{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_25941/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_25941","id":"gutenberg_25941","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25941","summary":null,"tags":["Autobiographies","Category: American Literature","Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Clergy -- Kentucky -- Biography"],"text":"Produced by David Garcia and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nKentuckiana Digital Library)\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAUTOBIOGRAPHY\n\nOF\n\nFRANK G. ALLEN,\n\nMinister of the Gospel\n\nAND\n\nSELECTIONS FROM HIS WRITINGS\n\n\n\nEDITED BY\n\nROBERT GRAHAM\n\n_President of the College of the Bible, Lexington, Ky._\n\n\n\nCINCINNATI\nGUIDE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO.\n1887\n\nCopyright, 1887, by\nTHE GUIDE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO.\n\n\n\n\nDedication.\n\nTo all who love the Old Paths,\nThis Volume,\nIn Memory of One Who Found Them\nAnd Walked Therein,\nIs Respectfully Inscribed, by\nThe Editor.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nBy prescription, which often has the force of law, a book should have\nboth a _Preface_ and an _Introduction_: the first relating to the\nwriter; the second to the things written. I may well dispense with the\nlatter, for what is here written the humblest capacity can understand;\nand it would be cruel to detain him long on the porch who is anxious to\nenter the building.\n\nBut, dear reader, a word with you (for that is the meaning of\n\"Preface\") before you begin this unpretentious little book, the joint\nproduction of an author, an editor, and a publisher.\n\nIt is due the first, to say that he wrote what is here called his\nAutobiography in great physical weakness, and without expecting that it\nwould appear in this form. This will account for its homely garb, and\napologize for it, if apology be necessary. Frank Allen had no time to\nspend upon mere style in anything he wrote. He aimed at clearness and\nforce of expression, and reached these in a remarkable degree in his\nlatter days. If any one, therefore, should take up this volume\nexpecting to find literary entertainment, he will have the search for\nhis pains; but if he seeks for what is far better, the secret of a life\ndevoted to God and goodness, told in plain, unvarnished English, he\nwill not be disappointed.\n\nWhen I received from the gifted author the record of his \"travel's\nhistory,\" I intended to write his Life, but death came and found us,\nnot him, unprepared; and so, under the constraint of other and pressing\nduties, my purpose was reluctantly abandoned. Besides, upon examination\nit was found that with a few changes and additions here and there,\nthese memoranda, as they came from the hand of their author, could,\nunder the circumstances, appear in that form and do him no discredit.\n\nSuch is my admiration of this noble man, and such my deference to what\nI am sure must be the desire of his friends, that I have preferred to\nlet _him_ tell in simple phrase the strange story of his struggles and\ntriumphs; and if its perusal should give the reader half the pleasure\nit has been to me to prepare it for the press, I shall not have labored\nin vain. The book is intended to be a _Memorial Volume_, and especially\none to encourage young men who, under adverse circumstances, are\nstriving to qualify themselves to preach the gospel. Bro. Allen was\nalways in warm and loving sympathy with these--so much so, that he was\nrightly called the young preacher's friend.\n\nIt is a pleasure to say that such is the veneration of the publishers,\nThe Guide Printing and Publishing Company, for the memory of our\ndeceased brother, that but for them this tribute would hardly have\nappeared. With a generosity as rare as it is praiseworthy, they have\nundertaken to publish the work in the best style of their art, at a low\nprice, and without any pecuniary risk to Sister Allen; and, indeed, in\nall their transactions with her they have given abundant proof that men\ncan carry into business the benevolent spirit of pure and undefiled\nreligion.\n\nIt only remains to be said that whatever profits arise from the sale of\nthis book go to the wife and children of its lamented author, and that\nshould sufficient encouragement be given, a companion volume containing\nthe letters and miscellaneous productions of Bro. Allen may in due time\nbe issued.\n\nTHE EDITOR.\n\nLEXINGTON, Ky., May, 1887.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                 Page.\n\nPART I.--AUTOBIOGRAPHY.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nBirth and Ancestors. Family Circumstances. \"Fist and Skull\"\nEntertainment. Removal to Ohio and Return. Fight with his Mother.\nGets Lost. His Father Buys a Farm. The \"Improvements.\" Plenty of\nHard Work. His Opinion of Work and of Play.                         1\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nHis First School. The School-house. The Teacher. The Order of\nReciting. Spelling Matches. First Sweetheart. Extremes in Likes\nand Dislikes. Fondness for Study. Improvement in Schools.           7\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nHis Religious Experience. Tries to be a Methodist. Hopes to Become\na Preacher. Boy Preaching. Attends a Sunday-school. \"Chaws\" Tobacco.\nGoes to Love Feast. Mourners' Bench Experience. Is Puzzled and\nDisgusted.                                                         12\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nFun and Mischief. His Little Cousin and the \"Gnats.\" The Aurora\nBorealis. A Bumble-bee Scrape. Another Bee Scrape. Justification by\nFaith Alone. Readiness to Fight. Love of Justice. No Surrender.    17\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nGiven to Abstraction of Thought. Cases in Point. Opinion of\nDebating Societies. Perseverance. Consumption. Endurance. More\nComfortable Home. Death of his Father. Love of Fashionable\nAmusements. Meets his Future Wife. Is Married. Tribute to his\nWife. Her Father and Mother.                                       25\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nGoes to Housekeeping. Discussions with Mr. Maddox. Attends Meeting.\nIs Baptized by William Tharp. Double Damages for an Old Horse.\nBegins Trading. Moves to Floydsburg. Description of the Place.     31\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician.\nTries to Join the Southern Army. Fails Again. His First\nAppointment. Feeling of Responsibility. His Plan. Text. Analysis\nof Sermon. Buys a Family Bible. Rules of Life.                     36\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nResolves to go to College. Friends Oppose. Wife Decides It. Hard\nLiving and Hard Work. Impaired Health. Preaches for his Home\nChurch. Father-in-law Dies. \"Frank, Be a True Man.\" House Robbed.\n\"Scraps.\" College Incidents. First Pay for Preaching. Holds Several\nMeetings. Dishonest Preacher.                                      43\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nLeaves College. Goes to Alexandria, Ky. An Adventure in Ohio. A\nBaby _not_ Baptized. Peril in Crossing the River. Opens his School.\nMakes Some Money. Buys a Nice Home.                                52\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nNarrow Escapes. Is Thrown from a Horse. Has Pneumonia. Nearly\nKilled. Self-possession. Almost Drowned. Eludes Angry Soldiers.\nReflections.                                                       58\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nHe Abandons the School-room. Remarkable Meeting near Alexandria.\nIncidents. Establishes a Church. Mischief-making Preachers.\nLong and Severe Attack of Typhoid Fever. Does not Lose Hope.\nGratitude.                                                         65\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nSells out at Alexandria. Moves to Crittenden. Preaches there and at\nWilliamstown. Low State of these Churches. Plan of Work. Memorizing\nin Sunday-school. Lack of Church Discipline. One-Man System. Moves\nto New Liberty. Visits Mount Byrd                                  71\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nHistory of the Mt. Byrd Church. When Established. Where. Charter\nMembers. Officers. Preachers. Number of Members. Three Things\nContributing to its Prosperity. New House of Worship. Serious\nTrouble in the Church. How Settled. Method of Raising Money. The\nChurch Builds Allen a House. Organizes a Sunday-school. How it is\nConducted                                                          77\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nHe Moves to Mt. Byrd. Debate with J. W. Fitch. Preaches at Madison,\nInd. Protracted meetings at Columbia, Burksville, Thompson's\nChurch, Dover, Germantown, Pleasant Hill, Burksville again, Beech\nGrove, Dover again                                                 88\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nBegins Preaching at Beech Grove. Debates with Elder Hiner. Amusing\nIncident. Holds Many Meetings. Debates with Elder Frogge. Debates\nagain with Elder Hiner. Repudiates Miller's Book. Sick Again. Holds\nmore Meetings                                                      96\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nContinues to Evangelize. Dr. Cook's Prescription. Incident at\nGlendale. Peculiar Feature in the Meeting at Madisonville. The\nFractious Preacher at Sonora. Closes his Evangelistic Labors.\nEstablishes the _Old Path Guide_. The Bruner Debate               101\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nVisits Midway. Attends the Missouri State Convention. Reflections.\nAnnual Sermons. Last Protracted Meeting. Kindness of Mt. Byrd,\nGlendale and Smithfield Churches. Gives up Office Work. Goes to\nEureka, Ill. Country Home. Takes Cold at the Lexington Convention.\nGoes to Florida                                                   107\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nOrganizes a Church at DeLand. Health Improves. Relapses. Starts\nHome. Resignation. Sells His Interest in the _Guide_. Begins\nWriting again. Attends Two Conventions. Goes to Texas. At Home\nagain. Works on.                                                  113\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nReflections on his Fiftieth Birthday. What a Wonderful Being is\nMan! Governed, not by Instinct, but by Reason. Man Lives by Deeds,\nnot Years. How to Grow Old. Half of Life Spent in Satan's Service.\nRenewed Consecration. Last Three Birthdays. His Trust in God.     118\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nConclusion, by the Editor. Tokens of Love from Many. Keeps Writing.\nControversy with the _Standard_. Last Meeting with His Mother.\nVisited by Professors McGarvey and Graham. Commits His Writings to\nthe Latter. Visits Eminence and Lexington. Many Brethren Come to\nSee Him. Meeting at Mt. Byrd. Estimate of His Character. The\nClosing Scenes. Farewell to His Family. Dies. Funeral Services.   127\n\n\nPART II.--ADDRESSES.\n\n   I.--Culture and Christianity: their Relation and Necessity.    137\n\n  II.--Self-culture.                                              159\n\n III.--Plus Ultra _vs._ Ne Plus Ultra.                            175\n\n\nPART III.--SELECTIONS.\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\n   I.--Christ the Lamb of God.                                    190\n\n  II.--Christ the Bread of Life.                                  194\n\n III.--Christ the Water of Life.                                  199\n\n  IV.--Christ the Son of God.                                     202\n\n   V.--Christ the Son of Man                                      212\n\n  VI.--Christ the Great Teacher                                   218\n\n VII.--Christ the Deliverer                                       223\n\nVIII.--Christ the Great Physician                                 230\n\n  IX.--Christ Our Mediator                                        236\n\n   X.--Christ Our Mediator (continued)                            242\n\n  XI.--Christ Our High Priest                                     249\n\n XII.--Christ Our Righteousness                                   254\n\n\n\n\nPART I.--AUTOBIOGRAPHY.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nBirth and Ancestors. Family Circumstances. \"Fist and Skull\"\nEntertainment. Removal to Ohio and Return. Fight with his Mother.\nGets Lost. His Father Buys a Farm. The \"Improvements.\" Plenty of\nHard Work. His Opinion of Work and of Play.\n\n\nI was born near La Grange, Oldham county, Ky., March 7, 1836. My\nfather, Francis Myers Allen, was born in Brown county, Ohio, December\n7, 1807. He was the son of Thomas Allen, who, in 1812, when my father\nwas only five years old, moved from Brown county, O., to Shelby county,\nKy., and lived on Little Bullskin, a few miles west of Shelbyville.\n\nMy mother, Sarah A. Gibbs, was a daughter of James L. Gibbs and Mary\nAshby, and was born in Loudoun county, Va., April 6, 1808. The family\nmoved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1810, and lived in Shelbyville.\n\nMy grandparents on both sides reared large families of industrious,\nthrifty children, and both grandfathers lived to be quite aged, my\nmother's father living to be nearly one hundred years old.\n\nMy parents were married near Simpsonville, in Shelby county, April 9,\n1829, and to them were born thirteen children--five boys and eight\ngirls--ten of whom lived to be grown. I was the fifth child--two boys\nand two girls being older. The oldest child, a boy, died in infancy.\nBeing poor, both parents and children had to work hard and use strict\neconomy to make ends meet. We all knew much of the toils and hardships\nof life, little of its luxuries. Both parents were blessed with good\nconstitutions, and had fine native intellects, but they were uneducated\nsave in the mere rudiments of the common school. They thought that \"to\nread, write and cipher\" as far as the single rule of three, was all the\nlearning one needed for this life, unless he was going to teach. If my\nfather's mind had been trained, it would have been one of vast power.\nHe was philosophical, a good reasoner, and possessed of unusual\ndiscrimination. He had also great coolness and self-possession in\nemergencies.\n\nIn illustration of the latter statement, there recurs an incident in my\nfather's life that will bear recital. In those old-fashioned days of\n\"fist and skull\" entertainments on public occasions, it was common for\neach county to have its bully. Oldham at different times had\nseveral--men of great muscular build and power, whose chief idea of\nfame was that they could \"whip anything in the county.\" My father was a\nsmall man, weighing only one hundred and thirty pounds, and of a\npeaceable disposition. Indeed, it was hard to provoke him to pugilistic\nmeasures. But circumstances caused one of these bullies to force a\nfight upon him at La Grange, in which the man was whipped so quickly\nand so badly that no one knew how it was done. The man himself\naccounted for it on the ground that \"Mr. Allen came at me smiling.\"\nThis caused one or two others, at different times, to seek to\nimmortalize themselves by doing what the first had failed to\naccomplish; but with the same result.\n\nBeing a farmer, my father was never without occupation, and he always\nhad plenty for his boys to do; hence I knew nothing but hard work on\nthe farm, except a few school days in winter, from the time I could\npull a weed out of a hill of corn till I reached my majority.\n\nIn the fall after I was born my parents moved from the farm near La\nGrange to Brown county, O., not far from Hamersville. There they\nremained a year; but my mother being much dissatisfied, they moved to\nFloydsburg, Ky., and in the following spring, when I was two years old,\nreturned to the old place where I was born. Here the memories of life\nbegin. The incidents of daily life from this time forward are fresh in\nmy memory to-day. Here I had my first and last fight with my mother.\nWhen I was three years old, my father, one day in June, was plowing\ncorn in a field not far from the house. When he went out, after noon, I\nwanted to go with him. He took me behind him on the horse to the field.\nWhen we got there I wanted to come back. He brought me back. I then\nwanted to go to the field. He took me to the field. I then wanted to\ncome back. He brought me back. I then wanted to go to the field, but he\nleft me, telling my mother to take me in charge. Because she attempted\nto control me I began fighting her. She whipped me with a small switch,\nand I fought till I fell. Being completely exhausted, I begged my\noldest sister to fight for me, and when she refused and I had recovered\na little, I got up and went at it again. But when I fell the second\ntime, I lay till they took me and put me to bed, and there I remained\nseveral days. Though I did not surrender, I never afterwards felt\ndisposed to renew the engagement. It was almost death to my mother, for\nshe did not chastise me in anger; her firmness, however, saved me.\n\nIn the spring of 1840 we moved to a farm some two miles south of La\nGrange, on the road leading from that place to Ballardsville. Here we\nlived one year. Only one event worth naming occurred while we lived\nhere. My mother took myself, an older sister, and a younger brother to\nvisit a sister she had living in La Grange. It was a beautiful summer\nday, the roads were good, and we walked. My mother stopped at the house\nof a neighbor on the road side for a few minutes, and told us to go on,\nand be sure not to leave the road. With childish perversity we thought\nthe green fields better than the dusty road, and were soon into them.\nIt was not long till we were completely lost, and naturally wandered\nthe wrong way, not thinking to observe the sun and consider our course.\nSo, when we did not put in an appearance, the whole neighborhood was\naroused, and several hours of excitement followed before we were found.\nMy sister Bettie, two years my senior, was captain of this expedition.\n\nIn the spring of 1841 my father bought a farm of one hundred and twenty\nacres, lying about three miles southwest from La Grange. Most of the\nland was poor, and the \"improvements\" equally so. The house was a hewed\nlog cabin about 18x20 feet, with clap-board roof held down by weight\npoles, and the walls \"chinked\" with mud. It had a large fire-place at\none end, and a chimney made of slats and mortar, familiarly known as a\n\"stick\" chimney. The only window was paneless, with a solid shutter\nhung on leather hinges, propped up with a stick, except when it was\nwanted down. The floors above and below, were of broad lumber, and laid\nloose. The door, when closed, was fastened with a big pin. A narrow\nporch ran along the front, connecting with another at one end of the\nhouse, between it and the kitchen. This was large and of the same style\nof architecture as the house, but what that style was would puzzle any\none to tell. These two rooms and porches, with the smoke-house and\nhen-house, constituted the \"improvements\" in that line. The\nout-buildings were stables and a crib, of round logs. The fences were\nall of rails, and inferior in kind. \"Bars\" and \"slip-gaps\" supplied the\nplace of gates in some places, and in others the fences had to be often\npulled down for lack of such conveniences. A fine spring gushed from\nthe foot of a hill, one hundred yards in front of this humble abode.\nThe location of dwellings, in that age and country, was determined\nalmost exclusively by springs. Every other consideration yielded to\nthis.\n\nHere we took up our abode in a home of our own in the spring of 1841,\nas above stated. The farm was afterwards enlarged by other purchases,\nand the original still remains in the family. The poverty of the soil,\nits tendency to produce briars, its large amount of heavy timber, with\nthe clearing necessary to be done, made it a place specially favorable\nfor the cultivation of industry. My father was one of those men who\nnever ran short of work; he always had plenty of it for himself and the\nwhole family. Recreation was almost unknown, and we had hardly rest\nenough to secure good health. We were not of those who had to resort to\nbase-ball and foot-ball for exercise; it was ours to combine pleasure\nwith profit, only the profit was more than the pleasure. There is no\ndoubt that employment contributes to health of both body and mind. Good\nblood, good thought and good morals are born of industry, provided it\nbe not pushed to the extreme of exhaustion. Children and young people\nmust have relaxation from toil, that both the physical and mental\npowers may recuperate; but not much attention was paid to this\nbeneficent philosophy in my father's family. Had there been, it might\nhave been better for at least some of his children in after years.\nThere is a golden mean in this, as in other things, which parents\nsometimes miss in their blind adhesion to a false theory. Rest and\nlabor are both appointments of God's benevolence.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nHis First School. The School-house. The Teacher. The Order of Reciting.\nSpelling Matches. First Sweetheart. Extremes in Likes and Dislikes.\nFondness for Study. Improvement in Schools.\n\n\nAt the age of about seven I attended my first school. The house was on\nmy father's farm, a half a mile from our dwelling. It was constructed\nof round logs, and had _five_ corners--the fifth was formed at one\nend by having shorter logs laid from the corners at an obtuse angle,\nlike the corner of a rail fence, and meeting in the middle. It was\nbuilt up thus to the square, then the logs went straight across,\nforming the end for the roof to rest on; consequently this fifth corner\nwas open, and this was the fire-place. Stones laid with mud mortar were\nbuilt in this corner, extending several feet each way, and wood nearly\nas long as the breadth of the house would be filled in. The seats were\nsplit logs smoothed on the flat side, and supported on legs put in with\nan auger. From these the feet of the children dangled early and late.\nThere was no support for the back. The house had a dirt floor and a\nclap-board roof. Light was let in by cutting away part of two logs in\nthe end. A wide puncheon was fastened just below this for the writers,\nwith a seat to correspond. During winter they pasted paper over these\nopenings, and light for the rest of the school came down the chimney.\n\nThe first teacher we had was an old man by the name of Ballou. He lived\non our place, not far from the school-house, and taught for several\nyears. He was very poor, did poor teaching, and got poor pay. He was\nmaster of only reading, writing and ciphering.\n\nThere were no classes in the school, and each one went it\nindependently, studying what suited his taste and ability. Some read in\nthe Testament, and others in any book they happened to have. In those\ndays the rule was that those who got to school first \"said first\"--that\nis, they recited in the order in which they got to the house. This\nwould sometimes get up a great rivalry, and I have known young men\nliving two miles away to be at school before daylight. The whole day,\nexcept an hour at noon, was spent in saying lessons. The old teacher\nsat in his chair, and the pupils went to him one by one, in the order\nin which they got to the house, and said their lessons. When they got\naround, the same process was repeated. Sometimes between turns the old\nman would take a little nap, and then we all would have some fun. One\nmore bold than the rest would tickle his bald head or his nose, and to\nsee him scratching would afford us much amusement.\n\nEach Friday afternoon was spent in a spelling-match. Captains were\nchosen, and they would \"choose up\" till the school was divided into two\nclasses. Beginning at the head, one of each class would stand up and\nspell, till one was \"turned down;\" then another took his place, and so\non until all on one side were down. I began at this school in the\nalphabet, and the second winter I could spell almost every word in\nWebster's old Elementary Speller. If provided with a sharp knife, and a\nstick on which to whittle, which the kind old man would allow, I could\ngenerally stand most of an afternoon without missing. Strange to say,\nafter a few years, when I had given myself to the study of other\nthings, it all went from me, and I have been a poor speller ever since.\n\nIn this school I had my first sweetheart--a buxom, jolly good girl,\nabout six years my senior. To her I wrote my first love letter, and\nwhen it was done its chirography looked as if it had been struck by\nlightning; and I had to get an old bachelor friend to help me read it.\nHere I am reminded of an early tendency to extremes in my likes and\ndislikes. I had a race one morning with a girl whom I saw coming to\nschool from an opposite direction, each striving to get into the house\nfirst. I clearly went in ahead, but she claimed the race and beat me\nout of it. From this on I had an extreme dislike for her. The spring to\nwhich we all had to go for a drink, was about a hundred yards from the\nhouse. The path to it passed through a broken place in a large log that\nlay across this path. In this I would never walk, nor would I pass\nthrough the gap, but would always climb over that big log.\n\nThese school days were only during winter, after the crop was all\ngathered in and before spring work began. After I got large enough to\nhelp in winter work, my attendance was only \"semi-occasional.\" After a\nwhile a better school-house was built, a mile further away, and it was\nevery way more comfortable, save that we had still the backless slab\nseats. Here I went at odd times in winter for several years. I had\nacquired a great fondness for reading, devouring everything in the way\nof books I could lay my hands upon. Especially I had a great passion\nfor history, biography, geography, natural philosophy, and the like,\nand I let nothing escape me that the country afforded. I had no money\nto buy books, and had to depend on borrowing them. I soon went through\narithmetic, grammar, and the history of the United States. This was\nmore than my paterfamilias recognized as essential to a practical\neducation, and hence he was not disposed to let me go to school as much\nas the other children, who gave themselves no concern about books out\nof school. The idea of one's going through grammar, philosophy, or more\nthan half the arithmetic, \"unless he was going to teach,\" he regarded\nas a waste of time. His conception of life and mine were so different\nthat there was frequently more or less friction. It was decidedly\nunpleasant from youth to manhood to be discouraged and opposed in my\none absorbing passion for obtaining an education. My mother sympathized\nwith me, but could not help me. The first dollar I ever made I spent\nfor a book, and for this purpose I saved my hard-earned pennies.\nMidnight often found me poring over this book by the light of kindling\nprepared for the purpose. This was opposed; and thus the struggle went\non during my minority.\n\nI can not forbear, before closing this short chapter upon my school\nlife, to allude to the great improvement in the matter of common\nschools since I was a boy. My native State, though sadly behind many of\nher younger sisters, has made some progress in this direction, and I\ncan but hope this is only an earnest of what is to come. In a few\nfavored localities, chiefly the cities, there is ample provision made\nfor the education of the children of the people, but in the country\ndistricts much remains to be done before we are up with the demands of\nthe age in regard to the comfort of the pupils as well as the\nfacilities for the prosecution of their studies. We need more and\nbetter school-houses, better furniture, and more attractive\nsurroundings. Well qualified and earnest teachers are not yet as thick\nas blackberries in Kentucky. When as much attention is bestowed on\nthese as on jockeys, and on our boys as on our horses, we shall be both\nricher and better.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nHis Religious Experience. Tries to be a Methodist. Hopes to become a\nPreacher. Boy Preaching. Attends a Sunday-school. \"Chaws\" Tobacco. Goes\nto Love Feast. Mourners' Bench Experience. Is Puzzled and Disgusted.\n\n\nMy parents were Methodists, as were their ancestors on both sides. My\nmother was uniformly religious, but not fussy about it. I have seen her\nintensely happy, but never heard her shout. Her religion was a deep,\nsmooth, current without fluctuation. My father was religious more by\nspells, but still he never went to extremes, and could never \"get\nreligion\" at the altar, in the Methodist fashion. This lifelong failure\nof his discouraged him, causing him at times to become somewhat\nskeptical and indifferent. But he died, rejoicing in the faith of\nChrist as held by the Methodist Church.\n\nWhen about ten years of age I joined the Methodist Episcopal Church,\nSouth. A great revival was in progress at La Grange, and over one\nhundred persons united with the church. I enjoyed the services, and\ncontinued to do so for a number of years. Often in those early times I\nrode to meeting at surrounding churches and private dwellings on\nhorseback behind my mother. I still remember, as vividly as if it were\nbut yesterday, the texts and treatment of many of the sermons I heard.\nIn later years I have frequently thought of the fallacies the preachers\nimposed upon us, and, I charitably believe, upon themselves, in these\nsermons, but which neither we nor they could detect for want of correct\nscriptural knowledge. The thought that I should one day become a\npreacher impressed me, and it clung to me for years. When afterwards I\ngrew wild and wicked, this impression possessed me, and many a time,\nwhen my good wife would rebuke me for my wickedness, I would say,\n\"Never mind, dear; I'll be a preacher yet.\" I had a high regard for\npreachers, and from early life was fond of their company; and since I\nhave become one myself, the society of good, faithful men of God brings\nme as near heaven as I shall ever be in the flesh.\n\nIt was a common thing with me, when I came home from meeting, to get up\none of my own by gathering the children together and preaching to them\nthe sermons I had heard; and while these were not verbally correct,\nthere was in them the substance of what the preachers had delivered. I\nwould sing and pray, and go through the whole performance. I improvised\na little pulpit, and had a church after my own notion; I was a great\nplagiarist, and in this, too, I copied after some others.\n\nI attended the first Sunday-school I ever heard of; it was conducted by\nFloyd Wellman, a gentleman who afterwards became a prominent and\nhonored citizen of Louisville. Sunday-schools were then poor things, as\nI fear many of them are yet. Little question-books, with the answers\nsupplied, and reading-books, mostly about angelic boys and girls who\ndied of early piety, furnished the staple of our reading, while but\nlittle of the Scriptures was taught, or thought about.\n\nTo chew tobacco seemed to me to be manly; so to let the people see I\nwas thus far developed, I prepared me a rough twist of \"long green;\"\nthis I stuck in my pantaloons pocket, for the occasion, and when\neverything was propitious in the Sunday-school, I drew out the twist\nand bit off a \"chaw.\" It raised quite a laugh, in which the\nsuperintendent himself joined; and this ended for life my chewing\ntobacco to be seen of men.\n\nI often went with my parents to \"love feast.\" At the first of these\nwhich I attended I had an experience of my own. The light-bread was cut\ninto slips about two inches long and a half an inch wide and thick.\nSome of these were then divided into small pieces. On the plate which\nwas passed around were two long pieces, and I concluded that if there\nwas any virtue in the thing it would be enhanced by my taking a long\none; but when I discovered that all the rest had taken but a bite my\nphilosophy failed, and I hid the remainder where Rachel hid the gods of\nher father Laban.\n\nWhen about fifteen years of age the Methodists had a big revival at\nMount Tabor, a neighboring country church. In this meeting a great many\nof my friends and companions were \"getting religion\" at the altar of\nprayer. I became intensely desirous of the same blessing, and in great\nanxiety and hopefulness I went to the altar. Day after day did I go,\nbut only to be disappointed. Every time some would \"get through,\" and\nthere would be great rejoicing, till only one young man and myself were\nleft. The whole power of the church was then concentrated on us, but to\nno purpose. In this extremity I began to reason about it as I had not\ndone before. I had been taught that \"God was no respecter of persons;\nbut that in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh\nrighteousness, is accepted with him.\" My soul ever recoiled from the\nidea of His decreeing some men to salvation and others to damnation,\nirrespective of their own will and conduct. Here, now, I was as\nhelpless as a stone till God should do this work of grace for me. Why\nwould he send down the Holy Spirit and convert one on my right, another\non my left, till the \"bench\" was vacant, and not convert me? The\npreachers were praying for Him to do it; my father and mother were\npraying earnestly for it; the whole church were pleading with Him, and\nyet He would not do it. I knew I was a sinner; that I wanted salvation;\nthat I was sincere, earnest as the others could be: but all this\navailed nothing. The preachers tried to explain the failure on the\nground that I was still clinging to the world and my own righteousness;\nthat I had not given my heart wholly to God, etc. This I knew to be\nfalse. I concluded that if a poor, penitent, agonizing sinner with all\nhis prayers and pleadings, with the whole church earnestly cooperating,\ncould not induce God to save him, he might just as well be decreed to\ndamnation from all eternity. With these reflections I left the\nmourners' bench in disgust, and ever since I have had for it an\ninexpressible contempt. Time and observation have confirmed me in this\nfeeling; and while I cherish a sincere respect for those who in\nignorance think it is a divine arrangement, and that in resorting to it\nthey are obeying a command of God, I have none for those who, knowing\nbetter, still use it as a means of conversion. As often employed by\nprofessional evangelists, there is so much of clap-trap that it must\nbring the whole subject of religion into contempt with sensible people.\nIt is amazing to me that, in view of its entire lack of Scripture\nprecept or example, the light and knowledge of this day, and its\nfrequent failures, it, and the whole system of which it is an essential\npart, are not laid aside.\n\nHaving been taught that Methodism and Christianity were identical, and\nhaving completely lost faith in the former, it was natural enough that\nI should become skeptical as to the latter. Only a lingering suspicion\nthat after all they might be different, saved me from hopeless\ninfidelity; and had I not in after years learned such to be the case, I\nshould have lived and died in rebellion against God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nFun and Mischief. His Little Cousin and the \"Gnats.\" The Aurora\nBorealis. A Bumble-bee Scrape. Another Bee Scrape. Justification by\nFaith alone. Readiness to Fight. Love of Justice. No Surrender.\n\n\nWhen a boy, I was as full of fun and mischief as an egg is of meat, and\nI have never got rid of it. With a younger brother and a neighbor boy\nof my own age, equally mischievous with myself, there was hardly a\nthing in the way of fun and frolic that we were not continually into.\nHunting rabbits was our chief sport, and, when we got larger, coons,\n'possums and the like at night. There was not a tree of any\npeculiarity, or a hole in the ground, for miles around, that we did not\nknow all about. We knew, also, every fruit tree, from the apple to the\nblack-haw or persimmon in the same territory, and the time they were\nready for company; and we never failed to pay our respects to them all\nin due time. I would not mention many of the bad things of my early\nlife; but that is the way the Bible does with its heroes, and the Bible\nis always a safe guide to follow.\n\nAbout all the money we made in our boyhood days was from the sale of\nnuts and the flesh and skins of the animals we caught during the fall\nand winter. This was my way of getting books, maps, etc., to help me in\nmy studies. I was the recognized leader in all the mischief we did, and\nmany prophecies were made that I should one day be hanged, and in this\nanticipation my father fully shared. My younger brother and I were\nconstantly playing practical jokes on each other, and often upon\nothers. We never became offended, though the pranks were sometimes\nexceedingly rough; but we were always watching an opportunity to \"get\neven.\" I will relate a few as samples, while others are too bad to\ntell.\n\nOn one occasion some cousins and their children visited us from Shelby\ncounty. They were considered quite wealthy for that time. Their little\nboy was dressed in very fine clothes, at least, in our estimation, and\nwe concluded he was putting on airs. We thought we would do him a\nvaluable service by taking him down a little, so we asked him if he had\never seen a singular kind of gnat, which we described. He had not. We\nproposed to show him a fine lot--a big nest of them. We affirmed that\nthey were nice, harmless things to play with. So we went forth to see\nthe gnats. We got him to the nest and stirred them up, and in a few\nminutes the innocent, unsuspecting boy was covered with yellow jackets.\nOf course, he ran to the house screaming, and they had a time in\ngetting them off of him. He was badly stung, but we made it appear that\nwe had gone down there to fight them, which was a favorite pastime with\nus, and that he got too near the nest. Thus we escaped a well-merited\nwhipping.\n\nAbout the same time in life my younger brother and I caught a rabbit\nand dressed it for breakfast. It was Saturday afternoon, and father and\nmother had gone to her father's, some six miles away, to stay till the\nnext evening. That night the aurora borealis was unusually bright, and\nas the excitement of Millerism had not died away, there was much talk\nof the world's coming to an end. My oldest sister, Mary, was getting\nsupper ready and was greatly alarmed. She would go out and watch the\nsky, and then go back to see about the supper. Finally I said, \"Mary,\ndo you really think the world will come to an end before morning?\" \"I\ndo believe it will,\" said she. \"Then,\" said I, \"_we must have the\nrabbit for supper_.\" I had no notion of losing my rabbit by such a\ntrifling circumstance as that.\n\nLater in life, when old enough to work in the harvest field, we had a\nneighbor who was very \"close,\" and we never had any fancy for him. He\nwas always boasting of his ability to work with bees. One year he had a\nlarge harvest, and many hands employed, and we were helping him. One\nday we told him we had found a fine bee tree which could be cut down in\na few minutes, and that if he would go and take the honey he might have\nit all except what we could eat. He was delighted with the proposal, so\nafter supper a number of us started for the bee tree, a mile and a half\nfrom his house, in a dense forest. He had several buckets prepared to\nsecure a large amount of honey. When we began to chop, the bees began\nto roar, and our friend was frantic with delight. Soon the tree fell,\nand he \"waded in\" with his axe and buckets to get the luscious spoil.\nAs he went in we went out, and soon he discovered himself in a big\nbumble-bees' nest alone with all his buckets, etc., a mile and a half\nfrom home! We saw no more of him that night, and did not care to meet\nhim next day.\n\nThis reminds me of another bee scrape, in which my father figured\nlargely. He prided himself on being able to handle bees as so many\nflies. On a cool, drizzly day we cut a bee tree on the farm. I was\nwearing a brown jeans sack coat. This I laid aside while chopping. When\nthe tree fell the bees swarmed forth in great numbers, and my father\nstalked in with his axe, chipping and cutting the limbs, preparatory to\nchopping for the honey, and was as indifferent as if surrounded only by\ngnats. We stood at a safe distance. Soon he came out with a trifle less\nindifference than he went in with, picking the bees out of his hair\nwith both hands. They had literally settled on his head and were\nstinging him furiously. He came running to us to fight them off. I\ngrabbed up my coat, and with both hands struck him over the head. A\nlarge jack knife, very heavy, was in one of the pockets, and this\nstruck him on the opposite side of the head and came near felling him\nto the ground. We fought the bees off the best we could, but he was\nterribly stung. This was the last of his working with bees as with\nflies.\n\nMy father was a firm believer in the doctrine of justification by faith\nalone. All those passages of Scripture that connect justification or\nsalvation with faith, without mentioning anything else as a condition,\nhe had at his tongue's end. His argument was, whatever may be mentioned\nelsewhere, here salvation is promised on the condition of faith, and\nnothing else is in the text. With all this I had become perfectly\nfamiliar, and always had a suspicion that there was a fallacy in it\nsome where, though I could not exactly expose it. We were clearing a\npiece of new ground in April, about the time the spring fever sets in,\nand my younger brother and I always \"had it bad.\" It was a Monday\nmorning, and father was going to La Grange to attend court. At\nbreakfast he gave us very particular instructions about our work--what\nto do and how to do it--and a feature emphasized was that we were to\nkeep at it. It was getting quite dry, and when he had started to town\nhe hallooed back and said, \"Boys, I want you to watch the fire to-day\nand not let it get out.\" \"All right,\" we responded. His two directions,\nperhaps not an hour apart, reminded me of his theology, and I resolved\nat once to test its validity when weighed in his own scales. So we went\nout to the clearing, lay down under the shade of a tree, and \"watched\nthe fire\" all day! Having returned, he asked us how we had got along.\nWe replied, \"Finely,\" that we had done what he told us; but when he\ncame to \"view the landscape o'er,\" we had to give an account for the\ndeeds done in the body, or, rather, not done. I told him that his\nspecific instruction was to watch the fire. \"But,\" said he, \"I told you\nbefore that, that you were to do the work.\" \"Yes,\" I replied, \"but the\nlast time you said anything about it you did not allude to the work;\nbut only to watch the fire. There was no work in the text.\" However, he\nwas by no means disposed to look upon that as favorably as upon\njustification by faith only, which rests on the same principle. Still\nit opened his eyes to a fallacy in his argument that he had not seen\nbefore.\n\nI generally lived in peace and good will with all the boys in the\nneighborhood, but a few times in my life feeling imposed on, or that\nsome one else was, I got into fights, and always with those older and\nstronger than myself. I had learned something of the secret of success\nin that line from what I had heard said of my father. This often gave\nme a victory quite unlooked for. I would fight the best friend I had in\nthe world if he imposed on one unable to cope with him. I had a\ncompanion much stronger than I, and inclined to be overbearing. On one\noccasion, at a corn husking, he tried to force a fight on a boy smaller\nthan himself. When I saw he was quite determined about it, while the\nother boy was trying to avoid it, I said, \"Jim, you and I are good\nfriends. I have nothing against you in the world. I like you, but you\ncan't fight that boy. If you fight any body you will have to fight me.\nI don't want any quarrel with you, nor do I want to hurt you, but if\nnothing but a fight will do you, that's just the way it has to be\ndone.\" When he saw I was in earnest, the matter was dropped, and our\nfriendship continued.\n\nI was severely tried on one occasion. My older brother had a falling\nout with a neighbor, and we three were alone in the woods. I had a\ndislike for the man, as much as my brother had. He was boastful,\nbigoted and disagreeable. But in this particular case I saw clearly\nthat my brother was in the wrong, I felt compelled, therefore, to take\nsides with the other man. At this my brother was deeply offended, and\nit took him a long time to get over it. He did not see his wrong, and\nthought my conduct very strange and unnatural, especially as I did not\nlike the man. I deplored this, but could not yield the principle of\nholding justice superior to persons.\n\nOne of my difficulties was so peculiar that I will recount it. It was\nin the winter, and the ground was frozen deep. The day was bright, and\non the south hillsides the ground had thawed to the depth of two or\nthree inches. Several boys were together, and one of them several years\nolder than I. He was a son of one of our tenants, and entirely too\nproud for one in his condition. He was imposing on my younger brother,\nand I gave him to understand he must not do that. With this he turned\nupon me. We were upon a south hillside, under a large beech tree, and\nthe ground was thawed on top and frozen beneath. About the first pass I\nslipped on a root concealed in the mud, and fell on my back, with my\nshoulders wedged between two projecting roots and my head against the\ntree. I was utterly powerless. After pommeling me a while, he proposed\nto let me up if I would say \"enough.\" This I declined to do. Then he\nwould renew the operation, and then the proposition. The sun was three\nhours high, no one interfered, and I insisted that they should not.\nSometimes he would lie upon me and talk for half an hour or more; he\nwould argue the case, remind me of my helplessness, and that it would\nbe death to lie there on the frozen ground till night. Then when his\nadvice all failed, he would renew hostilities. Thus it continued till\nsundown. As the sun got low he changed his proposal. He would now let\nme up if I would promise to make friends, and not fight him. This I\nalso declined. Finally, when he saw that nothing would avail, he gave\nme a few parting salutes, and, springing to his feet, ran away. Before\nI could get up he had such a start that I could not overtake him. For\nsome time I watched for a chance to pay him back, but he kept out of my\nsight; and soon after his folks moved away, and thus the matter ended.\n\nFrom my infancy it has been my disposition to stick to my convictions\ntill I saw I was in the wrong. I can not say that I am obstinate,\nthough it may have that appearance to others. I never could yield a\npoint for policy's sake, though my adherence to my convictions has cost\nme a good deal. This led me early in life to be careful in coming to a\nconclusion, and I have always admired Davy Crockett's motto, \"Be sure\nyou're right, and then go ahead.\" I commend this homemade philosophy to\nall who may read this chapter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nGiven to Abstraction of Thought. Cases in Point. Opinion of Debating\nSocieties. Perseverance. Consumption. Endurance. More Comfortable\nHome. Death of his Father. Love of Fashionable Amusements. Meets his\nFuture Wife. Is Married. Tribute to his Wife. Her Father and Mother.\n\n\nDuring early life I was much given to abstraction of thought, and I am\nstill down with the same disease. From morning till night, between the\nplow-handles or swinging the maul, I was absorbed in reflection. My\nreading and other studies raised many questions that I sought to find\nout. Natural philosophy and the elements of astronomy were subjects of\npeculiar delight, and would cause me to become oblivious of all\nsurroundings. This frequently got me into trouble. It vexed my father\nvery much that my mind was not more on my work, and he had but little\npatience with me. When about the house I would often realize that I had\nbeen told to do something, and I would start at once about it, and\nperchance when I came to myself I would find that I was at the barn or\nspring, wholly forgetful of what I had been told to do. On one occasion\nI was told to go to the lot and catch a horse and come to the crib, and\nmy father would put the sack on for me, and I was to go to mill. I went\nand caught the horse, got on and went, but when I arrived the mill was\nin ashes; it was just through burning. On my return I saw that my\nfather was not as serene as a May morning. But not till he spoke of it\ndid I discover that I had gone off without the sack. I at once taxed my\neloquence to give a glowing account of the fire, and thus divert his\nattention from my neglect.\n\nMany a time have I acted ridiculously on account of this absorption of\nthought. While at Eminence College, there was a public exhibition one\nevening in the chapel. A few minutes before it began I went into the\nroom of Prof. Henry Giltner, just across the hall from the chapel, and\nhere I saw McGarvey's \"Commentary on Acts\" for the first time. I\nthought I would look into it for a moment before the exercises should\nbegin; and that was the last I thought of the exhibition till some one\ncame into the room just before its close, hunting for me.\n\nOne more instance of this nature must suffice. About 1872, I was\nholding a very successful meeting at Burksville, on the Cumberland\nriver, and while I was preaching one night there came up a terrific\nthunderstorm, with vivid lightning and hard rain. A young man occupied\na front seat who had just been reclaimed from a life of sin, and who is\nnow a preacher. I had a faint recollection of seeing him leave the\nhouse. He had become alarmed at the storm and left, but I knew nothing\nof the confusion till the services closed.\n\nEvery fall and winter we would have debating societies at the\nschool-house, and at these, men of considerable attainments would be\npresent and participate--teachers, preachers, and lawyers. In these I\ntook a deep interest. My reading enabled me to become well posted on\nmost of the questions discussed; and by careful preparation I soon came\nto be recognized as a good debater for one of my age. These discussions\nwere of great advantage to me, and I am clearly of opinion that\ndebating societies, when properly conducted, can be made useful to\naspiring young men.\n\nFrom childhood my under front teeth passed up on the outside, and, when\na good sized boy, I concluded that that was not just the right thing,\nand that I would bring them into their proper place. By an effort in\ndrawing back my under jaw, I could barely get the edges to so pass as\nto make a pressure of any value. But with this slight purchase the\noperation was continued from day to day, till the work was\naccomplished. The teeth became very sore from pressure, and the muscles\nof the jaw very tired from the unnatural strain, but in about ten days\nit was all over, and the job complete for life.\n\nAnother case required much greater perseverance. My older brother was\nvery hollow-chested, and died of consumption; several others of the\nfamily were afflicted in like manner, and met the same fate. When about\nsixteen, I had strong tendencies in that direction. My chest was\nbecoming \"hollow,\" and I decided upon an effort to counteract it. To\nthis end I slept on my back with no pillow under my head, and a\ngood-sized one under my chest. I would awake of a morning feeling\nalmost too dignified to bend forward. This I kept up for two years,\nholding myself erect during the day, till my chest expanded and the\nthreatening trouble was overcome. But for that I should have been in my\ngrave long ago. The simple fact is, I have been fighting consumption\nsince I was sixteen years of age.\n\nWhile I was never robust in health or appearance, I was exceedingly\ntough, and had great power of endurance. One of my physicians told me\nlong ago that in all his practice he had never seen anything that would\ncompare with it. This enabled me to do as much work as men of much\ngreater strength. In those days reapers were generally unknown in our\ncountry, and the grain was all \"cradled.\" At this I was an adept, never\nmeeting any one that could excel me. The same was true of jumping and\nrunning foot races. Hundreds of men could no doubt beat me, but I never\nhappened to meet them. I kept up these exercises till I left college.\n\nWhen I was about twelve years of age my father built a large and\ncomfortable house on another part of his farm. It was of hewed logs,\nand a story and a half high, with a large kitchen and dining-room,\nporches, etc. It was subsequently weather-boarded, and it is still a\ncomfortable, commodious dwelling, owned by my mother, who never left it\ntill her children all married and went to themselves. Father died of\ntyphoid fever in 1860, in the fifty-third year of his age. He left my\nmother in comparatively easy circumstances, with nearly three hundred\nacres of land, plenty of stock, and a considerable amount of money on\ninterest. By industry and economy on the part of himself and the whole\nfamily this property was accumulated, and he died in the assurance that\nwith prudence on our part we could all make a respectable living. My\nmother now makes her home with her oldest daughter, Mary Crenshaw, wife\nof Mr. O. B. Crenshaw, a few miles north of Simpsonville, Shelby\ncounty, Ky. She waits in confident expectation that before long she too\nwill depart to be with Christ and His redeemed, where the families of\nhis saints will be reunited for ever.\n\nAfter I grew to be a young man, I became very fond of fashionable\namusements; I liked dancing, and went far and near to engage in the\nfascinating exercise. I gave a great deal of attention to dress;\npriding myself on being a gentleman; hence I found a welcome in the\nbest society. In those years of wildness and wickedness, some things I\nwas careful to avoid. I never learned to play cards, to gamble, or to\ntolerate the company of immodest women. For the latter I had an\ninvincible repugnance that grew stronger with my years.\n\nIn the summer of 1855, while harvesting for her uncle, I first met at\nthe dinner-table Miss Jennie Maddox, the lady whom I afterwards\nmarried. I looked as rough and unprepossessing that day as she ever saw\nme afterwards. I was as brown as a Florida \"cracker,\" and my dress was\nanything but elegant. Had I anticipated the forming of such a\ncaptivating acquaintance, I should have made some preparation, but I\nwas caught, and I had to make the best of it. We were married September\n11, 1856; I was twenty years and a half old; she ten months younger.\nFrom that time to this she has been a loving, faithful wife, prudent in\nall things, industrious and frugal, caring for me and her children;\nand, above all, a consistent disciple of Jesus Christ, whom she had\nobeyed several years before our marriage. When we first met I thought\nher very handsome; she was rather small, had auburn hair, blue eyes and\nfair skin.\n\n    \"And to-day you are fairer to me, Jennie,\n    Than when you and I were young.\"\n\nAs to myself, I was six feet one inch in height, weighed a hundred and\nforty pounds, had brown eyes, and was, and am still, of a\nnervous-bilious temperament. My complexion was then, as now, very dark.\n\nMy wife's father, G. W. Maddox, was an elder in the Pleasant Hill\nchurch, Oldham county, Ky., near which he lived. The church is about\ntwo miles south-east of Baird's Station, on the Louisville & Lexington\nRailroad. He was a man of a firm logical mind, good general\ninformation, and more intelligent in the Scriptures than any man I ever\nmet, outside of the ministry. I have heard several preachers make the\nsame remark. He was, however, a timid man, and it was difficult to get\nmuch out of him in public. He began too late in life, and had no\ntraining in that direction. But he was a very popular man, both in and\nout of the church, and his counsel was generally taken. His wife was a\ntimid, unassuming, good woman, very conscientious and religious. They\nreared a family of six girls and one boy, all of whom obeyed the gospel\nin good time. I myself baptized several of them.\n\nMy father-in-law and I soon became very much attached to each other,\nfond of each other's company, and I loved him as I loved few others.\nHis fine information, philosophic Christian spirit and wonderful\nself-control first won my admiration, and this ripened into the\nstrongest friendship. He, more than all other men, caused me to see the\nerror of my way. We spent the first winter of our married life in his\npious home, and this gave us much time for investigation and\nconversation upon the subject of religion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nGoes to Housekeeping. Discussions with Mr. Maddox. Attends Meeting. Is\nBaptized by William Tharp. Double Damages for an Old Horse. Begins\nTrading. Moves to Floydsburg. Description of the Place.\n\n\nIn the spring of 1857 we moved to a place on Currie's Fork, near\nCenterfield, about a mile and a half from my former home and a little\nfarther from hers. So it will be seen I married only a few miles from\nhome. It may seem a little strange that we grew up in the same\nneighborhood, and knew nothing of each other till a year before we were\nmarried. But I rarely went to her church, and she as rarely went\nanywhere else. Our religious proclivities led us in different\ndirections, and into different society. I had been taught to look upon\n\"Campbellism\" as the most miserable of all heresies; and till I began\nto visit at the Maddox house I was seldom in the company of \"that\ndeluded people.\"\n\nAfter moving to ourselves, we went nearly every Lord's day to the home\nof my wife's father, and this for several reasons: she wanted to attend\nher church, and this took her virtually home: this she enjoyed, and so\ndid I. The old folks could not visit us on that day without missing\nchurch, and this they would not do. Mr. Maddox and I still engaged in\nthe investigation of Methodism, \"Campbellism\" and Infidelity. I could\nfeel the ground gradually giving way under me, but I was resolved upon\nthoroughly testing every inch, and not yielding till I should become\nsatisfied as to the truth of all his positions. I would therefore study\nall week and arrange my arguments with the utmost care, and when the\ntime seemed propitious I would present them as forcibly as I could. He\nwould never say a word till I was through; then he would say, \"Well!\nnow let us test that.\" Then he would very calmly and pleasantly pick\nthe thing all to pieces, till I could see nothing but shreds. With a\nmere touch, my carefully built structure would tumble like a cob house.\nThus the work went on for years. In the meantime I attended meeting\nwith my wife nearly every Lord's day, and heard much good preaching.\nEvery important point in the sermon would be afterward investigated,\nand, like the noble Bereans, I searched the Scriptures daily, \"to see\nwhether those things were so.\"\n\nDuring these years several successful meetings were held at the church,\nall of which I closely attended. One of these was conducted by John A.\nBrooks, and another by the lamented Simeon King. At the latter I came\nvery near yielding to Christ, but persuaded myself that all was not yet\nready. I delighted to see others obey the Lord, and enjoy the blessings\nof his religion, but I could not exactly see the way clear for myself.\nIn spite of a more enlightened judgment, I would find some of my old\nerroneous notions clinging to me. I had a high regard for the church,\nand loved the company of its good members, and only a supreme\ncarefulness, born of former blunders, kept me in disobedience.\n\nIn May, 1861, William Tharp and Wallace Cox were holding a meeting, and\nat this I confessed Christ, and was immersed by Bro. Tharp. My doubts\nas to the truth of the Christian religion and the way of salvation\ntherein, had all been removed; and to this day not a shadow of a doubt\nhas crossed my mind as to either. I now experienced a peace of\nconscience that I had not known since my thought was first disturbed in\nregard to the right way of the Lord.\n\nI farmed for three years after marriage. The last year, we lived on the\nrailroad just below Buckner's Station, and while here I had a little\nexperience with the railroad company that teaches a lesson worth\nlearning. I had an old horse, of not much value, but useful to me; he\ngot out upon the road, and was killed by a passing train. I spoke of\ngoing to Louisville, to see if I could not get pay for it. The\nneighbors discouraged the idea, saying it would be useless. They cited\na number of instances where stock had been killed, and in no case had\nany one obtained damages. But I went, found the Superintendent, and to\nhim I made my speech of about three minutes' length. At its conclusion,\nhe asked me if seventy-five dollars would satisfy me; and on my\nreplying that it would, he handed me the money. He then remarked that\nthe reason people got nothing in such cases, was because of the spirit\nin which they came and the way they talked about it. I left him feeling\nquite pleasant, for it was more than double the animal was worth. This\nwas before I became an adept in Christian ethics.\n\nIn the fall of 1859 I began trading, having obtained an interest in a\ncountry store at a little place called Centerfield. We moved to the\nplace, and I began to haul country produce to Louisville. I had a team\nwhich was said to be the best that came into the city, and I made\nweekly trips, bringing back merchandise. This I continued for three\nyears, without the least regard to weather, and with scarcely a failure\nduring the whole time. This employment threw me into rough associations\nin the city every week. Many engaged in like business from Kentucky and\nIndiana stopped at the same tavern, and most of them were given to\ndissipation. At home it was predicted that with my inclination to\nwildness this would finish me; and while truth compels me to confess\nthat I often had \"a jolly good time\" with \"the boys,\" the excess of\nwickedness I saw had an opposite effect, and I came out at last a\npreacher.\n\nThe next year we moved to Floydsburg, sixteen miles from Louisville,\nbecause, as I did not stay in the store, but did the hauling back and\nforth, it was a better location for us. It is an old town, in which my\nmaternal grandfather lived before I was born, in which I spent much\ntime before I was old enough to work, and around which cluster the\nearliest memories of life. It was once a place of large business, on\nthe main road from Henry and adjacent counties to Louisville, and in\nante-railroad times a large amount of wagoning was done through the\nplace. At certain seasons great droves of cattle and hogs were driven\nthrough it, and everything was lively; besides, it had a good trade\nwith the country around. But the Louisville & Lexington Railroad, which\nruns within a mile of the town, killed it as dead as an Egyptian mummy,\nbecause all this through business was taken by the railroad, and the\nsurrounding trade went to the stations or to the city. It is,\ntherefore, a quiet, undisturbed little place to live in, if one is not\ndependent upon making his expenses there. Most of the old citizens,\nbusiness men of its prosperous days, have passed away, and the town has\nthe appearance of being at their funeral.\n\nAs far back as I recollect, and I know not how much farther, it had in\nit one church, built of stone, small, and with a roof as sharp as the\nbest presentations of Methodism that were ever set forth in it. About\n1850, this ancient structure was replaced by one of brick, of good\nsize, but poorly furnished. This is the only church that has ever been\nin the place; and while the people have been unusually quiet and moral,\nthey have never been burdened with religion. There is a graveyard in\nthe rear of the house, opened, perhaps, when the first building was\nerected, and in this silent spot sleep many of my friends and\nrelatives. I have never thought it made much difference where one is\nburied--and in this I suppose I agree with most Protestants--but it is\none proof of the improved taste of the age to see the care now taken of\nour cemeteries. Such places were unknown when I was a boy and where I\nlived, and even yet, outside of our cities and larger towns, they are\ntoo rare. Every village should have a neat and well-kept cemetery, to\ntake the place of the neglected old burying-grounds where,\n\n    \"Each in his narrow cell forever laid,\n    The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician. Tries to\nJoin the Southern Army. Fails Again. His First Appointment. Feeling of\nResponsibility. His Plan. Text. Analysis of Sermon. Buys a Family\nBible. Rules of Life.\n\n\nWhen I obeyed the Saviour, the brethren urged me to begin at once to\npreach the gospel. I had been accustomed to making political speeches,\nand public addresses of different kinds, and they thought I could just\nas easily preach a sermon as to make a speech on any other subject. But\nI was not thus inclined. I had political aspirations, and was not\ndisposed to give them up. My idea was, that I could have a good\ninfluence on public men, in conversation and association, by being a\nfaithful and consistent Christian. I regarded this as a field in which\nthe influence of Christianity was much needed; and I decided to make\nthis a specialty, while leading a public political life. But it did not\ntake long for me to learn that there was at least a strong probability\nthat the influence would go the other way. However successfully some\nmen may be politicians and Christians both, I soon discovered that,\nwith my temperament, the two things would not work harmoniously\ntogether. I concluded that if I continued in politics I would be a very\nsorry kind of Christian, if one at all. For a thing of this kind I had\na deep repugnance. The issue, then, as it appeared to me, was finally\nforced upon me: Shall I give up politics or Christianity? Of course I\nwas not compelled to give up Christianity in theory, but I felt that I\nwould virtually do so in practice; and with me the difference between\nthe two was hardly worth considering. While I felt that it was a great\nsacrifice, in a worldly point of view, to give up the golden dreams of\na brilliant future, I decided in favor of Christ and the Bible. I shall\nnever cease to thank God for the decision.\n\nMy last act in political life was attending, as a delegate, a State\nConvention at Frankfort, in August, 1861. This was, in some respects, a\nmiserable affair, and I became thoroughly disgusted with politics and\npoliticians, such as seemed to be pushing to the front, and crowding\nmodesty and decency and honesty out of sight. I decided that that kind\nof association, that kind of companionship in the profession, that kind\nof trickery and treachery as food for daily thought, however successful\none might be, was disgusting and debasing. I went home from the\nconvention determined upon a clear cut-loose from the whole concern.\n\nDuring the convention, Gen. Wm. Preston remarked in a speech that in\none year from that day, \"the stars and bars\" would be waving from the\ndome of that capitol. In twelve months to a day, I went to Frankfort to\nsee the Board of the Christian Education Society, about assisting me in\ncollege. The railroad was not in use, and I went by way of the\nShelbyville pike. When I got in sight of the city, I saw \"the stars and\nbars\" waving from the dome of the capitol! Gen. Kirby Smith had\npossession.\n\nWhen the brethren learned of my determination to give up politics, they\nrenewed their solicitations in regard to my preaching. But I had become\nintensely concerned about the cause of the Southern Confederacy, and\nlonged to take a part in what I then considered her struggle for\nindependence and justice. In my misguided zeal, I regarded this a duty\nthat patriotism would not allow me to exchange for anything till it was\nperformed. Then, if spared, my life-work should be begun. A peculiar\ncircumstance, greatly lamented at the time, kept me out of the Southern\narmy. But I have long regarded it as a special providence of God.\n\nI was an officer in a large cavalry company under the training of Col.\nJ. W. Griffith. He had fought through the Mexican war, was an\nintelligent man, and a good soldier. He also fought through the late\nwar, and was several times promoted. We had been drilling for some\nweeks, and the time was set for our departure. I had a good deal of\nunsettled business at Louisville, and went to the city to settle it up.\nDuring my absence the Federal authorities of Louisville were apprised,\nin some way, of the movements and purposes of our men, and two\ncompanies of cavalry were sent out to intercept them. Our men were\nnotified of this, and went twenty-four hours in advance of the set\ntime. Of all this I knew nothing, and when I got home the company was\ngone. I knew not which way it had taken, for our Colonel kept his own\ncounsel. When night came I left home, determined upon an earnest effort\nto find the trail of the company and follow them. Twice I came near\nbeing caught by the soldiers in pursuit, and after a night's fruitless\nsearch, I was compelled to return disappointed. I had not another\nopportunity, and ere long I gave up the vain idea. But for that\ndisappointment I should have gone into the Southern army; and what the\nresult would have been will remain a secret till the day in which the\nresults of all contingencies are known. But it is highly improbable\nthat I should have ever become a preacher of the gospel of the grace of\nGod. Thank Him for the providence that overruled me!\n\nI finally yielded to the importunities of the brethren, and allowed\nthem to make an appointment. This was in May, 1862, one year after\nmaking the confession. The meeting was announced two weeks ahead. It\nwas a fine day, and through curiosity a great crowd assembled. I had\nnever been in the pulpit before, nor made any remarks in the church\nexcept to pray. The brethren had a Bible-class every Lord's day when\nthere was no preaching, and no public speaking was indulged in except a\nfew remarks at the Lord's table, by one of the elders. Though I was\naccustomed to speak in public, I felt a responsibility in this matter\nthat I never felt before. I decided upon three things as insuring\nsuccess, or at least resulting in no harm:\n\n    1. To select a plain, practical subject, on which I would not be\n    likely to indulge in false teaching.\n\n    2. To thoroughly study the _subject_, rather than the _sermon_.\n\n    3. To make myself thoroughly familiar with the analysis of the\n    subject, and then talk about it, without relying upon memory as\n    to language.\n\nRelying on memory has been the cause of ten thousand failures, and has\ntaken all the \"snap\" out of ten thousand more, that were considered a\nsuccess. The intellect never leaps and bounds with vivacity when it is\nchained by verbal memory.\n\nI selected for my text Matt. xvi. 24: \"Then said Jesus unto his\ndisciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and\ntake up his cross, and follow me.\" I went into the pulpit alone,\n\"introduced,\" as the saying is, for myself, and then spoke for forty\nminutes. While I felt embarrassed by a sense of responsibility, there\nwas no confusion of thought in regard to the subject; hence no\ndifficulty in its presentation. As it was my first sermon, the analysis\nof it may be of some interest.\n\nI called attention, first, to the universal offer of salvation: \"If\n_any man_.\" Second, to the freedom of the will: \"If any man _will_.\"\nThird, personal responsibility involved in the foregoing. Fourth,\nself-denial as a condition of eternal life. Fifth, the nature and\nnecessity of cross-bearing. Sixth, examples of self-denial and\ncross-bearing on the part of Christ and the apostles.\n\nThe church in which I preached my first sermon was the same in which I\nmade the confession, and near which I was reared. For it I did my first\nregular monthly preaching, while in college, and in it held a number of\nsuccessful protracted meetings, one annually, during the early years of\nmy ministry. The old church is dear to me yet; its old members are my\ndevoted friends, and I delight to visit them when Providence permits.\n\nImmediately after obeying the Saviour I bought a family Bible and a\npocket Testament; not that we had none before, but they were not such\nas suited my convenience. At home and abroad, in the city or the\ncountry, in the store or on the road, I had my Testament. As I drove\nall day along the highway, I would look at it occasionally to see how a\ncertain passage read, and then study its meaning. I have never read the\nBible largely, as some do, but I have studied it every day since I knew\nthe way of life, unless I was too sick to have anything in mind. I have\nstudied, doubtless, a hundred times as much without the book in my\nhands as with it. The idea that one can study the Bible only as he has\nopportunity to sit down with the book in his hands, is a great mistake.\nHence many people complain of having no time to study the Bible, when\nthe fact is they have nearly all their time, if they only knew it. I\nearly learned to study the Bible at any time or under any\ncircumstances, and the advantages of this to me have been beyond\nestimation.\n\nAs soon as I got my family Bible, I wrote on a flyleaf a few simple\n\n    RULES OF LIFE.\n\n    1. To study this book carefully and prayerfully every day.\n\n    2. To try to understand its teaching, regardless of the theories\n    and traditions of men.\n\n    3. To make it the man of my counsel, the source and limit of my\n    knowledge of divine things, and to speak on such matters only as it\n    speaks.\n\n    4. To measure myself in everything by this standard, and bring my\n    life, in all respects, in subjection to its divine authority.\n\n    5. To strive to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth,\n    that I may become strong in the Lord, be a blessing to my fellow\n    men, and at last obtain a home in heaven.\n\nThese rules, in some respects, have been closely observed; especially\nthe first three. While in the others I have fallen immeasurably short,\nI feel that, upon the whole, the rules have been of great advantage to\nme.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nResolves to Go to College. Friends Oppose. Wife Decides It. Hard Living\nand Hard Work. Impaired Health. Preaches for His Home Church.\nFather-in-law Dies. \"Frank, Be a True Man.\" House Robbed. \"Scraps.\"\nCollege Incidents. First Pay for Preaching. Holds Several Meetings.\nDishonest Preacher.\n\n\nWhen I fully decided to devote my life to the ministry of the Word, I\nfelt an overwhelming desire for a better education, in order to do the\nkind of work for the Master that his cause demanded. I had a good deal\nof general information that I had acquired through years of reading and\nstudy, but I was wholly ignorant of a number of things that I felt to\nbe necessary to reliable, satisfactory work for the Lord. I wanted to\ndevote my life to study, and I needed assistance in laying the\nfoundation on which to build in after years. I decided, therefore, to\nquit business and go to college. This was vigorously opposed by all my\nfriends. The church insisted that I had education enough, and that all\nI lacked was practice, to make me as good a preacher as there was need\nto be. My relatives opposed it, because they could not see the\nnecessity, and it promised to wife and children only starvation. I had\nhad some reverses, and had got just fairly square with the world. The\nflush war times had just come on. Trade was booming, money abundant and\nprices going up. I was now prepared to make money as I had never made\nit before, by five to one. To quit business just at that time, cut off\nall source of revenue, and go with a wife and three children to\ncollege, with but little money to start on, did, indeed, in one sense,\nlook like absolute recklessness. Indeed, some of the brethren thought I\nwas actually going crazy.\n\nIt was then argued that I should at least defer it a few years, till I\nshould make some money, which was then easily done, and thus provide\nfor the wants of my family while going through college. This looked\nvery plausible; but I was deeply impressed with the blunders I had\nalready made in trying to be a politician, then a soldier, and not\ngoing at once to the work of the Lord. I was afraid to dally about the\nmatter any longer. I laid the case before the Lord and my wife. I knew\nshe was to be the greatest sufferer by the change, and her counsel\nweighed more with me than that of all others. Considering what _might_\nresult from delay, the brave little woman said \"Go.\" That settled it.\n\nIn August, 1862, I wound up my business, and prepared to enter Eminence\nCollege. I rented an old, dilapidated house near the railroad, a mile\nabove town. The place had about three acres for cultivation, and the\nsame amount in grass. I kept a horse and buggy, a cow and several hogs.\nMy wife raised a large number of fowls. I cultivated the ground, making\nit produce all it would, cut and hauled my fuel from the woods, and so\nmanaged as to be at no great expense in living. But when going to a\ncity market every week, and feeling no embarrassment about money, we\nindulged in a style of living that now had to be discontinued. This\nwent rather hard, but we tried to bear it bravely. The plainest and\nhardest living of our lives, by far, were those years at Eminence. The\nself-denial of my wife, for my sake and the gospel's, greatly\nencouraged me to bear the cross.\n\nI did double work during the whole time, reciting eight times a day.\nThis required intense application. I allowed myself eight hours for\nsleep, and the other sixteen were given to study. Whether eating,\nwalking, working in the garden or chopping wood, I was boring into the\nquestions of the recitation room. I would occasionally take a little\nturn with the boys on the playground at noon, but not often. I was fond\nof it, but felt that I could not spare the time. This was a sad\nmistake, confirmed by a life of broken-down health. But, like many\nothers, it was not discovered till the mischief was done. A determined\neffort to crowd four years' work into two, under discouraging\ncircumstances, resulted in impaired health; which continued labor\nbeyond my strength kept impaired for the rest of my life. It is often\nstated that preachers suffer more from overeating than overwork. This\nis doubtless true to a large extent. But it was far from true in my\ncase. I was never a large eater after I was grown. And when my health\nfirst failed me, want of a variety of good, nourishing food had no\nlittle to do with it. And all through subsequent life, a trouble has\nbeen to take sufficient food to meet the wants of the system.\n\nI was the first married man that ever attended Eminence College. It was\nconsidered quite a novelty by some. But a few months later, in the same\nterm, Bro. Briney came in. He and his wife boarded at the college. A\nfew years later Bro. George Bersot and wife came, and married\nschool-boys got to be quite common.\n\nWhile attending school, I preached once a month for the old church at\nhome--Pleasant Hill. The distance was twenty miles, with a good dirt\nroad--when it wasn't bad. This afforded my wife an opportunity, during\nfavorable weather, to go to see her parents once a month. And her\nfather was now getting low with consumption. The church promised me no\nspecified amount for my preaching, and, as is frequently the case, most\nof them considered the contract complied with when they gave me a\nhearing. They were not in sympathy with my college enterprise, and were\nnot specially concerned about supporting it.\n\nIn May, 1863, my father-in-law died. In his death I lost one of my best\nand dearest earthly friends. He was the only one who encouraged me in\nmy efforts for an education. While he could give me no material aid,\nbeing himself embarrassed by years of affliction, his wise counsel and\ndeep sympathy helped me even more than money, badly as that was needed.\nWhen he was gone, I felt as if the only bright spot in my horizon,\napart from my family, had faded into darkness. By nature he had a quick\ntemper, and was very impulsive. By Christian culture he came to be a\nmodel in gentleness, patience and self-control. He was a wonderful\nexample of how men, by faith, \"out of weakness are made strong.\" As we\nstood around his bed of death, and his breathing indicated that the end\nwas at hand, he opened his eyes as I was bending over him, looked me\nearnestly in the face, and composedly said, \"Frank, be a true man.\" And\nwith these words his spirit took its flight. No other words that ever\nfell from mortal lips ever so impressed me as these. The source whence\nthey came, and the circumstances under which they were uttered, gave\nthem peculiar significance. My soul, what is it for one to be a true\nman--true to his friends and true to his foes; true to his family and\nto her whose life is dearer to him than his own; true to himself and\nhis better nature in all that involves his honor as a man; true to the\ntruth, under all circumstances; and true to the Saviour and His cause,\nto which he has dedicated his life? Ever in after years when tempted in\nregard to a faithful discharge of its responsibilities, those sacred\nwords came from the sleeping dust of death--\"Frank, be a true man.\"\nThough dead, he yet speaks, and his words have been fruitful of good.\n\nWhile attending his death and funeral, our house was broken into, and\nalmost everything we had was stolen. We had laid in meat and lard for\nthe year, and not a pound was left. All the flour, meal, sugar, coffee,\npreserves, jams, jellies, and everything else, was taken. Not a pound\nof anything to eat was left on the place. All the best cupboard ware,\nand part of the bedding and my wife's clothing were taken. This was a\nsorry plight to find ourselves in when we returned from the funeral.\nThe country was full of soldiers, and nothing was done towards\nrecovering the property. Thus we started on a darker and rougher road\nfor the rest of college life.\n\nDuring the first year at Eminence there grew up a strong rivalry\nbetween the two leading college societies--the Philomathean and the\nRising Star. Both were strong in numbers, and each had in it an unusual\namount of talent. I was appointed by the Philomathean Society to\ncriticise the Rising Stars. This was my special business. I prepared\nwhat I called a scrap-basket. For this I would prepare notes from time\nto time, as something would suggest them, and on the nights of public\nexhibition, which were quite frequent, I would read them. These were\ncuts at the young ladies and criticisms of their performances, as sharp\nas I could make them. The result was, the whole Society soon got too\nmuch out of humor to speak to me. They called me \"Scraps.\" Even Sister\nGiltner became offended, and was so for several months, till I was\nbrought down in sickness, and then her good heart conquered, and she\ncame to see me, bringing a load of delicacies to tempt and satisfy my\nappetite. The \"scrap\" at which she became offended was about this:\nComing on the stage, the first scrap I took from the basket read: \"We\ndo not expect many compliments for this dish of scraps, especially from\nthe young ladies of the boarding-house, as they are so used to being\nfed on scraps, it will be no variety to them.\" Sister G. prided herself\non her good table. I knew it was good, and hence felt free to make the\njocular remark. Had it been otherwise, I should have felt some\nhesitation in doing so.\n\nPresident Giltner and I were in frequent conflict, and he came in for a\nfull share of notice from the scrap-basket. While I would not assent to\nhis views of things, which frequently caused disputation, on the whole\nhe was kind and generous, and did much to help me through those hard\nschool years. I have since met many of those young ladies in all parts\nof the country, mothers of interesting families, but not one of them\nhad ever forgotten that scrap-basket.\n\nDoctor Russell was my teacher in Latin and the Sciences, and Prof.\nHenry Giltner in Mathematics and Greek. The Doctor was a fine moralist,\nbut an unbeliever. He was a fine teacher, and very popular with the\nboys.\n\nIn the public debates in our society, Bro. J. B. Briney and I were\nalways pitted against each other. We were the oldest and the nearest\nequal in our advancement, especially in this line. We had quite a\nnumber of public discussions.\n\nHere, as elsewhere, many went through on the shoulders of others. As an\nillustration of this, take two young men who were appointed on public\ndebate. Soon each came to me insisting that I should write his speech.\nI refused both. The time was drawing nigh, and neither had done\nanything. One evening one of them went home with me from school, and\ncompelled me, virtually, to write his speech. He was delighted with it.\nThe next morning, while he was asleep, I got up and wrote a reply, just\n\"tearing it all to flinders.\" The negative gained the decision, and\nneither one knows to this day that I wrote the speech of the other.\n\nDuring the winter of 1862-3 I went to Hendronsville, the old church\nthat now composes the one at Smithfield, to fill an appointment for\nBro. Giltner. I went to dinner with old Bro. Hieatt. On leaving, he\ngave me a dollar--the first dollar I ever received for preaching.\n\nIn the summer of 1863 I held a meeting at Hendronsville, with Bro.\nGiltner, for which I was liberally paid, all things considered, and\nthis was my first pay for a protracted meeting.\n\nThe same vacation, I went to South Fork, in Boone county, to fill an\nappointment for Bro. Wm. Tandy. Bro. Jacob Hugley was to come on the\nfirst of the week, and join me in a protracted meeting. Something\nprevented him from coming. I soon ran out of sermons, the supply on\nhand being small. In the meantime a fine interest had sprung up, and I\nhad no excuse for quitting. So I had either to face the music, prepare\nand preach two sermons a day, or ingloriously surrender. The meeting\ncontinued two weeks, with some eighteen or twenty additions. During the\nsame trip I held a meeting at a church near Walton, at which several\nadditions were made to the congregation.\n\nI did but little preaching during the school term. Convenient churches\ncould not be obtained, and inconvenient ones took too much of my time\nto be given for nothing.\n\nAt Eminence I first met Bro. I. B. Grubbs. He came to preach for a few\ndays, and spent a day at our humble home. I then formed for him a\npeculiar attachment, which has grown and strengthened with the passing\nyears. Our minds ran close together in the channels of divine truth,\nand they have never materially diverged. A disagreement between us in\nthe interpretation of Scripture has been very rare.\n\nOld Bro. T. M. Allen preached for the church at Eminence while I was\nthere. His sermons were enjoyable, and possessed considerable power,\nbut they lacked logical construction, and I learned but little from\nthem.\n\nIn a few weeks after going to Eminence, in the fall of 1862, we were\nblessed with the birth of a third daughter, and in the summer of 1864\nthe Lord took her to himself, and left us to mourn her absence.\n\nIn June, 1864, I went with Willis and Wallace Cox to Daviess county, to\nhold some meetings. Wallace was not able to preach, but went along for\nthe enjoyment of the trip. He had labored there before, and was well\nacquainted. We held a meeting at Owensboro, and one at a new church\nsome eight miles in the country. Both meetings were moderately\nsuccessful.\n\nAs an evidence of what some men can do, I shall speak of a meeting held\nabout this time, _without giving place or name_. The meeting had been\nsuccessful, and a fine interest prevailed. The night it was to close\nthere came a severe storm, and no one was out. We had to leave the next\nmorning, and on the next Lord's day the brethren raised considerable\nmoney and gave it to the preacher to send to us. Some years after, the\nbrother who was with me in the meeting went back there to preach for\nthe church, and while there some one asked him whether he and I\nreceived our money all right. This was the first intimation that any\nmoney had been sent to us. The case was investigated by the church, and\nthe man confessed he had never sent it. The brother got his, and the\nthief preacher promised to send mine, but hasn't done it yet. He is\nstill preaching, and on several occasions has come a long way to hear\nme preach. What kind of a face and heart such a man can have, is a\nmystery I have never been able to solve!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nLeaves College. Goes to Alexandria, Ky. An Adventure in Ohio. A Baby\n_not_ Baptized. Peril in Crossing the River. Opens His School. Makes\nSome Money. Buys a Nice Home.\n\n\nHaving obtained a sufficient knowledge of Latin, Greek, and various\nsciences, to enable me to prosecute my education without a teacher, and\nmy health being bad through close application and hard living, and\nfeeling that I ought not to subject my family to such hardships any\nlonger, I determined, very reluctantly, to leave college, at least for\na time. I had now been at Eminence two years, and I shall ever thank\nGod that even for this short time I was able to gratify my burning\ndesire to acquire knowledge. It was at a great sacrifice we went there\nand remained as long as we did, but we have never once regretted it.\n\nThrough the influence of President Giltner, we secured the High School\nat Alexandria, Campbell county, Ky. This had been conducted for some\nyears previously by Bros. O. A. and Chester Bartholomew, under the name\nof the \"Mammoth Institute.\" I visited the place, and arranged to\nconduct the school and preach for the church there, which was small and\nfinancially weak; but there was no other in reach. So I could not do\nbetter than to give them all my time, at whatever could be raised in\nthe way of salary. They had a nice little brick house, and a number of\ngood members, and for several years the church prospered; but the\ncounty filled up with Germans, some of the best members moved away, and\nthe cause went down. The house was sold, and to-day we have no church\nin the place.\n\nAfter completing arrangements to preach and teach, I went over to\nHamersville, Brown county, O., to see some relatives. A brother and\nsister of my father lived there, besides other relatives. My uncle had\na large family. I had never visited any of them, and now being near and\nhaving a little time, I borrowed a horse and rode over. I sent an\nappointment for Lord's day at Hamersville, and got there about the\nmiddle of the week. I found that an appointment had not been made for\nSunday morning, but for night. The reason was, the Methodists were to\nhave a quarterly meeting in the woods near town--a big affair--and\neverybody was going. Hence I could get no hearing in the morning. I\nwent to the meeting, as it was the only place to which to go. It was\nthought that three thousand people were on the ground. There were seven\npreachers. It was during the darkest period of the war, and every man\nfrom the south side of the Ohio River was looked upon with suspicion. I\nhad been there several days, and quite a number knew who I was and\nwhere I was from. I took a seat near the stand, and when they prayed,\nin conformity with their custom, I kneeled in the leaves. The old\npreacher who \"led in prayer\" yelled as if his congregation was a mile\naway and God was on a journey. He began by praying for the President;\nthen his Cabinet; then the Senate; then the Representatives; then the\ngenerals; then the colonels; then the captains; then the private\nsoldiers. All this I tolerated, but did not say Amen. Finally he prayed\nfor the utter extermination of the Southern people. He besought God to\nwipe them out of existence--men, women and children--from the Ohio\nRiver to the Gulf of Mexico. This blasphemy and contemptible wickedness\nI could not endure, and I arose from my knees. Perhaps five hundred\npeople saw me when I got up. The point in the prayer at which I got up\naroused suspicion, and inquiry was in a moment rife. They learned who I\nwas and where I was from, and the excitement grew intense. Numerous\nthreats were made to hang me on a limb there and then. The country was\nfull of what they called \"copperheads,\" who had kept very quiet,\nbecause it was to their interest to do so, but now they were aroused,\nand any attempt at violence would have led to the most serious trouble.\nDuring the intermission at noon, men of different politics congregated\nin different groups, in earnest conversation, and the meeting was\nforgotten in the excitement over a refusal to indorse that prayer. I\nwas waited on by a committee to know if it was my political feelings\nthat caused me to get up when I did. Without hesitation, I confessed\nthat it was. Then they said, \"What more need have we of evidence?\" It\nwas finally decided, so we were informed, that I would not be allowed\nto preach at night--that they would egg me, etc. But at night, not only\nthe house, but the yard, was full of \"copperheads\" who meant\n\"business,\" and I preached without molestation.\n\nThey had been holding these meetings at various places throughout the\ncountry, and at all of them sprinkled all the children that their\nparents could be induced to bring. One lady had a bright little boy\nabout eighteen months old, and when the Presiding Elder took him to\n\"baptize\" him, he said, \"Sister, name this child.\" She responded, \"His\nname is Vallandigham.\" He flew into a perfect rage, handed the child to\nher as if it were burning his fingers, saying, \"If you want this child\nbaptized you will have to change its name. I will baptize no child\nnamed for a traitor.\" The mother took the child and departed. We\npresume that had its name been Jeff. Davis, he would have broken its\nneck on the spot. Such was the \"religion\" of that class at that time.\nThe speeches on the day alluded to were nothing but political harangues\nof the most exciting nature. Previously I had thought they had politics\nand religion mixed, but I now discovered that there was no mixture\nabout it.\n\nOn my return, I had a little adventure in crossing the river. The ferry\nwas at New Richmond. The boat was a small affair, propelled by poles\nand oars. It was just wide enough for a wagon, and had railings on the\nsides. A two-horse wagon went in before me. When we got some distance\nout into the river, one of the horses jumped over the railing, and\ncaused the boat to careen so that it was filling rapidly. It was\nastonishing how those river men, who, perhaps, had been reared on the\nwater, became excited. They seemed almost incapable of any intelligent\naction, but yelled like so many savages. I decided at once upon my\ncourse. I got into the wagon, calculating that the water would probably\nnot come to my head while standing up, should the boat go down. If it\nshould, then I determined to take my horse by the tail and let him tow\nme ashore. But the owner of the team succeeded in cutting the harness,\nthus freeing the horse and allowing the boat to right itself so that it\ndid not sink.\n\nWe moved from Eminence to Alexandria, and boarded with a gentleman by\nthe name of Brown. He had a nice family, a good house, and he was a\nclever gentleman, and a \"hardshell\" Baptist of the first water.\n\nOur school opened about the first of September, with seventy-eight\npupils, and it soon increased to 130. Not expecting so many, I had\nsecured no assistant but my wife; and the result was, we were both\nover-worked. I had to hear several classes out of school hours,\nespecially in Latin and Greek. There were some young men in these\nstudies, clerks, merchants, etc., who were not otherwise in the school,\nand these recitations were in the evening after school was dismissed.\nThis, with preaching every Lord's day, worked me very hard. The school\npaid well, and for the first time since I gave up business for the\ngospel of Christ, I made some money.\n\nIn a few months, as soon as I saw an open road to success, I bought a\nnice little cottage and two acres of ground, from Bro. Giltner, at\n$1,200. He had taken it for a school debt, and let us have it on\nreasonable terms. It was nicely improved, and altogether a desirable\npiece of property. Thus for the first time we had a home of our own.\nThis is a luxury that comparatively few preachers can enjoy. Moving\nfrom place to place as, for example, Methodist preachers have to do, is\nunfavorable to domestic happiness. How few members of our churches ever\nthink of this, or make allowance for the discomfort frequent changes of\nresidence impose upon the families of their preachers! To own a home\nand have the taste and the means to adorn it, is an educational force\nin any family; its lack, a great misfortune.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nNarrow Escapes. Is Thrown from a Horse. Has Pneumonia. Nearly Killed.\nSelf-possession. Almost Drowned. Eludes Angry Soldiers. Reflections.\n\n\nDuring the Christmas holidays we went down to Oldham county to see our\nrelatives. While there, an event occurred, the recollection of which\nbrings up a chapter of NARROW ESCAPES hitherto untold, a few of which I\nshall relate in their order.\n\nWhen about thirteen years of age, a horse on which I was riding in a\nslow walk and on a level road, fell, throwing me over its head and\ncoming over on top of me. It broke both bones of my left ankle and\nseveral ribs, mashing in my left breast, which has ever since been much\ndepressed; it never developed like the other, and the lung on that side\nis the one now chiefly affected. This accident occurred at\nBallardsville, on a public day, some three miles from home. I was taken\nto the home of Dr. Swaine, our family physician, near which it\nhappened. He was absent, and a doctor from Shelby county was called. He\nhad a carpenter to make a box, reaching from my foot to my knee, and in\nthis he put my leg. The box was straight on the bottom, and as the\nbreak was just in the hollow between the calf and the heel, anybody\nthat had any sense should have known that the broken part would settle\ndown level with the rest, and a bad job be the result. It was badly\nset, and gave me much trouble for several years.\n\nFollowing this, in successive winters, I had two severe spells of\npneumonia in that left lung, in both of which my life was despaired of.\n\nOne day I was hauling heavy barn sills. They were swung under the hind\naxle, and the pole was tied by a chain back around the sill. The chain\ncaught on a solid rock in the road, and, as I had four strong horses,\nand they all came to a dead pull, the chain broke; then the pole came\nover with force enough to have mashed every bone in a man's body. The\nhorses happened to be on a straight pull, and the pole just brushed by\nmy right shoulder and side. Had it struck me, I might as well have been\nstruck by a cannon-ball. That ended my dragging logs without a block\nunder the front end of the pole.\n\nWhile trading in Louisville, a grocery firm with which I dealt to some\nextent had a clerk who was very dissipated at times. He was a desperate\ncharacter, and, when drinking, was very dangerous. One day I sold them\na lot of bacon, and this clerk, who almost had delirium tremens at the\ntime, made a mistake in weighing it. When I told him of it, he took it\nas an accusation of intentional swindling. Instantly he came at me with\na large cheese knife, swearing vengeance and his eyes flashing fire.\nThere was nothing in reach with which to defend myself, and I could not\nwell get out of his way. I decided instantly on the only possible way\nof escape. I stood perfectly still, did not move a hand, and looked him\nsteadily in the eye. When he got to me, he hesitated a moment, and the\nuplifted hand with the huge knife dropped to his side. Not a word was\nspoken, nor did my eye fall from his, and he turned and went back to\nhis work.\n\nDuring the summer after I confessed the Saviour, quite a number of\nhands were harvesting at my father-in-law's. On Saturday evening we\nwent to a large pond near by to bathe. It was made to supply a saw-mill\nby throwing a large dam across a hollow. It covered, perhaps, an acre\nof ground, and was twelve or fifteen feet deep in places. I never could\nswim successfully, but a number of those present were good swimmers,\nand there were many slabs on the pond that would float several men. I\ntold them I believed I could swim across the pond, and if I could not\nthere were too many good swimmers present to let me drown. I swam\nacross once, and, after resting a moment, started back. When I got\nabout the middle, I missed my stroke and went down. I thought nothing\nof it at first, fully expecting that when I came to the top they would\nsave me. I came to the top, could hear them yelling like Indians, but\nno one came to my rescue. I took breath and went down again. When I\ncame up the second time the result was the same. When I came up the\nthird time, and no one there to help me, I began to get a little uneasy\nand considerably out of humor. I was becoming exhausted, and I knew\nthat I could not come to the top more than once or twice more. I tried\nto go to the bottom, knowing that if I could touch bottom I could\nspring to the surface without exertion. But I could not reach the\nbottom. I came up the fourth time; still no one gave me assistance. By\nsummoning the entire stock of remaining strength, I came up the fifth\ntime. As I did so, a strong young man, Sparks by name, a good swimmer,\ncaught me by the left arm near the shoulder. He told me to take hold of\nhim, but this I refused to do. I thought this might endanger him, and\nthat if I would be perfectly passive he could manage me with no danger\nto himself. But when I would not take hold of him, he let me go and\nswam off and left me. Another man was within ten feet at the time,\ncoming to his assistance. When I went down this time, I was satisfied\nthey were going to let me drown. I felt that I could not come to the\ntop again, and could not reach the bottom. I thought if I could reach\nthe bottom I could crawl out by springing to the top now and then for\nbreath. But I could not touch bottom. I then began to calculate the\nchances of their getting my body out in time to resuscitate it. I knew\nit would not take long to cut the dam and drain the pond; but, when I\nreflected that they had not the presence of mind to do anything, I lost\nall hope in that direction. I saw no chance for me, and regarded the\nend as come. The reflection that I had obeyed the gospel was intensely\njoyous. During the whole time I had not strangled, knowing that it\nwould be fatal. A young man named Gipson--Sam Gipson--one of the owners\nof the mill, was some eighty yards away, filing the saw. When Sparks\nswam away and left me, Gipson saw they were going to let me drown, and\nran to my assistance. He got on one of the large slabs, and came in to\nwhere I had gone down. I was still making some commotion in the water,\nand, guessing about where I was, he pushed a plank down that came just\nunder my left arm. I knew what it was, and pressed it to my side. He\nthen bore on the other end and brought me to the surface. He held on\nthus till others came and helped me upon the slab. As soon as I got\nbreath a few times I appeared to be all right, and they thought I was\nonly playing a trick on them; but in a few moments I tumbled over,\nbecame black in the face, and suffered intensely for several hours.\n\nOn one occasion during the war I went into Floydsburg, on the morning\nafter Christmas day. There was a little squad of Confederates there,\nbelonging to the command of Col. Jessee, of New Castle, Ky. One of them\nwas a boy, named Hall, who went from that neighborhood. The rest were\nstrangers. I was introduced to the lieutenant in command, and had some\ntalk with him. The main street of the town runs east and west. About\nthe middle, the Brownsboro road comes in from the north, at a right\nangle. This comes down a \"branch\" which crosses the main street. At the\neast end of town the road descends into another hollow. Some of the\nsoldiers were inside, some sitting outside, of a blacksmith shop, and\nsome on their horses. I had walked near the east end, till I was just\non the ridge between the two hollows. I was standing at the door of\nCol. Wilson, talking to his wife, when several companies of negroes,\nstationed at La Grange under the command of white men, came marching\ninto town. They were a terror to the whole country. A little negro boy,\nchopping wood just at the east edge of town, informed the commander,\nwho was riding in front, that the rebels were at the shop. Instantly\neverything was quieted, and a stealthy march for the shop began. From\nmy position I could see both parties, and that the rebels were wholly\nunsuspecting. While they were nothing to me, and I had but little\nsympathy with them, for they were not in the regular service, I could\nnot stand and see them surprised and shot. I determined to warn them.\nMrs. Wilson tried to dissuade me, assuring me that it would be certain\ndeath. I confess I could see it in no other light myself, yet I could\nnot decline. I walked down the street with an unconcerned air, about\nforty yards in advance of the company. The lieutenant was sitting on\nhis horse sidewise, with his face turned from me, talking to a\nPresbyterian preacher. I could see the eyes of the preacher over the\nshoulders of the horse, but he was looking up into the face of the\nother man, and I could catch the eye of neither. Finally, I had to stop\nand make lively demonstrations in the face of the whole negro command.\nWhen the attention of the Confederates was attracted, they endeavored\nto escape by the Brownsboro road, and a charge from the other company\nwas instantly ordered. Each company opened fire on the other. I was on\nthe side of the street next to the Brownsboro road, and hence thrown\ninto all of the crossfire. I stood perfectly still till the entire\ncolored company passed by me. One man fell within a few feet of me, and\nafterwards died. They had a running fight till they got out of hearing.\nThey caught young Hall, the only one I knew, and killed him.\nNotwithstanding the agreeable disappointment at not finding myself\nkilled, I concluded that it might not be healthy to stay around there.\nThe town contained one of the most unprincipled white men that ever\nwent unhung. He was a sneak thief, and made it his business to get\nSouthern men into trouble. I saw him watching me all the time. I\nconcluded, therefore, that it would be better for me to leave town\nbefore the soldiers got back. I had not gone more than a mile when they\nreturned, and threatened to burn the town if I was not produced. They\nwere watching me from the first, and the only thing that saved me was\nthey concluded that they could attend to me after they got through with\nthe rebels. They were told that I had left town, and were put on the\nwrong road in search of me. I was then notified, and my holiday visit\nterminated suddenly.\n\nWhen I think now of the many narrow escapes from death before I was a\nchild of God, a number of which are not recorded, my heart overflows\nwith gratitude for the kind Providence that spared me till I knew the\nway of life and had the precious promises of God. An ungodly man may be\nbrave, and face death without a tremor, but only a child of God can\nface certain death as it comes on apace in the stillness of the sick\nchamber, and when the body is wasted with disease, in perfect composure\nand even inexpressible joy.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nHe Abandons the School-room. Remarkable Meeting near Alexandria.\nIncidents. Establishes a Church. Mischief-making Preachers. Long and\nSevere Attack of Typhoid Fever. Does not Lose Hope. Gratitude.\n\n\nAfter teaching a year, I decided to abandon the school-room and give\nmyself wholly to the preaching of the Word. In the summer of 1865 I did\nsome mission work in Boone county, under the direction of the State\nBoard. In August, I held a meeting in Campbell county, about five miles\nfrom Alexandria. The circumstances were a little peculiar. The Baptist\nmeeting-house in Alexandria had been blown down, and they were using\nour house, at our invitation, every Lord's day afternoon, till they\ncould rebuild. They had a house about five miles in the country, and a\nlarge congregation. Nearly the whole community were Baptists, and they\nclaimed a kind of preemption. We had not a member in the neighborhood.\nI was exceedingly anxious to hold a meeting in the very center of this\nstronghold, and thought that as they were using our house, they would\ngrant me the use of theirs; but they would not. They offered to let me\nhave it for one sermon, but not for a protracted meeting. This did not\nsuit my purpose; and as there was an old log school-house near by, I\nmade an appointment for a meeting in this, which was to begin on Sunday\nafternoon; and a few friends went with me from town. When we arrived at\nthe place, not a soul was on the ground; so having waited after the\ntime, and no one coming, I decided at once that the Baptists had\nreported the appointment withdrawn, so that when I came and found no\none, I would be disgusted, and return home. But I was not disposed to\nbe defeated in that way. There was no brother in reach with whom I\ncould stay, but I told the friends to go back to town and leave me, and\nthat I would hold the meeting, \"if I had to sleep in the woods, live on\npawpaws, and drink out of the 'branch.'\" So they left me.\n\nThere was a man living about a mile away whom the Baptists had excluded\nabout a year before, and who had no good feeling for them. Concluding\nthat that would be the best chance for shelter, I went to the house,\nand learned from him that the appointment had indeed been\ncountermanded, just as I suspected. He promised me food and shelter\nwhile I held the meeting. A number of neighbor boys were there with\nhis, and these were told to circulate the appointment for next night.\nThe following day he and I went and cleaned the house, putting in some\n\"anxious seats,\" fixing it to hold as many as possible. He sent his\nboys out through the neighborhood notifying the people, and that night\nwe had about thirty present. The next night the house was full; and\nfrom this on we had large audiences, day and night. In a few days we\nbuilt an arbor in front, and seated it; then, standing in the door, I\npreached to those within and without. The meeting continued two weeks,\nand resulted in fifty-two additions. Twenty-seven of these were from\nthat Baptist Church, and the rest by confession. A few of the\ntwenty-seven, the man with whom I lodged among the number, were not in\nthe fellowship of the church at that time.\n\nSeveral incidents occurred during the meeting. A very wicked man began\nto attend, and one night he felt that he could stand the fire no\nlonger; but as I was in the door, preventing his escape in that\ndirection, he leaped out of a window, and ran off into the woods. In\nabout ten minutes he came crowding in from the outside, to make the\nconfession.\n\nA Baptist man became interested in the meeting, but his wife was so\nbitter in her feelings that she would not attend. He finally prevailed\nupon her to come. Going home, he asked her how she liked it. \"Better\nthan I expected,\" was the reply. No more was said, but the next day she\ncame without persuasion. When asked the same question, she said, \"They\ndon't preach what I thought they did.\" He was anxious to unite with us\non the Bible, but was waiting in the hope of getting her to come with\nhim. The next day she was in the house and he on the outside, and he\ndid not know till the meeting was over that she had come forward and\nbeen received into the fellowship.\n\nAt this meeting a gentleman came and asked me to marry him that night\nafter the services should be over. I told him I could not, as I had not\nobtained license to marry. He then asked if I would object to his\ngetting a Methodist preacher who lived several miles away. That night\nthere was a great crowd, and I saw nothing of the preacher, but while\nwe were singing an invitation song a gentleman came pushing in, and\ngave me his hand. I thought, of course, he wanted to make the\nconfession, and I tried to seat him with the others who had come\nforward; but he would not. He soon became excited, and, tearing himself\nloose, forced his way into the crowd. Just then some one whispered to\nme that that was the Methodist preacher. It was a long time before the\nservices closed, and he was still so embarrassed that it was with great\ndifficulty he performed the required ceremony. He hurried away without\nspeaking to me, and then sent his apology, stating that he was so\nmortified over his blunder that he could not speak to me about it that\nnight.\n\nOn account of the numbers, the distance from town, and the want of\nfacilities for attendance there on the part of many of the converts,\nthey insisted upon having a church of their own at the school-house.\nUnder the circumstances it was thought best to comply with their\nrequest. No officers were appointed as such, because of inexperience,\nbut several brethren were designated as those who should take a general\noversight of the flock, conduct their worship, etc., but none had\nauthority; and all were exhorted to be in subjection one to another.\nThey met every Lord's day and broke the loaf, and had prayer-meeting\nWednesday night. A large number took part in the worship. They had\nfrequent confessions, and a blacksmith across Licking River, who\npreached, met them at the water, when notified, to attend to baptizing.\nThey thus grew in a few months from the fifty-two to seventy-five, when\ntwo mischief-making preachers visited them and insisted that without\nordained elders and deacons they were no church at all, and finally\nprevailed upon them to have a number of men ordained. I was sick, and\nknew nothing that was going on. These ignorant novices thought there\nwas no use in having authority unless it were exercised. So they began\nto crack their ecclesiastical whip, and the peace of the church was\ndisturbed. Things went from bad to worse till the whole congregation\nwent to pieces. Thus a good work was destroyed by the folly of two\nignorant, self-important preachers. Much mischief has been done in our\nreformatory work by hasty organization. Like the New Testament\nchurches, we should have no ordained officers till we have material out\nof which to make them.\n\nAbout September 10, 1865, I was stricken down with typhoid fever. I had\na good physician, and he nursed me with the utmost care. During that\nsickness he came to see me a _hundred and thirty_ times. For over seven\nweeks there was not a hopeful symptom. He allowed no company in the\nroom but my wife and the nurses. He appointed good brethren to nurse\nme, each night about. No one else was allowed to touch me, except my\nwife. I did not see my two little children for over two months, though\nthey were all the time in the house. After seven weeks he told me that\nfor the first time he saw a slight indication of recovery. After I\nbecame convalescent, he said, in talking over the case, that he could\nattribute my recovery to but two things--my confidence all the time\nthat I should get well, and the faith I had in my physician. He\ndetermined this latter by saying that I followed his direction minutely\nin everything. Theologically, he could not have given a better\ndefinition of faith. He was a Baptist.\n\nI never gave up for a moment, and would not allow my mother to be sent\nfor till I was far on the road to recovery. I got out for the first\ntime on Christmas day, but it was a year before I was able to resume\nregular preaching; and even then, and for a long time afterwards, I\nfelt the effects of this terrible disease. Had it not been for the\nclose attention of the doctor, and the good nursing of my dear wife and\nkind brethren, I am sure that attack of sickness would have sent me to\nmy grave. Truly, God has been very merciful to me in giving me friends\nwherever I have lived, and I have ever felt I could not be grateful\nenough or diligent enough in the service of my Redeemer and His church\nto repay Him or them for all this undeserved goodness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nSells Out at Alexandria. Moves to Crittenden. Preaches there and at\nWilliamstown. Low State of these Churches. Plan of Work. Memorizing in\nSunday-school. Lack of Church Discipline. One-Man System. Moves to New\nLiberty. Visits Mount Byrd.\n\n\nIn the spring of 1866, we sold out at Alexandria, and spent most of the\nsummer in Oldham county, among our friends, while I was recuperating my\nhealth.\n\nThe meeting-house at La Grange had been blown down in a storm, and at\nthe solicitation of the church I visited a number of congregations and\nobtained help to rebuild it. Midway was one of the places visited. Bro.\nFranklin was there holding a meeting. This was my first acquaintance\nwith that grand hero of the Cross of Christ.\n\nIn September we moved to Crittenden, Ky. I preached for that church and\nat Williamstown, each half the time, for the rest of that year, and for\n1867. The churches were both at low ebb. They had had no regular\npreaching for some time; had not met on Lord's day; had no discipline;\nand everything was in decay and disorder.\n\nI decided upon a plan of work for each church. The first point was to\nget them to meet on the Lord's day and break the loaf, having social\nworship, when I could not be with them. This done, we carefully revised\nthe church records, excluding whom we could not induce to attend the\nhouse of the Lord and to try to discharge their Christian duties. This\nwas followed by protracted meetings at neighboring school-houses,\nthrough which quite a number were added to both churches. Meetings were\nthen held in each church. By this time both churches were in a\nprosperous condition. They both had good Sunday-schools, and a number\nof members were taking an active part in the work of the church. We\ndisposed of the old house in Williamstown, and got the new house roofed\nin 1867. We also repaired the house at Crittenden, getting it in nice\norder, and putting in a baptistery.\n\nFor the year 1868, the church at Crittenden wanted all my time, and I\ngave up the church at Williamstown, devoting all my energies to the one\nchurch. We arranged a book in which each member promised to pay so much\na week. Envelopes were given them, through which they were to pay their\nweekly installment on each Lord's day. The congregations were large and\nregular, and double the amount of money was thus collected that had\never been raised before.\n\nThat was before the days of Sunday-school \"helps,\" and we made\nmemorizing the Scriptures a prominent feature in the work. The first of\nJanuary, 1868, I offered a reward to the one memorizing and repeating\nthe most Scripture that year. Quite a number started in to win the\nprize, but it was soon evident that the contest was between three\ngirls. The amount of Scripture memorized was immense. All the scholars\nmemorized largely. Soon it required a teacher's whole time to hear the\nverses of one of those girls. Then we had them recite during the week;\nand, finally, I had them examined on the Scripture committed, repeating\nhere and there as called on. This was harder than repeating it all. The\nfirst of June another little girl entered the lists. On the day they\nwere examined they could repeat with ease and accuracy any passage\ncommitted to memory during the year. They were examined for several\nhours.\n\nIncredible as it may appear, two of these girls committed the whole\nBible, and another committed Anderson's Translation of the New\nTestament in addition; still another did not begin till June, and\ncommitted the Bible by the end of the year. I never intended such a\nresult, nor can I approve that way of cramming the memory.\n\nWhile the church at Crittenden was in other respects in a flourishing\ncondition (indeed, rather too much flourish), it was difficult to get\nit to act promptly and strictly in the administration of discipline.\nThe officers and church generally had more lax ideas on that subject\nthan I had. But in this particular I suppose they were about on a par\nwith most other congregations in Kentucky, both among our people and\nothers. Indeed, I must confess that at that time I was unusually strict\nin such matters. I wanted everything pertaining to the church to come\nsquare up to the mark in all respects, and I was unnecessarily worried\nover every shortcoming. On account of not having discipline attended to\nas strictly as I desired, I was disposed to resign at the close of\n1868. But the elders promised more hearty cooperation in the matter,\nand I accepted for another year conditionally. I stated publicly that I\nwould begin on three months' trial, and if at the end of that time the\nchurch had not so cooperated with me as to effect certain ends, our\nengagement would close. I did not succeed in getting the cooperation\ndesired, and the first Lord's day in April I announced to a crowded\nhouse that my relation to them as preacher had closed. It fell upon\nthem like a thunder-clap from a clear sky. I stated the reasons, which\nthey understood, but had not regarded. Thus ended my ministry with that\nchurch.\n\nMy preaching at Crittenden, and the subsequent history of the church,\nimpressed upon me a very important lesson, upon which I acted in after\nlife. While everything was \"booming,\" I could not teach them\nself-reliance. They depended upon me. I had to take the lead in\neverything. Consequently, when I left, it was just like taking the\nengine off a big lot of machinery. Everything came to a standstill. I\nfeared this, and tried to guard against it. The material, however, was\nof such a nature that it was next to impossible to get them to go\nforward in church work without being led. But I was so impressed with\nthe virtual loss of my work then, that I made it a special point, ever\nafter, to develop the church in self-reliance, and make it largely\nindependent of a preacher.\n\nIn 1869 I decided that it was not best for the Master's cause for me to\nlonger give all my time to the Crittenden church, as I wanted them to\nlearn to do without me. So the first of January I engaged to preach for\nthe church at New Liberty, Owen county, one-half my time. Resigning at\nCrittenden in April, in May I moved to New Liberty. Here I found a\ngood, substantial set of brethren, and did a substantial work. We soon\nhad a good Sunday-school, renovated the house, cut off a lot of dead\nmaterial, and got the church in good working order.\n\nIn May, 1869, I held a successful meeting in Owenton, and established\nthe cause in that place. Up to this time we had no organization there.\nIn 1870 I held them the second meeting. The cause continued to grow\nthere. In a few years they built a house of worship. The church has\ngenerally been in a prosperous condition.\n\nIn August of this year, I held another meeting for my old home church,\nPleasant Hill. It resulted in a goodly number of additions. It was\nalways a peculiar pleasure to hold a meeting among these old\nassociates, and I held quite a number.\n\nIn August, 1869, Bro. I. B. Grubbs and I met at Mt. Byrd to hold a\nprotracted meeting. It was the first in their new house, after its\ncompletion. We had an enjoyable and successful meeting. This was my\nintroduction to Mt. Byrd, which has since afforded me a home, has stood\nby me through good and evil fortune, has never wavered in its devotion\nand fidelity, and among whose good members my frail body will rest,\ntill it rises in the likeness of Christ.\n\nHere I might as well express my views upon the lack of church\ndiscipline, as they have been formed from an extensive observation in\nthis and other States. I must, however, do this briefly. No one can\nread the epistles of the apostles, and especially those of Paul, and\nnot be profoundly impressed with the belief that the administration of\ndiscipline engaged a large share of their attention; and we may infer\nthe necessity of this from the very nature of the case. The first\nchurches were largely formed of Gentile converts, and these came from\nheathenism; and they had to be recovered from its debasing practices;\nand even the converts from among the Jews had to be reformed from many\nevil ways. Any one who will read even casually Paul's pastoral epistles\nwill see these evils and sins exposed. These were contrary to the\npurity and benevolence of the new religion, and hence the necessity of\nself-denial and constant diligence on the part of both people and\npastors.\n\n\"The times have changed and we have changed with them,\" but the _forms_\nof sin have changed rather than the thing itself, and we have as much\nneed to practice watchcare over ourselves and others as ever. It was\nCain that asked, \"Am I my brother's keeper?\"\n\nI am satisfied that the two crying needs in our Kentucky churches, and\nI suppose elsewhere, are the faithful administration of discipline by\nour elders and activity in Christian work by our members. I think we\nare growing in the latter, and fear we are falling off in the former.\nThe reasons for both these opinions are not, in my opinion, hard to\nfind. Had I time and strength I should like to give them in full.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nHistory of the Mt. Byrd Church. When Established. Where. Charter\nMembers. Officers. Preachers. Number of Members. Three Things\nContributing to its Prosperity. New House of Worship. Serious Trouble\nin the Church. How Settled. Method of Raising Money. The Church Builds\nAllen a House. Organizes a Sunday-school. How it is Conducted.\n\n\nSince the history of Mt. Byrd church from 1869 till my death will be an\ninseparable part of my history, the two being linked together, the\nchurch is destined to be known, and is known to-day, wherever I am\nknown. And as a part of its history will be given, I think it would be\nmore satisfactory to all who may feel interested in it, and more\nprofitable as a study, if an outline of its career from the beginning\nwere known. I therefore insert it here.\n\nIn 1832, Isaac Foster, then a Baptist preacher, came into this\ncommunity preaching the principles of reform as advocated by Thomas and\nAlexander Campbell. The people gave heed to his teaching concerning the\nkingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and on the second Lord's\nday in September, 1832, at the house of David Floyd, on the top of the\nOhio River hill, opposite Hanover College, Ind., a church was\nestablished. The following were the charter members: James Lindsey,\nHatty Ann Lindsey, William Maddox, Elizabeth Maddox, David Floyd, John\nB. Floyd, Miss Mary A. Trout, Miss Catherine Trout, Miss Priscilla B.\nTrout, Miss Sally Trout, Miss Saloma Overpeck, Miss Julia Ann Lindsey,\nMiss Artamisia Cooper, Mrs. Minerva Cooper.\n\nJames Lindsey and his wife, Hatty A., were formerly members of the Old\nChristian Connection, at Cane Ridge, Ky. William Maddox and his wife,\nElizabeth, were from the Baptists. The rest were admitted by immersion.\n\nWilliam Maddox and John B. Floyd were appointed elders, and David Lloyd\ndeacon.\n\nFor a time they met and worshiped in private houses. They then built a\nmeeting-house, near the river bluff, on the farm of Bro. David Floyd.\nIt was of hewed logs, and primitive in architecture. It was called Mt.\nOlivet. They met every Lord's day to break bread, to worship God and to\nedify one another in love. Much of the long-continued prosperity of the\nMt. Byrd church is doubtless due to beginning with good material and on\ncorrect principles.\n\nIn that early day the church enjoyed the visits of such men as Isaiah\nCornelius, Allen Kendrick, L. L. Fleming, Jesse Mavity, Wm. Brown, and\nothers. The church increased in number rapidly.\n\nIn a short time several families of standing and influence moved into\nthe present neighborhood of Mt. Byrd and south of it, from Woodford\ncounty, Ky. The house was unfavorably located, being on the extreme\nedge of the territory from which the membership must come. It was\nagreed by all parties to build another house, farther back from the\nriver, in a more desirable locality. About 1837 this house was built on\nthe farm of Bro. Robert Moffett, at the crossing of the Strother and\nCooper roads, about two and one-half miles from the other house, and\none and one-half south of Milton. It was a commodious frame building.\nThe site is now on the corner of Bro. Allen's place, two hundred yards\nfrom his house. It was called Mt. Byrd, from the fact that it was on\npart of a large survey of land known as the Byrd survey; and the \"Mt.\"\nwas due to its elevation. It was understood that so soon as certain\nobstacles were removed, the two churches were to become one. Hence the\nhouse was used a year or two before our organization was established.\nAnd, in one view of the case, Mt. Byrd had its origin in 1832; and in\nanother, in 1839.\n\nOn the second day of August, being the first Lord's day, 1839, an\norganization was established on the following covenant:\n\n    \"We, the undersigned individuals, agree to have fellowship with\n    each other, and to be united together in the bonds of Christian\n    affection according to all the rules of conduct and requirements of\n    God, as contained in His Word--the Scriptures of the Old and New\n    Testaments.\"\n\n    CHARTER MEMBERS.\n\n    Robert Moffett, Elizabeth Moffett, Lucinda Moffett, Sarah Ann\n    Moffett, Catherine Stipes, Alexander Moffett, Nancy Moffett, Emily\n    Moffett, Harriet Moffett, Jane Moffett, Porter Fisher, Caroline\n    Fisher, Hayden Fisher, Robert Thompson, Anna F. Thompson, Polly\n    Blake, Elizabeth Taylor, Susan Taylor, Zachariah Taylor, Sally\n    Taylor.\n\nPorter Fisher was chosen elder.\n\nIn September following, Dr. Curtis J. Smith and Newton Short held them\na meeting, resulting in forty additions.\n\nThe members of the first organization began to move their membership to\nMt. Byrd, and soon the two congregations were one.\n\nThe following is a list of the overseers of the church, in their order,\nfrom its establishment till 1885:\n\n    Porter Fisher, Hayden Fisher, John B. Floyd, James Jones, Samuel\n    Morris, John A. Bain, Isaac Trout, John S. Maddox, Jacob Trout,\n    George Craig, F. G. Allen.\n\nThe following are the names of the preachers who have served the church\na stated length of time:\n\n    Porter Fisher, Hiram Stark, J. Newton Payne, Dr. C. J. Smith, Henry\n    Rice, Jesse Mavity, Dr. Sadler, J. A. Bain, G. B. Moore, A. A.\n    Knight, J. C. Walden, J. V. Price, F. G. Allen.\n\nIn addition to meetings held by the regular preachers, it has enjoyed\nthe evangelistic labors of some of the ablest preachers in the\nReformation.\n\nFrom its organization to June, 1885, there were added to the church, at\nvarious times and in various ways, 982 members. At this time (June 12,\n1885) the membership is 350.\n\nIn addition to removals, deaths, exclusions, etc., we gave a large\nnumber to the Bedford Church when it last organized (1874), and our\ncolored membership organized to themselves in 1877. Also the nucleus of\nthe Beech Grove church went from here.\n\nThree things, that have had much to do with the prosperity of this\nchurch, deserve special mention--their course during the war, their way\nof choosing church officers, and their method of church discipline.\n\nDuring the war the church remained in a peaceful and prosperous\ncondition. At the beginning they were of one mind in the decision that\nthe religion of Christ was more important to them than political\ninterests; that the war would end, but that the kingdom of God would\nnot, and that they would stand for the things that could not be shaken\nby the shock of arms. A large number of young men of the community were\nin the service, and they wanted to be in a spiritual condition to take\ncare of such of them as should return. Though soldiers of both armies\nwere frequently in the neighborhood, the church continued the service\nof God and the discharge of Christian duty as if the peace of the\ncountry was undisturbed. Consequently, when the war was over, they had\nno alienations to adjust, no broken down walls to rebuild, no breaches\nto close up. They needed no reconstruction. Their history demonstrates\nthat even cruel war need not necessarily alienate the people of God.\nThe congregation was not a unit in political sympathy, but they allowed\nno mixing of politics with religion, in the pulpit or elsewhere, on\neither side. Strong rebels from Kentucky and strong Union men from\nIndiana filled the pulpit during the time, but with the understanding\nthat they preach the gospel and not politics--no difference was made.\n\nTill 1867 the method of selecting church officers was by popular\nballot. They were thus selected according to the feelings, and tastes,\nand prejudices of men, women and children, many of whom are always\ncontrolled by personal likes and dislikes. At this time a change was\nmade that resulted in great good. The change was to this effect, that a\ncommittee in whom the church have perfect confidence be appointed to\nselect elders and deacons. When selected, their names are submitted to\nthe congregation, and two weeks given during which objections may be\nmade privately to the committee. Should objections be made to any one,\nwhich are considered valid, and can not be removed, that name is\ndropped and another substituted. It is understood from the beginning,\nby all parties, that the objections are to be kept private, and if a\ncandidate is dropped on account of objections, he has no right to\ndemand the name of the objector nor the objections. When objections are\nnot made, or they no longer exist, it is understood that the selection\nis ratified by the church. The parties are then set apart to their work\nby fasting, prayer and the laying on of hands. In this way a better\nselection is made, and the church is much more impressed with the\nimportance of the official work, and of their obligation to those set\napart, as co-operants in the work. The plan gave entire satisfaction,\nand the church ever after observed it.\n\nWhen I began to preach for the church, I introduced a plan of\ndisciplinary work which I had observed since my labors with the\nCrittenden Church. The leading idea in it was to save the offender, and\nthe church was impressed with that fact. The relatives and friends of\nthe offending party were enlisted in an effort with the preachers and\nelders to save him, with the understanding that if this could not be\ndone, the law of the Lord must be enforced in his exclusion. Such\nefforts rarely failed, and, when they did, those most likely to be hurt\nabout his exclusion felt that they had failed in trying to save him,\nand that all was done that could be done. When such efforts failed, the\ncase was then stated to the church, and if any one thought that he\nmight accomplish something, and wished an opportunity to try, action\nwas delayed till he did what he could, and thus the whole moral force\nof the church was exerted. When all felt that nothing more could be\ndone, the law of the Lord was executed, the church withdrew its\nfellowship, and the occasion was made as solemn and impressive as\npossible. There was no voting as to whether or not they would exclude\nhim. That is a matter of divine legislation on which we have no right\nto vote. The sense of the congregation was taken only as to whether or\nnot they had done all they could to save the offender, and had thus\ncomplied with the law of the Lord in this respect. In twenty years,\nwith much attention to disciplinary work, I have never had the least\ntrouble or evil consequence result from a case of exclusion.\n\nIn 1867 they built a new house of worship, about a quarter of a mile\nnearer Milton than was the old house. It is a large and substantial\nframe.\n\nWhen Mt. Byrd was established there were several strong Methodist and\nBaptist churches within a few miles. They have all dwindled into\ncomparative insignificance, and Mt. Byrd has the controlling influence\nin the county. Her territory extends sixteen miles along the Ohio River\nand eight miles back.\n\nI engaged to preach for Mt. Byrd Church one-half my time, beginning the\nfirst of October, 1869. It is thirty miles from New Liberty, and at\nthat time it was reached by a dirt road terribly muddy in the winter. I\nwent back and forth on horseback. I arranged to have my two Sundays\ncome together, and spent the intervening week visiting the congregation\nand preaching at some neighboring school-house. I thus made but one\ntrip a month. My health was very poor, and each visit I made they\nthought would be the last.\n\nAfter I began preaching at Mt. Byrd, I discovered a very serious\ntrouble in the church, of which I before knew nothing. I saw, from its\nnature and the men involved in it, that unless it was peaceably and\npermanently settled, the church would be effectually ruined. And\ncircumstances indicated that it was next to impossible to secure such a\nsettlement. I was deeply concerned about it.\n\nThe difficulty grew out of a man's making engagements to teach two\nschools at once, and consequently having to disappoint one of the\nparties. They had depended on him, and thereby lost the opportunity of\ngetting a good teacher. They felt grievously wronged, and sued for\ndamages. The teacher was a poor man, not able to fight the suit, and he\nso worked upon his patrons that they promised to stand by him and\ndefend him in court. A large number of good and influential brethren\nwere involved in it, and they had worked up a very bad state of\nfeeling. Bro. J. S. Maddox, the leading elder, stood by me faithfully\nin the work. We labored incessantly day and night for over two weeks\nbefore we accomplished our purpose. I preached in the two school-houses\nalternately, day and night, so as to reach all of both parties; for\nthey would not go to each other's houses. The rest of the time was\nspent in visiting and laboring privately with the disaffected members.\nThe preaching was all directed to the one special end. Sometimes we\nwould have it nearly completed as we thought, and then the trouble\nwould break out again. One day our hearts beat with joyous hope, and\nthe next we were depressed and discouraged.\n\nFinally, they agreed to arbitrate the matter if I alone would act as\narbitrator. I tried hard to reason them out of this, for I felt almost\ncertain that I would sacrifice myself in so doing. I felt that I could\nhardly hope to retain the friendship of both parties in such a\ncomplicated matter, over which there was so much bad feeling. But,\nfinding that there was no other way of settlement, I concluded that the\nsacrifice of myself was a small matter as compared with the ruin of the\nchurch, and I consented. All parties agreed to abide by my decision in\ngood faith, bury all their animosities, and be at peace among\nthemselves. I wrote out carefully the whole case, giving my decision on\neach point, and the reasons therefor. I read it at a meeting at which\nall were present. They all signed it, and the trouble was forever\nended. Both parties kept it in good faith, and I retained their\nfraternal love.\n\nWhen the church had been \"rounded up,\" and all dead matter cast off, we\nhad 240 members on the list. Some new deacons were appointed, till we\nhad seven in all. Not because there were seven appointed at Jerusalem,\nbut because we needed that number and had material out of which to make\nthem. We divided the congregation into seven districts, each deacon\nhaving his boundary defined. Each had a list of all the members in his\ndistrict, and it was his duty to obtain a subscription from each member\nand collect it. Each child of a family made his own subscription. All\nwere expected to give something, unless they were beneficiaries of the\nchurch. This system has several advantages: (1) More money is obtained\nthan when given only by heads of families. (2) Each one feels that he\nis a factor in the church, not an overlooked cipher, and this does him\ngood. It stimulates him to do something. (3) In training each one to\ngive, however little they may be able, there is developed in them a\nright spirit and a very important principle.\n\nA business meeting was held every three months. At these the deacons\nmade their reports, and squared accounts with the preacher. Thus the\nexact financial condition of the church was known. Cases of discipline,\nmissions, charities, and everything pertaining to the interests of the\nchurch, were freely discussed. A record was kept of everything done.\nThese meetings were held on Saturday, and the next day a statement was\nmade to the church of what was done, and their sanction obtained to\nsuch matters as it was thought best to submit.\n\nWith a thorough organization, systematic working, and the happy\nsettlement of the big trouble over which all were filled with anxiety,\nthe church took on new life, and ever after continued in an active,\ngrowing condition.\n\nThe brethren soon petitioned me to move into their midst. I jocularly\ntold them I would do so if they would give me a good home. The\nsuggestion was no sooner made than accepted. Bro. J. H. Moffett gave me\neight acres of ground just where I wanted it, and he and the rest of\nthe brethren agreed to build me a house. I was permitted to plan just\nsuch a house as I wanted, and they would see that it was built. No\nobligation whatever was required of me as a condition. I was free to\ndispose of it and leave them at any time, if I wished to do so. It was\nall a matter of trust. The outside improvements were also made mostly\nby the brethren. I may say here that in the fifteen years I preached\nfor that church, not a man ever charged me a cent for anything he ever\ndid for me, and they did everything that I needed to have done.\n\nIn the spring of 1870 we organized a Sunday-school. It ranged usually,\none year with another, from 125 to 150. One peculiar feature about it\nwas that a large number of old people attended. In a word, the _church_\nwent into the Sunday-school. The teachers have all the time been of the\nolder brethren and sisters, and many men and women of middle age and\nbeyond have been in the classes. We kept a record of the attendance,\nrecitations, contributions, etc., thus indicating the regularity of the\nwork. The record shows that there were perfect, in recitations and\nattendance, twenty-six in 1873, thirty-four in 1874, and twenty in\n1875. This is a fair sample for the fifteen years. The school is still\nin a fine condition. Some members have not missed a single recitation\nin five years.\n\nFrom the beginning we have adhered to the rule of opening on the last\nSunday in April and continuing till Christmas. The congregation being\nscattered over a large district, and the roads being bad in winter, we\nhave been in the habit of dismissing the children for the rest of the\nyear; but all the older people form one class, and are taught the\nScriptures by the preacher or elder of the church from the first of\nJanuary till the last of April.\n\nI am satisfied this is a good arrangement for churches in the country,\nwhere the membership is much scattered. It works well at Mt. Byrd, and\nI don't see why it may not work well elsewhere under the same\ncircumstances.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nHe Moves to Mt. Byrd. Debate with J. W. Fitch. Preaches at Madison,\nInd. Protracted Meetings at Columbia, Burksville, Thompson's Church,\nDover, Germantown, Pleasant Hill, Burksville again, Beech Grove, Dover\nagain.\n\n\nIn September, 1870, we moved to the neighborhood of Mt. Byrd. My house\nnot being completed, we lived in the lower end of Hunter's Bottom,\nabove Milton. We spent here a very pleasant year. I gave a good deal of\ntime to the building, helping in whatever I could do, which was quite a\nbenefit to my health. I continued to preach at New Liberty half my time\nduring this year and 1871. The last of October, 1871, we got into our\nnew house. It is about three hundred yards from the church, beautifully\nsituated on the main thoroughfare to Milton and Madison.\n\nIn 1871 I held two meetings in Carrollton, Ky. The cause was very low\nthere at that time. Our band was feeble; and the place almost entirely\ngiven to sectarianism. We had no place of worship, and the court-house\nin which we met was not comfortable. Some of the prominent members had\nbecome very worldly. Because I preached against their sins, they became\nmuch offended, but the offense was to reformation. They afterwards\nbuilt a meeting-house, and they are now in good condition.\n\nNov. 2, 1871, I began my first public religious debate. It was at Mt.\nByrd, and with Presiding Elder J. W. Fitch. It came about in this way:\nAt a Quarterly Conference in the county, the preachers and prominent\nmen present, to the number of fourteen, drew up and sent me a formal\nchallenge to meet C. W. Miller, at Mt. Byrd (this being by far the\nlargest house in the county), and debate certain designated\npropositions. At that time I had a very bad opinion of Mr. Miller, and\nthere was no good feeling existing between us. In reply to their\ncommunication I said: \"You have a number of brethren in Kentucky of\nequal or superior ability to Mr. Miller, whom I can meet as Christian\ngentlemen, and when I have the promise of such a disputant, I shall be\nready to arrange propositions.\" They then applied to Mr. Fitch, and a\ncorrespondence between us was opened. My purpose then, and ever since\nin debating with Methodists, was to discuss the _system_ of Methodism,\ninstead of a few isolated propositions. In that way the people see what\n_Methodism_ is; in this, they do not. We finally agreed that each\nwould affirm that the polity and practice of the church with which he\nwas identified are authorized by the word of God.\n\nAn immense crowd attended the debate. The weather was beautiful, and we\nhad dinner on the ground. Each affirmed for three days. My affirmation\nclosed Saturday afternoon. The President Moderator announced that the\ndebate would be resumed at 10 o'clock Monday, on the polity of the\nMethodist Church, Mr. Fitch affirming. Monday, Mr. Fitch declined to\ndiscuss the polity of his church, giving as a reason that it was of no\nconsequence, and he wanted to give all his time to more important\nmatters. He further stated that he had agreed to discuss the polity of\nthe church simply in order to get the debate, not that it was worth\ndiscussing. I happened to have in my pocket a letter in which he had\ninsisted on the discussion of the polity of the two churches as a very\nimportant matter. This was read. The President Moderator--Col.\nPreston--ruled that he must either debate the question, as agreed upon,\nor concede that it was indefensible; and he yielded. We learned\nafterward, just what we then suspected, that the preachers present, of\nwhom there were about twelve, held a council on Saturday night, and\nprotested against his discussing the polity of the church.\n\nThe debate created a great deal of interest and investigation in the\ncommunity, and within nine months following, over one hundred were\nadded to the church. Of these, quite a number were from the Baptists\nand Methodists.\n\nA rather curious thing occurred during the debate. While on the\npractice of the M. E. Church, I made a raid on the mourners' bench,\ndescribing its workings and demanding authority for it. Mr. Fitch\njumped up, very much excited, and called me to order. His point of\norder was that the M. E. Church, South, had abandoned the mourners'\nbench; that it was now countenanced only by a few ignorant preachers\nfor whose conduct the church was not willing to be held responsible.\nAnd as it was no longer a part of the practice of the church, he was\nnot there to affirm that it was authorized by the word of God. The\nPresident appealed to all the Methodist preachers present to know if\nthat was the case. The last one of them said \"yes.\" In three weeks I\nwent to Carrollton to hold a meeting, and the two most prominent\npreachers at the debate were there in a meeting, and they had the\nmourners' bench out twice a day, and six or eight mourners were\nstriving to \"get through!\" What are we to think of such as that?\n\nBy preaching at adjacent school-houses, the membership of the church\nwas considerably increased. This plan was continued till my editorial\nwork on the _Guide_ interfered with it.\n\nAbout seven miles back from Mt. Byrd the Methodists had an old house,\nand a weak church where they years ago had a strong one. We had quite a\nnumber of members in that neighborhood. By our assisting in rebuilding\nthe old chapel, we held by written contract a fourth interest in it.\nThis gave us the use of the house one Sunday in the month, and at such\nother times as it was not occupied by the Methodists. This we did in\norder to have a place to preach in that community, and especially for\nprotracted meetings. We also rented the Presbyterian house in Milton,\nby the year, for the same purpose.\n\nIn 1872 I engaged to preach at Carrollton and White's Run, both in\nCarroll county, once a month at each. I held a meeting for each church,\nand got the membership, to some extent, reconstructed.\n\nBut in May I was called to preach for the church in Madison, Ind.,\none-half my time. It being so convenient--just across the river from\nme--and an important field, I got the churches at Carrollton and\nWhite's Run to release me, and I entered on my work in Madison the\nfirst of June, 1871. I preached for them the rest of that year. I held\na protracted meeting in October. The number of additions for the seven\nmonths was small. Finding that they needed a preacher all the time,\nsince they had no one to lead them in the absence of a preacher, and\nwishing to devote half my time to evangelizing, I resigned and induced\nthem to get Bro. J. H. Hardin in my place.\n\nIn November, 1872, I had a fine meeting at Columbia, Ky. This was\nbefore the college there was built. Bro. J. H. Hardin was preaching for\nthe church. Bro. Azbill has since built up the church, but was that\nyear in Butler University. The fruits of my first meeting there are\nmanifest to this day. Prominent among these is the efficient work of\nDr. U. L. Taylor, who was formerly a Methodist, but for years has been\nthe stay of the congregation and college in that place.\n\nIn 1873 I gave one-half my time to holding meetings. In March I went to\nBurksville, Cumberland county, Ky. The church had had no preaching for\na long time, and was not meeting on the Lord's day. There were a few\nfaithful ones, especially sisters, but the majority had gone to the\nworld. We had over forty additions. The membership was organized for\nwork, a Sunday-school was established, a preacher secured, and the\nchurch entered on a long period of prosperity. Two preachers were the\nresult of this meeting--C. M. McPherson, of the _Apostolic Guide_,\nand E. J. Ellison, now of Glasgow, Ky. They had been immersed, but,\nwith many others, had strayed from the fold. They were reclaimed and\nput to work, and to-day they are faithful ministers of the Word.\n\nAs showing what may result from a word timely spoken, a young lady from\nNashville, now the wife of Bro. McPherson, was visiting a sister at\nBurksville. She was a devoted Episcopalian, talented and accomplished.\nOne day she was telling me about her church and preacher, etc., and the\nwork she was trying to do for the Master. I asked her if she had ever\nobeyed the gospel. She looked amazed, and remarked that that was a\nstrange question to ask a church member. I told her I feared that many\nchurch members, and even devoted ones, had never obeyed the gospel; and\nin a few words explained the reason why. She soon made the confession\nand was immersed, stating afterwards that that question led to an\nentire change of religious views.\n\nIn May I held a meeting at Thompson's Church, in Robinson county. The\nmeeting was of no special importance; the number of additions was\nsmall, and no important results any way. Willis Cox was preaching for\nthe church.\n\nAt this meeting the wealthiest man in the church was greatly taken with\nthe preaching, said he intended to go to Dover, twenty odd miles away,\nto hear me there, had three of his children immersed, and was almost\ntoo happy to behave himself. He gave a _two cent copper_ to help pay\nthe expenses of the meeting! This was all they could get out of him. He\ngot so happy that it dried up the fountain of his liberality.\n\nIn June I held a meeting at Dover, Mason county. This was an old\nchurch, and once a prosperous one, but a bad spirit had been engendered\nduring the war, and it had virtually gone to pieces. They were meeting,\nand had a preacher employed, Bro. Willis Cox; but only a few members\nwere concerned about the things of Zion. They had had no additions for\nso long that the town was full of young people who had grown up out of\nthe church. The brethren expected no additions, but wanted a meeting\nfor the encouragement of the faithful few. This was the way they put it\nwhen they engaged me to hold the meeting. The house was well-filled\nfrom the first, and in a few nights crowded. They paid profound\nattention to the Word. This led me to hope for additions, but the\nbrethren hooted at the idea. I preached only at night and on the Lord's\nday. On the ninth night they made a move, and continued to move till\nfifty-seven were added. I baptized fifty. The deepest religious\ninterest prevailed that I ever had in any of my meetings. No telling\nwhat the result would have been, had I not been taken sick and\ncompelled to leave. As I was going to the boat to return home, I went\nby the church. It was crowded. I had just a few minutes. I went in and\nexplained the situation, and proposed to take the confession of any\nthat wished to make it, before I left. Without a word of exhortation\ntwo came forward. Thus I left them.\n\nNearly all the young people of the town came into the church, so that\nthere was no outside element left to get up mischief, and it is\ngratifying to know how faithfully they held out. The church has ever\nsince been in active working order.\n\nIn July I held a meeting at Germantown. Bro. J. C. Walden was preaching\nfor them. We had a pleasant meeting, but no special results.\n\nIn August I held another good meeting at my old home church--Pleasant\nHill, in Oldham county. I held them a meeting each year for five or six\nyears. While they were slow to assist me when I was struggling for a\nstart, after I got well under way they were quite liberal in reward of\nmy labor. But one dollar at the first would have done me more good,\nbecause more needed, than five at the time they were given. This is a\nmistake made by many churches.\n\nIn October, 1873, I held another meeting at Burksville. This was also a\nfine meeting, but not quite so many additions were made as at the one\nin March preceding.\n\nIn November I had a good meeting at Beech Grove, a country church in\nTrimble county, eight miles from Mt. Byrd.\n\nIn December I was again at Dover. We had another excellent meeting, but\nthere was not material for so many converts as at first. This visit was\nmainly for the membership, to rid the church of some dead material, and\nput it into good working order. On account of getting sick at the\nprevious meeting, I had to leave before this needed work was\naccomplished. Thus ended my labors for 1873.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nBegins Preaching at Beech Grove. Debates with Elder Hiner. Amusing\nIncident. Holds many Meetings. Debates with Elder Frogge. Debates again\nwith Elder Hiner. Repudiates Miller's Book. Sick Again. Holds more\nMeetings.\n\n\nIn 1874 I engaged to preach once a month for the Beech Grove Church.\n\nBeginning January 20th, at a Methodist church near Beech Grove, I held\na debate with Elder Robert Hiner. The debate continued eight days. It\nwas largely attended, though the roads and weather were bad. The\nfeeling throughout the debate was good, but hardly so much so as at the\none held at Mt. Byrd with Elder Fitch. A very amusing thing occurred.\nMr. Hiner brought all of his books, and, coming through Bedford, he got\nall of Mr. Young's, the preacher at that place. They made a perfect\nwagon load. He obtained a long table, like a carpenter's bench, and\nstacked them up on it. I soon discovered that it was all for a show,\nand the question was how to most successfully burlesque it. I first\nthought of sending to Bedford and getting a large wagon-load of Patent\nOffice Reports and the like, and stacking them up on my table. But in\nmy room I discovered a little toy-book, about an inch long, called\n\"Orphan Willie.\" This I took to church in my vest pocket, with a few\nleaves carefully turned down. After alluding to his \"silent artillery,\"\nas I had done before, I drew out \"Orphan Willie,\" and planted it on the\npulpit in position to effectually blow up his entire battery, with the\nassurance that that was going to be done. I had laughed over the idea\ntill I thought I could do it without laughing. But in this I failed;\nand the whole audience, Methodist preachers and all, got into such a\nlaugh that I lost half my speech. But the books were put out of sight,\nand thus ended the scarecrow business.\n\nDuring the debate Mr. Hiner expressed the opinion that I would yet come\nback to the Methodist church. I told him he might as well talk of a\nfull-grown rooster, spurs and all, going back into the shell that\nhatched it. For a long time this gave me the sobriquet of \"Old\nChicken.\" Some brethren use it even now.\n\nWhile on the design of baptism, Mr. Hiner remarked that if he believed\nbaptism was for the remission of sins, he would live on a creek or\nriver and be baptized every time he sinned. I gave it as my opinion\nthat in that case he would find it a very difficult matter to keep any\ndry clothes!\n\nDuring this year I held meetings at Louisville, Crittenden, Cove Hill,\nBurksville and Glasgow, with varied success.\n\nIn 1875 I held meetings at Glasgow, Carrollton, Campbellsville,\nBurksville, Bedford, Hodgenville and Columbia.\n\nIn July of this year I debated twelve days, at Burksville, with\nPresiding Elder Frogge. He was the great champion of Methodism in\nSouthern Kentucky. He had had a great many debates, and, while he was\nvery ready and glib in his line of debating, I soon discovered that his\nscholarship and reading were both very limited, exceedingly so; and I\nintentionally widened the range of controversy more than was my wont,\nto see what he would do--and he was completely lost. His forte in\ndebating is wit and ridicule, by which he gets his opponents angry and\nconfused. He tried this hard for three days, till he rendered himself\noffensive to all. It was rumored that his brethren then held a council\nand told him that this must be stopped; that he must debate the\nquestions on their merits or quit; that he was bringing the cause into\ndisrepute. The county paper, edited by a scholarly Episcopalian, was\nvery severe in its criticism of his conduct. This caused much\nexcitement among the Methodists. When he had to quit his efforts to get\nme excited, he was no longer himself. This debate was held at the\nrequest of the Baptists. Mr. Frogge and a Baptist preacher had debated\nnear there the fall before, and, the Baptist having failed, had to give\nup the discussion. Mr. Frogge then left a broad and boastful challenge\nfor any immersionist. The Baptists were very sore over it, and when I\nwent there in the winter to hold a meeting they requested me to accept\nhis challenge. I referred them to the brethren, and with their\nconcurrence I entered upon the discussion.\n\nIn November I held another debate with Mr. Hiner, this time at Bedford,\nKy. It continued eight days. This created the most intense excitement I\never saw in a meeting-house. At the two previous debates in the county\nI repudiated C. W. Miller's book (_Points of Controversy_) as\nauthority. It is the book that Dr. Ditzler exposed. Our opponents said\nI would not dare to do that where Miller was. They had him at this\ndebate. Mr. Hiner read from it a passage purporting to be from Moses\nStuart. I asked him what he was reading from. He said, \"'Points of\nControversy,' and you challenge it if you dare.\" I then asked for the\npage in Stuart's book where the language occurred. He refused to give\nit. I had Stuart, and the inference was that he didn't want the\ncomparison made. When I got up I referred to what had passed about the\nquotation, saying I was willing to take Stuart for it if he had given\nme the page, but as for \"Points of Controversy,\" I could take nothing\non its authority, for I repudiated the book and its author as authority\nin anything. This provoked a personal wrangle with Miller, who was\nclose to me, after the debate--for the day was over. The excitement was\nintense as we passed and repassed our compliments. Finally the house\nrefused to hear Mr. M. Even his own brethren rose as one man and went\nout of the house. This so infuriated him that he left the place.\n\nJanuary 1, 1876, I went on the _Apostolic Times_ with I. B. Grubbs and\nS. A. Kelley. I had been writing for it every two weeks, by contract,\nfor several years. From this time I devoted special attention to it\nevery week, and, with the exception of a few months from the sale of\nthe _Times_ to Dr. Hopson and Cozine till the establishing of the\n_Guide_, I have been constantly engaged in editorial work.\n\nAbout the middle of January I was taken down with intercostal\nrheumatism and spinal trouble, and was very low for several months.\nVery little hope was entertained of my recovery. After the intense\nsuffering was over, my system was so racked that convalescence was\nslow. The doctors agreed that it was due to nervous exhaustion produced\nby overwork. For years I had known nothing practically of mental rest,\nand the year preceding was unusually severe on me, in my feeble state\nof health. When I held the twelve days' debate at Burksville the summer\nbefore, I went from my bed to the house and from the house to my bed. I\nwas hardly any better in the one held a few weeks before. These labors,\nwith those given to my home church of over three hundred members,\ntogether with holding seven protracted meetings, and writing for the\n_Times_, all the while in feeble health, brought me down very low.\n\nI wish here to emphasize the fact that I have never gone out of my way\nto either seek or shun a religious debate. I repeat this statement\nhere, lest some might think otherwise from the fact that I have held so\nmany.\n\nAfter getting up again, I held meetings at Antioch, in Shelby county,\nGlasgow, Burksville, South Elkhorn, and at some other points. This has\nalways been congenial employment for me.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nContinues to Evangelize. Dr. Cook's Prescription. Incident at Glendale.\nPeculiar Feature in the Meeting at Madisonville. The Fractious Preacher\nat Sonora. Closes his Evangelistic Labors. Establishes the _Old Path\nGuide_. The Bruner Debate.\n\n\nIn 1877 I spent much time evangelizing, being called to hold protracted\nmeetings at many important places. I accepted work at seven of these,\nand my labors were fruitful in the conversion of sinners and in\nbuilding up the saints in their most holy faith; but I had to be away\nfrom home a great deal, and my exposure in all kinds of weather, and\nthe wear and tear of constant preaching, increased my lung disease.\n\nWhile preaching at Cynthiana my spinal trouble returned, causing me to\nclose abruptly, and I could preach no more till July. On my return from\nCynthiana, some friends in Cincinnati induced me to visit a Dr. Cook (I\nthink that is the name). He was celebrated for his skill in such\nafflictions. He was a corpulent, jolly old gentleman, full of humor.\nWhen I was introduced, he looked at me for a moment without coming\nnear, and said: \"Well, sir, you don't laugh enough. You take too\nserious a view of life. Why, sir, at least two inches of your spinal\nmarrow is inflamed, produced by nervous exhaustion, the result of\noverwork and no mental recreation. I tell you, sir, all the medicine in\nthe world will do you no good till you quit that and cultivate\nlaziness. You must take a more cheerful view of life. And you must\nlearn to laugh, not giggle a little, but laugh away down to the bottom\nof the abdomen. Then you will get well. I used to be a little, scrawny,\nsallow, nervous, overworked thing like you are, but I saw it was going\nto kill me, and I quit it and went to laughing, and now see what I am?\"\nAnd this was all the prescription he gave me. There is, doubtless, a\ngood deal of philosophy in it.\n\nAt Glendale a rather singular circumstance occurred. The first night of\nthe meeting, I observed a very intelligent looking lady in the\naudience, and she was intensely interested. When we got back to the\nplace where I was stopping, I asked the sister who this lady was. She\ngave her name, stating that she was the pride of the Methodist Church\nin that country; that her talk at the love-feast a few weeks before had\nbeen the topic of conversation ever since. I remarked that she would\nnot be a Methodist when that meeting was over. But they would not\nlisten to the idea that she would ever be anything but a Methodist. She\nwas present the second and third nights, and manifested the same\nintense interest. The next morning early, she sent to ascertain if she\ncould have a private interview. When she came, she made her business\nknown at once. She wanted to learn if I would immerse her and let her\nremain in the M. E. Church. Without answering her question, I asked her\nwhat she wanted to be immersed for. She said she had become convinced\nthat she had never obeyed the gospel, and she wanted to be immersed\nbecause it was the Saviour's will, and her sprinkling was not\nauthorized. \"Well,\" said I, \"why do you want to correct your life in\nsome things according to the divine authority, and not in others?\" She\nsaid she wanted to correct it in all respects where it was contrary to\ndivine authority. I then told her that there were a number of things in\nthe Methodist Church for which there was no more authority than there\nis for infant baptism. She inquired what, and when I told her, she\nsaid, \"That will do,\" and right away I immersed her. She had been\nbrought up a Romanist, and while we were gone to the baptizing her\nsister burnt her Bible. No special persecution followed her change to\nthe Methodists, but it was otherwise when she united with us. Her\nrelatives, so far as known to me, have never become reconciled.\n\nThe meeting at Madisonville, O., eighteen miles from Cincinnati, also\nhad a peculiar feature which I think worthy of mention. It was the\nfirst preaching by our brethren ever heard in the place, and most of\nthose who made the confession had never before heard it made. The first\nperson called upon to make it answered aloud and distinctly: \"Yes, sir;\nI believe with my whole heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the\nliving God.\" All who followed answered in the same way. I wish it could\nalways be so.\n\nIn 1878 calls upon me to conduct meetings were multiplied, but I could\ncomply only with those from Vevay, Ind., Sonora, Ky., Dover, White's\nRun, Columbia, Burksville, Glendale, Oakland and Owenton.\n\nAt Sonora, a Methodist preacher attended a few times, and he was\nremarkably fractious. Several times he interrupted me. One night, in\npreaching on the \"Plan of Salvation,\" commenting on the case of the\njailer, I remarked that the fact that the apostles sometimes baptized\nhouseholds, was no evidence that they baptized infants, since there are\nmany households without infants. He spoke up very much excited, saying,\n\"May I ask you a question?\" I told him yes. \"Well, now,\" he says,\n\"suppose we take a common sense view of that matter. Suppose you were\nto come to town, and start out to baptizing households, and you were to\ngo to Bro. Creel's house and mine, wouldn't you have to baptize\ninfants?\" (Bro. Creel had five little fellows, and he seven.) I\nanswered, \"Yes, Bro. Campbell, I admit that whenever you go to a\npreacher's house, you are very apt to find them.\" The whole house\nlaughed outright, and they never ceased laughing at that preacher till\nhe left the circuit.\n\nThese meetings were all successful in the way of additions, except that\nat Vevay. But I have never kept an account of my additions, and\nremember the number at only a few meetings.\n\nThis year my regular evangelistic work closed on account of editing the\n_Guide_ and preaching half the time at Portland Avenue Church, in\nLouisville.\n\nIn January, 1879, I established the _Old Path Guide_, in Louisville. I\nwas owner, proprietor, editor, bookkeeper, treasurer, mailing clerk,\ngeneral agent, and special \"boss.\" This required all my time, except\nwhat I had necessarily to give to preaching on the Lord's day and the\npreparation therefor. The _Guide_ was a success, financially, from\nthe beginning. I put money in bank the first three months of each year\nto pay every dollar of expense to the end. The net profits the first\nyear were over $600, and this increased each year for the three years\nthat I managed it all myself. The third year would have netted $1,000,\nbut in the midst of it I made the change, transferring one-half of it\nto Cline, Marrs & Co., and giving them control of its business\nmanagement. This was the beginning of financial embarrassment. The\nchange was demanded by my failing health, and I could no longer do\neverything, as I had been doing from the first.\n\nThat year I engaged to preach half my time for the Portland Avenue\nChurch. In order to serve the Glendale church, which is fifty miles on\nthe Louisville & Nashville road, the Mt. Byrd church released me one\nSunday in the month. During the year the Portland Avenue Church\nincreased 120 per cent.\n\nIn February, 1879, I held a meeting for the Campbell St. church,\nLouisville. The meeting proved to be quite beneficial to the\ncongregation, in many respects. I boarded in the city during the\nwinter, and moved my family down in April.\n\nThe church at Glendale had a partnership house--a very common thing in\nall Southwestern Kentucky. This prevented their meeting regularly on\nthe Lord's day, and also prevented a Sunday-school, as the house was\noccupied more than half the time by others. Knowing that I could\naccomplish no substantial and enduring good while this state of things\nlasted, I made it a condition of preaching for them that they build a\nnew house. This they did. The house is a neat frame, well finished\ninside and out, and large enough for all ordinary use. It was promptly\nbuilt and paid for.\n\nIn November I held a debate there--the first use made of the new\nhouse--with I. W. Bruner, a Baptist preacher. The Baptist church there\nand ours arranged for a debate, on certain specified propositions, and\neach had the privilege of selecting its representative. Consequently I\nhad nothing to do with getting up the debate or arranging for it. I\nnever challenged a man for debate in my life, and never held one except\nby special invitation. And I have declined more debates than I ever\nheld. While I was peculiarly fond of it, I never debated simply for the\nsake of debating; hence, if the circumstances were not favorable for\ngood results, I always declined. This debate with Mr. Bruner was, I\nthink, the poorest one I ever held, and I lost all interest in it\nbefore it was half over.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nVisits Midway. Attends the Missouri State Convention. Reflections.\nAnnual Sermons. Last Protracted Meeting. Kindness of Mt. Byrd, Glendale\nand Smithfield Churches. Gives up Office Work. Goes to Eureka, Ill.\nCountry Home. Takes Cold at the Lexington Convention. Goes to Florida.\n\n\nIn October, 1879, I visited Midway, and though I had virtually closed\nmy evangelistic labors when I began the _Guide_, I could not resist the\ndesire to hold a meeting there. It is the seat of our Female Orphan\nSchool, one of our grandest enterprises. Bro. Shouse was then preaching\nfor the church and Bro. Lucy was president of the school. Their\ncompanionship was highly enjoyable. What a feast to the soul is the\ncompanionship of wise, godly men! It has for me the highest happiness I\nexpect to know this side of heaven. And will it not be a very prominent\nfactor of that which constitutes heaven? Any place in the universe of\nGod where my brethren and the Saviour are will be heaven enough for me.\n\nIn 1880 I continued at the Avenue Church, Louisville, Mt. Byrd and\nGlendale. The State Board of the Missouri Christian Missionary Society\ninvited me to deliver an address before the State Convention, held that\nyear at Moberly. In order to justify me in a visit to the State, they\narranged several meetings for me--one in connection with the convention\nof Audrain county, at a country church near Mexico, called Sunrise; one\nat New London, and one at Slater. These meetings were all enjoyable and\nprofitable; but the one in Audrain county was only for a few days, and\nresulted in but few additions.\n\nThe address at Moberly was on \"Our Strength and Our Weakness.\" The\nconvention was largely attended, and it was a great pleasure to meet so\nmany brethren known only by name, and loved for their work's sake, and\nto renew the acquaintance of others known before.\n\nThe addresses of Haley, Procter, Jones and others were very able. That\nof Jones was speculative, and the basic principle of it, in my opinion,\nerroneous. Several of those Missouri preachers have done much harm by\npreaching a false philosophy instead of the gospel of Christ. Bro.\nProcter, whom we all allow to be one of our best men and ablest\npreachers, went from this convention to California and held several\nmeetings. Within a few months I had several applications to come out\nthere to undo some of his work, and I should have been glad to comply\nhad my other duties permitted.\n\nIn 1881 I resigned at the Avenue Church, as they needed more pastoral\nlabor than my other duties would allow me to perform. I gave half my\ntime to Mt. Byrd, one-fourth to Glendale, and one-fourth to my old home\nchurch--Pleasant Hill, in Oldham county. It was a pleasure to visit\nthese old friends of my youth once a month. Old memories were revived,\nand the past, in a sense, lived over again. Besides, several members of\nthe families related to my wife and to myself were enabled to attend.\nTo preach to them, after years of separation, was a great pleasure. Mt.\nByrd moved on in the even tenor of its way, in a prosperous condition.\n\nIn August of this year, and also the year previous, I preached the\nannual sermon at the Clark county, Ind., Cooperation Meeting. The\ncounty contains sixteen or eighteen churches, including those of\nJeffersonville and New Albany, and for more than forty years they have\nhad an annual county meeting. Representatives from all the churches\nattend, as a rule, and the condition, etc., of each church is given. It\nbrings together a great congregation, and the day meetings are held in\nthe woods.\n\nIn September of this year the _Guide_ was changed to a weekly. While\nthe monthly magazine was the most desirable for preservation, it was\nthought that a weekly would best serve the cause of Christ, and\npeculiar circumstances at that time seemed to demand it.\n\nIn November I went to Poplar Plains and held the last protracted\nmeeting of my life. It was a pleasant one, and attended with some good\nresults.\n\nIn 1882 I preached at Mt. Byrd, Glendale and Smithfield, that is, I\nengaged to preach for these churches, but my health was such that I\npreached but little to any. At my first visit to Smithfield, the first\nLord's day in the year, I was taken sick, and I never visited them once\nwhen I was not sick. I was never able to so preach as to do them or\nmyself justice. While this was equally so at the other churches, I did\nnot regret it so much, since I had been laboring for them a long time.\nThe work at Smithfield was virtually a failure, and early in the fall I\nhad to give it up entirely. Yet they paid me for the whole year, and\nmade me a present of about $150 besides. They are a noble band of\nbrethren, and one of the most liberal I ever knew.\n\nThe church at Glendale also paid for the entire year, though I lost\nmuch time and resigned in October. It also made me a generous present\nin addition.\n\nSpeaking of their generosity, reminds me that the Mt. Byrd Church\ncontinued my salary three or four years when I was able to do little or\nnothing in return. In 1876 I lost most of the year through spinal and\nrheumatic affections; I did very little in 1882; I was in the church\nbut once in 1883, and in 1884 I attempted to talk only a few times, yet\nall these years my salary continued. When the _Guide_ was sold to the\npresent Guide Printing and Publishing Company, which relieved me of\nfinancial embarrassments which the failure of C. C. Cline & Co. had\nproduced, I refused to longer accept support from the church.\n\nIn April, 1882, I was compelled, on account of failing health, to give\nup the office work of the _Guide_. I had been under a physician all the\nyear, and grew constantly worse. I allowed the office work to make a\nheavier draft on me than some men do. I always knew every paragraph\nthat was going into the paper, and where and how it would appear. I\nstood by the foreman and noticed everything that went in--when it went\nin, what was put in and what was left out--till the forms were locked\nup. I have never been able to get any one else to do it. But that is my\nidea of editing a paper. This thing of giving printers a mass of matter\nand telling them to put it in, leaving them to add or diminish, and put\nin where and what they please, is simply a burlesque on the business;\nand yet this is the way it is largely done. I have had no little\nannoyance over just that thing. Had I been willing to edit in that way\nI could have continued, but I would not consent to follow such a\ncourse.\n\nIn May I went to Eureka College, to preach the baccalaureate sermon. I\narranged to make the trip as easy as possible, on account of my\nfeebleness, by stopping over at Indianapolis for the night, in both\ngoing and returning. The trip was every way pleasant, and the\nassociations there very agreeable. I hoped it would be a benefit to me\nin the way of recreation, but on reaching home I was taken down with\ntypho-malarial fever. I was quite low for several weeks. I got up with\na trouble in my throat, causing a constant coughing and hacking, which\nhas increased without intermission to the present time.\n\nIn September, realizing that my health was permanently broken down, we\nwent back to our country home. I was satisfied that if I should even\ncontinue to edit the _Guide_, I would not be able to assume the\nresponsibilities of the office, and that the best place for me, under\nthe circumstances, was my country home. After going back to the country\nI rallied considerably, and attended the General Convention, at\nLexington, about the 20th of October. Here I took life memberships in\nboth the General and Foreign Societies for the Mt. Byrd Church. This\nwas the first church taking membership in those societies, so far as I\nam informed. It has since become quite common. Last year (1884) I\nsucceeded in getting their constitutions so amended as to provide for\nthis.\n\nI took cold at the convention, and relapsed. My physicians were very\nfearful of tubercular trouble, and advised me to go to Florida for the\nwinter. We went the first of December, not knowing whither we went, but\nit seems that the hand of Providence guided us. We knew not where to\nturn, but concluded to try DeLand, where we had some acquaintances, and\nthere look out for accommodations. In a few days after reaching DeLand\nold Bro. Anderson, who lived two miles in the country, heard we were\nthere and came in for us. He had formerly seen a copy of the _Guide_\nand subscribed for it. This good man rented for us a convenient house\nnear him, paid the rent, set us up, and would not allow me to pay for\nanything we needed while there if he knew it and could prevent it. His\nwife was as kind as he, and did all in her power to make our stay in\n\"The Land of Flowers\" comfortable and inexpensive.\n\nThe Great Teacher has said, in a well-known passage, \"It is more\nblessed to give than to receive.\" What, then, must not have been the\nblessedness of this pious couple in thus caring for a poor broken-down\ninvalid and his family, whom Providence had guided to their hospitable\nhome? May God reward them richly for their kindness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nOrganizes a Church at DeLand. Health Improves. Relapses. Starts Home.\nResignation. Sells His Interest in the _Guide_. Begins Writing again.\nAttends Two Conventions. Goes to Texas. At Home Again. Works On.\n\n\nWhile at DeLand we gathered up the few scattered Disciples in and\naround the town, and organized them into a church. I felt quite\nconfident, from the character of the material, that the enterprise\nwould be a success. It has thus far proved to be so; they have not\nfailed to keep up their weekly meetings to break the loaf and edify one\nanother after the apostolic model. They now have a nice house, and have\nemployed a preacher and given him a home among them. This is just what\nall churches should aim to do; all may not be able, but they should aim\nto accomplish it. The church is in a prosperous condition. I was able\nto talk to them occasionally while there.\n\nThe climate of Florida agreed with me. My cough left me in a few weeks,\nmy appetite became good, and I got heavier than I ever was before. I\nwent there weighing 130 pounds, and increased to 148. In good health,\nmy usual weight was 144 pounds, and it had been many years since I\nweighed that. I should have come home in this improved condition but\nfor my own imprudence. I don't blame the country, Providence, nor\nanything else but myself. I was passionately fond of hunting, as I have\never been. I hunted a great deal, and frequently got overheated, and\ntook cold; sometimes got my feet wet when in the woods. Thus I had\nseveral backsets. But still I was in that condition when the time came\nto return home. The day before we were to start, I concluded I must\nhave one more hunt. It had rained the night before; the sand was damp;\nit was cloudy, quite warm, and a strong south wind was blowing. I would\nget warm in walking (the sand there is very slavish to walk in), and\nwould sit down and let the wind cool me off. I should have had more\ndiscretion; but sometimes people act with very little sense about such\nthings. Before I reached the house I felt acute inflammation of the\nmucus membrane, to the bottom of my lungs. In three hours fever set in,\nand I was completely prostrated. I remained there about three weeks,\nand the doctors urged my return as the only chance of recovery. They\nconsidered that very hazardous, on account of exposure to cold; but to\nstay there was less hopeful. I was taken to the boat, carried on board\nby two men, then carried off at Jacksonville to a hack, taken to a\nhotel, thence to the train. I secured a good berth in a sleeper, and\ngot through without the least trouble. I improved, every mile of the\nway; but as soon as I got home I went down again, and was extremely low\nfor some time.\n\nMy dread of dying in Florida and having my wife return with my body,\nwas such that I concentrated all my prayers to that one point. I prayed\nthe Lord to enable me to get home, that I might die in the midst of my\nfamily. I felt and prayed that if He would enable me to reach home, He\ncould have the rest all His own way, without any further petition. He\nenabled me to rally, gave a week of the best weather of the whole\nseason, brought me home under the most favorable circumstances, and I\nnever afterwards felt free to ask Him to restore me to health, and have\nnever done it. It may be wrong, but I promised to let Him have the rest\nall His own way, and my prayers have ever since conformed to that idea.\n\nI never could have believed, till I experienced it, that one could\nbecome so indifferent as to whether he lived or died, I saw many days,\nafter my return from Florida, when it was a matter of perfect\nindifference to me; previous anxiety to get home, and the resolution to\nleave all the rest to the Lord, had no doubt much to do with it. I\nobserved this, however: that as hope revived, a desire to live would\narise in proportion. When there was little or no prospect, there was\nlittle or no concern.\n\nWhen I was at my worst, I decided, taking my past and present condition\ninto consideration, the medicine I was taking, the attention received,\netc., that if I did not take a turn for the better by a certain day,\nthen in three days the case would be entirely hopeless. In the\nafternoon of that day the change came. That evening I took some\nnourishment--the first for fourteen days.\n\nAfter I sufficiently recovered to be able to do anything, I was anxious\nto get my business arranged, with a view to death. I never expected to\nbe able to write another editorial, and I was concerned about making\nsome arrangement by which to get rid of the _Guide_ and its\nresponsibility. I was not pleased with its business management, and did\nnot want to leave it as the property of my family, not knowing what\ntrouble it might give nor what expense it might involve them in. And\nwithout a change in management, I knew it could never be of any profit.\nI wrote for Bro. Srygley to come, and I sold him my remaining\nhalf-interest. My purpose was to resign, and thus have no further\nconnection with it. But he would not buy unless I would agree to let my\nname remain, with a promise to resume the responsibility of chief\neditor if I should ever get able; and the firm would consent to the\nsale only upon these conditions. So I had to sell upon those\nconditions, or not sell at all.\n\nThe latter part of September the company urged me to begin to write\nagain, if it were at all possible, even if it were only a few\nparagraphs each week. They said the impression everywhere entertained\nthat I would not recover, was injuring the paper very much. The people\nwere losing interest in it. They insisted that I should counteract that\nfeeling as much as possible. Under this pressure, though confined to my\nbed and suffering every hour, I began writing, the first of October,\nand never after missed a week. That winter I stayed at home, and was\nnot out of my room for eight months. The last of August I started to\nMidway, to see Dr. Lucy. I got as far as Louisville, and could get no\nfurther. We dispatched for the Doctor, and he came down. After resting\na few days I got home, the last of August, and I was not out of the\ndoor again till the last of April. During that winter I did a large\namount of writing, besides my weekly work on the _Guide_.\n\nJune 10 I went to Louisville to attend the International Sunday-school\nConvention, but was able to get out only a few times. I attended the\nState meeting at Paris, but was able to take no part. I greatly enjoyed\nmeeting with the brethren, and hearing them concerning the things of\nthe kingdom of God. These convocations are seasons of refreshing from\nthe presence of the Lord.\n\nThe first of October we went to Mason, in South-west Texas, to spend\nthe winter. Here, as at De Land, it looked as if the hand of Providence\nguided us. We knew no one there, but we found some of the dearest and\nbest friends of our lives. They had been taking the _Guide_, and, in\ncompetition with several other places that wanted us, made such a\nliberal offer that our trip cost us nothing. They seemed to anticipate\nall our wants, and find great pleasure in supplying them. The Lord has\nalways blessed me with many good friends--more than I deserved. I have\nfelt, for a number of years, that I was greatly overestimated, and it\nhas been a source of no little humiliation. I should have quit\neditorial work several years ago, and lived in obscurity here at my\nretired home, if I could have done so. I appreciate the good opinion of\nmy brethren, to the extent that I think it is merited; but to realize\nthat I am not what I am thought by some to be, is a great\nmortification.\n\nI am now at home enjoying the company of my family, the quiet of my\nhome, with every want anticipated and supplied by a devoted wife and\nchildren, pleasantly, though in much feebleness, doing my work on the\n_Guide_, and putting in my spare time in other writing. I find my\ngreatest pleasure in being about my Father's business. I must be\nemployed. I expect to thus work on till the Master says, \"It is\nenough.\"\n\nMT. BYRD, Ky., June 13, 1885.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nReflections on his Fiftieth Birthday. What a Wonderful Being is\nMan! Governed, not by Instinct, but by Reason. Man Lives by Deeds, not\nYears. How to Grow Old. Half of Life Spent in Satan's Service. Renewed\nConsecration. Last Three Birthdays. His Trust in God.\n\n\nThe seventh day of March has come again. Fifty times has come this\nanniversary of my natal day! Half a hundred years old to-day! What a\nperiod through which to carry the burdens and responsibilities of life!\n(What a time for which to give account to God for wasted moments and\nopportunities lost!) What a period to be devoted to building a\ncharacter for the skies! What a period of time devoted to the issues of\neternity!\n\nWhat a wonderful being is man! Time is but his cradle, from which he\nwalks forth into a world where life is parallel with the ages of God.\nAn intelligent, expansive being that will never cease to be--what a\nthought! When the sun grows gray with age, his eye is dimmed, and\ndarkness reigns, man will still be drinking in the light of heaven from\nthe morning star of eternity. The century-living crow doubles this\nperiod of man's probation, with life as it began. She builds her nest\nthe last year, as she did the first, with no improvement sought. She\nrears her young the hundredth time as she did the first, by the long\nexperience none the wiser. This is her nature. God made her thus.\nInstinct is wonderful, but it never improves. It grows not wiser with\nage nor the ages. It nothing from experience learns. The sparrow builds\nher nest, and the beaver his dam, just as they did in the years before\nthe flood. The little quails an hour from the shell, will hide at the\ndanger-signal of the mother bird, when they never saw a hawk, nor heard\nof one's existence. How different this from man! More helpless than the\nstupid beast, and more senseless than the creeping worm, he starts to\nmake the pilgrimage of life. But what a change does time produce! The\nchild more helpless than the humming insect of an hour, becomes the\nmonarch of the world. He bridles the lightning in its home above the\nmountain peaks, and makes it do his bidding. The terror of the ages\npast, becomes his willing servant. He harnesses the steam, that for\nages spent its power in the open air, and with it moves the world. He\nsends his whisperings through old ocean's bed, where the great\nleviathan sports, as if he talked to one across the room. He leaps\naloft as if on steady wing, till his look is downward where the\nlightnings play and the thunderbolt leaps to its deadly mission.\nWonderful development! The heavens declare the glory of God, and the\nearth proclaims the dominion of man. He was made a little lower than\nthe angels, and crowned with majesty. Age counts with man, and years\nbring knowledge, but not unfailing wisdom. Did man grow wise with age,\nas a sure result, age should be an unfailing blessing sought. But\nimbecility it often brings and childish discontent. These are the\nblighted sheaves of evil sowing in the spring and summer days of life.\nWith right ideas of life, men grow wiser and better, as they older grow\nin the service of their God. Life is not measured simply by the flight\nof time. Men live more now than they did before the flood. Intenser\nnow is _life_. Into a few decades, is now crowded the patriarch's\nexperience of nearly a thousand years. How to grow old, is a problem\nnot to be despised. It should not be left to solve itself. To grow old\ngracefully, is to make a picture on which the world delights to look.\nBut, alas! how sadly blurred is the picture by many made! It is sad to\nsee one's religion sour with age. While young and strong the loved\ndisciple on the bosom of the Master leaned. Then when age had dimmed\nhis eagle eye, and time had stolen his elastic step, he had the same\nlove for his children in the faith. His was a sweet old age, the\noutgrowth of a life of faith and love. He grew old gracefully. When\nbrought, as was his wont, and before his congregation set, his last\nsermons were mainly the touching, tender words, \"My little children,\nlove one another.\" O, that his mantle could on many of us fall! But\noft, alas! we see grow cross, self-willed and sour the shepherd of the\nflock. This, too, when age should give his words both weight and\nwisdom. Lord, give me poverty and affliction, if it be thy will, but\nsave me, I pray, from this sad end. Far better that one die young,\nthan grow old against the grain. \"Is life worth living?\" the sages ask.\nThat depends on how one lives it. Lived aright, it is worth living, and\nmany such worlds as this beside. Otherwise 'tis not. Of right living,\nthe more the better; of wrong, the less. The life lived faithfully to\nGod, can never be too long; its opposite, too short.\n\nOf the half-century, this day gone, one claim I can safely make--it was\nnot spent in idleness. The years to Satan's service given, were well to\nhis account put in; and those devoted to a better cause, I have tried\nto give as faithfully to Him to whom they all belonged. For the years\nin Satan's service spent, like Saul of Tarsus, I conscientious\nignorance plead. O'er eyes unused to heaven's light, sectarianism's\nvail was thick. But no sooner was known the way of life, than in its\npath I tried to walk; and in it have I tried to keep, till this good\nday. Thus equally divided has the time been spent. Except the years of\nchildish innocence, twenty-five were in the service spent of him who\nfor this life pays the soul in spurious coin, and leaves it bankrupt in\nthe life beyond; while an equal number, praise the Lord, have a better\nMaster claimed. For the rest of life, be it long or short, the long\nside will the right side be, while hitherto it otherwise has been. The\nperiods of service have not before been equally divided, nor will they\nbe again. But the sides have changed proportions, praise the Lord!\nShould not this turning-point in life an epoch make? A half century,\nand a half divided life, in one! Surely I shall not look upon its like\nagain.\n\nThe past few birthdays I have noted as those of former years were noted\nnot, and for reasons I need hardly state. The first that deep\nimpression on the mind did make since apprehension was that each would\nbe the last, was three years ago, amid the orange groves of the sunny\nSouth. The day was lovely as the Queen of May; and friends more lovely\nthan the day, made it a time not to be forgotten. The feasting of the\nouter man was the lesser part of the day's enjoyment. \"The feast of\nreason and the flow of soul\" was chief. Three of us were seeking health\nin that sunny land. Two have found it, but not there. In a fairer land\nby far than this world can boast, did they find the fountain of\nperpetual health. Beneath the branches of the tree of life, have they\nalso sat and plucked its leaves for the healing of the nations given.\nI, the feeblest of the three, and thought the nearest to the other side\nto be, on the shores of time am struggling still. Thus it is with man's\npoor guessing.\n\nTwo years ago the day was cold and bleak. It drizzled through the\ndreary hours, freezing as it fell. But to many loving hearts, its sleet\nand rain were not its gloom. On this day was laid to rest in Mother\nEarth the loved remains of one numbered in the health-seeking trio of\nthe year before. What a contrast with that day one year before! The day\nand its events, how sadly changed! But such is life. Well do I remember\non this asking, \"Shall I another birthday live to see?\" And well do I\nremember, too, the thought expressed in grave response. While, in the\nprovidence of God, it was possible, of course, the other way were all\nthe probabilities. But this so oft before the case had been, it left a\nray of hope. And that has now been more than realized. As said our\nsweetest poet, how truly can we say:\n\n    \"God moves in a mysterious way\n    His wonders to perform.\"\n\nOne year ago, in the balmy breezes of the \"Lone Star\" State, compelled\nwas I by feebleness of frame to miss the sumptuous feast by loving\nhands so deftly spread. And sad, yet happy thought, those as ever ready\non the poor to wait, are now in those of the Master clasped. And still\nI linger, and the years go by. Such is life. Deep and many are her\nmysteries. God knows it all, but he keeps it to himself. But what are\nnow the prospects for the year to come? Better now, by far, than they\nbefore have been in all these dreary years of pain. Would it not be\nstrange, if once again in providence divine I should mingle with my\nfellow men, and tell them, as of yore, the story of the cross? Indeed,\nit would; but stranger things have happened. Stranger things by\nprovidence divine have come to pass without the aid of \"Warner's Safe\nCure,\" or other disgusting humbuggery, with its offensive intrusion\ninto the reading of decent men. The providence of God is not dependent\non patent nostrums; nor is He limited in His healing power to calomel\nor blue mass. Prayer is oft more potent than all the noxious drugs of\nman's device. God has promised, when consistent with His holy will, the\nprayers of His believing children to hear and bless. And in numbers\nmore by far than this poor life is worth, have these from earnest,\npleading souls gone up to God. Hence to-day we rest in the cheering\nhope that these have not been in vain.\n\nShould it please the Lord to give the health I need to fight again the\nbattles of Christian life, what responsibilities will it bring! That\nstrength must all be counted His who gave it. All those years must be\nwholly His, His cause to serve. The interests of His kingdom to His\nchildren left, must be strictly guarded. Conflicts with men, even those\nwe love, will come to him who strictly guards the faith, as Jude\ndirects. In all conflicts with fellow men, for two good graces I humbly\npray--the courage of Paul and the gentleness of John.\n\nThis holy Lord's-day morning, the sun rose bright and charming as on\nthe seventh day of March it did three years ago in the sunny land of\nFlorida. For the first time in many weary months did I a whiff of the\noutside air inhale. Oh! how delicious! 'Twas like a prisoner's whiff of\nthe air of freedom. But this was not the best. To sit again with the\nbrethren around the table of the Lord and hear again the sweet old\nstory that is forever new, what a feast to the hungry soul! Then the\nbirthday feast is next to be enjoyed. Loved ones gathered at the dear\nold \"cottage home\" to celebrate the marked event with music, song and\nrecitation.\n\nThe birthday cakes and other \"dainty tricks\" by loving hands prepared\nand sent to grace the festive board, told tales of love. One thing\nalone marred the pleasure of the day and checked the overflow of its\ncup of bliss: Two loved and loving ones were far away and disappointed\nin their hope of being here. These would have made the ring complete,\nthe family circle whole. But such, again, is life. Its disappointments\nwill forever come. We should expect them, therefore, and be content.\n\nThis is my fiftieth milestone along life's rugged road. At this\nhalf-century mark I set up a pillar, as did Jacob of old.\n\n    \"Here I'll raise my Ebenezer,\n      Hither by Thy help I've come,\n    And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,\n      Safely to arrive at home.\"\n\nThus far in life has a loving Father led me, and in his providential\ncare I trust for all the rest. I place my trusting hand in His, asking\nto be led as He sees the way. \"Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,\" shall\nbe my constant prayer. And thus, dear Father, the rest of life I leave\nwith thee.\n\n    Dear Lord, should birthdays more be mine\n      To spend on earth to Thee,\n    Thy cause shall claim them wholly Thine\n      As earnest work can be.\n\n    And should'st Thou will the next be one\n      In Thy bright home above,\n    I gladly say, \"Thy will be done,\"\n      And join Thee in Thy love.\n\nCOTTAGE HOME, March 7, 1886.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nConclusion by the Editor. Tokens of Love from Many. Keeps Writing.\nControversy with the _Standard_. Last Meeting with His Mother. Visited\nby Professors McGarvey and Graham. Commits His Writings to the Latter.\nVisits Eminence and Lexington. Many Brethren Come to See Him. Meeting\nat Mt. Byrd. Estimate of His Character. The Closing Scenes. Farewell to\nHis Family. Dies. Funeral Services.\n\n\nThe foregoing autobiography closes with June 13, 1885, while the life\nof the author was prolonged till January 6, 1887, and it remains for\nthe editor to record a few of the incidents transpiring in the\ninterval; and to bring this remarkable recital to a close.\n\nMidsummer found Bro. Allen in his \"Cottage Home,\" at Mt. Byrd, growing\nweaker in body day by day, but with no very acute suffering. Everything\nthat devoted love on the part of his family and church could suggest\nfor his comfort was done; and there were not wanting from abroad many\ntokens of undying affection, as it became generally known that he was\ngradually but surely passing away. Many of his friends, and especially\npreachers, came to Mt. Byrd as to a Mecca, to find their pilgrimage\nrepaid in the fresh inspiration received by communing with this saintly\nman. The company of his brethren did not weary him; on the contrary, it\nseemed to have a favorable effect on both his body and mind; he greatly\ndesired the visits of his friends, and found comfort in them. Still\nmany were deterred from going to see him for fear it might disturb the\nquiet which they hoped would contribute to lengthen out his days.\nMeanwhile he kept writing with a diligence and persistence marvelous to\nthose who witnessed it, and incredible to others; so much so, that many\nat a distance could not understand how one so near the grave could\ncontinue to write so much and so well; hence the hope entertained that\nhe might survive for years to bless the church and the world. It must\nbe remembered that his disease never affected his mind, and that, like\nmost persons who die of consumption, he retained the full possession of\nhis mental faculties even unto the end. Besides, he was sustained by an\nindomitable will that hesitated at nothing that stood in the way of\nduty; added to which was an unfaltering trust in God and a joyous\nresignation to His will, causing him to cease praying for longer life.\nPropped up in an invalid chair with a convenience of his own invention,\nhe continued his weekly editorials to the _Guide_ as regularly as ever,\nand developed abilities as an editor that none suspected he possessed\ntill the last years of his life.\n\nIt was at this time that the unfortunate controversy began between the\n_Guide_ and the _Standard_ about our work in London, England, causing\nso much regret on the part of many friends of both papers. It was\nfeared by some that this controversy would work irreparable injury to\nour mission enterprises, not only in England, but in other lands, for\nwe all realized that Titans were engaged in the conflict; men, not like\nthose of old, giants in physical strength and daring, but of\nintellectual power intensified by the love of God and his cause. Of\ncourse the disputants viewed the matter from different angles, and\nboth, we must think, were equally sincere in their convictions. The\npresent writer was not of those who thought upon the whole harm would\ncome of this dispute, though he deeply regretted the asperity with\nwhich it was conducted. In our present imperfect state we need, I doubt\nnot, these conflicts to remind us of our frailty, and if only we have\ngrace to profit by them, God will turn them to our good and to His own\nglory. It is a source of devout thankfulness to those who knew Bro.\nAllen's unselfish purpose, that many who censured his course united\nwith multitudes who approved it in paying honor to his memory, when the\nmessenger who ends all earthly strifes called him to his final account.\n\nIn July, 1885, his aged and revered mother made him a visit, and\nremained some time; it was their last meeting; and now that her gifted\nson has gone to his reward, she waits in joyous hope for the day that\nshall reunite them forever.\n\nA few weeks later it was the pleasure of the writer, in company with\nProf. McGarvey, to spend two days at Mt. Byrd, in delightful fellowship\nwith this grand man. He had been apprised of our coming, and was\nprepared for it. Truly, to him and to us it was a foretaste of the joys\nof the future world, and we left him the same resolute, confiding\nservant of Christ he had ever been, wholly resigned to the will of God\nand rejoicing in assured hope of eternal rest.\n\nIt pleased his Master to protract his life and usefulness a little\nlonger, and so 1885 closed, and we find him still with his family,\nreceiving many tokens of love from them and from brethren far away.\nSpring comes, and birds and flowers; the bright sunshine beams into his\nchamber, and now and then he is barely able to walk out to see and feel\nhis Father's goodness bathing all things in quiet beauty. He repines\nnot, knowing that \"our light affliction, which is but for a moment,\nworketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.\"\n\nHe continues to write, and with the rest the preceding chapter of\n\"Reflections on his Fiftieth Birthday.\" He commits it, his diary, and\nother writings to me, with the request that I do with them as I think\nbest, for now he is sure that this unequal contest with mortality can\nnot last much longer.\n\nSummer comes, and with it increasing weakness, but no diminution of his\ntrust in God. He wishes to visit Eminence once more, and to see his two\nyounger daughters graduate from the college that had helped himself in\nformer years. He attends, and then, unable to walk without help, he\ncomes on to Lexington, to spend commencement week among his friends and\nbrethren; this done, he returns to his beloved Mt. Byrd, to leave it no\nmore till he goes to stand with the redeemed on the Mount of God.\n\nDuring the fall of this year hardly a week passed that several of his\nrelatives and Christian brethren were not found at his home; and did\nnot the limit of this chapter forbid, we would like to record their\nnames, for in love they came to testify their admiration for him and\ntheir sympathy with his sorrowing family. For one and all he had a word\nof cheer, and none came away without being deeply impressed with the\nconviction that he had been with one of the purest and best of men--one\nwho lived in daily communion with his Maker. His one theme of\nconversation was religion, and if we may judge from his increasing\ndelight in it, to no one was death a more gentle transition from faith\nto sight. Narrow, indeed, to him was the bourn that divides the seen\nfrom the unseen, the temporal from the eternal, and the labors of earth\nfrom the felicities of heaven. He daily lived upon the boundary of two\nworlds.\n\nIn October, Bro. J. K. P. South held a meeting with the Mt. Byrd\nchurch, and, though feeble beyond measure, Bro. Allen made out to\nattend a few times, and even to take part in prayer and exhortation,\nsitting in his chair. Only twice after this was he able to be carried\nto the Lord's house, but on neither occasion could he take an active\npart in the worship.\n\nIn all the relations of life Bro. Allen was a model of all that is\nlovable in human character--kind, gentle, considerate of the feelings\nof others, even the least, and always cheerful. A refined and delicate\nhumor pervaded his conversation, which was always chaste and\ninstructive. There was in him a moderation that always attends reserved\npower, and a candor that was transparent; these qualities, united with\nan equipoise of intellectual and moral strength, harmony of emotions,\nand hatred of everything mean or unfair, made him revered by his\nfriends, and an idol in his household. Wife, children, servants, all\nwho came into that charmed circle, were attached to him in a love that\nbordered on idolatry. To draw a portraiture of this remarkable man\nwould indeed be a pleasing task did space allow--his logical\npenetration, depth of feeling, strength of will, energy, industry,\nunwavering faith in God and goodness, and, crowning all, his fidelity\nto the gospel of Christ--but it is unnecessary. To us who knew him\nthese virtues were conspicuous; by others, they may be gathered from\nthe unvarnished story of his life as it is told in the foregoing pages.\nWe must hasten to the closing scene.\n\nOn New Year's day, 1887, he laid down his pen to resume it again no\nmore. He was forced to this by sheer exhaustion; his body was wasted to\na skeleton, and it was clear to all that the end was near. Having\nsuffered much for several days, but without a murmur, on the evening of\nJan. 5 he requested all his family to come to his bedside, and while\ntheir hearts were breaking for grief and all eyes were blinded with\ntears, he spoke to them for the last time.\n\n\"My dear children,\" said he, \"I want to say a few things to you while I\ncan. I may not be able to do it if I put it off longer. I will soon\nleave you, and I know you will miss me. It is hard for you to give me\nup, but it is the will of God, and you must bear up as best you can. I\nam sure I have always had your love, and you have always obeyed me; and\nnow I want you to always love and obey your mother. Remember, wherever\nyou may be, that you are all of one household. Live in peace, and let\nno strife or discord spring up among you.\" Taking the hand of each of\nhis daughters, he asked them to meet him in heaven, and then kissed\nthem good-bye.\n\nLaying his hand upon Frank's head, he said, \"My dear son, papa has to\nleave you.\" \"O papa,\" said the lad, \"pray not to die.\" \"We have prayed,\nmy dear boy, but it is God's will to take me home, and He knows best.\nYou must love your mamma and obey her; be good to your sisters. I want\nyou to grow up and become a minister of the gospel. Try to make a\nbetter preacher than your papa has been. Be studious and industrious,\nand live so that you may at last meet me in heaven. May God bless you,\nmy son, and keep you in His care. Kiss me good-bye.\"\n\nThrowing one arm around his wife, he said, \"My dear, my affliction has\nbeen a blessing to me in having you near me all the time. You have been\neverything on earth that a good wife could be. I have loved you even\nmore in my affliction than I ever did before. I want to thank you for\nall your kindness to me and loving care of me. If I have ever done or\nsaid anything I should not, I want you to forgive me now. I can say on\nmy dying bed that I have always been a true husband to you. I have made\nthe best provision I could for you and the children, and if there\nshould appear any mistakes they have not been of my heart.\" He then\nbade her a long and last farewell.\n\nHe then blessed his three little grandchildren and kissed them;\nexpressed a desire to see his \"dear old mother,\" brother and sisters\nonce more, and spoke of some business matters a moment, then said,\n\"This is too sacred for that.\"\n\nFor two or three days before this he had been able to speak only a few\nwords at a time; but throughout this interview with his family, his\nvoice was as strong and clear as it had ever been. After this his\nbreathing became difficult, and he could gasp only a single word now\nand then. He seemed to have no wish to be occupied with this world. The\nweary traveler had at last reached the goal; and about nine o'clock\nThursday night, January 6, 1887, his pure spirit left its frail\ntenement to suffer no more.\n\nThe following account of his funeral, written by his devoted friend and\nChristian brother, W. K. Azbill, may well close the biography of Frank\nGibbs Allen:\n\n    \"IT IS FINISHED.\"\n\n    It is finished. The struggle with his fatal malady is over at last,\n    and F. G. Allen is at rest. He sank into a quiet sleep last\n    Thursday night, Jan. 6, 1887.\n\n    A few friends were notified of the end by telegrams, and that the\n    burial would take place from Mt. Byrd Church on Sunday, but the\n    condition of the Ohio River rendered it extremely difficult to\n    reach \"Cottage Home.\" However, in spite of the difficulties and\n    dangers in crossing the river, and the extreme cold weather, there\n    were seven ministers and a very large audience present at the\n    burial. The people came over the snow and through the snow, in\n    sleighs and sleds and buggies, afoot and on horseback, till the\n    large country audience-room was well filled. The presence of such\n    an assembly on such a day evinced the truth of what is now widely\n    known, that Frank Allen was loved best where he has lived and\n    labored for the past sixteen years.\n\n    The services were begun by Bro. A. W. Kokendoffer, who lead in an\n    invocation of divine blessing and strength and guidance. The\n    congregation then sang \"Nearer, My God, to Thee.\" The writer read\n    the following Scriptures; John xiv. 1-4, 27, 28; I. Cor. xv. 51-58;\n    I. Thess. iv. 13-18; II. Sam, iii. 31-39, repeating 38.\n\n    He felt that he should not, because he could not speak on the\n    occasion. He had followed the inclinations of his own grief, and\n    had come as a mourner and not as a comforter. We had not met to\n    tell how much we esteemed our departed brother, or how much we\n    loved him, or how much we should miss him, now that he has gone.\n    The gap is a wide one he has left in the family, in the\n    congregation of his love, and in the larger church; and it will\n    seem wider and wider as the days go by. We had come as his brothers\n    and sisters--as those who loved him--to lay him away in the grave,\n    and to ask God's help and blessing in this time of loss and sorrow.\n    He then led in worship, thanking God for His gift to the church of\n    the precious life that had just been surrendered at His call;\n    praising God for His love of brave and true men like him;\n    expressing the loving confidence of all that the heavenly Father\n    would deal tenderly with our widowed sister and her children;\n    asking especially that the little boy might live to honor the name\n    of his beloved father, and praying that the dear church, that has\n    borne him on their hearts through all this anxious time of weakness\n    and suffering, might forever be blessed by the memory of his godly\n    life in it.\n\n    The song, \"Asleep in Jesus,\" was then sung, after which President\n    R. Graham, of the College of the Bible, addressed the audience on\n    the life and character of the deceased.\n\n    He had thought of how truly it might be said of him, that \"There is\n    a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel.\" He had felt\n    inclined to derive comfort for the church, and to those to whom he\n    was doubly dear, from the passage in the Apocalypse, \"I heard a\n    voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which\n    die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they\n    may rest from their labors: and their works do follow them.\" He did\n    not know whether others would be present to take part in the\n    services. But Bro. Kurfees was here from the churches in\n    Louisville, and, as a representative of the _Guide_, Bro.\n    McDiarmid, from Cincinnati, to represent his associates in our\n    other publishing interests, and Bro. Azbill, from Indianapolis,\n    connected with our missionary interests, while he himself brought\n    the sympathies of those in the College of the Bible. He felt there\n    was a suitableness in all this, for all these things were dear to\n    the heart of our brother.\n\n    He then proceeded to give a sketch of his life and career. There\n    were several distinct periods in his history. The first was from\n    his birth, March 7, 1836, to his marriage in 1856, a period of\n    about twenty years. Here he spoke of his early struggles for an\n    education, and of the signs of a useful life manifested even then.\n    The second, from the time of his marriage till his entry upon\n    general evangelistic work, about 1866. During this decade he became\n    a Christian, resolved to preach the gospel, and entered and passed\n    through a course of collegiate studies in Eminence College. The\n    third period began with his evangelistic labors. During this time\n    he became a pastor of the Mt. Byrd church. During this period most\n    of his public discussions were held. It was through these labors\n    that he was revealed to his brethren as a man who was greater than\n    we knew.\n\n    The last period began with his editorial career, and closed with\n    his death. He became first a contributing editor of _The Apostolic\n    Times_, and afterwards co-editor. Then he became the proprietor and\n    editor of _The Old-Path Guide_, which, in the course of events, was\n    consolidated with the _Times_, and became _The Apostolic Guide_.\n\n    President Graham then spoke of his character and his characteristic\n    abilities. He was a sincere man, he was a conscientious man, he was\n    a brave, true man; he was a pure-minded man, he was a godly man.\n\n    His ability was not that of the great scholar, but of the logician\n    of keen, accurate perceptions. He was not an encyclopedia, but a\n    compact volume of naked logic. He was capable of the very nicest\n    discriminations; and he had the faculty of pointing out a fallacy\n    with marvelous clearness, and of turning an objection to his\n    position into an argument in its favor.\n\n    He was sometimes misunderstood; but he was always true to his\n    convictions, and there was no honorable thing he would not do for\n    the truth's sake. He believed in the gospel as the power of God\n    unto salvation; and he made no compromises with doctrines in\n    conflict with his conviction that the gospel must be believed and\n    obeyed by those who would be saved.\n\n    The speaker said many tender and fatherly things to the bereaved\n    family and to the church, one of which was that we who knew of our\n    brother's sufferings, could have had but the one motive of\n    selfishness for detaining him an hour longer than he lingered with\n    us.\n\n    Bro. M. C. Kurfees followed the remarks of President Graham with\n    some comforting reflections on Bro. Allen's views of death and of\n    the future life. He spoke of his willingness \"to depart and to be\n    with Christ, which is far better.\" Heaven is not a far off place,\n    but an actual spiritual presence with God. He spoke of the\n    blessedness of being always ready for this change from our life in\n    the body to our life with God in the invisible world.\n\n    Bro. McDiarmid closed the services with suitable remarks and an\n    earnest prayer. After the singing of the song, \"Jesus, Lover of my\n    Soul,\" came the final leave-taking, and the departure from the\n    church to the grave. Not the least touching of these scenes was the\n    breaking down in grief of the sturdy yeomen of the congregation as\n    they stood around the bier of their dear brother and former pastor,\n    and looked on that manly face and form for the last time.\n\n    Finally we laid him to rest in the burying-place near by. At the\n    grave the closing prayer was offered by Bro. Wm. Buchanan, who\n    referred tenderly to his aged mother and absent relatives. And thus\n    the final scenes closed.\n\n    His resting-place is a lovely spot, overlooking the city of\n    Madison, commanding an extended view of the river valley, and in\n    sight of the stream and of all the vessels that go by. It is near\n    to his \"Cottage Home\" and to the church he so much loved; and the\n    spot will be all the dearer now that he sleeps in it.\n\n    Only four days ago the writer said in a letter to the family: \"I\n    linger on the eve of taking a long voyage, and he may soon go on a\n    very short one; but which of these shall be made the occasion of\n    saying 'good-bye,' I hardly know.\" Even then the solitary voyager\n    was on his way. The breakers dashed about him as he launched; the\n    great billows roared beneath and around him as he went out; the\n    waves broke over each other in ripples as he passed on; and the\n    ripples hushed into whispers as he neared the other shore. At last\n    he took the adorable divine Guide by the hand, and passed beyond\n    our view.\n\n\n\n\nPART II.--ADDRESSES.\n\n\n\n\nI.--CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY: THEIR RELATION AND NECESSITY.\n\n[An Address Delivered Before Eminence College, June 8, 1877.]\n\n\nThere are periods in our history which form the oases in the desert of\nlife. In one of these our spirits are to-day refreshed. Its dark shade\nand cooling fountain strengthen us for the onward pilgrimage. From its\ngreen sward we pluck bright flowers, whose fragrance will linger with\nus till the end of life's journey. From these let us to-day weave fresh\ngarlands, which shall ever exhale the sweetness of these associations.\n\nThis is ever a proud day for Eminence College. Annually on these\nfestive occasions do the hearts of the many thousands who have gone out\nfrom these classic halls turn to them again with longing. Memory,\nunfettered by space, walks again amid these lovely bowers and responds\nunconsciously to the greetings of other days. Though separated far, and\nmingling in the busy scenes of life, how their souls revel in these\ndelights! These college associations are the golden links which bind\nmany hearts in an unbroken chain. The chords so exquisitely touched in\nour hearts to-day will vibrate for an age. Ere these sweet strains die\naway on the distant air they will be caught up by responsive hearts and\nreechoed round the earth. These are times in our college life that must\never be linked with the future. Memory will ever delight to lift the\nheavy curtain of material life, and behold again these visions of\nbeauty, and paint in fancy these rose tints of youth. Then let this day\nbe one whose brightness shall shed a ray of celestial light along the\npath of life. Let our spirits bathe in the fountain of living waters,\nwhile the chords of our hearts are swept with entrancing melodies.\n\n    \"Then th' inexpressive strain\n    Diffuses its enchantment. Fancy dreams\n    Of sacred fountains and Elysian groves,\n    And vales of bliss; the intellectual power\n    Bends from his awful throne a wandering ear,\n    And smiles.\"\n\nAs a theme worthy of your consideration to-day, I have selected\n\n    \"_Culture and Christianity: Their Relation and Necessity_.\"\n\nThe Greek word for man, [Greek: anthropos], signifies etymologically to\n_look upward_. Man is the only terrestrial being capable of looking\ninward and upward. In this there lies between him and the animal\ncreation an impassable gulf. Man alone can look into his inner nature,\nand thereby make his very failures the stepping-stones to a higher\nlife. God designed that man's progress should be upward; hence his high\ndestiny is attained, not by creation, but by development. The ladder at\nwhose foot he begins his immortal career rests upon the eternal throne.\nThis is not a development _into_ man, but a development _of_ man. The\ntheory of development into man is of the flesh; but the development of\nman is of the spirit. Since man is destined for eternity, it is not\nbefitting that he should attain perfection in time. Hence he does not\ndevelop as the beast of the field, or the fowl of the air. They soon\nlearn all that they ever know. They soon enjoy all they are capable of\nenjoying. They soon attain to the perfection of their being, and\nfulfill the end of their creation. The swallow builds her nest and the\nbeaver his dam precisely as they did in the days before the flood. Nor\ncan it ever be otherwise. But it is not so with man. This life is too\nshort and this world too small for his development. He but begins to\nlive in this world. This life is simply a state of probation. Our\nfaculties but begin to unfold on the things of time when we are called\nhence. This unfolding of our faculties, this development of our inner\nself, is the result of culture--a culture not of the flesh, but of the\nspirit; not of the outer, but of the inner man.\n\nCulture and Christianity, properly considered, are inseparable. He who\nrelies on culture apart from Christianity misconceives the end of his\nbeing. He appreciates not his high destiny. Animals have minds\nsusceptible of a high degree of cultivation, but not of a culture which\nreaches beyond time. Their culture is wholly a thing of this life; but\nnot more so than is the culture of men unsanctified by the religion of\nChrist. A culture that terminates with death is in harmony with the\nnature of a horse, but contrary to the nature of a man. What is\nculture? This is a question on whose solution man's eternal destiny is\nlargely suspended. Our age prides itself on being an age of culture;\nbut do we know in what true culture really consists? As a whole, I\nthink not. A smattering of sentimental literature, a superficial\nrefinement of manners, a few borrowed phrases and appropriated customs\nof \"society,\" the rendering of a few pieces by rote, and fashionable\ndress, constitute with, alas! too many the standard of culture. How\nunworthy of their race are those who entertain the thought! All this\nmay be but the gilding of barbarism; beneath this external glitter\nthere may be a heart and character steeped in moral rudeness and\ndegradation.\n\nTrue culture consists not in the cultivation of outward accomplishments.\nIt consists not in intellectual acquirements. It consists in the\ndevelopment of the triune man--body, soul and spirit--in their divine\nharmony. Without a cultivation of the spirit in harmony with its\nimmortal destiny, all that this world calls culture is but the gilded\ntinsel that bedecks the putrefaction of death. The truly cultured man\nis developed in harmony with the laws of his being. This being is\ncompound, having a fleshly and a spiritual side. Hence, to cultivate\none to the neglect of the other is to disproportion him whom God\ncreated in His own image. As we exist first in time and next in\neternity, that culture which loses sight of either state misconceives\nthe full mission of man. Man's conception of his present mission and\nultimate destiny determines his standard of culture. He must have an\nideal, and if that ideal be low, his life will be correspondingly low.\nNothing but Christianity can furnish man an ideal worthy of himself;\nand nothing but Christian culture can develop him in the direction of\nthat ideal.\n\nClassical antiquity never conceived a destiny worthy of man. It never\ncontemplated him in that relation of Christ-likeness to his God, which\nthe Bible reveals. Even Aristotle, the most cultivated of all heathen\nphilosophers, thought that only a part of mankind possessed a rational\nsoul. With such a conception man is incapable of the highest culture.\nIt is degrading to his dignity. All culture based on such a hypothesis\nmust be a culture of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is the\nculture of materialism, not of Christianity. Between modern materialism\nand the cultivated heathenism of the ancient Greeks the difference is\nnot worth the naming. \"To assume the existence of a soul,\" says Vogt,\n\"which uses the brain as an instrument with which to work as it\npleases, is utter nonsense. Physiology distinctly and categorically\npronounces against any individual immortality, and against all ideas\nwhich are connected with a figment of a separate existence of the\nsoul.\" \"Man,\" says Moleschott, \"is produced from wind and ashes. The\naction of vegetable life called him into existence.... Thought consists\nin the motion of matter, it is a translocation of the cerebral\nsubstance; without phosphorus there can be no thought; and consciousness\nitself is nothing but an attribute of matter.\" This deification of the\nflesh, this \"gospel of dirt,\" makes man consist simply of what he eats.\nThe missionaries of this heathen gospel have no need to address the\nreason of men; only feed them on the right kind of food and their\nregeneration is accomplished! Materialism is a religion of the flesh, a\ndeification of matter; its laver of regeneration is the chemist's\nretort; its new birth, phosphorus! Give the brain plenty of phosphorus\nby high living, and you develop the _soul_ of materialism! Yet the\nheralds of this soulless gospel talk flippantly about culture!\n\nMan's fall was due to an attempt to acquire knowledge at the expense of\nheart culture. Here, amid the bowers of \"paradise lost\" is found the\nroot of all false culture, and from that root the world has ever been\nfilled with a noxious growth. True culture consists in a correction of\nthe process which\n\n    \"Brought death into the world,\n    And all our woe.\"\n\nMan in his spiritual nature must be educated back to the divine image\nfrom which he fell. No culture comprehending less than this has ever\nproved a permanent blessing to the race. The highest culture hitherto\nattained apart from Christianity was incapable of saving its devotees\nfrom ruin. Greece and Rome were never more cultured, in a popular\nsense, than when they began to go down in death. Materialistic culture\nwas their winding-sheet, and \"A Religion of the Flesh\" should be their\nepitaph. As Christlieb has truly said: \"Wherever civilization is not\nmade to rest on the basis of moral and religious truth it can not\nattain to any permanent existence, and is incapable of preserving the\nnations possessed of it from spiritual starvation, to say nothing of\npolitical death.\"\n\nIt is idle to boast of Liberty when the foundations of her temples are\nnot laid in divine truth. Of this, Greece and Rome have furnished the\nworld examples. In Greece freedom had a field peculiarly her own; she\nbreathed her inspiration into the people, and her spirit into their\nliterature; she lived in the deeds of their youth, and was sung by the\nmuse of their bards. This spirit was diffused in Rome. Plato, Aristotle\nand Homer were transplanted to the Rhine, the Seine, and the Thames.\nTheir land was full of liberty and culture, but not the liberty nor the\nculture of the soul. When we learn from Tacitus that \"in the first\ncentury, in a time of famine, all the teachers of youth were banished\nfrom the city, and six thousand dancers were retained,\" we have an\nexample of that culture which made Rome a sink of iniquity. It is not\nimpossible that the fatal mistake of Greece and Rome should be repeated\nin our own country. We are venturing to some extent on the slippery\nplaces from which they fell. The evil star of their national ruin is\nthat on which the eyes of many of our political leaders are fixed. The\ngodless spirit that animated the Roman senate is being nursed into new\nlife in American politics, and this nursing is not simply in the halls\nof legislation, but in the homes of the people. Here lies the trouble.\nIf the American republic ever goes down in ruin, the power that hurls\nit from its high position will be enthroned in the family circle.\n\nWe complain that those in authority have not the fear of God before\ntheir eyes. We lift our hands in holy horror at the public corruption\nwhich brings our nation into dishonor before the world. But who is to\nblame? One political party is ever ready to ascribe all the corruption\nof the country to its political rival. But this godless disregard of\nnational honor and national interest is confined to no party. Neither\nis it confined to party leaders; but it controls the people on whom the\nleaders rely for support. Here is the seat of the disease which is\ngnawing at the vitals of the republic. The man who now refuses to cater\nto the depraved tastes of the masses, can not, as a rule, be promoted\nto office. How many men can sit in the halls of legislation, or even on\nour benches of justice, who persistently refuse to influence men's\nvotes by money, or inflame their passions and sway their judgment with\nstrong drink? When a man of a high sense of moral honor seeks promotion\nby the suffrage of his fellow-citizens, he soon learns that he must\ncome down from his \"stilted dignity\" or be defeated. In the excitement\nof the canvass he yields to base motives to prevent defeat. He\ncompromises his high sense of honor, deadens his conscience, and sells\nout his manhood to secure an honorable (?) position. We should not\nexpect men to manifest a high sense of honor in public places as long\nas we require them to compromise their honor in order to secure such\nplaces. The thing is both unreasonable and unjust. As well expect sweet\nwater to flow from a fountain which we have made bitter!\n\nParty spirit is hostile to moral purity. As one becomes filled with the\nspirit of party, to that extent does he surrender the freedom of a man.\nHe can neither think nor speak impartially. He stifles the convictions\nof conscience and shouts the shibboleth of party. With him the triumph\nof party is infinitely dearer than the maintenance of principle. Hence\nthe conflict becomes a struggle, not for principle, but for victory.\nThe people are distracted and the nation brought to the verge of ruin\nover the most trivial matters. The Eastern empire was once shaken to\nits foundation by parties which differed only about the merits of\ncharioteers at the amphitheater.\n\nThis ruinous party spirit is fostered by ignorance. The masses who are\ncontrolled at the ballot-box by the basest influences, because they\nwill not be controlled by any other; and who in turn control the\nballots of our country, are, as a rule, the uncultured part of society.\nThe better class of citizens are not approached with the influences\nwhich control the ignorant. Therefore, the remedy is in the _correct_\neducation of the masses. The emphasis is correctly made; for any kind\nof education will not accomplish this end. Only as people are _truly_\ncultured do they cease to be tools of politicians. Then their\nintelligence, not their passions, must be addressed. When the masses\nare thus cultured they will refine instead of demoralize our public\nmen.\n\nAs a remedy, then, for the demoralization of all classes we need a\nbetter system of education. We must have a free education if we would\nhave a free people. Our children must be educated in just principles,\nif we would perpetuate a just government. To make this remedy\neffectual, when the means of education are provided for the ignorant,\nthey should be required to appropriate them, or forfeit their right of\nsuffrage. No man should have a voice in determining the destiny of our\nnation, who rejects the means of that culture which alone can qualify\nhim to act intelligently. A man who has not spirit enough to avail\nhimself of the benefits of an elementary education, when placed within\nhis reach, is not worthy of being a citizen of a free government.\n\nNot only must the ballot-box be elevated by culture, if this government\nwould number its centennials, but it must be purified by Christianity.\nWe need to erect a high standard of moral qualification for positions\nof trust and honor. Those in authority will ever be about what the\npeople require of them. When ungodliness and moral corruption are at a\ndiscount among the people, and party spirit can not atone for the\ndarkest crimes, then may we expect more purity in high places; not\nbefore. This standard must be erected at the ballot-box or our\nliberties will find an untimely grave.\n\nThis government was established on a false idea--the idea that man is\ncapable of self-government. God never intended that man should govern\nhimself. Consequently, in the strictest sense of the word, he is\nincapable, both individually and collectively, of self-government.\nSince, by his own wisdom, man is incapable of governing himself he is\nlikewise incapable of governing others. The men and the nations, in the\nages of the past, that attempted this, failed of the high destiny for\nwhich God gave them being. The ultimate prosperity of men and nations\ndepends on the government of God. Only He who created man fully\nunderstands his ultimate destiny and the laws of his being to attain to\nthat end. Therefore, only when man is thus governed is his life a\nsuccess. All sacred history shows that God rules in the governments of\nmen; and only when this fact is practically acknowledged may nations\nexpect permanent prosperity. That nation whose laws are framed and\nexecuted regardless of the law of God will eventually fall under the\ndivine chastisement. No more can the statesmanship of this world,\nunsanctified by divine wisdom, save a nation from the wrath of God,\nthan the wisdom of man can save a soul from eternal death, regardless\nof Him, \"who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and\nsanctification, and redemption.\" For the disregard of God's will,\nnations are punished here, because as nations they do not exist\nhereafter. On this the Lord has clearly spoken: \"At what instant I\nshall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up,\nand to pull down, and to destroy it: If that nation against whom I have\npronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I\nthought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a\nnation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it: If it do\nevil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the\ngood, wherewith I said I would benefit them.\" Thus it is that nations\nare in the hands of God as clay in the hands of the potter. Only,\ntherefore, when they purge themselves from ungodly legislation, will\nthey become \"vessels unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's\nuse.\"\n\nThe voice of God, then, must be heard and heeded in our nation, and if\nthe people rule, and the nation prosper, the voice of God must become\nthe voice of the people. _In this sense, and this only, are any people\ncapable of self-government._ To this end we need more extended culture,\nand that of a higher order. Our politics must be purified by our\nreligion, and our religion must be a religion of the spirit, not of the\nflesh. We need more religion in our politics, and less politics in our\nreligion. The history of other nations fully confirms the language of\nGoethe: \"All epochs,\" says he, \"in which faith prevailed have been the\nmost heart-stirring and fruitful, both as regards contemporaries and\nposterity; whereas, on the other hand, all epochs in which unbelief\nobtains its miserable triumphs, even when they boast of some apparent\nbrilliancy, are not less surely doomed to speedy oblivion.\" Liberty is\nthe twin sister of Faith. In the language of Seneca: \"To obey God is\nfreedom. A nation that desires to be free must believe, and a nation\nthat will not believe must be in servitude; only despotism can dispense\nwith faith, but not liberty.\"\n\nHistory clearly proves that national prosperity depends on an\nappreciation of the intimate relation existing between culture and\nChristianity. Of this relation Christlieb truly speaks: \"No one,\nindeed,\" says he, \"will wish to deny that in our modern culture there\nis much that is false, egotistic, and selfish; much that is misleading\nand exaggerated, and consequently opposed to true culture. Against\nthese untrue elements of culture, Christianity will and must always\ntake the field; it must not oppose progress, although it is at all\ntimes bound to show itself hostile to the _sins_ of progress, just as\nfrom its very commencement it has always testified and striven against\nsuch sins. Between Christless culture and Christianity a bridge of\naccommodation can no more be built than between light and darkness, and\nwoe to him who undertakes this! But whatever in our modern culture is\nthoroughly _Christless_, and therefore Godless, is unworthy of the\nname and can, therefore, claim from us no further consideration; it is\nmere naked rudeness and selfishness, ill-disguised by the gaudy rays of\noutward decency; a mere cherishing of the sensual nature which, left to\nitself, would soon degenerate into monstrous barbarism, of which we\nalready see many indications.\"\n\nIntellectual, at the expense of moral, culture is one of the curses of\nthis age. By such culture man acquires power without the principles\nwhich alone can make that power a blessing. Intellect is deified; but\nintellect unsubdued by Christianity is a remorseless god. True culture\nwould lift man above this low conception of his own nature. It would\ngive him a more comprehensive view of himself; of the infinite\ndevelopment of which he is susceptible; of the rulings of an all-wise\nProvidence, whose loving care\n\n    \"From seeming evil still educing good,\n    And better thence again, and better still,\n    In infinite progression.\"\n\nTrue culture consists not in an accumulation of facts or ideas, but in\ndeveloping a force of thought that is ever a ready and willing servant.\nTo educate is to lead out and develop the faculties, not to break them\ndown with the endless rubbish of other minds. The collection of facts\namounts to but little unless with those facts we build towers from\nwhich to take higher and wider views of truth. Thus it is that culture\ndemands them as a means, not as an end. To build up the mental and\nmoral faculties, so as to comprehend and appreciate the great\nprinciples which control the life that now is, and that which is to\ncome, is the highest culture in our probationary state. This can be\naccomplished only by an education in which the Bible and the _authority\nof Christ_ are made paramount. On this, as we have seen, our free\ninstitutions and the perpetuity of religious liberty depend. This is\nthe secret of Roman Catholic opposition to the Bible in our public\nschools. And it is not simply the Bible in the public schools that Rome\nopposes; she is opposed to the existence of the schools themselves; to\nthe system of free education. No people understand better than the\nCatholics the power of religious teaching in connection with education.\nHence they are the foe to all religion in connection with education\nthat is not Catholic. Rome is the friend of education and religion when\nthat education is priestly and that religion Romish; otherwise she is\nthe enemy of both. Hence those who support Catholic schools foster the\ndeadliest foe of our religious liberties. There will ever be,\ntherefore, an irrepressible conflict between Roman Catholicism and\nChristian culture. Let him who doubts this study impartially the\nhistory of Catholic countries. We ask no more.\n\nThe idea is fast passing away, and it can not pass too rapidly, that\nthe mass of the people need no other culture than that which fits them\nfor their various vocations. The world is beginning to learn that\nculture is due to our _nature_, not to our _calling_. It is not the\ncalling nor the place of residence that makes the man. It is what a man\n_is_, not what he does, that makes him great. True greatness is in the\nman, not in circumstances. True greatness and worldly fame are two\nwidely different things. The greatest men of earth may be but little\nknown. As force of thought measures intellectual, so force of principle\nmeasures moral, greatness. There is more true greatness in the huts of\npoverty than in the palaces of kings, only it is undeveloped. Here,\ntherefore, is where we need true Christian culture. I can not better\nexpress my appreciation of obscure greatness, which culture should\ndevelop, than by repeating the words of Dr. Channing: \"The greatest\nman,\" says he, \"is he who chooses the right with invincible resolution,\nwho resists the sorest temptation from within and without, who bears\nthe heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is calmest in storms and most\nfearless under menace and frowns, whose reliance on truth, on virtue,\non God, is most unfaltering; and is this a greatness which is apt to\nmake a show, or which is most likely to abound in conspicuous stations?\nThe solemn conflicts of reason with passion; the victories of moral and\nreligious principles over urgent and almost irresistible solicitations\nto self-indulgence; the hardest sacrifices of duty, those of\ndeep-seated affection and of the heart's fondest hopes; the\nconsolations, hopes, joys, and peace, of disappointed, persecuted,\nscorned, deserted virtue; these are of course unseen, so that the true\ngreatness of human life is almost wholly out of sight. Perhaps in our\npresence the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit,\nthe loftiest purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifices made, and\nwe do not suspect it. I believe this greatness to be most common among\nthe multitude, whose names are never heard.\" Most beautifully has the\npoet expressed the same fine thought:\n\n    \"Full many a gem of purest ray serene,\n      The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;\n    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,\n      And waste its sweetness on the desert air.\"\n\nThese pure gems need to be discovered and polished, and these sweet\nflowers cultivated and utilized by Christian culture. It is idle to\ntalk of developing these hidden resources of intellectual and moral\nwealth but by true culture, and this can never exist apart from\nChristianity. Christianity is the spiritual power that vitalizes the\nculture of our age. So evident is this that even a Fichte was compelled\nto confess that, \"We and our whole age are rooted in the soil of\nChristianity, and have sprung from it; it has exercised its influence\nin the most manifold ways on the whole of our culture, and we should be\nabsolutely nothing of all that we are, if this mighty principle had not\npreceded us.\" Culture and Christianity can not now be divorced. Those\nwho would array culture against Christianity are themselves under the\ninfluence of that which they oppose. The very imagined imperfections of\nChristianity must be discovered by the light of Christianity, \"just as\nhe who seeks to discover spots in the sun, must for this purpose borrow\nthe light of the sun itself.\" Culture and Christianity are so\ninterwoven that we may never expect either, separate from the other, as\na blessing to the world. The very fact that the Protestant nations of\nthe earth, where God is honored by a free Bible, are the chief\nexponents of true culture, attests this connection. So vital is this\nrelation that, \"United they stand; divided they fall.\"\n\nAnother important end to be attained in the culture of the masses is\nindependence of thought. We need to cast off the yoke of human opinion\nand cultivate the individual judgment. We are too much the slaves of\nfashion. We are disposed to dress our minds as well as our bodies,\nafter the fashion of the times. This destroys originality and\nindependence of thought, and renders our lives tame and insipid. We\nneed connection with other minds to excite our own, not to enslave\nthem. We want the thoughts of others that we may think; and without\ncorrect modes of thinking, all efforts at education and culture are\nfailures.\n\nBut it may be argued, the masses are denied the privilege of\nassociation with the cultivated. This is not true. They may deprive\nthemselves, but they are not denied. This is peculiarly an age of\nprinting. The best of literature may now find its way into the most\nhumble homes. There is not a roof in the land under which the prophets\nand apostles of God will not enter with the glad message containing the\npromise of the life that is and that which is to come; not one under\nwhich the poets will not come to sing to us of that far-off land; not\none too holy for the habitation of the great minds of earth which\ninspire us\n\n    \"With thoughts that breathe,\n    And words that burn.\"\n\nWith these for our companions, we may have the best society that this\nworld affords, and, by such association, fit ourselves for the\ncompanionship of the cultivated.\n\nIs it argued that the poor have not time for self-culture? This is one\nof the greatest mistakes of life. It is not _time_ that we want; it is\n_inclination_. Generally, those who have most time profit by it least.\nAn earnest purpose will either find time or make time. Nor is it\nnecessary that much time should be taken. The spare moments, the mere\nfragments of time, often worse than wasted, will, if carefully\nimproved, make both mind and heart a store-house of the most precious\ntreasure. It is said that Spurgeon read the whole of Macaulay's History\nof England between the courses at dinner. I would not advise that these\ngolden opportunities for social culture be devoted to reading; but the\ncircumstance shows how much may be accomplished by gathering up the\ncrumbs which fall from the table of time. When Martin Luther was asked\nhow, amid all his other labors, he found time to translate the Holy\nScriptures, he replied, \"One verse a day.\" A small amount of daily\nreading, of the right kind, will furnish food for thought; and it is\nthought, after all, that enriches the soul.\n\nA proper improvement of the most slender opportunities for self-culture\ncreates new capacities for enjoyment, and saves the leisure moments\nfrom being dull and wearisome. More than this; it saves them from being\ndevoted to ruinous indulgence. The soul-culture for which these\nfragments of time provide, lifts humanity above mere brutal enjoyments,\nand implants pleasures worthy of their race. Christian culture is\nessential to the subduing of sensuality, and the subduing of sensuality\nis essential to the permanent prosperity of both individuals and\nnations.\n\nBut, it may be said, any considerable degree of culture will lift the\nmasses above their vocations, and cause them to become dissatisfied\nwith their lot; that the cultured mind despises drudgery. The very\nreverse of this is true. Culture dignifies labor and destroys drudgery.\nThe man determines the dignity of the calling; not the calling the\ndignity of the man. Let men of culture carry their culture into their\nvocations, and their vocations will become honorable. Let cultured men\nplow and reap, and plowing and reaping will become as dignified as the\n\"learned professions.\" Because a man can not wear as fine a garb at the\nforge as he can at the desk, it does not follow that his thoughts may\nnot be as fine. A man may wear a polished intellect and a cultivated\nsoul under a coarse garb as well as under a fine one; and he should be\nrespected the more, if circumstances have compelled him to develop his\nintellectual and moral forces; if at all, under a rough exterior.\n\nWhile in these thoughts I have spoken of men, I have used the term\ngenerically. The principles apply with equal force to the women of this\ncountry. One of the great evils of our land is, that among the ladies,\ndomestic labor is not sufficiently dignified. The number of mothers in\nthe ordinary walks of life, silly enough to think that ignorance of\ndomestic duties is an accomplishment for their daughters, is by no\nmeans small. This results from a want of true culture and common sense.\nThere is no just reason why a young lady should not knead her dough and\nconjugate a Greek verb at the same time with equal skill. True culture\nwill dignify domestic labor among women of all classes, and this will\nresult in more domestic prosperity, and more domestic happiness. The\nrich and the poor will be brought into closer sympathy, unnecessary\ndistinctions will be broken down, and the people will become one in the\nessential elements of good government and pure religion.\n\nYoung ladies, you above all others should appreciate the blending of\nculture and Christianity. One glance at the history of the world must\nconvince you that the highest culture, unsanctified by Christianity,\nhas never elevated your sex above disgraceful servitude. Certainly you\ncan not entertain the thought, that the culture which does not elevate\nwoman can ever bless the world. Only Christianity has exalted the\ngentler sex to that position in the esteem and affections of men that\nGod designed she should occupy. Hence, of all the friends of ancient\nChristianity, woman should be the truest and most lasting; and of all\nthe enemies of modern Rationalism, she should be the most bitter and\nunrelenting.\n\nIn conclusion, allow me to repeat the thought of the beginning, that it\nis the nature of man to _look upward_, and he who does not look upward\nis untrue to his nature. But in the flesh, we can only begin to ascend\nthe heights of God. Here we are weighed down with infirmity, with our\nfrail, decaying bodies; but our souls long for the power of incessant,\nnever-wearying, glorious activity, awaiting us in the upper world. One\nof my highest conceptions of Heaven; one that thrills me to\ncontemplate, is a life of no more prostration from labor; no more\nweariness of over-wrought brain; no aching head nor pain-racked body;\nbut incessant labor, unincumbered by frail mortality; growth,\ndevelopment, expanding visions of God, among pure intelligences, and\namid the celestial splendor of eternal worlds. But in the flesh, I can\nnot bathe in those fountains of celestial light. Then let me leave this\nfrail tenement of clay, as one steps out of the vehicle that can take\nhim no farther, and leaving it behind, ascends the lofty mountain to\ngaze upon the unfolding wonders of God. Let my liberated spirit not\nonly look upward, but mount upward, as on eagles' wings, till rising\nabove the Pleiades, and leaving the Milky-way to fade out in the\nreceding distance, it walks with God on the ever-ascending plain,\nreached only by culture and Christianity.\n\n\n\n\nII.--SELF CULTURE.\n\n[An Address Delivered Before Columbia Christian College, June 7, 1878.]\n\n\n_Ladies and Gentlemen:_--I am happy in the privilege of again\naddressing you in the interests of the great work in which you are so\nnobly engaged. To-day many of you go out from under the fostering care\nof this institution, to engage in the ceaseless battle of life. That\nyou have been well panoplied for the conflict is not questioned. And,\nif I can second, in some degree, the efforts of your faithful and\nworthy Faculty in directing and encouraging you to that success that\nshould crown their efforts and yours, I shall feel that I have labored\nto no trifling purpose. The theme selected for your consideration is\n\n    \"_Self-Culture_.\"\n\nMan, though fallen, is in his ruins grand. His powers of development\nare little less than infinite. They begin with the cradle, but do not\nend with the grave. No other being begins so low and ascends so high.\nIn his beginning, he is \"crushed before the moth;\" in the fullness of\nhis power he shall \"judge angels.\" In this world he scarcely begins to\nlive. This life is too short and this world too small for the\ndevelopment of his God-given faculties. Here he scarcely learns the\nalphabet preparatory to God's grand university from which he is never\nto graduate. He simply begins the study of an unending book. He but\ngathers a few pebbles on the shores of the river of time, then sinks\nbeneath its wave.\n\nBut while in this world we scarcely make a beginning, yet everything\ndepends on the character of that beginning. As is the beginning, so\nwill be the conclusion. In the direction taken in time will we progress\nin eternity. We may repent of our mistakes here and correct them, but\nthere is no repentance beyond the grave. There are no mistakes\ncorrected in eternity. Hence the necessity of a proper use of time.\n\nI have selected the word culture to express the idea which I wish to\nconvey, and yet I must confess that it does not express it as happily\nas I should desire. Where the Greeks had their _paideia_, the Romans\ntheir _humanitas_, we have the more elastic and accommodating word\nculture. I use it in this address in the sense of drawing out and\ndeveloping the nobler powers that are potentially in fallen humanity.\nIt is not so much the development of all the faculties in man to their\nhighest extent, as the directing and training of the better ones to\ntheir true end. We are dealing here with beginnings, not endings. The\nperfection of man in all his capacities is not a thing of time. In\ntime, the character must receive its mold; in eternity, its highest\npolish.\n\nBy self-culture I mean, of course, the power that one has, and ought to\nuse, of cultivating himself. \"To cultivate anything,\" says Dr.\nChanning, \"be it a plant, an animal, a mind, is to make grow. Growth,\nexpansion is the end. Nothing admits culture but that which has a\nprinciple of life, capable of being expanded. He, therefore, who does\nwhat he can to unfold all his powers and capacities, especially his\nnobler ones, so as to become a well proportioned, vigorous, happy\nbeing, practices self-culture.\" This may apply to those who have not\nthe advantages of schools and colleges, and to the after education of\nthose who have.\n\nWe hear much in this age about a \"finished education at college.\" There\nis, alas! too much truth in the expression. Generally, the more\nsuperficial our collegiate education, the more completely is it\n\"finished\" on the day of graduation. How few young ladies and gentlemen\nmeet the expectations raised by their educational advantages! How few\nyears sadden loving hearts with disappointed hopes! How many stars\nshine brilliantly within college walls, then go out to be seen no more!\nAnd all this the result of a \"finished education!\"\n\nMost of these failures are the result of wrong views of education. Our\nschool days are but a beginning of our earthly education, as this is\nbut the beginning of that which is to come. It is not what we learn in\nschool, but what we learn after leaving it, that determines our success\nor failure. These advantages are but for the purpose of laying the\nfoundation; the building is the work of after years. And he who does\nnot build, does not even preserve the foundation. Alas! how many\nwell-laid foundations have moldered into ruin! No sooner does the plant\ncease to grow than it begins to decay. Therefore, he who would live\nmust grow, and he who would grow must be active. There is no success to\nhim who stands with his hands in his pockets. This is an age of intense\nactivity. Competition in every calling is sharp; the professions are\ncrowded, and there is room only at the top. Therefore, the path to\nsuccess is not strewed with flowers and tinted with the rainbow's hue.\nAs Carlyle truly says: \"The race of life has become intense; the\nrunners are treading upon each other's heels, woe be to him who stops\nto tie his shoestrings.\"\n\nMany a young man fails because he thinks himself a genius, and\ntherefore does not need to study. The sooner you get rid of the idea\nthat you are a genius the better. The old idea of a genius that never\nhas to study is the pet of laziness and the ruin of manliness. Sidney\nSmith truly says: \"There is but one method of attaining to excellence,\nand that is hard labor; and a man who will not pay that price for\ndistinction had better at once dedicate himself to the pursuit of the\nfox, or sport with the tangles of Neaera's hair, or talk of bullocks and\nglory in the goad! There are many modes of being frivolous, and not a\nfew of being useful; there is but one mode of being intellectually\ngreat.\"\n\nIt is common for those who have not the wealth to afford them a\nluxurious college course to bemoan their misfortune and content\nthemselves with being nothing. If culture were attained by complaining\nof misfortune, many would soon reach perfection. To some, extreme\npoverty is doubtless a misfortune, but to many others it is a blessing.\nThe world's grandest heroes and benefactors have struggled with\npoverty; and, but for this, they would have died unwept and unhonored.\nThe great men and women of earth were not dandled in the lap of luxury.\nLord Thurlow, Chancellor of England, when asked by a wealthy friend\nwhat course his son should pursue to secure success at the bar, is said\nto have thus replied: \"Let your son spend his fortune, marry and spend\nhis wife's, and then go to the bar; there will be little fear of his\nfailure.\" The Chancellor well knew that, with his wealth, the young man\nwould not do the work that success demanded. How many men, and women,\ntoo, were never anything till they lost their fortune! Then the world\nfelt their power. What a fortune, then, to have no fortune to lose!\nTrue, poverty brings difficulties, but difficulties develop men. They\nshow the material out of which one is composed. While they dishearten\nthe irresolute, they stimulate the brave. The wind that extinguishes\nthe taper only intensifies the heat of the stronger flame. Gnats are\nblown with the wind, but kites rise only against it.\n\nAll culture is, in a large degree, self-culture. Our teachers are only\nhelps. They can teach us, but they can not learn us. We must do our own\nlearning. Wealth can not buy it, nor luxurious surroundings impart it;\nit must be made ours by personal application.\n\nI am not contending that all may or should be scholars in the proper\nsense of that word. There is a difference between culture and\nscholarship. A man of culture may or may not be a scholar. I plead more\nespecially for the training of the mind, for the development of the\nnobler faculties of our nature, that we may fulfill the true end of our\nbeing.\n\nI do not mean that all should be great, in the popular acceptation of\nthat term. This is neither desirable nor possible. If all were great,\nthen none were great. But God has designed us all for positions of\nusefulness and happiness; some in one direction, some in another. These\npositions we should seek and fill to the full extent of our ability.\nAnd it is with reference to this ability that I am making the plea for\nself-culture. It is not simply preparation for a position, but\ndevelopment in it, for which I plead. There is much said in this age\nabout education for a position, and this education is all right; the\nmore thorough the better. But the trouble is, too many seem to think\nthat this is all. Here is the ruinous mistake. There is a world of\ndifference between being educated _for_ a calling, and being educated\n_in_ it. That may be obtained in schools and colleges; this is a\nwork of subsequent life. That is important; this is indispensable.\nWithout that, this may be a grand success; without this, that is next\nto worthless. Many men are highly educated in their calling who were\nnever educated for it. This is self-culture in its true sense.\n\nNor is the culture for which I plead derived simply from books. These\nwe need, but we need them simply as helps. We should make them our\nservants, not our masters. A \"bookworm\" is sometimes a very inferior\nkind of a worm. Some men that the schools call highly educated rely so\nmuch on books that they are nothing in themselves. They have no mind of\ntheir own. They deal altogether in second-hand goods. We need to lay\naside our books, and study men and things--commence with God and\nnature. We must learn to _think_. To think much. To think accurately.\nTo do our own thinking, not have it done for us. Without this, we shall\nmake but little of our advantages; with it, we rise superior to\nadvantages.\n\nNeither am I contending that we should all strive for the \"learned\nprofessions.\" It is just the reverse. We want to elevate and ennoble\nthe _un_learned professions. The American people, at least, should\nlearn that the calling does not make the man. We need to dignify all\nthe honest and legitimate vocations by intellectual and moral culture.\nWe not only need to dignify labor by culture, but, by so doing, we need\nto dignify the mass of our common humanity. Personal worth consists not\nin what one does, but in what one is. Better be a good barber than a\npoor doctor, a good shoemaker than a poor lawyer.\n\nI would not be understood as claiming that men and women in all the\nvocations in life should be cultured in all directions. In this age of\nshort and intense life this is not practicable. It might have done\nbefore the flood, when men lived a thousand years, but it is not\nadapted to the nineteenth century. Remember I am speaking with\nreference to the masses. Men can not know everything, neither can they\ndo everything, and do it well. All knowledge may be made useful, and I\nwould urge the obtaining of all possible; but it is a mistake to try to\ndo too much, and do nothing. A few things well understood are of more\nvalue than a smattering of much. By all means avoid being\n\"Jack-of-all-trades.\" Decide what you want to do and do it. I would\nurge the training of mind and heart and hand as a specialty in that\nwhich you select as a life work, embellished and perfected by all the\ngeneral knowledge that a life of intense application will enable you to\npossess. Difference in occupation demands a difference in special\nculture, but not in general. This is culture, not of the schools,\nsimply, but of life.\n\nBut the difficulties and the means of self-culture need now to be\nconsidered. In doing this, the first essential element to success to\nwhich your attention is called, is\n\n    SELF-RELIANCE.\n\nNo man ever amounted to much who did not rely on God and himself. The\nyoung man who whines around, waiting for some one to help him, instead\nof helping himself, ought to be sent back to the nursery, clothed in\nenlarged baby-gowns, and fed with a spoon. Men of independence are the\nmen that move the world. The living rarely walk well in the shoes of\nthe dead, and he who waits for them ought to go barefooted all his\nlife. God helps those who help themselves. Self-reliance toughens our\nsinews and develops our manhood. \"It is not in the sheltered garden or\nthe hothouse, but on the rugged Alpine cliffs where the storm bursts\nmost violently, that the toughest plants are reared.\" The man who does\nnot rely on self, soon ceases to have any self. He becomes a zoological\nparasite, instead of a man. He is a lobster that waits for the sea to\ncome to him, instead of going to it, though its waves may be dashing at\nhis feet. Should the sea accommodate him in time, well enough;\notherwise he dies. These men make the subjunctive heroes of the world.\nThey always \"might,\" \"could,\" \"would\" or \"should\" do some great thing;\nbut they never get into the imperative mood to do it. They have never\nlearned self-reliance; and, the result is, they never learned anything\nworth knowing. They can never appreciate this saying of the immortal\nBurke: \"I was not rocked and swaddled and dandled into a legislator.\n_Nitor in adversum_ is the motto for a man like me.\"\n\nThose who are afraid to move without the arms of a rich ancestry around\nthem, will never learn to walk erect. They will never have a firm,\nelastic step, nor make the world feel the weight of their tread. The\nman who thus shrinks from difficulties and responsibilities, refuses to\nbe a pupil of the best teacher the world affords. They should learn\nthat repeated failure, if wisely used, is but a means to grand success.\nAs Dr. Mathews truly says: \"Great statesmen in all countries have owed\ntheir sagacity, tact and foresight more to their failures than to their\nsuccesses. The diplomatist becomes master of his art by being baffled,\nthwarted, defeated, quite as much as by winning his points. Every time\nhe is checkmated he acquires a profounder knowledge of the political\ngame, and makes his next combination with increased skill and increased\nchances of success.\" Ease and luxury may make the butterflies of\nsociety, but difficulties make men and women. That was a wise saying of\nPythagoras, that, \"ability and necessity dwell near each other.\" It is\nastonishing how difficulties will yield to one who will not yield to\nthem. They tip their plumed caps to his dominant will, and politely bow\nthemselves out of sight. They not only clear the way for self-reliance,\nbut give him the encouragement of their parting salute.\n\n\"Every person,\" says Gibbon, \"has two educations--one which he receives\nfrom others, and one, more important, which he gives himself.\"\nArchimedes said, \"Give me a standing-place and I will move the world.\"\nBut Goethe more happily says, \"Make good thy standing-place and move\nthe world.\" Circumstances may afford a standing-place, but\nself-reliance alone can give the leverage power. We must learn that\ncharacter and worth consists in doing, not in possessing. Not resting,\nnot having, not being simply, but growing and becoming, is the true\ncharacter of self-culture. This thought is most beautifully expressed\nby Rogers--\n\n                            \"Our reward\n    Is in the race we run, not in the prize,\n    Those few, to whom is given what they ne'er earned,\n    Having by favor or inheritance\n    The dangerous gifts placed in their hands,\n    Know not, nor ever can, the generous pride\n    That glows in him who on himself relies,\n    Entering the lists of life. He speeds beyond\n    Them all, and foremost in the race succeeds.\n    His joy is not that he has got his crown,\n    But that the power to win the crown is his.\"\n\nAnother important item in the attainment of self-culture is the\n\n    ECONOMY OF TIME.\n\nTime is a divine inheritance that no man has a right to squander. The\nantediluvians might have afforded to be a little profligate in this\ndirection, but the man who would fulfill his high destiny in this age\nhas no time to lose. Lost time is forever lost. There is much useless\ncomplaint in the world of a want of time. It is not more time we need,\nso much as a better use of that we have. I do not mean that we should\ndeprive ourselves of requisite sleep and rest. On the contrary, the\nregulation of these constitutes a part of the economy of which I speak.\nRest is necessary; but all rest is not idleness. We should learn to\nrest by changing our employment, not by its abandonment. The man whose\nmind becomes weary in his study, finds the most invigorating rest in\nmanual labor. The physical and intellectual have a happy reflective\ninfluence on each other. The moments wisely taken for intellectual and\nmoral culture by the laboring man are fountains whose refreshing\nstream, like that from Horeb, follows him through his daily toil. They\nare a ceaseless pleasure, both in remembrance and anticipation. Those,\nalso whose lives are disconnected with manual labor should have such a\nvariety of work that one kind prepares the way for the enjoyment of\nanother. There are both pleasure and health in a change of diet. To\nhappily manage this variety requires a training of the mind essential\nto self-culture. We must learn to do the right thing at the right time.\nThe happy influence of one thing upon another depends on their\narrangement and the manner of their execution. It may not be well to\nhave too many irons in the fire, but it is certainly best to have\nenough for some to be heating while others are cooling.\n\nIn order to do the right thing at the right time, and do it well, we\nmust learn to think about the right thing at the right time. This is\none of the most important features in mental training. We can think\nwell on but one thing at a time. Therefore, the mind that is filled\nwith various kinds of thoughts can prosecute none of them successfully.\nWe must learn to select the guests that we would have sit at our\nintellectual banquets, summon or exclude them at will, and never permit\nthe intrusion of a promiscuous crowd. When our work is arranged for the\nday, the week, the month, the year, we should set apart the time to be\ndevoted to each item, both in work and in thought; and then never allow\nthe thoughts of one to encroach upon the time allotted to another. We\nshould so train the mind that we can think about the thing only of\nwhich we wish to think, concentrate our whole mind upon it till the\ntime comes to put it away; then dismiss it in a moment, turn to\nsomething else, and think no more about it, till its proper time. The\nmind is soon trained to pass from one subject to another in a moment,\nwith all its powers of concentration. This mastery of the mind, once\nattained, will enable us to study at all times and places regardless of\ncircumstances. The man who can not study amid the wild shouts of the\nexcited multitude is not his own master. He who can command his time\nand his talents only when no surging billows beat against his quiet\nretreat, has necessarily to spend much of life in which he has neither\ntime nor talents which he can call his own. A very important item,\nthen, in the economy of time, is to learn to labor under difficulties,\ntill we rise superior to external surroundings. To keep the reins of\nthe mind well in hand when there is a stampede all around us, is\nabsolutely essential in the great crises of life. This is attained only\nby training the mind to instantaneous concentration under all\ncircumstances. This, then, I would urge you to persist in until it is\naccomplished. Without this you will lose much time in acquiring\ninformation, and, what is of vastly more importance, you will be\nunprepared to use what you have at the very time, it may be, when it is\nmost needed.\n\nAnother important element in the economy of time we learn from the\ngreat Teacher who said, \"Gather up the fragments, that nothing be\nlost.\" If He who had the power to create as well as to preserve, was\nsuch an economist of the remnants of loaves and fishes, how much more\nshould we save the fragments of time, which we can not lengthen out a\nspan?\n\nMany people seem to think they can make garments only out of whole\ncloth. If they have not an abundance of uninterrupted time in which to\naccomplish a thing, they think they can not accomplish it at all. Such\nmen accomplish but little, not for want of time, but for want of its\neconomy. To avoid this waste, we must learn to weave whole garments out\nof the mere ravelings of the fabric of time. But some complain that\nthey can not \"get up steam\" for intellectual labor in these fractions\nof time. We don't need to \"get up steam.\" The \"steam\" should be already\nup. We only need to change the gearing. \"There is a momentum in the\nactive man,\" says Mathews, \"which of itself almost carries him to the\nmark, just as a very light stroke will keep a hoop going, when a smart\none was required to set it in motion. While others are yawning and\nstretching themselves to overcome the _vis inertiae_, he has his eyes\nwide open, his faculties keyed up for action, and is thoroughly alive\nin every fiber. He walks through the world with his hands unmuffled and\nready by his side, and so can sometimes do more by a single touch in\npassing than a vacant man is likely to do by strenuous effort.\"\n\nLet no one conclude that nothing important can be accomplished by these\nscattered fragments. It is said that \"Hugh Miller found time while\npursuing his trade as a stone-mason, not only to read but to write,\ncultivating his style till he became one of the most facile and\nbrilliant authors of the day.\" Also, that Elihu Burritt \"acquired a\nmastery of eighteen languages and twenty-two dialects, not by rare\ngenius, which he disclaimed, but by improving the bits and fragments of\ntime which he could steal from his occupation as a blacksmith.\"\n\nWith these examples before us, then, let no one conclude that he can\nnot get time from his daily vocation, whatever it may be, to cultivate\nhis mind, and develop his moral and intellectual faculties. Another\nessential element in self-culture is\n\n    SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE.\n\n\"A man,\" says Emerson, \"is like a bit of Labrador spar, which has no\nlustre as you turn it in your hand until you come to a particular\nangle; then it shows deep and beautiful colors.\" There is no adaptation\nor universal applicability in man; but each has his special talent; and\nthe mastery of successful men consists in adroitly keeping themselves\nwhere and when that turn shall need oftenest to be practiced. The\nsuccessful man in every calling, whether literary, scientific or\nbusiness, is he who is _totus in illo_--who can say with Paul, this one\nthing I do! With the exception of a few great creative minds, the men\nwhose names are historic are identified with some one achievement, upon\nwhich all their life force is spent. \"Whatever I have tried to do in my\nlife,\" says Dickens, \"I have tried with all my heart to do well. What I\nhave devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely. Never to\nput one hand to a thing on which I would not throw my whole self, and\nnever to affect depreciation of my work, whatever it was, I find now to\nhave been golden rules.\" The fact is, the range of human knowledge has\nbecome so extensive that the man who would know some things well must\nhave the courage to be ignorant of many others. There are many things\nfor which one is wholly incapacitated; for which he has no talent, and,\nas a rule, time spent in this direction is time lost. Goethe justly\nsays: \"We should guard against a talent which we can not hope to\npractice in perfection. Improve it as we may, we shall always, in the\nend, when the merit of the master has become apparent to us, painfully\nlament the loss of time and strength devoted to such botching.\" Sidney\nSmith condemns what he calls the \"foppery of _universality_--of knowing\nall sciences and excelling in all arts.\" \"Now _my_ advice,\" he says,\n\"on the contrary, is to have the courage to be ignorant of a great\nnumber of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of\neverything.\"\n\nI do not mean that you should try to learn but one thing, or be a man\nor woman of one idea; far from it. I simply mean that you must be\nselect. Select your calling, and then bend all your energies in that\ndirection. Let those branches of knowledge that bear most directly on\nyour vocation be mastered first, then widen the circle as opportunity\naffords. Do not scatter your powers over so much territory that they\nare felt nowhere. It is only when the sun's rays are brought to a focus\nthat they burn. The man who is one thing this year, another next;\nstudies medicine a while, then law, is next a school-teacher, and then\nan insurance agent, will, in the end, be nothing. Men who are always\nchanging, never learn enough about anything to make it of any value.\nMen who are eminent in their professions have stuck to them with a\nsingleness of purpose. Men talk much about genius, when, generally, the\ngenius of which they speak is but the result of unremitting\napplication. The genius that blesses this world is simply a talent for\nhard work. They are men who have the resolution to try, and the courage\nto persevere. Idle men of the most eminent natural ability are soon\ndistanced in the race by the mediocre who sticks to his purpose and\nplods. Then, I repeat, if you would succeed in life, in whatever\ncalling you may select, divest yourself of the idea that you are a\ngenius and do not need the application demanded by common mortality;\nrely not on the caprices of fickle fortune; but rely on God and\nyourself, economize your time, apply yourself with diligence and with\nsingleness of purpose. With these you will be a blessing to the world,\nand fulfill the high and holy purposes of God in giving you being.\n\nSelf-culture looks not simply to time, but to eternity. No man is truly\ncultured who is not cultured for eternity. His culture is but\none-sided, and that the most inferior side. The well-rounded and\nperfected culture, though it may be only partial so far as the culture\nof this world is concerned, is the culture that prepares one to\nmatriculate in the great university over which God presides, and sit\nforever in delightful appreciation at the feet of the great Teacher.\nLet this, then, be the ultimatum of all your efforts.\n\nIt is for this reason that you should so highly appreciate this\ninstitution from which you go out to-day as honored students. While the\nvarious branches of the arts and sciences that pertain to this life,\nhave been carefully and accurately taught you, the great Science of\neternal life, if I may so term it, has been, I trust, indelibly\nengraved on your every heart. A college whose faculty is composed\nexclusively of Christian men and women, and in which the systematic\nstudy of the Bible by both ladies and gentlemen is made one of its most\nprominent features, will ever be most highly appreciated by those who\nappreciate true culture, and know in what it consists. I think I\nappreciate a high standard of education, and I want, if possible, to\ngive my children its advantages; but I should infinitely prefer their\nnever going beyond the common school than to be graduated with the\nfirst honors from the most renowned colleges or universities of Europe\nor America, in which the authority of Jesus is not held as supreme, and\nthe Bible honored as our only divine guide. Other things being equal,\nwe should always honor those institutions most that honor God's word\nmost. For this reason, then, as well as for many others, we delight to\nhonor this institution from whose fostering care you this day go forth.\n\nIn conclusion, let me entreat you to be what this world now most\nneeds--MEN and WOMEN. The world is now burdened with \"gentlemen and\nladies;\" but it is perishing for the want of MEN and WOMEN. The world\nneeds men and women that are true to themselves, true to each other,\nand true to God--men and women who know what manliness is, and what\nwomanly virtues are; who delight in the real, and scorn the\ncounterfeit; who have the courage to do right because it is right; who\nwould rather stand alone on the side of truth, than with the world on\nthe side of error; who are governed by high and holy principle, not by\nselfish policy. We need men and women that will create a healthier\npublic sentiment, rather than to float on that which exists; who will\nfrown out of countenance the fraud, dishonesty and meanness that now\nlifts high its head in society; who will not live in fine palaces,\ndrive fast horses, and occupy the first pews in the sanctuary, at ten\ncents on the dollar. The world needs men and women who have hearts and\nconsciences, as well as brains; who realize that they have a soul as\nwell as a body; who live for eternity rather than for time.\n\nGod grant that you may all make such men and women. That you may not\nonly be a blessing to the age and generation in which you live; but\nthat your influence for the \"true, the beautiful and the good,\" may be\nfelt like the gentle dews of heaven upon the earth, generations after\nyou are gathered to your fathers! May you be diligent and faithful in\nthe cultivation of your nobler powers of mind and heart till the world\nshall bless God that you have lived in it; then laying aside the body,\nin which you have fought the grand fight for righteousness and truth--a\nfight on which God and angels have looked with interest and delight--as\nyou would lay aside a worn-out garment, and passing through \"the gates\najar,\" enter on a higher plane of culture, where you will not have to\nrely upon self, and struggle against adversity as here; but where you\nwill have all the facilities of Heaven, and be forever pupils of the\ngreat Teacher!\n\n\n\n\nIII.--PLUS ULTRA VS. NE PLUS ULTRA.\n\n[An Address Delivered Before Eminence College, June 10, 1881.]\n\n\nLADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF EMINENCE COLLEGE:--It has ever been a delight\nto me to meet with the faculty and students of Eminence College on\nthese festive occasions. It is but natural that the hearts of those who\nhave gone out from these classic halls should turn on these gala days,\nand in feeling if not in fact, renew the fond associations of the past.\nThey are oases in the desert; well-springs to the thirsty soul in the\njourney of life. I should, therefore, be untrue to myself, and unjust\nto you, were I not to confess to a pardonable pride in the privilege of\naddressing for the second time one of the graduating classes of this\nrenowned institution. The subject on which I shall to-day address you\nis\n\n    \"_Plus Ultra vs. Ne Plus Ultra._\"\n\nSpain is the great southwestern peninsula of Europe. It juts out\nbetween two seas as does no other country of that continent. Before the\ndiscovery of America by Columbus, the Spaniards prided themselves on\nthe supposed fact that their country was the last point of solid land\non the earth westward. Beyond them, they thought, there was nothing but\na vast expanse of water--a shoreless ocean--a mystery never to be\nsolved. Consequently the early coins of that country, in order to give\nprominence to this idea, were indented with a picture of the pillars of\nHercules, the two great sentries on each side of the straits of\nGibraltar. Encircling these pillars on their coins was the inscription,\n_ne plus ultra_--nothing beyond. They imagined, therefore, that they\nconstituted the limits of creation; that beyond them there was nothing.\nConsequently, as in creation the last is the best, they gave to\nthemselves the preeminence. In this proud idea they rested and praised\nthe Lord. In their own estimation, therefore, they constituted the _ne\nplus ultra_ of God's favored people. Thus they constituted another\nproud monument of man's folly and ignorance, from which it is well to\ntake warning. In course of time, however, Columbus conceived the idea\nof another world west of Spain. After long years of discouragement,\nsufficient to crush the spirit of all but those of noble impulses and\nhigh resolves, he was permitted, with a small fleet, utterly\ninsignificant in this age, to sail westward. He thus discovered the\n_new world_ whose existence, if ever known before, had faded from the\nmemory of man. On his return, when the Spaniards became convinced that\na great continent lay to the west of them, they were compelled,\nhumiliating as it was, to change the inscription on their coins,\nencircling the pillars of Hercules, to _plus ultra_--more beyond. This\nthe demonstrated truth demanded. Thus the discovery of America took the\n_ne_ off of their proud motto, thus teaching them a lesson which should\nbe a lesson to the world. Their negation was changed to an affirmation.\nTheir boasted limit of creation was changed to an acknowledgment of the\nunknown beyond. Thus it has ever been in man's proud history. Thus it\nwill doubtless continue to be till we know as we are known. \"Whether\nthere be knowledge, it shall vanish away; for now we know only in part,\nbut then shall we know even also as we are known.\"\n\nThe first thought with which I would impress your minds to-day,\nespecially the minds of those who go out from this institution with the\nhonors of graduation, is that there is something beyond--the _plus\nultra_ of a collegiate education. One of the most fatal mistakes in\nsecuring a collegiate education is, that this is all. If one of you\nentertains the idea to-day that your education is \"finished,\" you will\nbe a failure. We hear much in this age about a \"finished education\" in\ncollege. Alas! there is too much truth in it. The education of many is\nthus \"finished,\" and their progress in life is also _finished_. A\ncollege course is not the end, but simply the means, of an education.\nThis is simply the foundation, not the structure. On this you are to\nhereafter build; otherwise the foundation will be worthless. Without\nthe after building the foundation itself will decay. This is alike the\nteaching of the history of man and the Son of God. On this foundation,\ntherefore, I would urge you to build, not for time only, but for\neternity. On it you should erect a noble structure, at once an ornament\nand a blessing to your race. This can not be done in a day. Patience\nand perseverance are the price of success. You must learn to \"labor and\nto wait.\"\n\nHow often do we see the scintillations of genius within college walls,\nof which we see or hear nothing after the day of graduation? On that\nday the sun of their brilliancy seems to set forever. Why is this?\nSimply because they think their graduation is the _ne plus ultra_ of\ntheir literary life.\n\nIt is not what we learn in college, but what we learn after leaving it,\nthat makes us what we are in after life. The value of a collegiate\neducation consists not in the amount of information it imparts, but in\na preparation for the accumulation and use of information. Not simply\nthe best minds, but the best students are those who win the prize in\nthe end. Not the best students in college, but the best students after\nleaving it, are those who make the world feel their power. Many study\nhard for the honors of graduation, and beyond this seem to have no\naspirations. If this is their _ne plus ultra_, then it is worthless.\nThis institution does not educate you for graduation; it graduates you\nfor education. Without this end in view, its labors would better cease.\nAn institution is honored not by what its students know on the day of\ncommencement, but by what they know and do ere they matriculate in the\ngreat university of worlds. It is, therefore, young ladies and\ngentlemen, to this end and not to this hour, that your teachers have\nfaithfully labored to bring you. Without this in view, you will miss\nthe grand purpose of your education thus far.\n\nDoubtless many of us know men and women who have not grown an inch\nsince the day that they went out from these or other halls of learning.\nThey may have promised much at the beginning. On their success high\nhopes were built. Loving hands were impatient to wreathe their brows\nwith the garlands of victory. But, alas! those hopes have been blighted\nand those garlands have withered. We see them in the pulpit, at the\nbar, and in all the other vocations of life. They are failures, not for\nwant of mind, but for want of application. They have not followed up\ntheir victories, and their victories have turned to defeat. They have\nbeen resting on the honor of faded laurels, that in their freshness so\nbecome you to-day. To gather these was the _ne plus ultra_ of their\nefforts, and hence the end of their success. Therefore, if any of you\nto-day look upon your graduation as the consummation of your literary\nstruggles, let me exhort you to change your motto, and, like the\nSpaniards, on the birth of the new world, discard the idea of a\npossessed _ultimatum_, and imprint upon your banner _plus ultra_--more\nbeyond.\n\nAs most of the graduating class are ladies, I feel the necessity of\nspeaking especially of their hopes and prospects. Till recently, the\nhindrances of woman's education and literary position have been great\nand discouraging. But, thanks to the religion of Jesus, her\ndisabilities have in Christian lands been removed. Woman was the\ncrowning workmanship of God, and she has received the crowning\nblessings of Christianity. By the blessing of Christianity, the\nintellectual and spiritual powers of woman are encouraged. The world is\noften dazzled by her genius, astonished at her resources, and subdued\nby her spirit. She has stood in the halls of learning, walked in the\ngroves of science, and gathered laurels on the mountains of fame. She\nhas stimulated the world's genius, soothed its passion, and strewed her\npathway through it with the sweetest flowers. Women have ever been the\nworld's brightest angels of mercy--\n\n    \"Whose company has harmonized mankind,\n    Soften'd the rude and calmed the boisterous mind.\"\n\nThere are positions in the world for which woman was not made. The\nfinishing touches of creation's wondrous works were too delicate to fit\nher for the political arena, the command of armies, or the founding of\nempires. She was made for higher and holier ends than these. She is\nadapted to a work more noble and more enduring. Her empire is in the\nheart, and her scepter one of spiritual dominion. Here she is a queen,\nand reigns without a rival. While there is a limit to her appropriate\nfield of action, there is no limit to her power. Some one has said:\n\"The current of female existence runs more within the embankments of\nhome.\" This is true, but her influence overflows those banks and\ninundates the world. Her influence may be compared to the sparkling\nrivulet that bursts from the mountain peak, then winding its way to the\nvalley below, it flows gently onward for thousands of miles, through\nrugged hills and fertile plains, bathing the feet of great cities and\nslaking the thirst of great countries, augmented by its tributaries,\ntill, bearing upon its bosom the commerce of a nation, it pours its\nflood of waters into the world's great ocean. As our grand Mississippi\nwill readily yield to an infant's touch, and yet bear upon its bosom\nthe proudest vessels of man's invention, so is the tenderness and the\npower of woman's influence.\n\nI have spoken of woman being the \"last of creation.\" This expression is\ngenerally used in a false sense. She was last because God created on an\nascending scale. She was, therefore, last in creation and first in\nredemption. She gave to the world its Saviour, and first proclaimed His\nbirth from the dead. She was His best friend while He was here, and has\nbeen most devoted to His cause during His absence. Hence where\nChristianity goes woman's power is felt. The extent to which woman is\nhonored marks to-day with unerring certainty the extent of a nation's\ncivilization.\n\nYoung ladies, you have before you a field of golden opportunities. Only\nthrust in your sickles and reap. In this age and country there are\ngreat potentialities to every young lady of a good mind and a pure\nheart. Let no one, therefore, be discouraged. Remember that there is\nsomething beyond--the _plus ultra_ of a well-begun life.\n\nHaving urged the necessity of _plus ultra_ as your motto, as against\n_ne plus ultra_, I may drop some profitable hints as to the\nattainment of success. You know that one may give good advice, though\nhe may not have profited by it himself.\n\nIn the first place, everything depends on work. Intense application is\nthe price of success. The world's benefactors are the world's hard\nworkers. \"Tickle the earth with a hoe, and it will laugh at you with a\nharvest.\" But it closes its fists against those who extend to it an\nidle hand. Many people contend that the world owes them a living, and\ngrumble that it does not pay the debt. What have they done for the\nworld to bring it into their debt? The world owes every man a living\nwhen he earns it by honest toil, and not before. Those who sow with a\nstingy hand may expect to reap a scanty harvest. You should, therefore,\nin whatever vocation you may elect, strive to succeed on this\nprinciple; otherwise you will not deserve success.\n\nYou should not be discouraged because surroundings are not favorable,\nand hope seems long deferred. Be not impatient of results. Do your\nwhole duty, and leave the consequences with the Lord. Never strive to\nbe great. Few men become great this way, and they never deserve it.\nTrue greatness comes as a result of devotion to principle and duty. The\nhighest and noblest success comes through a spirit of\nself-forgetfulness.\n\nLearn to be indifferent to surroundings. You need not catch the \"spirit\nof the age\" unless the \"spirit of the age\" is worth catching. When you\ncontemplate Marquis de Condorcet, in the dark days of the French\nRevolution, hiding in a lonely room in the city of Paris, while its\nstreets ran red with noble and innocent blood, quietly writing a book\nwhose subject was, \"_Man's Certain Progress to Liberty, Virtue, and\nHappiness_,\" you will understand what I mean.\n\nYou must learn to _think_; to think regardless of surroundings; to\nthink only of the thing of which you wish to think; and on this to\nconcentrate the whole power of your mind. This requires careful\ntraining; but this only is _education_. With this you have full command\nof all your resources; without this they avail but little. The great\nmotive power of the world is thought. Information without thought is\nsimply a peddler burdened with stale wares on a dead market. It is not\nwhat one knows, but what he can produce, that makes the world feel his\npower. Hence one must be a producer as well as a receiver. The world's\nthought must be regenerated in his own mind. He should turn the world's\ndead facts into living thoughts--\"Thoughts that breathe, and words that\nburn.\"\n\nAvoid fickleness of purpose. Decide to do something in harmony with\nyour endowments and the will of God, _and do it_. Many people of fine\nattainments and intellectual powers are spending their lives trying to\ndecide for what purpose the Lord made them. Before they determine what\nthey are good for, the world is certain to decide that they are good\nfor nothing. Life is too precious to be spent in hesitation. He who\nvacillates will do nothing. Concentration is power. The rays of the sun\nthat would hardly warm an infant's hand will, when concentrated by a\nlens, blister the palms of the hardiest sons of toil.\n\nIf we would make life a success, we must live for a purpose. He who\nlives simply for the sake of living, has no just conception of life.\nThose who live for the gratification of the flesh should remember that\nthe goat lives for the same purpose. How humiliating the thought, that\nso many of the cultured, as well as the ignorant; the rich as well as\nthe poor; the \"cream of society\" as well as its dregs, are thus living\non the low plane of animal life! The grand distinction between man and\nthe brute creation is in his _spirit_ nature. Without spiritual\nculture, every thought, every aspiration, every gratification, is of\nthe earth earthy. How sad, then, to see the gaudy \"butterflies of\nsociety\" spending their lives without a thought above that which alone\ncan lift them forever above the plane of animal life! It is sad thus to\nthink, but sadder still 'tis true. The enjoyment of \"society,\"\ntherefore, must not be your _ne plus ultra_, else life will be a\nfailure.\n\nIn order to the highest success, you should live fast, but not in the\nworld's bad sense of that word. I simply mean that your life should be\nintense. Mere existence is not life. Life is action. Life is not\nmeasured by time, but by experience. It is our duty, therefore, to live\nall we can in the time allotted us. The patriarchs lived longer than\nwe, but we may live more than they. This is a grand age in which we\nlive. We may now live more in fifty years than Methuselah did before\nthe flood. The time is short. Hence if we would live much we must live\nfast.\n\nBut here I anticipate an objection. You say, \"We shall shorten our days\nby fast living.\" Not by _this kind_ of fast living. The world will\nnever be troubled for burying ground for those who kill themselves\nsimply by hard work. It is not work, but worry, that wears men out. We\nhave too much friction in our lives. This must be stopped. An hour's\npassion will tell more on the constitution than a week's work. The\nlargest amount of action, with the smallest amount of friction, is the\nproblem before you; and he is the wisest philosopher who gives to us\nits best practical solution.\n\nI wish now to invite your attention to mistakes that men have made in\nsupposing that their knowledge was the _ne plus ultra_ of human wisdom.\nTime was when the alchemists thought they possessed the _ne plus ultra_\nof human knowledge, and that wisdom would die with them; yet their\nknowledge is now to chemistry what astrology is to astronomy. It is a\nsuperstition on whose claims no scientist would dare to risk his\nreputation. Now chemistry is the _ne plus ultra_ of human wisdom, and\nevery man is a fool who does not hold the key to the secret chambers of\nits hidden treasures! But how long till we shall have a new chemistry\nthat will render the old a bundle of laughable folly? The fact is, by\nthe advancement of human knowledge we demonstrate that our ancestors\nwere a set of fools, and our posterity will doubtless pay us the same\ncompliment! The philosophy of history should teach us to be modest, and\nto keep as our motto _plus ultra versus ne plus ultra_.\n\nModern science has demonstrated that of all unreliable things, ancient\nscience is the most unreliable. We should, therefore, expect to\neventually see modern science remanded to the same category. One of the\ngreatest inventors of the age, Mr. Edison, whose inventions have had to\ndo wholly with modern science, tells us that he has been constantly\nthrown off the track and misled by the frauds of science. He thus\nexpresses his estimate of the authorities in modern science:\n\n    \"They [the text-books] are mostly misleading. I get mad with myself\n    when I think I have believed what was so learnedly set out in them.\n    _There are more frauds in science than anywhere else_.... Take a\n    whole pile of them and you will find uncertainty, if _not\n    imposition_, in half of what they state as scientific truth. They\n    have time and again set down _experiments as done by them_,\n    curious, out-of-the-way experiments, _that they never did_, and\n    upon which they have founded so-called scientific truths. I have\n    been thrown off my track often by them, and for months at a time.\n    You see a great name, and you believe it. Try the experiment\n    yourself, and you find the result altogether different.... I tell\n    you I'd rather know nothing about a thing in science, nine times\n    out of ten, than what the books would tell me--for practical\n    purposes, for applied science, the best science, the only science,\n    I'd rather take the thing up and go through with it myself. I'd\n    find out more about it than any one could tell me, and I'd be sure\n    of what I know. That's the thing. Professor this or that will\n    controvert you out of the books, and prove out of the books it\n    can't be so, though you have it right in the hollow of your hand\n    all the time and could break his spectacles with it.\"\n\nThus it is that these authorities have been weighed in the balances and\nfound wanting. This is a marvelous age, an age of unsurpassed invention\nand discovery of truth, but it is not the _ne plus ultra_ of human\nwisdom--if we are to take any lessons from the past ages.\n\nThe wave theory of sound, which has been regarded as a settled\nscientific fact since the days of Pythagorean, is now vigorously\nattacked, and the adherents to the orthodox ground will have to rally\ntheir forces and reconsider their proofs, if they save the theory from\nslumbering among the follies of the past.\n\nIn the past few years the world has been startled by the bold theory of\nevolution, as advocated by Darwin, Haeckel, Huxley and others. Many\nhave felt uneasy about the foundations of our faith. But such alarm is\nall premature. The glaring contradictions of one another of these\nmodern apostles of a \"gospel of dirt,\" and their self-stultification,\nare enough to convince any thoughtful reader, that if the race has not\ndeveloped from apes, a few of them bear marks of descent from asses!\nThe credulity of this class of men is simply marvelous. They can\nbelieve that a moneron can be developed into a man, but can not believe\nin a miracle! Their wonderful development of a moneron into a man\nterminates with the boundary line of time, and thus the _ne plus ultra_\nis reached of their \"infinite progression!\"\n\nIn order to a proper appreciation of the present life, we must be\ndeeply impressed with the nature of that which lies beyond. No one can\nwell spend the present life who does not spend it in view of the life\nto come. Man must properly appreciate himself before he can live in\nharmonious relations with his being. No man can have that appreciation\nof himself essential to a true life, who believes that his ancestors\nwere monerons and mud-turtles!\n\nWhile there are many striking resemblances between animals and man,\njust such as we should expect to find from the hand of the same\nCreator, who began farthest from himself and worked to his own divine\nmodel, yet there are striking differentiae which demand profound\nconsideration. Animals come into the world with the knowledge of their\nancestors. The beaver knows just what its ancestors knew before the\nflood. It is born into the world with that transmitted knowledge. Its\nposterity will know no more during the millennium. On the contrary, man\nis born into the world an intellectual blank. However wise his parents,\nhe inherits not one idea. He knows absolutely nothing except what he\nlearns--learns from teachers and by experience. It would be\nincomprehensibly strange if man in his development from a mollusk,\nshould accumulate inherited knowledge till he reaches the _ne plus\nultra_ of terrestrial life, and then by a sudden break in the chain of\nnature lose it all, and come into the world a born fool!! This would be\n\"development,\" \"natural selection,\" and the \"survival of the fittest,\"\nwith a vengeance! Here is a chasm between man and the lower animals,\nmade by the hand of God, that human wisdom can never bridge.\n\nIn his intellectual, moral and spiritual development, man starts from\nzero. God has thus ordained it. He is dependent on progression for all\nthat he is and all that he is to be. God simply gives him a start in\nthis world, with the numberless ages of eternity before him for\ninfinite advancement. The idea, therefore, that \"death ends all\" nips\nin the bud this grand conception of man's greatness, and blights\nforever that which is noblest and truest in his nature. To regard this\nlife as the _ne plus ultra_ of man's development, is to charge nature\nwith a freak of folly, and an abortion in her best works. Men may laud\nhuman virtue for human virtue's sake; but if man is but the moth of a\nday, the fire-fly whose phosphorescent light flashes for a moment and\nthen goes out in eternal night, his virtues are but the tales of the\nhour that have their value in the telling. If this life is all there is\nof man, then he is the most unmeaning portion of the creation of God.\nThere is for him no perfection, no satisfying of his inherent wants,\nand the whole of his existence is a sham and a fraud. As Young has\nbeautifully said:\n\n    \"How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,\n    How complicate, how wonderful, is man!\n    How passing wonder He who made him such!\n    Who centered in our make such strange extremes,\n    From different natures marvelously mixed,\n    Connection exquisite of distant worlds!\n    Distinguished link in being's endless chain!\n    Midway from nothing to the Deity!\n    A beam ethereal, sullied, and absorbed!\n    Though sullied and dishonored, still divine!\n    Dim miniature of greatness absolute!\n    An heir of glory! a frail child of dust!\n    Helpless immortal! insect infinite!\n    A worm! a God!--I tremble at myself,\n    And in myself am lost. At home, a stranger.\n    Thought wanders up and down, surprised, aghast,\n    And wondering at her own. How reason reels!\n    O, what a miracle to man is man!\n    Triumphantly distressed! What joy! what dread!\n    Alternately transported and alarmed!\n    What can preserve my life? or what destroy?\n    An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave;\n    Legions of angels can't confine me there.\"\n\nIt is only when we thus look beyond this life, and contemplate his\nrelation to the Deity, that we realize the true dignity of man.\n\nIt is natural that you should desire power--power to bless the race and\nbring it nearer to God. Do not be discouraged if you do not find this\npower clothed in the world's pomp and parade. The most God-like power\ncomes not in this way. God works by quiet forces that man may scorn but\ncan not equal. Behold that mountain of ice in the polar sea held by the\nrelentless grip of a winter's frost. All the engineering power of man\ncould not shake it upon its throne. All the locomotives in the world\ncould not move it an inch. But nature unveils her smiling face when the\nspringtime comes, the sun sheds upon it his gentle rays, noiseless as\nthe grave, too mild to hurt an infant's flesh, and soon these mountains\nof ice relax their grip and glide away into the great deep! This is\npower. This power you may possess, and should strive to possess,\nthrough the gentle forces of a regenerated nature, till the quiet\ninfluences you exert for God will pass beyond the bounds of time and be\nexpended on a shoreless eternity.\n\nIn conclusion, then, let me urge you to live for eternity, and let the\nlife that now is be with reference to that which is to come. Then will\nyou progress from the low plane of our terrestrial sphere to\nassociation with God, and eternity alone will mark the _ne plus ultra_\nin intellectual and spiritual development toward the Divine Being.\n\n\n\n\nPART III.--SELECTIONS.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nI.--CHRIST THE LAMB OF GOD.\n\n    \"Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world\"\n    (John i. 29)\n\n\nThe New Testament presents a many-sided view of Christ. From each point\nof view he appears in a new relation, and we study him in a different\ncharacter. We can see but one side of a mountain by approaching it from\nonly one direction. We must view it from every point from which it\npresents a different aspect, before we have seen it as it is. So we\nshould study Christ in the many characters in which He is introduced\nupon the sacred page, that we may understand more of the many dear\nrelations He sustains to us. The more we know of Him in His various\nrelations, the more we will love Him and the better we will serve Him.\n\nWe therefore purpose a number of articles under the general title of\n\"New Testament Views of Christ.\" They will appear, we trust, with as\nmuch regularity as the press of other matters will permit.\n\nAfter the temptation, Jesus returned to where John was baptizing, and\nbegan the work of gathering about Him His apostles. On different\noccasions, as Jesus moved among the multitudes during this visit, John\npointed Him out as the Lamb of God. And John said, \"I knew him not; but\nhe that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever\nthou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon him, the same is\nhe that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne\nwitness that this is the Son of God\" (John i. 33, 34). Both before and\nafter this statement, John calls Him the Lamb of God. John knew that He\nwas to make the Messiah manifest to Israel by His baptism, for God had\ntold him so. He did not know Jesus to be the Christ till after His\nbaptism, yet he shrank back from the idea of baptizing him, and pleaded\nhis unworthiness. He was worthy, and specially appointed of God, to\nmake manifest the Messiah, but gave way under a sense of unworthiness\nat the thought of baptizing his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth! What a flood\nof light does this pour upon the private life of the Son of Mary! John\nknew Jesus as a _man_; and while he doubtless had hopes that He was the\nlong-promised One, he did not _know_ it, and could not base his refusal\nof baptism on that ground. John was baptizing for the remission of\nsins, and required those whom he baptized to confess their sins, and\nhis knowledge of the spotless life of Jesus caused him to shrink at the\nthought of administering to Him such a baptism. Thus impressed with the\npurity and innocence of Jesus, it is not strange that he should call\nHim the Lamb of God.\n\nBut innocence is not the only prominent feature in contemplating Jesus\nas a lamb. The idea of sacrifice to which innocence and purity are\nessential has pre-eminence. The first accepted offering on the earth,\nof which we have an account, was a lamb. It was offered in faith; hence\nby divine direction. That Abel saw anything in it beyond an act of\nsimple obedience to God in an arbitrary appointment, we have no reason\nto believe. He did what God directed, and because it was directed. This\nis the essential element of obedience in all ages, regardless of the\nthing required. Nothing else can be the \"obedience of faith.\"\n\nWhat different conceptions had God and Abel of that sacrifice! Abel saw\nin it only a \"firstling of his flock.\" God saw in it His own Son--\"the\nLamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.\" Not only so, but on\nthis account was it directed. The fact that this was not revealed to\nAbel, shows that God intends us to obey Him in what He directs, without\nbeing concerned about the reasons He has for the requirement. He who\nsees the end from the beginning makes the first in execution conform to\nthat which is to be last. Hence, the first act of worship, and every\nsubsequent act, from the divine point of view, harmonizes with the\nperfection which in the fullness of times, was given us in Christ\nJesus. The lamb of Abel borrowed all its value and significance from\nthe Lamb of God. While we are enabled to see this through the\ndevelopment of the scheme of redemption, he was not; and the fact that\nhis act of simple obedience in ignorance of God's far-seeing purposes\nis recorded as an example for us, is of unspeakable value to the child\nof faith.\n\nDuring the four thousand years in which God was preparing the world for\nChrist, both in patriarchal and Jewish worship, a lamb without spot or\nblemish was the most prominent offering for sin. In every case the\noffering was made as directed, and when made, the worshiper was assured\nthat his sin was forgiven. Christ is our sin-offering--the Lamb of God\nthat takes away our sins--and we must present Him before God as\ndivinely directed. We may build no strange fire on God's altars. We may\nsubstitute nothing for Christ as an offering for sin, and no ways of\nour own for God's way, in His presentation.\n\nIn viewing Christ as the Lamb of God--the Lamb slain from the\nfoundation of the world--the prominent feature of His saving\nrelationship to us is His _blood_. Hence we are redeemed, not with\nsilver and gold and perishable things, \"but with the precious blood of\nChrist, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.\" As a Lamb,\nChrist is sin-atoning. His power to save is not in the innocence of His\nlife, but the merits of His death. The sacrifice of an innocent life is\nGod's wisdom and power to save the world. Let us remember it was for\n_us_ He was led as a lamb to the slaughter; that _our_ sins were laid\nupon Him; that He was bruised for _our_ iniquities; that He bore _our_\nsins in His bosom on the tree; that by His stripes we are healed; that\nin His innocent life and sacrificial death, we behold the Lamb of God\nthat taketh away the sin of the world.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nII.--CHRIST THE BREAD OF LIFE.\n\n    \"I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat the manna in the\n    wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which cometh down out\n    of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living\n    bread which came down out of heaven; if any man eat of this bread,\n    he will live forever; yea, and the bread which I will give is my\n    flesh, for the life of the world\" (John vi. 48-51).\n\n\nWhen the Israelites came out of Egypt and started on their wilderness\njourney to the promised land, they found themselves without sustenance.\nThe land furnished no supplies. In this respect they were cut off from\nearthly resources. In their emergency they cried unto the Lord, and God\ngave them bread from heaven. Each day they gathered the necessary\nsupply. The amount for the Sabbath was gathered the day preceding.\nBeyond this there was no collection for future use. An effort to save\nit proved a disgusting failure. Forty years did the daily supply of\nmanna fail not, till they reached the land that God had promised.\n\nThe bread on which God fed His people from the land of bondage to the\nland of Canaan was a type of Christ. This is asserted by both Paul and\nthe Saviour. As such it is worthy of careful study.\n\n1. The Israelites were wholly dependent on the daily bread which God\ngave. This was a want which the world could not supply. They must feed\nupon the heaven-supplied food or die. So is every one thus dependent on\nthe bread of life. The world can not supply the wants of the child of\nGod. He needs a daily food which the world does not produce. The world\nis to him a spiritual desert. He can not look to it to meet the wants\nof his spiritual nature. Being born from above, he has to live from\nabove. When he seeks to gratify the cravings of his carnal nature by\nturning back to the flesh-pots of Egypt, he languishes and dies.\n\nBe it remembered that this bread of life is Christ. It is not some\ntheory about Him. It is not some system of theology of man's\nformulation. Men may feed upon systems and theories till their souls\nare dwarfed and starved. Such feeding makes partisans and cold-blooded\nsectarians, without imparting divine life to the soul. We must come\ndirectly to Christ. Through His holy word we must study Him, assimilate\nour lives to His, feed upon Him as the bread from heaven, and drink in\nof His gracious spirit. The world took knowledge of the saints of old,\nthat they had been with Jesus. And so it may now easily decide as to\nthose of such holy companionship.\n\n2. Christ is the bread of life. As such He has to be appropriated.\nThere is no virtue in bread to sustain life until it is appropriated\nand assimilated to the system. Men may starve within reach of\nabundance. God supplies the bread of life, but He does not compel men\nto eat it. They are urged to eat and live, but they may refuse and die.\nOh, the millions in our land who are starving for the bread of life,\nwhen it is offered them day by day! Unless we eat the body of the Son\nof God we have no life. Our salvation, therefore, depends upon eating.\nYet there is no virtue in the act of eating. The virtue is in the thing\neaten. It is not putting on your coat that makes you warm, but the coat\nafter it is on. Faith is a condition of salvation; but there is no\npower to save in believing. The saving virtue is in the thing believed.\nSo we may substitute nothing for that which God has given. We must eat\nthe bread which God provides, else all our eating will be in vain.\n\n3. It is well understood by all classes that the wants of the physical\nman need to be daily supplied. To meet these demands, is the chief\nconcern of the great mass of humanity. Observe that young man. He is in\nthe vigor of robust manhood. He has just enjoyed a night's refreshing\nsleep and a hearty breakfast. His system seems to be overflowing with\nan excess of vitality. He goes forth to his work boastful of his\nstrength. But how many hours is it till nature cries aloud for the\nreplenishing of his strength? How long can he live on the boastful\nsupply of his physical manhood? A few days finds him as helpless as a\nbabe. So essential is physical food to physical life.\n\nNor is spiritual food less essential to spiritual life. As new-born\nbabes we need the unadulterated milk of the word, that we may grow\nthereby. As men and women, we need the strong meat adapted to our\nmaturity. The great mistake is in trying to live the spiritual life\nwithout spiritual food. The strong men in Christ are the good feeders.\nThose who feed upon the bread of heaven will develop in that which is\nheavenly. No man has religion enough at the start to take him through\nlife, unless he dies early. The foolishness of the five foolish virgins\nconsisted in their not taking an additional supply of oil. So it is now\nwith every one who does not daily replenish his supply of spirituality.\nHe who tries to live without communion with God--in reading, in\npraying, in meditation and obedience to the divine will--will end in\nshameful failure.\n\nChristian character is a growth, not a divine impartation. God does not\ngive spiritual strength in an arbitrary way. He provides the means to\nthat end. If we use them, strength results. If we neglect them, we die\nin feebleness. The means in the figure before us is the bread of life,\nand the bread of life is Christ. There is an absolute necessity,\ntherefore, for feeding upon Him. From Him all spiritual strength is\nderived. He is the source of all life. He said to His disciples:\n\"Without me, ye can do nothing.\" As the branch draws its nourishment\nand fruit-bearing qualities from the vine, so we draw all spirituality\nand fruitfulness from Christ. We are fruitful in proportion as we abide\nin the Vine; and we are strong in proportion to our feeding on the\nbread of life.\n\n4. God permitted Israel to gather manna for one day only at a time. So\nin teaching His disciples to pray, the Saviour said: \"Give us this day\nour daily bread.\" Our bread of life is a never-failing supply. There\nwas no need of laying up manna, for God gave a fresh and abundant\nsupply every morning. This daily supply never ceased till their\npilgrimage was over. Of this they had assurance. Hence an attempt to\nlay up a supply for future use was to distrust the God of their\nfathers. The true bread of heaven is as unfailing as was the typical\nbread of the wilderness. God's people will ever have an abundant supply\nof that bread of which, if a man eats, he shall never hunger. Hence the\nSaviour says: \"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the\nworld.\"\n\n5. The world has been greatly concerned about food for six thousand\nyears. The gratification of the appetite has both blessed and cursed\nthe race. Life has ever depended upon food; hence food has been the\nchief concern of man. During the history of the world the race has been\nignorant of the processes of digestion and assimilation. They have\nknown nothing of the chemistry of this source of life. They have gone\non from age to age building up their bodies by taking food, wholly\nignorant of the process by which it was done. The value of the thing\neaten has never depended on a knowledge of the process by which it was\nassimilated. We thank God that it is thus with the bread of life. We\nmay never expect to comprehend the \"mystery of godliness\" in this life.\nJust how the bread of life enables us to live forever, we are not\nconcerned to know. It is enough for us to know that it is so. Let us,\nthen, appropriate this rich provision of God's grace, and the blessing\nwill be ours.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nIII.--CHRIST THE WATER OF LIFE.\n\n    \"Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this\n    water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that\n    I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall\n    give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto\n    eternal life\" (John iv. 13, 14).\n\n    \"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and\n    cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink\"\n    (John vii. 37).\n\n    \"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a\n    spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ\" (I.\n    Cor. x. 4).\n\n\nTwice was a rock smitten by Moses in the wilderness to supply the\nIsraelites with water. The first was at Rephidim, in the wilderness of\nSin, during the first year of their Exodus, before they came to Mount\nSinai. The second was at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, in the\nfortieth year of the Exodus. It is evident that the apostle refers to\nthe first of these, though we can hardly think, with most commentators\nknown to us, that he does so exclusively. The fact that the rock\nfollowed them, as a type of Christ, in their wilderness life, demands\nthat it be from the beginning, rather than the end, of their journey.\nAnd the fact that many who drank of it fell in the wilderness, requires\nthe same conclusion. But for reasons yet to appear, we think the two\nare considered as one. The miracle was in all respects the same in the\nsecond as in the first. There was the same dependence for life on the\nsecond as the first. There was the same necessity that the second rock\nor stream should follow them as there was of the first; for they were\nyet a long way from Canaan, with a waterless desert before them. We\ncan, therefore, see no reason why the first should be a type of Christ\nand not the second.\n\nWas it the stream or the rock which followed the Israelites? Paul says\nthe rock. But commentators seem generally to agree that the \"rock\" is\nhere put by metonymy for the water of the rock, Barnes says, \"It would\nbe absurd to suppose that the rock that was smitten by Moses literally\nfollowed them in the wilderness.\" Just why it is more \"absurd\" to\nsuppose the rock followed them, than the stream from a stationary\nfountain at Horeb, we are wholly unable to see. Let us look at the\nfacts and probabilities in the case.\n\nWe must keep in view the important fact, as mentioned in the last\nchapter, that these people were _dependent on God_. They had seen the\nmighty hand of God in their delivery, and now they were to be taught\ndependence on Him, as the only source of life. They had, therefore, to\nbe sustained by miraculous food and miraculous drink. The country\nsupplied neither food nor water. The miraculous supply of water was as\ngreat a necessity as that of bread. For two or three millions of\npeople, with their flocks and herds, a large stream, even a small\nriver, would be required. It is also true that their cattle had to have\nfood, as well as themselves. Just how this was furnished, we are not\ntold. Here is a large field for conjecture. It is generally held that\nthe river continued to flow from a stationary source at Horeb, and that\nit irrigated the country in its following of the people, and thus\ncaused vegetation for the flocks and herds. But in the fortieth year\nthey are again found without water. Why was this? What had become of\nthe river that had followed them from the first year, if it was the\nriver, and not the rock, that followed them? On this point we can not\nrefrain from quoting Macknight and Barnes, as examples of how learned\ncommentators, led by a theory, sometimes drop their readers into a\nperfect abyss of darkness. Macknight says: \"For as Wall observes, from\nHoreb, which was a high mountain, there may have been a descent to the\nsea; and the Israelites during the thirty-seven years of their\njourneying from Mount Sinai may have gone by those tracts of country in\nwhich the waters from Horeb could follow them, till in the thirty-ninth\nyear of the Exodus they came to Ezion-gaber (Num. xxxiii. 36), which\nwas a part of the Red Sea a great way down the Arabian side, where it\nis supposed the waters from Horeb went into that sea.\" Barnes says:\n\"Mount Horeb was higher than the adjacent country, and the water that\nthus gushed from the rock, instead of collecting into a pool and\nbecoming stagnant, would flow off in the direction of the sea. The sea\nto which it would naturally flow would be the Red Sea. The Israelites\ndoubtless, in their journeyings, would be influenced by the natural\ndirection of the water, or would not wander far from it, as it was\ndaily needful for the supply of their wants. At the end of thirty-seven\nyears we find the Israelites at Ezion-gaber, a seaport on the eastern\nbranch of the Red Sea, where the waters probably flowed into the sea\n(Num. xxxiii. 36). In the fortieth year of their departure from Egypt,\nthey left this place to go into Canaan, by the country of Edom, and\nwere immediately in distress again by the want of water.\"\n\nThese comments involve several objectionable features. (1) The\nIsraelites were guided in their course by the pillar of cloud and fire;\nnot by the stream of water on its course to the sea. (2) Paul says the\nrock followed them; not that they followed the river. (3) We can not\nallow that when God sets out to work a miracle, He is defeated by\nnatural causes. The idea that the river ran into the sea, and left the\nchildren of Israel without water, just because the situation would\nnaturally lead to that result, is to let go the miracle and have God\ndefeated, because the surroundings are not favorable! The idea that God\ncould cause a river to flow from a flinty rock, and then have to leave\nit to seek its natural way to the sea, leaving His people destitute\nwhen the surface of the country would be in the way of its natural\nflow, is equaled only by admitting that God created the heavens and the\nearth, but could not give sight to the blind or call Lazarus out of the\ngrave. We, therefore, repeat the question, If the river followed the\npeople, what became of it when they came into the wilderness of Zin?\n\nOn the hypothesis that it was the rock which followed them, just as\nPaul says it was, there is nothing unreasonable in the supposition that\nfor some cause, not given, God withheld the flow of water to chastise\nthem for their wickedness, as He did in other ways, and make them\nrealize their dependence. As favoring this idea, when they were\ndestitute the second time, and cried unto Moses in their distress, God\ntold him to gather the people together and speak unto _the rock_. Not\nonly was there a suitable rock present for the second river of water,\nbut it seemed to be a particular rock. Hence designated \"_the_ rock.\"\nOur conclusion is, therefore, that the two rocks were one; that it\nfollowed the Israelites during their entire journey to Canaan,\nsupplying the people with the _fresh_ out-gushings of its crystal\nstream. That rock was typical of Christ, and the blessings of Christ\nare never stale or stagnant, as the water from a fountain in Horeb\nwould have been, after winding its sluggish way through the parched\ndesert of Arabia.\n\n\"That rock was Christ.\" That is, it was a type of Him. All those\ntransactions were typical. \"Now these things happened unto them by way\nof types; and they were written for our admonition.\"\n\n\"A dry and thirsty land where no water is,\" well represents this world\nto one who has not an ever-present Saviour as the fountain of the water\nof life. As the Israelites would have perished without the crystal flow\nfrom the flinty rock, so perishes the world without Christ. There is no\nappetite more distressing than thirst. There is nothing more delightful\nthan the cooling draught to the parched throat. Oh, to those who thus\n\"thirst after righteousness,\" how delightful it is to be \"filled\"! \"As\nthe heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after\nthee, O God.\" Only the thirsty can appreciate drink; so only those who\nfirst feel the need of a Saviour can experience the joy of salvation.\nNot only shall the thirsty soul be satisfied that drinks of the water\nof life, but it shall \"become within him a well of water springing up\nunto eternal life.\" This refreshing and ever-present fountain of life\nflows for all. \"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.\" To\nslake one's thirst at this fountain, is a foretaste of the river of\nlife that flows from beneath the throne in the eternal city of God.\nMany who drank of the typical water of the wilderness, fell under the\ndispleasure of God, and died short of the promised land. Hence we\nshould be careful to live ever near to the water of life, that our\nthirsty souls may be continually supplied, and our strength renewed.\nOnly by being constantly refreshed can we be saved from perishing in\nthe wilderness and kept unto the land of God beyond.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nIV.--CHRIST THE SON OF GOD.\n\n    \"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God\" (Matt. xvi. 16).\n\n    \"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth\n    in him and he in God\" (I. John iv. 15).\n\n    \"And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth\n    that Jesus is the Son of God?\" (I. John v. 5).\n\n\nIn one sense all men are sons of God. In a much dearer sense all\nChristians are sons and daughters of the Almighty. But the relationship\nof Christ to the Father is infinitely above this. He is _the_ Son of\nGod. God is His Father by direct production, without the agency of a\nhuman father. The same divine power that can create life through the\nagency of man, can create it without such agency. Hence there is\nnothing to stumble over in the idea of the miraculous conception, to\none who fully accepts the God of the Bible in the character in which He\nis revealed as a divine creator. To accept God as the creator of heaven\nand earth, and then stagger at His performance of any miracle is a\nlogical absurdity.\n\nJesus claimed to be the Son of God in the high sense that involved\nequality with the Father. He said: \"I and the Father are one.\" On\naccount of this relationship, \"He thought it not robbery to be equal\nwith God.\" His enemies understood that this equality was involved in\nHis claim; hence they charged Him with blasphemy in making Himself\nequal with God.\n\nThis was a high claim on the part of the Nazarene. He claimed to be\nmore than a man. When some said that He was John, or Elijah, or\nJeremiah, or some one of the prophets, they underestimated Him\naccording to His claim. The greatest prophet, or inspired teacher, that\nhad ever appeared among men, _even if raised from the dead as the\nspecial messenger of God to His people_, could not meet the demands\ninvolved in the claim of Jesus, that He was the Son of God.\n\nThis high claim had to be sustained by two distinct lines of\ntestimony--miracles and a sinless life. The purpose of miracles is to\nestablish the claims of the miracle-worker and to glorify God. The\nmiracles of Jesus establish His divine mission and claim to the\nMessiahship. No man could do the miracles He did \"except God be with\nhim;\" and God would not be with one who was advocating false claims.\nThe enemies of Jesus understood this; hence they said: \"God heareth not\nsinners.\" Miracles are the substratum of the foundation underlying our\nfaith.\n\nWhile the divine claims of Jesus are attested by His miracles, the\nevidence is crowned by His sublime character. His life is itself among\nthe most wonderful of miracles. As a child of poverty and a son of\ntoil, He lived thirty years among men. When He afterwards claimed to be\nthe Son of God, He had many bitter enemies. They persecuted Him even\nunto death, and yet not one of them ever pointed to an act of His\nprivate life as inconsistent with, or unworthy of, His divine claim.\nThis simple fact speaks volumes as to the purity of His life. The world\nhas contained but one such. The very life which His claims require is\nthe life revealed on the sacred page.\n\nInfidels have ordinarily contented themselves with mere negations. They\nseem not to realize the fact that in denying some things they are\nlogically bound to account for others. If we deny the claim of Jesus\nthat He is the Son of God, then we have to account for His miracles,\nHis life, the disposal of His entombed body, and the establishment and\ndevelopment of His kingdom. These are facts. As such they have to be\naccounted for. On the hypothesis that Jesus is the Christ, all\ndifficulty vanishes. On any other, it is more than the world has yet\nbeen able to meet. Skeptics laud the character of Jesus as a model of\npurity, such as the world has never elsewhere found, and yet deny the\nclaim on which was based His mission to men and on which He built His\nchurch. How the establishment of a religion upon a known falsehood can\nharmonize with a life of faultless purity, they do not pretend to tell\nus, for it is a palpable absurdity. How His disciples could testify on\na point of fact in regard to which they could not be mistaken, and\nsurrender all worldly position and comfort, and life itself, to\nestablish a known falsehood in the hearts of men, in which they--the\nwitnesses--could have no personal interest, they leave in the Egyptian\ndarkness characteristic of their system. How can he account for\nAmerican history and American institutions who denies the existence of\nWashington, or claims that he was a disreputable impostor? How, then,\nshall he account for the history and institutions of civilization who\ndenies to Jesus of Nazareth existence as a man of that age and country,\nor makes Him a base deceiver and vile impostor?\n\nThat Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is the fundamental, pivotal\nfact in the Christian religion. It underlies every other feature of the\nChristian system. On it turn the value and significance of every other\nitem of the faith. Everything takes position with regard to this, and\nderives its value from it. With this, all else stands by divine\nappointment, and bears the seal of heaven. Without it, the whole system\nis but as the chaff which the wind driveth away.\n\nWhen the proposition is established that Jesus is the Son of God, every\nother feature of the Christian system rests upon _authority_. Nothing\nelse has to be proved as this does. Before establishing this proposition,\nthe word of Jesus settles nothing. After its establishment, it settles\neverything. When we accept Him as the Christ, we accept all else on His\nauthority. Hence He says, \"Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not\nthe things which I say?\" \"All authority hath been given unto me in\nheaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all\nnations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son,\nand of the Holy Spirit.\" The making and baptizing of disciples rests\nupon the authority of Jesus, and that authority is based upon His\nMessiahship. So of every other item of the Christian system of faith.\n\nThe great inconsistency and consequent weakness of the religious world,\nis in not accepting the simple authority of Jesus as conclusive and\nwholly sufficient on any matter on which He has expressed the divine\nmind. As the Son of God and coronated Lord of lords, His authority is\nsupreme, and His word is law. What He says is to be accepted as\ninfallibly true, and the end of all controversy. Whatever He directs is\nto be done, simply because He directs it. Whatever else we may consider\na corroborative reason, the direction of Jesus alone is to determine\nour action. Only this can be the obedience of faith. And in regard to\nwhat He directs, there can be no compromise. The King speaks to be\nobeyed, not to be argued with. It is His prerogative to command; ours\nto obey.\n\nJesus made His authority the controlling principle in His religion.\nWhere this is maintained, the religion of Christ is preserved in its\npurity. Where it is disregarded, anything follows that the tastes and\nfollies of men may demand. The religion of Christ is pure or corrupt in\nproportion as His authority is observed or ignored.\n\nThe authority of Jesus can not be separated from His appointments. His\nentire authority is embodied in each of His appointments. Hence he who\ndisregards an appointment of Jesus Christ, disregards His authority.\nAnd he who disregards His authority, ignores His Lordship. The man who\ndeliberately refuses to do what Christ directs, ignores the authority\nof his Lord, and dethrones the Son of the living God. Yet how much of\nthis do we see among men! Not only in the world, but in the church as\nwell. It seems strange that one should make a profession of the\nreligion of Christ, and yet thus ignore His Lordship. The authority of\nJesus against a life of indifference in the church, of non-attendance,\nof want of cooperation in the work of the Lord, against carnality,\npleasure-loving, worldliness, the lusts of the flesh, want of\nspirituality, and such like, is as direct and positive as that against\nrejecting the gospel of Christ; and yet how many church members, all\nover our land, are disregarding the authority of Jesus in these\nmatters. Those who make a profession of religion and live in the church\nwithout continuing to honor the Lord Jesus by regarding His authority\nand complying with His will, would better have never known the way of\nlife. The authority of Jesus follows us to the grave, and is never\nrelaxed for a day. His will, not ours, is to rule in our life. Our\ndesires, however strong, are to be subordinated to the mind of Him who\ngave His life for ours, and said, \"all authority in heaven and on earth\nis given unto me.\"\n\nIt is the height of inconsistency, therefore, to exalt the name of\nJesus in words and professions, and speak lightly of, or disregard any\none of His appointments. It is not only inconsistent; it is disloyal\nand wicked. This is the great stumbling-block in our way to the\nindorsement of Mr. Moody and such men. We care not what else he may be,\nwe can indorse no man who tears in two the commission of Jesus Christ.\nHe who refuses to \"speak as the oracles of God speak,\" in order to\npromote his work, is not doing the work that God would have him do. We\ncan not honor Christ without honoring His teaching, and we can not\nhonor His teaching by withholding a part of it from those inquiring the\nway of eternal life. We can honor Jesus as the Son of God only by\ndeclaring His whole counsel, and yielding submissively in all things to\nHis divine authority.\n\nThis acceptance of Jesus as an infallible teacher, as one whose every\nword is to be believed simply because He said it, and whose every\ndirection is to be observed simply because He directs it, whose spirit\nis to be possessed and cultivated to the transforming of the life, till\nwe grow into the divine image and become partakers of the divine\nnature, is all involved in the \"good confession\": Jesus is the Christ,\nthe Son of the living God.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nV.--CHRIST THE SON OF MAN.\n\n    \"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but\n    the Son of man hath not where to lay his head\" (Matt. viii. 20).\n\n    \"Who do men say that the Son of man is?\" (Matt. xvi. 13).\n\n    \"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must\n    the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him\n    have eternal life\" (John iii. 14).\n\n\nIt is a matter of profound gratitude that our Saviour was a man. \"The\nSon of man,\" as well as \"the Son of God,\" was essential to His great\nwork of bringing salvation to the race. In one sense we are all sons of\nman, but not as He was. He was not simply the Son of Mary and her\nancestors. He was the Son of humanity. He was equally akin to the race.\nHe touches humanity at every angle and on every side. While He was the\nSon of David according to the flesh, He is the kinsman of the race as a\npartaker of our common nature. \"Since the children are sharers in flesh\nand blood, he also himself, in like manner, partook of the same.\" He\nignored all accidental relationships closer than this shared by the\nrace. The members of His own household obtained not a blessing which He\ndid not as freely bestow on others. The fact that He did not manifest\ngreater partiality toward His mother has been a matter of comment. The\nsimple fact is, that the relationship with which we are concerned, and\nof which the inspired record treats, is to the race; hence it is not\nconcerned about His personal family affections. His brothers and\nsisters and mothers are those who hear His word and keep it.\n\nThe world has ever had too far-away ideas of God. It has contemplated\nGod at a great distance. It puts Him beyond the stars. Indeed, the\nstars fade away from view in the distance behind us, as we ascend in\nimagination to the dwelling-place of the Most High. The world can never\nbe suitably impressed with God's presence while it holds Him at a\ndistance. He can never be sensibly near unto us while we keep Him\nbeyond the stars. Nor can we be influenced by the idea of His presence\ntill we learn that \"he is not far from each one of us.\"\n\nGod tried to impress His people anciently with the idea of His presence\nby various visible manifestations. Abraham realized time and again that\nGod was his present companion and friend. When Jacob saw the ladder\nreaching to heaven, and angels ascending and descending on it, he said,\n\"Surely, the Lord is in this place.\" And when Moses drew near to see\nthe burning bush, a voice from its flame demanded the removal of the\nsandals from his feet, for the ground on which he stood was holy\nground.\n\nGod impressed Israel with the awfulness of His presence as a Lawgiver,\nwhom the nations were to honor, by His voice from Mount Sinai which\n\"shook the earth.\" The glorious manifestation of God's presence at the\ntabernacle, in the midst of the camp of Israel, impressed them with the\nfact that the God of their fathers was with them; that He was in their\nmidst; that He had not forgotten His covenant; and that He would be\nwith them to sustain them in every emergency till the end. With all\nthis, they often forgot God and went astray. What would they have done\nwithout it?\n\nIn the person of Jesus, God perfected the divine purpose of bringing\nHimself into a realized nearness to the human family. He clothed\nHimself in our humanity, and became one with us. We are thus enabled to\nlook upon Him, to contemplate Him, not as a great, self-existing\nSpirit, incomprehensible and awful, but as a _man_. Jesus was a man;\nand \"in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.\" He is God\nmanifest in flesh. And as God is thus manifest, would He have us\napprehend Him. Just, therefore, as we can appreciate the nearness of\nJesus as a loving and sympathizing kinsman, may we appreciate the\nnearness of His Father and our God.\n\nIt is evident that men need a God to whom they can get sensibly near.\nThere is no profit in the worship of a God of abstractions. There is in\nit no food for the soul. What is there to satisfy the languishing soul\nin a prayer to the \"Great Unknown and Unknowable\"? They that come to\nGod must believe that He _is_. And that \"is\" is a personal divine\nbeing, into whose arms we may cast our helpless selves, and on whose\nbosom we may pillow our weary head; instead of a great, bewildering,\nincomprehensible abstraction, \"without body, parts, or passions.\"\n\nWe are brought into a sacred nearness with God in the life of Jesus.\nFrom His bed in the manger to His rest in a borrowed grave, we have a\nlife of abject poverty. He was the friend and companion of the poor.\nThe world is full of poverty, and ever will be. But the poorest of\nevery age and country find a companion and friend, of like sufferings\nwith themselves, in the person of Jesus. The cares and sorrows of life,\nresulting from poverty, of which the world knows most as a daily\nburden, were fully realized by Him; and in it all He is a deeply\nsympathetic friend.\n\nJesus was a man of labor. The hands so often extended to bless\nhumanity, and through which the cruel nails were driven, were hardened\nby daily toil. He never did a day's work with which His employers found\nfault. Long after He had built mansions in the skies for them that love\nHim, were the houses of His own workmanship standing in Galilee; but\nwhen He laid aside His tools to do the work of His Father, no man ever\npointed to an earthly house and said, \"This job is not in harmony with\nHis claims to be the Son of God.\" He knew what it was to be tired and\nhungry. He doubtless knew the meaning of hard work and low wages. It\nfollows, therefore, that every son of toil, every burdened and weary\nlife, has for a gracious Redeemer and providential Saviour one who was\n\"a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.\"\n\nJesus was a man of temptation. He was tempted as no other man was ever\ntempted. The devil is the author of temptation, and he had a peculiar\ninterest in the temptation of Jesus. Through temptation comes sin. Sin\nis the yielding of the will under temptation to do wrong. The devil had\na special interest in inducing Jesus to sin. He was the representative\nof the race. Their fortunes were all involved in His. The consummation\nof His work as a Redeemer required a sinless life. Hence if Jesus could\nbe induced to yield to temptation, the world's hope of salvation was\nforever gone. It is evident, therefore, that the devil exhausted his\nresources to accomplish that end. Consequently He was \"tempted in all\npoints like as we are,\" and infinitely beyond what we know of\ntemptation. And He who withstood Satan in every onset has promised to\nbe with us to the end, and suffer us not to be tempted above what we\nare able, if we only keep Him between us and the enemy of our souls. It\nis a source of profound gratitude that we have a Saviour who has felt\nin all its forms the tempting power of sin, who is full of sympathy for\nus in our temptations, and who has promised to ever be in such our\nfaithful friend. Hence the great apostle to the Gentiles, whose life\nwas full of temptation and trial, gives us a reason why we should \"draw\nnear with boldness unto the throne of grace,\" that \"we have not a high\npriest that can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmities;\nbut one that hath been in all points tempted like we are; yet without\nsin.\" This very fact in the character of our Saviour gives us humble\nboldness to approach the throne of grace that nothing else could give.\nWhen we have given way under temptation, and our souls are burdened\nwith a sense of sin, we can come to God through the mediation of Jesus,\nwith a confidence that His sympathy for us has been perfected by the\nexperience of His own earthly life. For Christ was perfected for the\nspecial parts of His work by His mission among men. \"For it become him,\nfor whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing\nsons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through\nsufferings.\" \"And having been made perfect, he became unto all them\nthat obey him the author of eternal salvation.\"\n\nIn order to accomplish the great work of redeeming the race, Christ had\nto be a _man_. He had to be human, as well as divine. Hence it was just\nas essential that He be the Son of man as that He be the Son of God. He\nhad to make an offering for sin, and that required a human body. Hence\nhe says, \"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not. But a body didst\nthou prepare for me.\" He had to be human in order to die, and divine in\norder to conquer death. Hence, while we exalt His divinity, we must\nnone the less appreciate His humanity. We must not cease to contemplate\nour Lord and Saviour as the Son of man.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nVI.--CHRIST THE GREAT TEACHER.\n\n    \"We know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do\n    these signs that thou does, except God be with him\" (John iii. 2).\n\n    \"And it came to pass, when Jesus ended these words, the multitudes\n    were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as one having\n    authority, and not as their scribes\" (Matt. vii. 28, 29).\n\n    \"Never man spake like this man\" (John vii. 46).\n\n\nOn \"the great day of the feast\"--the feast of the tabernacles--in the\nsecond year of His ministry, Jesus was performing many miracles, and\nthere was great commotion among the people as to whether He was the\nChrist. The chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to take Him.\nBut they returned without Him. Then the chief priests and Pharisees\nsaid, \"Why did you not bring him?\" They simply reply, \"Never man so\nspake.\" These were, doubtless, resolute men who were accustomed to\nobeying orders. But in this case they did not obey orders, nor even try\nto do it. Their excuse for not doing so was peculiar. They gave no\nordinary or natural circumstances as hindering the execution of orders.\nThey made no plea to exculpate themselves. They simply said, \"No man\never spake like this man.\" How, then, shall we account for this? There\nwas simply an unearthly majesty in the person, the manner and the words\nof Jesus, that awed them into inaction. The very fact that such men\nwere so unnerved by the presence and words of Jesus, gives us an idea\nof His majesty as a teacher, and of His power over men. Thus it was\nthat He could cleanse the temple, overturn the tables of the\nmoney-changers, drive out the whole crew who were making merchandise of\nthe house of God, and no one resisted. When did the world produce\nanother man whose presence alone awed bold officers of the law into\ndisregard of duty, and the chastised multitude into non-resistance?\n\nJesus was the world's great teacher, and yet He was never taught. This\nfact was recognized by those who knew His history. \"The Jews therefore\nmarveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?\"\nJesus explained it by saying, \"My teaching is not mine, but His that\nsent me.\" This is the only satisfactory explanation that can be given.\nThat Jesus was a man of unequaled wisdom, surpassing infinitely all the\ngreat philosophers of renown, is freely admitted by the best informed\nof modern skeptics. That the world has been influenced by His teaching\ninfinitely beyond what it has been by that of any other man, is not\ndenied. That the world regards His teaching to-day, after eighteen\nhundred years from the day of His death as a malefactor and His rest in\na borrowed grave, as it has never regarded the teaching of another man,\nis also an admitted fact. How shall we account for such\nteaching--teaching of such accumulating power over ages and generations\nof men--when He Himself was untaught? The world can not answer the\nquestion except as Jesus answered it: \"My teaching is not mine, but His\nthat sent me.\"\n\nChrist was the only teacher among men who never made a mistake. After\nnearly two thousand years, during which His teaching has been subjected\nto the severest scrutiny, He stands without conviction as to a single\nerror. Its ethics, its morals, its righteousness, its philosophy, its\nwisdom, its accuracy, have stood the test of the most rigid investigation.\nHow can this be accounted for on the hypothesis that Jesus was only a\nman? The greatest of all other men, with the advantage of the world's\nbest facilities, and under teachers of renown, have furnished the world\nwith teaching full of mistakes and imperfections. If Jesus were only a\nman, how came it that He was so infinitely superior to all other men?\nAnd if thus superior in wisdom, righteousness and purity, how belie\nHimself in claiming to be infinitely more than a man? It were\nimpossible. The two things are mutually destructive. Jesus furnishes\nthe only explanation: \"My teaching is not mine, but His that sent me.\"\n\nJesus is _the_ teacher of the science of salvation. Others before Him\ntaught the things pertaining to salvation, but their teaching was all\nby the Spirit of God, framed with reference to what His was to be.\n\nOthers, after Him, taught the way of life, but they taught it as they\nreceived it from Him. When He ascended to the Father He sent the Holy\nSpirit as His advocate. The Spirit imparted to the apostles what He\nreceived from Christ. He took the words of the coronated Christ and\ngave them to the apostles, and they spake as the Spirit gave them\nutterance (see John xvi. 7, 15). It follows, therefore, that the\nteaching of the apostles is as infallible as that of the Christ, for it\nis simply His.\n\nIt was not the purpose of Jesus to teach the wisdom of this world. He\nwas not of this world, and His teaching was not with reference to this\nworld. He came from another world, and the things pertaining to another\nworld were the ultimatum of His teaching. The way of salvation is\npurely a matter of revelation. Man knows nothing about it except what\nGod has revealed through Christ. The same is true as to that from which\nwe are saved, and that to which we are saved. We know nothing of God,\nheaven, hell and eternity, except that which is revealed. All that we\nknow of sin and its remedy we learn from the great Teacher. The nature\nand the consequences of sin we learn from the same source. The\nrevelation of God is at once the source and limit of our knowledge of\nsin and righteousness, and their consequences. In the whole scheme of\nredemption Christ is the central figure; and on it He is the great\nteacher and supreme authority.\n\nChrist, as a teacher of law and morals, legislates for the heart. Men\ncan take cognizance only of deeds. They can not know the heart. Hence\nthey can judge it only by outward manifestations. But Christ knew what\nwas in man. Hence He could legislate for man's thoughts, as well as his\ndeeds. Hence He says: \"Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not\ncommit adultery: but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a\nwoman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his\nheart.\" Even the law of the Ten Commandments legislated against\nadultery only as an outward act, but Christ legislates against the\nthought. In this respect, as in many others, He is unique as a teacher.\n\nFinally, He taught by His own authority. This was the cause of the\nastonishment at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. \"The\nmultitudes were astonished at His teaching; for He taught them as one\nhaving authority, and not as their scribes.\" The scribes taught that\nwhich \"was said to them of old time,\" and the traditions of men, but\nChrist said, \"I say unto you.\" Mark this feature in that discourse. A\ndozen times does he say, \"_I_ say unto you.\" This was in harmony with\nthat which was predicted of Him as a teacher. \"Moses indeed said, A\nprophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren,\nlike unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall\nspeak unto you. And it shall be, that every soul which shall not\nhearken to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the\npeople.\" And in the presence of Moses and Elijah, the great teachers of\nthe past, the divine Father said: \"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am\nwell pleased; hear ye him.\" All this recognizes one of the fundamental\nprinciples in the Christian religion--the supreme authority of Christ.\nThe world seems slow to learn that what He said He said by His own\nauthority, whether personally or through the apostles and prophets;\nthat it needs no other support, and that it is the irrepealable\n_law_ of the kingdom of God. Because we are not under the law, but\nunder grace, many conclude that we have a religious latitude in which\nwe may legislate for ourselves, forgetting that Paul says we are \"under\nlaw to Christ.\"\n\nIn our supreme ignorance we need a teacher--an infallible teacher; and\nthat we have in the person of Jesus. In order to become wise unto\nsalvation, we must hear and learn of Him. In believing what He says,\nand doing what He directs, we have His divine assurance of salvation\nfrom sin and a home in heaven.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nVII.--CHRIST THE DELIVERER.\n\n    \"And he [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and\n    he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath\n    day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the\n    book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the\n    place where it was written,\n\n        The spirit of the Lord is upon me,\n        Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor:\n        He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives,\n        And recovering of sight to the blind,\n        To set at liberty them that are bruised,\n        To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.\n\n    And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat\n    down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.\n    And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been\n    fulfilled in your ears\" (Luke iv. 16-21).\n\n\nThis sublime passage is a quotation of Isaiah lxi. 1-3. It contains\nseveral words indicating a character in which the Messiah was to\nappear, strikingly appreciated by the Jews at the time of the prophecy.\nEspecially from the time of the Babylonish captivity did the Jews make\nprominent the idea of a deliverer in the person of their promised\nMessiah. \"_Release_ to the _captives_\" and \"_liberty_ to the\n_bruised_\"--ill-treated by their captors--was to them a precious\nproclamation, looked forward to with great anxiety, when deliverance\nshould be proclaimed and Israel should again be the free and favored\npeople of God.\n\nSince this characteristic was so long appreciated as a matter of\nprophecy, and Jesus announced its fulfillment in Himself, it is a\nbefitting occasion on which to briefly notice the relation of Christ to\nprophecy. The understanding of this relationship is important at any\ntime, because it furnishes a valuable class of evidence as to the\nMessiahship and divinity of Jesus. It is especially so at this time,\nsince infidels are making a special effort to destroy the value of\nprophecy in this respect; and some from whom we should expect better\nthings seem to be assisting in the work.\n\nA great deal of importance was given to Messianic prophecies during the\ndays of the Saviour and the apostolic age of the church. Indeed, this\nwas the main source of evidence to the Jewish mind that Jesus was the\nChrist. And the use made of it by Christ and the apostles shows that it\nwas abundant.\n\nWhen Jesus talked with two of the disciples on their way to Emmaus, on\nthe day of the resurrection, He said to them: \"O foolish men, and slow\nof heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Behooved it\nnot the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? And\nbeginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them\nin all the scriptures the things concerning himself.\" Here Jesus\nHimself states that Moses and all the prophets prophesied of Him. And\nwhen He had returned to Jerusalem, and stood in the midst of the\neleven, He said to them: \"These are my words which I spake unto you,\nwhile I was yet with you, how that all things must needs be fulfilled\nwhich are written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms\nconcerning me.\" Thus the books of Moses, and all the prophets, and the\npsalms, contained teaching concerning the Christ, according to Jesus'\nown statement; and it was all in the form of type and prophecy. Indeed,\ntypes are but forms of prophecy.\n\nJesus charged the Jews with not believing Moses, and gave that as the\nreason why they did not believe on Him. He said: \"For if ye believe\nMoses, ye would believe me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not\nhis writings how shall ye believe my words?\" Like modern skeptics, they\ndid not believe the writings of Moses concerning the Messiah--did not\nbelieve that they referred to the Messiah; hence their value was\ndestroyed, and they did not believe in Jesus. Had they believed these\nprophecies they would have believed on Christ.\n\nOn the day of Pentecost Peter convinced the three thousand by argument\nfrom prophecy concerning the Christ. In his sermon in Solomon's porch\nthe argument was likewise based upon prophecy. Paul's manner of\npreaching (see Acts xvii. 1-3) was to show the prophecies of the Old\nTestament concerning the Messiah and then show that these were\nfulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore the conclusion was\nnecessitated that He was the Christ. As this was Paul's method, he\nevidently attached to prophecy the highest possible value. That all the\napostles did this is evident from the statement of Peter. Speaking of\ntheir being \"eye-witnesses of His majesty,\" and of the infallible signs\nHe gave of His divinity, he says: \"And we have the word of prophecy\nmade more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp\nshining in a dark place.\"\n\nHow are we to determine the Messianic prophecies? We unhesitatingly\nreply, by the example of Christ and the apostles. Three important\npoints are established by their testimony: (1) They teach that such\nprophecies are numerous, and made by Moses, David, and all the\nprophets. (2) They quote or refer to specifically, and thus apply,\nquite a number. It is evident that these are Messianic, because so\napplied. (3) Since Christ and the apostles designate a large number as\nMessianic, we are safe in concluding that others are so that are of\nlike character. They are infallible judges, and they furnish us a\ncriterion by which to judge.\n\nIt is not true, as claimed, that in order to a Messianic prophecy, the\nprophet making it must so understand it at the time. On the contrary,\nPeter tells us that they searched diligently to ascertain the things\nand the time of them referred to in their own prophecies concerning the\nsufferings of the Christ and the glory that was to follow. (See I. Pet.\ni. 10-12). They, therefore, did not understand the things or the time\nreferred to. Since they did not know these, they did not know that the\nprophecy referred to the Messiah. The same Peter did not understand\nsome of his own utterances on the day of Pentecost. His language here\nmakes the promise of salvation to Gentiles as well as to Jews. But he\ndid not so understand it till he had a special revelation at Joppa and\nthe house of Cornelius.\n\nNor is it true, as claimed, that a Messianic prophecy must have been so\nunderstood by the people before its fulfillment. Many of the Messianic\nprophecies were not understood as such in Old Testament times. The\nSaviour charged this want of understanding upon His disciples, and told\nthem that if they had correctly interpreted Moses and the prophets, in\nthis very respect, they would have known that His death was required by\nsuch prophecies, and they would not have received the story of His\nresurrection as an idle tale. Moreover, He charged the Jews that this\nfailure to understand Messianic prophecies, as such, was the ground of\ntheir not believing on Him. (See John v. 45-47).\n\nIn regard to types, which is a feature of prophetic teaching, and a\nstrong chapter of evidence as to inspiration, Clark Braden says: \"There\nare but few real types in the Bible; that is, there are but few things\nthat men devised and acted with the intention of symbolizing or\ntypifying anything future. There are exceeding few that were devised or\nacted with that as their sole object.\" It would be difficult for one to\ncrowd more flagrant error into the same space than the above contains,\nif he were to make it a specialty. It contains the following positions,\nall of which are false: (1) That there are but few types in the Bible.\n(2) That types are _devised_ by _men_. (3) That types were \"devised and\nacted\" by the same party. (4) That they were \"devised and acted\" by men\nwith the intention of typifying something future. (5) That this, in\norder to their value as evidence of inspiration, should have been\n\"their sole object.\" This will do quite well for five lines. We would\nsuggest that _God_ devised types, not men. While men were the actors,\nthey were not the originators. While men may not have intended to\ntypify anything in the case, God did. While types were intended by God\nto typify something future, this was not \"their sole object.\" God had\nin them a purpose for the actors in addition to their typical\nsignificance. The purpose they then served detracts not from their\nvalue as types. As to the comparative number, we prefer Paul as\nauthority. Speaking of the wilderness life of the Israelites, from\ntheir baptism in the cloud and in the sea, he says: \"Now these things\nhappened unto them by way of types [_tupoi_], and they were written for\nour admonition.\" This history contains numerous types, Paul being\njudge. Indeed, the patriarchal and Jewish religions were mainly\ntypical. When Noah built the ark to the saving of his house, it is not\nprobable that he thought of anything typical. Certainly that was not\nthe only purpose, nor the main purpose. But Peter says it was a type,\nall the same.\n\nThe fact that God's people did not understand the full significance of\ntheir worship, did not destroy its character or its value. The same is\ntrue now. While God's oppressed people worshiped in types and symbols\nwhich foreshadowed the perfection to come, they were taught by the\nspirit of prophecy to look with longing anxiety to the coming of a\ndeliverer. While, in debate, we may not rely on a large number of\nprophecies as Messianic, because the proof is not conclusive, it does\nnot effect the fact that many of them have that character.\n\nTo appreciate Christ as a deliverer one must realize his own\nbondage--the slave of sin, and sold under its power. There is no\nappreciation of the Deliverer till there is a longing for deliverance,\nand no longing for deliverance till there is a hatred of bondage. Hence\none must have a just sense of the heinousness of sin before he can\nappreciate Christ as a Saviour.\n\nIn coming to this world to deliver us, Christ had, in a sense, to come\nwithin the dominion of Satan, and under the assaults of sin. This is\ntypfied by Moses going into Egypt to deliver his brethren. He had to\nplace himself under the reign of Pharaoh, and in order to deliver his\nbrethren he had to deliver himself. The Son of God took upon Him our\nhumanity. This He had to do to make a sacrifice and be a mediator for\nus. In doing this He placed Himself under the tempting power of sin,\nand was tempted in all points as we are. He had to save Himself from\nthis condition before He could save us. This was done through death and\nthe resurrection. With Him the old life ceased at the cross, and the\nnew one began from the grave. He conquered Satan--dragged the captor\ncaptive--and was forever delivered from his tempting power. \"He died\nunto sin once,\" says Paul; and we die to sin just where He did, being\nput to death by the cross. We are buried with Him, and rise with Him to\nwalk in newness of life. Thus the new life begins with us just where it\nbegan with Him--from the grave--the grave of baptism in which we are\nburied together and rise together. The denominational world want to\nmake the new life begin from the cross. But it did not thus begin with\nJesus, and Paul says it does not thus begin with us.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nVIII.--CHRIST THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.\n\n    \"They that are whole have no need of a physician; but they that are\n    sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to\n    repentance\" (Luke v. 31, 32).\n\n        \"For this people's heart is waxed gross,\n        And their ears are dull of hearing,\n        And their eyes they have closed;\n        Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes,\n        And hear with their ears,\n        And understand with their heart,\n        And should turn again,\n        And I should heal them\" (Matt. xiii. 15).\n\n    \"He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted\" (Luke iv. 18).\n\n\nSeveral times, either directly or indirectly, Christ alludes to Himself\nas a physician. In this character He is worthy of careful study.\n\nThe first thing in order to appreciate a physician, is to realize that\none is sick. The Saviour says the well need not a physician. It is\nequally true that the well care not for a physician. Sin is the disease\nof which Christ, as a physician, is the healer. The disease is deadly.\nThe smallest amount is fatal. The Great Physician alone can heal it.\nThere is no other remedy. When a man is once affected, however much he\nmay keep it under control, and prevent its increase, there is never a\ndiminution of the disease till the remedy of the Great Physician is\napplied.\n\nThere is much senseless talk about depravity that necessarily implies,\nthough its advocates may not so intend, that sin has comparatively\nlittle condemnatory force. The idea so often expressed that one must be\n\"a great sinner in order to need a great Saviour;\" that if he is only\n\"partially depraved, he needs to be only partially saved;\" that he must\nbe \"totally depraved in order to be totally lost;\" that he must be\n\"totally depraved in order to be wholly dependent on Christ for\nsalvation,\" and such like, necessarily puts a light estimate upon sin.\nThe idea is, that if one has but a comparatively small amount of sin,\nhe is not wholly lost and utterly helpless, and wholly dependent on\nChrist. When the simple fact is, that sin is so heinous in its\ncharacter and condemnatory in its consequences, that any amount of it,\nwhether much or little, renders one as helpless and hopeless and\ndependent on Christ as if he were totally depraved by nature and doubly\ndefiled by a life of sin. There is, therefore, no necessity for total\ndepravity, in order that man be in an utterly lost and helpless\ncondition without Christ. A grain of strychnine is just as fatal as an\nounce, without an antidote.\n\nIn order that we appreciate a physician, and avail ourselves of the\nbenefits of his skill, we must have faith in him. Without faith that\nhis skill is superior to ours, and that he can help us, we will not\ncall upon him. If we have faith in him we will do as he directs. The\nhighest evidence of faith in a physician, and the surest way of being\nbenefited by his skill, is in going precisely by his directions. Some\nyears ago the writer had a long spell of typhoid fever. His physician\ncame to see him one hundred and thirty times. After he became\nconvalescent, his physician said to him one day, \"In looking back over\nyour case, I can attribute your recovery to but two things--your\nunyielding resolution and confidence, and your faith in your\nphysician.\" What did he mean by faith in my physician? What had that to\ndo with it? He explained. \"For,\" said he, \"you followed my directions\nminutely in everything, and for more than seven weeks the least wabble\nwould have turned the scale against you.\" This was a fine illustration\nof faith, but theologically he attached to the word a very different\nidea.\n\nSuch must be our faith in the Great Physician that we apply to Him for\nthe treatment of a sin-sick soul. And having called upon Him, we are to\nfollow His directions. On one occasion He said to the Pharisees, \"Why\ndo you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?\" So in\nthis case He would say, \"Why do you call on me as a physician, and do\nnot as I direct you?\" As well apply to an earthly physician and expect\nto be healed by faith in his skill, without taking his medicine or\nfollowing his directions in other respects, as to expect the Great\nPhysician to heal you in the same way. This illustrates the absolute\nfolly of expecting to be \"justified by faith only\" in the Great\nPhysician of souls, before and without doing as He directs. Our faith\nin a physician is valuable only as it induces us to take his remedies.\nWhen it leads to this, it has fulfilled its only office. When it does\nnot lead to this, it is worthless. So of our faith in Christ. The only\nvalue of faith is in its leading to the observance of the divine will.\nThe faith that does this saves, because it leads us to where God saves\nus. God promises salvation in the doing of His will. \"Not every one\nthat says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;\nbut he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.\" Faith leads\nto the doing of the Father's will. In this it performs its only office,\nand in this it saves. Faith can have value only as it leads to the\nappropriation and use of the remedies prescribed.\n\nIt is often the case that a physician is stationary, and his patients\nhave to come to him in order to get the benefits of his treatment. In\nsuch case, the acts necessary to take us to him are essential to our\nrecovery, though they have no virtue whatever except as means of\nreaching him. So of coming to Christ. Christ does not come to the\nsinner, as orthodox prayers at the mourners' bench imply; but He\ninvites the sinner to come to Him. \"Come unto me, all ye that labor and\nare heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\" \"And you will not come to\nme that you may have life.\" Believing on Christ is one thing, and\ncoming to Him is quite another. One must first believe before he will\ncome. Yet, in addition to believing, the orthodox world, so-called,\nutterly fails to tell us how to come to Christ. They cry, \"Come, come,\"\nbut tell us not how. Christ plainly teaches that we come to Him in\nobedience. We are baptized into Him; into His body. We put Him on by\nbaptism. Being baptized into Christ is Paul's explanation of how we\nbecome the children of God by faith. \"Ye are all sons of God, through\nfaith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ\ndid put on Christ.\" We come to Christ, then, in baptism. This is the\nfirst overt act in the \"obedience of faith.\" Our faith, repentance and\nbaptism bring us to Christ; then He, as the Great Physician, heals our\nsin-sick soul. There is no healing virtue in these things that bring us\nto Him; but they are conditions of our healing because they are means\nof our reaching the Physician.\n\nThe remedy for sin is the Physician's own blood. That is the only thing\nin the universe of God that can heal the disease of sin, and remove the\nruinous consequences. \"The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses\nfrom all sin.\" The blood of animal sacrifices could not take away sin.\n\"For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take\naway sins.\" Since animal sacrifice could not meet the demands of the\nlaw, God prepared a body for His Son in which to make a sacrifice.\n\n    \"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,\n    But a body thou didst prepare me.\"\n\nHence we are redeemed from the curse of sin, not with corruptible\nthings, \"but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and\nwithout spot, even the blood of Christ.\" \"And without the shedding of\nblood there was no remission.\"\n\nIt is plain, therefore, that the blood of the Physician is the only\nremedy. This remedy is freely given when we come to Him.\n\nJesus said: \"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so\nmust the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him\nhave eternal life.\" The Israelites were commanded to look upon the\nbrazen serpent; and they that looked were healed. They had to have\nfaith, in order to look with a view to being healed. Looking was the\nthing commanded. It was the result of faith. In looking they were\nhealed. But there was no virtue in the looking. Looking, in and of\nitself, had no power to heal. Still it was essential to the healing.\nNeither had the thing looked upon any power to heal. There was no\nvirtue in the serpent. The healing power lay back of that. It was in\nGod, who had promised. God did the healing. But while there was no\nhealing virtue in the look nor in the thing looked upon, they were\nnecessary to the healing, because to this end were they commanded. They\nwere, therefore, necessary to bring one to the point in the obedience\nof faith where God promised to heal. So it is with the Great Healer of\nsouls. They that believe shall _in Him_ find the healing power. Their\nfaith leads them to Him, where the healing power is applied, as the\nlook brought the Israelites to the healing power of God. Our obedience\nthat brings us to Christ is the outgrowth of our faith, just as their\nlook was the outgrowth of theirs. There is no healing virtue in the one\nnor the other, but they were and are necessary to bring the believer\nwhere the healing virtue is.\n\nAfter all that is said about being saved by faith, and by other things,\nit is simply true that _Christ_ saves us. _He_ is our Saviour. And He\nsaves us by means of His own blood.\n\n    \"There is a fountain filled with blood,\n      Drawn from Immanuel's veins;\n    And sinners plunged beneath that flood\n      Lose all their guilty stains.\"\n\nIt is thus that Christ is precious to us as the great Physician of\nsouls. We should give heed to His inviting voice, place ourselves under\nHis continued care, follow His directions, and we shall enjoy a healed\nand healthful state of the soul.\n\n    \"The great Physician now is near,\n      The sympathizing Jesus;\n    He speaks, the drooping heart to cheer:\n      Oh, hear the voice of Jesus.\"\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nIX.--CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR.\n\n    \"For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men,\n    himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all; the\n    testimony to be borne in its own time\" (I. Tim. ii. 5-6).\n\n\nA mediator is one who comes between alienated parties to effect a\nreconciliation. He must be the friend, the advocate and equal of both\nparties. Failing in one of these, he is incapacitated. No one would\naccept a mediator whom he believed would be wanting in any of these\nrespects in his relations to him. No one is fit to mediate who is not\nqualified to do justice to both parties. This he can not do unless he\nknows the rights of both and is the friend of both. He must be unbiased\nin his judgment and impartial in his friendship. He must be considered\nthe equal of both, in so far, at least, as his knowledge of them and\nhis ability to judge between them is concerned.\n\nA mediator between God and men implies alienation between them. The\nhistory of the race shows this to be true. The time was when they were\none; when not a feeling or a shadow came between them. The bliss of\nEden reached its daily acme when the footfall of God was heard amid its\nbowers. The hour that He joined their company was that of supreme joy.\nBut man sinned, and then the presence of God was shunned. That which\nwas delightful before is painful now. Such is the principle of\ncongeniality; and such the consequences of sin--to make of heaven a\nhell. This fact alone should teach us that it lies not within the\nlimits of divine power to make a heaven for sinful men. Separation from\nGod is hell; and with the soul defiled by sin, union is worse than\nseparation.\n\nAfter the fall of man he could no longer stand in the immediate\npresence of God, as he was wont to do before. Sin can not approach the\ndivine presence, hence he needed a mediator, one to stand between him\nand an offended God, through whom he might again be heard and blessed.\nMediators of an imperfect and typical character were had in that age of\npreparation for the coming perfection. But where could a perfect\nmediator be found to stand between an offended God and rebellious man?\nWhere in all the universe could one be found the friend and equal of\nboth parties? Where could one be found that could stand on equality\nwith God, know what was just and right in regard to Him, and, at the\nsame time know the weaknesses, the wants and the rights of man? Where\nwas one who could poise with one hand the scales of God's justice and\ngather fallen humanity to his bosom with the other? The boundless\ndominions of God contained not such a being. Man could not thus act,\nfor the best of men are themselves sinners, and can approach God only\nthrough a mediator. The best of men know nothing of God's side of this\nmatter, and they fall below equality with Him, as the earth is below\nthe stars. An angel could not stand between God and men, for he can not\ndescend to equality with fleshly natures, to know their weaknesses and\ntheir wants; nor can ascend the heights of divine perfection till he\nknows the mind and the rights of God. In the Divine Logos, and the\nDivine Spirit we find, in a sense, equality with God, but no equality\nwith men. How, then, is this great problem, that on which the world's\nsalvation turns, to be solved? The human and the divine must be\nblended. They must meet and dwell in one. This is accomplished, not by\nlifting the human up to the divine, but by bringing the divine down to\nthe human. God glories in condescension.\n\nThe Word that was in the beginning with God, that was God in His divine\nattributes, became flesh and dwelt among us. In the person of the babe\nof Bethlehem we have a being that never before existed--a being both\nhuman and divine. He brought from the skies the divinity of His Father,\nand dwelt among men with the humanity of His mother. Hence the mighty\nchasm between man and God, between earth and heaven, is bridged over in\nthe God-man, Christ Jesus. His divinity reaches half-way from heaven to\nearth, and His humanity half-way from earth to heaven, and the two\nunite in Him.\n\nIn the life of Jesus we see His two natures constantly manifested. As\nHe hungers and thirsts and sleeps; as He weeps over the sins of men,\nand sorrows over their afflictions, we see His humanity. He seems to be\nonly a man. But when He stills the tempest on the Sea of Galilee, or\ncalls Lazarus back to life, we see His divinity. It is interesting to\nstudy His life with a view to the manifestation of His two natures in\neach event--their distinctness and their blending.\n\nWe may never know in this life the reasons for the blending of the\ndivine and the human in the person of the mediator. These things are\ndoubtless beyond the ken of an archangel, in all their fullness. Yet\nfrom our point of view, obscured by our fleshly weakness, we may see\nsome reasons lying on the surface why this was a necessity. Some of\nthese let us consider.\n\nMan fell through the weakness of the flesh and the power of temptation.\nSatan works through the flesh to pollute the spirit. In order to be one\nwith us in our temptation, and perfect Himself as an experimental\nsympathizer, our mediator must be tempted in all points like as we are,\nthat He may know how we feel under temptation. This demanded that He\ntake upon Himself not the nature of angels, but that of the seed of\nAbraham. He must, therefore, be a man. But this temptation is to be\nsuccessfully met. It is to be without sin. No man had ever successfully\nwithstood the assaults of Satan. Our mediator was to do this. Hence the\nnecessity of divinity. He must be human to be tempted; He must be\ndivine to resist it. And to make His victory the more complete, He had\nHis flesh put to the sorest test. After a fast of forty days, when His\nlong pent-up hunger rushed upon Him as a lion upon its prey, Satan\napproached and exhausted his strength to overcome Him. Not only did He\ngive Satan this advantage, such as he had never had nor needed over\nmen, but He even went out of the flesh, into the citadel of which Satan\nheld the keys, and came out a triumphant conqueror. Hence His humanity\nin order to enter in; His divinity in order to come out.\n\nThe scheme of redemption contemplated a sacrifice for the sins of the\nworld. Men must get rid of sin. They had no power of themselves to do\nthis. Sin must be remitted. This demanded a sacrifice for sin. \"Without\nthe shedding of blood there is no remission.\" The blood shed must be\nthe blood of humanity. It must contain the life under condemnation.\nHence the \"blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin.\" It\ncould not reach and cleanse the conscience. It was used as an imperfect\ntype, but the perfection required the blood that courses in human\nveins; but the victim must be innocent. It must be absolutely free from\nsin. Only a sinless offering can meet the requirements of the divine\ngovernment. Hence, in order to offer the blood of the condemned race,\nour mediator must be human; in order to offer it in innocence, He must\nbe divine.\n\nThe completion of the preparation of our mediator for His work as such,\nrequired His death and resurrection. It is shocking to the mind of some\nto speak of Christ having to be educated and perfected for His office\nof mediator, but this He asserts Himself. \"For it became him, for whom\nare all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons\nunto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through\nsufferings.\" \"Though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by the\nthings which he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became unto\nall them that obey him, the author of eternal salvation.\" This\nofficiating for man as mediator and high priest, is the only thing, as\nwe now remember, in which Christ is said to have been specially\nqualified by His life among men. This is significant. The reasons for\nit are easily seen in the foregoing. He had to become a man, and these\nthings peculiar to humanity He had to learn.\n\nIn offering Himself a sacrifice for sin, our mediator had to die. In\norder to His work as such, of which His death was only preparatory, He\nhad to live again. His death was voluntary. He said, \"I have power to\nlay down my life, and I have power to take it up again.\" In order to\nlay down His life, He had to be human; in order to take it up again, He\nhad to be divine.\n\nHaving accomplished His preparatory work, Christ returned to the Father\nto make an atonement, and to sit henceforth as a mediator between God\nand men. He was equal with God before He left the heavens; He became\nthe equal of man in His sojourn in the world. Hence He is now perfectly\nqualified for His work. But we find that we can not dispose of this\nsubject in one chapter.\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nX.--CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR.--CONTINUED.\n\n    \"But now hath he [Christ] obtained a more excellent ministry, by\n    how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was\n    established upon better promises\" (Heb. viii. 6).\n\n\nHaving considered Christ's preparatory work, His earthly mission, we\nwish now to consider His office and work as mediator between God and\nmen. Christ sought no additional honor because of His message to men\nand suffering on their account. On the contrary, He prayed: \"And now, O\nFather, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had\nwith thee before the world was.\" But while He sought no additional\nglory, He found additional work. The office He now fills existed not\ntill He ascended to the Father from an empty grave. He descended into\nthe dominion of death and robbed it of its power. He dragged the captor\ncaptive, and gave gifts unto men. Ascending, as a conquering king, His\nangelic retinue raise the exultant shout: \"Lift up your heads, O ye\ngates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory\nshall come in.\" \"Who is this King of glory?\" the guardian hosts shout\nback. \"The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.\" Again,\nthe gates of the eternal city are shaken with the shout: \"Lift up your\nheads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the\nKing of glory shall come in.\"\n\nChrist was coronated King of kings and Lord of lords. He began at once\nHis work of mediation. Through the Holy Spirit, sent as His advocate,\nHe convicts men of sin, and brings them into harmony and union with\nGod. His mediatorship involves a work of reconciliation. This is His\nfundamental work. The old theology was that Christ labors to reconcile\nGod to men. Indeed, the world is not yet as free from the thought as\nthe truth and the honor of God demand. Whatever may be true of the\natonement, one thing is certain, it grew out of the love of God. \"God\nso loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever\nbelieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.\" Any theory,\ntherefore, that does not harmonize with this is false. God already\nloves the world. He loves sinners, even, who are not penitent. He is\nnot willing that any should perish, but that all should come to\nrepentance. How dishonoring to God, then, to represent Him as unwilling\nto save agonizing sinners; so that the protracted prayers of the church\nare necessary, and often unavailing! Paul says that God was in Christ,\nreconciling the world unto Himself. The world had transgressed, had\ngone away from God, and Christ's mission as mediator, is to bring it\nback in agreement and submission to the divine will.\n\nThe importance of the mediatorial office of Christ is very improperly\napprehended. The necessity of a mediator between us and God can never\nbe fully realized in this life. This belongs to that association of\ndeep and profound mysteries emanating from the mind of God, that angels\nintently desire to look into. We are permitted to see only the surface\nin this life. But we know enough about the general character of His\nwork, to know, that it has a value far above the world's comprehension.\n\nWhen one stands as our intercessor we are favored in proportion to his\nstanding with the other party. When one seeks a favor at the hands of\nthe chief executive of the nation, if he has no standing of his own,\nall depends on the standing of his advocate. If the one interceding for\nhim stands high in the president's favor, and has great influence with\nhim, his request is favorably considered on account of his advocate.\nWhen we consider the standing of the Son with the Father; that through\nHim the Father has sought the reconciliation of the world; that He is\nthe \"brightness, the Father's glory, and the express image of his\nperson;\" we have perfect confidence that His pleadings will prevail.\nBut when the Father \"so loved the world as to give his Son to die for\nit;\" when He so loves sinners that His great loving heart goes out in\nyearnings for their salvation, why should His loving, struggling\nchildren need an intercessor with Him at all? This has been one of the\nquestions of the ages. Theories more curious than satisfactory have\nbeen promulgated concerning it by the different schools of theology. We\nshall not presume to answer it, beyond the simple suggestion that this\nwas the special work for which the divine Logos that was in the\nbeginning with God, had to qualify Himself by special education. Hence\nit is a matter not of difference between the love and goodness of the\nFather and that of the Son, but of qualification by _experience_ in the\ntrials, temptations and weaknesses of the flesh. The consideration of\nthis fact would have saved the world from much vain speculation.\n\nWhen Paul argues the importance of a mediator, it is not on the ground\nthat the Son loves us more than the Father, but on the ground that He\nknows us by experience. \"For we have not a high priest that can not be\ntouched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in\nall points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore,\ndraw near with boldness unto the throne of grace.\" The fact that our\nhigh priest, or intercessor, was \"tempted in all points, like as we\nare,\" is the reason why we may approach a throne of grace with\nboldness. This boldness is simply a profound confidence based upon the\nhumanity of our mediator.\n\nWhen we approach a throne of grace, conscious of sin and imperfection,\nhow little can we trust ourselves. We realize that we come empty-handed\nbefore God. With the poet, each can sing:\n\n    \"Nothing in my hands I bring,\n    Simply to Thy cross I cling.\"\n\nWe can plead no merit of our own. We have no legal claim on the\nstore-house of God's boundless mercy and love. But we remember that we\nhave a Friend; that this Friend has suffered the same trials and\ntemptations; that He knows by bitter experience just how we feel; that\nHe deeply sympathizes with us, and that He loves us with a devotion and\nfaithfulness beyond human experience or expression. Remembering this,\nhow can we feel otherwise than confident that an already loving Father\nwill hear our petitions in harmony with His will, and bless us as His\nbelieving children? The efficacy of prayer, therefore, grows out of the\nmediatorship of Jesus, and the confidence in prayer grows out of our\nappreciation of the mediator and of His work. Hence a light\nappreciation of the mediatorial work of Jesus leads to a prayerless\nlife.\n\nJesus Himself taught that there is no way of approach to the Father\nexcept through Him. \"I am the way, the truth and the life; no man\ncometh unto the Father but by me.\" No man can approach God _in his own\nname_. God does not look upon men in their own personality. He looks\nupon them only _through their mediator_; and what He sees to commend,\nis seen and commended only through, and on account of, their mediator.\nIn other words, God sees the mediator only, not them. Hence the man\nthat does not accept the mediator cuts himself off from God. He rejects\nthe only way of approach to God. He prevents God's considering his\ncase; for God considers us only through the mediator. It is this fact,\nthat God considers the mediator through whom the petition is made,\nrather than the petitioner, that gives significance to the fact that\nour prayers are to be _in the name_ of Jesus Christ; and that we ask\nthat our petitions be granted for \"Christ's sake.\" At a throne of grace\nwe present the name of our intercessor. We ask in _his name_, not our\nown. We present Him, not ourselves. We hide ourselves behind Him, put\nHim in our place, and ask what God will do for Him. He authorizes us to\nthus use His name, and the blessings bestowed are just to the extent\nthat that name prevails with God. Should Vanderbilt grant you the legal\nright to use his name to the full extent of your desire in presentation\nof checks, etc.; with his pledge to redeem all paper bearing his\nsignature in your hand, his whole fortune would be pledged to meet the\ndemands of your drafts upon him. Bankrupt financially, as you are\nspiritually, you present your check for a large amount and it would be\nrejected. But add to that the name of Vanderbilt, and your check is\nhonored. You draw the money not in your name, but in his. The bank sees\nnot you, but him. Now, just as you would thus present the name of\nVanderbilt, with full assurance of your request being granted to the\nextent of his fortune, you to-day present the name of Jesus at the\ncourt of heaven, and a heaven honors that name; its resources are\npledged to meet your petition. The name of Jesus, therefore, when thus\npresented, means to us all that it signifies in the government of God.\nTo the extent that His name is honored are heavenly blessings secured\nto us.\n\nIn the light of these sublime truths, we see the significance of the\nSaviour's requirement that henceforth all prayer should be offered in\nHis name. \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of\nthe Father, he will give it to you in my name. Hitherto ye have asked\nnothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive.\" What is called the\nLord's Prayer, is not in His name, because His mediatorship had not\nthen been established. But now it would be sinful to repeat that\nprayer, as thousands do, and omit to offer it in the name of Christ.\nThe custom of Masons, and other secret orders, of having a form of\nreligion that ignores Christ, that does not recognize His mediatorship\nand that is not offered in His name, is supremely wicked. It is a gross\nperversion of the religion of Jesus. And how Christian men, even\npreachers of the gospel, can find it in their hearts to acquiesce in\nsuch a thing, is to us a profound puzzle. The institution that has no\nplace for my Master has no place for me.\n\nThe only way of approach to God is through Christ as our mediator; and\nthe mediatorial office of Christ is in the church, not in the world.\nHence, as God can be glorified only through Christ, He can be glorified\nonly through the church. Paul, recognizing this, says: \"Unto God be\nglory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world\nwithout end. Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nXI.--CHRIST OUR HIGH PRIEST.\n\n    \"Now, if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for\n    under it hath the people received the law), what further need _was\n    there_ that another priest should arise after the order of\n    Melchisedec, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For the\n    priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also\n    of the law. For he of whom these things are said belongeth to\n    another tribe, from which no man hath given attendance at the\n    altar. For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as\n    to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests. And _what we\n    say_ is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of\n    Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, who hath been made, not\n    after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an\n    endless life, for it is witnessed of him, Thou art a priest forever\n    after the order of Melchisedec\" (Heb. vii. 11-17).\n\n\nEach dispensation has had its priesthood. Each has had its priests and\nits high priests. Each has had its priests, its altars and its\nsacrifices peculiar to itself. Only priests in any age could worship\nGod; and acceptable worship must ever be in accordance with the law of\nthe priesthood.\n\nDuring the patriarchal age the father of the family was priest. He\noffered sacrifice for the family. The grandfather, great grandfather,\netc., was high priest over his posterity for all the generations\ndescending from him while he lived. Adam was high priest of the whole\nrace during his life. Then the high priesthood descended to each of his\nsons for the posterity of each. So Noah was high priest of all the\npost-diluvian world during his life. Then it descended to each of his\nsons. Each son was high priest of his branch of the family, in all its\ngenerations, during his life. In that age, therefore, as in this, there\nwas a universal priesthood. The priesthood of the Christian\ndispensation is, in a certain sense, modeled after the patriarchal and\nin contrast with the Jewish. It is after the order of Melchisedec, and\nnot after that of Aaron. Melchisedec was high priest of that division\nof the human family to which Abraham belonged, and this distinguished\npatriarch paid tithes to him. If we do not misinterpret the law of the\npriesthood of that age, this could have been none other than Shem. Shem\nwas then living, and Noah was dead; and Abraham belonged to Shem's\nposterity. Hence no one else could be high priest while Shem lived.\nMany have thought that because it is said he was \"without father,\nwithout mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor\nend of life,\" that he could not be a man. But they fail to observe that\nhe was without these things _in the Aaronic priesthood_. For it is said\nthat he had a genealogy, but that it was not in the priestly family.\n\"And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's office\nhave commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law,\nthat is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the loins of\nAbraham; but he whose genealogy is not counted from them hath taken\ntithes of Abraham.\" Shem had neither father nor mother, nor beginning\nof days, nor end of life, in the sense that the Aaronic priests had\nthem; and this is all that is affirmed of Melchisedec.\n\nWhen God called His people out of Egyptian bondage, and gave them the\nlaw, He gave them a new priesthood. The priests were now all confined\nto the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron. Men could no longer build\ntheir own altars and offer their own sacrifices. On the contrary, they\nhad all to bring their offering to the priests appointed of the family\nof Aaron, and have them make the offering. With a change of the\npriesthood came a change of the law. \"For,\" says Paul, \"the priesthood\nbeing changed, there is made of necessity a change also in the law.\"\nThe law thus changed was the law of worship through the priesthood. And\nas it was through this worship that pardon was obtained, the change of\npriesthood changed the law of pardon. Hence the law of pardon under\neach priesthood has been different from that under either of the\nothers. After the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood, a descendant\nof Jacob could no longer build his altar and offer his sacrifice just\nas he had done before the change. And now a priest under the Christian\ndispensation can not offer acceptable worship as did either the Jew or\nthe patriarch. The worship that once brought to one the divine blessing\nwould now bring upon him a curse. How strange it is, then, that the\ndenominational world in large measure go back to a different priesthood\nfor their ideas of religion and salvation.\n\nUnder the law the kings and the priests were of two distinct tribes.\nThese were of the tribe of Levi; those of the tribe of Judah. Hence it\nis written: \"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver\nfrom between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the\ngathering of the people be.\" Christ was of the tribe of Judah; hence\nHe, like Melchisedec, is both priest and king. He could not be a priest\nof the Aaronic order, for he was of a different tribe--a tribe of which\nMoses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. Hence all the efforts to\nmake Him a priest of that kind are refuted by that simple fact. Many\ninsist that Christ was inducted into His priestly office at His\nbaptism, and many vain speculations are based thereon. But this can not\nbe. Christ was not a priest while He was on the earth, says Paul in\nthese words: \"Now, if he were on earth he would not be a priest at all,\nseeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law\" (Heb.\nviii. 4). He could not be a priest on earth, because the Aaronic\npriesthood was then in force, and He was not of the Aaronic family.\nSince He could not be a priest while on earth, it is folly to talk of\nHis becoming a priest at His baptism. He could not become a priest till\nthe law of the priesthood was changed, and that was not changed till\nafter His death. The Aaronic priesthood was in full force till His\ndeath. He was made high priest, not by the legal ritual, but by the\noath of God; and this oath was \"_after the law_,\" not while it was in\nforce. The law continued till His death, hence it was after His death\nthat He was made high priest by the oath of God. He was a sacrifice\nwhen He died, not a priest. He could not be priest and sacrifice at the\nsame time. After His ascension He, as high priest, made atonement with\nHis own blood which He shed as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.\nHence a number of facts show the utter folly of claiming that He was a\npriest among men.\n\nIt is through Christ as high priest that we worship God. We can worship\nacceptably in no other way. There are no other means of access to the\nFather. Only through and by the priesthood can God be worshiped. Hence\nthe worshiper must become a priest, and then worship through Christ as\nhigh priest. All pretensions to approach God in worship, without\nrecognizing Christ as our high priest and mediator, is only an\nexhibition of an infidel farce. It is an insult to God, because a\nrejection of His Son. Hence those who do not accept Christ as their\nhigh priest cut themselves off from access to the Father. Christ\nHimself says, \"No man cometh unto the Father but by me.\"\n\nPaul makes it a matter of rejoicing that we have a great high priest\nwho can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; one that has\nbeen tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Such a high\npriest knows how to sympathize with us, and to make for us all just\nexcuses.\n\nThe earthly high priest went once a year, on the great day of\natonement, into the most holy place, with the blood of others, to make\natonement for the sins of Israel; but Christ, as the high priest of the\ngood things to come, has entered the holy place on high, with His own\nblood, to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. The offerings\nmade by the priests under the law pertained only to the cleansing of\nthe flesh; but the blood offered by our high priest \"cleanses the\nconscience from dead works to serve the living God.\"\n\n\n\n\nNEW TESTAMENT VIEWS OF CHRIST.\n\nXII.--CHRIST OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.\n\n    \"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom\n    from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:\n    that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory\n    in the Lord\" (I. Cor. i. 30, 31).\n\n\nIn this language Paul affirms that Christ is our righteousness. This is\na momentous thought. It goes to the heart of the scheme of redemption.\nHow is Christ our righteousness? What does Paul mean by the\naffirmation? The very life of Christianity is involved in the answer.\nBy one's answer we know just where to place him in regard to the vital\nprinciples of Christianity.\n\nThat one must be righteous in order to be prepared for heaven, must be\nconceded by those who accept the Bible as authority. \"Know ye not that\nthe unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.\" And this must be\na positive, not simply a relative, righteousness. Men may be\ncomparatively righteous, and yet be wholly unprepared for the presence\nof God. The righteousness required in order to a home in heaven is\nabsolute. All unrighteousness is sin, and one must be perfectly free\nfrom sin to be accepted in the Beloved. No sin can enter heaven. One\ncan not stand in the presence of God, accepted through the\nrighteousness of Christ, with the least taint of sin upon his soul.\nHence perfect righteousness is required. One must be righteous even as\nChrist Himself is righteous. Knowing this to be true, and knowing our\nown imperfections and shortcomings, even in our best estate, it is no\nwonder that the way is described as narrow. One can not but see at a\nglance his utter hopelessness if he has to depend on himself. If Christ\nhas made any provision by which this righteousness can be attained then\none can not but appreciate what Christ has done for him and his\nabsolute dependence on Him for salvation.\n\nTwo distinct kinds of righteousness are clearly defined in the Word of\nGod. They are in striking contrast. One is approved; the other\ncondemned. One is of God; the other of men. One is of faith; the other\nof law.\n\nGod's righteousness is not only a divine, holy principle of justice and\nmercy, but is also a system or plan of salvation. When Jesus applied to\nJohn for baptism, John declined. He was preaching the \"baptism of\nrepentance for the remission of sins.\" He also required a confession of\ntheir sins. They were baptized of him in Jordan, \"confessing their\nsins.\" While he did not know Jesus to be the Christ, he knew Him as his\nkinsman, and he knew enough of the purity and sinlessness of His life\nto think that He should not confess His sins to be baptized for their\nremission. Besides he doubtless hoped that Jesus would be the favored\none on whom he was to see the Holy Spirit descending and abiding upon\nHim. He, therefore, felt himself unworthy to baptize his cousin Jesus.\nBut Jesus said, \"Suffer it now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all\nrighteousness.\" No matter what John's personal feelings were, or the\nsinlessness and purity of Jesus, it became the duty of one as the\nadministrator and the other as the subject to observe this divine\nappointment. Had their idea been that baptism was to be administered to\nthose free from sin, such an objection could never have been raised.\nHere the word \"righteousness\" evidently refers to God's appointments in\nthe divine economy--the plan of salvation.\n\nWhen Peter went to the house of Cornelius to break the bread of life to\nthe Gentiles, he said: \"I now perceive that God is no respecter of\npersons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh\nrighteousness is accepted of him.\" Here \"righteousness\" is something to\nbe \"worked.\" It is, therefore, something to be done. In it men are\nactive. It is not, therefore, a quality in God or man, but something\nthat enlists the activities of men. It is a plan by the observance of\nwhich men are accepted of God.\n\nSpeaking of his own brethren according to the flesh, Paul says:\n\"Brethren, my heart's desire and supplication to God is for them, that\nthey may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for\nGod, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God's\nrighteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit\nthemselves to the righteousness of God\" (Rom. x. 1-3). Here the\nrighteousness of God is contrasted with that of the unbelieving Jews.\nThey rejected God's, and set up one of their own. They did not submit\nto God's righteousness. Here it is clearly a religious system, a plan\nof salvation. They rejected God's plan and tried to establish one of\ntheir own. In this they were zealous, but it was a misguided zeal.\n\nIn harmony with this idea of righteousness we understand the expression\nin the first chapter of this epistle: \"For I am not ashamed of the\ngospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that\nbelieveth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is\nrevealed a righteousness of God by faith unto faith: as it is written,\nBut the righteous shall live by faith.\" Here we understand God's\nrighteousness to be God's plan of saving or justifying men by faith;\nthe plan to which the Jews would not submit in the tenth chapter.\nHence, in the gospel, God's system of justification by faith is\nrevealed in order to faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. In\nthe gospel God's plan of saving men by faith in Christ is revealed, and\nthis is the only place in which it is revealed. Consequently the truth\nherein revealed produces faith. This results in the acceptance of God's\nplan of salvation.\n\nWe have \"the faith\" as a system of salvation through Christ, and faith\nas a personal state of the mind and heart. So, also, have we\nrighteousness as a plan of salvation which we accept from God, and\nrighteousness as a personal quality--a state of personal freedom from\nsin. And the one leads to the other, as a revelation of \"the faith\"\nproduces personal faith.\n\nThis leads us to consider how we obtain that perfect righteousness,\nwithout which we can not enjoy the blissful presence of God.\n\nPaul's teaching in regard to the personal righteousness of the saints,\nmakes salvation by a mere reformation of life, an impossibility. The\nimportance of this fact can not be over-estimated. Many people seem to\nthink that a reformation in regard to moral conduct, is all that is\nnecessary to prepare to meet God. If they can only break off their\nsinful practices, and practice morality, they think they have done all\nthat is really essential. In this there are two fatal mistakes. First,\nno reformation is perfect. The best of men whose lives have been\nmoulded into the divine image, and are most conformed to the divine\nnature, have their imperfections. The ripest saint upon the earth feels\nthat if his salvation depended on his perfect sinlessness in conduct\nfor the rest of life, the chances of heaven would at once become dark\nand hopeless. The cheerfulness and bright assurance of the child of God\nare not because he hopes to live a perfect life, but because his\nimperfections will be taken away in Christ. And second, the most\nperfect reformation would avail nothing. Could one so reform his life\nas to never sin again, and practice virtue in place of the former vice,\nit would fall far short of securing the end. However free from sin one\nmay live in the future, the sins of the past are upon him. These will\nforever condemn him, unless they are removed. Our ceasing to sin will\nnot take away the old ones. The fact that a man refuses to contract any\nmore debts, will not pay a dollar of his old ones. So no amount of\nreformation will make amends for the past. Our past sins must be taken\naway, else they will condemn us in the day of eternity. We can not\nremove them ourselves; we can not atone for our own sins. Here we are\nutterly helpless. To what source, then, shall we go? Christ is the only\nrefuge. He alone can take away our sins; His blood alone can cleanse\nfrom sin. \"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have\nfellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son,\ncleanseth us from all sin.\" This is the \"fountain opened in the house\nof David for all manner of sin and uncleanness.\" \"Though your sins be\nas scarlet, he will make them white as wool.\" \"He will put them as far\nfrom us as the east is from the west, and remember them against us no\nmore forever.\" Thus it is that Christ is our righteousness. We are\nrighteous because He has made us such. He makes us such by taking away\nour sins. When our sins are pardoned, we are as free from sin as if we\nhad never sinned at all. Hence as regards the guilt of sin, we are\nperfect. We are made perfect in righteousness because Christ removes\nall unrighteousness. We are, therefore, absolutely dependent on Him\nfor salvation. We have no righteousness of our own. Our robes of\nself-righteousness are but filthy tatters in His sight. Those clothed\nin the righteousness of Christ, that is, the righteousness which Christ\ngives them, shall have right to the tree of life, and shall enter\nthrough the gates into the eternal city. Their right is not one of\nmerit, but one that Christ has given. He is our righteousness, and\napart from Him none is possibly attainable.\n\nSince we have to be perfectly righteous in order to be saved, and since\nthis is impossible on our part, when relying on ourselves, but is\nobtained only by being pardoned through Christ, it follows that all\nboasting is cut off. No man has occasion to glory except in the cross\nof Christ. Hence the apostle concludes his argument by saying: \"He that\nglorieth let him glory in the Lord.\" It also follows that he who would\nobtain personal righteousness, must submit to the \"righteousness of\nGod\"--God's plan of salvation. Through the one \"righteousness,\" is the\nother righteousness obtained.","title":"Autobiography of Frank G. Allen, Minister of the Gospel: and Selections from his Writings","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":74360}