six miles away, to stay till thenext evening. That night the aurora borealis was unusually bright, andas the excitement of Millerism had not died away, there was much talkof the world's coming to an end. My oldest sister, Mary, was gettingsupper ready and was greatly alarmed. She would go out and watch thesky, and then go back to see about the supper. Finally I said, "Mary, do you really think the world will come to an end before morning?" "Ido believe it will, " said she. "Then, " said I, "_we must have therabbit for supper_. " I had no notion of losing my rabbit by such atrifling circumstance as that. Later in life, when old enough to work in the harvest field, we had aneighbor who was very "close, " and we never had any fancy for him. Hewas always boasting of his ability to work with bees. One year he had alarge harvest, and many hands employed, and we were helping him. Oneday we told him we had found a fine bee tree which could be cut down ina few minutes, and that if he would go and take the honey he might haveit all except what we could eat. He was delighted with the proposal, soafter supper a number of us started for the bee tree, a mile and a halffrom his house, in a dense forest. He had several buckets prepared tosecure a large amount of honey. When we began to chop, the bees beganto roar, and our friend was frantic with delight. Soon the tree fell, and he "waded in" with his axe and buckets to get the luscious spoil. As he went in we went out, and soon he discovered himself in a bigbumble-bees' nest alone with all his buckets, etc. , a mile and a halffrom home! We saw no more of him that night, and did not care to meethim next day. This reminds me of another bee scrape, in which my father figuredlargely. He prided himself on being able to handle bees as so manyflies. On a cool, drizzly day we cut a bee tree on the farm. I waswearing a brown jeans sack coat. This I laid aside while chopping. Whenthe tree fell the bees swarmed forth in great numbers, and my fatherstalked in with his axe, chipping and cutting the limbs, preparatory tochopping for the honey, and was as indifferent as if surrounded only bygnats. We stood at a safe distance. Soon he came out with a trifle lessindifference than he went in with, picking the bees out of his hairwith both hands. They had literally settled on his head and werestinging him furiously. He came running to us to fight them off. Igrabbed up my coat, and with both hands struck him over the head. Alarge jack knife, very heavy, was in one of the pockets, and thisstruck him on the opposite side of the head and came near felling himto the ground. We fought the bees off the best we could, but he wasterribly stung. This was the last of his working with bees as withflies. My father was a firm believer in the doctrine of justification by faithalone. All those passages of Scripture that connect justification orsalvation with faith, without mentioning anything else as a condition, he had at his tongue's end. His argument was, whatever may be mentionedelsewhere, here salvation is promised on the condition of faith, andnothing else is in the text. With all this I had become perfectlyfamiliar, and always had a suspicion that there was a fallacy in itsome where, though I could not exactly expose it. We were clearing apiece of new ground in April, about the time the spring fever sets in, and my younger brother and I always "had it bad. " It was a Mondaymorning, and father was going to La Grange to attend court. Atbreakfast he gave us very particular instructions about our work--whatto do and how to do it--and a feature emphasized was that we were tokeep at it. It was getting quite dry, and when he had started to townhe hallooed back and said, "Boys, I want you to watch the fire to-dayand not let it get out. " "All right, " we responded. His two directions, perhaps not an hour apart, reminded me of his theology, and I resolvedat once to test its validity when weighed in his own scales. So we wentout to the clearing, lay down under the shade of a tree, and "watchedthe fire" all day! Having returned, he asked us how we had got along. We replied, "Finely, " that we had done what he told us; but when hecame to "view the landscape o'er, " we had to give an account for thedeeds done in the body, or, rather, not done. I told him that hisspecific instruction was to watch the fire. "But, " said he, "I told youbefore that, that you were to do the work. " "Yes, " I replied, "but thelast time you said anything about it you did not allude to the work;but only to watch the fire. There was no work in the text. " However, hewas by no means disposed to look upon that as favorably as uponjustification by faith only, which rests on the same principle. Stillit opened his eyes to a fallacy in his argument that he had not seenbefore. I generally lived in peace and good will with all the boys in theneighborhood, but a few times in my life feeling imposed on, or thatsome one else was, I got into fights, and always with those older andstronger than myself. I had learned something of the secret of successin that line from what I had heard said of my father. This often gaveme a victory quite unlooked for. I would fight the best friend I had inthe world if he imposed on one unable to cope with him. I had acompanion much stronger than I, and inclined to be overbearing. On oneoccasion, at a corn husking, he tried to force a fight on a boy smallerthan himself. When I saw he was quite determined about it, while theother boy was trying to avoid it, I said, "Jim, you and I are goodfriends. I have nothing against you in the world. I like you, but youcan't fight that boy. If you fight any body you will have to fight me. I don't want any quarrel with you, nor do I want to hurt you, but ifnothing but a fight will do you, that's just the way it has to bedone. " When he saw I was in earnest, the matter was dropped, and ourfriendship continued. I was severely tried on one occasion. My older brother had a fallingout with a neighbor, and we three were alone in the woods. I had adislike for the man, as much as my brother had. He was boastful, bigoted and disagreeable. But in this particular case I saw clearlythat my brother was in the wrong, I felt compelled, therefore, to takesides with the other man. At this my brother was deeply offended, andit took him a long time to get over it. He did not see his wrong, andthought my conduct very strange and unnatural, especially as I did notlike the man. I deplored this, but could not yield the principle ofholding justice superior to persons. One of my difficulties was so peculiar that I will recount it. It wasin the winter, and the ground was frozen deep. The day was bright, andon the south hillsides the ground had thawed to the depth of two orthree inches. Several boys were together, and one of them several yearsolder than I. He was a son of one of our tenants, and entirely tooproud for one in his condition. He was imposing on my younger brother, and I gave him to understand he must not do that. With this he turnedupon me. We were upon a south hillside, under a large beech tree, andthe ground was thawed on top and frozen beneath. About the first pass Islipped on a root concealed in the mud, and fell on my back, with myshoulders wedged between two projecting roots and my head against thetree. I was utterly powerless. After pommeling me a while, he proposedto let me up if I would say "enough. " This I declined to do. Then hewould renew the operation, and then the proposition. The sun was threehours high, no one interfered, and I insisted that they should not. Sometimes he would lie upon me and talk for half an hour or more; hewould argue the case, remind me of my helplessness, and that it wouldbe death to lie there on the frozen ground till night. Then when hisadvice all failed, he would renew hostilities. Thus it continued tillsundown. As the sun got low he changed his proposal. He would now letme up if I would promise to make friends, and not fight him. This Ialso declined. Finally, when he saw that nothing would avail, he gaveme a few parting salutes, and, springing to his feet, ran away. BeforeI could get up he had such a start that I could not overtake him. Forsome time I watched for a chance to pay him back, but he kept out of mysight; and soon after his folks moved away, and thus the matter ended. From my infancy it has been my disposition to stick to my convictionstill I saw I was in the wrong. I can not say that I am obstinate, though it may have that appearance to others. I never could yield apoint for policy's sake, though my adherence to my convictions has costme a good deal. This led me early in life to be careful in coming to aconclusion, and I have always admired Davy Crockett's motto, "Be sureyou're right, and then go ahead. " I commend this homemade philosophy toall who may read this chapter. CHAPTER V. Given to Abstraction of Thought. Cases in Point. Opinion of DebatingSocieties. Perseverance. Consumption. Endurance. More ComfortableHome. Death of his Father. Love of Fashionable Amusements. Meets hisFuture Wife. Is Married. Tribute to his Wife. Her Father and Mother. During early life I was much given to abstraction of thought, and I amstill down with the same disease. From morning till night, between theplow-handles or swinging the maul, I was absorbed in reflection. Myreading and other studies raised many questions that I sought to findout. Natural philosophy and the elements of astronomy were subjects ofpeculiar delight, and would cause me to become oblivious of allsurroundings. This frequently got me into trouble. It vexed my fathervery much that my mind was not more on my work, and he had but littlepatience with me. When about the house I would often realize that I hadbeen told to do something, and I would start at once about it, andperchance when I came to myself I would find that I was at the barn orspring, wholly forgetful of what I had been told to do. On one occasionI was told to go to the lot and catch a horse and come to the crib, andmy father would put the sack on for me, and I was to go to mill. I wentand caught the horse, got on and went, but when I arrived the mill wasin ashes; it was just through burning. On my return I saw that myfather was not as serene as a May morning. But not till he spoke of itdid I discover that I had gone off without the sack. I at once taxed myeloquence to give a glowing account of the fire, and thus divert hisattention from my neglect. Many a time have I acted ridiculously on account of this absorption ofthought. While at Eminence College, there was a public exhibition oneevening in the chapel. A few minutes before it began I went into theroom of Prof. Henry Giltner, just across the hall from the chapel, andhere I saw McGarvey's "Commentary on Acts" for the first time. Ithought I would look into it for a moment before the exercises shouldbegin; and that was the last I thought of the exhibition till some onecame into the room just before its close, hunting for me. One more instance of this nature must suffice. About 1872, I washolding a very successful meeting at Burksville, on the Cumberlandriver, and while I was preaching one night there came up a terrificthunderstorm, with vivid lightning and hard rain. A young man occupieda front seat who had just been reclaimed from a life of sin, and who isnow a preacher. I had a faint recollection of seeing him leave thehouse. He had become alarmed at the storm and left, but I knew nothingof the confusion till the services closed. Every fall and winter we would have debating societies at theschool-house, and at these, men of considerable attainments would bepresent and participate--teachers, preachers, and lawyers. In these Itook a deep interest. My reading enabled me to become well posted onmost of the questions discussed; and by careful preparation I soon cameto be recognized as a good debater for one of my age. These discussionswere of great advantage to me, and I am clearly of opinion thatdebating societies, when properly conducted, can be made useful toaspiring young men. From childhood my under front teeth passed up on the outside, and, whena good sized boy, I concluded that that was not just the right thing, and that I would bring them into their proper place. By an effort indrawing back my under jaw, I could barely get the edges to so pass asto make a pressure of any value. But with this slight purchase theoperation was continued from day to day, till the work wasaccomplished. The teeth became very sore from pressure, and the musclesof the jaw very tired from the unnatural strain, but in about ten daysit was all over, and the job complete for life. Another case required much greater perseverance. My older brother wasvery hollow-chested, and died of consumption; several others of thefamily were afflicted in like manner, and met the same fate. When aboutsixteen, I had strong tendencies in that direction. My chest wasbecoming "hollow, " and I decided upon an effort to counteract it. Tothis end I slept on my back with no pillow under my head, and agood-sized one under my chest. I would awake of a morning feelingalmost too dignified to bend forward. This I kept up for two years, holding myself erect during the day, till my chest expanded and thethreatening trouble was overcome. But for that I should have been in mygrave long ago. The simple fact is, I have been fighting consumptionsince I was sixteen years of age. While I was never robust in health or appearance, I was exceedinglytough, and had great power of endurance. One of my physicians told melong ago that in all his practice he had never seen anything that wouldcompare with it. This enabled me to do as much work as men of muchgreater strength. In those days reapers were generally unknown in ourcountry, and the grain was all "cradled. " At this I was an adept, nevermeeting any one that could excel me. The same was true of jumping andrunning foot races. Hundreds of men could no doubt beat me, but I neverhappened to meet them. I kept up these exercises till I left college. When I was about twelve years of age my father built a large andcomfortable house on another part of his farm. It was of hewed logs, and a story and a half high, with a large kitchen and dining-room, porches, etc. It was subsequently weather-boarded, and it is still acomfortable, commodious dwelling, owned by my mother, who never left ittill her children all married and went to themselves. Father died oftyphoid fever in 1860, in the fifty-third year of his age. He left mymother in comparatively easy circumstances, with nearly three hundredacres of land, plenty of stock, and a considerable amount of money oninterest. By industry and economy on the part of himself and the wholefamily this property was accumulated, and he died in the assurance thatwith prudence on our part we could all make a respectable living. Mymother now makes her home with her oldest daughter, Mary Crenshaw, wifeof Mr. O. B. Crenshaw, a few miles north of Simpsonville, Shelbycounty, Ky. She waits in confident expectation that before long she toowill depart to be with Christ and His redeemed, where the families ofhis saints will be reunited for ever. After I grew to be a young man, I became very fond of fashionableamusements; I liked dancing, and went far and near to engage in thefascinating exercise. I gave a great deal of attention to dress;priding myself on being a gentleman; hence I found a welcome in thebest society. In those years of wildness and wickedness, some things Iwas careful to avoid. I never learned to play cards, to gamble, or totolerate the company of immodest women. For the latter I had aninvincible repugnance that grew stronger with my years. In the summer of 1855, while harvesting for her uncle, I first met atthe dinner-table Miss Jennie Maddox, the lady whom I afterwardsmarried. I looked as rough and unprepossessing that day as she ever sawme afterwards. I was as brown as a Florida "cracker, " and my dress wasanything but elegant. Had I anticipated the forming of such acaptivating acquaintance, I should have made some preparation, but Iwas caught, and I had to make the best of it. We were married September11, 1856; I was twenty years and a half old; she ten months younger. From that time to this she has been a loving, faithful wife, prudent inall things, industrious and frugal, caring for me and her children;and, above all, a consistent disciple of Jesus Christ, whom she hadobeyed several years before our marriage. When we first met I thoughther very handsome; she was rather small, had auburn hair, blue eyes andfair skin. "And to-day you are fairer to me, Jennie, Than when you and I were young. " As to myself, I was six feet one inch in height, weighed a hundred andforty pounds, had brown eyes, and was, and am still, of anervous-bilious temperament. My complexion was then, as now, very dark. My wife's father, G. W. Maddox, was an elder in the Pleasant Hillchurch, Oldham county, Ky. , near which he lived. The church is abouttwo miles south-east of Baird's Station, on the Louisville & LexingtonRailroad. He was a man of a firm logical mind, good generalinformation, and more intelligent in the Scriptures than any man I evermet, outside of the ministry. I have heard several preachers make thesame remark. He was, however, a timid man, and it was difficult to getmuch out of him in public. He began too late in life, and had notraining in that direction. But he was a very popular man, both in andout of the church, and his counsel was generally taken. His wife was atimid, unassuming, good woman, very conscientious and religious. Theyreared a family of six girls and one boy, all of whom obeyed the gospelin good time. I myself baptized several of them. My father-in-law and I soon became very much attached to each other, fond of each other's company, and I loved him as I loved few others. His fine information, philosophic Christian spirit and wonderfulself-control first won my admiration, and this ripened into thestrongest friendship. He, more than all other men, caused me to see theerror of my way. We spent the first winter of our married life in hispious home, and this gave us much time for investigation andconversation upon the subject of religion. CHAPTER VI. Goes to Housekeeping. Discussions with Mr. Maddox. Attends Meeting. IsBaptized by William Tharp. Double Damages for an Old Horse. BeginsTrading. Moves to Floydsburg. Description of the Place. In the spring of 1857 we moved to a place on Currie's Fork, nearCenterfield, about a mile and a half from my former home and a littlefarther from hers. So it will be seen I married only a few miles fromhome. It may seem a little strange that we grew up in the sameneighborhood, and knew nothing of each other till a year before we weremarried. But I rarely went to her church, and she as rarely wentanywhere else. Our religious proclivities led us in differentdirections, and into different society. I had been taught to look upon"Campbellism" as the most miserable of all heresies; and till I beganto visit at the Maddox house I was seldom in the company of "thatdeluded people. " After moving to ourselves, we went nearly every Lord's day to the homeof my wife's father, and this for several reasons: she wanted to attendher church, and this took her virtually home: this she enjoyed, and sodid I. The old folks could not visit us on that day without missingchurch, and this they would not do. Mr. Maddox and I still engaged inthe investigation of Methodism, "Campbellism" and Infidelity. I couldfeel the ground gradually giving way under me, but I was resolved uponthoroughly testing every inch, and not yielding till I should becomesatisfied as to the truth of all his positions. I would therefore studyall week and arrange my arguments with the utmost care, and when thetime seemed propitious I would present them as forcibly as I could. Hewould never say a word till I was through; then he would say, "Well!now let us test that. " Then he would very calmly and pleasantly pickthe thing all to pieces, till I could see nothing but shreds. With amere touch, my carefully built structure would tumble like a cob house. Thus the work went on for years. In the meantime I attended meetingwith my wife nearly every Lord's day, and heard much good preaching. Every important point in the sermon would be afterward investigated, and, like the noble Bereans, I searched the Scriptures daily, "to seewhether those things were so. " During these years several successful meetings were held at the church, all of which I closely attended. One of these was conducted by John A. Brooks, and another by the lamented Simeon King. At the latter I camevery near yielding to Christ, but persuaded myself that all was not yetready. I delighted to see others obey the Lord, and enjoy the blessingsof his religion, but I could not exactly see the way clear for myself. In spite of a more enlightened judgment, I would find some of my olderroneous notions clinging to me. I had a high regard for the church, and loved the company of its good members, and only a supremecarefulness, born of former blunders, kept me in disobedience. In May, 1861, William Tharp and Wallace Cox were holding a meeting, andat this I confessed Christ, and was immersed by Bro. Tharp. My doubtsas to the truth of the Christian religion and the way of salvationtherein, had all been removed; and to this day not a shadow of a doubthas crossed my mind as to either. I now experienced a peace ofconscience that I had not known since my thought was first disturbed inregard to the right way of the Lord. I farmed for three years after marriage. The last year, we lived on therailroad just below Buckner's Station, and while here I had a littleexperience with the railroad company that teaches a lesson worthlearning. I had an old horse, of not much value, but useful to me; hegot out upon the road, and was killed by a passing train. I spoke ofgoing to Louisville, to see if I could not get pay for it. Theneighbors discouraged the idea, saying it would be useless. They citeda number of instances where stock had been killed, and in no case hadany one obtained damages. But I went, found the Superintendent, and tohim I made my speech of about three minutes' length. At its conclusion, he asked me if seventy-five dollars would satisfy me; and on myreplying that it would, he handed me the money. He then remarked thatthe reason people got nothing in such cases, was because of the spiritin which they came and the way they talked about it. I left him feelingquite pleasant, for it was more than double the animal was worth. Thiswas before I became an adept in Christian ethics. In the fall of 1859 I began trading, having obtained an interest in acountry store at a little place called Centerfield. We moved to theplace, and I began to haul country produce to Louisville. I had a teamwhich was said to be the best that came into the city, and I madeweekly trips, bringing back merchandise. This I continued for threeyears, without the least regard to weather, and with scarcely a failureduring the whole time. This employment threw me into rough associationsin the city every week. Many engaged in like business from Kentucky andIndiana stopped at the same tavern, and most of them were given todissipation. At home it was predicted that with my inclination towildness this would finish me; and while truth compels me to confessthat I often had "a jolly good time" with "the boys, " the excess ofwickedness I saw had an opposite effect, and I came out at last apreacher. The next year we moved to Floydsburg, sixteen miles from Louisville, because, as I did not stay in the store, but did the hauling back andforth, it was a better location for us. It is an old town, in which mymaternal grandfather lived before I was born, in which I spent muchtime before I was old enough to work, and around which cluster theearliest memories of life. It was once a place of large business, onthe main road from Henry and adjacent counties to Louisville, and inante-railroad times a large amount of wagoning was done through theplace. At certain seasons great droves of cattle and hogs were driventhrough it, and everything was lively; besides, it had a good tradewith the country around. But the Louisville & Lexington Railroad, whichruns within a mile of the town, killed it as dead as an Egyptian mummy, because all this through business was taken by the railroad, and thesurrounding trade went to the stations or to the city. It is, therefore, a quiet, undisturbed little place to live in, if one is notdependent upon making his expenses there. Most of the old citizens, business men of its prosperous days, have passed away, and the town hasthe appearance of being at their funeral. As far back as I recollect, and I know not how much farther, it had init one church, built of stone, small, and with a roof as sharp as thebest presentations of Methodism that were ever set forth in it. About1850, this ancient structure was replaced by one of brick, of goodsize, but poorly furnished. This is the only church that has ever beenin the place; and while the people have been unusually quiet and moral, they have never been burdened with religion. There is a graveyard inthe rear of the house, opened, perhaps, when the first building waserected, and in this silent spot sleep many of my friends andrelatives. I have never thought it made much difference where one isburied--and in this I suppose I agree with most Protestants--but it isone proof of the improved taste of the age to see the care now taken ofour cemeteries. Such places were unknown when I was a boy and where Ilived, and even yet, outside of our cities and larger towns, they aretoo rare. Every village should have a neat and well-kept cemetery, totake the place of the neglected old burying-grounds where, "Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. " CHAPTER VII. Tries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician. Tries toJoin the Southern Army. Fails Again. His First Appointment. Feeling ofResponsibility. His Plan. Text. Analysis of Sermon. Buys a FamilyBible. Rules of Life. When I obeyed the Saviour, the brethren urged me to begin at once topreach the gospel. I had been accustomed to making political speeches, and public addresses of different kinds, and they thought I could justas easily preach a sermon as to make a speech on any other subject. ButI was not thus inclined. I had political aspirations, and was notdisposed to give them up. My idea was, that I could have a goodinfluence on public men, in conversation and association, by being afaithful and consistent Christian. I regarded this as a field in whichthe influence of Christianity was much needed; and I decided to makethis a specialty, while leading a public political life. But it did nottake long for me to learn that there was at least a strong probabilitythat the influence would go the other way. However successfully somemen may be politicians and Christians both, I soon discovered that, with my temperament, the two things would not work harmoniouslytogether. I concluded that if I continued in politics I would be a verysorry kind of Christian, if one at all. For a thing of this kind I hada deep repugnance. The issue, then, as it appeared to me, was finallyforced upon me: Shall I give up politics or Christianity? Of course Iwas not compelled to give up Christianity in theory, but I felt that Iwould virtually do so in practice; and with me the difference betweenthe two was hardly worth considering. While I felt that it was a greatsacrifice, in a worldly point of view, to give up the golden dreams ofa brilliant future, I decided in favor of Christ and the Bible. I shallnever cease to thank God for the decision. My last act in political life was attending, as a delegate, a StateConvention at Frankfort, in August, 1861. This was, in some respects, amiserable affair, and I became thoroughly disgusted with politics andpoliticians, such as seemed to be pushing to the front, and crowdingmodesty and decency and honesty out of sight. I decided that that kindof association, that kind of companionship in the profession, that kindof trickery and treachery as food for daily thought, however successfulone might be, was disgusting and debasing. I went home from theconvention determined upon a clear cut-loose from the whole concern. During the convention, Gen. Wm. Preston remarked in a speech that inone year from that day, "the stars and bars" would be waving from thedome of that capitol. In twelve months to a day, I went to Frankfort tosee the Board of the Christian Education Society, about assisting me incollege. The railroad was not in use, and I went by way of theShelbyville pike. When I got in sight of the city, I saw "the stars andbars" waving from the dome of the capitol! Gen. Kirby Smith hadpossession. When the brethren learned of my determination to give up politics, theyrenewed their solicitations in regard to my preaching. But I had becomeintensely concerned about the cause of the Southern Confederacy, andlonged to take a part in what I then considered her struggle forindependence and justice. In my misguided zeal, I regarded this a dutythat patriotism would not allow me to exchange for anything till it wasperformed. Then, if spared, my life-work should be begun. A peculiarcircumstance, greatly lamented at the time, kept me out of the Southernarmy. But I have long regarded it as a special providence of God. I was an officer in a large cavalry company under the training of Col. J. W. Griffith. He had fought through the Mexican war, was anintelligent man, and a good soldier. He also fought through the latewar, and was several times promoted. We had been drilling for someweeks, and the time was set for our departure. I had a good deal ofunsettled business at Louisville, and went to the city to settle it up. During my absence the Federal authorities of Louisville were apprised, in some way, of the movements and purposes of our men, and twocompanies of cavalry were sent out to intercept them. Our men werenotified of this, and went twenty-four hours in advance of the settime. Of all this I knew nothing, and when I got home the company wasgone. I knew not which way it had taken, for our Colonel kept his owncounsel. When night came I left home, determined upon an earnest effortto find the trail of the company and follow them. Twice I came nearbeing caught by the soldiers in pursuit, and after a night's fruitlesssearch, I was compelled to return disappointed. I had not anotheropportunity, and ere long I gave up the vain idea. But for thatdisappointment I should have gone into the Southern army; and what theresult would have been will remain a secret till the day in which theresults of all contingencies are known. But it is highly improbablethat I should have ever become a preacher of the gospel of the grace ofGod. Thank Him for the providence that overruled me! I finally yielded to the importunities of the brethren, and allowedthem to make an appointment. This was in May, 1862, one year aftermaking the confession. The meeting was announced two weeks ahead. Itwas a fine day, and through curiosity a great crowd assembled. I hadnever been in the pulpit before, nor made any remarks in the churchexcept to pray. The brethren had a Bible-class every Lord's day whenthere was no preaching, and no public speaking was indulged in except afew remarks at the Lord's table, by one of the elders. Though I wasaccustomed to speak in public, I felt a responsibility in this matterthat I never felt before. I decided upon three things as insuringsuccess, or at least resulting in no harm: 1. To select a plain, practical subject, on which I would not be likely to indulge in false teaching. 2. To thoroughly study the _subject_, rather than the _sermon_. 3. To make myself thoroughly familiar with the analysis of the subject, and then talk about it, without relying upon memory as to language. Relying on memory has been the cause of ten thousand failures, and hastaken all the "snap" out of ten thousand more, that were considered asuccess. The intellect never leaps and bounds with vivacity when it ischained by verbal memory. I selected for my text Matt. Xvi. 24: "Then said Jesus unto hisdisciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, andtake up his cross, and follow me. " I went into the pulpit alone, "introduced, " as the saying is, for myself, and then spoke for fortyminutes. While I felt embarrassed by a sense of responsibility, therewas no confusion of thought in regard to the subject; hence nodifficulty in its presentation. As it was my first sermon, the analysisof it may be of some interest. I called attention, first, to the universal offer of salvation: "If_any man_. " Second, to the freedom of the will: "If any man _will_. "Third, personal responsibility involved in the foregoing. Fourth, self-denial as a condition of eternal life. Fifth, the nature andnecessity of cross-bearing. Sixth, examples of self-denial andcross-bearing on the part of Christ and the apostles. The church in which I preached my first sermon was the same in which Imade the confession, and near which I was reared. For it I did my firstregular monthly preaching, while in college, and in it held a number ofsuccessful protracted meetings, one annually, during the early years ofmy ministry. The old church is dear to me yet; its old members are mydevoted friends, and I delight to visit them when Providence permits. Immediately after obeying the Saviour I bought a family Bible and apocket Testament; not that we had none before, but they were not suchas suited my convenience. At home and abroad, in the city or thecountry, in the store or on the road, I had my Testament. As I droveall day along the highway, I would look at it occasionally to see how acertain passage read, and then study its meaning. I have never read theBible largely, as some do, but I have studied it every day since I knewthe way of life, unless I was too sick to have anything in mind. I havestudied, doubtless, a hundred times as much without the book in myhands as with it. The idea that one can study the Bible only as he hasopportunity to sit down with the book in his hands, is a great mistake. Hence many people complain of having no time to study the Bible, whenthe fact is they have nearly all their time, if they only knew it. Iearly learned to study the Bible at any time or under anycircumstances, and the advantages of this to me have been beyondestimation. As soon as I got my family Bible, I wrote on a flyleaf a few simple RULES OF LIFE. 1. To study this book carefully and prayerfully every day. 2. To try to understand its teaching, regardless of the theories and traditions of men. 3. To make it the man of my counsel, the source and limit of my knowledge of divine things, and to speak on such matters only as it speaks. 4. To measure myself in everything by this standard, and bring my life, in all respects, in subjection to its divine authority. 5. To strive to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, that I may become strong in the Lord, be a blessing to my fellow men, and at last obtain a home in heaven. These rules, in some respects, have been closely observed; especiallythe first three. While in the others I have fallen immeasurably short, I feel that, upon the whole, the rules have been of great advantage tome. CHAPTER VIII. Resolves to Go to College. Friends Oppose. Wife Decides It. Hard Livingand Hard Work. Impaired Health. Preaches for His Home Church. Father-in-law Dies. "Frank, Be a True Man. " House Robbed. "Scraps. "College Incidents. First Pay for Preaching. Holds Several Meetings. Dishonest Preacher. When I fully decided to devote my life to the ministry of the Word, Ifelt an overwhelming desire for a better education, in order to do thekind of work for the Master that his cause demanded. I had a good dealof general information that I had acquired through years of reading andstudy, but I was wholly ignorant of a number of things that I felt tobe necessary to reliable, satisfactory work for the Lord. I wanted todevote my life to study, and I needed assistance in laying thefoundation on which to build in after years. I decided, therefore, toquit business and go to college. This was vigorously opposed by all myfriends. The church insisted that I had education enough, and that allI lacked was practice, to make me as good a preacher as there was needto be. My relatives opposed it, because they could not see thenecessity, and it promised to wife and children only starvation. I hadhad some reverses, and had got just fairly square with the world. Theflush war times had just come on. Trade was booming, money abundant andprices going up. I was now prepared to make money as I had never madeit before, by five to one. To quit business just at that time, cut offall source of revenue, and go with a wife and three children tocollege, with but little money to start on, did, indeed, in one sense, look like absolute recklessness. Indeed, some of the brethren thought Iwas actually going crazy. It was then argued that I should at least defer it a few years, till Ishould make some money, which was then easily done, and thus providefor the wants of my family while going through college. This lookedvery plausible; but I was deeply impressed with the blunders I hadalready made in trying to be a politician, then a soldier, and notgoing at once to the work of the Lord. I was afraid to dally about thematter any longer. I laid the case before the Lord and my wife. I knewshe was to be the greatest sufferer by the change, and her counselweighed more with me than that of all others. Considering what _might_result from delay, the brave little woman said "Go. " That settled it. In August, 1862, I wound up my business, and prepared to enter EminenceCollege. I rented an old, dilapidated house near the railroad, a mileabove town. The place had about three acres for cultivation, and thesame amount in grass. I kept a horse and buggy, a cow and several hogs. My wife raised a large number of fowls. I cultivated the ground, makingit produce all it would, cut and hauled my fuel from the woods, and somanaged as to be at no great expense in living. But when going to acity market every week, and feeling no embarrassment about money, weindulged in a style of living that now had to be discontinued. Thiswent rather hard, but we tried to bear it bravely. The plainest andhardest living of our lives, by far, were those years at Eminence. Theself-denial of my wife, for my sake and the gospel's, greatlyencouraged me to bear the cross. I did double work during the whole time, reciting eight times a day. This required intense application. I allowed myself eight hours forsleep, and the other sixteen were given to study. Whether eating, walking, working in the garden or chopping wood, I was boring into thequestions of the recitation room. I would occasionally take a littleturn with the boys on the playground at noon, but not often. I was fondof it, but felt that I could not spare the time. This was a sadmistake, confirmed by a life of broken-down health. But, like manyothers, it was not discovered till the mischief was done. A determinedeffort to crowd four years' work into two, under discouragingcircumstances, resulted in impaired health; which continued laborbeyond my strength kept impaired for the rest of my life. It is oftenstated that preachers suffer more from overeating than overwork. Thisis doubtless true to a large extent. But it was far from true in mycase. I was never a large eater after I was grown. And when my healthfirst failed me, want of a variety of good, nourishing food had nolittle to do with it. And all through subsequent life, a trouble hasbeen to take sufficient food to meet the wants of the system. I was the first married man that ever attended Eminence College. It wasconsidered quite a novelty by some. But a few months later, in the sameterm, Bro. Briney came in. He and his wife boarded at the college. Afew years later Bro. George Bersot and wife came, and marriedschool-boys got to be quite common. While attending school, I preached once a month for the old church athome--Pleasant Hill. The distance was twenty miles, with a good dirtroad--when it wasn't bad. This afforded my wife an opportunity, duringfavorable weather, to go to see her parents once a month. And herfather was now getting low with consumption. The church promised me nospecified amount for my preaching, and, as is frequently the case, mostof them considered the contract complied with when they gave me ahearing. They were not in sympathy with my college enterprise, and werenot specially concerned about supporting it. In May, 1863, my father-in-law died. In his death I lost one of my bestand dearest earthly friends. He was the only one who encouraged me inmy efforts for an education. While he could give me no material aid, being himself embarrassed by years of affliction, his wise counsel anddeep sympathy helped me even more than money, badly as that was needed. When he was gone, I felt as if the only bright spot in my horizon, apart from my family, had faded into darkness. By nature he had a quicktemper, and was very impulsive. By Christian culture he came to be amodel in gentleness, patience and self-control. He was a wonderfulexample of how men, by faith, "out of weakness are made strong. " As westood around his bed of death, and his breathing indicated that the endwas at hand, he opened his eyes as I was bending over him, looked meearnestly in the face, and composedly said, "Frank, be a true man. " Andwith these words his spirit took its flight. No other words that everfell from mortal lips ever so impressed me as these. The source whencethey came, and the circumstances under which they were uttered, gavethem peculiar significance. My soul, what is it for one to be a trueman--true to his friends and true to his foes; true to his family andto her whose life is dearer to him than his own; true to himself andhis better nature in all that involves his honor as a man; true to thetruth, under all circumstances; and true to the Saviour and His cause, to which he has dedicated his life? Ever in after years when tempted inregard to a faithful discharge of its responsibilities, those sacredwords came from the sleeping dust of death--"Frank, be a true man. "Though dead, he yet speaks, and his words have been fruitful of good. While attending his death and funeral, our house was broken into, andalmost everything we had was stolen. We had laid in meat and lard forthe year, and not a pound was left. All the flour, meal, sugar, coffee, preserves, jams, jellies, and everything else, was taken. Not a poundof anything to eat was left on the place. All the best cupboard ware, and part of the bedding and my wife's clothing were taken. This was asorry plight to find ourselves in when we returned from the funeral. The country was full of soldiers, and nothing was done towardsrecovering the property. Thus we started on a darker and rougher roadfor the rest of college life. During the first year at Eminence there grew up a strong rivalrybetween the two leading college societies--the Philomathean and theRising Star. Both were strong in numbers, and each had in it an unusualamount of talent. I was appointed by the Philomathean Society tocriticise the Rising Stars. This was my special business. I preparedwhat I called a scrap-basket. For this I would prepare notes from timeto time, as something would suggest them, and on the nights of publicexhibition, which were quite frequent, I would read them. These werecuts at the young ladies and criticisms of their performances, as sharpas I could make them. The result was, the whole Society soon got toomuch out of humor to speak to me. They called me "Scraps. " Even SisterGiltner became offended, and was so for several months, till I wasbrought down in sickness, and then her good heart conquered, and shecame to see me, bringing a load of delicacies to tempt and satisfy myappetite. The "scrap" at which she became offended was about this:Coming on the stage, the first scrap I took from the basket read: "Wedo not expect many compliments for this dish of scraps, especially fromthe young ladies of the boarding-house, as they are so used to beingfed on scraps, it will be no variety to them. " Sister G. Prided herselfon her good table. I knew it was good, and hence felt free to make thejocular remark. Had it been otherwise, I should have felt somehesitation in doing so. President Giltner and I were in frequent conflict, and he came in for afull share of notice from the scrap-basket. While I would not assent tohis views of things, which frequently caused disputation, on the wholehe was kind and generous, and did much to help me through those hardschool years. I have since met many of those young ladies in all partsof the country, mothers of interesting families, but not one of themhad ever forgotten that scrap-basket. Doctor Russell was my teacher in Latin and the Sciences, and Prof. Henry Giltner in Mathematics and Greek. The Doctor was a fine moralist, but an unbeliever. He was a fine teacher, and very popular with theboys. In the public debates in our society, Bro. J. B. Briney and I werealways pitted against each other. We were the oldest and the nearestequal in our advancement, especially in this line. We had quite anumber of public discussions. Here, as elsewhere, many went through on the shoulders of others. As anillustration of this, take two young men who were appointed on publicdebate. Soon each came to me insisting that I should write his speech. I refused both. The time was drawing nigh, and neither had doneanything. One evening one of them went home with me from school, andcompelled me, virtually, to write his speech. He was delighted with it. The next morning, while he was asleep, I got up and wrote a reply, just"tearing it all to flinders. " The negative gained the decision, andneither one knows to this day that I wrote the speech of the other. During the winter of 1862-3 I went to Hendronsville, the old churchthat now composes the one at Smithfield, to fill an appointment forBro. Giltner. I went to dinner with old Bro. Hieatt. On leaving, hegave me a dollar--the first dollar I ever received for preaching. In the summer of 1863 I held a meeting at Hendronsville, with Bro. Giltner, for which I was liberally paid, all things considered, andthis was my first pay for a protracted meeting. The same vacation, I went to South Fork, in Boone county, to fill anappointment for Bro. Wm. Tandy. Bro. Jacob Hugley was to come on thefirst of the week, and join me in a protracted meeting. Somethingprevented him from coming. I soon ran out of sermons, the supply onhand being small. In the meantime a fine interest had sprung up, and Ihad no excuse for quitting. So I had either to face the music, prepareand preach two sermons a day, or ingloriously surrender. The meetingcontinued two weeks, with some eighteen or twenty additions. During thesame trip I held a meeting at a church near Walton, at which severaladditions were made to the congregation. I did but little preaching during the school term. Convenient churchescould not be obtained, and inconvenient ones took too much of my timeto be given for nothing. At Eminence I first met Bro. I. B. Grubbs. He came to preach for a fewdays, and spent a day at our humble home. I then formed for him apeculiar attachment, which has grown and strengthened with the passingyears. Our minds ran close together in the channels of divine truth, and they have never materially diverged. A disagreement between us inthe interpretation of Scripture has been very rare. Old Bro. T. M. Allen preached for the church at Eminence while I wasthere. His sermons were enjoyable, and possessed considerable power, but they lacked logical construction, and I learned but little fromthem. In a few weeks after going to Eminence, in the fall of 1862, we wereblessed with the birth of a third daughter, and in the summer of 1864the Lord took her to himself, and left us to mourn her absence. In June, 1864, I went with Willis and Wallace Cox to Daviess county, tohold some meetings. Wallace was not able to preach, but went along forthe enjoyment of the trip. He had labored there before, and was wellacquainted. We held a meeting at Owensboro, and one at a new churchsome eight miles in the country. Both meetings were moderatelysuccessful. As an evidence of what some men can do, I shall speak of a meeting heldabout this time, _without giving place or name_. The meeting had beensuccessful, and a fine interest prevailed. The night it was to closethere came a severe storm, and no one was out. We had to leave the nextmorning, and on the next Lord's day the brethren raised considerablemoney and gave it to the preacher to send to us. Some years after, thebrother who was with me in the meeting went back there to preach forthe church, and while there some one asked him whether he and Ireceived our money all right. This was the first intimation that anymoney had been sent to us. The case was investigated by the church, andthe man confessed he had never sent it. The brother got his, and thethief preacher promised to send mine, but hasn't done it yet. He isstill preaching, and on several occasions has come a long way to hearme preach. What kind of a face and heart such a man can have, is amystery I have never been able to solve! CHAPTER IX. Leaves College. Goes to Alexandria, Ky. An Adventure in Ohio. A Baby_not_ Baptized. Peril in Crossing the River. Opens His School. MakesSome Money. Buys a Nice Home. Having obtained a sufficient knowledge of Latin, Greek, and varioussciences, to enable me to prosecute my education without a teacher, andmy health being bad through close application and hard living, andfeeling that I ought not to subject my family to such hardships anylonger, I determined, very reluctantly, to leave college, at least fora time. I had now been at Eminence two years, and I shall ever thankGod that even for this short time I was able to gratify my burningdesire to acquire knowledge. It was at a great sacrifice we went thereand remained as long as we did, but we have never once regretted it. Through the influence of President Giltner, we secured the High Schoolat Alexandria, Campbell county, Ky. This had been conducted for someyears previously by Bros. O. A. And Chester Bartholomew, under the nameof the "Mammoth Institute. " I visited the place, and arranged toconduct the school and preach for the church there, which was small andfinancially weak; but there was no other in reach. So I could not dobetter than to give them all my time, at whatever could be raised inthe way of salary. They had a nice little brick house, and a number ofgood members, and for several years the church prospered; but thecounty filled up with Germans, some of the best members moved away, andthe cause went down. The house was sold, and to-day we have no churchin the place. After completing arrangements to preach and teach, I went over toHamersville, Brown county, O. , to see some relatives. A brother andsister of my father lived there, besides other relatives. My uncle hada large family. I had never visited any of them, and now being near andhaving a little time, I borrowed a horse and rode over. I sent anappointment for Lord's day at Hamersville, and got there about themiddle of the week. I found that an appointment had not been made forSunday morning, but for night. The reason was, the Methodists were tohave a quarterly meeting in the woods near town--a big affair--andeverybody was going. Hence I could get no hearing in the morning. Iwent to the meeting, as it was the only place to which to go. It wasthought that three thousand people were on the ground. There were sevenpreachers. It was during the darkest period of the war, and every manfrom the south side of the Ohio River was looked upon with suspicion. Ihad been there several days, and quite a number knew who I was andwhere I was from. I took a seat near the stand, and when they prayed, in conformity with their custom, I kneeled in the leaves. The oldpreacher who "led in prayer" yelled as if his congregation was a mileaway and God was on a journey. He began by praying for the President;then his Cabinet; then the Senate; then the Representatives; then thegenerals; then the colonels; then the captains; then the privatesoldiers. All this I tolerated, but did not say Amen. Finally he prayedfor the utter extermination of the Southern people. He besought God towipe them out of existence--men, women and children--from the OhioRiver to the Gulf of Mexico. This blasphemy and contemptible wickednessI could not endure, and I arose from my knees. Perhaps five hundredpeople saw me when I got up. The point in the prayer at which I got uparoused suspicion, and inquiry was in a moment rife. They learned who Iwas and where I was from, and the excitement grew intense. Numerousthreats were made to hang me on a limb there and then. The country wasfull of what they called "copperheads, " who had kept very quiet, because it was to their interest to do so, but now they were aroused, and any attempt at violence would have led to the most serious trouble. During the intermission at noon, men of different politics congregatedin different groups, in earnest conversation, and the meeting wasforgotten in the excitement over a refusal to indorse that prayer. Iwas waited on by a committee to know if it was my political feelingsthat caused me to get up when I did. Without hesitation, I confessedthat it was. Then they said, "What more need have we of evidence?" Itwas finally decided, so we were informed, that I would not be allowedto preach at night--that they would egg me, etc. But at night, not onlythe house, but the yard, was full of "copperheads" who meant"business, " and I preached without molestation. They had been holding these meetings at various places throughout thecountry, and at all of them sprinkled all the children that theirparents could be induced to bring. One lady had a bright little boyabout eighteen months old, and when the Presiding Elder took him to"baptize" him, he said, "Sister, name this child. " She responded, "Hisname is Vallandigham. " He flew into a perfect rage, handed the child toher as if it were burning his fingers, saying, "If you want this childbaptized you will have to change its name. I will baptize no childnamed for a traitor. " The mother took the child and departed. Wepresume that had its name been Jeff. Davis, he would have broken itsneck on the spot. Such was the "religion" of that class at that time. The speeches on the day alluded to were nothing but political haranguesof the most exciting nature. Previously I had thought they had politicsand religion mixed, but I now discovered that there was no mixtureabout it. On my return, I had a little adventure in crossing the river. The ferrywas at New Richmond. The boat was a small affair, propelled by polesand oars. It was just wide enough for a wagon, and had railings on thesides. A two-horse wagon went in before me. When we got some distanceout into the river, one of the horses jumped over the railing, andcaused the boat to careen so that it was filling rapidly. It wasastonishing how those river men, who, perhaps, had been reared on thewater, became excited. They seemed almost incapable of any intelligentaction, but yelled like so many savages. I decided at once upon mycourse. I got into the wagon, calculating that the water would probablynot come to my head while standing up, should the boat go down. If itshould, then I determined to take my horse by the tail and let him towme ashore. But the owner of the team succeeded in cutting the harness, thus freeing the horse and allowing the boat to right itself so that itdid not sink. We moved from Eminence to Alexandria, and boarded with a gentleman bythe name of Brown. He had a nice family, a good house, and he was aclever gentleman, and a "hardshell" Baptist of the first water. Our school opened about the first of September, with seventy-eightpupils, and it soon increased to 130. Not expecting so many, I hadsecured no assistant but my wife; and the result was, we were bothover-worked. I had to hear several classes out of school hours, especially in Latin and Greek. There were some young men in thesestudies, clerks, merchants, etc. , who were not otherwise in the school, and these recitations were in the evening after school was dismissed. This, with preaching every Lord's day, worked me very hard. The schoolpaid well, and for the first time since I gave up business for thegospel of Christ, I made some money. In a few months, as soon as I saw an open road to success, I bought anice little cottage and two acres of ground, from Bro. Giltner, at$1, 200. He had taken it for a school debt, and let us have it onreasonable terms. It was nicely improved, and altogether a desirablepiece of property. Thus for the first time we had a home of our own. This is a luxury that comparatively few preachers can enjoy. Movingfrom place to place as, for example, Methodist preachers have to do, isunfavorable to domestic happiness. How few members of our churches everthink of this, or make allowance for the discomfort frequent changes ofresidence impose upon the families of their preachers! To own a homeand have the taste and the means to adorn it, is an educational forcein any family; its lack, a great misfortune. CHAPTER X. Narrow Escapes. Is Thrown from a Horse. Has Pneumonia. Nearly Killed. Self-possession. Almost Drowned. Eludes Angry Soldiers. Reflections. During the Christmas holidays we went down to Oldham county to see ourrelatives. While there, an event occurred, the recollection of whichbrings up a chapter of NARROW ESCAPES hitherto untold, a few of which Ishall relate in their order. When about thirteen years of age, a horse on which I was riding in aslow walk and on a level road, fell, throwing me over its head andcoming over on top of me. It broke both bones of my left ankle andseveral ribs, mashing in my left breast, which has ever since been muchdepressed; it never developed like the other, and the lung on that sideis the one now chiefly affected. This accident occurred atBallardsville, on a public day, some three miles from home. I was takento the home of Dr. Swaine, our family physician, near which ithappened. He was absent, and a doctor from Shelby county was called. Hehad a carpenter to make a box, reaching from my foot to my knee, and inthis he put my leg. The box was straight on the bottom, and as thebreak was just in the hollow between the calf and the heel, anybodythat had any sense should have known that the broken part would settledown level with the rest, and a bad job be the result. It was badlyset, and gave me much trouble for several years. Following this, in successive winters, I had two severe spells ofpneumonia in that left lung, in both of which my life was despaired of. One day I was hauling heavy barn sills. They were swung under the hindaxle, and the pole was tied by a chain back around the sill. The chaincaught on a solid rock in the road, and, as I had four strong horses, and they all came to a dead pull, the chain broke; then the pole cameover with force enough to have mashed every bone in a man's body. Thehorses happened to be on a straight pull, and the pole just brushed bymy right shoulder and side. Had it struck me, I might as well have beenstruck by a cannon-ball. That ended my dragging logs without a blockunder the front end of the pole. While trading in Louisville, a grocery firm with which I dealt to someextent had a clerk who was very dissipated at times. He was a desperatecharacter, and, when drinking, was very dangerous. One day I sold thema lot of bacon, and this clerk, who almost had delirium tremens at thetime, made a mistake in weighing it. When I told him of it, he took itas an accusation of intentional swindling. Instantly he came at me witha large cheese knife, swearing vengeance and his eyes flashing fire. There was nothing in reach with which to defend myself, and I could notwell get out of his way. I decided instantly on the only possible wayof escape. I stood perfectly still, did not move a hand, and looked himsteadily in the eye. When he got to me, he hesitated a moment, and theuplifted hand with the huge knife dropped to his side. Not a word wasspoken, nor did my eye fall from his, and he turned and went back tohis work. During the summer after I confessed the Saviour, quite a number ofhands were harvesting at my father-in-law's. On Saturday evening wewent to a large pond near by to bathe. It was made to supply a saw-millby throwing a large dam across a hollow. It covered, perhaps, an acreof ground, and was twelve or fifteen feet deep in places. I never couldswim successfully, but a number of those present were good swimmers, and there were many slabs on the pond that would float several men. Itold them I believed I could swim across the pond, and if I could notthere were too many good swimmers present to let me drown. I swamacross once, and, after resting a moment, started back. When I gotabout the middle, I missed my stroke and went down. I thought nothingof it at first, fully expecting that when I came to the top they wouldsave me. I came to the top, could hear them yelling like Indians, butno one came to my rescue. I took breath and went down again. When Icame up the second time the result was the same. When I came up thethird time, and no one there to help me, I began to get a little uneasyand considerably out of humor. I was becoming exhausted, and I knewthat I could not come to the top more than once or twice more. I triedto go to the bottom, knowing that if I could touch bottom I couldspring to the surface without exertion. But I could not reach thebottom. I came up the fourth time; still no one gave me assistance. Bysummoning the entire stock of remaining strength, I came up the fifthtime. As I did so, a strong young man, Sparks by name, a good swimmer, caught me by the left arm near the shoulder. He told me to take hold ofhim, but this I refused to do. I thought this might endanger him, andthat if I would be perfectly passive he could manage me with no dangerto himself. But when I would not take hold of him, he let me go andswam off and left me. Another man was within ten feet at the time, coming to his assistance. When I went down this time, I was satisfiedthey were going to let me drown. I felt that I could not come to thetop again, and could not reach the bottom. I thought if I could reachthe bottom I could crawl out by springing to the top now and then forbreath. But I could not touch bottom. I then began to calculate thechances of their getting my body out in time to resuscitate it. I knewit would not take long to cut the dam and drain the pond; but, when Ireflected that they had not the presence of mind to do anything, I lostall hope in that direction. I saw no chance for me, and regarded theend as come. The reflection that I had obeyed the gospel was intenselyjoyous. During the whole time I had not strangled, knowing that itwould be fatal. A young man named Gipson--Sam Gipson--one of the ownersof the mill, was some eighty yards away, filing the saw. When Sparksswam away and left me, Gipson saw they were going to let me drown, andran to my assistance. He got on one of the large slabs, and came in towhere I had gone down. I was still making some commotion in the water, and, guessing about where I was, he pushed a plank down that came justunder my left arm. I knew what it was, and pressed it to my side. Hethen bore on the other end and brought me to the surface. He held onthus till others came and helped me upon the slab. As soon as I gotbreath a few times I appeared to be all right, and they thought I wasonly playing a trick on them; but in a few moments I tumbled over, became black in the face, and suffered intensely for several hours. On one occasion during the war I went into Floydsburg, on the morningafter Christmas day. There was a little squad of Confederates there, belonging to the command of Col. Jessee, of New Castle, Ky. One of themwas a boy, named Hall, who went from that neighborhood. The rest werestrangers. I was introduced to the lieutenant in command, and had sometalk with him. The main street of the town runs east and west. Aboutthe middle, the Brownsboro road comes in from the north, at a rightangle. This comes down a "branch" which crosses the main street. At theeast end of town the road descends into another hollow. Some of thesoldiers were inside, some sitting outside, of a blacksmith shop, andsome on their horses. I had walked near the east end, till I was juston the ridge between the two hollows. I was standing at the door ofCol. Wilson, talking to his wife, when several companies of negroes, stationed at La Grange under the command of white men, came marchinginto town. They were a terror to the whole country. A little negro boy, chopping wood just at the east edge of town, informed the commander, who was riding in front, that the rebels were at the shop. Instantlyeverything was quieted, and a stealthy march for the shop began. Frommy position I could see both parties, and that the rebels were whollyunsuspecting. While they were nothing to me, and I had but littlesympathy with them, for they were not in the regular service, I couldnot stand and see them surprised and shot. I determined to warn them. Mrs. Wilson tried to dissuade me, assuring me that it would be certaindeath. I confess I could see it in no other light myself, yet I couldnot decline. I walked down the street with an unconcerned air, aboutforty yards in advance of the company. The lieutenant was sitting onhis horse sidewise, with his face turned from me, talking to aPresbyterian preacher. I could see the eyes of the preacher over theshoulders of the horse, but he was looking up into the face of theother man, and I could catch the eye of neither. Finally, I had to stopand make lively demonstrations in the face of the whole negro command. When the attention of the Confederates was attracted, they endeavoredto escape by the Brownsboro road, and a charge from the other companywas instantly ordered. Each company opened fire on the other. I was onthe side of the street next to the Brownsboro road, and hence throwninto all of the crossfire. I stood perfectly still till the entirecolored company passed by me. One man fell within a few feet of me, andafterwards died. They had a running fight till they got out of hearing. They caught young Hall, the only one I knew, and killed him. Notwithstanding the agreeable disappointment at not finding myselfkilled, I concluded that it might not be healthy to stay around there. The town contained one of the most unprincipled white men that everwent unhung. He was a sneak thief, and made it his business to getSouthern men into trouble. I saw him watching me all the time. Iconcluded, therefore, that it would be better for me to leave townbefore the soldiers got back. I had not gone more than a mile when theyreturned, and threatened to burn the town if I was not produced. Theywere watching me from the first, and the only thing that saved me wasthey concluded that they could attend to me after they got through withthe rebels. They were told that I had left town, and were put on thewrong road in search of me. I was then notified, and my holiday visitterminated suddenly. When I think now of the many narrow escapes from death before I was achild of God, a number of which are not recorded, my heart overflowswith gratitude for the kind Providence that spared me till I knew theway of life and had the precious promises of God. An ungodly man may bebrave, and face death without a tremor, but only a child of God canface certain death as it comes on apace in the stillness of the sickchamber, and when the body is wasted with disease, in perfect composureand even inexpressible joy. CHAPTER XI. He Abandons the School-room. Remarkable Meeting near Alexandria. Incidents. Establishes a Church. Mischief-making Preachers. Long andSevere Attack of Typhoid Fever. Does not Lose Hope. Gratitude. After teaching a year, I decided to abandon the school-room and givemyself wholly to the preaching of the Word. In the summer of 1865 I didsome mission work in Boone county, under the direction of the StateBoard. In August, I held a meeting in Campbell county, about five milesfrom Alexandria. The circumstances were a little peculiar. The Baptistmeeting-house in Alexandria had been blown down, and they were usingour house, at our invitation, every Lord's day afternoon, till theycould rebuild. They had a house about five miles in the country, and alarge congregation. Nearly the whole community were Baptists, and theyclaimed a kind of preëmption. We had not a member in the neighborhood. I was exceedingly anxious to hold a meeting in the very center of thisstronghold, and thought that as they were using our house, they wouldgrant me the use of theirs; but they would not. They offered to let mehave it for one sermon, but not for a protracted meeting. This did notsuit my purpose; and as there was an old log school-house near by, Imade an appointment for a meeting in this, which was to begin on Sundayafternoon; and a few friends went with me from town. When we arrived atthe place, not a soul was on the ground; so having waited after thetime, and no one coming, I decided at once that the Baptists hadreported the appointment withdrawn, so that when I came and found noone, I would be disgusted, and return home. But I was not disposed tobe defeated in that way. There was no brother in reach with whom Icould stay, but I told the friends to go back to town and leave me, andthat I would hold the meeting, "if I had to sleep in the woods, live onpawpaws, and drink out of the 'branch. '" So they left me. There was a man living about a mile away whom the Baptists had excludedabout a year before, and who had no good feeling for them. Concludingthat that would be the best chance for shelter, I went to the house, and learned from him that the appointment had indeed beencountermanded, just as I suspected. He promised me food and shelterwhile I held the meeting. A number of neighbor boys were there withhis, and these were told to circulate the appointment for next night. The following day he and I went and cleaned the house, putting in some"anxious seats, " fixing it to hold as many as possible. He sent hisboys out through the neighborhood notifying the people, and that nightwe had about thirty present. The next night the house was full; andfrom this on we had large audiences, day and night. In a few days webuilt an arbor in front, and seated it; then, standing in the door, Ipreached to those within and without. The meeting continued two weeks, and resulted in fifty-two additions. Twenty-seven of these were fromthat Baptist Church, and the rest by confession. A few of thetwenty-seven, the man with whom I lodged among the number, were not inthe fellowship of the church at that time. Several incidents occurred during the meeting. A very wicked man beganto attend, and one night he felt that he could stand the fire nolonger; but as I was in the door, preventing his escape in thatdirection, he leaped out of a window, and ran off into the woods. Inabout ten minutes he came crowding in from the outside, to make theconfession. A Baptist man became interested in the meeting, but his wife was sobitter in her feelings that she would not attend. He finally prevailedupon her to come. Going home, he asked her how she liked it. "Betterthan I expected, " was the reply. No more was said, but the next day shecame without persuasion. When asked the same question, she said, "Theydon't preach what I thought they did. " He was anxious to unite with uson the Bible, but was waiting in the hope of getting her to come withhim. The next day she was in the house and he on the outside, and hedid not know till the meeting was over that she had come forward andbeen received into the fellowship. At this meeting a gentleman came and asked me to marry him that nightafter the services should be over. I told him I could not, as I had notobtained license to marry. He then asked if I would object to hisgetting a Methodist preacher who lived several miles away. That nightthere was a great crowd, and I saw nothing of the preacher, but whilewe were singing an invitation song a gentleman came pushing in, andgave me his hand. I thought, of course, he wanted to make theconfession, and I tried to seat him with the others who had comeforward; but he would not. He soon became excited, and, tearing himselfloose, forced his way into the crowd. Just then some one whispered tome that that was the Methodist preacher. It was a long time before theservices closed, and he was still so embarrassed that it was with greatdifficulty he performed the required ceremony. He hurried away withoutspeaking to me, and then sent his apology, stating that he was somortified over his blunder that he could not speak to me about it thatnight. On account of the numbers, the distance from town, and the want offacilities for attendance there on the part of many of the converts, they insisted upon having a church of their own at the school-house. Under the circumstances it was thought best to comply with theirrequest. No officers were appointed as such, because of inexperience, but several brethren were designated as those who should take a generaloversight of the flock, conduct their worship, etc. , but none hadauthority; and all were exhorted to be in subjection one to another. They met every Lord's day and broke the loaf, and had prayer-meetingWednesday night. A large number took part in the worship. They hadfrequent confessions, and a blacksmith across Licking River, whopreached, met them at the water, when notified, to attend to baptizing. They thus grew in a few months from the fifty-two to seventy-five, whentwo mischief-making preachers visited them and insisted that withoutordained elders and deacons they were no church at all, and finallyprevailed upon them to have a number of men ordained. I was sick, andknew nothing that was going on. These ignorant novices thought therewas no use in having authority unless it were exercised. So they beganto crack their ecclesiastical whip, and the peace of the church wasdisturbed. Things went from bad to worse till the whole congregationwent to pieces. Thus a good work was destroyed by the folly of twoignorant, self-important preachers. Much mischief has been done in ourreformatory work by hasty organization. Like the New Testamentchurches, we should have no ordained officers till we have material outof which to make them. About September 10, 1865, I was stricken down with typhoid fever. I hada good physician, and he nursed me with the utmost care. During thatsickness he came to see me a _hundred and thirty_ times. For over sevenweeks there was not a hopeful symptom. He allowed no company in theroom but my wife and the nurses. He appointed good brethren to nurseme, each night about. No one else was allowed to touch me, except mywife. I did not see my two little children for over two months, thoughthey were all the time in the house. After seven weeks he told me thatfor the first time he saw a slight indication of recovery. After Ibecame convalescent, he said, in talking over the case, that he couldattribute my recovery to but two things--my confidence all the timethat I should get well, and the faith I had in my physician. Hedetermined this latter by saying that I followed his direction minutelyin everything. Theologically, he could not have given a betterdefinition of faith. He was a Baptist. I never gave up for a moment, and would not allow my mother to be sentfor till I was far on the road to recovery. I got out for the firsttime on Christmas day, but it was a year before I was able to resumeregular preaching; and even then, and for a long time afterwards, Ifelt the effects of this terrible disease. Had it not been for theclose attention of the doctor, and the good nursing of my dear wife andkind brethren, I am sure that attack of sickness would have sent me tomy grave. Truly, God has been very merciful to me in giving me friendswherever I have lived, and I have ever felt I could not be gratefulenough or diligent enough in the service of my Redeemer and His churchto repay Him or them for all this undeserved goodness. CHAPTER XII. Sells Out at Alexandria. Moves to Crittenden. Preaches there and atWilliamstown. Low State of these Churches. Plan of Work. Memorizing inSunday-school. Lack of Church Discipline. One-Man System. Moves to NewLiberty. Visits Mount Byrd. In the spring of 1866, we sold out at Alexandria, and spent most of thesummer in Oldham county, among our friends, while I was recuperating myhealth. The meeting-house at La Grange had been blown down in a storm, and atthe solicitation of the church I visited a number of congregations andobtained help to rebuild it. Midway was one of the places visited. Bro. Franklin was there holding a meeting. This was my first acquaintancewith that grand hero of the Cross of Christ. In September we moved to Crittenden, Ky. I preached for that church andat Williamstown, each half the time, for the rest of that year, and for1867. The churches were both at low ebb. They had had no regularpreaching for some time; had not met on Lord's day; had no discipline;and everything was in decay and disorder. I decided upon a plan of work for each church. The first point was toget them to meet on the Lord's day and break the loaf, having socialworship, when I could not be with them. This done, we carefully revisedthe church records, excluding whom we could not induce to attend thehouse of the Lord and to try to discharge their Christian duties. Thiswas followed by protracted meetings at neighboring school-houses, through which quite a number were added to both churches. Meetings werethen held in each church. By this time both churches were in aprosperous condition. They both had good Sunday-schools, and a numberof members were taking an active part in the work of the church. Wedisposed of the old house in Williamstown, and got the new house roofedin 1867. We also repaired the house at Crittenden, getting it in niceorder, and putting in a baptistery. For the year 1868, the church at Crittenden wanted all my time, and Igave up the church at Williamstown, devoting all my energies to the onechurch. We arranged a book in which each member promised to pay so mucha week. Envelopes were given them, through which they were to pay theirweekly installment on each Lord's day. The congregations were large andregular, and double the amount of money was thus collected that hadever been raised before. That was before the days of Sunday-school "helps, " and we madememorizing the Scriptures a prominent feature in the work. The first ofJanuary, 1868, I offered a reward to the one memorizing and repeatingthe most Scripture that year. Quite a number started in to win theprize, but it was soon evident that the contest was between threegirls. The amount of Scripture memorized was immense. All the scholarsmemorized largely. Soon it required a teacher's whole time to hear theverses of one of those girls. Then we had them recite during the week;and, finally, I had them examined on the Scripture committed, repeatinghere and there as called on. This was harder than repeating it all. Thefirst of June another little girl entered the lists. On the day theywere examined they could repeat with ease and accuracy any passagecommitted to memory during the year. They were examined for severalhours. Incredible as it may appear, two of these girls committed the wholeBible, and another committed Anderson's Translation of the NewTestament in addition; still another did not begin till June, andcommitted the Bible by the end of the year. I never intended such aresult, nor can I approve that way of cramming the memory. While the church at Crittenden was in other respects in a flourishingcondition (indeed, rather too much flourish), it was difficult to getit to act promptly and strictly in the administration of discipline. The officers and church generally had more lax ideas on that subjectthan I had. But in this particular I suppose they were about on a parwith most other congregations in Kentucky, both among our people andothers. Indeed, I must confess that at that time I was unusually strictin such matters. I wanted everything pertaining to the church to comesquare up to the mark in all respects, and I was unnecessarily worriedover every shortcoming. On account of not having discipline attended toas strictly as I desired, I was disposed to resign at the close of1868. But the elders promised more hearty coöperation in the matter, and I accepted for another year conditionally. I stated publicly that Iwould begin on three months' trial, and if at the end of that time thechurch had not so coöperated with me as to effect certain ends, ourengagement would close. I did not succeed in getting the coöperationdesired, and the first Lord's day in April I announced to a crowdedhouse that my relation to them as preacher had closed. It fell uponthem like a thunder-clap from a clear sky. I stated the reasons, whichthey understood, but had not regarded. Thus ended my ministry with thatchurch. My preaching at Crittenden, and the subsequent history of the church, impressed upon me a very important lesson, upon which I acted in afterlife. While everything was "booming, " I could not teach themself-reliance. They depended upon me. I had to take the lead ineverything. Consequently, when I left, it was just like taking theengine off a big lot of machinery. Everything came to a standstill. Ifeared this, and tried to guard against it. The material, however, wasof such a nature that it was next to impossible to get them to goforward in church work without being led. But I was so impressed withthe virtual loss of my work then, that I made it a special point, everafter, to develop the church in self-reliance, and make it largelyindependent of a preacher. In 1869 I decided that it was not best for the Master's cause for me tolonger give all my time to the Crittenden church, as I wanted them tolearn to do without me. So the first of January I engaged to preach forthe church at New Liberty, Owen county, one-half my time. Resigning atCrittenden in April, in May I moved to New Liberty. Here I found agood, substantial set of brethren, and did a substantial work. We soonhad a good Sunday-school, renovated the house, cut off a lot of deadmaterial, and got the church in good working order. In May, 1869, I held a successful meeting in Owenton, and establishedthe cause in that place. Up to this time we had no organization there. In 1870 I held them the second meeting. The cause continued to growthere. In a few years they built a house of worship. The church hasgenerally been in a prosperous condition. In August of this year, I held another meeting for my old home church, Pleasant Hill. It resulted in a goodly number of additions. It wasalways a peculiar pleasure to hold a meeting among these oldassociates, and I held quite a number. In August, 1869, Bro. I. B. Grubbs and I met at Mt. Byrd to hold aprotracted meeting. It was the first in their new house, after itscompletion. We had an enjoyable and successful meeting. This was myintroduction to Mt. Byrd, which has since afforded me a home, has stoodby me through good and evil fortune, has never wavered in its devotionand fidelity, and among whose good members my frail body will rest, till it rises in the likeness of Christ. Here I might as well express my views upon the lack of churchdiscipline, as they have been formed from an extensive observation inthis and other States. I must, however, do this briefly. No one canread the epistles of the apostles, and especially those of Paul, andnot be profoundly impressed with the belief that the administration ofdiscipline engaged a large share of their attention; and we may inferthe necessity of this from the very nature of the case. The firstchurches were largely formed of Gentile converts, and these came fromheathenism; and they had to be recovered from its debasing practices;and even the converts from among the Jews had to be reformed from manyevil ways. Any one who will read even casually Paul's pastoral epistleswill see these evils and sins exposed. These were contrary to thepurity and benevolence of the new religion, and hence the necessity ofself-denial and constant diligence on the part of both people andpastors. "The times have changed and we have changed with them, " but the _forms_of sin have changed rather than the thing itself, and we have as muchneed to practice watchcare over ourselves and others as ever. It wasCain that asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" I am satisfied that the two crying needs in our Kentucky churches, andI suppose elsewhere, are the faithful administration of discipline byour elders and activity in Christian work by our members. I think weare growing in the latter, and fear we are falling off in the former. The reasons for both these opinions are not, in my opinion, hard tofind. Had I time and strength I should like to give them in full. CHAPTER XIII. History of the Mt. Byrd Church. When Established. Where. CharterMembers. Officers. Preachers. Number of Members. Three ThingsContributing to its Prosperity. New House of Worship. Serious Troublein the Church. How Settled. Method of Raising Money. The Church BuildsAllen a House. Organizes a Sunday-school. How it is Conducted. Since the history of Mt. Byrd church from 1869 till my death will be aninseparable part of my history, the two being linked together, thechurch is destined to be known, and is known to-day, wherever I amknown. And as a part of its history will be given, I think it would bemore satisfactory to all who may feel interested in it, and moreprofitable as a study, if an outline of its career from the beginningwere known. I therefore insert it here. In 1832, Isaac Foster, then a Baptist preacher, came into thiscommunity preaching the principles of reform as advocated by Thomas andAlexander Campbell. The people gave heed to his teaching concerning thekingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and on the second Lord'sday in September, 1832, at the house of David Floyd, on the top of theOhio River hill, opposite Hanover College, Ind. , a church wasestablished. The following were the charter members: James Lindsey, Hatty Ann Lindsey, William Maddox, Elizabeth Maddox, David Floyd, JohnB. Floyd, Miss Mary A. Trout, Miss Catherine Trout, Miss Priscilla B. Trout, Miss Sally Trout, Miss Saloma Overpeck, Miss Julia Ann Lindsey, Miss Artamisia Cooper, Mrs. Minerva Cooper. James Lindsey and his wife, Hatty A. , were formerly members of the OldChristian Connection, at Cane Ridge, Ky. William Maddox and his wife, Elizabeth, were from the Baptists. The rest were admitted by immersion. William Maddox and John B. Floyd were appointed elders, and David Lloyddeacon. For a time they met and worshiped in private houses. They then built ameeting-house, near the river bluff, on the farm of Bro. David Floyd. It was of hewed logs, and primitive in architecture. It was called Mt. Olivet. They met every Lord's day to break bread, to worship God and toedify one another in love. Much of the long-continued prosperity of theMt. Byrd church is doubtless due to beginning with good material and oncorrect principles. In that early day the church enjoyed the visits of such men as IsaiahCornelius, Allen Kendrick, L. L. Fleming, Jesse Mavity, Wm. Brown, andothers. The church increased in number rapidly. In a short time several families of standing and influence moved intothe present neighborhood of Mt. Byrd and south of it, from Woodfordcounty, Ky. The house was unfavorably located, being on the extremeedge of the territory from which the membership must come. It wasagreed by all parties to build another house, farther back from theriver, in a more desirable locality. About 1837 this house was built onthe farm of Bro. Robert Moffett, at the crossing of the Strother andCooper roads, about two and one-half miles from the other house, andone and one-half south of Milton. It was a commodious frame building. The site is now on the corner of Bro. Allen's place, two hundred yardsfrom his house. It was called Mt. Byrd, from the fact that it was onpart of a large survey of land known as the Byrd survey; and the "Mt. "was due to its elevation. It was understood that so soon as certainobstacles were removed, the two churches were to become one. Hence thehouse was used a year or two before our organization was established. And, in one view of the case, Mt. Byrd had its origin in 1832; and inanother, in 1839. On the second day of August, being the first Lord's day, 1839, anorganization was established on the following covenant: "We, the undersigned individuals, agree to have fellowship with each other, and to be united together in the bonds of Christian affection according to all the rules of conduct and requirements of God, as contained in His Word--the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. " CHARTER MEMBERS. Robert Moffett, Elizabeth Moffett, Lucinda Moffett, Sarah Ann Moffett, Catherine Stipes, Alexander Moffett, Nancy Moffett, Emily Moffett, Harriet Moffett, Jane Moffett, Porter Fisher, Caroline Fisher, Hayden Fisher, Robert Thompson, Anna F. Thompson, Polly Blake, Elizabeth Taylor, Susan Taylor, Zachariah Taylor, Sally Taylor. Porter Fisher was chosen elder. In September following, Dr. Curtis J. Smith and Newton Short held thema meeting, resulting in forty additions. The members of the first organization began to move their membership toMt. Byrd, and soon the two congregations were one. The following is a list of the overseers of the church, in their order, from its establishment till 1885: Porter Fisher, Hayden Fisher, John B. Floyd, James Jones, Samuel Morris, John A. Bain, Isaac Trout, John S. Maddox, Jacob Trout, George Craig, F. G. Allen. The following are the names of the preachers who have served the churcha stated length of time: Porter Fisher, Hiram Stark, J. Newton Payne, Dr. C. J. Smith, Henry Rice, Jesse Mavity, Dr. Sadler, J. A. Bain, G. B. Moore, A. A. Knight, J. C. Walden, J. V. Price, F. G. Allen. In addition to meetings held by the regular preachers, it has enjoyedthe evangelistic labors of some of the ablest preachers in theReformation. From its organization to June, 1885, there were added to the church, atvarious times and in various ways, 982 members. At this time (June 12, 1885) the membership is 350. In addition to removals, deaths, exclusions, etc. , we gave a largenumber to the Bedford Church when it last organized (1874), and ourcolored membership organized to themselves in 1877. Also the nucleus ofthe Beech Grove church went from here. Three things, that have had much to do with the prosperity of thischurch, deserve special mention--their course during the war, their wayof choosing church officers, and their method of church discipline. During the war the church remained in a peaceful and prosperouscondition. At the beginning they were of one mind in the decision thatthe religion of Christ was more important to them than politicalinterests; that the war would end, but that the kingdom of God wouldnot, and that they would stand for the things that could not be shakenby the shock of arms. A large number of young men of the community werein the service, and they wanted to be in a spiritual condition to takecare of such of them as should return. Though soldiers of both armieswere frequently in the neighborhood, the church continued the serviceof God and the discharge of Christian duty as if the peace of thecountry was undisturbed. Consequently, when the war was over, they hadno alienations to adjust, no broken down walls to rebuild, no breachesto close up. They needed no reconstruction. Their history demonstratesthat even cruel war need not necessarily alienate the people of God. The congregation was not a unit in political sympathy, but they allowedno mixing of politics with religion, in the pulpit or elsewhere, oneither side. Strong rebels from Kentucky and strong Union men fromIndiana filled the pulpit during the time, but with the understandingthat they preach the gospel and not politics--no difference was made. Till 1867 the method of selecting church officers was by popularballot. They were thus selected according to the feelings, and tastes, and prejudices of men, women and children, many of whom are alwayscontrolled by personal likes and dislikes. At this time a change wasmade that resulted in great good. The change was to this effect, that acommittee in whom the church have perfect confidence be appointed toselect elders and deacons. When selected, their names are submitted tothe congregation, and two weeks given during which objections may bemade privately to the committee. Should objections be made to any one, which are considered valid, and can not be removed, that name isdropped and another substituted. It is understood from the beginning, by all parties, that the objections are to be kept private, and if acandidate is dropped on account of objections, he has no right todemand the name of the objector nor the objections. When objections arenot made, or they no longer exist, it is understood that the selectionis ratified by the church. The parties are then set apart to their workby fasting, prayer and the laying on of hands. In this way a betterselection is made, and the church is much more impressed with theimportance of the official work, and of their obligation to those setapart, as co-operants in the work. The plan gave entire satisfaction, and the church ever after observed it. When I began to preach for the church, I introduced a plan ofdisciplinary work which I had observed since my labors with theCrittenden Church. The leading idea in it was to save the offender, andthe church was impressed with that fact. The relatives and friends ofthe offending party were enlisted in an effort with the preachers andelders to save him, with the understanding that if this could not bedone, the law of the Lord must be enforced in his exclusion. Suchefforts rarely failed, and, when they did, those most likely to be hurtabout his exclusion felt that they had failed in trying to save him, and that all was done that could be done. When such efforts failed, thecase was then stated to the church, and if any one thought that hemight accomplish something, and wished an opportunity to try, actionwas delayed till he did what he could, and thus the whole moral forceof the church was exerted. When all felt that nothing more could bedone, the law of the Lord was executed, the church withdrew itsfellowship, and the occasion was made as solemn and impressive aspossible. There was no voting as to whether or not they would excludehim. That is a matter of divine legislation on which we have no rightto vote. The sense of the congregation was taken only as to whether ornot they had done all they could to save the offender, and had thuscomplied with the law of the Lord in this respect. In twenty years, with much attention to disciplinary work, I have never had the leasttrouble or evil consequence result from a case of exclusion. In 1867 they built a new house of worship, about a quarter of a milenearer Milton than was the old house. It is a large and substantialframe. When Mt. Byrd was established there were several strong Methodist andBaptist churches within a few miles. They have all dwindled intocomparative insignificance, and Mt. Byrd has the controlling influencein the county. Her territory extends sixteen miles along the Ohio Riverand eight miles back. I engaged to preach for Mt. Byrd Church one-half my time, beginning thefirst of October, 1869. It is thirty miles from New Liberty, and atthat time it was reached by a dirt road terribly muddy in the winter. Iwent back and forth on horseback. I arranged to have my two Sundayscome together, and spent the intervening week visiting the congregationand preaching at some neighboring school-house. I thus made but onetrip a month. My health was very poor, and each visit I made theythought would be the last. After I began preaching at Mt. Byrd, I discovered a very serioustrouble in the church, of which I before knew nothing. I saw, from itsnature and the men involved in it, that unless it was peaceably andpermanently settled, the church would be effectually ruined. Andcircumstances indicated that it was next to impossible to secure such asettlement. I was deeply concerned about it. The difficulty grew out of a man's making engagements to teach twoschools at once, and consequently having to disappoint one of theparties. They had depended on him, and thereby lost the opportunity ofgetting a good teacher. They felt grievously wronged, and sued fordamages. The teacher was a poor man, not able to fight the suit, and heso worked upon his patrons that they promised to stand by him anddefend him in court. A large number of good and influential brethrenwere involved in it, and they had worked up a very bad state offeeling. Bro. J. S. Maddox, the leading elder, stood by me faithfullyin the work. We labored incessantly day and night for over two weeksbefore we accomplished our purpose. I preached in the two school-housesalternately, day and night, so as to reach all of both parties; forthey would not go to each other's houses. The rest of the time wasspent in visiting and laboring privately with the disaffected members. The preaching was all directed to the one special end. Sometimes wewould have it nearly completed as we thought, and then the troublewould break out again. One day our hearts beat with joyous hope, andthe next we were depressed and discouraged. Finally, they agreed to arbitrate the matter if I alone would act asarbitrator. I tried hard to reason them out of this, for I felt almostcertain that I would sacrifice myself in so doing. I felt that I couldhardly hope to retain the friendship of both parties in such acomplicated matter, over which there was so much bad feeling. But, finding that there was no other way of settlement, I concluded that thesacrifice of myself was a small matter as compared with the ruin of thechurch, and I consented. All parties agreed to abide by my decision ingood faith, bury all their animosities, and be at peace amongthemselves. I wrote out carefully the whole case, giving my decision oneach point, and the reasons therefor. I read it at a meeting at whichall were present. They all signed it, and the trouble was foreverended. Both parties kept it in good faith, and I retained theirfraternal love. When the church had been "rounded up, " and all dead matter cast off, wehad 240 members on the list. Some new deacons were appointed, till wehad seven in all. Not because there were seven appointed at Jerusalem, but because we needed that number and had material out of which to makethem. We divided the congregation into seven districts, each deaconhaving his boundary defined. Each had a list of all the members in hisdistrict, and it was his duty to obtain a subscription from each memberand collect it. Each child of a family made his own subscription. Allwere expected to give something, unless they were beneficiaries of thechurch. This system has several advantages: (1) More money is obtainedthan when given only by heads of families. (2) Each one feels that heis a factor in the church, not an overlooked cipher, and this does himgood. It stimulates him to do something. (3) In training each one togive, however little they may be able, there is developed in them aright spirit and a very important principle. A business meeting was held every three months. At these the deaconsmade their reports, and squared accounts with the preacher. Thus theexact financial condition of the church was known. Cases of discipline, missions, charities, and everything pertaining to the interests of thechurch, were freely discussed. A record was kept of everything done. These meetings were held on Saturday, and the next day a statement wasmade to the church of what was done, and their sanction obtained tosuch matters as it was thought best to submit. With a thorough organization, systematic working, and the happysettlement of the big trouble over which all were filled with anxiety, the church took on new life, and ever after continued in an active, growing condition. The brethren soon petitioned me to move into their midst. I jocularlytold them I would do so if they would give me a good home. Thesuggestion was no sooner made than accepted. Bro. J. H. Moffett gave meeight acres of ground just where I wanted it, and he and the rest ofthe brethren agreed to build me a house. I was permitted to plan justsuch a house as I wanted, and they would see that it was built. Noobligation whatever was required of me as a condition. I was free todispose of it and leave them at any time, if I wished to do so. It wasall a matter of trust. The outside improvements were also made mostlyby the brethren. I may say here that in the fifteen years I preachedfor that church, not a man ever charged me a cent for anything he everdid for me, and they did everything that I needed to have done. In the spring of 1870 we organized a Sunday-school. It ranged usually, one year with another, from 125 to 150. One peculiar feature about itwas that a large number of old people attended. In a word, the _church_went into the Sunday-school. The teachers have all the time been of theolder brethren and sisters, and many men and women of middle age andbeyond have been in the classes. We kept a record of the attendance, recitations, contributions, etc. , thus indicating the regularity of thework. The record shows that there were perfect, in recitations andattendance, twenty-six in 1873, thirty-four in 1874, and twenty in1875. This is a fair sample for the fifteen years. The school is stillin a fine condition. Some members have not missed a single recitationin five years. From the beginning we have adhered to the rule of opening on the lastSunday in April and continuing till Christmas. The congregation beingscattered over a large district, and the roads being bad in winter, wehave been in the habit of dismissing the children for the rest of theyear; but all the older people form one class, and are taught theScriptures by the preacher or elder of the church from the first ofJanuary till the last of April. I am satisfied this is a good arrangement for churches in the country, where the membership is much scattered. It works well at Mt. Byrd, andI don't see why it may not work well elsewhere under the samecircumstances. CHAPTER XIV. He Moves to Mt. Byrd. Debate with J. W. Fitch. Preaches at Madison, Ind. Protracted Meetings at Columbia, Burksville, Thompson's Church, Dover, Germantown, Pleasant Hill, Burksville again, Beech Grove, Doveragain. In September, 1870, we moved to the neighborhood of Mt. Byrd. My housenot being completed, we lived in the lower end of Hunter's Bottom, above Milton. We spent here a very pleasant year. I gave a good deal oftime to the building, helping in whatever I could do, which was quite abenefit to my health. I continued to preach at New Liberty half my timeduring this year and 1871. The last of October, 1871, we got into ournew house. It is about three hundred yards from the church, beautifullysituated on the main thoroughfare to Milton and Madison. In 1871 I held two meetings in Carrollton, Ky. The cause was very lowthere at that time. Our band was feeble; and the place almost entirelygiven to sectarianism. We had no place of worship, and the court-housein which we met was not comfortable. Some of the prominent members hadbecome very worldly. Because I preached against their sins, they becamemuch offended, but the offense was to reformation. They afterwardsbuilt a meeting-house, and they are now in good condition. Nov. 2, 1871, I began my first public religious debate. It was at Mt. Byrd, and with Presiding Elder J. W. Fitch. It came about in this way:At a Quarterly Conference in the county, the preachers and prominentmen present, to the number of fourteen, drew up and sent me a formalchallenge to meet C. W. Miller, at Mt. Byrd (this being by far thelargest house in the county), and debate certain designatedpropositions. At that time I had a very bad opinion of Mr. Miller, andthere was no good feeling existing between us. In reply to theircommunication I said: "You have a number of brethren in Kentucky ofequal or superior ability to Mr. Miller, whom I can meet as Christiangentlemen, and when I have the promise of such a disputant, I shall beready to arrange propositions. " They then applied to Mr. Fitch, and acorrespondence between us was opened. My purpose then, and ever sincein debating with Methodists, was to discuss the _system_ of Methodism, instead of a few isolated propositions. In that way the people see what_Methodism_ is; in this, they do not. We finally agreed that eachwould affirm that the polity and practice of the church with which hewas identified are authorized by the word of God. An immense crowd attended the debate. The weather was beautiful, and wehad dinner on the ground. Each affirmed for three days. My affirmationclosed Saturday afternoon. The President Moderator announced that thedebate would be resumed at 10 o'clock Monday, on the polity of theMethodist Church, Mr. Fitch affirming. Monday, Mr. Fitch declined todiscuss the polity of his church, giving as a reason that it was of noconsequence, and he wanted to give all his time to more importantmatters. He further stated that he had agreed to discuss the polity ofthe church simply in order to get the debate, not that it was worthdiscussing. I happened to have in my pocket a letter in which he hadinsisted on the discussion of the polity of the two churches as a veryimportant matter. This was read. The President Moderator--Col. Preston--ruled that he must either debate the question, as agreed upon, or concede that it was indefensible; and he yielded. We learnedafterward, just what we then suspected, that the preachers present, ofwhom there were about twelve, held a council on Saturday night, andprotested against his discussing the polity of the church. The debate created a great deal of interest and investigation in thecommunity, and within nine months following, over one hundred wereadded to the church. Of these, quite a number were from the Baptistsand Methodists. A rather curious thing occurred during the debate. While on thepractice of the M. E. Church, I made a raid on the mourners' bench, describing its workings and demanding authority for it. Mr. Fitchjumped up, very much excited, and called me to order. His point oforder was that the M. E. Church, South, had abandoned the mourners'bench; that it was now countenanced only by a few ignorant preachersfor whose conduct the church was not willing to be held responsible. And as it was no longer a part of the practice of the church, he wasnot there to affirm that it was authorized by the word of God. ThePresident appealed to all the Methodist preachers present to know ifthat was the case. The last one of them said "yes. " In three weeks Iwent to Carrollton to hold a meeting, and the two most prominentpreachers at the debate were there in a meeting, and they had themourners' bench out twice a day, and six or eight mourners werestriving to "get through!" What are we to think of such as that? By preaching at adjacent school-houses, the membership of the churchwas considerably increased. This plan was continued till my editorialwork on the _Guide_ interfered with it. About seven miles back from Mt. Byrd the Methodists had an old house, and a weak church where they years ago had a strong one. We had quite anumber of members in that neighborhood. By our assisting in rebuildingthe old chapel, we held by written contract a fourth interest in it. This gave us the use of the house one Sunday in the month, and at suchother times as it was not occupied by the Methodists. This we did inorder to have a place to preach in that community, and especially forprotracted meetings. We also rented the Presbyterian house in Milton, by the year, for the same purpose. In 1872 I engaged to preach at Carrollton and White's Run, both inCarroll county, once a month at each. I held a meeting for each church, and got the membership, to some extent, reconstructed. But in May I was called to preach for the church in Madison, Ind. , one-half my time. It being so convenient--just across the river fromme--and an important field, I got the churches at Carrollton andWhite's Run to release me, and I entered on my work in Madison thefirst of June, 1871. I preached for them the rest of that year. I helda protracted meeting in October. The number of additions for the sevenmonths was small. Finding that they needed a preacher all the time, since they had no one to lead them in the absence of a preacher, andwishing to devote half my time to evangelizing, I resigned and inducedthem to get Bro. J. H. Hardin in my place. In November, 1872, I had a fine meeting at Columbia, Ky. This wasbefore the college there was built. Bro. J. H. Hardin was preaching forthe church. Bro. Azbill has since built up the church, but was thatyear in Butler University. The fruits of my first meeting there aremanifest to this day. Prominent among these is the efficient work ofDr. U. L. Taylor, who was formerly a Methodist, but for years has beenthe stay of the congregation and college in that place. In 1873 I gave one-half my time to holding meetings. In March I went toBurksville, Cumberland county, Ky. The church had had no preaching fora long time, and was not meeting on the Lord's day. There were a fewfaithful ones, especially sisters, but the majority had gone to theworld. We had over forty additions. The membership was organized forwork, a Sunday-school was established, a preacher secured, and thechurch entered on a long period of prosperity. Two preachers were theresult of this meeting--C. M. McPherson, of the _Apostolic Guide_, and E. J. Ellison, now of Glasgow, Ky. They had been immersed, but, with many others, had strayed from the fold. They were reclaimed andput to work, and to-day they are faithful ministers of the Word. As showing what may result from a word timely spoken, a young lady fromNashville, now the wife of Bro. McPherson, was visiting a sister atBurksville. She was a devoted Episcopalian, talented and accomplished. One day she was telling me about her church and preacher, etc. , and thework she was trying to do for the Master. I asked her if she had everobeyed the gospel. She looked amazed, and remarked that that was astrange question to ask a church member. I told her I feared that manychurch members, and even devoted ones, had never obeyed the gospel; andin a few words explained the reason why. She soon made the confessionand was immersed, stating afterwards that that question led to anentire change of religious views. In May I held a meeting at Thompson's Church, in Robinson county. Themeeting was of no special importance; the number of additions wassmall, and no important results any way. Willis Cox was preaching forthe church. At this meeting the wealthiest man in the church was greatly taken withthe preaching, said he intended to go to Dover, twenty odd miles away, to hear me there, had three of his children immersed, and was almosttoo happy to behave himself. He gave a _two cent copper_ to help paythe expenses of the meeting! This was all they could get out of him. Hegot so happy that it dried up the fountain of his liberality. In June I held a meeting at Dover, Mason county. This was an oldchurch, and once a prosperous one, but a bad spirit had been engenderedduring the war, and it had virtually gone to pieces. They were meeting, and had a preacher employed, Bro. Willis Cox; but only a few memberswere concerned about the things of Zion. They had had no additions forso long that the town was full of young people who had grown up out ofthe church. The brethren expected no additions, but wanted a meetingfor the encouragement of the faithful few. This was the way they put itwhen they engaged me to hold the meeting. The house was well-filledfrom the first, and in a few nights crowded. They paid profoundattention to the Word. This led me to hope for additions, but thebrethren hooted at the idea. I preached only at night and on the Lord'sday. On the ninth night they made a move, and continued to move tillfifty-seven were added. I baptized fifty. The deepest religiousinterest prevailed that I ever had in any of my meetings. No tellingwhat the result would have been, had I not been taken sick andcompelled to leave. As I was going to the boat to return home, I wentby the church. It was crowded. I had just a few minutes. I went in andexplained the situation, and proposed to take the confession of anythat wished to make it, before I left. Without a word of exhortationtwo came forward. Thus I left them. Nearly all the young people of the town came into the church, so thatthere was no outside element left to get up mischief, and it isgratifying to know how faithfully they held out. The church has eversince been in active working order. In July I held a meeting at Germantown. Bro. J. C. Walden was preachingfor them. We had a pleasant meeting, but no special results. In August I held another good meeting at my old home church--PleasantHill, in Oldham county. I held them a meeting each year for five or sixyears. While they were slow to assist me when I was struggling for astart, after I got well under way they were quite liberal in reward ofmy labor. But one dollar at the first would have done me more good, because more needed, than five at the time they were given. This is amistake made by many churches. In October, 1873, I held another meeting at Burksville. This was also afine meeting, but not quite so many additions were made as at the onein March preceding. In November I had a good meeting at Beech Grove, a country church inTrimble county, eight miles from Mt. Byrd. In December I was again at Dover. We had another excellent meeting, butthere was not material for so many converts as at first. This visit wasmainly for the membership, to rid the church of some dead material, andput it into good working order. On account of getting sick at theprevious meeting, I had to leave before this needed work wasaccomplished. Thus ended my labors for 1873. CHAPTER XV. Begins Preaching at Beech Grove. Debates with Elder Hiner. AmusingIncident. Holds many Meetings. Debates with Elder Frogge. Debates againwith Elder Hiner. Repudiates Miller's Book. Sick Again. Holds moreMeetings. In 1874 I engaged to preach once a month for the Beech Grove Church. Beginning January 20th, at a Methodist church near Beech Grove, I helda debate with Elder Robert Hiner. The debate continued eight days. Itwas largely attended, though the roads and weather were bad. Thefeeling throughout the debate was good, but hardly so much so as at theone held at Mt. Byrd with Elder Fitch. A very amusing thing occurred. Mr. Hiner brought all of his books, and, coming through Bedford, he gotall of Mr. Young's, the preacher at that place. They made a perfectwagon load. He obtained a long table, like a carpenter's bench, andstacked them up on it. I soon discovered that it was all for a show, and the question was how to most successfully burlesque it. I firstthought of sending to Bedford and getting a large wagon-load of PatentOffice Reports and the like, and stacking them up on my table. But inmy room I discovered a little toy-book, about an inch long, called"Orphan Willie. " This I took to church in my vest pocket, with a fewleaves carefully turned down. After alluding to his "silent artillery, "as I had done before, I drew out "Orphan Willie, " and planted it on thepulpit in position to effectually blow up his entire battery, with theassurance that that was going to be done. I had laughed over the ideatill I thought I could do it without laughing. But in this I failed;and the whole audience, Methodist preachers and all, got into such alaugh that I lost half my speech. But the books were put out of sight, and thus ended the scarecrow business. During the debate Mr. Hiner expressed the opinion that I would yet comeback to the Methodist church. I told him he might as well talk of afull-grown rooster, spurs and all, going back into the shell thathatched it. For a long time this gave me the sobriquet of "OldChicken. " Some brethren use it even now. While on the design of baptism, Mr. Hiner remarked that if he believedbaptism was for the remission of sins, he would live on a creek orriver and be baptized every time he sinned. I gave it as my opinionthat in that case he would find it a very difficult matter to keep anydry clothes! During this year I held meetings at Louisville, Crittenden, Cove Hill, Burksville and Glasgow, with varied success. In 1875 I held meetings at Glasgow, Carrollton, Campbellsville, Burksville, Bedford, Hodgenville and Columbia. In July of this year I debated twelve days, at Burksville, withPresiding Elder Frogge. He was the great champion of Methodism inSouthern Kentucky. He had had a great many debates, and, while he wasvery ready and glib in his line of debating, I soon discovered that hisscholarship and reading were both very limited, exceedingly so; and Iintentionally widened the range of controversy more than was my wont, to see what he would do--and he was completely lost. His forte indebating is wit and ridicule, by which he gets his opponents angry andconfused. He tried this hard for three days, till he rendered himselfoffensive to all. It was rumored that his brethren then held a counciland told him that this must be stopped; that he must debate thequestions on their merits or quit; that he was bringing the cause intodisrepute. The county paper, edited by a scholarly Episcopalian, wasvery severe in its criticism of his conduct. This caused muchexcitement among the Methodists. When he had to quit his efforts to getme excited, he was no longer himself. This debate was held at therequest of the Baptists. Mr. Frogge and a Baptist preacher had debatednear there the fall before, and, the Baptist having failed, had to giveup the discussion. Mr. Frogge then left a broad and boastful challengefor any immersionist. The Baptists were very sore over it, and when Iwent there in the winter to hold a meeting they requested me to accepthis challenge. I referred them to the brethren, and with theirconcurrence I entered upon the discussion. In November I held another debate with Mr. Hiner, this time at Bedford, Ky. It continued eight days. This created the most intense excitement Iever saw in a meeting-house. At the two previous debates in the countyI repudiated C. W. Miller's book (_Points of Controversy_) asauthority. It is the book that Dr. Ditzler exposed. Our opponents saidI would not dare to do that where Miller was. They had him at thisdebate. Mr. Hiner read from it a passage purporting to be from MosesStuart. I asked him what he was reading from. He said, "'Points ofControversy, ' and you challenge it if you dare. " I then asked for thepage in Stuart's book where the language occurred. He refused to giveit. I had Stuart, and the inference was that he didn't want thecomparison made. When I got up I referred to what had passed about thequotation, saying I was willing to take Stuart for it if he had givenme the page, but as for "Points of Controversy, " I could take nothingon its authority, for I repudiated the book and its author as authorityin anything. This provoked a personal wrangle with Miller, who wasclose to me, after the debate--for the day was over. The excitement wasintense as we passed and repassed our compliments. Finally the houserefused to hear Mr. M. Even his own brethren rose as one man and wentout of the house. This so infuriated him that he left the place. January 1, 1876, I went on the _Apostolic Times_ with I. B. Grubbs andS. A. Kelley. I had been writing for it every two weeks, by contract, for several years. From this time I devoted special attention to itevery week, and, with the exception of a few months from the sale ofthe _Times_ to Dr. Hopson and Cozine till the establishing of the_Guide_, I have been constantly engaged in editorial work. About the middle of January I was taken down with intercostalrheumatism and spinal trouble, and was very low for several months. Very little hope was entertained of my recovery. After the intensesuffering was over, my system was so racked that convalescence wasslow. The doctors agreed that it was due to nervous exhaustion producedby overwork. For years I had known nothing practically of mental rest, and the year preceding was unusually severe on me, in my feeble stateof health. When I held the twelve days' debate at Burksville the summerbefore, I went from my bed to the house and from the house to my bed. Iwas hardly any better in the one held a few weeks before. These labors, with those given to my home church of over three hundred members, together with holding seven protracted meetings, and writing for the_Times_, all the while in feeble health, brought me down very low. I wish here to emphasize the fact that I have never gone out of my wayto either seek or shun a religious debate. I repeat this statementhere, lest some might think otherwise from the fact that I have held somany. After getting up again, I held meetings at Antioch, in Shelby county, Glasgow, Burksville, South Elkhorn, and at some other points. This hasalways been congenial employment for me. CHAPTER XVI. Continues to Evangelize. Dr. Cook's Prescription. Incident at Glendale. Peculiar Feature in the Meeting at Madisonville. The Fractious Preacherat Sonora. Closes his Evangelistic Labors. Establishes the _Old PathGuide_. The Bruner Debate. In 1877 I spent much time evangelizing, being called to hold protractedmeetings at many important places. I accepted work at seven of these, and my labors were fruitful in the conversion of sinners and inbuilding up the saints in their most holy faith; but I had to be awayfrom home a great deal, and my exposure in all kinds of weather, andthe wear and tear of constant preaching, increased my lung disease. While preaching at Cynthiana my spinal trouble returned, causing me toclose abruptly, and I could preach no more till July. On my return fromCynthiana, some friends in Cincinnati induced me to visit a Dr. Cook (Ithink that is the name). He was celebrated for his skill in suchafflictions. He was a corpulent, jolly old gentleman, full of humor. When I was introduced, he looked at me for a moment without comingnear, and said: "Well, sir, you don't laugh enough. You take tooserious a view of life. Why, sir, at least two inches of your spinalmarrow is inflamed, produced by nervous exhaustion, the result ofoverwork and no mental recreation. I tell you, sir, all the medicine inthe world will do you no good till you quit that and cultivatelaziness. You must take a more cheerful view of life. And you mustlearn to laugh, not giggle a little, but laugh away down to the bottomof the abdomen. Then you will get well. I used to be a little, scrawny, sallow, nervous, overworked thing like you are, but I saw it was goingto kill me, and I quit it and went to laughing, and now see what I am?"And this was all the prescription he gave me. There is, doubtless, agood deal of philosophy in it. At Glendale a rather singular circumstance occurred. The first night ofthe meeting, I observed a very intelligent looking lady in theaudience, and she was intensely interested. When we got back to theplace where I was stopping, I asked the sister who this lady was. Shegave her name, stating that she was the pride of the Methodist Churchin that country; that her talk at the love-feast a few weeks before hadbeen the topic of conversation ever since. I remarked that she wouldnot be a Methodist when that meeting was over. But they would notlisten to the idea that she would ever be anything but a Methodist. Shewas present the second and third nights, and manifested the sameintense interest. The next morning early, she sent to ascertain if shecould have a private interview. When she came, she made her businessknown at once. She wanted to learn if I would immerse her and let herremain in the M. E. Church. Without answering her question, I asked herwhat she wanted to be immersed for. She said she had become convincedthat she had never obeyed the gospel, and she wanted to be immersedbecause it was the Saviour's will, and her sprinkling was notauthorized. "Well, " said I, "why do you want to correct your life insome things according to the divine authority, and not in others?" Shesaid she wanted to correct it in all respects where it was contrary todivine authority. I then told her that there were a number of things inthe Methodist Church for which there was no more authority than thereis for infant baptism. She inquired what, and when I told her, shesaid, "That will do, " and right away I immersed her. She had beenbrought up a Romanist, and while we were gone to the baptizing hersister burnt her Bible. No special persecution followed her change tothe Methodists, but it was otherwise when she united with us. Herrelatives, so far as known to me, have never become reconciled. The meeting at Madisonville, O. , eighteen miles from Cincinnati, alsohad a peculiar feature which I think worthy of mention. It was thefirst preaching by our brethren ever heard in the place, and most ofthose who made the confession had never before heard it made. The firstperson called upon to make it answered aloud and distinctly: "Yes, sir;I believe with my whole heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of theliving God. " All who followed answered in the same way. I wish it couldalways be so. In 1878 calls upon me to conduct meetings were multiplied, but I couldcomply only with those from Vevay, Ind. , Sonora, Ky. , Dover, White'sRun, Columbia, Burksville, Glendale, Oakland and Owenton. At Sonora, a Methodist preacher attended a few times, and he wasremarkably fractious. Several times he interrupted me. One night, inpreaching on the "Plan of Salvation, " commenting on the case of thejailer, I remarked that the fact that the apostles sometimes baptizedhouseholds, was no evidence that they baptized infants, since there aremany households without infants. He spoke up very much excited, saying, "May I ask you a question?" I told him yes. "Well, now, " he says, "suppose we take a common sense view of that matter. Suppose you wereto come to town, and start out to baptizing households, and you were togo to Bro. Creel's house and mine, wouldn't you have to baptizeinfants?" (Bro. Creel had five little fellows, and he seven. ) Ianswered, "Yes, Bro. Campbell, I admit that whenever you go to apreacher's house, you are very apt to find them. " The whole houselaughed outright, and they never ceased laughing at that preacher tillhe left the circuit. These meetings were all successful in the way of additions, except thatat Vevay. But I have never kept an account of my additions, andremember the number at only a few meetings. This year my regular evangelistic work closed on account of editing the_Guide_ and preaching half the time at Portland Avenue Church, inLouisville. In January, 1879, I established the _Old Path Guide_, in Louisville. Iwas owner, proprietor, editor, bookkeeper, treasurer, mailing clerk, general agent, and special "boss. " This required all my time, exceptwhat I had necessarily to give to preaching on the Lord's day and thepreparation therefor. The _Guide_ was a success, financially, fromthe beginning. I put money in bank the first three months of each yearto pay every dollar of expense to the end. The net profits the firstyear were over $600, and this increased each year for the three yearsthat I managed it all myself. The third year would have netted $1, 000, but in the midst of it I made the change, transferring one-half of itto Cline, Marrs & Co. , and giving them control of its businessmanagement. This was the beginning of financial embarrassment. Thechange was demanded by my failing health, and I could no longer doeverything, as I had been doing from the first. That year I engaged to preach half my time for the Portland AvenueChurch. In order to serve the Glendale church, which is fifty miles onthe Louisville & Nashville road, the Mt. Byrd church released me oneSunday in the month. During the year the Portland Avenue Churchincreased 120 per cent. In February, 1879, I held a meeting for the Campbell St. Church, Louisville. The meeting proved to be quite beneficial to thecongregation, in many respects. I boarded in the city during thewinter, and moved my family down in April. The church at Glendale had a partnership house--a very common thing inall Southwestern Kentucky. This prevented their meeting regularly onthe Lord's day, and also prevented a Sunday-school, as the house wasoccupied more than half the time by others. Knowing that I couldaccomplish no substantial and enduring good while this state of thingslasted, I made it a condition of preaching for them that they build anew house. This they did. The house is a neat frame, well finishedinside and out, and large enough for all ordinary use. It was promptlybuilt and paid for. In November I held a debate there--the first use made of the newhouse--with I. W. Bruner, a Baptist preacher. The Baptist church thereand ours arranged for a debate, on certain specified propositions, andeach had the privilege of selecting its representative. Consequently Ihad nothing to do with getting up the debate or arranging for it. Inever challenged a man for debate in my life, and never held one exceptby special invitation. And I have declined more debates than I everheld. While I was peculiarly fond of it, I never debated simply for thesake of debating; hence, if the circumstances were not favorable forgood results, I always declined. This debate with Mr. Bruner was, Ithink, the poorest one I ever held, and I lost all interest in itbefore it was half over. CHAPTER XVII. Visits Midway. Attends the Missouri State Convention. Reflections. Annual Sermons. Last Protracted Meeting. Kindness of Mt. Byrd, Glendaleand Smithfield Churches. Gives up Office Work. Goes to Eureka, Ill. Country Home. Takes Cold at the Lexington Convention. Goes to Florida. In October, 1879, I visited Midway, and though I had virtually closedmy evangelistic labors when I began the _Guide_, I could not resist thedesire to hold a meeting there. It is the seat of our Female OrphanSchool, one of our grandest enterprises. Bro. Shouse was then preachingfor the church and Bro. Lucy was president of the school. Theircompanionship was highly enjoyable. What a feast to the soul is thecompanionship of wise, godly men! It has for me the highest happiness Iexpect to know this side of heaven. And will it not be a very prominentfactor of that which constitutes heaven? Any place in the universe ofGod where my brethren and the Saviour are will be heaven enough for me. In 1880 I continued at the Avenue Church, Louisville, Mt. Byrd andGlendale. The State Board of the Missouri Christian Missionary Societyinvited me to deliver an address before the State Convention, held thatyear at Moberly. In order to justify me in a visit to the State, theyarranged several meetings for me--one in connection with the conventionof Audrain county, at a country church near Mexico, called Sunrise; oneat New London, and one at Slater. These meetings were all enjoyable andprofitable; but the one in Audrain county was only for a few days, andresulted in but few additions. The address at Moberly was on "Our Strength and Our Weakness. " Theconvention was largely attended, and it was a great pleasure to meet somany brethren known only by name, and loved for their work's sake, andto renew the acquaintance of others known before. The addresses of Haley, Procter, Jones and others were very able. Thatof Jones was speculative, and the basic principle of it, in my opinion, erroneous. Several of those Missouri preachers have done much harm bypreaching a false philosophy instead of the gospel of Christ. Bro. Procter, whom we all allow to be one of our best men and ablestpreachers, went from this convention to California and held severalmeetings. Within a few months I had several applications to come outthere to undo some of his work, and I should have been glad to complyhad my other duties permitted. In 1881 I resigned at the Avenue Church, as they needed more pastorallabor than my other duties would allow me to perform. I gave half mytime to Mt. Byrd, one-fourth to Glendale, and one-fourth to my old homechurch--Pleasant Hill, in Oldham county. It was a pleasure to visitthese old friends of my youth once a month. Old memories were revived, and the past, in a sense, lived over again. Besides, several members ofthe families related to my wife and to myself were enabled to attend. To preach to them, after years of separation, was a great pleasure. Mt. Byrd moved on in the even tenor of its way, in a prosperous condition. In August of this year, and also the year previous, I preached theannual sermon at the Clark county, Ind. , Coöperation Meeting. Thecounty contains sixteen or eighteen churches, including those ofJeffersonville and New Albany, and for more than forty years they havehad an annual county meeting. Representatives from all the churchesattend, as a rule, and the condition, etc. , of each church is given. Itbrings together a great congregation, and the day meetings are held inthe woods. In September of this year the _Guide_ was changed to a weekly. Whilethe monthly magazine was the most desirable for preservation, it wasthought that a weekly would best serve the cause of Christ, andpeculiar circumstances at that time seemed to demand it. In November I went to Poplar Plains and held the last protractedmeeting of my life. It was a pleasant one, and attended with some goodresults. In 1882 I preached at Mt. Byrd, Glendale and Smithfield, that is, Iengaged to preach for these churches, but my health was such that Ipreached but little to any. At my first visit to Smithfield, the firstLord's day in the year, I was taken sick, and I never visited them oncewhen I was not sick. I was never able to so preach as to do them ormyself justice. While this was equally so at the other churches, I didnot regret it so much, since I had been laboring for them a long time. The work at Smithfield was virtually a failure, and early in the fall Ihad to give it up entirely. Yet they paid me for the whole year, andmade me a present of about $150 besides. They are a noble band ofbrethren, and one of the most liberal I ever knew. The church at Glendale also paid for the entire year, though I lostmuch time and resigned in October. It also made me a generous presentin addition. Speaking of their generosity, reminds me that the Mt. Byrd Churchcontinued my salary three or four years when I was able to do little ornothing in return. In 1876 I lost most of the year through spinal andrheumatic affections; I did very little in 1882; I was in the churchbut once in 1883, and in 1884 I attempted to talk only a few times, yetall these years my salary continued. When the _Guide_ was sold to thepresent Guide Printing and Publishing Company, which relieved me offinancial embarrassments which the failure of C. C. Cline & Co. Hadproduced, I refused to longer accept support from the church. In April, 1882, I was compelled, on account of failing health, to giveup the office work of the _Guide_. I had been under a physician all theyear, and grew constantly worse. I allowed the office work to make aheavier draft on me than some men do. I always knew every paragraphthat was going into the paper, and where and how it would appear. Istood by the foreman and noticed everything that went in--when it wentin, what was put in and what was left out--till the forms were lockedup. I have never been able to get any one else to do it. But that is myidea of editing a paper. This thing of giving printers a mass of matterand telling them to put it in, leaving them to add or diminish, and putin where and what they please, is simply a burlesque on the business;and yet this is the way it is largely done. I have had no littleannoyance over just that thing. Had I been willing to edit in that wayI could have continued, but I would not consent to follow such acourse. In May I went to Eureka College, to preach the baccalaureate sermon. Iarranged to make the trip as easy as possible, on account of myfeebleness, by stopping over at Indianapolis for the night, in bothgoing and returning. The trip was every way pleasant, and theassociations there very agreeable. I hoped it would be a benefit to mein the way of recreation, but on reaching home I was taken down withtypho-malarial fever. I was quite low for several weeks. I got up witha trouble in my throat, causing a constant coughing and hacking, whichhas increased without intermission to the present time. In September, realizing that my health was permanently broken down, wewent back to our country home. I was satisfied that if I should evencontinue to edit the _Guide_, I would not be able to assume theresponsibilities of the office, and that the best place for me, underthe circumstances, was my country home. After going back to the countryI rallied considerably, and attended the General Convention, atLexington, about the 20th of October. Here I took life memberships inboth the General and Foreign Societies for the Mt. Byrd Church. Thiswas the first church taking membership in those societies, so far as Iam informed. It has since become quite common. Last year (1884) Isucceeded in getting their constitutions so amended as to provide forthis. I took cold at the convention, and relapsed. My physicians were veryfearful of tubercular trouble, and advised me to go to Florida for thewinter. We went the first of December, not knowing whither we went, butit seems that the hand of Providence guided us. We knew not where toturn, but concluded to try DeLand, where we had some acquaintances, andthere look out for accommodations. In a few days after reaching DeLandold Bro. Anderson, who lived two miles in the country, heard we werethere and came in for us. He had formerly seen a copy of the _Guide_and subscribed for it. This good man rented for us a convenient housenear him, paid the rent, set us up, and would not allow me to pay foranything we needed while there if he knew it and could prevent it. Hiswife was as kind as he, and did all in her power to make our stay in"The Land of Flowers" comfortable and inexpensive. The Great Teacher has said, in a well-known passage, "It is moreblessed to give than to receive. " What, then, must not have been theblessedness of this pious couple in thus caring for a poor broken-downinvalid and his family, whom Providence had guided to their hospitablehome? May God reward them richly for their kindness. CHAPTER XVIII. Organizes a Church at DeLand. Health Improves. Relapses. Starts Home. Resignation. Sells His Interest in the _Guide_. Begins Writing again. Attends Two Conventions. Goes to Texas. At Home Again. Works On. While at DeLand we gathered up the few scattered Disciples in andaround the town, and organized them into a church. I felt quiteconfident, from the character of the material, that the enterprisewould be a success. It has thus far proved to be so; they have notfailed to keep up their weekly meetings to break the loaf and edify oneanother after the apostolic model. They now have a nice house, and haveemployed a preacher and given him a home among them. This is just whatall churches should aim to do; all may not be able, but they should aimto accomplish it. The church is in a prosperous condition. I was ableto talk to them occasionally while there. The climate of Florida agreed with me. My cough left me in a few weeks, my appetite became good, and I got heavier than I ever was before. Iwent there weighing 130 pounds, and increased to 148. In good health, my usual weight was 144 pounds, and it had been many years since Iweighed that. I should have come home in this improved condition butfor my own imprudence. I don't blame the country, Providence, noranything else but myself. I was passionately fond of hunting, as I haveever been. I hunted a great deal, and frequently got overheated, andtook cold; sometimes got my feet wet when in the woods. Thus I hadseveral backsets. But still I was in that condition when the time cameto return home. The day before we were to start, I concluded I musthave one more hunt. It had rained the night before; the sand was damp;it was cloudy, quite warm, and a strong south wind was blowing. I wouldget warm in walking (the sand there is very slavish to walk in), andwould sit down and let the wind cool me off. I should have had morediscretion; but sometimes people act with very little sense about suchthings. Before I reached the house I felt acute inflammation of themucus membrane, to the bottom of my lungs. In three hours fever set in, and I was completely prostrated. I remained there about three weeks, and the doctors urged my return as the only chance of recovery. Theyconsidered that very hazardous, on account of exposure to cold; but tostay there was less hopeful. I was taken to the boat, carried on boardby two men, then carried off at Jacksonville to a hack, taken to ahotel, thence to the train. I secured a good berth in a sleeper, andgot through without the least trouble. I improved, every mile of theway; but as soon as I got home I went down again, and was extremely lowfor some time. My dread of dying in Florida and having my wife return with my body, was such that I concentrated all my prayers to that one point. I prayedthe Lord to enable me to get home, that I might die in the midst of myfamily. I felt and prayed that if He would enable me to reach home, Hecould have the rest all His own way, without any further petition. Heenabled me to rally, gave a week of the best weather of the wholeseason, brought me home under the most favorable circumstances, and Inever afterwards felt free to ask Him to restore me to health, and havenever done it. It may be wrong, but I promised to let Him have the restall His own way, and my prayers have ever since conformed to that idea. I never could have believed, till I experienced it, that one couldbecome so indifferent as to whether he lived or died, I saw many days, after my return from Florida, when it was a matter of perfectindifference to me; previous anxiety to get home, and the resolution toleave all the rest to the Lord, had no doubt much to do with it. Iobserved this, however: that as hope revived, a desire to live wouldarise in proportion. When there was little or no prospect, there waslittle or no concern. When I was at my worst, I decided, taking my past and present conditioninto consideration, the medicine I was taking, the attention received, etc. , that if I did not take a turn for the better by a certain day, then in three days the case would be entirely hopeless. In theafternoon of that day the change came. That evening I took somenourishment--the first for fourteen days. After I sufficiently recovered to be able to do anything, I was anxiousto get my business arranged, with a view to death. I never expected tobe able to write another editorial, and I was concerned about makingsome arrangement by which to get rid of the _Guide_ and itsresponsibility. I was not pleased with its business management, and didnot want to leave it as the property of my family, not knowing whattrouble it might give nor what expense it might involve them in. Andwithout a change in management, I knew it could never be of any profit. I wrote for Bro. Srygley to come, and I sold him my remaininghalf-interest. My purpose was to resign, and thus have no furtherconnection with it. But he would not buy unless I would agree to let myname remain, with a promise to resume the responsibility of chiefeditor if I should ever get able; and the firm would consent to thesale only upon these conditions. So I had to sell upon thoseconditions, or not sell at all. The latter part of September the company urged me to begin to writeagain, if it were at all possible, even if it were only a fewparagraphs each week. They said the impression everywhere entertainedthat I would not recover, was injuring the paper very much. The peoplewere losing interest in it. They insisted that I should counteract thatfeeling as much as possible. Under this pressure, though confined to mybed and suffering every hour, I began writing, the first of October, and never after missed a week. That winter I stayed at home, and wasnot out of my room for eight months. The last of August I started toMidway, to see Dr. Lucy. I got as far as Louisville, and could get nofurther. We dispatched for the Doctor, and he came down. After restinga few days I got home, the last of August, and I was not out of thedoor again till the last of April. During that winter I did a largeamount of writing, besides my weekly work on the _Guide_. June 10 I went to Louisville to attend the International Sunday-schoolConvention, but was able to get out only a few times. I attended theState meeting at Paris, but was able to take no part. I greatly enjoyedmeeting with the brethren, and hearing them concerning the things ofthe kingdom of God. These convocations are seasons of refreshing fromthe presence of the Lord. The first of October we went to Mason, in South-west Texas, to spendthe winter. Here, as at De Land, it looked as if the hand of Providenceguided us. We knew no one there, but we found some of the dearest andbest friends of our lives. They had been taking the _Guide_, and, incompetition with several other places that wanted us, made such aliberal offer that our trip cost us nothing. They seemed to anticipateall our wants, and find great pleasure in supplying them. The Lord hasalways blessed me with many good friends--more than I deserved. I havefelt, for a number of years, that I was greatly overestimated, and ithas been a source of no little humiliation. I should have quiteditorial work several years ago, and lived in obscurity here at myretired home, if I could have done so. I appreciate the good opinion ofmy brethren, to the extent that I think it is merited; but to realizethat I am not what I am thought by some to be, is a greatmortification. I am now at home enjoying the company of my family, the quiet of myhome, with every want anticipated and supplied by a devoted wife andchildren, pleasantly, though in much feebleness, doing my work on the_Guide_, and putting in my spare time in other writing. I find mygreatest pleasure in being about my Father's business. I must beemployed. I expect to thus work on till the Master says, "It isenough. " MT. BYRD, Ky. , June 13, 1885. CHAPTER XIX. Reflections on his Fiftieth Birthday. What a Wonderful Being isMan! Governed, not by Instinct, but by Reason. Man Lives by Deeds, notYears. How to Grow Old. Half of Life Spent in Satan's Service. RenewedConsecration. Last Three Birthdays. His Trust in God. The seventh day of March has come again. Fifty times has come thisanniversary of my natal day! Half a hundred years old to-day! What aperiod through which to carry the burdens and responsibilities of life!(What a time for which to give account to God for wasted moments andopportunities lost!) What a period to be devoted to building acharacter for the skies! What a period of time devoted to the issues ofeternity! What a wonderful being is man! Time is but his cradle, from which hewalks forth into a world where life is parallel with the ages of God. An intelligent, expansive being that will never cease to be--what athought! When the sun grows gray with age, his eye is dimmed, anddarkness reigns, man will still be drinking in the light of heaven fromthe morning star of eternity. The century-living crow doubles thisperiod of man's probation, with life as it began. She builds her nestthe last year, as she did the first, with no improvement sought. Sherears her young the hundredth time as she did the first, by the longexperience none the wiser. This is her nature. God made her thus. Instinct is wonderful, but it never improves. It grows not wiser withage nor the ages. It nothing from experience learns. The sparrow buildsher nest, and the beaver his dam, just as they did in the years beforethe flood. The little quails an hour from the shell, will hide at thedanger-signal of the mother bird, when they never saw a hawk, nor heardof one's existence. How different this from man! More helpless than thestupid beast, and more senseless than the creeping worm, he starts tomake the pilgrimage of life. But what a change does time produce! Thechild more helpless than the humming insect of an hour, becomes themonarch of the world. He bridles the lightning in its home above themountain peaks, and makes it do his bidding. The terror of the agespast, becomes his willing servant. He harnesses the steam, that forages spent its power in the open air, and with it moves the world. Hesends his whisperings through old ocean's bed, where the greatleviathan sports, as if he talked to one across the room. He leapsaloft as if on steady wing, till his look is downward where thelightnings play and the thunderbolt leaps to its deadly mission. Wonderful development! The heavens declare the glory of God, and theearth proclaims the dominion of man. He was made a little lower thanthe angels, and crowned with majesty. Age counts with man, and yearsbring knowledge, but not unfailing wisdom. Did man grow wise with age, as a sure result, age should be an unfailing blessing sought. Butimbecility it often brings and childish discontent. These are theblighted sheaves of evil sowing in the spring and summer days of life. With right ideas of life, men grow wiser and better, as they older growin the service of their God. Life is not measured simply by the flightof time. Men live more now than they did before the flood. Intensernow is _life_. Into a few decades, is now crowded the patriarch'sexperience of nearly a thousand years. How to grow old, is a problemnot to be despised. It should not be left to solve itself. To grow oldgracefully, is to make a picture on which the world delights to look. But, alas! how sadly blurred is the picture by many made! It is sad tosee one's religion sour with age. While young and strong the loveddisciple on the bosom of the Master leaned. Then when age had dimmedhis eagle eye, and time had stolen his elastic step, he had the samelove for his children in the faith. His was a sweet old age, theoutgrowth of a life of faith and love. He grew old gracefully. Whenbrought, as was his wont, and before his congregation set, his lastsermons were mainly the touching, tender words, "My little children, love one another. " O, that his mantle could on many of us fall! Butoft, alas! we see grow cross, self-willed and sour the shepherd of theflock. This, too, when age should give his words both weight andwisdom. Lord, give me poverty and affliction, if it be thy will, butsave me, I pray, from this sad end. Far better that one die young, than grow old against the grain. "Is life worth living?" the sages ask. That depends on how one lives it. Lived aright, it is worth living, andmany such worlds as this beside. Otherwise 'tis not. Of right living, the more the better; of wrong, the less. The life lived faithfully toGod, can never be too long; its opposite, too short. Of the half-century, this day gone, one claim I can safely make--it wasnot spent in idleness. The years to Satan's service given, were well tohis account put in; and those devoted to a better cause, I have triedto give as faithfully to Him to whom they all belonged. For the yearsin Satan's service spent, like Saul of Tarsus, I conscientiousignorance plead. O'er eyes unused to heaven's light, sectarianism'svail was thick. But no sooner was known the way of life, than in itspath I tried to walk; and in it have I tried to keep, till this goodday. Thus equally divided has the time been spent. Except the years ofchildish innocence, twenty-five were in the service spent of him whofor this life pays the soul in spurious coin, and leaves it bankrupt inthe life beyond; while an equal number, praise the Lord, have a betterMaster claimed. For the rest of life, be it long or short, the longside will the right side be, while hitherto it otherwise has been. Theperiods of service have not before been equally divided, nor will theybe again. But the sides have changed proportions, praise the Lord!Should not this turning-point in life an epoch make? A half century, and a half divided life, in one! Surely I shall not look upon its likeagain. The past few birthdays I have noted as those of former years were notednot, and for reasons I need hardly state. The first that deepimpression on the mind did make since apprehension was that each wouldbe the last, was three years ago, amid the orange groves of the sunnySouth. The day was lovely as the Queen of May; and friends more lovelythan the day, made it a time not to be forgotten. The feasting of theouter man was the lesser part of the day's enjoyment. "The feast ofreason and the flow of soul" was chief. Three of us were seeking healthin that sunny land. Two have found it, but not there. In a fairer landby far than this world can boast, did they find the fountain ofperpetual health. Beneath the branches of the tree of life, have theyalso sat and plucked its leaves for the healing of the nations given. I, the feeblest of the three, and thought the nearest to the other sideto be, on the shores of time am struggling still. Thus it is with man'spoor guessing. Two years ago the day was cold and bleak. It drizzled through thedreary hours, freezing as it fell. But to many loving hearts, its sleetand rain were not its gloom. On this day was laid to rest in MotherEarth the loved remains of one numbered in the health-seeking trio ofthe year before. What a contrast with that day one year before! The dayand its events, how sadly changed! But such is life. Well do I rememberon this asking, "Shall I another birthday live to see?" And well do Iremember, too, the thought expressed in grave response. While, in theprovidence of God, it was possible, of course, the other way were allthe probabilities. But this so oft before the case had been, it left aray of hope. And that has now been more than realized. As said oursweetest poet, how truly can we say: "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. " One year ago, in the balmy breezes of the "Lone Star" State, compelledwas I by feebleness of frame to miss the sumptuous feast by lovinghands so deftly spread. And sad, yet happy thought, those as ever readyon the poor to wait, are now in those of the Master clasped. And stillI linger, and the years go by. Such is life. Deep and many are hermysteries. God knows it all, but he keeps it to himself. But what arenow the prospects for the year to come? Better now, by far, than theybefore have been in all these dreary years of pain. Would it not bestrange, if once again in providence divine I should mingle with myfellow men, and tell them, as of yore, the story of the cross? Indeed, it would; but stranger things have happened. Stranger things byprovidence divine have come to pass without the aid of "Warner's SafeCure, " or other disgusting humbuggery, with its offensive intrusioninto the reading of decent men. The providence of God is not dependenton patent nostrums; nor is He limited in His healing power to calomelor blue mass. Prayer is oft more potent than all the noxious drugs ofman's device. God has promised, when consistent with His holy will, theprayers of His believing children to hear and bless. And in numbersmore by far than this poor life is worth, have these from earnest, pleading souls gone up to God. Hence to-day we rest in the cheeringhope that these have not been in vain. Should it please the Lord to give the health I need to fight again thebattles of Christian life, what responsibilities will it bring! Thatstrength must all be counted His who gave it. All those years must bewholly His, His cause to serve. The interests of His kingdom to Hischildren left, must be strictly guarded. Conflicts with men, even thosewe love, will come to him who strictly guards the faith, as Judedirects. In all conflicts with fellow men, for two good graces I humblypray--the courage of Paul and the gentleness of John. This holy Lord's-day morning, the sun rose bright and charming as onthe seventh day of March it did three years ago in the sunny land ofFlorida. For the first time in many weary months did I a whiff of theoutside air inhale. Oh! how delicious! 'Twas like a prisoner's whiff ofthe air of freedom. But this was not the best. To sit again with thebrethren around the table of the Lord and hear again the sweet oldstory that is forever new, what a feast to the hungry soul! Then thebirthday feast is next to be enjoyed. Loved ones gathered at the dearold "cottage home" to celebrate the marked event with music, song andrecitation. The birthday cakes and other "dainty tricks" by loving hands preparedand sent to grace the festive board, told tales of love. One thingalone marred the pleasure of the day and checked the overflow of itscup of bliss: Two loved and loving ones were far away and disappointedin their hope of being here. These would have made the ring complete, the family circle whole. But such, again, is life. Its disappointmentswill forever come. We should expect them, therefore, and be content. This is my fiftieth milestone along life's rugged road. At thishalf-century mark I set up a pillar, as did Jacob of old. "Here I'll raise my Ebenezer, Hither by Thy help I've come, And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. " Thus far in life has a loving Father led me, and in his providentialcare I trust for all the rest. I place my trusting hand in His, askingto be led as He sees the way. "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, " shallbe my constant prayer. And thus, dear Father, the rest of life I leavewith thee. Dear Lord, should birthdays more be mine To spend on earth to Thee, Thy cause shall claim them wholly Thine As earnest work can be. And should'st Thou will the next be one In Thy bright home above, I gladly say, "Thy will be done, " And join Thee in Thy love. COTTAGE HOME, March 7, 1886. CHAPTER XX. Conclusion by the Editor. Tokens of Love from Many. Keeps Writing. Controversy with the _Standard_. Last Meeting with His Mother. Visitedby Professors McGarvey and Graham. Commits His Writings to the Latter. Visits Eminence and Lexington. Many Brethren Come to See Him. Meetingat Mt. Byrd. Estimate of His Character. The Closing Scenes. Farewell toHis Family. Dies. Funeral Services. The foregoing autobiography closes with June 13, 1885, while the lifeof the author was prolonged till January 6, 1887, and it remains forthe editor to record a few of the incidents transpiring in theinterval; and to bring this remarkable recital to a close. Midsummer found Bro. Allen in his "Cottage Home, " at Mt. Byrd, growingweaker in body day by day, but with no very acute suffering. Everythingthat devoted love on the part of his family and church could suggestfor his comfort was done; and there were not wanting from abroad manytokens of undying affection, as it became generally known that he wasgradually but surely passing away. Many of his friends, and especiallypreachers, came to Mt. Byrd as to a Mecca, to find their pilgrimagerepaid in the fresh inspiration received by communing with this saintlyman. The company of his brethren did not weary him; on the contrary, itseemed to have a favorable effect on both his body and mind; he greatlydesired the visits of his friends, and found comfort in them. Stillmany were deterred from going to see him for fear it might disturb thequiet which they hoped would contribute to lengthen out his days. Meanwhile he kept writing with a diligence and persistence marvelous tothose who witnessed it, and incredible to others; so much so, that manyat a distance could not understand how one so near the grave couldcontinue to write so much and so well; hence the hope entertained thathe might survive for years to bless the church and the world. It mustbe remembered that his disease never affected his mind, and that, likemost persons who die of consumption, he retained the full possession ofhis mental faculties even unto the end. Besides, he was sustained by anindomitable will that hesitated at nothing that stood in the way ofduty; added to which was an unfaltering trust in God and a joyousresignation to His will, causing him to cease praying for longer life. Propped up in an invalid chair with a convenience of his own invention, he continued his weekly editorials to the _Guide_ as regularly as ever, and developed abilities as an editor that none suspected he possessedtill the last years of his life. It was at this time that the unfortunate controversy began between the_Guide_ and the _Standard_ about our work in London, England, causingso much regret on the part of many friends of both papers. It wasfeared by some that this controversy would work irreparable injury toour mission enterprises, not only in England, but in other lands, forwe all realized that Titans were engaged in the conflict; men, not likethose of old, giants in physical strength and daring, but ofintellectual power intensified by the love of God and his cause. Ofcourse the disputants viewed the matter from different angles, andboth, we must think, were equally sincere in their convictions. Thepresent writer was not of those who thought upon the whole harm wouldcome of this dispute, though he deeply regretted the asperity withwhich it was conducted. In our present imperfect state we need, I doubtnot, these conflicts to remind us of our frailty, and if only we havegrace to profit by them, God will turn them to our good and to His ownglory. It is a source of devout thankfulness to those who knew Bro. Allen's unselfish purpose, that many who censured his course unitedwith multitudes who approved it in paying honor to his memory, when themessenger who ends all earthly strifes called him to his final account. In July, 1885, his aged and revered mother made him a visit, andremained some time; it was their last meeting; and now that her giftedson has gone to his reward, she waits in joyous hope for the day thatshall reunite them forever. A few weeks later it was the pleasure of the writer, in company withProf. McGarvey, to spend two days at Mt. Byrd, in delightful fellowshipwith this grand man. He had been apprised of our coming, and wasprepared for it. Truly, to him and to us it was a foretaste of the joysof the future world, and we left him the same resolute, confidingservant of Christ he had ever been, wholly resigned to the will of Godand rejoicing in assured hope of eternal rest. It pleased his Master to protract his life and usefulness a littlelonger, and so 1885 closed, and we find him still with his family, receiving many tokens of love from them and from brethren far away. Spring comes, and birds and flowers; the bright sunshine beams into hischamber, and now and then he is barely able to walk out to see and feelhis Father's goodness bathing all things in quiet beauty. He repinesnot, knowing that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. " He continues to write, and with the rest the preceding chapter of"Reflections on his Fiftieth Birthday. " He commits it, his diary, andother writings to me, with the request that I do with them as I thinkbest, for now he is sure that this unequal contest with mortality cannot last much longer. Summer comes, and with it increasing weakness, but no diminution of histrust in God. He wishes to visit Eminence once more, and to see his twoyounger daughters graduate from the college that had helped himself informer years. He attends, and then, unable to walk without help, hecomes on to Lexington, to spend commencement week among his friends andbrethren; this done, he returns to his beloved Mt. Byrd, to leave it nomore till he goes to stand with the redeemed on the Mount of God. During the fall of this year hardly a week passed that several of hisrelatives and Christian brethren were not found at his home; and didnot the limit of this chapter forbid, we would like to record theirnames, for in love they came to testify their admiration for him andtheir sympathy with his sorrowing family. For one and all he had a wordof cheer, and none came away without being deeply impressed with theconviction that he had been with one of the purest and best of men--onewho lived in daily communion with his Maker. His one theme ofconversation was religion, and if we may judge from his increasingdelight in it, to no one was death a more gentle transition from faithto sight. Narrow, indeed, to him was the bourn that divides the seenfrom the unseen, the temporal from the eternal, and the labors of earthfrom the felicities of heaven. He daily lived upon the boundary of twoworlds. In October, Bro. J. K. P. South held a meeting with the Mt. Byrdchurch, and, though feeble beyond measure, Bro. Allen made out toattend a few times, and even to take part in prayer and exhortation, sitting in his chair. Only twice after this was he able to be carriedto the Lord's house, but on neither occasion could he take an activepart in the worship. In all the relations of life Bro. Allen was a model of all that islovable in human character--kind, gentle, considerate of the feelingsof others, even the least, and always cheerful. A refined and delicatehumor pervaded his conversation, which was always chaste andinstructive. There was in him a moderation that always attends reservedpower, and a candor that was transparent; these qualities, united withan equipoise of intellectual and moral strength, harmony of emotions, and hatred of everything mean or unfair, made him revered by hisfriends, and an idol in his household. Wife, children, servants, allwho came into that charmed circle, were attached to him in a love thatbordered on idolatry. To draw a portraiture of this remarkable manwould indeed be a pleasing task did space allow--his logicalpenetration, depth of feeling, strength of will, energy, industry, unwavering faith in God and goodness, and, crowning all, his fidelityto the gospel of Christ--but it is unnecessary. To us who knew himthese virtues were conspicuous; by others, they may be gathered fromthe unvarnished story of his life as it is told in the foregoing pages. We must hasten to the closing scene. On New Year's day, 1887, he laid down his pen to resume it again nomore. He was forced to this by sheer exhaustion; his body was wasted toa skeleton, and it was clear to all that the end was near. Havingsuffered much for several days, but without a murmur, on the evening ofJan. 5 he requested all his family to come to his bedside, and whiletheir hearts were breaking for grief and all eyes were blinded withtears, he spoke to them for the last time. "My dear children, " said he, "I want to say a few things to you while Ican. I may not be able to do it if I put it off longer. I will soonleave you, and I know you will miss me. It is hard for you to give meup, but it is the will of God, and you must bear up as best you can. Iam sure I have always had your love, and you have always obeyed me; andnow I want you to always love and obey your mother. Remember, whereveryou may be, that you are all of one household. Live in peace, and letno strife or discord spring up among you. " Taking the hand of each ofhis daughters, he asked them to meet him in heaven, and then kissedthem good-bye. Laying his hand upon Frank's head, he said, "My dear son, papa has toleave you. " "O papa, " said the lad, "pray not to die. " "We have prayed, my dear boy, but it is God's will to take me home, and He knows best. You must love your mamma and obey her; be good to your sisters. I wantyou to grow up and become a minister of the gospel. Try to make abetter preacher than your papa has been. Be studious and industrious, and live so that you may at last meet me in heaven. May God bless you, my son, and keep you in His care. Kiss me good-bye. " Throwing one arm around his wife, he said, "My dear, my affliction hasbeen a blessing to me in having you near me all the time. You have beeneverything on earth that a good wife could be. I have loved you evenmore in my affliction than I ever did before. I want to thank you forall your kindness to me and loving care of me. If I have ever done orsaid anything I should not, I want you to forgive me now. I can say onmy dying bed that I have always been a true husband to you. I have madethe best provision I could for you and the children, and if thereshould appear any mistakes they have not been of my heart. " He thenbade her a long and last farewell. He then blessed his three little grandchildren and kissed them;expressed a desire to see his "dear old mother, " brother and sistersonce more, and spoke of some business matters a moment, then said, "This is too sacred for that. " For two or three days before this he had been able to speak only a fewwords at a time; but throughout this interview with his family, hisvoice was as strong and clear as it had ever been. After this hisbreathing became difficult, and he could gasp only a single word nowand then. He seemed to have no wish to be occupied with this world. Theweary traveler had at last reached the goal; and about nine o'clockThursday night, January 6, 1887, his pure spirit left its frailtenement to suffer no more. The following account of his funeral, written by his devoted friend andChristian brother, W. K. Azbill, may well close the biography of FrankGibbs Allen: "IT IS FINISHED. " It is finished. The struggle with his fatal malady is over at last, and F. G. Allen is at rest. He sank into a quiet sleep last Thursday night, Jan. 6, 1887. A few friends were notified of the end by telegrams, and that the burial would take place from Mt. Byrd Church on Sunday, but the condition of the Ohio River rendered it extremely difficult to reach "Cottage Home. " However, in spite of the difficulties and dangers in crossing the river, and the extreme cold weather, there were seven ministers and a very large audience present at the burial. The people came over the snow and through the snow, in sleighs and sleds and buggies, afoot and on horseback, till the large country audience-room was well filled. The presence of such an assembly on such a day evinced the truth of what is now widely known, that Frank Allen was loved best where he has lived and labored for the past sixteen years. The services were begun by Bro. A. W. Kokendoffer, who lead in an invocation of divine blessing and strength and guidance. The congregation then sang "Nearer, My God, to Thee. " The writer read the following Scriptures; John xiv. 1-4, 27, 28; I. Cor. Xv. 51-58; I. Thess. Iv. 13-18; II. Sam, iii. 31-39, repeating 38. He felt that he should not, because he could not speak on the occasion. He had followed the inclinations of his own grief, and had come as a mourner and not as a comforter. We had not met to tell how much we esteemed our departed brother, or how much we loved him, or how much we should miss him, now that he has gone. The gap is a wide one he has left in the family, in the congregation of his love, and in the larger church; and it will seem wider and wider as the days go by. We had come as his brothers and sisters--as those who loved him--to lay him away in the grave, and to ask God's help and blessing in this time of loss and sorrow. He then led in worship, thanking God for His gift to the church of the precious life that had just been surrendered at His call; praising God for His love of brave and true men like him; expressing the loving confidence of all that the heavenly Father would deal tenderly with our widowed sister and her children; asking especially that the little boy might live to honor the name of his beloved father, and praying that the dear church, that has borne him on their hearts through all this anxious time of weakness and suffering, might forever be blessed by the memory of his godly life in it. The song, "Asleep in Jesus, " was then sung, after which President R. Graham, of the College of the Bible, addressed the audience on the life and character of the deceased. He had thought of how truly it might be said of him, that "There is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel. " He had felt inclined to derive comfort for the church, and to those to whom he was doubly dear, from the passage in the Apocalypse, "I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors: and their works do follow them. " He did not know whether others would be present to take part in the services. But Bro. Kurfees was here from the churches in Louisville, and, as a representative of the _Guide_, Bro. McDiarmid, from Cincinnati, to represent his associates in our other publishing interests, and Bro. Azbill, from Indianapolis, connected with our missionary interests, while he himself brought the sympathies of those in the College of the Bible. He felt there was a suitableness in all this, for all these things were dear to the heart of our brother. He then proceeded to give a sketch of his life and career. There were several distinct periods in his history. The first was from his birth, March 7, 1836, to his marriage in 1856, a period of about twenty years. Here he spoke of his early struggles for an education, and of the signs of a useful life manifested even then. The second, from the time of his marriage till his entry upon general evangelistic work, about 1866. During this decade he became a Christian, resolved to preach the gospel, and entered and passed through a course of collegiate studies in Eminence College. The third period began with his evangelistic labors. During this time he became a pastor of the Mt. Byrd church. During this period most of his public discussions were held. It was through these labors that he was revealed to his brethren as a man who was greater than we knew. The last period began with his editorial career, and closed with his death. He became first a contributing editor of _The Apostolic Times_, and afterwards co-editor. Then he became the proprietor and editor of _The Old-Path Guide_, which, in the course of events, was consolidated with the _Times_, and became _The Apostolic Guide_. President Graham then spoke of his character and his characteristic abilities. He was a sincere man, he was a conscientious man, he was a brave, true man; he was a pure-minded man, he was a godly man. His ability was not that of the great scholar, but of the logician of keen, accurate perceptions. He was not an encyclopedia, but a compact volume of naked logic. He was capable of the very nicest discriminations; and he had the faculty of pointing out a fallacy with marvelous clearness, and of turning an objection to his position into an argument in its favor. He was sometimes misunderstood; but he was always true to his convictions, and there was no honorable thing he would not do for the truth's sake. He believed in the gospel as the power of God unto salvation; and he made no compromises with doctrines in conflict with his conviction that the gospel must be believed and obeyed by those who would be saved. The speaker said many tender and fatherly things to the bereaved family and to the church, one of which was that we who knew of our brother's sufferings, could have had but the one motive of selfishness for detaining him an hour longer than he lingered with us. Bro. M. C. Kurfees followed the remarks of President Graham with some comforting reflections on Bro. Allen's views of death and of the future life. He spoke of his willingness "to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. " Heaven is not a far off place, but an actual spiritual presence with God. He spoke of the blessedness of being always ready for this change from our life in the body to our life with God in the invisible world. Bro. McDiarmid closed the services with suitable remarks and an earnest prayer. After the singing of the song, "Jesus, Lover of my Soul, " came the final leave-taking, and the departure from the church to the grave. Not the least touching of these scenes was the breaking down in grief of the sturdy yeomen of the congregation as they stood around the bier of their dear brother and former pastor, and looked on that manly face and form for the last time. Finally we laid him to rest in the burying-place near by. At the grave the closing prayer was offered by Bro. Wm. Buchanan, who referred tenderly to his aged mother and absent relatives. And thus the final scenes closed. His resting-place is a lovely spot, overlooking the city of Madison, commanding an extended view of the river valley, and in sight of the stream and of all the vessels that go by. It is near to his "Cottage Home" and to the church he so much loved; and the spot will be all the dearer now that he sleeps in it. Only four days ago the writer said in a letter to the family: "I linger on the eve of taking a long voyage, and he may soon go on a very short one; but which of these shall be made the occasion of saying 'good-bye, ' I hardly know. " Even then the solitary voyager was on his way. The breakers dashed about him as he launched; the great billows roared beneath and around him as he went out; the waves broke over each other in ripples as he passed on; and the ripples hushed into whispers as he neared the other shore. At last he took the adorable divine Guide by the hand, and passed beyond our view. PART II. --ADDRESSES. I. --CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY: THEIR RELATION AND NECESSITY. [An Address Delivered Before Eminence College, June 8, 1877. ] There are periods in our history which form the oases in the desert oflife. In one of these our spirits are to-day refreshed. Its dark shadeand cooling fountain strengthen us for the onward pilgrimage. From itsgreen sward we pluck bright flowers, whose fragrance will linger withus till the end of life's journey. From these let us to-day weave freshgarlands, which shall ever exhale the sweetness of these associations. This is ever a proud day for Eminence College. Annually on thesefestive occasions do the hearts of the many thousands who have gone outfrom these classic halls turn to them again with longing. Memory, unfettered by space, walks again amid these lovely bowers and respondsunconsciously to the greetings of other days. Though separated far, andmingling in the busy scenes of life, how their souls revel in thesedelights! These college associations are the golden links which bindmany hearts in an unbroken chain. The chords so exquisitely touched inour hearts to-day will vibrate for an age. Ere these sweet strains dieaway on the distant air they will be caught up by responsive hearts andreëchoed round the earth. These are times in our college life that mustever be linked with the future. Memory will ever delight to lift theheavy curtain of material life, and behold again these visions ofbeauty, and paint in fancy these rose tints of youth. Then let this daybe one whose brightness shall shed a ray of celestial light along thepath of life. Let our spirits bathe in the fountain of living waters, while the chords of our hearts are swept with entrancing melodies. "Then th' inexpressive strain Diffuses its enchantment. Fancy dreams Of sacred fountains and Elysian groves, And vales of bliss; the intellectual power Bends from his awful throne a wandering ear, And smiles. " As a theme worthy of your consideration to-day, I have selected "_Culture and Christianity: Their Relation and Necessity_. " The Greek word for man, [Greek: anthropos], signifies etymologically to_look upward_. Man is the only terrestrial being capable of lookinginward and upward. In this there lies between him and the animalcreation an impassable gulf. Man alone can look into his inner nature, and thereby make his very failures the stepping-stones to a higherlife. God designed that man's progress should be upward; hence his highdestiny is attained, not by creation, but by development. The ladder atwhose foot he begins his immortal career rests upon the eternal throne. This is not a development _into_ man, but a development _of_ man. Thetheory of development into man is of the flesh; but the development ofman is of the spirit. Since man is destined for eternity, it is notbefitting that he should attain perfection in time. Hence he does notdevelop as the beast of the field, or the fowl of the air. They soonlearn all that they ever know. They soon enjoy all they are capable ofenjoying. They soon attain to the perfection of their being, andfulfill the end of their creation. The swallow builds her nest and thebeaver his dam precisely as they did in the days before the flood. Norcan it ever be otherwise. But it is not so with man. This life is tooshort and this world too small for his development. He but begins tolive in this world. This life is simply a state of probation. Ourfaculties but begin to unfold on the things of time when we are calledhence. This unfolding of our faculties, this development of our innerself, is the result of culture--a culture not of the flesh, but of thespirit; not of the outer, but of the inner man. Culture and Christianity, properly considered, are inseparable. He whorelies on culture apart from Christianity misconceives the end of hisbeing. He appreciates not his high destiny. Animals have mindssusceptible of a high degree of cultivation, but not of a culture whichreaches beyond time. Their culture is wholly a thing of this life; butnot more so than is the culture of men unsanctified by the religion ofChrist. A culture that terminates with death is in harmony with thenature of a horse, but contrary to the nature of a man. What isculture? This is a question on whose solution man's eternal destiny islargely suspended. Our age prides itself on being an age of culture;but do we know in what true culture really consists? As a whole, Ithink not. A smattering of sentimental literature, a superficialrefinement of manners, a few borrowed phrases and appropriated customsof "society, " the rendering of a few pieces by rote, and fashionabledress, constitute with, alas! too many the standard of culture. Howunworthy of their race are those who entertain the thought! All thismay be but the gilding of barbarism; beneath this external glitterthere may be a heart and character steeped in moral rudeness anddegradation. True culture consists not in the cultivation of outward accomplishments. It consists not in intellectual acquirements. It consists in thedevelopment of the triune man--body, soul and spirit--in their divineharmony. Without a cultivation of the spirit in harmony with itsimmortal destiny, all that this world calls culture is but the gildedtinsel that bedecks the putrefaction of death. The truly cultured manis developed in harmony with the laws of his being. This being iscompound, having a fleshly and a spiritual side. Hence, to cultivateone to the neglect of the other is to disproportion him whom Godcreated in His own image. As we exist first in time and next ineternity, that culture which loses sight of either state misconceivesthe full mission of man. Man's conception of his present mission andultimate destiny determines his standard of culture. He must have anideal, and if that ideal be low, his life will be correspondingly low. Nothing but Christianity can furnish man an ideal worthy of himself;and nothing but Christian culture can develop him in the direction ofthat ideal. Classical antiquity never conceived a destiny worthy of man. It nevercontemplated him in that relation of Christ-likeness to his God, whichthe Bible reveals. Even Aristotle, the most cultivated of all heathenphilosophers, thought that only a part of mankind possessed a rationalsoul. With such a conception man is incapable of the highest culture. It is degrading to his dignity. All culture based on such a hypothesismust be a culture of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is theculture of materialism, not of Christianity. Between modern materialismand the cultivated heathenism of the ancient Greeks the difference isnot worth the naming. "To assume the existence of a soul, " says Vogt, "which uses the brain as an instrument with which to work as itpleases, is utter nonsense. Physiology distinctly and categoricallypronounces against any individual immortality, and against all ideaswhich are connected with a figment of a separate existence of thesoul. " "Man, " says Moleschott, "is produced from wind and ashes. Theaction of vegetable life called him into existence. . . . Thought consistsin the motion of matter, it is a translocation of the cerebralsubstance; without phosphorus there can be no thought; and consciousnessitself is nothing but an attribute of matter. " This deification of theflesh, this "gospel of dirt, " makes man consist simply of what he eats. The missionaries of this heathen gospel have no need to address thereason of men; only feed them on the right kind of food and theirregeneration is accomplished! Materialism is a religion of the flesh, adeification of matter; its laver of regeneration is the chemist'sretort; its new birth, phosphorus! Give the brain plenty of phosphorusby high living, and you develop the _soul_ of materialism! Yet theheralds of this soulless gospel talk flippantly about culture! Man's fall was due to an attempt to acquire knowledge at the expense ofheart culture. Here, amid the bowers of "paradise lost" is found theroot of all false culture, and from that root the world has ever beenfilled with a noxious growth. True culture consists in a correction ofthe process which "Brought death into the world, And all our woe. " Man in his spiritual nature must be educated back to the divine imagefrom which he fell. No culture comprehending less than this has everproved a permanent blessing to the race. The highest culture hithertoattained apart from Christianity was incapable of saving its devoteesfrom ruin. Greece and Rome were never more cultured, in a popularsense, than when they began to go down in death. Materialistic culturewas their winding-sheet, and "A Religion of the Flesh" should be theirepitaph. As Christlieb has truly said: "Wherever civilization is notmade to rest on the basis of moral and religious truth it can notattain to any permanent existence, and is incapable of preserving thenations possessed of it from spiritual starvation, to say nothing ofpolitical death. " It is idle to boast of Liberty when the foundations of her temples arenot laid in divine truth. Of this, Greece and Rome have furnished theworld examples. In Greece freedom had a field peculiarly her own; shebreathed her inspiration into the people, and her spirit into theirliterature; she lived in the deeds of their youth, and was sung by themuse of their bards. This spirit was diffused in Rome. Plato, Aristotleand Homer were transplanted to the Rhine, the Seine, and the Thames. Their land was full of liberty and culture, but not the liberty nor theculture of the soul. When we learn from Tacitus that "in the firstcentury, in a time of famine, all the teachers of youth were banishedfrom the city, and six thousand dancers were retained, " we have anexample of that culture which made Rome a sink of iniquity. It is notimpossible that the fatal mistake of Greece and Rome should be repeatedin our own country. We are venturing to some extent on the slipperyplaces from which they fell. The evil star of their national ruin isthat on which the eyes of many of our political leaders are fixed. Thegodless spirit that animated the Roman senate is being nursed into newlife in American politics, and this nursing is not simply in the hallsof legislation, but in the homes of the people. Here lies the trouble. If the American republic ever goes down in ruin, the power that hurlsit from its high position will be enthroned in the family circle. We complain that those in authority have not the fear of God beforetheir eyes. We lift our hands in holy horror at the public corruptionwhich brings our nation into dishonor before the world. But who is toblame? One political party is ever ready to ascribe all the corruptionof the country to its political rival. But this godless disregard ofnational honor and national interest is confined to no party. Neitheris it confined to party leaders; but it controls the people on whom theleaders rely for support. Here is the seat of the disease which isgnawing at the vitals of the republic. The man who now refuses to caterto the depraved tastes of the masses, can not, as a rule, be promotedto office. How many men can sit in the halls of legislation, or even onour benches of justice, who persistently refuse to influence men'svotes by money, or inflame their passions and sway their judgment withstrong drink? When a man of a high sense of moral honor seeks promotionby the suffrage of his fellow-citizens, he soon learns that he mustcome down from his "stilted dignity" or be defeated. In the excitementof the canvass he yields to base motives to prevent defeat. Hecompromises his high sense of honor, deadens his conscience, and sellsout his manhood to secure an honorable (?) position. We should notexpect men to manifest a high sense of honor in public places as longas we require them to compromise their honor in order to secure suchplaces. The thing is both unreasonable and unjust. As well expect sweetwater to flow from a fountain which we have made bitter! Party spirit is hostile to moral purity. As one becomes filled with thespirit of party, to that extent does he surrender the freedom of a man. He can neither think nor speak impartially. He stifles the convictionsof conscience and shouts the shibboleth of party. With him the triumphof party is infinitely dearer than the maintenance of principle. Hencethe conflict becomes a struggle, not for principle, but for victory. The people are distracted and the nation brought to the verge of ruinover the most trivial matters. The Eastern empire was once shaken toits foundation by parties which differed only about the merits ofcharioteers at the amphitheater. This ruinous party spirit is fostered by ignorance. The masses who arecontrolled at the ballot-box by the basest influences, because theywill not be controlled by any other; and who in turn control theballots of our country, are, as a rule, the uncultured part of society. The better class of citizens are not approached with the influenceswhich control the ignorant. Therefore, the remedy is in the _correct_education of the masses. The emphasis is correctly made; for any kindof education will not accomplish this end. Only as people are _truly_cultured do they cease to be tools of politicians. Then theirintelligence, not their passions, must be addressed. When the massesare thus cultured they will refine instead of demoralize our publicmen. As a remedy, then, for the demoralization of all classes we need abetter system of education. We must have a free education if we wouldhave a free people. Our children must be educated in just principles, if we would perpetuate a just government. To make this remedyeffectual, when the means of education are provided for the ignorant, they should be required to appropriate them, or forfeit their right ofsuffrage. No man should have a voice in determining the destiny of ournation, who rejects the means of that culture which alone can qualifyhim to act intelligently. A man who has not spirit enough to availhimself of the benefits of an elementary education, when placed withinhis reach, is not worthy of being a citizen of a free government. Not only must the ballot-box be elevated by culture, if this governmentwould number its centennials, but it must be purified by Christianity. We need to erect a high standard of moral qualification for positionsof trust and honor. Those in authority will ever be about what thepeople require of them. When ungodliness and moral corruption are at adiscount among the people, and party spirit can not atone for thedarkest crimes, then may we expect more purity in high places; notbefore. This standard must be erected at the ballot-box or ourliberties will find an untimely grave. This government was established on a false idea--the idea that man iscapable of self-government. God never intended that man should governhimself. Consequently, in the strictest sense of the word, he isincapable, both individually and collectively, of self-government. Since, by his own wisdom, man is incapable of governing himself he islikewise incapable of governing others. The men and the nations, in theages of the past, that attempted this, failed of the high destiny forwhich God gave them being. The ultimate prosperity of men and nationsdepends on the government of God. Only He who created man fullyunderstands his ultimate destiny and the laws of his being to attain tothat end. Therefore, only when man is thus governed is his life asuccess. All sacred history shows that God rules in the governments ofmen; and only when this fact is practically acknowledged may nationsexpect permanent prosperity. That nation whose laws are framed andexecuted regardless of the law of God will eventually fall under thedivine chastisement. No more can the statesmanship of this world, unsanctified by divine wisdom, save a nation from the wrath of God, than the wisdom of man can save a soul from eternal death, regardlessof Him, "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, andsanctification, and redemption. " For the disregard of God's will, nations are punished here, because as nations they do not existhereafter. On this the Lord has clearly spoken: "At what instant Ishall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it: If that nation against whom I havepronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that Ithought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning anation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it: If it doevil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of thegood, wherewith I said I would benefit them. " Thus it is that nationsare in the hands of God as clay in the hands of the potter. Only, therefore, when they purge themselves from ungodly legislation, willthey become "vessels unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master'suse. " The voice of God, then, must be heard and heeded in our nation, and ifthe people rule, and the nation prosper, the voice of God must becomethe voice of the people. _In this sense, and this only, are any peoplecapable of self-government. _ To this end we need more extended culture, and that of a higher order. Our politics must be purified by ourreligion, and our religion must be a religion of the spirit, not of theflesh. We need more religion in our politics, and less politics in ourreligion. The history of other nations fully confirms the language ofGoethe: "All epochs, " says he, "in which faith prevailed have been themost heart-stirring and fruitful, both as regards contemporaries andposterity; whereas, on the other hand, all epochs in which unbeliefobtains its miserable triumphs, even when they boast of some apparentbrilliancy, are not less surely doomed to speedy oblivion. " Liberty isthe twin sister of Faith. In the language of Seneca: "To obey God isfreedom. A nation that desires to be free must believe, and a nationthat will not believe must be in servitude; only despotism can dispensewith faith, but not liberty. " History clearly proves that national prosperity depends on anappreciation of the intimate relation existing between culture andChristianity. Of this relation Christlieb truly speaks: "No one, indeed, " says he, "will wish to deny that in our modern culture thereis much that is false, egotistic, and selfish; much that is misleadingand exaggerated, and consequently opposed to true culture. Againstthese untrue elements of culture, Christianity will and must alwaystake the field; it must not oppose progress, although it is at alltimes bound to show itself hostile to the _sins_ of progress, just asfrom its very commencement it has always testified and striven againstsuch sins. Between Christless culture and Christianity a bridge ofaccommodation can no more be built than between light and darkness, andwoe to him who undertakes this! But whatever in our modern culture isthoroughly _Christless_, and therefore Godless, is unworthy of thename and can, therefore, claim from us no further consideration; it ismere naked rudeness and selfishness, ill-disguised by the gaudy rays ofoutward decency; a mere cherishing of the sensual nature which, left toitself, would soon degenerate into monstrous barbarism, of which wealready see many indications. " Intellectual, at the expense of moral, culture is one of the curses ofthis age. By such culture man acquires power without the principleswhich alone can make that power a blessing. Intellect is deified; butintellect unsubdued by Christianity is a remorseless god. True culturewould lift man above this low conception of his own nature. It wouldgive him a more comprehensive view of himself; of the infinitedevelopment of which he is susceptible; of the rulings of an all-wiseProvidence, whose loving care "From seeming evil still educing good, And better thence again, and better still, In infinite progression. " True culture consists not in an accumulation of facts or ideas, but indeveloping a force of thought that is ever a ready and willing servant. To educate is to lead out and develop the faculties, not to break themdown with the endless rubbish of other minds. The collection of factsamounts to but little unless with those facts we build towers fromwhich to take higher and wider views of truth. Thus it is that culturedemands them as a means, not as an end. To build up the mental andmoral faculties, so as to comprehend and appreciate the greatprinciples which control the life that now is, and that which is tocome, is the highest culture in our probationary state. This can beaccomplished only by an education in which the Bible and the _authorityof Christ_ are made paramount. On this, as we have seen, our freeinstitutions and the perpetuity of religious liberty depend. This isthe secret of Roman Catholic opposition to the Bible in our publicschools. And it is not simply the Bible in the public schools that Romeopposes; she is opposed to the existence of the schools themselves; tothe system of free education. No people understand better than theCatholics the power of religious teaching in connection with education. Hence they are the foe to all religion in connection with educationthat is not Catholic. Rome is the friend of education and religion whenthat education is priestly and that religion Romish; otherwise she isthe enemy of both. Hence those who support Catholic schools foster thedeadliest foe of our religious liberties. There will ever be, therefore, an irrepressible conflict between Roman Catholicism andChristian culture. Let him who doubts this study impartially thehistory of Catholic countries. We ask no more. The idea is fast passing away, and it can not pass too rapidly, thatthe mass of the people need no other culture than that which fits themfor their various vocations. The world is beginning to learn thatculture is due to our _nature_, not to our _calling_. It is not thecalling nor the place of residence that makes the man. It is what a man_is_, not what he does, that makes him great. True greatness is in theman, not in circumstances. True greatness and worldly fame are twowidely different things. The greatest men of earth may be but littleknown. As force of thought measures intellectual, so force of principlemeasures moral, greatness. There is more true greatness in the huts ofpoverty than in the palaces of kings, only it is undeveloped. Here, therefore, is where we need true Christian culture. I can not betterexpress my appreciation of obscure greatness, which culture shoulddevelop, than by repeating the words of Dr. Channing: "The greatestman, " says he, "is he who chooses the right with invincible resolution, who resists the sorest temptation from within and without, who bearsthe heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is calmest in storms and mostfearless under menace and frowns, whose reliance on truth, on virtue, on God, is most unfaltering; and is this a greatness which is apt tomake a show, or which is most likely to abound in conspicuous stations?The solemn conflicts of reason with passion; the victories of moral andreligious principles over urgent and almost irresistible solicitationsto self-indulgence; the hardest sacrifices of duty, those ofdeep-seated affection and of the heart's fondest hopes; theconsolations, hopes, joys, and peace, of disappointed, persecuted, scorned, deserted virtue; these are of course unseen, so that the truegreatness of human life is almost wholly out of sight. Perhaps in ourpresence the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit, the loftiest purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifices made, andwe do not suspect it. I believe this greatness to be most common amongthe multitude, whose names are never heard. " Most beautifully has thepoet expressed the same fine thought: "Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. " These pure gems need to be discovered and polished, and these sweetflowers cultivated and utilized by Christian culture. It is idle totalk of developing these hidden resources of intellectual and moralwealth but by true culture, and this can never exist apart fromChristianity. Christianity is the spiritual power that vitalizes theculture of our age. So evident is this that even a Fichte was compelledto confess that, "We and our whole age are rooted in the soil ofChristianity, and have sprung from it; it has exercised its influencein the most manifold ways on the whole of our culture, and we should beabsolutely nothing of all that we are, if this mighty principle had notpreceded us. " Culture and Christianity can not now be divorced. Thosewho would array culture against Christianity are themselves under theinfluence of that which they oppose. The very imagined imperfections ofChristianity must be discovered by the light of Christianity, "just ashe who seeks to discover spots in the sun, must for this purpose borrowthe light of the sun itself. " Culture and Christianity are sointerwoven that we may never expect either, separate from the other, asa blessing to the world. The very fact that the Protestant nations ofthe earth, where God is honored by a free Bible, are the chiefexponents of true culture, attests this connection. So vital is thisrelation that, "United they stand; divided they fall. " Another important end to be attained in the culture of the masses isindependence of thought. We need to cast off the yoke of human opinionand cultivate the individual judgment. We are too much the slaves offashion. We are disposed to dress our minds as well as our bodies, after the fashion of the times. This destroys originality andindependence of thought, and renders our lives tame and insipid. Weneed connection with other minds to excite our own, not to enslavethem. We want the thoughts of others that we may think; and withoutcorrect modes of thinking, all efforts at education and culture arefailures. But it may be argued, the masses are denied the privilege ofassociation with the cultivated. This is not true. They may deprivethemselves, but they are not denied. This is peculiarly an age ofprinting. The best of literature may now find its way into the mosthumble homes. There is not a roof in the land under which the prophetsand apostles of God will not enter with the glad message containing thepromise of the life that is and that which is to come; not one underwhich the poets will not come to sing to us of that far-off land; notone too holy for the habitation of the great minds of earth whichinspire us "With thoughts that breathe, And words that burn. " With these for our companions, we may have the best society that thisworld affords, and, by such association, fit ourselves for thecompanionship of the cultivated. Is it argued that the poor have not time for self-culture? This is oneof the greatest mistakes of life. It is not _time_ that we want; it is_inclination_. Generally, those who have most time profit by it least. An earnest purpose will either find time or make time. Nor is itnecessary that much time should be taken. The spare moments, the merefragments of time, often worse than wasted, will, if carefullyimproved, make both mind and heart a store-house of the most precioustreasure. It is said that Spurgeon read the whole of Macaulay's Historyof England between the courses at dinner. I would not advise that thesegolden opportunities for social culture be devoted to reading; but thecircumstance shows how much may be accomplished by gathering up thecrumbs which fall from the table of time. When Martin Luther was askedhow, amid all his other labors, he found time to translate the HolyScriptures, he replied, "One verse a day. " A small amount of dailyreading, of the right kind, will furnish food for thought; and it isthought, after all, that enriches the soul. A proper improvement of the most slender opportunities for self-culturecreates new capacities for enjoyment, and saves the leisure momentsfrom being dull and wearisome. More than this; it saves them from beingdevoted to ruinous indulgence. The soul-culture for which thesefragments of time provide, lifts humanity above mere brutal enjoyments, and implants pleasures worthy of their race. Christian culture isessential to the subduing of sensuality, and the subduing of sensualityis essential to the permanent prosperity of both individuals andnations. But, it may be said, any considerable degree of culture will lift themasses above their vocations, and cause them to become dissatisfiedwith their lot; that the cultured mind despises drudgery. The veryreverse of this is true. Culture dignifies labor and destroys drudgery. The man determines the dignity of the calling; not the calling thedignity of the man. Let men of culture carry their culture into theirvocations, and their vocations will become honorable. Let cultured menplow and reap, and plowing and reaping will become as dignified as the"learned professions. " Because a man can not wear as fine a garb at theforge as he can at the desk, it does not follow that his thoughts maynot be as fine. A man may wear a polished intellect and a cultivatedsoul under a coarse garb as well as under a fine one; and he should berespected the more, if circumstances have compelled him to develop hisintellectual and moral forces; if at all, under a rough exterior. While in these thoughts I have spoken of men, I have used the termgenerically. The principles apply with equal force to the women of thiscountry. One of the great evils of our land is, that among the ladies, domestic labor is not sufficiently dignified. The number of mothers inthe ordinary walks of life, silly enough to think that ignorance ofdomestic duties is an accomplishment for their daughters, is by nomeans small. This results from a want of true culture and common sense. There is no just reason why a young lady should not knead her dough andconjugate a Greek verb at the same time with equal skill. True culturewill dignify domestic labor among women of all classes, and this willresult in more domestic prosperity, and more domestic happiness. Therich and the poor will be brought into closer sympathy, unnecessarydistinctions will be broken down, and the people will become one in theessential elements of good government and pure religion. Young ladies, you above all others should appreciate the blending ofculture and Christianity. One glance at the history of the world mustconvince you that the highest culture, unsanctified by Christianity, has never elevated your sex above disgraceful servitude. Certainly youcan not entertain the thought, that the culture which does not elevatewoman can ever bless the world. Only Christianity has exalted thegentler sex to that position in the esteem and affections of men thatGod designed she should occupy. Hence, of all the friends of ancientChristianity, woman should be the truest and most lasting; and of allthe enemies of modern Rationalism, she should be the most bitter andunrelenting. In conclusion, allow me to repeat the thought of the beginning, that itis the nature of man to _look upward_, and he who does not look upwardis untrue to his nature. But in the flesh, we can only begin to ascendthe heights of God. Here we are weighed down with infirmity, with ourfrail, decaying bodies; but our souls long for the power of incessant, never-wearying, glorious activity, awaiting us in the upper world. Oneof my highest conceptions of Heaven; one that thrills me tocontemplate, is a life of no more prostration from labor; no moreweariness of over-wrought brain; no aching head nor pain-racked body;but incessant labor, unincumbered by frail mortality; growth, development, expanding visions of God, among pure intelligences, andamid the celestial splendor of eternal worlds. But in the flesh, I cannot bathe in those fountains of celestial light. Then let me leave thisfrail tenement of clay, as one steps out of the vehicle that can takehim no farther, and leaving it behind, ascends the lofty mountain togaze upon the unfolding wonders of God. Let my liberated spirit notonly look upward, but mount upward, as on eagles' wings, till risingabove the Pleiades, and leaving the Milky-way to fade out in thereceding distance, it walks with God on the ever-ascending plain, reached only by culture and Christianity. II. --SELF CULTURE. [An Address Delivered Before Columbia Christian College, June 7, 1878. ] _Ladies and Gentlemen:_--I am happy in the privilege of againaddressing you in the interests of the great work in which you are sonobly engaged. To-day many of you go out from under the fostering careof this institution, to engage in the ceaseless battle of life. Thatyou have been well panoplied for the conflict is not questioned. And, if I can second, in some degree, the efforts of your faithful andworthy Faculty in directing and encouraging you to that success thatshould crown their efforts and yours, I shall feel that I have laboredto no trifling purpose. The theme selected for your consideration is "_Self-Culture_. " Man, though fallen, is in his ruins grand. His powers of developmentare little less than infinite. They begin with the cradle, but do notend with the grave. No other being begins so low and ascends so high. In his beginning, he is "crushed before the moth;" in the fullness ofhis power he shall "judge angels. " In this world he scarcely begins tolive. This life is too short and this world too small for thedevelopment of his God-given faculties. Here he scarcely learns thealphabet preparatory to God's grand university from which he is neverto graduate. He simply begins the study of an unending book. He butgathers a few pebbles on the shores of the river of time, then sinksbeneath its wave. But while in this world we scarcely make a beginning, yet everythingdepends on the character of that beginning. As is the beginning, sowill be the conclusion. In the direction taken in time will we progressin eternity. We may repent of our mistakes here and correct them, butthere is no repentance beyond the grave. There are no mistakescorrected in eternity. Hence the necessity of a proper use of time. I have selected the word culture to express the idea which I wish toconvey, and yet I must confess that it does not express it as happilyas I should desire. Where the Greeks had their _paideia_, the Romanstheir _humanitas_, we have the more elastic and accommodating wordculture. I use it in this address in the sense of drawing out anddeveloping the nobler powers that are potentially in fallen humanity. It is not so much the development of all the faculties in man to theirhighest extent, as the directing and training of the better ones totheir true end. We are dealing here with beginnings, not endings. Theperfection of man in all his capacities is not a thing of time. Intime, the character must receive its mold; in eternity, its highestpolish. By self-culture I mean, of course, the power that one has, and ought touse, of cultivating himself. "To cultivate anything, " says Dr. Channing, "be it a plant, an animal, a mind, is to make grow. Growth, expansion is the end. Nothing admits culture but that which has aprinciple of life, capable of being expanded. He, therefore, who doeswhat he can to unfold all his powers and capacities, especially hisnobler ones, so as to become a well proportioned, vigorous, happybeing, practices self-culture. " This may apply to those who have notthe advantages of schools and colleges, and to the after education ofthose who have. We hear much in this age about a "finished education at college. " Thereis, alas! too much truth in the expression. Generally, the moresuperficial our collegiate education, the more completely is it"finished" on the day of graduation. How few young ladies and gentlemenmeet the expectations raised by their educational advantages! How fewyears sadden loving hearts with disappointed hopes! How many starsshine brilliantly within college walls, then go out to be seen no more!And all this the result of a "finished education!" Most of these failures are the result of wrong views of education. Ourschool days are but a beginning of our earthly education, as this isbut the beginning of that which is to come. It is not what we learn inschool, but what we learn after leaving it, that determines our successor failure. These advantages are but for the purpose of laying thefoundation; the building is the work of after years. And he who doesnot build, does not even preserve the foundation. Alas! how manywell-laid foundations have moldered into ruin! No sooner does the plantcease to grow than it begins to decay. Therefore, he who would livemust grow, and he who would grow must be active. There is no success tohim who stands with his hands in his pockets. This is an age of intenseactivity. Competition in every calling is sharp; the professions arecrowded, and there is room only at the top. Therefore, the path tosuccess is not strewed with flowers and tinted with the rainbow's hue. As Carlyle truly says: "The race of life has become intense; therunners are treading upon each other's heels, woe be to him who stopsto tie his shoestrings. " Many a young man fails because he thinks himself a genius, andtherefore does not need to study. The sooner you get rid of the ideathat you are a genius the better. The old idea of a genius that neverhas to study is the pet of laziness and the ruin of manliness. SidneySmith truly says: "There is but one method of attaining to excellence, and that is hard labor; and a man who will not pay that price fordistinction had better at once dedicate himself to the pursuit of thefox, or sport with the tangles of Neæra's hair, or talk of bullocks andglory in the goad! There are many modes of being frivolous, and not afew of being useful; there is but one mode of being intellectuallygreat. " It is common for those who have not the wealth to afford them aluxurious college course to bemoan their misfortune and contentthemselves with being nothing. If culture were attained by complainingof misfortune, many would soon reach perfection. To some, extremepoverty is doubtless a misfortune, but to many others it is a blessing. The world's grandest heroes and benefactors have struggled withpoverty; and, but for this, they would have died unwept and unhonored. The great men and women of earth were not dandled in the lap of luxury. Lord Thurlow, Chancellor of England, when asked by a wealthy friendwhat course his son should pursue to secure success at the bar, is saidto have thus replied: "Let your son spend his fortune, marry and spendhis wife's, and then go to the bar; there will be little fear of hisfailure. " The Chancellor well knew that, with his wealth, the young manwould not do the work that success demanded. How many men, and women, too, were never anything till they lost their fortune! Then the worldfelt their power. What a fortune, then, to have no fortune to lose!True, poverty brings difficulties, but difficulties develop men. Theyshow the material out of which one is composed. While they disheartenthe irresolute, they stimulate the brave. The wind that extinguishesthe taper only intensifies the heat of the stronger flame. Gnats areblown with the wind, but kites rise only against it. All culture is, in a large degree, self-culture. Our teachers are onlyhelps. They can teach us, but they can not learn us. We must do our ownlearning. Wealth can not buy it, nor luxurious surroundings impart it;it must be made ours by personal application. I am not contending that all may or should be scholars in the propersense of that word. There is a difference between culture andscholarship. A man of culture may or may not be a scholar. I plead moreespecially for the training of the mind, for the development of thenobler faculties of our nature, that we may fulfill the true end of ourbeing. I do not mean that all should be great, in the popular acceptation ofthat term. This is neither desirable nor possible. If all were great, then none were great. But God has designed us all for positions ofusefulness and happiness; some in one direction, some in another. Thesepositions we should seek and fill to the full extent of our ability. And it is with reference to this ability that I am making the plea forself-culture. It is not simply preparation for a position, butdevelopment in it, for which I plead. There is much said in this ageabout education for a position, and this education is all right; themore thorough the better. But the trouble is, too many seem to thinkthat this is all. Here is the ruinous mistake. There is a world ofdifference between being educated _for_ a calling, and being educated_in_ it. That may be obtained in schools and colleges; this is awork of subsequent life. That is important; this is indispensable. Without that, this may be a grand success; without this, that is nextto worthless. Many men are highly educated in their calling who werenever educated for it. This is self-culture in its true sense. Nor is the culture for which I plead derived simply from books. Thesewe need, but we need them simply as helps. We should make them ourservants, not our masters. A "bookworm" is sometimes a very inferiorkind of a worm. Some men that the schools call highly educated rely somuch on books that they are nothing in themselves. They have no mind oftheir own. They deal altogether in second-hand goods. We need to layaside our books, and study men and things--commence with God andnature. We must learn to _think_. To think much. To think accurately. To do our own thinking, not have it done for us. Without this, we shallmake but little of our advantages; with it, we rise superior toadvantages. Neither am I contending that we should all strive for the "learnedprofessions. " It is just the reverse. We want to elevate and ennoblethe _un_learned professions. The American people, at least, shouldlearn that the calling does not make the man. We need to dignify allthe honest and legitimate vocations by intellectual and moral culture. We not only need to dignify labor by culture, but, by so doing, we needto dignify the mass of our common humanity. Personal worth consists notin what one does, but in what one is. Better be a good barber than apoor doctor, a good shoemaker than a poor lawyer. I would not be understood as claiming that men and women in all thevocations in life should be cultured in all directions. In this age ofshort and intense life this is not practicable. It might have donebefore the flood, when men lived a thousand years, but it is notadapted to the nineteenth century. Remember I am speaking withreference to the masses. Men can not know everything, neither can theydo everything, and do it well. All knowledge may be made useful, and Iwould urge the obtaining of all possible; but it is a mistake to try todo too much, and do nothing. A few things well understood are of morevalue than a smattering of much. By all means avoid being"Jack-of-all-trades. " Decide what you want to do and do it. I wouldurge the training of mind and heart and hand as a specialty in thatwhich you select as a life work, embellished and perfected by all thegeneral knowledge that a life of intense application will enable you topossess. Difference in occupation demands a difference in specialculture, but not in general. This is culture, not of the schools, simply, but of life. But the difficulties and the means of self-culture need now to beconsidered. In doing this, the first essential element to success towhich your attention is called, is SELF-RELIANCE. No man ever amounted to much who did not rely on God and himself. Theyoung man who whines around, waiting for some one to help him, insteadof helping himself, ought to be sent back to the nursery, clothed inenlarged baby-gowns, and fed with a spoon. Men of independence are themen that move the world. The living rarely walk well in the shoes ofthe dead, and he who waits for them ought to go barefooted all hislife. God helps those who help themselves. Self-reliance toughens oursinews and develops our manhood. "It is not in the sheltered garden orthe hothouse, but on the rugged Alpine cliffs where the storm burstsmost violently, that the toughest plants are reared. " The man who doesnot rely on self, soon ceases to have any self. He becomes a zoologicalparasite, instead of a man. He is a lobster that waits for the sea tocome to him, instead of going to it, though its waves may be dashing athis feet. Should the sea accommodate him in time, well enough;otherwise he dies. These men make the subjunctive heroes of the world. They always "might, " "could, " "would" or "should" do some great thing;but they never get into the imperative mood to do it. They have neverlearned self-reliance; and, the result is, they never learned anythingworth knowing. They can never appreciate this saying of the immortalBurke: "I was not rocked and swaddled and dandled into a legislator. _Nitor in adversum_ is the motto for a man like me. " Those who are afraid to move without the arms of a rich ancestry aroundthem, will never learn to walk erect. They will never have a firm, elastic step, nor make the world feel the weight of their tread. Theman who thus shrinks from difficulties and responsibilities, refuses tobe a pupil of the best teacher the world affords. They should learnthat repeated failure, if wisely used, is but a means to grand success. As Dr. Mathews truly says: "Great statesmen in all countries have owedtheir sagacity, tact and foresight more to their failures than to theirsuccesses. The diplomatist becomes master of his art by being baffled, thwarted, defeated, quite as much as by winning his points. Every timehe is checkmated he acquires a profounder knowledge of the politicalgame, and makes his next combination with increased skill and increasedchances of success. " Ease and luxury may make the butterflies ofsociety, but difficulties make men and women. That was a wise saying ofPythagoras, that, "ability and necessity dwell near each other. " It isastonishing how difficulties will yield to one who will not yield tothem. They tip their plumed caps to his dominant will, and politely bowthemselves out of sight. They not only clear the way for self-reliance, but give him the encouragement of their parting salute. "Every person, " says Gibbon, "has two educations--one which he receivesfrom others, and one, more important, which he gives himself. "Archimedes said, "Give me a standing-place and I will move the world. "But Goethe more happily says, "Make good thy standing-place and movethe world. " Circumstances may afford a standing-place, butself-reliance alone can give the leverage power. We must learn thatcharacter and worth consists in doing, not in possessing. Not resting, not having, not being simply, but growing and becoming, is the truecharacter of self-culture. This thought is most beautifully expressedby Rogers-- "Our reward Is in the race we run, not in the prize, Those few, to whom is given what they ne'er earned, Having by favor or inheritance The dangerous gifts placed in their hands, Know not, nor ever can, the generous pride That glows in him who on himself relies, Entering the lists of life. He speeds beyond Them all, and foremost in the race succeeds. His joy is not that he has got his crown, But that the power to win the crown is his. " Another important item in the attainment of self-culture is the ECONOMY OF TIME. Time is a divine inheritance that no man has a right to squander. Theantediluvians might have afforded to be a little profligate in thisdirection, but the man who would fulfill his high destiny in this agehas no time to lose. Lost time is forever lost. There is much uselesscomplaint in the world of a want of time. It is not more time we need, so much as a better use of that we have. I do not mean that we shoulddeprive ourselves of requisite sleep and rest. On the contrary, theregulation of these constitutes a part of the economy of which I speak. Rest is necessary; but all rest is not idleness. We should learn torest by changing our employment, not by its abandonment. The man whosemind becomes weary in his study, finds the most invigorating rest inmanual labor. The physical and intellectual have a happy reflectiveinfluence on each other. The moments wisely taken for intellectual andmoral culture by the laboring man are fountains whose refreshingstream, like that from Horeb, follows him through his daily toil. Theyare a ceaseless pleasure, both in remembrance and anticipation. Those, also whose lives are disconnected with manual labor should have such avariety of work that one kind prepares the way for the enjoyment ofanother. There are both pleasure and health in a change of diet. Tohappily manage this variety requires a training of the mind essentialto self-culture. We must learn to do the right thing at the right time. The happy influence of one thing upon another depends on theirarrangement and the manner of their execution. It may not be well tohave too many irons in the fire, but it is certainly best to haveenough for some to be heating while others are cooling. In order to do the right thing at the right time, and do it well, wemust learn to think about the right thing at the right time. This isone of the most important features in mental training. We can thinkwell on but one thing at a time. Therefore, the mind that is filledwith various kinds of thoughts can prosecute none of them successfully. We must learn to select the guests that we would have sit at ourintellectual banquets, summon or exclude them at will, and never permitthe intrusion of a promiscuous crowd. When our work is arranged for theday, the week, the month, the year, we should set apart the time to bedevoted to each item, both in work and in thought; and then never allowthe thoughts of one to encroach upon the time allotted to another. Weshould so train the mind that we can think about the thing only ofwhich we wish to think, concentrate our whole mind upon it till thetime comes to put it away; then dismiss it in a moment, turn tosomething else, and think no more about it, till its proper time. Themind is soon trained to pass from one subject to another in a moment, with all its powers of concentration. This mastery of the mind, onceattained, will enable us to study at all times and places regardless ofcircumstances. The man who can not study amid the wild shouts of theexcited multitude is not his own master. He who can command his timeand his talents only when no surging billows beat against his quietretreat, has necessarily to spend much of life in which he has neithertime nor talents which he can call his own. A very important item, then, in the economy of time, is to learn to labor under difficulties, till we rise superior to external surroundings. To keep the reins ofthe mind well in hand when there is a stampede all around us, isabsolutely essential in the great crises of life. This is attained onlyby training the mind to instantaneous concentration under allcircumstances. This, then, I would urge you to persist in until it isaccomplished. Without this you will lose much time in acquiringinformation, and, what is of vastly more importance, you will beunprepared to use what you have at the very time, it may be, when it ismost needed. Another important element in the economy of time we learn from thegreat Teacher who said, "Gather up the fragments, that nothing belost. " If He who had the power to create as well as to preserve, wassuch an economist of the remnants of loaves and fishes, how much moreshould we save the fragments of time, which we can not lengthen out aspan? Many people seem to think they can make garments only out of wholecloth. If they have not an abundance of uninterrupted time in which toaccomplish a thing, they think they can not accomplish it at all. Suchmen accomplish but little, not for want of time, but for want of itseconomy. To avoid this waste, we must learn to weave whole garments outof the mere ravelings of the fabric of time. But some complain thatthey can not "get up steam" for intellectual labor in these fractionsof time. We don't need to "get up steam. " The "steam" should be alreadyup. We only need to change the gearing. "There is a momentum in theactive man, " says Mathews, "which of itself almost carries him to themark, just as a very light stroke will keep a hoop going, when a smartone was required to set it in motion. While others are yawning andstretching themselves to overcome the _vis inertiae_, he has his eyeswide open, his faculties keyed up for action, and is thoroughly alivein every fiber. He walks through the world with his hands unmuffled andready by his side, and so can sometimes do more by a single touch inpassing than a vacant man is likely to do by strenuous effort. " Let no one conclude that nothing important can be accomplished by thesescattered fragments. It is said that "Hugh Miller found time whilepursuing his trade as a stone-mason, not only to read but to write, cultivating his style till he became one of the most facile andbrilliant authors of the day. " Also, that Elihu Burritt "acquired amastery of eighteen languages and twenty-two dialects, not by raregenius, which he disclaimed, but by improving the bits and fragments oftime which he could steal from his occupation as a blacksmith. " With these examples before us, then, let no one conclude that he cannot get time from his daily vocation, whatever it may be, to cultivatehis mind, and develop his moral and intellectual faculties. Anotheressential element in self-culture is SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE. "A man, " says Emerson, "is like a bit of Labrador spar, which has nolustre as you turn it in your hand until you come to a particularangle; then it shows deep and beautiful colors. " There is no adaptationor universal applicability in man; but each has his special talent; andthe mastery of successful men consists in adroitly keeping themselveswhere and when that turn shall need oftenest to be practiced. Thesuccessful man in every calling, whether literary, scientific orbusiness, is he who is _totus in illo_--who can say with Paul, this onething I do! With the exception of a few great creative minds, the menwhose names are historic are identified with some one achievement, uponwhich all their life force is spent. "Whatever I have tried to do in mylife, " says Dickens, "I have tried with all my heart to do well. What Ihave devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely. Never toput one hand to a thing on which I would not throw my whole self, andnever to affect depreciation of my work, whatever it was, I find now tohave been golden rules. " The fact is, the range of human knowledge hasbecome so extensive that the man who would know some things well musthave the courage to be ignorant of many others. There are many thingsfor which one is wholly incapacitated; for which he has no talent, and, as a rule, time spent in this direction is time lost. Goethe justlysays: "We should guard against a talent which we can not hope topractice in perfection. Improve it as we may, we shall always, in theend, when the merit of the master has become apparent to us, painfullylament the loss of time and strength devoted to such botching. " SidneySmith condemns what he calls the "foppery of _universality_--of knowingall sciences and excelling in all arts. " "Now _my_ advice, " he says, "on the contrary, is to have the courage to be ignorant of a greatnumber of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant ofeverything. " I do not mean that you should try to learn but one thing, or be a manor woman of one idea; far from it. I simply mean that you must beselect. Select your calling, and then bend all your energies in thatdirection. Let those branches of knowledge that bear most directly onyour vocation be mastered first, then widen the circle as opportunityaffords. Do not scatter your powers over so much territory that theyare felt nowhere. It is only when the sun's rays are brought to a focusthat they burn. The man who is one thing this year, another next;studies medicine a while, then law, is next a school-teacher, and thenan insurance agent, will, in the end, be nothing. Men who are alwayschanging, never learn enough about anything to make it of any value. Men who are eminent in their professions have stuck to them with asingleness of purpose. Men talk much about genius, when, generally, thegenius of which they speak is but the result of unremittingapplication. The genius that blesses this world is simply a talent forhard work. They are men who have the resolution to try, and the courageto persevere. Idle men of the most eminent natural ability are soondistanced in the race by the mediocre who sticks to his purpose andplods. Then, I repeat, if you would succeed in life, in whatevercalling you may select, divest yourself of the idea that you are agenius and do not need the application demanded by common mortality;rely not on the caprices of fickle fortune; but rely on God andyourself, economize your time, apply yourself with diligence and withsingleness of purpose. With these you will be a blessing to the world, and fulfill the high and holy purposes of God in giving you being. Self-culture looks not simply to time, but to eternity. No man is trulycultured who is not cultured for eternity. His culture is butone-sided, and that the most inferior side. The well-rounded andperfected culture, though it may be only partial so far as the cultureof this world is concerned, is the culture that prepares one tomatriculate in the great university over which God presides, and sitforever in delightful appreciation at the feet of the great Teacher. Let this, then, be the ultimatum of all your efforts. It is for this reason that you should so highly appreciate thisinstitution from which you go out to-day as honored students. While thevarious branches of the arts and sciences that pertain to this life, have been carefully and accurately taught you, the great Science ofeternal life, if I may so term it, has been, I trust, indeliblyengraved on your every heart. A college whose faculty is composedexclusively of Christian men and women, and in which the systematicstudy of the Bible by both ladies and gentlemen is made one of its mostprominent features, will ever be most highly appreciated by those whoappreciate true culture, and know in what it consists. I think Iappreciate a high standard of education, and I want, if possible, togive my children its advantages; but I should infinitely prefer theirnever going beyond the common school than to be graduated with thefirst honors from the most renowned colleges or universities of Europeor America, in which the authority of Jesus is not held as supreme, andthe Bible honored as our only divine guide. Other things being equal, we should always honor those institutions most that honor God's wordmost. For this reason, then, as well as for many others, we delight tohonor this institution from whose fostering care you this day go forth. In conclusion, let me entreat you to be what this world now mostneeds--MEN and WOMEN. The world is now burdened with "gentlemen andladies;" but it is perishing for the want of MEN and WOMEN. The worldneeds men and women that are true to themselves, true to each other, and true to God--men and women who know what manliness is, and whatwomanly virtues are; who delight in the real, and scorn thecounterfeit; who have the courage to do right because it is right; whowould rather stand alone on the side of truth, than with the world onthe side of error; who are governed by high and holy principle, not byselfish policy. We need men and women that will create a healthierpublic sentiment, rather than to float on that which exists; who willfrown out of countenance the fraud, dishonesty and meanness that nowlifts high its head in society; who will not live in fine palaces, drive fast horses, and occupy the first pews in the sanctuary, at tencents on the dollar. The world needs men and women who have hearts andconsciences, as well as brains; who realize that they have a soul aswell as a body; who live for eternity rather than for time. God grant that you may all make such men and women. That you may notonly be a blessing to the age and generation in which you live; butthat your influence for the "true, the beautiful and the good, " may befelt like the gentle dews of heaven upon the earth, generations afteryou are gathered to your fathers! May you be diligent and faithful inthe cultivation of your nobler powers of mind and heart till the worldshall bless God that you have lived in it; then laying aside the body, in which you have fought the grand fight for righteousness and truth--afight on which God and angels have looked with interest and delight--asyou would lay aside a worn-out garment, and passing through "the gatesajar, " enter on a higher plane of culture, where you will not have torely upon self, and struggle against adversity as here; but where youwill have all the facilities of Heaven, and be forever pupils of thegreat Teacher! III. --PLUS ULTRA VS. NE PLUS ULTRA. [An Address Delivered Before Eminence College, June 10, 1881. ] LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF EMINENCE COLLEGE:--It has ever been a delightto me to meet with the faculty and students of Eminence College onthese festive occasions. It is but natural that the hearts of those whohave gone out from these classic halls should turn on these gala days, and in feeling if not in fact, renew the fond associations of the past. They are oases in the desert; well-springs to the thirsty soul in thejourney of life. I should, therefore, be untrue to myself, and unjustto you, were I not to confess to a pardonable pride in the privilege ofaddressing for the second time one of the graduating classes of thisrenowned institution. The subject on which I shall to-day address youis "_Plus Ultra vs. Ne Plus Ultra. _" Spain is the great southwestern peninsula of Europe. It juts outbetween two seas as does no other country of that continent. Before thediscovery of America by Columbus, the Spaniards prided themselves onthe supposed fact that their country was the last point of solid landon the earth westward. Beyond them, they thought, there was nothing buta vast expanse of water--a shoreless ocean--a mystery never to besolved. Consequently the early coins of that country, in order to giveprominence to this idea, were indented with a picture of the pillars ofHercules, the two great sentries on each side of the straits ofGibraltar. Encircling these pillars on their coins was the inscription, _ne plus ultra_--nothing beyond. They imagined, therefore, that theyconstituted the limits of creation; that beyond them there was nothing. Consequently, as in creation the last is the best, they gave tothemselves the preëminence. In this proud idea they rested and praisedthe Lord. In their own estimation, therefore, they constituted the _neplus ultra_ of God's favored people. Thus they constituted anotherproud monument of man's folly and ignorance, from which it is well totake warning. In course of time, however, Columbus conceived the ideaof another world west of Spain. After long years of discouragement, sufficient to crush the spirit of all but those of noble impulses andhigh resolves, he was permitted, with a small fleet, utterlyinsignificant in this age, to sail westward. He thus discovered the_new world_ whose existence, if ever known before, had faded from thememory of man. On his return, when the Spaniards became convinced thata great continent lay to the west of them, they were compelled, humiliating as it was, to change the inscription on their coins, encircling the pillars of Hercules, to _plus ultra_--more beyond. Thisthe demonstrated truth demanded. Thus the discovery of America took the_ne_ off of their proud motto, thus teaching them a lesson which shouldbe a lesson to the world. Their negation was changed to an affirmation. Their boasted limit of creation was changed to an acknowledgment of theunknown beyond. Thus it has ever been in man's proud history. Thus itwill doubtless continue to be till we know as we are known. "Whetherthere be knowledge, it shall vanish away; for now we know only in part, but then shall we know even also as we are known. " The first thought with which I would impress your minds to-day, especially the minds of those who go out from this institution with thehonors of graduation, is that there is something beyond--the _plusultra_ of a collegiate education. One of the most fatal mistakes insecuring a collegiate education is, that this is all. If one of youentertains the idea to-day that your education is "finished, " you willbe a failure. We hear much in this age about a "finished education" incollege. Alas! there is too much truth in it. The education of many isthus "finished, " and their progress in life is also _finished_. Acollege course is not the end, but simply the means, of an education. This is simply the foundation, not the structure. On this you are tohereafter build; otherwise the foundation will be worthless. Withoutthe after building the foundation itself will decay. This is alike theteaching of the history of man and the Son of God. On this foundation, therefore, I would urge you to build, not for time only, but foreternity. On it you should erect a noble structure, at once an ornamentand a blessing to your race. This can not be done in a day. Patienceand perseverance are the price of success. You must learn to "labor andto wait. " How often do we see the scintillations of genius within college walls, of which we see or hear nothing after the day of graduation? On thatday the sun of their brilliancy seems to set forever. Why is this?Simply because they think their graduation is the _ne plus ultra_ oftheir literary life. It is not what we learn in college, but what we learn after leaving it, that makes us what we are in after life. The value of a collegiateeducation consists not in the amount of information it imparts, but ina preparation for the accumulation and use of information. Not simplythe best minds, but the best students are those who win the prize inthe end. Not the best students in college, but the best students afterleaving it, are those who make the world feel their power. Many studyhard for the honors of graduation, and beyond this seem to have noaspirations. If this is their _ne plus ultra_, then it is worthless. This institution does not educate you for graduation; it graduates youfor education. Without this end in view, its labors would better cease. An institution is honored not by what its students know on the day ofcommencement, but by what they know and do ere they matriculate in thegreat university of worlds. It is, therefore, young ladies andgentlemen, to this end and not to this hour, that your teachers havefaithfully labored to bring you. Without this in view, you will missthe grand purpose of your education thus far. Doubtless many of us know men and women who have not grown an inchsince the day that they went out from these or other halls of learning. They may have promised much at the beginning. On their success highhopes were built. Loving hands were impatient to wreathe their browswith the garlands of victory. But, alas! those hopes have been blightedand those garlands have withered. We see them in the pulpit, at thebar, and in all the other vocations of life. They are failures, not forwant of mind, but for want of application. They have not followed uptheir victories, and their victories have turned to defeat. They havebeen resting on the honor of faded laurels, that in their freshness sobecome you to-day. To gather these was the _ne plus ultra_ of theirefforts, and hence the end of their success. Therefore, if any of youto-day look upon your graduation as the consummation of your literarystruggles, let me exhort you to change your motto, and, like theSpaniards, on the birth of the new world, discard the idea of apossessed _ultimatum_, and imprint upon your banner _plus ultra_--morebeyond. As most of the graduating class are ladies, I feel the necessity ofspeaking especially of their hopes and prospects. Till recently, thehindrances of woman's education and literary position have been greatand discouraging. But, thanks to the religion of Jesus, herdisabilities have in Christian lands been removed. Woman was thecrowning workmanship of God, and she has received the crowningblessings of Christianity. By the blessing of Christianity, theintellectual and spiritual powers of woman are encouraged. The world isoften dazzled by her genius, astonished at her resources, and subduedby her spirit. She has stood in the halls of learning, walked in thegroves of science, and gathered laurels on the mountains of fame. Shehas stimulated the world's genius, soothed its passion, and strewed herpathway through it with the sweetest flowers. Women have ever been theworld's brightest angels of mercy-- "Whose company has harmonized mankind, Soften'd the rude and calmed the boisterous mind. " There are positions in the world for which woman was not made. Thefinishing touches of creation's wondrous works were too delicate to fither for the political arena, the command of armies, or the founding ofempires. She was made for higher and holier ends than these. She isadapted to a work more noble and more enduring. Her empire is in theheart, and her scepter one of spiritual dominion. Here she is a queen, and reigns without a rival. While there is a limit to her appropriatefield of action, there is no limit to her power. Some one has said:"The current of female existence runs more within the embankments ofhome. " This is true, but her influence overflows those banks andinundates the world. Her influence may be compared to the sparklingrivulet that bursts from the mountain peak, then winding its way to thevalley below, it flows gently onward for thousands of miles, throughrugged hills and fertile plains, bathing the feet of great cities andslaking the thirst of great countries, augmented by its tributaries, till, bearing upon its bosom the commerce of a nation, it pours itsflood of waters into the world's great ocean. As our grand Mississippiwill readily yield to an infant's touch, and yet bear upon its bosomthe proudest vessels of man's invention, so is the tenderness and thepower of woman's influence. I have spoken of woman being the "last of creation. " This expression isgenerally used in a false sense. She was last because God created on anascending scale. She was, therefore, last in creation and first inredemption. She gave to the world its Saviour, and first proclaimed Hisbirth from the dead. She was His best friend while He was here, and hasbeen most devoted to His cause during His absence. Hence whereChristianity goes woman's power is felt. The extent to which woman ishonored marks to-day with unerring certainty the extent of a nation'scivilization. Young ladies, you have before you a field of golden opportunities. Onlythrust in your sickles and reap. In this age and country there aregreat potentialities to every young lady of a good mind and a pureheart. Let no one, therefore, be discouraged. Remember that there issomething beyond--the _plus ultra_ of a well-begun life. Having urged the necessity of _plus ultra_ as your motto, as against_ne plus ultra_, I may drop some profitable hints as to theattainment of success. You know that one may give good advice, thoughhe may not have profited by it himself. In the first place, everything depends on work. Intense application isthe price of success. The world's benefactors are the world's hardworkers. "Tickle the earth with a hoe, and it will laugh at you with aharvest. " But it closes its fists against those who extend to it anidle hand. Many people contend that the world owes them a living, andgrumble that it does not pay the debt. What have they done for theworld to bring it into their debt? The world owes every man a livingwhen he earns it by honest toil, and not before. Those who sow with astingy hand may expect to reap a scanty harvest. You should, therefore, in whatever vocation you may elect, strive to succeed on thisprinciple; otherwise you will not deserve success. You should not be discouraged because surroundings are not favorable, and hope seems long deferred. Be not impatient of results. Do yourwhole duty, and leave the consequences with the Lord. Never strive tobe great. Few men become great this way, and they never deserve it. True greatness comes as a result of devotion to principle and duty. Thehighest and noblest success comes through a spirit ofself-forgetfulness. Learn to be indifferent to surroundings. You need not catch the "spiritof the age" unless the "spirit of the age" is worth catching. When youcontemplate Marquis de Condorcet, in the dark days of the FrenchRevolution, hiding in a lonely room in the city of Paris, while itsstreets ran red with noble and innocent blood, quietly writing a bookwhose subject was, "_Man's Certain Progress to Liberty, Virtue, andHappiness_, " you will understand what I mean. You must learn to _think_; to think regardless of surroundings; tothink only of the thing of which you wish to think; and on this toconcentrate the whole power of your mind. This requires carefultraining; but this only is _education_. With this you have full commandof all your resources; without this they avail but little. The greatmotive power of the world is thought. Information without thought issimply a peddler burdened with stale wares on a dead market. It is notwhat one knows, but what he can produce, that makes the world feel hispower. Hence one must be a producer as well as a receiver. The world'sthought must be regenerated in his own mind. He should turn the world'sdead facts into living thoughts--"Thoughts that breathe, and words thatburn. " Avoid fickleness of purpose. Decide to do something in harmony withyour endowments and the will of God, _and do it_. Many people of fineattainments and intellectual powers are spending their lives trying todecide for what purpose the Lord made them. Before they determine whatthey are good for, the world is certain to decide that they are goodfor nothing. Life is too precious to be spent in hesitation. He whovacillates will do nothing. Concentration is power. The rays of the sunthat would hardly warm an infant's hand will, when concentrated by alens, blister the palms of the hardiest sons of toil. If we would make life a success, we must live for a purpose. He wholives simply for the sake of living, has no just conception of life. Those who live for the gratification of the flesh should remember thatthe goat lives for the same purpose. How humiliating the thought, thatso many of the cultured, as well as the ignorant; the rich as well asthe poor; the "cream of society" as well as its dregs, are thus livingon the low plane of animal life! The grand distinction between man andthe brute creation is in his _spirit_ nature. Without spiritualculture, every thought, every aspiration, every gratification, is ofthe earth earthy. How sad, then, to see the gaudy "butterflies ofsociety" spending their lives without a thought above that which alonecan lift them forever above the plane of animal life! It is sad thus tothink, but sadder still 'tis true. The enjoyment of "society, "therefore, must not be your _ne plus ultra_, else life will be afailure. In order to the highest success, you should live fast, but not in theworld's bad sense of that word. I simply mean that your life should beintense. Mere existence is not life. Life is action. Life is notmeasured by time, but by experience. It is our duty, therefore, to liveall we can in the time allotted us. The patriarchs lived longer thanwe, but we may live more than they. This is a grand age in which welive. We may now live more in fifty years than Methuselah did beforethe flood. The time is short. Hence if we would live much we must livefast. But here I anticipate an objection. You say, "We shall shorten our daysby fast living. " Not by _this kind_ of fast living. The world willnever be troubled for burying ground for those who kill themselvessimply by hard work. It is not work, but worry, that wears men out. Wehave too much friction in our lives. This must be stopped. An hour'spassion will tell more on the constitution than a week's work. Thelargest amount of action, with the smallest amount of friction, is theproblem before you; and he is the wisest philosopher who gives to usits best practical solution. I wish now to invite your attention to mistakes that men have made insupposing that their knowledge was the _ne plus ultra_ of human wisdom. Time was when the alchemists thought they possessed the _ne plus ultra_of human knowledge, and that wisdom would die with them; yet theirknowledge is now to chemistry what astrology is to astronomy. It is asuperstition on whose claims no scientist would dare to risk hisreputation. Now chemistry is the _ne plus ultra_ of human wisdom, andevery man is a fool who does not hold the key to the secret chambers ofits hidden treasures! But how long till we shall have a new chemistrythat will render the old a bundle of laughable folly? The fact is, bythe advancement of human knowledge we demonstrate that our ancestorswere a set of fools, and our posterity will doubtless pay us the samecompliment! The philosophy of history should teach us to be modest, andto keep as our motto _plus ultra versus ne plus ultra_. Modern science has demonstrated that of all unreliable things, ancientscience is the most unreliable. We should, therefore, expect toeventually see modern science remanded to the same category. One of thegreatest inventors of the age, Mr. Edison, whose inventions have had todo wholly with modern science, tells us that he has been constantlythrown off the track and misled by the frauds of science. He thusexpresses his estimate of the authorities in modern science: "They [the text-books] are mostly misleading. I get mad with myself when I think I have believed what was so learnedly set out in them. _There are more frauds in science than anywhere else_. . . . Take a whole pile of them and you will find uncertainty, if _not imposition_, in half of what they state as scientific truth. They have time and again set down _experiments as done by them_, curious, out-of-the-way experiments, _that they never did_, and upon which they have founded so-called scientific truths. I have been thrown off my track often by them, and for months at a time. You see a great name, and you believe it. Try the experiment yourself, and you find the result altogether different. . . . I tell you I'd rather know nothing about a thing in science, nine times out of ten, than what the books would tell me--for practical purposes, for applied science, the best science, the only science, I'd rather take the thing up and go through with it myself. I'd find out more about it than any one could tell me, and I'd be sure of what I know. That's the thing. Professor this or that will controvert you out of the books, and prove out of the books it can't be so, though you have it right in the hollow of your hand all the time and could break his spectacles with it. " Thus it is that these authorities have been weighed in the balances andfound wanting. This is a marvelous age, an age of unsurpassed inventionand discovery of truth, but it is not the _ne plus ultra_ of humanwisdom--if we are to take any lessons from the past ages. The wave theory of sound, which has been regarded as a settledscientific fact since the days of Pythagorean, is now vigorouslyattacked, and the adherents to the orthodox ground will have to rallytheir forces and reconsider their proofs, if they save the theory fromslumbering among the follies of the past. In the past few years the world has been startled by the bold theory ofevolution, as advocated by Darwin, Haeckel, Huxley and others. Manyhave felt uneasy about the foundations of our faith. But such alarm isall premature. The glaring contradictions of one another of thesemodern apostles of a "gospel of dirt, " and their self-stultification, are enough to convince any thoughtful reader, that if the race has notdeveloped from apes, a few of them bear marks of descent from asses!The credulity of this class of men is simply marvelous. They canbelieve that a moneron can be developed into a man, but can not believein a miracle! Their wonderful development of a moneron into a manterminates with the boundary line of time, and thus the _ne plus ultra_is reached of their "infinite progression!" In order to a proper appreciation of the present life, we must bedeeply impressed with the nature of that which lies beyond. No one canwell spend the present life who does not spend it in view of the lifeto come. Man must properly appreciate himself before he can live inharmonious relations with his being. No man can have that appreciationof himself essential to a true life, who believes that his ancestorswere monerons and mud-turtles! While there are many striking resemblances between animals and man, just such as we should expect to find from the hand of the sameCreator, who began farthest from himself and worked to his own divinemodel, yet there are striking differentiae which demand profoundconsideration. Animals come into the world with the knowledge of theirancestors. The beaver knows just what its ancestors knew before theflood. It is born into the world with that transmitted knowledge. Itsposterity will know no more during the millennium. On the contrary, manis born into the world an intellectual blank. However wise his parents, he inherits not one idea. He knows absolutely nothing except what helearns--learns from teachers and by experience. It would beincomprehensibly strange if man in his development from a mollusk, should accumulate inherited knowledge till he reaches the _ne plusultra_ of terrestrial life, and then by a sudden break in the chain ofnature lose it all, and come into the world a born fool!! This would be"development, " "natural selection, " and the "survival of the fittest, "with a vengeance! Here is a chasm between man and the lower animals, made by the hand of God, that human wisdom can never bridge. In his intellectual, moral and spiritual development, man starts fromzero. God has thus ordained it. He is dependent on progression for allthat he is and all that he is to be. God simply gives him a start inthis world, with the numberless ages of eternity before him forinfinite advancement. The idea, therefore, that "death ends all" nipsin the bud this grand conception of man's greatness, and blightsforever that which is noblest and truest in his nature. To regard thislife as the _ne plus ultra_ of man's development, is to charge naturewith a freak of folly, and an abortion in her best works. Men may laudhuman virtue for human virtue's sake; but if man is but the moth of aday, the fire-fly whose phosphorescent light flashes for a moment andthen goes out in eternal night, his virtues are but the tales of thehour that have their value in the telling. If this life is all there isof man, then he is the most unmeaning portion of the creation of God. There is for him no perfection, no satisfying of his inherent wants, and the whole of his existence is a sham and a fraud. As Young hasbeautifully said: "How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, How complicate, how wonderful, is man! How passing wonder He who made him such! Who centered in our make such strange extremes, From different natures marvelously mixed, Connection exquisite of distant worlds! Distinguished link in being's endless chain! Midway from nothing to the Deity! A beam ethereal, sullied, and absorbed! Though sullied and dishonored, still divine! Dim miniature of greatness absolute! An heir of glory! a frail child of dust! Helpless immortal! insect infinite! A worm! a God!--I tremble at myself, And in myself am lost. At home, a stranger. Thought wanders up and down, surprised, aghast, And wondering at her own. How reason reels! O, what a miracle to man is man! Triumphantly distressed! What joy! what dread! Alternately transported and alarmed! What can preserve my life? or what destroy? An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave; Legions of angels can't confine me there. " It is only when we thus look beyond this life, and contemplate hisrelation to the Deity, that we realize the true dignity of man. It is natural that you should desire power--power to bless the race andbring it nearer to God. Do not be discouraged if you do not find thispower clothed in the world's pomp and parade. The most God-like powercomes not in this way. God works by quiet forces that man may scorn butcan not equal. Behold that mountain of ice in the polar sea held by therelentless grip of a winter's frost. All the engineering power of mancould not shake it upon its throne. All the locomotives in the worldcould not move it an inch. But nature unveils her smiling face when thespringtime comes, the sun sheds upon it his gentle rays, noiseless asthe grave, too mild to hurt an infant's flesh, and soon these mountainsof ice relax their grip and glide away into the great deep! This ispower. This power you may possess, and should strive to possess, through the gentle forces of a regenerated nature, till the quietinfluences you exert for God will pass beyond the bounds of time and beexpended on a shoreless eternity. In conclusion, then, let me urge you to live for eternity, and let thelife that now is be with reference to that which is to come. Then willyou progress from the low plane of our terrestrial sphere toassociation with God, and eternity alone will mark the _ne plus ultra_in intellectual and spiritual development toward the Divine Being. PART III. --SELECTIONS. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. I. --CHRIST THE LAMB OF GOD. "Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world" (John i. 29) The New Testament presents a many-sided view of Christ. From each pointof view he appears in a new relation, and we study him in a differentcharacter. We can see but one side of a mountain by approaching it fromonly one direction. We must view it from every point from which itpresents a different aspect, before we have seen it as it is. So weshould study Christ in the many characters in which He is introducedupon the sacred page, that we may understand more of the many dearrelations He sustains to us. The more we know of Him in His variousrelations, the more we will love Him and the better we will serve Him. We therefore purpose a number of articles under the general title of"New Testament Views of Christ. " They will appear, we trust, with asmuch regularity as the press of other matters will permit. After the temptation, Jesus returned to where John was baptizing, andbegan the work of gathering about Him His apostles. On differentoccasions, as Jesus moved among the multitudes during this visit, Johnpointed Him out as the Lamb of God. And John said, "I knew him not; buthe that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoeverthou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon him, the same ishe that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and bornewitness that this is the Son of God" (John i. 33, 34). Both before andafter this statement, John calls Him the Lamb of God. John knew that Hewas to make the Messiah manifest to Israel by His baptism, for God hadtold him so. He did not know Jesus to be the Christ till after Hisbaptism, yet he shrank back from the idea of baptizing him, and pleadedhis unworthiness. He was worthy, and specially appointed of God, tomake manifest the Messiah, but gave way under a sense of unworthinessat the thought of baptizing his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth! What a floodof light does this pour upon the private life of the Son of Mary! Johnknew Jesus as a _man_; and while he doubtless had hopes that He was thelong-promised One, he did not _know_ it, and could not base his refusalof baptism on that ground. John was baptizing for the remission ofsins, and required those whom he baptized to confess their sins, andhis knowledge of the spotless life of Jesus caused him to shrink at thethought of administering to Him such a baptism. Thus impressed with thepurity and innocence of Jesus, it is not strange that he should callHim the Lamb of God. But innocence is not the only prominent feature in contemplating Jesusas a lamb. The idea of sacrifice to which innocence and purity areessential has pre-eminence. The first accepted offering on the earth, of which we have an account, was a lamb. It was offered in faith; henceby divine direction. That Abel saw anything in it beyond an act ofsimple obedience to God in an arbitrary appointment, we have no reasonto believe. He did what God directed, and because it was directed. Thisis the essential element of obedience in all ages, regardless of thething required. Nothing else can be the "obedience of faith. " What different conceptions had God and Abel of that sacrifice! Abel sawin it only a "firstling of his flock. " God saw in it His own Son--"theLamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. " Not only so, but onthis account was it directed. The fact that this was not revealed toAbel, shows that God intends us to obey Him in what He directs, withoutbeing concerned about the reasons He has for the requirement. He whosees the end from the beginning makes the first in execution conform tothat which is to be last. Hence, the first act of worship, and everysubsequent act, from the divine point of view, harmonizes with theperfection which in the fullness of times, was given us in ChristJesus. The lamb of Abel borrowed all its value and significance fromthe Lamb of God. While we are enabled to see this through thedevelopment of the scheme of redemption, he was not; and the fact thathis act of simple obedience in ignorance of God's far-seeing purposesis recorded as an example for us, is of unspeakable value to the childof faith. During the four thousand years in which God was preparing the world forChrist, both in patriarchal and Jewish worship, a lamb without spot orblemish was the most prominent offering for sin. In every case theoffering was made as directed, and when made, the worshiper was assuredthat his sin was forgiven. Christ is our sin-offering--the Lamb of Godthat takes away our sins--and we must present Him before God asdivinely directed. We may build no strange fire on God's altars. We maysubstitute nothing for Christ as an offering for sin, and no ways ofour own for God's way, in His presentation. In viewing Christ as the Lamb of God--the Lamb slain from thefoundation of the world--the prominent feature of His savingrelationship to us is His _blood_. Hence we are redeemed, not withsilver and gold and perishable things, "but with the precious blood ofChrist, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. " As a Lamb, Christ is sin-atoning. His power to save is not in the innocence of Hislife, but the merits of His death. The sacrifice of an innocent life isGod's wisdom and power to save the world. Let us remember it was for_us_ He was led as a lamb to the slaughter; that _our_ sins were laidupon Him; that He was bruised for _our_ iniquities; that He bore _our_sins in His bosom on the tree; that by His stripes we are healed; thatin His innocent life and sacrificial death, we behold the Lamb of Godthat taketh away the sin of the world. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. II. --CHRIST THE BREAD OF LIFE. "I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he will live forever; yea, and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world" (John vi. 48-51). When the Israelites came out of Egypt and started on their wildernessjourney to the promised land, they found themselves without sustenance. The land furnished no supplies. In this respect they were cut off fromearthly resources. In their emergency they cried unto the Lord, and Godgave them bread from heaven. Each day they gathered the necessarysupply. The amount for the Sabbath was gathered the day preceding. Beyond this there was no collection for future use. An effort to saveit proved a disgusting failure. Forty years did the daily supply ofmanna fail not, till they reached the land that God had promised. The bread on which God fed His people from the land of bondage to theland of Canaan was a type of Christ. This is asserted by both Paul andthe Saviour. As such it is worthy of careful study. 1. The Israelites were wholly dependent on the daily bread which Godgave. This was a want which the world could not supply. They must feedupon the heaven-supplied food or die. So is every one thus dependent onthe bread of life. The world can not supply the wants of the child ofGod. He needs a daily food which the world does not produce. The worldis to him a spiritual desert. He can not look to it to meet the wantsof his spiritual nature. Being born from above, he has to live fromabove. When he seeks to gratify the cravings of his carnal nature byturning back to the flesh-pots of Egypt, he languishes and dies. Be it remembered that this bread of life is Christ. It is not sometheory about Him. It is not some system of theology of man'sformulation. Men may feed upon systems and theories till their soulsare dwarfed and starved. Such feeding makes partisans and cold-bloodedsectarians, without imparting divine life to the soul. We must comedirectly to Christ. Through His holy word we must study Him, assimilateour lives to His, feed upon Him as the bread from heaven, and drink inof His gracious spirit. The world took knowledge of the saints of old, that they had been with Jesus. And so it may now easily decide as tothose of such holy companionship. 2. Christ is the bread of life. As such He has to be appropriated. There is no virtue in bread to sustain life until it is appropriatedand assimilated to the system. Men may starve within reach ofabundance. God supplies the bread of life, but He does not compel mento eat it. They are urged to eat and live, but they may refuse and die. Oh, the millions in our land who are starving for the bread of life, when it is offered them day by day! Unless we eat the body of the Sonof God we have no life. Our salvation, therefore, depends upon eating. Yet there is no virtue in the act of eating. The virtue is in the thingeaten. It is not putting on your coat that makes you warm, but the coatafter it is on. Faith is a condition of salvation; but there is nopower to save in believing. The saving virtue is in the thing believed. So we may substitute nothing for that which God has given. We must eatthe bread which God provides, else all our eating will be in vain. 3. It is well understood by all classes that the wants of the physicalman need to be daily supplied. To meet these demands, is the chiefconcern of the great mass of humanity. Observe that young man. He is inthe vigor of robust manhood. He has just enjoyed a night's refreshingsleep and a hearty breakfast. His system seems to be overflowing withan excess of vitality. He goes forth to his work boastful of hisstrength. But how many hours is it till nature cries aloud for thereplenishing of his strength? How long can he live on the boastfulsupply of his physical manhood? A few days finds him as helpless as ababe. So essential is physical food to physical life. Nor is spiritual food less essential to spiritual life. As new-bornbabes we need the unadulterated milk of the word, that we may growthereby. As men and women, we need the strong meat adapted to ourmaturity. The great mistake is in trying to live the spiritual lifewithout spiritual food. The strong men in Christ are the good feeders. Those who feed upon the bread of heaven will develop in that which isheavenly. No man has religion enough at the start to take him throughlife, unless he dies early. The foolishness of the five foolish virginsconsisted in their not taking an additional supply of oil. So it is nowwith every one who does not daily replenish his supply of spirituality. He who tries to live without communion with God--in reading, inpraying, in meditation and obedience to the divine will--will end inshameful failure. Christian character is a growth, not a divine impartation. God does notgive spiritual strength in an arbitrary way. He provides the means tothat end. If we use them, strength results. If we neglect them, we diein feebleness. The means in the figure before us is the bread of life, and the bread of life is Christ. There is an absolute necessity, therefore, for feeding upon Him. From Him all spiritual strength isderived. He is the source of all life. He said to His disciples:"Without me, ye can do nothing. " As the branch draws its nourishmentand fruit-bearing qualities from the vine, so we draw all spiritualityand fruitfulness from Christ. We are fruitful in proportion as we abidein the Vine; and we are strong in proportion to our feeding on thebread of life. 4. God permitted Israel to gather manna for one day only at a time. Soin teaching His disciples to pray, the Saviour said: "Give us this dayour daily bread. " Our bread of life is a never-failing supply. Therewas no need of laying up manna, for God gave a fresh and abundantsupply every morning. This daily supply never ceased till theirpilgrimage was over. Of this they had assurance. Hence an attempt tolay up a supply for future use was to distrust the God of theirfathers. The true bread of heaven is as unfailing as was the typicalbread of the wilderness. God's people will ever have an abundant supplyof that bread of which, if a man eats, he shall never hunger. Hence theSaviour says: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of theworld. " 5. The world has been greatly concerned about food for six thousandyears. The gratification of the appetite has both blessed and cursedthe race. Life has ever depended upon food; hence food has been thechief concern of man. During the history of the world the race has beenignorant of the processes of digestion and assimilation. They haveknown nothing of the chemistry of this source of life. They have goneon from age to age building up their bodies by taking food, whollyignorant of the process by which it was done. The value of the thingeaten has never depended on a knowledge of the process by which it wasassimilated. We thank God that it is thus with the bread of life. Wemay never expect to comprehend the "mystery of godliness" in this life. Just how the bread of life enables us to live forever, we are notconcerned to know. It is enough for us to know that it is so. Let us, then, appropriate this rich provision of God's grace, and the blessingwill be ours. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. III. --CHRIST THE WATER OF LIFE. "Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life" (John iv. 13, 14). "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John vii. 37). "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ" (I. Cor. X. 4). Twice was a rock smitten by Moses in the wilderness to supply theIsraelites with water. The first was at Rephidim, in the wilderness ofSin, during the first year of their Exodus, before they came to MountSinai. The second was at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, in thefortieth year of the Exodus. It is evident that the apostle refers tothe first of these, though we can hardly think, with most commentatorsknown to us, that he does so exclusively. The fact that the rockfollowed them, as a type of Christ, in their wilderness life, demandsthat it be from the beginning, rather than the end, of their journey. And the fact that many who drank of it fell in the wilderness, requiresthe same conclusion. But for reasons yet to appear, we think the twoare considered as one. The miracle was in all respects the same in thesecond as in the first. There was the same dependence for life on thesecond as the first. There was the same necessity that the second rockor stream should follow them as there was of the first; for they wereyet a long way from Canaan, with a waterless desert before them. Wecan, therefore, see no reason why the first should be a type of Christand not the second. Was it the stream or the rock which followed the Israelites? Paul saysthe rock. But commentators seem generally to agree that the "rock" ishere put by metonymy for the water of the rock, Barnes says, "It wouldbe absurd to suppose that the rock that was smitten by Moses literallyfollowed them in the wilderness. " Just why it is more "absurd" tosuppose the rock followed them, than the stream from a stationaryfountain at Horeb, we are wholly unable to see. Let us look at thefacts and probabilities in the case. We must keep in view the important fact, as mentioned in the lastchapter, that these people were _dependent on God_. They had seen themighty hand of God in their delivery, and now they were to be taughtdependence on Him, as the only source of life. They had, therefore, tobe sustained by miraculous food and miraculous drink. The countrysupplied neither food nor water. The miraculous supply of water was asgreat a necessity as that of bread. For two or three millions ofpeople, with their flocks and herds, a large stream, even a smallriver, would be required. It is also true that their cattle had to havefood, as well as themselves. Just how this was furnished, we are nottold. Here is a large field for conjecture. It is generally held thatthe river continued to flow from a stationary source at Horeb, and thatit irrigated the country in its following of the people, and thuscaused vegetation for the flocks and herds. But in the fortieth yearthey are again found without water. Why was this? What had become ofthe river that had followed them from the first year, if it was theriver, and not the rock, that followed them? On this point we can notrefrain from quoting Macknight and Barnes, as examples of how learnedcommentators, led by a theory, sometimes drop their readers into aperfect abyss of darkness. Macknight says: "For as Wall observes, fromHoreb, which was a high mountain, there may have been a descent to thesea; and the Israelites during the thirty-seven years of theirjourneying from Mount Sinai may have gone by those tracts of country inwhich the waters from Horeb could follow them, till in the thirty-ninthyear of the Exodus they came to Ezion-gaber (Num. Xxxiii. 36), whichwas a part of the Red Sea a great way down the Arabian side, where itis supposed the waters from Horeb went into that sea. " Barnes says:"Mount Horeb was higher than the adjacent country, and the water thatthus gushed from the rock, instead of collecting into a pool andbecoming stagnant, would flow off in the direction of the sea. The seato which it would naturally flow would be the Red Sea. The Israelitesdoubtless, in their journeyings, would be influenced by the naturaldirection of the water, or would not wander far from it, as it wasdaily needful for the supply of their wants. At the end of thirty-sevenyears we find the Israelites at Ezion-gaber, a seaport on the easternbranch of the Red Sea, where the waters probably flowed into the sea(Num. Xxxiii. 36). In the fortieth year of their departure from Egypt, they left this place to go into Canaan, by the country of Edom, andwere immediately in distress again by the want of water. " These comments involve several objectionable features. (1) TheIsraelites were guided in their course by the pillar of cloud and fire;not by the stream of water on its course to the sea. (2) Paul says therock followed them; not that they followed the river. (3) We can notallow that when God sets out to work a miracle, He is defeated bynatural causes. The idea that the river ran into the sea, and left thechildren of Israel without water, just because the situation wouldnaturally lead to that result, is to let go the miracle and have Goddefeated, because the surroundings are not favorable! The idea that Godcould cause a river to flow from a flinty rock, and then have to leaveit to seek its natural way to the sea, leaving His people destitutewhen the surface of the country would be in the way of its naturalflow, is equaled only by admitting that God created the heavens and theearth, but could not give sight to the blind or call Lazarus out of thegrave. We, therefore, repeat the question, If the river followed thepeople, what became of it when they came into the wilderness of Zin? On the hypothesis that it was the rock which followed them, just asPaul says it was, there is nothing unreasonable in the supposition thatfor some cause, not given, God withheld the flow of water to chastisethem for their wickedness, as He did in other ways, and make themrealize their dependence. As favoring this idea, when they weredestitute the second time, and cried unto Moses in their distress, Godtold him to gather the people together and speak unto _the rock_. Notonly was there a suitable rock present for the second river of water, but it seemed to be a particular rock. Hence designated "_the_ rock. "Our conclusion is, therefore, that the two rocks were one; that itfollowed the Israelites during their entire journey to Canaan, supplying the people with the _fresh_ out-gushings of its crystalstream. That rock was typical of Christ, and the blessings of Christare never stale or stagnant, as the water from a fountain in Horebwould have been, after winding its sluggish way through the parcheddesert of Arabia. "That rock was Christ. " That is, it was a type of Him. All thosetransactions were typical. "Now these things happened unto them by wayof types; and they were written for our admonition. " "A dry and thirsty land where no water is, " well represents this worldto one who has not an ever-present Saviour as the fountain of the waterof life. As the Israelites would have perished without the crystal flowfrom the flinty rock, so perishes the world without Christ. There is noappetite more distressing than thirst. There is nothing more delightfulthan the cooling draught to the parched throat. Oh, to those who thus"thirst after righteousness, " how delightful it is to be "filled"! "Asthe heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul afterthee, O God. " Only the thirsty can appreciate drink; so only those whofirst feel the need of a Saviour can experience the joy of salvation. Not only shall the thirsty soul be satisfied that drinks of the waterof life, but it shall "become within him a well of water springing upunto eternal life. " This refreshing and ever-present fountain of lifeflows for all. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. " Toslake one's thirst at this fountain, is a foretaste of the river oflife that flows from beneath the throne in the eternal city of God. Many who drank of the typical water of the wilderness, fell under thedispleasure of God, and died short of the promised land. Hence weshould be careful to live ever near to the water of life, that ourthirsty souls may be continually supplied, and our strength renewed. Only by being constantly refreshed can we be saved from perishing inthe wilderness and kept unto the land of God beyond. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. IV. --CHRIST THE SON OF GOD. "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. Xvi. 16). "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him and he in God" (I. John iv. 15). "And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (I. John v. 5). In one sense all men are sons of God. In a much dearer sense allChristians are sons and daughters of the Almighty. But the relationshipof Christ to the Father is infinitely above this. He is _the_ Son ofGod. God is His Father by direct production, without the agency of ahuman father. The same divine power that can create life through theagency of man, can create it without such agency. Hence there isnothing to stumble over in the idea of the miraculous conception, toone who fully accepts the God of the Bible in the character in which Heis revealed as a divine creator. To accept God as the creator of heavenand earth, and then stagger at His performance of any miracle is alogical absurdity. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God in the high sense that involvedequality with the Father. He said: "I and the Father are one. " Onaccount of this relationship, "He thought it not robbery to be equalwith God. " His enemies understood that this equality was involved inHis claim; hence they charged Him with blasphemy in making Himselfequal with God. This was a high claim on the part of the Nazarene. He claimed to bemore than a man. When some said that He was John, or Elijah, orJeremiah, or some one of the prophets, they underestimated Himaccording to His claim. The greatest prophet, or inspired teacher, thathad ever appeared among men, _even if raised from the dead as thespecial messenger of God to His people_, could not meet the demandsinvolved in the claim of Jesus, that He was the Son of God. This high claim had to be sustained by two distinct lines oftestimony--miracles and a sinless life. The purpose of miracles is toestablish the claims of the miracle-worker and to glorify God. Themiracles of Jesus establish His divine mission and claim to theMessiahship. No man could do the miracles He did "except God be withhim;" and God would not be with one who was advocating false claims. The enemies of Jesus understood this; hence they said: "God heareth notsinners. " Miracles are the substratum of the foundation underlying ourfaith. While the divine claims of Jesus are attested by His miracles, theevidence is crowned by His sublime character. His life is itself amongthe most wonderful of miracles. As a child of poverty and a son oftoil, He lived thirty years among men. When He afterwards claimed to bethe Son of God, He had many bitter enemies. They persecuted Him evenunto death, and yet not one of them ever pointed to an act of Hisprivate life as inconsistent with, or unworthy of, His divine claim. This simple fact speaks volumes as to the purity of His life. The worldhas contained but one such. The very life which His claims require isthe life revealed on the sacred page. Infidels have ordinarily contented themselves with mere negations. Theyseem not to realize the fact that in denying some things they arelogically bound to account for others. If we deny the claim of Jesusthat He is the Son of God, then we have to account for His miracles, His life, the disposal of His entombed body, and the establishment anddevelopment of His kingdom. These are facts. As such they have to beaccounted for. On the hypothesis that Jesus is the Christ, alldifficulty vanishes. On any other, it is more than the world has yetbeen able to meet. Skeptics laud the character of Jesus as a model ofpurity, such as the world has never elsewhere found, and yet deny theclaim on which was based His mission to men and on which He built Hischurch. How the establishment of a religion upon a known falsehood canharmonize with a life of faultless purity, they do not pretend to tellus, for it is a palpable absurdity. How His disciples could testify ona point of fact in regard to which they could not be mistaken, andsurrender all worldly position and comfort, and life itself, toestablish a known falsehood in the hearts of men, in which they--thewitnesses--could have no personal interest, they leave in the Egyptiandarkness characteristic of their system. How can he account forAmerican history and American institutions who denies the existence ofWashington, or claims that he was a disreputable impostor? How, then, shall he account for the history and institutions of civilization whodenies to Jesus of Nazareth existence as a man of that age and country, or makes Him a base deceiver and vile impostor? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is the fundamental, pivotalfact in the Christian religion. It underlies every other feature of theChristian system. On it turn the value and significance of every otheritem of the faith. Everything takes position with regard to this, andderives its value from it. With this, all else stands by divineappointment, and bears the seal of heaven. Without it, the whole systemis but as the chaff which the wind driveth away. When the proposition is established that Jesus is the Son of God, everyother feature of the Christian system rests upon _authority_. Nothingelse has to be proved as this does. Before establishing this proposition, the word of Jesus settles nothing. After its establishment, it settleseverything. When we accept Him as the Christ, we accept all else on Hisauthority. Hence He says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do notthe things which I say?" "All authority hath been given unto me inheaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of allnations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. " The making and baptizing of disciples restsupon the authority of Jesus, and that authority is based upon HisMessiahship. So of every other item of the Christian system of faith. The great inconsistency and consequent weakness of the religious world, is in not accepting the simple authority of Jesus as conclusive andwholly sufficient on any matter on which He has expressed the divinemind. As the Son of God and coronated Lord of lords, His authority issupreme, and His word is law. What He says is to be accepted asinfallibly true, and the end of all controversy. Whatever He directs isto be done, simply because He directs it. Whatever else we may considera corroborative reason, the direction of Jesus alone is to determineour action. Only this can be the obedience of faith. And in regard towhat He directs, there can be no compromise. The King speaks to beobeyed, not to be argued with. It is His prerogative to command; oursto obey. Jesus made His authority the controlling principle in His religion. Where this is maintained, the religion of Christ is preserved in itspurity. Where it is disregarded, anything follows that the tastes andfollies of men may demand. The religion of Christ is pure or corrupt inproportion as His authority is observed or ignored. The authority of Jesus can not be separated from His appointments. Hisentire authority is embodied in each of His appointments. Hence he whodisregards an appointment of Jesus Christ, disregards His authority. And he who disregards His authority, ignores His Lordship. The man whodeliberately refuses to do what Christ directs, ignores the authorityof his Lord, and dethrones the Son of the living God. Yet how much ofthis do we see among men! Not only in the world, but in the church aswell. It seems strange that one should make a profession of thereligion of Christ, and yet thus ignore His Lordship. The authority ofJesus against a life of indifference in the church, of non-attendance, of want of coöperation in the work of the Lord, against carnality, pleasure-loving, worldliness, the lusts of the flesh, want ofspirituality, and such like, is as direct and positive as that againstrejecting the gospel of Christ; and yet how many church members, allover our land, are disregarding the authority of Jesus in thesematters. Those who make a profession of religion and live in the churchwithout continuing to honor the Lord Jesus by regarding His authorityand complying with His will, would better have never known the way oflife. The authority of Jesus follows us to the grave, and is neverrelaxed for a day. His will, not ours, is to rule in our life. Ourdesires, however strong, are to be subordinated to the mind of Him whogave His life for ours, and said, "all authority in heaven and on earthis given unto me. " It is the height of inconsistency, therefore, to exalt the name ofJesus in words and professions, and speak lightly of, or disregard anyone of His appointments. It is not only inconsistent; it is disloyaland wicked. This is the great stumbling-block in our way to theindorsement of Mr. Moody and such men. We care not what else he may be, we can indorse no man who tears in two the commission of Jesus Christ. He who refuses to "speak as the oracles of God speak, " in order topromote his work, is not doing the work that God would have him do. Wecan not honor Christ without honoring His teaching, and we can nothonor His teaching by withholding a part of it from those inquiring theway of eternal life. We can honor Jesus as the Son of God only bydeclaring His whole counsel, and yielding submissively in all things toHis divine authority. This acceptance of Jesus as an infallible teacher, as one whose everyword is to be believed simply because He said it, and whose everydirection is to be observed simply because He directs it, whose spiritis to be possessed and cultivated to the transforming of the life, tillwe grow into the divine image and become partakers of the divinenature, is all involved in the "good confession": Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. V. --CHRIST THE SON OF MAN. "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. Viii. 20). "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" (Matt. Xvi. 13). "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life" (John iii. 14). It is a matter of profound gratitude that our Saviour was a man. "TheSon of man, " as well as "the Son of God, " was essential to His greatwork of bringing salvation to the race. In one sense we are all sons ofman, but not as He was. He was not simply the Son of Mary and herancestors. He was the Son of humanity. He was equally akin to the race. He touches humanity at every angle and on every side. While He was theSon of David according to the flesh, He is the kinsman of the race as apartaker of our common nature. "Since the children are sharers in fleshand blood, he also himself, in like manner, partook of the same. " Heignored all accidental relationships closer than this shared by therace. The members of His own household obtained not a blessing which Hedid not as freely bestow on others. The fact that He did not manifestgreater partiality toward His mother has been a matter of comment. Thesimple fact is, that the relationship with which we are concerned, andof which the inspired record treats, is to the race; hence it is notconcerned about His personal family affections. His brothers andsisters and mothers are those who hear His word and keep it. The world has ever had too far-away ideas of God. It has contemplatedGod at a great distance. It puts Him beyond the stars. Indeed, thestars fade away from view in the distance behind us, as we ascend inimagination to the dwelling-place of the Most High. The world can neverbe suitably impressed with God's presence while it holds Him at adistance. He can never be sensibly near unto us while we keep Himbeyond the stars. Nor can we be influenced by the idea of His presencetill we learn that "he is not far from each one of us. " God tried to impress His people anciently with the idea of His presenceby various visible manifestations. Abraham realized time and again thatGod was his present companion and friend. When Jacob saw the ladderreaching to heaven, and angels ascending and descending on it, he said, "Surely, the Lord is in this place. " And when Moses drew near to seethe burning bush, a voice from its flame demanded the removal of thesandals from his feet, for the ground on which he stood was holyground. God impressed Israel with the awfulness of His presence as a Lawgiver, whom the nations were to honor, by His voice from Mount Sinai which"shook the earth. " The glorious manifestation of God's presence at thetabernacle, in the midst of the camp of Israel, impressed them with thefact that the God of their fathers was with them; that He was in theirmidst; that He had not forgotten His covenant; and that He would bewith them to sustain them in every emergency till the end. With allthis, they often forgot God and went astray. What would they have donewithout it? In the person of Jesus, God perfected the divine purpose of bringingHimself into a realized nearness to the human family. He clothedHimself in our humanity, and became one with us. We are thus enabled tolook upon Him, to contemplate Him, not as a great, self-existingSpirit, incomprehensible and awful, but as a _man_. Jesus was a man;and "in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. " He is Godmanifest in flesh. And as God is thus manifest, would He have usapprehend Him. Just, therefore, as we can appreciate the nearness ofJesus as a loving and sympathizing kinsman, may we appreciate thenearness of His Father and our God. It is evident that men need a God to whom they can get sensibly near. There is no profit in the worship of a God of abstractions. There is init no food for the soul. What is there to satisfy the languishing soulin a prayer to the "Great Unknown and Unknowable"? They that come toGod must believe that He _is_. And that "is" is a personal divinebeing, into whose arms we may cast our helpless selves, and on whosebosom we may pillow our weary head; instead of a great, bewildering, incomprehensible abstraction, "without body, parts, or passions. " We are brought into a sacred nearness with God in the life of Jesus. From His bed in the manger to His rest in a borrowed grave, we have alife of abject poverty. He was the friend and companion of the poor. The world is full of poverty, and ever will be. But the poorest ofevery age and country find a companion and friend, of like sufferingswith themselves, in the person of Jesus. The cares and sorrows of life, resulting from poverty, of which the world knows most as a dailyburden, were fully realized by Him; and in it all He is a deeplysympathetic friend. Jesus was a man of labor. The hands so often extended to blesshumanity, and through which the cruel nails were driven, were hardenedby daily toil. He never did a day's work with which His employers foundfault. Long after He had built mansions in the skies for them that loveHim, were the houses of His own workmanship standing in Galilee; butwhen He laid aside His tools to do the work of His Father, no man everpointed to an earthly house and said, "This job is not in harmony withHis claims to be the Son of God. " He knew what it was to be tired andhungry. He doubtless knew the meaning of hard work and low wages. Itfollows, therefore, that every son of toil, every burdened and wearylife, has for a gracious Redeemer and providential Saviour one who was"a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. " Jesus was a man of temptation. He was tempted as no other man was evertempted. The devil is the author of temptation, and he had a peculiarinterest in the temptation of Jesus. Through temptation comes sin. Sinis the yielding of the will under temptation to do wrong. The devil hada special interest in inducing Jesus to sin. He was the representativeof the race. Their fortunes were all involved in His. The consummationof His work as a Redeemer required a sinless life. Hence if Jesus couldbe induced to yield to temptation, the world's hope of salvation wasforever gone. It is evident, therefore, that the devil exhausted hisresources to accomplish that end. Consequently He was "tempted in allpoints like as we are, " and infinitely beyond what we know oftemptation. And He who withstood Satan in every onset has promised tobe with us to the end, and suffer us not to be tempted above what weare able, if we only keep Him between us and the enemy of our souls. Itis a source of profound gratitude that we have a Saviour who has feltin all its forms the tempting power of sin, who is full of sympathy forus in our temptations, and who has promised to ever be in such ourfaithful friend. Hence the great apostle to the Gentiles, whose lifewas full of temptation and trial, gives us a reason why we should "drawnear with boldness unto the throne of grace, " that "we have not a highpriest that can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmities;but one that hath been in all points tempted like we are; yet withoutsin. " This very fact in the character of our Saviour gives us humbleboldness to approach the throne of grace that nothing else could give. When we have given way under temptation, and our souls are burdenedwith a sense of sin, we can come to God through the mediation of Jesus, with a confidence that His sympathy for us has been perfected by theexperience of His own earthly life. For Christ was perfected for thespecial parts of His work by His mission among men. "For it become him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringingsons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect throughsufferings. " "And having been made perfect, he became unto all themthat obey him the author of eternal salvation. " In order to accomplish the great work of redeeming the race, Christ hadto be a _man_. He had to be human, as well as divine. Hence it was justas essential that He be the Son of man as that He be the Son of God. Hehad to make an offering for sin, and that required a human body. Hencehe says, "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not. But a body didstthou prepare for me. " He had to be human in order to die, and divine inorder to conquer death. Hence, while we exalt His divinity, we mustnone the less appreciate His humanity. We must not cease to contemplateour Lord and Saviour as the Son of man. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. VI. --CHRIST THE GREAT TEACHER. "We know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these signs that thou does, except God be with him" (John iii. 2). "And it came to pass, when Jesus ended these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (Matt. Vii. 28, 29). "Never man spake like this man" (John vii. 46). On "the great day of the feast"--the feast of the tabernacles--in thesecond year of His ministry, Jesus was performing many miracles, andthere was great commotion among the people as to whether He was theChrist. The chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to take Him. But they returned without Him. Then the chief priests and Phariseessaid, "Why did you not bring him?" They simply reply, "Never man sospake. " These were, doubtless, resolute men who were accustomed toobeying orders. But in this case they did not obey orders, nor even tryto do it. Their excuse for not doing so was peculiar. They gave noordinary or natural circumstances as hindering the execution of orders. They made no plea to exculpate themselves. They simply said, "No manever spake like this man. " How, then, shall we account for this? Therewas simply an unearthly majesty in the person, the manner and the wordsof Jesus, that awed them into inaction. The very fact that such menwere so unnerved by the presence and words of Jesus, gives us an ideaof His majesty as a teacher, and of His power over men. Thus it wasthat He could cleanse the temple, overturn the tables of themoney-changers, drive out the whole crew who were making merchandise ofthe house of God, and no one resisted. When did the world produceanother man whose presence alone awed bold officers of the law intodisregard of duty, and the chastised multitude into non-resistance? Jesus was the world's great teacher, and yet He was never taught. Thisfact was recognized by those who knew His history. "The Jews thereforemarveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?"Jesus explained it by saying, "My teaching is not mine, but His thatsent me. " This is the only satisfactory explanation that can be given. That Jesus was a man of unequaled wisdom, surpassing infinitely all thegreat philosophers of renown, is freely admitted by the best informedof modern skeptics. That the world has been influenced by His teachinginfinitely beyond what it has been by that of any other man, is notdenied. That the world regards His teaching to-day, after eighteenhundred years from the day of His death as a malefactor and His rest ina borrowed grave, as it has never regarded the teaching of another man, is also an admitted fact. How shall we account for suchteaching--teaching of such accumulating power over ages and generationsof men--when He Himself was untaught? The world can not answer thequestion except as Jesus answered it: "My teaching is not mine, but Histhat sent me. " Christ was the only teacher among men who never made a mistake. Afternearly two thousand years, during which His teaching has been subjectedto the severest scrutiny, He stands without conviction as to a singleerror. Its ethics, its morals, its righteousness, its philosophy, itswisdom, its accuracy, have stood the test of the most rigid investigation. How can this be accounted for on the hypothesis that Jesus was only aman? The greatest of all other men, with the advantage of the world'sbest facilities, and under teachers of renown, have furnished the worldwith teaching full of mistakes and imperfections. If Jesus were only aman, how came it that He was so infinitely superior to all other men?And if thus superior in wisdom, righteousness and purity, how belieHimself in claiming to be infinitely more than a man? It wereimpossible. The two things are mutually destructive. Jesus furnishesthe only explanation: "My teaching is not mine, but His that sent me. " Jesus is _the_ teacher of the science of salvation. Others before Himtaught the things pertaining to salvation, but their teaching was allby the Spirit of God, framed with reference to what His was to be. Others, after Him, taught the way of life, but they taught it as theyreceived it from Him. When He ascended to the Father He sent the HolySpirit as His advocate. The Spirit imparted to the apostles what Hereceived from Christ. He took the words of the coronated Christ andgave them to the apostles, and they spake as the Spirit gave themutterance (see John xvi. 7, 15). It follows, therefore, that theteaching of the apostles is as infallible as that of the Christ, for itis simply His. It was not the purpose of Jesus to teach the wisdom of this world. Hewas not of this world, and His teaching was not with reference to thisworld. He came from another world, and the things pertaining to anotherworld were the ultimatum of His teaching. The way of salvation ispurely a matter of revelation. Man knows nothing about it except whatGod has revealed through Christ. The same is true as to that from whichwe are saved, and that to which we are saved. We know nothing of God, heaven, hell and eternity, except that which is revealed. All that weknow of sin and its remedy we learn from the great Teacher. The natureand the consequences of sin we learn from the same source. Therevelation of God is at once the source and limit of our knowledge ofsin and righteousness, and their consequences. In the whole scheme ofredemption Christ is the central figure; and on it He is the greatteacher and supreme authority. Christ, as a teacher of law and morals, legislates for the heart. Mencan take cognizance only of deeds. They can not know the heart. Hencethey can judge it only by outward manifestations. But Christ knew whatwas in man. Hence He could legislate for man's thoughts, as well as hisdeeds. Hence He says: "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt notcommit adultery: but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on awoman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in hisheart. " Even the law of the Ten Commandments legislated againstadultery only as an outward act, but Christ legislates against thethought. In this respect, as in many others, He is unique as a teacher. Finally, He taught by His own authority. This was the cause of theastonishment at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. "Themultitudes were astonished at His teaching; for He taught them as onehaving authority, and not as their scribes. " The scribes taught thatwhich "was said to them of old time, " and the traditions of men, butChrist said, "I say unto you. " Mark this feature in that discourse. Adozen times does he say, "_I_ say unto you. " This was in harmony withthat which was predicted of Him as a teacher. "Moses indeed said, Aprophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shallspeak unto you. And it shall be, that every soul which shall nothearken to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among thepeople. " And in the presence of Moses and Elijah, the great teachers ofthe past, the divine Father said: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I amwell pleased; hear ye him. " All this recognizes one of the fundamentalprinciples in the Christian religion--the supreme authority of Christ. The world seems slow to learn that what He said He said by His ownauthority, whether personally or through the apostles and prophets;that it needs no other support, and that it is the irrepealable_law_ of the kingdom of God. Because we are not under the law, butunder grace, many conclude that we have a religious latitude in whichwe may legislate for ourselves, forgetting that Paul says we are "underlaw to Christ. " In our supreme ignorance we need a teacher--an infallible teacher; andthat we have in the person of Jesus. In order to become wise untosalvation, we must hear and learn of Him. In believing what He says, and doing what He directs, we have His divine assurance of salvationfrom sin and a home in heaven. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. VII. --CHRIST THE DELIVERER. "And he [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written, The spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears" (Luke iv. 16-21). This sublime passage is a quotation of Isaiah lxi. 1-3. It containsseveral words indicating a character in which the Messiah was toappear, strikingly appreciated by the Jews at the time of the prophecy. Especially from the time of the Babylonish captivity did the Jews makeprominent the idea of a deliverer in the person of their promisedMessiah. "_Release_ to the _captives_" and "_liberty_ to the_bruised_"--ill-treated by their captors--was to them a preciousproclamation, looked forward to with great anxiety, when deliveranceshould be proclaimed and Israel should again be the free and favoredpeople of God. Since this characteristic was so long appreciated as a matter ofprophecy, and Jesus announced its fulfillment in Himself, it is abefitting occasion on which to briefly notice the relation of Christ toprophecy. The understanding of this relationship is important at anytime, because it furnishes a valuable class of evidence as to theMessiahship and divinity of Jesus. It is especially so at this time, since infidels are making a special effort to destroy the value ofprophecy in this respect; and some from whom we should expect betterthings seem to be assisting in the work. A great deal of importance was given to Messianic prophecies during thedays of the Saviour and the apostolic age of the church. Indeed, thiswas the main source of evidence to the Jewish mind that Jesus was theChrist. And the use made of it by Christ and the apostles shows that itwas abundant. When Jesus talked with two of the disciples on their way to Emmaus, onthe day of the resurrection, He said to them: "O foolish men, and slowof heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Behooved itnot the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? Andbeginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to themin all the scriptures the things concerning himself. " Here JesusHimself states that Moses and all the prophets prophesied of Him. Andwhen He had returned to Jerusalem, and stood in the midst of theeleven, He said to them: "These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, how that all things must needs be fulfilledwhich are written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalmsconcerning me. " Thus the books of Moses, and all the prophets, and thepsalms, contained teaching concerning the Christ, according to Jesus'own statement; and it was all in the form of type and prophecy. Indeed, types are but forms of prophecy. Jesus charged the Jews with not believing Moses, and gave that as thereason why they did not believe on Him. He said: "For if ye believeMoses, ye would believe me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe nothis writings how shall ye believe my words?" Like modern skeptics, theydid not believe the writings of Moses concerning the Messiah--did notbelieve that they referred to the Messiah; hence their value wasdestroyed, and they did not believe in Jesus. Had they believed theseprophecies they would have believed on Christ. On the day of Pentecost Peter convinced the three thousand by argumentfrom prophecy concerning the Christ. In his sermon in Solomon's porchthe argument was likewise based upon prophecy. Paul's manner ofpreaching (see Acts xvii. 1-3) was to show the prophecies of the OldTestament concerning the Messiah and then show that these werefulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore the conclusion wasnecessitated that He was the Christ. As this was Paul's method, heevidently attached to prophecy the highest possible value. That all theapostles did this is evident from the statement of Peter. Speaking oftheir being "eye-witnesses of His majesty, " and of the infallible signsHe gave of His divinity, he says: "And we have the word of prophecymade more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lampshining in a dark place. " How are we to determine the Messianic prophecies? We unhesitatinglyreply, by the example of Christ and the apostles. Three importantpoints are established by their testimony: (1) They teach that suchprophecies are numerous, and made by Moses, David, and all theprophets. (2) They quote or refer to specifically, and thus apply, quite a number. It is evident that these are Messianic, because soapplied. (3) Since Christ and the apostles designate a large number asMessianic, we are safe in concluding that others are so that are oflike character. They are infallible judges, and they furnish us acriterion by which to judge. It is not true, as claimed, that in order to a Messianic prophecy, theprophet making it must so understand it at the time. On the contrary, Peter tells us that they searched diligently to ascertain the thingsand the time of them referred to in their own prophecies concerning thesufferings of the Christ and the glory that was to follow. (See I. Pet. I. 10-12). They, therefore, did not understand the things or the timereferred to. Since they did not know these, they did not know that theprophecy referred to the Messiah. The same Peter did not understandsome of his own utterances on the day of Pentecost. His language heremakes the promise of salvation to Gentiles as well as to Jews. But hedid not so understand it till he had a special revelation at Joppa andthe house of Cornelius. Nor is it true, as claimed, that a Messianic prophecy must have been sounderstood by the people before its fulfillment. Many of the Messianicprophecies were not understood as such in Old Testament times. TheSaviour charged this want of understanding upon His disciples, and toldthem that if they had correctly interpreted Moses and the prophets, inthis very respect, they would have known that His death was required bysuch prophecies, and they would not have received the story of Hisresurrection as an idle tale. Moreover, He charged the Jews that thisfailure to understand Messianic prophecies, as such, was the ground oftheir not believing on Him. (See John v. 45-47). In regard to types, which is a feature of prophetic teaching, and astrong chapter of evidence as to inspiration, Clark Braden says: "Thereare but few real types in the Bible; that is, there are but few thingsthat men devised and acted with the intention of symbolizing ortypifying anything future. There are exceeding few that were devised oracted with that as their sole object. " It would be difficult for one tocrowd more flagrant error into the same space than the above contains, if he were to make it a specialty. It contains the following positions, all of which are false: (1) That there are but few types in the Bible. (2) That types are _devised_ by _men_. (3) That types were "devised andacted" by the same party. (4) That they were "devised and acted" by menwith the intention of typifying something future. (5) That this, inorder to their value as evidence of inspiration, should have been"their sole object. " This will do quite well for five lines. We wouldsuggest that _God_ devised types, not men. While men were the actors, they were not the originators. While men may not have intended totypify anything in the case, God did. While types were intended by Godto typify something future, this was not "their sole object. " God hadin them a purpose for the actors in addition to their typicalsignificance. The purpose they then served detracts not from theirvalue as types. As to the comparative number, we prefer Paul asauthority. Speaking of the wilderness life of the Israelites, fromtheir baptism in the cloud and in the sea, he says: "Now these thingshappened unto them by way of types [_tupoi_], and they were written forour admonition. " This history contains numerous types, Paul beingjudge. Indeed, the patriarchal and Jewish religions were mainlytypical. When Noah built the ark to the saving of his house, it is notprobable that he thought of anything typical. Certainly that was notthe only purpose, nor the main purpose. But Peter says it was a type, all the same. The fact that God's people did not understand the full significance oftheir worship, did not destroy its character or its value. The same istrue now. While God's oppressed people worshiped in types and symbolswhich foreshadowed the perfection to come, they were taught by thespirit of prophecy to look with longing anxiety to the coming of adeliverer. While, in debate, we may not rely on a large number ofprophecies as Messianic, because the proof is not conclusive, it doesnot effect the fact that many of them have that character. To appreciate Christ as a deliverer one must realize his ownbondage--the slave of sin, and sold under its power. There is noappreciation of the Deliverer till there is a longing for deliverance, and no longing for deliverance till there is a hatred of bondage. Henceone must have a just sense of the heinousness of sin before he canappreciate Christ as a Saviour. In coming to this world to deliver us, Christ had, in a sense, to comewithin the dominion of Satan, and under the assaults of sin. This istypfied by Moses going into Egypt to deliver his brethren. He had toplace himself under the reign of Pharaoh, and in order to deliver hisbrethren he had to deliver himself. The Son of God took upon Him ourhumanity. This He had to do to make a sacrifice and be a mediator forus. In doing this He placed Himself under the tempting power of sin, and was tempted in all points as we are. He had to save Himself fromthis condition before He could save us. This was done through death andthe resurrection. With Him the old life ceased at the cross, and thenew one began from the grave. He conquered Satan--dragged the captorcaptive--and was forever delivered from his tempting power. "He diedunto sin once, " says Paul; and we die to sin just where He did, beingput to death by the cross. We are buried with Him, and rise with Him towalk in newness of life. Thus the new life begins with us just where itbegan with Him--from the grave--the grave of baptism in which we areburied together and rise together. The denominational world want tomake the new life begin from the cross. But it did not thus begin withJesus, and Paul says it does not thus begin with us. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. VIII. --CHRIST THE GREAT PHYSICIAN. "They that are whole have no need of a physician; but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke v. 31, 32). "For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them" (Matt. Xiii. 15). "He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted" (Luke iv. 18). Several times, either directly or indirectly, Christ alludes to Himselfas a physician. In this character He is worthy of careful study. The first thing in order to appreciate a physician, is to realize thatone is sick. The Saviour says the well need not a physician. It isequally true that the well care not for a physician. Sin is the diseaseof which Christ, as a physician, is the healer. The disease is deadly. The smallest amount is fatal. The Great Physician alone can heal it. There is no other remedy. When a man is once affected, however much hemay keep it under control, and prevent its increase, there is never adiminution of the disease till the remedy of the Great Physician isapplied. There is much senseless talk about depravity that necessarily implies, though its advocates may not so intend, that sin has comparativelylittle condemnatory force. The idea so often expressed that one must be"a great sinner in order to need a great Saviour;" that if he is only"partially depraved, he needs to be only partially saved;" that he mustbe "totally depraved in order to be totally lost;" that he must be"totally depraved in order to be wholly dependent on Christ forsalvation, " and such like, necessarily puts a light estimate upon sin. The idea is, that if one has but a comparatively small amount of sin, he is not wholly lost and utterly helpless, and wholly dependent onChrist. When the simple fact is, that sin is so heinous in itscharacter and condemnatory in its consequences, that any amount of it, whether much or little, renders one as helpless and hopeless anddependent on Christ as if he were totally depraved by nature and doublydefiled by a life of sin. There is, therefore, no necessity for totaldepravity, in order that man be in an utterly lost and helplesscondition without Christ. A grain of strychnine is just as fatal as anounce, without an antidote. In order that we appreciate a physician, and avail ourselves of thebenefits of his skill, we must have faith in him. Without faith thathis skill is superior to ours, and that he can help us, we will notcall upon him. If we have faith in him we will do as he directs. Thehighest evidence of faith in a physician, and the surest way of beingbenefited by his skill, is in going precisely by his directions. Someyears ago the writer had a long spell of typhoid fever. His physiciancame to see him one hundred and thirty times. After he becameconvalescent, his physician said to him one day, "In looking back overyour case, I can attribute your recovery to but two things--yourunyielding resolution and confidence, and your faith in yourphysician. " What did he mean by faith in my physician? What had that todo with it? He explained. "For, " said he, "you followed my directionsminutely in everything, and for more than seven weeks the least wabblewould have turned the scale against you. " This was a fine illustrationof faith, but theologically he attached to the word a very differentidea. Such must be our faith in the Great Physician that we apply to Him forthe treatment of a sin-sick soul. And having called upon Him, we are tofollow His directions. On one occasion He said to the Pharisees, "Whydo you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" So inthis case He would say, "Why do you call on me as a physician, and donot as I direct you?" As well apply to an earthly physician and expectto be healed by faith in his skill, without taking his medicine orfollowing his directions in other respects, as to expect the GreatPhysician to heal you in the same way. This illustrates the absolutefolly of expecting to be "justified by faith only" in the GreatPhysician of souls, before and without doing as He directs. Our faithin a physician is valuable only as it induces us to take his remedies. When it leads to this, it has fulfilled its only office. When it doesnot lead to this, it is worthless. So of our faith in Christ. The onlyvalue of faith is in its leading to the observance of the divine will. The faith that does this saves, because it leads us to where God savesus. God promises salvation in the doing of His will. "Not every onethat says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. " Faith leadsto the doing of the Father's will. In this it performs its only office, and in this it saves. Faith can have value only as it leads to theappropriation and use of the remedies prescribed. It is often the case that a physician is stationary, and his patientshave to come to him in order to get the benefits of his treatment. Insuch case, the acts necessary to take us to him are essential to ourrecovery, though they have no virtue whatever except as means ofreaching him. So of coming to Christ. Christ does not come to thesinner, as orthodox prayers at the mourners' bench imply; but Heinvites the sinner to come to Him. "Come unto me, all ye that labor andare heavy laden, and I will give you rest. " "And you will not come tome that you may have life. " Believing on Christ is one thing, andcoming to Him is quite another. One must first believe before he willcome. Yet, in addition to believing, the orthodox world, so-called, utterly fails to tell us how to come to Christ. They cry, "Come, come, "but tell us not how. Christ plainly teaches that we come to Him inobedience. We are baptized into Him; into His body. We put Him on bybaptism. Being baptized into Christ is Paul's explanation of how webecome the children of God by faith. "Ye are all sons of God, throughfaith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christdid put on Christ. " We come to Christ, then, in baptism. This is thefirst overt act in the "obedience of faith. " Our faith, repentance andbaptism bring us to Christ; then He, as the Great Physician, heals oursin-sick soul. There is no healing virtue in these things that bring usto Him; but they are conditions of our healing because they are meansof our reaching the Physician. The remedy for sin is the Physician's own blood. That is the only thingin the universe of God that can heal the disease of sin, and remove theruinous consequences. "The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleansesfrom all sin. " The blood of animal sacrifices could not take away sin. "For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should takeaway sins. " Since animal sacrifice could not meet the demands of thelaw, God prepared a body for His Son in which to make a sacrifice. "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body thou didst prepare me. " Hence we are redeemed from the curse of sin, not with corruptiblethings, "but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish andwithout spot, even the blood of Christ. " "And without the shedding ofblood there was no remission. " It is plain, therefore, that the blood of the Physician is the onlyremedy. This remedy is freely given when we come to Him. Jesus said: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even somust the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in himhave eternal life. " The Israelites were commanded to look upon thebrazen serpent; and they that looked were healed. They had to havefaith, in order to look with a view to being healed. Looking was thething commanded. It was the result of faith. In looking they werehealed. But there was no virtue in the looking. Looking, in and ofitself, had no power to heal. Still it was essential to the healing. Neither had the thing looked upon any power to heal. There was novirtue in the serpent. The healing power lay back of that. It was inGod, who had promised. God did the healing. But while there was nohealing virtue in the look nor in the thing looked upon, they werenecessary to the healing, because to this end were they commanded. Theywere, therefore, necessary to bring one to the point in the obedienceof faith where God promised to heal. So it is with the Great Healer ofsouls. They that believe shall _in Him_ find the healing power. Theirfaith leads them to Him, where the healing power is applied, as thelook brought the Israelites to the healing power of God. Our obediencethat brings us to Christ is the outgrowth of our faith, just as theirlook was the outgrowth of theirs. There is no healing virtue in the onenor the other, but they were and are necessary to bring the believerwhere the healing virtue is. After all that is said about being saved by faith, and by other things, it is simply true that _Christ_ saves us. _He_ is our Saviour. And Hesaves us by means of His own blood. "There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains. " It is thus that Christ is precious to us as the great Physician ofsouls. We should give heed to His inviting voice, place ourselves underHis continued care, follow His directions, and we shall enjoy a healedand healthful state of the soul. "The great Physician now is near, The sympathizing Jesus; He speaks, the drooping heart to cheer: Oh, hear the voice of Jesus. " NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. IX. --CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR. "For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own time" (I. Tim. Ii. 5-6). A mediator is one who comes between alienated parties to effect areconciliation. He must be the friend, the advocate and equal of bothparties. Failing in one of these, he is incapacitated. No one wouldaccept a mediator whom he believed would be wanting in any of theserespects in his relations to him. No one is fit to mediate who is notqualified to do justice to both parties. This he can not do unless heknows the rights of both and is the friend of both. He must be unbiasedin his judgment and impartial in his friendship. He must be consideredthe equal of both, in so far, at least, as his knowledge of them andhis ability to judge between them is concerned. A mediator between God and men implies alienation between them. Thehistory of the race shows this to be true. The time was when they wereone; when not a feeling or a shadow came between them. The bliss ofEden reached its daily acme when the footfall of God was heard amid itsbowers. The hour that He joined their company was that of supreme joy. But man sinned, and then the presence of God was shunned. That whichwas delightful before is painful now. Such is the principle ofcongeniality; and such the consequences of sin--to make of heaven ahell. This fact alone should teach us that it lies not within thelimits of divine power to make a heaven for sinful men. Separation fromGod is hell; and with the soul defiled by sin, union is worse thanseparation. After the fall of man he could no longer stand in the immediatepresence of God, as he was wont to do before. Sin can not approach thedivine presence, hence he needed a mediator, one to stand between himand an offended God, through whom he might again be heard and blessed. Mediators of an imperfect and typical character were had in that age ofpreparation for the coming perfection. But where could a perfectmediator be found to stand between an offended God and rebellious man?Where in all the universe could one be found the friend and equal ofboth parties? Where could one be found that could stand on equalitywith God, know what was just and right in regard to Him, and, at thesame time know the weaknesses, the wants and the rights of man? Wherewas one who could poise with one hand the scales of God's justice andgather fallen humanity to his bosom with the other? The boundlessdominions of God contained not such a being. Man could not thus act, for the best of men are themselves sinners, and can approach God onlythrough a mediator. The best of men know nothing of God's side of thismatter, and they fall below equality with Him, as the earth is belowthe stars. An angel could not stand between God and men, for he can notdescend to equality with fleshly natures, to know their weaknesses andtheir wants; nor can ascend the heights of divine perfection till heknows the mind and the rights of God. In the Divine Logos, and theDivine Spirit we find, in a sense, equality with God, but no equalitywith men. How, then, is this great problem, that on which the world'ssalvation turns, to be solved? The human and the divine must beblended. They must meet and dwell in one. This is accomplished, not bylifting the human up to the divine, but by bringing the divine down tothe human. God glories in condescension. The Word that was in the beginning with God, that was God in His divineattributes, became flesh and dwelt among us. In the person of the babeof Bethlehem we have a being that never before existed--a being bothhuman and divine. He brought from the skies the divinity of His Father, and dwelt among men with the humanity of His mother. Hence the mightychasm between man and God, between earth and heaven, is bridged over inthe God-man, Christ Jesus. His divinity reaches half-way from heaven toearth, and His humanity half-way from earth to heaven, and the twounite in Him. In the life of Jesus we see His two natures constantly manifested. AsHe hungers and thirsts and sleeps; as He weeps over the sins of men, and sorrows over their afflictions, we see His humanity. He seems to beonly a man. But when He stills the tempest on the Sea of Galilee, orcalls Lazarus back to life, we see His divinity. It is interesting tostudy His life with a view to the manifestation of His two natures ineach event--their distinctness and their blending. We may never know in this life the reasons for the blending of thedivine and the human in the person of the mediator. These things aredoubtless beyond the ken of an archangel, in all their fullness. Yetfrom our point of view, obscured by our fleshly weakness, we may seesome reasons lying on the surface why this was a necessity. Some ofthese let us consider. Man fell through the weakness of the flesh and the power of temptation. Satan works through the flesh to pollute the spirit. In order to be onewith us in our temptation, and perfect Himself as an experimentalsympathizer, our mediator must be tempted in all points like as we are, that He may know how we feel under temptation. This demanded that Hetake upon Himself not the nature of angels, but that of the seed ofAbraham. He must, therefore, be a man. But this temptation is to besuccessfully met. It is to be without sin. No man had ever successfullywithstood the assaults of Satan. Our mediator was to do this. Hence thenecessity of divinity. He must be human to be tempted; He must bedivine to resist it. And to make His victory the more complete, He hadHis flesh put to the sorest test. After a fast of forty days, when Hislong pent-up hunger rushed upon Him as a lion upon its prey, Satanapproached and exhausted his strength to overcome Him. Not only did Hegive Satan this advantage, such as he had never had nor needed overmen, but He even went out of the flesh, into the citadel of which Satanheld the keys, and came out a triumphant conqueror. Hence His humanityin order to enter in; His divinity in order to come out. The scheme of redemption contemplated a sacrifice for the sins of theworld. Men must get rid of sin. They had no power of themselves to dothis. Sin must be remitted. This demanded a sacrifice for sin. "Withoutthe shedding of blood there is no remission. " The blood shed must bethe blood of humanity. It must contain the life under condemnation. Hence the "blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin. " Itcould not reach and cleanse the conscience. It was used as an imperfecttype, but the perfection required the blood that courses in humanveins; but the victim must be innocent. It must be absolutely free fromsin. Only a sinless offering can meet the requirements of the divinegovernment. Hence, in order to offer the blood of the condemned race, our mediator must be human; in order to offer it in innocence, He mustbe divine. The completion of the preparation of our mediator for His work as such, required His death and resurrection. It is shocking to the mind of someto speak of Christ having to be educated and perfected for His officeof mediator, but this He asserts Himself. "For it became him, for whomare all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sonsunto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect throughsufferings. " "Though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by thethings which he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became untoall them that obey him, the author of eternal salvation. " Thisofficiating for man as mediator and high priest, is the only thing, aswe now remember, in which Christ is said to have been speciallyqualified by His life among men. This is significant. The reasons forit are easily seen in the foregoing. He had to become a man, and thesethings peculiar to humanity He had to learn. In offering Himself a sacrifice for sin, our mediator had to die. Inorder to His work as such, of which His death was only preparatory, Hehad to live again. His death was voluntary. He said, "I have power tolay down my life, and I have power to take it up again. " In order tolay down His life, He had to be human; in order to take it up again, Hehad to be divine. Having accomplished His preparatory work, Christ returned to the Fatherto make an atonement, and to sit henceforth as a mediator between Godand men. He was equal with God before He left the heavens; He becamethe equal of man in His sojourn in the world. Hence He is now perfectlyqualified for His work. But we find that we can not dispose of thissubject in one chapter. NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. X. --CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR. --CONTINUED. "But now hath he [Christ] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Heb. Viii. 6). Having considered Christ's preparatory work, His earthly mission, wewish now to consider His office and work as mediator between God andmen. Christ sought no additional honor because of His message to menand suffering on their account. On the contrary, He prayed: "And now, OFather, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I hadwith thee before the world was. " But while He sought no additionalglory, He found additional work. The office He now fills existed nottill He ascended to the Father from an empty grave. He descended intothe dominion of death and robbed it of its power. He dragged the captorcaptive, and gave gifts unto men. Ascending, as a conquering king, Hisangelic retinue raise the exultant shout: "Lift up your heads, O yegates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of gloryshall come in. " "Who is this King of glory?" the guardian hosts shoutback. "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. " Again, the gates of the eternal city are shaken with the shout: "Lift up yourheads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and theKing of glory shall come in. " Christ was coronated King of kings and Lord of lords. He began at onceHis work of mediation. Through the Holy Spirit, sent as His advocate, He convicts men of sin, and brings them into harmony and union withGod. His mediatorship involves a work of reconciliation. This is Hisfundamental work. The old theology was that Christ labors to reconcileGod to men. Indeed, the world is not yet as free from the thought asthe truth and the honor of God demand. Whatever may be true of theatonement, one thing is certain, it grew out of the love of God. "Godso loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. " Any theory, therefore, that does not harmonize with this is false. God alreadyloves the world. He loves sinners, even, who are not penitent. He isnot willing that any should perish, but that all should come torepentance. How dishonoring to God, then, to represent Him as unwillingto save agonizing sinners; so that the protracted prayers of the churchare necessary, and often unavailing! Paul says that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. The world had transgressed, hadgone away from God, and Christ's mission as mediator, is to bring itback in agreement and submission to the divine will. The importance of the mediatorial office of Christ is very improperlyapprehended. The necessity of a mediator between us and God can neverbe fully realized in this life. This belongs to that association ofdeep and profound mysteries emanating from the mind of God, that angelsintently desire to look into. We are permitted to see only the surfacein this life. But we know enough about the general character of Hiswork, to know, that it has a value far above the world's comprehension. When one stands as our intercessor we are favored in proportion to hisstanding with the other party. When one seeks a favor at the hands ofthe chief executive of the nation, if he has no standing of his own, all depends on the standing of his advocate. If the one interceding forhim stands high in the president's favor, and has great influence withhim, his request is favorably considered on account of his advocate. When we consider the standing of the Son with the Father; that throughHim the Father has sought the reconciliation of the world; that He isthe "brightness, the Father's glory, and the express image of hisperson;" we have perfect confidence that His pleadings will prevail. But when the Father "so loved the world as to give his Son to die forit;" when He so loves sinners that His great loving heart goes out inyearnings for their salvation, why should His loving, strugglingchildren need an intercessor with Him at all? This has been one of thequestions of the ages. Theories more curious than satisfactory havebeen promulgated concerning it by the different schools of theology. Weshall not presume to answer it, beyond the simple suggestion that thiswas the special work for which the divine Logos that was in thebeginning with God, had to qualify Himself by special education. Henceit is a matter not of difference between the love and goodness of theFather and that of the Son, but of qualification by _experience_ in thetrials, temptations and weaknesses of the flesh. The consideration ofthis fact would have saved the world from much vain speculation. When Paul argues the importance of a mediator, it is not on the groundthat the Son loves us more than the Father, but on the ground that Heknows us by experience. "For we have not a high priest that can not betouched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been inall points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace. " The fact that ourhigh priest, or intercessor, was "tempted in all points, like as weare, " is the reason why we may approach a throne of grace withboldness. This boldness is simply a profound confidence based upon thehumanity of our mediator. When we approach a throne of grace, conscious of sin and imperfection, how little can we trust ourselves. We realize that we come empty-handedbefore God. With the poet, each can sing: "Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling. " We can plead no merit of our own. We have no legal claim on thestore-house of God's boundless mercy and love. But we remember that wehave a Friend; that this Friend has suffered the same trials andtemptations; that He knows by bitter experience just how we feel; thatHe deeply sympathizes with us, and that He loves us with a devotion andfaithfulness beyond human experience or expression. Remembering this, how can we feel otherwise than confident that an already loving Fatherwill hear our petitions in harmony with His will, and bless us as Hisbelieving children? The efficacy of prayer, therefore, grows out of themediatorship of Jesus, and the confidence in prayer grows out of ourappreciation of the mediator and of His work. Hence a lightappreciation of the mediatorial work of Jesus leads to a prayerlesslife. Jesus Himself taught that there is no way of approach to the Fatherexcept through Him. "I am the way, the truth and the life; no mancometh unto the Father but by me. " No man can approach God _in his ownname_. God does not look upon men in their own personality. He looksupon them only _through their mediator_; and what He sees to commend, is seen and commended only through, and on account of, their mediator. In other words, God sees the mediator only, not them. Hence the manthat does not accept the mediator cuts himself off from God. He rejectsthe only way of approach to God. He prevents God's considering hiscase; for God considers us only through the mediator. It is this fact, that God considers the mediator through whom the petition is made, rather than the petitioner, that gives significance to the fact thatour prayers are to be _in the name_ of Jesus Christ; and that we askthat our petitions be granted for "Christ's sake. " At a throne of gracewe present the name of our intercessor. We ask in _his name_, not ourown. We present Him, not ourselves. We hide ourselves behind Him, putHim in our place, and ask what God will do for Him. He authorizes us tothus use His name, and the blessings bestowed are just to the extentthat that name prevails with God. Should Vanderbilt grant you the legalright to use his name to the full extent of your desire in presentationof checks, etc. ; with his pledge to redeem all paper bearing hissignature in your hand, his whole fortune would be pledged to meet thedemands of your drafts upon him. Bankrupt financially, as you arespiritually, you present your check for a large amount and it would berejected. But add to that the name of Vanderbilt, and your check ishonored. You draw the money not in your name, but in his. The bank seesnot you, but him. Now, just as you would thus present the name ofVanderbilt, with full assurance of your request being granted to theextent of his fortune, you to-day present the name of Jesus at thecourt of heaven, and a heaven honors that name; its resources arepledged to meet your petition. The name of Jesus, therefore, when thuspresented, means to us all that it signifies in the government of God. To the extent that His name is honored are heavenly blessings securedto us. In the light of these sublime truths, we see the significance of theSaviour's requirement that henceforth all prayer should be offered inHis name. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything ofthe Father, he will give it to you in my name. Hitherto ye have askednothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive. " What is called theLord's Prayer, is not in His name, because His mediatorship had notthen been established. But now it would be sinful to repeat thatprayer, as thousands do, and omit to offer it in the name of Christ. The custom of Masons, and other secret orders, of having a form ofreligion that ignores Christ, that does not recognize His mediatorshipand that is not offered in His name, is supremely wicked. It is a grossperversion of the religion of Jesus. And how Christian men, evenpreachers of the gospel, can find it in their hearts to acquiesce insuch a thing, is to us a profound puzzle. The institution that has noplace for my Master has no place for me. The only way of approach to God is through Christ as our mediator; andthe mediatorial office of Christ is in the church, not in the world. Hence, as God can be glorified only through Christ, He can be glorifiedonly through the church. Paul, recognizing this, says: "Unto God beglory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, worldwithout end. Amen. " NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. XI. --CHRIST OUR HIGH PRIEST. "Now, if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need _was there_ that another priest should arise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are said belongeth to another tribe, from which no man hath given attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests. And _what we say_ is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life, for it is witnessed of him, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. Vii. 11-17). Each dispensation has had its priesthood. Each has had its priests andits high priests. Each has had its priests, its altars and itssacrifices peculiar to itself. Only priests in any age could worshipGod; and acceptable worship must ever be in accordance with the law ofthe priesthood. During the patriarchal age the father of the family was priest. Heoffered sacrifice for the family. The grandfather, great grandfather, etc. , was high priest over his posterity for all the generationsdescending from him while he lived. Adam was high priest of the wholerace during his life. Then the high priesthood descended to each of hissons for the posterity of each. So Noah was high priest of all thepost-diluvian world during his life. Then it descended to each of hissons. Each son was high priest of his branch of the family, in all itsgenerations, during his life. In that age, therefore, as in this, therewas a universal priesthood. The priesthood of the Christiandispensation is, in a certain sense, modeled after the patriarchal andin contrast with the Jewish. It is after the order of Melchisedec, andnot after that of Aaron. Melchisedec was high priest of that divisionof the human family to which Abraham belonged, and this distinguishedpatriarch paid tithes to him. If we do not misinterpret the law of thepriesthood of that age, this could have been none other than Shem. Shemwas then living, and Noah was dead; and Abraham belonged to Shem'sposterity. Hence no one else could be high priest while Shem lived. Many have thought that because it is said he was "without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days norend of life, " that he could not be a man. But they fail to observe thathe was without these things _in the Aaronic priesthood_. For it is saidthat he had a genealogy, but that it was not in the priestly family. "And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's officehave commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the loins ofAbraham; but he whose genealogy is not counted from them hath takentithes of Abraham. " Shem had neither father nor mother, nor beginningof days, nor end of life, in the sense that the Aaronic priests hadthem; and this is all that is affirmed of Melchisedec. When God called His people out of Egyptian bondage, and gave them thelaw, He gave them a new priesthood. The priests were now all confinedto the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron. Men could no longer buildtheir own altars and offer their own sacrifices. On the contrary, theyhad all to bring their offering to the priests appointed of the familyof Aaron, and have them make the offering. With a change of thepriesthood came a change of the law. "For, " says Paul, "the priesthoodbeing changed, there is made of necessity a change also in the law. "The law thus changed was the law of worship through the priesthood. Andas it was through this worship that pardon was obtained, the change ofpriesthood changed the law of pardon. Hence the law of pardon undereach priesthood has been different from that under either of theothers. After the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood, a descendantof Jacob could no longer build his altar and offer his sacrifice justas he had done before the change. And now a priest under the Christiandispensation can not offer acceptable worship as did either the Jew orthe patriarch. The worship that once brought to one the divine blessingwould now bring upon him a curse. How strange it is, then, that thedenominational world in large measure go back to a different priesthoodfor their ideas of religion and salvation. Under the law the kings and the priests were of two distinct tribes. These were of the tribe of Levi; those of the tribe of Judah. Hence itis written: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giverfrom between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall thegathering of the people be. " Christ was of the tribe of Judah; henceHe, like Melchisedec, is both priest and king. He could not be a priestof the Aaronic order, for he was of a different tribe--a tribe of whichMoses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. Hence all the efforts tomake Him a priest of that kind are refuted by that simple fact. Manyinsist that Christ was inducted into His priestly office at Hisbaptism, and many vain speculations are based thereon. But this can notbe. Christ was not a priest while He was on the earth, says Paul inthese words: "Now, if he were on earth he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law" (Heb. Viii. 4). He could not be a priest on earth, because the Aaronicpriesthood was then in force, and He was not of the Aaronic family. Since He could not be a priest while on earth, it is folly to talk ofHis becoming a priest at His baptism. He could not become a priest tillthe law of the priesthood was changed, and that was not changed tillafter His death. The Aaronic priesthood was in full force till Hisdeath. He was made high priest, not by the legal ritual, but by theoath of God; and this oath was "_after the law_, " not while it was inforce. The law continued till His death, hence it was after His deaththat He was made high priest by the oath of God. He was a sacrificewhen He died, not a priest. He could not be priest and sacrifice at thesame time. After His ascension He, as high priest, made atonement withHis own blood which He shed as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Hence a number of facts show the utter folly of claiming that He was apriest among men. It is through Christ as high priest that we worship God. We can worshipacceptably in no other way. There are no other means of access to theFather. Only through and by the priesthood can God be worshiped. Hencethe worshiper must become a priest, and then worship through Christ ashigh priest. All pretensions to approach God in worship, withoutrecognizing Christ as our high priest and mediator, is only anexhibition of an infidel farce. It is an insult to God, because arejection of His Son. Hence those who do not accept Christ as theirhigh priest cut themselves off from access to the Father. ChristHimself says, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me. " Paul makes it a matter of rejoicing that we have a great high priestwho can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; one that hasbeen tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Such a highpriest knows how to sympathize with us, and to make for us all justexcuses. The earthly high priest went once a year, on the great day ofatonement, into the most holy place, with the blood of others, to makeatonement for the sins of Israel; but Christ, as the high priest of thegood things to come, has entered the holy place on high, with His ownblood, to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. The offeringsmade by the priests under the law pertained only to the cleansing ofthe flesh; but the blood offered by our high priest "cleanses theconscience from dead works to serve the living God. " NEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST. XII. --CHRIST OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (I. Cor. I. 30, 31). In this language Paul affirms that Christ is our righteousness. This isa momentous thought. It goes to the heart of the scheme of redemption. How is Christ our righteousness? What does Paul mean by theaffirmation? The very life of Christianity is involved in the answer. By one's answer we know just where to place him in regard to the vitalprinciples of Christianity. That one must be righteous in order to be prepared for heaven, must beconceded by those who accept the Bible as authority. "Know ye not thatthe unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. " And this must bea positive, not simply a relative, righteousness. Men may becomparatively righteous, and yet be wholly unprepared for the presenceof God. The righteousness required in order to a home in heaven isabsolute. All unrighteousness is sin, and one must be perfectly freefrom sin to be accepted in the Beloved. No sin can enter heaven. Onecan not stand in the presence of God, accepted through therighteousness of Christ, with the least taint of sin upon his soul. Hence perfect righteousness is required. One must be righteous even asChrist Himself is righteous. Knowing this to be true, and knowing ourown imperfections and shortcomings, even in our best estate, it is nowonder that the way is described as narrow. One can not but see at aglance his utter hopelessness if he has to depend on himself. If Christhas made any provision by which this righteousness can be attained thenone can not but appreciate what Christ has done for him and hisabsolute dependence on Him for salvation. Two distinct kinds of righteousness are clearly defined in the Word ofGod. They are in striking contrast. One is approved; the othercondemned. One is of God; the other of men. One is of faith; the otherof law. God's righteousness is not only a divine, holy principle of justice andmercy, but is also a system or plan of salvation. When Jesus applied toJohn for baptism, John declined. He was preaching the "baptism ofrepentance for the remission of sins. " He also required a confession oftheir sins. They were baptized of him in Jordan, "confessing theirsins. " While he did not know Jesus to be the Christ, he knew Him as hiskinsman, and he knew enough of the purity and sinlessness of His lifeto think that He should not confess His sins to be baptized for theirremission. Besides he doubtless hoped that Jesus would be the favoredone on whom he was to see the Holy Spirit descending and abiding uponHim. He, therefore, felt himself unworthy to baptize his cousin Jesus. But Jesus said, "Suffer it now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill allrighteousness. " No matter what John's personal feelings were, or thesinlessness and purity of Jesus, it became the duty of one as theadministrator and the other as the subject to observe this divineappointment. Had their idea been that baptism was to be administered tothose free from sin, such an objection could never have been raised. Here the word "righteousness" evidently refers to God's appointments inthe divine economy--the plan of salvation. When Peter went to the house of Cornelius to break the bread of life tothe Gentiles, he said: "I now perceive that God is no respecter ofpersons, but in every nation he that feareth God and workethrighteousness is accepted of him. " Here "righteousness" is something tobe "worked. " It is, therefore, something to be done. In it men areactive. It is not, therefore, a quality in God or man, but somethingthat enlists the activities of men. It is a plan by the observance ofwhich men are accepted of God. Speaking of his own brethren according to the flesh, Paul says:"Brethren, my heart's desire and supplication to God is for them, thatthey may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal forGod, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God'srighteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submitthemselves to the righteousness of God" (Rom. X. 1-3). Here therighteousness of God is contrasted with that of the unbelieving Jews. They rejected God's, and set up one of their own. They did not submitto God's righteousness. Here it is clearly a religious system, a planof salvation. They rejected God's plan and tried to establish one oftheir own. In this they were zealous, but it was a misguided zeal. In harmony with this idea of righteousness we understand the expressionin the first chapter of this epistle: "For I am not ashamed of thegospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one thatbelieveth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein isrevealed a righteousness of God by faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith. " Here we understand God'srighteousness to be God's plan of saving or justifying men by faith;the plan to which the Jews would not submit in the tenth chapter. Hence, in the gospel, God's system of justification by faith isrevealed in order to faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Inthe gospel God's plan of saving men by faith in Christ is revealed, andthis is the only place in which it is revealed. Consequently the truthherein revealed produces faith. This results in the acceptance of God'splan of salvation. We have "the faith" as a system of salvation through Christ, and faithas a personal state of the mind and heart. So, also, have werighteousness as a plan of salvation which we accept from God, andrighteousness as a personal quality--a state of personal freedom fromsin. And the one leads to the other, as a revelation of "the faith"produces personal faith. This leads us to consider how we obtain that perfect righteousness, without which we can not enjoy the blissful presence of God. Paul's teaching in regard to the personal righteousness of the saints, makes salvation by a mere reformation of life, an impossibility. Theimportance of this fact can not be over-estimated. Many people seem tothink that a reformation in regard to moral conduct, is all that isnecessary to prepare to meet God. If they can only break off theirsinful practices, and practice morality, they think they have done allthat is really essential. In this there are two fatal mistakes. First, no reformation is perfect. The best of men whose lives have beenmoulded into the divine image, and are most conformed to the divinenature, have their imperfections. The ripest saint upon the earth feelsthat if his salvation depended on his perfect sinlessness in conductfor the rest of life, the chances of heaven would at once become darkand hopeless. The cheerfulness and bright assurance of the child of Godare not because he hopes to live a perfect life, but because hisimperfections will be taken away in Christ. And second, the mostperfect reformation would avail nothing. Could one so reform his lifeas to never sin again, and practice virtue in place of the former vice, it would fall far short of securing the end. However free from sin onemay live in the future, the sins of the past are upon him. These willforever condemn him, unless they are removed. Our ceasing to sin willnot take away the old ones. The fact that a man refuses to contract anymore debts, will not pay a dollar of his old ones. So no amount ofreformation will make amends for the past. Our past sins must be takenaway, else they will condemn us in the day of eternity. We can notremove them ourselves; we can not atone for our own sins. Here we areutterly helpless. To what source, then, shall we go? Christ is the onlyrefuge. He alone can take away our sins; His blood alone can cleansefrom sin. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we havefellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. " This is the "fountain opened in the houseof David for all manner of sin and uncleanness. " "Though your sins beas scarlet, he will make them white as wool. " "He will put them as farfrom us as the east is from the west, and remember them against us nomore forever. " Thus it is that Christ is our righteousness. We arerighteous because He has made us such. He makes us such by taking awayour sins. When our sins are pardoned, we are as free from sin as if wehad never sinned at all. Hence as regards the guilt of sin, we areperfect. We are made perfect in righteousness because Christ removesall unrighteousness. We are, therefore, absolutely dependent on Himfor salvation. We have no righteousness of our own. Our robes ofself-righteousness are but filthy tatters in His sight. Those clothedin the righteousness of Christ, that is, the righteousness which Christgives them, shall have right to the tree of life, and shall enterthrough the gates into the eternal city. Their right is not one ofmerit, but one that Christ has given. He is our righteousness, andapart from Him none is possibly attainable. Since we have to be perfectly righteous in order to be saved, and sincethis is impossible on our part, when relying on ourselves, but isobtained only by being pardoned through Christ, it follows that allboasting is cut off. No man has occasion to glory except in the crossof Christ. Hence the apostle concludes his argument by saying: "He thatglorieth let him glory in the Lord. " It also follows that he who wouldobtain personal righteousness, must submit to the "righteousness ofGod"--God's plan of salvation. Through the one "righteousness, " is theother righteousness obtained.