{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30220/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30220","id":"gutenberg_30220","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30220","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Art","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Children's sermons","Christian art and symbolism -- Juvenile literature","Sermons, American"],"text":"Produced by Al Haines\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Cover art]\n\n\n\n\n\n  \"Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent heart,\n  Lived and laboured Albrecht Duerer, the Evangelist of Art;\n\n  Hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with busy hand,\n  Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the Better Land.\"\n\n  LONGFELLOW, _Nuremberg_.\n\n\n\n\nEVANGELISTS OF ART\n\n_PICTURE-SERMONS FOR CHILDREN_\n\n\n\nBY\n\n\nREV. JAMES PATRICK, B.D., B.Sc.\n\nCOUPER UNITED FREE CHURCH, BURNTISLAND\n\n\n\n  \"Could I have traced one form that should express\n    The sacred mystery that underlies\n    All Beauty, and through man's enraptured eyes\n  Teach him how beautiful is Holiness...\"\n          Sir J. NOEL PATON\n\n\n\n\nCINCINNATI\n\nJENNINGS & GRAHAM\n\n1903\n\n\n\n\n_Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, Edinburgh_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n    I. CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE . . . . . . . . . _W. Holman Hunt_\n\n   II. LUTHER AT ERFUeRT . . . . . . . . . . . _Sir J. Noel Paton, R.S.A._\n\n  III. HERCULES WRESTLING WITH DEATH FOR\n       THE BODY OF ALCESTIS . . . . . . . . . _Lord Leighton, P.R.A._\n\n   IV. ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE . . . . . . . . . _G. F. Watts, S.A._\n\n    V. THE LAST SLEEP OF ARGYLL . . . . . . . _E. M. Ward, R.A._\n\n   VI. WISHART DISPENSING THE SACRAMENT\n       BEFORE HIS MARTYRDOM . . . . . . . . . _W. Q. Orchardson, R.A._\n\n  VII. THE RIDER ON THE WHITE HORSE . . . . . _G. F. Watts, R.A._\n\n VIII. THE MAN WITH THE MUCK-RAKE . . . . . . _Sir J. Noel Paton, R.S.A._\n\n\n\n\nCHRIST IN THE TEMPLE\n\nBY W. HOLMAN HUNT\n\n\n[Illustration: CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE.  By permission of Mr. Holman Hunt,\nand of Mrs. Holt, Liverpool]\n\n\nCHRIST IN THE TEMPLE\n\n_How is it that ye sought Me?  Wist ye not that I must be in My\nFather's house?_--LUKE ii. 49 (Revised Version).\n\n\nThe Bible story from which the text is taken has been illustrated by a\nfamous picture.  The artist is Mr. Holman Hunt, who has painted many\npictures on Bible subjects, and has spent many years in Palestine in\nconnection with his work.  His painting of \"The Finding of Christ in\nthe Temple\" is well worth seeing for the rich beauty of its colouring\nand the delicate fineness of its workmanship, and every one who loves\nthe Bible must feel that it is still more worth seeing for the sake of\nthe scene which it represents.\n\nAs you look at the picture you have before you the interior of a\nspacious portico in the Temple at Jerusalem.  The roof is supported on\ngraceful pillars, and from it there hang many lamps of beautiful\nmetal-work.  The farther end is closed by an ornamental lattice-screen.\nAt the right hand side a wide doorway opens on the steps which lead\ndown to one of the Temple courts.  A beggar sits on the steps just\noutside the opening, and beyond him there are workmen busy at the\nbuilding of the Temple, which, as you know, was not finished for many\nyears after the boyhood of Jesus.  You remember that when He had grown\nto manhood, the Jews said to Him, _Forty and six years was this Temple\nin building_,[1] and even then we know that it was not completed.  In\nour picture we see the scaffolding of the masons, and one of the cranes\nby which they raised the stones into position.  The workmen themselves\nare engaged with a large marble block which is lying on the ground, and\nfor which there is a vacant space in the wall above.  Beyond the\nunfinished building there is a grove of trees, and in the further\ndistance we get a glimpse of the roofs of the city and of the hills\nbehind.  Coming back to the interior of the portico we see an\ninteresting group of figures at the farther end.  A father and mother\nhave come to present their child in the Temple, and they have bought a\nlamb to offer in sacrifice.  The father, with the lamb on his shoulder,\nand the mother, with the little one in her arms, are following a priest\nand another attendant who are leading the way further into the Temple,\nwhile the man who has sold them the lamb is holding back the\nmother-sheep.  Doves are flying in by the doorway or hovering about\ninside.  They are among the\n\n  \"Happy birds that sing and fly\n  Round Thine altars, O Most High.\"\n\nA boy near one of the pillars is waving a long streamer in the air to\nfrighten them away.  But our attention is principally drawn to the\nforeground of the picture.  This part of the portico is richly\ncarpeted, and here a number of Jewish Rabbis--the doctors or teachers\nof the Law--are sitting in a half-circle, facing the doorway.  They are\ngrave men, with long beards and flowing robes.  Many of them are old\nand grey.  The Rabbi nearest us has a specially withered face, and eyes\nthat have become sightless with age.  The one next him holds in his\nhand a little metal box with leather thongs hanging down from it.  This\nis a phylactery, containing texts of Scripture written on parchment,\nand the thongs are for fastening it on the forehead.  Another of the\ngroup wears his phylactery in its proper position.  The blind Rabbi\nclasps in his arms a great roll of the Law, richly mounted and\ncarefully wrapped up.  A little boy, with a brush to drive away the\nflies, kneels beside him, and another boy behind him is reverently\nkissing the covering of the roll, which he has raised to his lips.  One\nof the younger Rabbis holds a smaller roll spread out before him.  An\nattendant is pouring out wine from a jar under his arm, for one of the\nolder men to drink.  The Temple musicians, with youthful faces, and\nwith various instruments in their hands, stand behind the Rabbis and\nwatch the scene with much interest.  But the central figure in the\npicture is the boy Jesus, who has risen from the place where He has\nbeen sitting, and is preparing to go away with Joseph and Mary.  He\nstands just inside the doorway, tightening His girdle with one hand,\nwhile the other hand clasps His mother's arm.  His bright, earnest face\nis turned a little away from her, and His eyes glance towards the\nRabbis as if He were eager to hear the last of their words.  Mary is\nsmiling with gladness because she has found Him, and is drawing Him\ngently and lovingly away.  Behind her, Joseph, a powerful and\nnoble-looking man, holds with one hand the broad strap by which his\nwallet is slung over his shoulder, while his other hand rests beside\nMary's on the shoulder of Jesus.  Just above his head there is a large\nsun-shaped design on the side of the doorway, around which run the\nwords, both in Latin and in Hebrew, _The Lord whom ye seek shall\nsuddenly come to His Temple_.[2]\n\nNow there are at least two lessons which the story and the picture\nteach us.  There are two things in which the boy Jesus sets an example\nto the boys and girls of to-day.\n\n\nI\n\nFirst of all, there is _Love of heavenly wisdom_.  You can well\nunderstand that there must have been many places and many things in the\ngreat and ancient city of Jerusalem which would be full of interest for\na boy of twelve, who had just come for the first time from His distant\nvillage home.  But there was no place so attractive to Jesus as the\nTemple of God.  There was nothing that pleased Him so much as to hear\nwhat the wise men of the Temple had to say about God's truth and God's\nservice.  He had thought a great deal about these matters Himself\nthough He was only a boy.  He had a great many questions to ask.  Three\ndays had not been long enough for Him to find out all that He wanted to\nknow.  He thought that Joseph and Mary would have understood what He\nliked best, that they would have known exactly where to find Him, that\nthey would never have thought of looking for Him in any other place\nthan His Father's house.\n\nYou see that the love of heavenly wisdom is as natural and as beautiful\nin a young mind as in an older one.  The picture that I have been\ndescribing shows Jesus with a real, bright, boyish face, which is\nearnest and thoughtful at the same time.  And you boys and girls who\nread these pages will be able to make the best of the happy days of\nyour youth if you love your Heavenly Father and His house, if you are\neager to know and to obey His will.\n\n\nII\n\nSecondly, there is _Obedience to earthly parents_.  It was not with any\nintention of disobeying Joseph and Mary that Jesus stayed behind in the\nTemple.  He did not think of their losing Him, or of their being\nanxious about Him.  He did not mean to grieve or vex them.  He was so\ncarried away by His interest in the teaching of the wise Rabbis that He\nthought about nothing else.  This was just like a boy, and Jesus was a\nreal boy.  But as soon as Joseph and Mary found Him and called Him, He\nobeyed them.  He rose from His seat among the doctors and went with His\nparents towards the doorway.  He would have liked to stay longer, and\nHe could not help looking back and listening to the last.  But He never\nonce dreamed of remaining against Mary's or Joseph's will.  He never\nthought of making His love for God's wisdom and truth an excuse for\ndisobeying them.  _He went down with them, and came to Nazareth: and He\nwas subject unto them_.[3]\n\nAnd so the boys and girls who are the most earnest and thoughtful,\nthose who love God's house and God's Word most deeply, ought to be the\nmost obedient boys and girls at home.  God does not want to take your\nmind and heart away from your parents and from what you owe to them.\nHe wants you to serve Him by your loving obedience to them.  When you\nhonour your father and your mother you are honouring God's commandment,\nand so honouring God Himself in the very best way.\n\n\n\n[1] John ii. 20.\n\n[2] Mal. iii. 1.\n\n[3] Luke ii. 51 (Revised Version).\n\n\n\n\nLUTHER AT ERFUeRT\n\nBy THE LATE SIR J. NOEL PATON, R.S.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: LUTHER AT ERFUeRT.  By permission of the executors of Sir\nNoel Paton, and Mr. R. H. Brechin, Glasgow]\n\n\nLUTHER AT ERFUeRT\n\n_I rejoice at Thy word, as one that findeth great spoil_.--Ps. cxix.\n162.\n\n\nI wish to connect this text with a picture which is thought by many\njudges to be among the greatest of the late Sir Noel Paton's works.\nIts title is \"Dawn,\" and its subject is a well-known incident in the\nlife of the famous German Reformer, Martin Luther.\n\nAs we see Luther in this picture he is a young man between twenty and\nthirty years of age.  He has had a brilliant career at the University\nof Erfuert, and has taken his degree with the highest honours, but he\nhas disappointed all his friends by refusing to become a lawyer, and by\nchoosing to become a monk instead.  He has already entered the\nAugustinian monastery at Erfuert.  Luther's reason for taking this\nunexpected step has been anxiety about his soul.  He has begun to do\nhis best to gain salvation by performing all the duties of a monk.  He\nhas fasted, and scourged himself, and done without sleep.  He has once\nspent three whole days without eating or drinking.  He has been found\nfainting on the floor of his cell.  But with all this he does not feel\nthat God has forgiven his sins.  In this monastery, however, he has\nfound something which he has never seen before, and that is a Bible.\nYou would think it strange nowadays if a man were over twenty years\nold, and a Master of Arts, and yet had never seen a Bible; but that was\nquite common in Luther's time.  Well, in this monastery there is a\nBible, a great Latin book bound in red leather.  The other monks have\nshown it to Luther, though they have not cared much about it\nthemselves.  He has begun to read it eagerly.  The first thing he has\nread in it has been the story of Hannah and the little Samuel, and this\nhas made him think of his own mother Margarethe and himself.  Night and\nday he studies this precious book, but at first it only makes him more\nanxious.  It seems to speak to him only of the righteous and jealous\nGod, who hates and punishes sin.  But he gets some advice from a wise\nfriend, and begins to read the Epistle to the Romans over again.  And\nat length the glad meaning of the gospel dawns upon him.  His own\naccount of it is, _Straightway I felt as if I were born anew.  It was\nas if I had found the door of Paradise thrown wide open.  Now I saw the\nScriptures altogether in a new light.  That passage of Paul was to me\nthe true door of Paradise_.\n\nSir Noel Paton's picture represents Luther reading the Bible and\nfinding his restlessness and anxiety giving place to gladness and peace\nof heart.  He is sitting at a reading-table with the great\nleather-covered book open before him.  He wears his monk's dark robe\nand cowl.  His hands are thin and wasted.  His cheeks are pale and\nhollow with fasting.  His eyes are bloodshot and fevered with anxiety\nand sleeplessness.  Near his left hand a richly carved crucifix stands\non the table, and beside it are an hour-glass and a skull.  An ink-pot\nwith pens is at the other side.  A lamp hangs from the roof above his\nhead, but it is giving no light.  Only a thin blue trail of smoke rises\nfrom the wick, showing that the oil has been burnt out.  The fresh\nmorning air is coming in at a half-opened window above the crucifix.\nThe bright morning sun shines through the richly stained glass, and\nmakes a strange blur of coloured light on the wooden shutter behind.\nThe front of the reading-table is adorned by a picture of the Garden of\nGethsemane, with Christ praying, and the disciples sleeping.  On the\nwall behind Luther is a portrait of Pope Alexander VI., who died not\nlong before this time, and was one of the worst of men.  In a recess\nbeyond a curtain we see on another stained-glass window, the figure of\nAugustine, one of the great teachers of the early Church, after whom\nthe monastery at Erfuert was named.  A number of old parchment-covered\nbooks are visible, and it is interesting to notice the titles of some\nof them, and the places where they lie.  Away on a shelf are the works\nof Aristotle, a great philosopher of ancient heathen Greece.  On the\nfloor beside the reading-table is a book by a man called Thomas\nAquinas, a famous Roman Catholic teacher of the thirteenth century.\nAnd on the table is a book by Augustine about the City of God.  A\nrosary, that is, a string of black beads with a cross at the end, has\nbeen thrust between the leaves of this last book, as if to mark the\npage.  We seem to see that Luther has come from the heathen philosopher\nto the Roman Catholic doctor, and then to the earlier Christian\nteacher, and last of all to the Bible itself.  For the Bible is the\nonly open book; and the pale, worn, young monk, who has been reading it\nall night, is still bending over it in the early morning, with a\nwonderful earnestness in his look.  The sunrise outside is an emblem of\nthe light that is beginning to dawn upon his soul.\n\nNow what can this picture teach you?  Two things, I think, at least.\n\n\nI\n\nThe first is _to prize the Bible and study it earnestly_.  You can\nunderstand what a surprising and precious discovery the Bible was to\nLuther, how glad he was to read it, how he _rejoiced_ in God's Word _as\none that findeth great spoil_.  And one of the first things he did when\nhe had an opportunity was to translate the Bible into the common speech\nof the German people, that every one might be able to have it, and that\nno one might grow to manhood or womanhood without having seen it or\nread it.\n\nBibles are common and cheap in these days, but I am afraid that there\nare still some people who are as old as Luther in our picture, and yet\ndo not know very much about the truths which the Scriptures contain.\nBe sure that you do not despise the Bible because it is so familiar.\nIt is still the best of all books.  Try to take as much interest in it\nas if it were a book you had never seen before, and you will always\nfind something new and fresh in it to reward you.\n\n\nII\n\nThe second is _to discover in the Bible God's message of love and peace\nto your own heart_.  Luther's case shows that you cannot win God's\nforgiveness by punishing yourself, by fasting, and scourging, and\nsleeplessness, and things like these, while you can get forgiveness for\nnothing just by taking it from God.  Jesus Christ has won it for you.\nHe has loved you and given Himself for you.  You simply need to believe\nthat God pardons you and saves you freely for Jesus Christ's sake.\nThis was what Luther found in his Bible.  It is the best thing you can\nfind in yours.  And when you do find it I am sure that you also will\n_rejoice as one that findeth great spoil_.\n\n\n\n\nHERCULES WRESTLING WITH DEATH FOR THE BODY OF ALCESTIS\n\nBY THE LATE LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: HERCULES WRESTLING WITH DEATH FOR THE BODY OF ALCESTIS.\nBy permission of the Fine Art Society, 748 New Bond Street, London, the\nowners of the copyright]\n\n\nHERCULES WRESTLING WITH DEATH FOR THE BODY OF ALCESTIS\n\n_That through death He might bring to nought him that had the power of\ndeath_.--HEB. ii. 14 (Revised Version).\n\n\nWe come now to a picture which represents a scene in one of the most\nbeautiful stories of ancient Greece.  There was a king of Thessaly\ncalled Admetus, with whom the god Apollo served for a time as herdsman.\nApollo had offended Zeus, the Father of the gods, by killing the\nforgers of the thunderbolts with which Zeus had slain Apollo's son\nAsclepius--\n\n  \"And so, for punishment, must needs go slave,\n  God as he was, with a mere mortal lord.\"\n\nHe found Admetus to be a kind master, and when his term of service was\nover he showed his gratitude by obtaining from the Fates a promise\nthat, whenever Admetus should be about to die, his life would be\nspared, if only some one of his friends should be found willing to die\ninstead of him.  The promise was very soon put to the test.  Admetus\nwas struck down with a deadly disease.  His father Pheres and his\nmother were each asked if they would die for their son, but though they\nwere old, and had not many years of life to hope for at the best,\nneither of them was willing to make the sacrifice.  When they refused,\nAlcestis, the wife of Admetus, offered herself to Death in the flower\nof her youth and beauty.  She was taken, and her husband was spared.\nHercules was the greatest hero of the Greeks--their strong man, like\nSamson in the Bible.  And when Alcestis died Hercules came to the\nrescue.  He wrestled with Death, overcame him, and gave Alcestis back\nto her husband again.  This beautiful tale was taken by the Greek poet\nEuripides as the subject of one of his plays, the _Alcestis_, which\nsome of you may read when you are older.  The story is also found in\nEnglish in Browning's _Balaustion's Adventure_, which is just a\ntranslation and explanation of the poem of Euripides.\n\nThe fight of Hercules with Death for the body of Alcestis has been\npainted as well as sung.  Lord Leighton's large and masterly picture\nbrings the whole scene before us.  In the centre you see the body of\nAlcestis, which has been brought out of doors, and laid on a bier under\nthe shadow of some ancient trees.  Beyond it, in the background, is the\ndark blue sea, flecked with white spots of foam.  The dead body is\ncovered with pure white drapery.  The beautiful face is pale as marble,\nand the brow is crowned with a garland of myrtle leaves.  Roses are\nstrewn on the white coverlet, and on the ground.  Beside the bier are\nthe offerings of food and drink which the Greeks used to burn along\nwith their dead on the funeral pyre.  In the left hand corner lies a\nshovel for digging the grave that is to receive the ashes.  Several men\nand women are gathered round the bier, mostly in a group near the head\nof Alcestis.  They are her friends, and the servants attending her dead\nbody.  At the right hand side of the picture we see a terrible conflict\ngoing on.  Death has come in bodily form to meet the funeral\nprocession, and to take Alcestis away.  His limbs are of a ghastly\nashen colour.  His wings are black as night.  He is wrapped in a dark\nmantle, which hides almost the whole of his face, and shows only the\nfearful gleam of his eyes.  But Hercules is also there, strong and\nruddy, and wearing the skin of a lion which he has slain in one of his\nadventures.  He has grasped Death by both wrists, and is forcing him\ndownwards and backwards over his knee.  He is plainly overcoming his\nadversary.  One of the women present is swooning away in fear.  Some of\nthe others are hiding their faces from the dreadful struggle.  The rest\nare gazing on it with awestruck looks, hardly daring to hope that\nHercules will be victorious.\n\nBrowning's poem, which was published in the same year[1] in which Lord\nLeighton's painting appeared, contains at the end a description of the\npicture, which you will be glad to read here.\n\n  \"There lies Alkestis dead, beneath the sun,\n  She longed to look her last upon, beside\n  The sea, which somehow tempts the life in us\n  To come trip over its white waste of waves,\n  And try escape from earth, and fleet as free.\n  Behind the body, I suppose there bends\n  Old Pheres in his hoary impotence;\n  And women-wailers in a corner crouch\n        *        *        *        *        *\n  Close, each to other, agonising all,\n  As fastened, in fear's rhythmic sympathy,\n  To two contending opposite.  There strains\n  The might o' the hero 'gainst his more than match,\n  --Death, dreadful not in thew and bone, but like\n  The envenomed substance that exudes some dew\n  Whereby the merely honest flesh and blood\n  Will fester up and run to ruin straight,\n  Ere they can close with, clasp and overcome\n  The poisonous impalpability\n  That simulates a form beneath the flow\n  Of those grey garments.\"\n\n\nNow, of course, the story of Admetus and Alcestis is a fable, but for\nall that it is not worthless as some fables are.  Though the god Apollo\nnever existed, and never lived among men as a servant, yet the old tale\nreminds us of Him who was truly the Son of God; who came to this world\nand lived a human life like our own--a life of lowly service; who did\nthis not because of any crime He had committed, since He was perfectly\nholy; and not because any one forced Him to do it, but of His own free\nand loving choice.  And further, the story shows us how sorrow and\ndeath came to these old Greeks, and awakened in their hearts great\ndreams and longings.  These desires seemed vain enough then, because\nthere was no one who could fulfil them.  But they were the very desires\nwhich Jesus Christ came to fulfil in due time.  The Greeks thought of a\nlove which was strong enough to make one lay down one's life for a\nfriend, and they put that idea into the sacrifice of Alcestis.  They\nthought, too, of a power which was strong enough to conquer Death, and\nto bring lost ones back to life, and they put that idea into the\nvictory of Hercules.\n\nIn Jesus Christ you actually find both such a love and such a power.\nHe laid down His life for His friends--yes, and for His enemies.  He\nloved us, and gave Himself for us.  And, though He died, yet He\nconquered Death.  He rose again in victory and glory.  He gives eternal\nlife to all His disciples.  He has abolished death, and has brought\nlife and immortality to light.  Must not this picture, and this\nold-world story, make us think reverently and lovingly of Him, and of\nthe verse which tells how He came _that through death He might bring to\nnought him that had the power of death_?\n\n\n\n[1] 1871.\n\n\n\n\nORPHEUS AND EURYDICE\n\nBY G. F. WATTS, R.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE By permission from a photograph by\nMr. Frederick Hollyer]\n\n\nORPHEUS AND EURYDICE\n\n_He that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more_.--Job vii. 9.\n\n\nOur last picture showed us a struggle in which Death was conquered.\nThis one illustrates another old Greek story--the story of a fight with\nDeath that failed.  It is by Mr. G. F. Watts, one of the most famous of\nliving painters, and it is called \"Orpheus and Eurydice.\"\n\nAccording to the old fable Orpheus was a great musician, so skilful\nthat he could tame wild beasts, and even make the trees and rocks move\nby the sweet melodies which he played.  Eurydice was his wife, and one\nday she trod on a snake, which bit her, so that she died, and went down\ninto the world of ghosts.  Orpheus loved her so much that he followed\nher into that gloomy place, taking his lyre with him.  He played such\nentrancing music that all the ghosts were spellbound.  Even Persephone,\nthe stern Queen of the Dead, was so touched that she gave him leave to\ntake Eurydice back with him to the land of the living.  But she warned\nhim that he must not look back till they were both safely out in the\nupper world.  Orpheus was glad beyond measure, and meant to obey the\nwarning.  But he was so anxious about Eurydice, that just before they\nhad passed the gate of the under world he looked round, to make sure\nthat she was near him.  In an instant she was whirled away back, to\ndwell for ever among the dead.  Orpheus came forth alone, twice\nbereaved, and more than doubly sad.\n\nMr. Watts has painted several pictures of Orpheus and Eurydice.  Some\nof them show the figures at full length, but the one in our\nillustration is less complete.  Still it contains the principal points\nthat are to be seen in the other companion paintings.  The scene is the\ngloomy gateway of the world of the dead.  It is all rough and rocky and\ndark.  Through its opening you catch a glimpse of the bright upper\nworld, and of the blue sky with its white clouds.  Orpheus stands in\nthe shadow.  His body has the glow of life and health.  He wears his\nminstrel's garland on his brow.  But his face is full of anguish.  For\nhe has looked backwards, and he sees that Eurydice, who is close behind\nhim, is a pale corpse again.  Her arms, that have just been stretched\nout to clasp his neck, have lost their power and are falling down\nlifelessly.  Her head is drooping upon her shoulder.  Her eyes are\nclosed, and her fair face is turned towards the under world.  One of\nthe pictures shows a lily which has dropped from her hand, and lies\ntrailing and broken among the stones at her feet.  Her long golden hair\nis blowing backwards into the dark.  The right arm of Orpheus is\nstretched out in a vain attempt to grasp her, and to hold her back from\nbeing carried away by the resistless power that draws her.  His left\nhand holds his lyre, and all its strings save one are broken.  His eye\nis fixed on Eurydice's face in a gaze of hopeless pain.  The picture is\nterrible rather than beautiful to look upon.  It tells us how, in the\nsad, dark heathen world, before Christ came, men thought that though\nLove might sometimes seem stronger than Death, Death was really\nstronger than Love.\n\nNow the story of Orpheus has an interest for us in more ways than one.\nThe early Christians liked to think of the resemblance between Orpheus\nand Christ.  They saw in the minstrel, who tamed the wild beasts with\nhis music, a type of the gracious and gentle Saviour who came to subdue\nthe evil passions of men's hearts, and to change confusion and strife\ninto harmony and peace.  In the pictures which they have left in the\nRoman Catacombs Christ is very frequently represented under the figure\nof the fabled musician.  He appears as a young man sitting beneath a\ntree, wearing a country cloak and cap, and with a harp on His knee.\nThe lion, the wolf, the leopard, the horse, the sheep, the serpent, and\nthe tortoise are gathered round Him, and peacocks and other birds are\nperched upon the branches of the tree.\n\nBut our picture leads us rather to think of the difference between\nOrpheus and Christ.  Christ's love, unlike the love of Orpheus, is\nstronger than death.  It brought back to life the little daughter of\nJairus, who had died just before He came to her father's house.  It\nbrought back the widow's son at Nain, when his body was being carried\nto the grave.  It brought back Lazarus of Bethany, after he had been\ndead four days.  The love of Christ took Him into the world of the dead\nHimself, that He might return as a Conqueror.  It sets free all His\ndisciples from the power of death.  It brings them all back, not to\nthis world of sin and sorrow, where they would have to die again, but\ninto the better world of heaven, where they have everlasting life and\ngladness.  What the old heathen Greeks dreamed of hopelessly has come\nto pass.  What Orpheus could not do for Eurydice because of his\nweakness and forgetfulness, Jesus Christ in His strength and wisdom can\ndo for you and me.  He will do it if we trust Him.  His disciples need\nnever be troubled by the old despairing thought, _He that goeth down to\nthe grave shall come up no more_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAST SLEEP OF ARGYLL\n\nBY THE LATE E. M. WARD, R.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE LAST SLEEP OF ARGYLL.  By permission of Messrs.\nThomas Agnew & Sons.]\n\n\nTHE LAST SLEEP OF ARGYLL\n\n_Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,\nbecause he trusteth in Thee_.--ISA. xxvi. 3.\n\n\nThis is a painting which takes us back, not to any legend of pagan\ntimes, nor to any Bible story, nor to any incident of the Reformation\nin other lands, but to a scene in the history of our own country, and\nit is well worthy of its place among the other historical pictures in\nthe Commons' Corridor of the Houses of Parliament.\n\nThe nobleman who is the subject of the picture is not the great and\nfamous Marquis of Argyll, but his son, the ninth Earl of Argyll.  The\nMarquis was put to death in the year 1661, as one of the first victims\nof the cruel government of King Charles II. after the Restoration.  He\nwas the man who had placed the crown on the head of Charles at Scone,\nwhen the Scottish people were loyal to him, though the English would\nnot own him as their king.  When Charles came to the throne of both\ncountries, after ten years of exile, he showed his gratitude to his\nfaithful servant by sending him to the scaffold.  The first words of\nthe Marquis, after he received the sentence of death, were, _I had the\nhonour to set the crown upon the king's head, and now he hastens me to\na better crown than his own_.  And when he was leaving the prison to go\nto the place of execution, he said to his friends, I could die like a\nRoman, but choose rather to die as a Christian.\n\nThe Earl, his son, who appears in our picture, was executed in 1685,\nthe first year of Charles' successor, James II.  It was the same year\nin which John Brown, the carrier of Priesthill, was shot by Claverhouse\nin front of his own house, and before his wife's eyes; the year also in\nwhich Margaret Maclachlan and Margaret Wilson--the latter a maiden of\neighteen--were tied to stakes fixed in the sand, and drowned for\nChrist's sake in the Solway tide.  The Earl of Argyll was a man who\nworthily followed the noble example of his father.  He was condemned to\ndeath on a charge of treason, because he would not swear a certain oath\ncalled the _Test_.  This oath was directed against the Scottish\nCovenanters, and all the king's officers and servants were required to\ntake it.  Argyll did not approve of all that was in the oath, and said\nthat he could only swear it in so far as it agreed with the Bible and\nwith itself.  For this he was tried, and sentenced to die, a few years\nbefore the end of the reign of Charles II.  But he escaped from prison,\nand fled to Holland, where he remained for a time in safety.  When\nJames II. came to the throne on the death of Charles, the Earl took\npart in a rebellion against him, and came back to Scotland at the head\nof an army.  The rebellion failed, and Argyll was taken prisoner at\nInchinnan, near Renfrew.  He was brought to Edinburgh, and though he\nmight have been tried for his rebellion, he was just treated as a man\nalready sentenced to death.  On the morning of his execution, he said,\n_I have more joy and comfort this day than the day after I escaped out\nof the Castle_.  He then wrote some letters, and took his dinner as\ncheerfully as usual.  After dinner, as his custom was, he lay down to\nrest for a little, and slept for a quarter of an hour as sweetly and\npleasantly as he had ever done.  While he was asleep, an officer of\nstate, who had been one of his chief enemies, came to the Castle to see\nhim, with a message from the Council.  He was told that Argyll was\nasleep, and was not to be disturbed.  When he refused to believe this\nthe gaoler softly opened the door and allowed him to look into the\ncell.  As soon as he saw the Earl sleeping he turned without a word,\nand ran out of the Castle into a friend's house near by.  He was so\nagitated that the lady of the house thought he was ill and offered him\nwine.  But he declined it, with these words, _I have been in at Argyll,\nand saw him sleeping as pleasantly as ever a man did, within an hour of\neternity: but as for me_--and then he could say no more.\n\nArgyll's place of imprisonment may still be seen in Edinburgh Castle.\nIn Mr. Ward's picture his bed-chamber is before you.  Its thick walls,\nits bare floor, and its heavy vaulted roof are all of stone.  Through\nan open door you look into another room where you see the table at\nwhich he has just dined.  It is covered with a white cloth, on which\nare the remains of the dinner, and you notice that the wine-glass that\nstands beside the flagon has not been emptied.  In the nearer room the\nEarl is lying on the prison bed in his ordinary clothes.  He wears a\nsuit of black velvet, with a collar of lace at the neck, and full cuffs\nof white linen at the wrists.  His boots have not been removed, and he\nis stretched out only as comfortably as his fetters will allow.  His\nhead rests on a great white pillow, and his brown hair falls smoothly\nfrom beneath his black velvet cap.  A newly written letter has fallen\nfrom his hand to the floor.  You can read the signature, _Argyll_, and\nthe date, _1685_.  On a chair at the head of the bed there is a large\nBible, and beside it lies an old-fashioned watch, with its hand moving\nslowly round to the hour of execution.  The light from a little window\nfalls on the sleeping prisoner's face, which is fresh coloured and full\nof peace, with no trace of paleness or fear.  Near the foot of the bed\nthe thick outer door, studded with iron, and with a heavy lock, and\nmany bolts, stands open.  In the background there is a rough gaoler,\nholding the door by the key in the lock, while the rest of the bunch of\nprison keys hangs from his hand.  In front of him is the officer of\nstate, fashionably dressed in a rich red cloak, with a tasselled\nwaist-band.  His cuffs are of fine lace, he wears a jewelled ring, and\nhis long hair curls down upon his shoulders.  He has let his hat fall\nto the floor in his astonishment, and is staring at the sleeping Earl\nwith remorse and confusion in his face.\n\nSuch a picture suggests many thoughts.  It reminds us of the cruel\nsufferings our forefathers had to endure for conscience' sake, and of\nthe great debt we owe to those who were ready to lay down their lives\nin the cause of truth and freedom.\n\nIt shows also what a terrible thing it is to have a guilty conscience,\nas the officer who visited Argyll plainly had.  It teaches that a bad\nman's life of remorse and shame is a thing far more miserable, and far\nmore to be feared, than a good man's undeserved death.\n\nAbove all, it tells us that the secret of courage and calmness, both\nfor living and for dying, is faith in God our Father, and in the Lord\nJesus Christ our Saviour.  It proves how true are the words, _Thou wilt\nkeep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he\ntrusteth in Thee_.\n\n\n\n\nWISHART DISPENSING THE SACRAMENT BEFORE HIS MARTYRDOM\n\nBY W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: WISHART DISPENSING THE SACRAMENT BEFORE HIS MARTYRDOM.\nFrom a photograph by J. & R. Annan, Glasgow, by permission of Mr. J. C.\nBuist.]\n\n\nWISHART DISPENSING THE SACRAMENT BEFORE HIS MARTYRDOM\n\n_With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I\nsuffer_.--LUKE xxii. 15.\n\n\nHere we have a picture which represents a Communion service, yet a\nservice which is different in some ways from those which you have been\naccustomed to see.  The company is a small one, for there are only\nabout a dozen people present.  They are met, not in a church, but in a\nrather bare and plainly furnished room.  In the centre of the picture\nthere is a table covered with a white cloth, on which is set a salver\nwith some bread and three wine cups upon it.  Behind the table a man is\nstanding and speaking, with his hands stretched out over the bread and\nthe wine before him.  He is tall and bearded, and wears a simple dress\nof dark colour.  His face is pale, and his whole look is full of an\nearnest gladness.  Beside him sits a richly dressed lady, with a\ncountenance of rare beauty and goodness.  Her eyes are fixed on the\nspeaker, and she is drinking in eagerly every word that he utters.\nBeyond her, at one end of the table, sits a gentleman with a refined\nand thoughtful face.  He also is leaning forward and listening with the\ndeepest interest.  Opposite him, at the other end of the table, an old\nman is sitting very erect, with one hand resting on a staff, and the\nother grasping the arm of his chair.  He too is gazing steadfastly at\nthe man who speaks.  Beside the old man is a woman, and on her knee is\na little child who is playing with one of the pieces of bread on the\ntable.  At the side of the table next us there is a chair with a\nsoldier's round shield set against it and a sword lying upon it.  A\nsweet-faced little girl is leaning over the chair and clasping her arms\nround the hilt of the sword.  She is another eager listener, and she\nseems to understand all that is being said.  Behind her stands the man\nto whom the sword and the shield belong.  Beyond them is another man\nwhose head is bowed down upon the back of the gentleman's chair, and\nwho appears to be hiding his face in sorrow.  At the further side of\nthe table are two or three men.  Above them a curtain hangs from the\nroof.  The only other bit of ornament in the room is a tall vase which\nstands on the floor in front of the table.  Behind the speaker there is\nan open doorway, guarded by a soldier with a steel cap on his head.\n\nYou will ask when and where this Communion service took place, and who\nthe people in the picture are.\n\nWell, the time is the year 1546--nearly 360 years ago.  The place is\nthe Castle of Saint Andrews.  The speaker is George Wishart, one of the\nearly martyrs of the Scottish Reformation.  The scene took place on the\nmorning of the day--the 28th of March--when he was burned to death at\nthe stake in front of the Castle.  The gentleman at the end of the\ntable is the Governor of the Castle.  The beautiful lady is his wife.\nThe little girl and the baby boy are their children.  The others\npresent are their guests, or their servants, or friends of the\nprisoner.  And the soldier at the door is there to see that the\ncondemned man does not escape.\n\nLet me tell you a little more about George Wishart, and about what took\nplace that March morning.  Wishart was a learned Scottish gentleman,\nwho had come to believe in the gospel as Luther and the other Reformers\npreached it.  He had been banished from his native land by the bishops\nfor teaching the Greek New Testament at Montrose.  After spending some\nyears at the University of Cambridge in England he had returned to\nScotland in 1544, and had preached the Reformed doctrines with great\nearnestness and success in Montrose, Dundee, Ayrshire, and Haddington.\nIn the last-named place he had among his followers John Knox, who was\nthen a young man, and who afterwards became the great leader of the\nScottish Reformation.  Before going to Haddington he had paid a second\nvisit to Dundee, where the plague was raging at the time, and had\nministered with great fearlessness and tenderness to those who were\nsuffering from this dreadful disease.  There is still standing in\nDundee one of the old city gates--the Cowgate Port, where Wishart\npreached to the healthy on one side, and to the plague-stricken on the\nother.  When in Dundee at this time, he narrowly escaped being murdered\nby the enemies of the truth; and after he left Haddington he fell into\nthe hands of Cardinal Beaton, who was the leader of the Roman Catholic\nparty in Scotland.  He was taken to Saint Andrews, tried for heresy,\nsentenced to death, and condemned to be executed the next day.\n\nAfter spending the night in prayer, he was visited next morning by a\ngood man called John Winram, who was then the Sub-Prior of the Abbey of\nSaint Andrews, and who afterwards joined the Reformed Church.  Winram\nhad a long talk with him in his prison cell, and asked him if he was\nwilling to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.  Wishart\nanswered, _Most willingly, so I may have it ministered according to\nChrist's institution, under both heads, of bread and wine_.  Winram\nthen went to Cardinal Beaton and the other bishops, and asked that this\nmight be granted to the prisoner.  But they refused, answering that it\nwas not reasonable to grant any spiritual benefit to an obstinate\nheretic, condemned by the Church.\n\nAfter Wishart heard this he was invited to breakfast by the Governor of\nthe Castle, and he accepted readily, saying, _I perceive, you to be a\ngood Christian, and a man fearing God_.  When they were at breakfast,\nWishart said to his host, _I beseech you in the name of God, and for\nthe love you bear to our Saviour Jesus Christ, to be silent a little\nwhile, till I have made a short exhortation, and blessed this bread\nwhich we are to eat, so that I may bid you farewell_.  Then he spoke to\nthe company for about half an hour on the institution of the Lord's\nSupper, and the death of Christ, and exhorted them to love one another\nand to live holy lives.  Afterwards he blessed and broke the bread, and\ngave a portion to every one present.  And in the same way, after\ntasting the wine, he passed the cup round them all, bidding them to\nremember with thankfulness the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.  _As to\nmyself_, he said, _there is a more bitter portion prepared for me, only\nbecause I have preached the true doctrine of Christ, which bringeth\nsalvation.  But pray you the Lord with me that I may take it patiently,\nas out of His hand_.  Then he concluded with another thanksgiving, and\nwent back to his own chamber to wait for the hour of his martyrdom,\nwhich came very soon.\n\nThe stake at which he was to be burned was fixed in the ground in front\nof the Castle, and the Cardinal and his friends sat on cushions at the\nwindows, to enjoy the sight of his martyrdom.  Wishart was led to the\nplace with his hands bound behind his back, a rope round his neck, and\nan iron chain about his waist.  He knelt down and prayed thrice, _Oh,\nthou Saviour of the world, have mercy on me!  Father of heaven, I\ncommend my spirit into Thy holy hands_.  The executioner knelt down\nbefore him and asked his forgiveness for what he was about to do.\nWishart said, _Come hither_; and then kissed his cheek, with the words,\n_Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee.  My heart, do thine office_.\nWhen the flames leaped up around him, he cried to the Governor of the\nCastle, _This fire torments my body, but no way abates my spirit_.\nLast of all he warned the Cardinal that his own doom was near at hand,\nand then he was strangled by the rope being pulled tightly about his\nneck, and his body was burned to ashes.\n\nNow, if we come back to the picture of Wishart's last Communion, we\nshall find in it many deep and beautiful lessons, which even boys and\ngirls can understand and learn.\n\nYou see that in the days of the Reformation there were good men and\nwomen, like John Winram, and the Governor of the Castle, and his wife,\nwho sympathised with the Reformers, even though at first they did not\ncome out boldly on their side.  And there are still people, in the most\nunlikely places, who really love truth and goodness, and show their\nsecret feeling at times in unexpected and surprising ways.\n\nYou see that we do not need bishops and priests to give us the Lord's\nSupper, but that this Sacrament can be enjoyed in the simplest way\nwherever two or three followers of the Lord Jesus are gathered together\nin His name.  George Wishart's last Communion was strangely like the\nfirst Communion of all, which Jesus observed at Jerusalem with His\ndisciples.  Wishart, like his Master, was about to die for the truth.\nHe desired to hold this farewell feast with his friends.  And in doing\nso he made use just of the food and drink of an ordinary meal.\n\nAnd you see, lastly, that the Communion in the picture was like our own\nCommunions in this, that children were present, looking on, and\nlistening, and understanding something of what was said and done.  I am\nsure the Governor's little girl would never forget that Communion, nor\nthe good man who took such a touching farewell of his friends in the\nname of the Lord Jesus.  I think that surely she would always remember\nnot only George Wishart, but George Wishart's Master and Lord, of whom\nhe spoke so earnestly, and for whom he was so willing to die.  And I\nhope that you boys and girls who look on at the Communion services in\nyour own church, and see the disciples of Jesus Christ eating the bread\nand drinking the wine in remembrance of Him, will understand something\nof what all this means, and will learn to love Him and serve Him and\nremember Him yourselves, and all your lives long.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RIDER ON THE WHITE HORSE\n\nBY G. F. WATTS, R.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE RIDER ON THE WHITE HORSE.  By permission, from a\nphotograph by Mr. Frederick Hollyer.]\n\n\nTHE RIDER ON THE WHITE HORSE\n\n_And I saw, and behold, a white horse: and he that sat on him had a\nbow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and\nto conquer_.--REV. vi. 2.\n\n\nThe Book of Revelation is full of word-pictures of the wonderful things\nwhich its writer saw in vision.  And it is natural that great artists\nshould try to turn some of these word-pictures into real pictures for\nthe eye.  Mr. Watts has done this for the first part of the sixth\nchapter, which tells us about the four different horses, white, red,\nblack, and pale, and about their four riders.  He has made these horses\nand riders the subjects of four different paintings, and it is the\nfirst of them--the Rider on the White Horse--which is before us now.\nAs we look at the picture we are helped to imagine what the vision was\nlike, and helped perhaps also to understand the truth it was meant to\nteach.\n\nThe Horse and the Rider are, of course, the principal figures.  The\nHorse is a splendid milk-white charger.  Its breast is broad and\npowerful.  Its neck is arched proudly.  It has a small but graceful\nhead, beautiful eyes, widely opened nostrils, and a mouth that seems to\nbe impatiently champing the bit.  The front portion of its mane is\nparted on its brow and streams back round the ears on either side.  The\nrest of the mane is erect on its neck.  The Rider is a towering and\nterrible figure.  He wears a loose flowing cloak which swells around\nand behind him in the wind.  His left arm, strong and bare, is firmly\nstretched out, and his left hand holds a thick bow in its iron grasp.\nHis right arm is out of sight, and only the right hand is seen, drawing\nback the bowstring to his breast.  At his left side there hangs a\nquiver, full of arrows with feathered shafts.  On his head he wears a\nstately winged helmet, and above it a crown.  His face wears a look of\ncommanding strength, and in the eyes beneath the shadow of the helmet\nthere is an awful gleam of fixed and pitiless resolve.\n\nThese two principal figures are closely surrounded by others.  Three of\nthese on the left of the Horse first attract our attention.  The\nforemost, a dusky form, with head bent forward, and breast and\nshoulders bare, leads the Horse with his right hand by the bridle rein.\nBehind him, the fair face of a woman appears, framed in the folds of\nthe mantle that is gathered closely around her neck; and behind this\nstill another face is seen in the background.  These three are all\nmarching alongside of the Horse and his Rider.  Just in front of the\nfigure who leads the Horse there is a figure lying backwards with\nclosed eyes, as if in death; and on the further side of the Horse two\nother lifeless faces come into view.  In the lower left hand corner of\nthe picture, just in front of the Horse we see the bowed head and\nstooping shoulders of one more dark form.  All these figures, the dead\nas well as the living, have bright stars on their foreheads, though the\nstar on the brow of the one furthest back is partly hidden by the bow.\nThe Rider and his companions move forward under a gloomy sky, with\nangry streaks of light showing here and there between the clouds.  A\nwind seems to be blowing in their faces.  And high up behind them great\neagles, with spreading wings, are hovering in the air.\n\nNow, what shall we say is the meaning of the Bible vision which this\npicture brings afresh before our eyes?  The four Horses with their\nRiders represent four kinds of judgment which God sends at times upon\nthe world.  They are Conquest, Slaughter, Famine, and Death.  The Rider\non the White Horse stands for the first of these.  The picture shows us\nthe way in which strong nations and their rulers subdue the world, and\nbuild up great Empires by force.  The Rider's stately figure, and\nresolute face, and stern, unpitying eyes remind us of famous conquerors\nlike Alexander the Great and Napoleon.  The bow and quiver make it\nclear that it is by the weapons of war that their successes have been\nwon.  The proud war-horse, forcing its way among the thronging forms\naround it, suggests the resistless power with which Conquest goes on\nits triumphant way.  The crown on the Rider's head is an emblem of the\nglory and dominion which conquerors win.  In the other figures with the\nstarry brows we may see the different nations, or the kings and queens,\nwho have been touched and influenced by the spirit of War for Empire's\nsake.  The leader of the Horse, and the other two forms behind him, may\nrepresent nations that are marching along on the path of Conquest.  The\nprostrate, lifeless figures may be nations that have perished in the\nstrife.  And the bowed head in front of the Horse's breast may stand\nfor one of the nations that are subdued, and brought under the power of\nthose that are stronger than themselves.  The dark, angry sky makes us\nfeel that the Conqueror's progress is full of dread; and the eagles\ngive us a hint of the horrors that he leaves behind him, of the dead\nbodies that lie in the track of the White Horse and his terrible Rider,\nof the other three Riders, more terrible still, who follow in his train.\n\nAs we look at this picture we learn that War and Conquest have two\nsides.  At first sight we are attracted by the power and majesty of the\nHorse and his Rider, and we cannot help admiring them.  There is\nsomething grand and noble in the might of a great nation, in the strong\nwill and fearless courage of a great conqueror.  We are stirred and\nthrilled when we see the march of great armies, and hear the tidings of\ngreat victories.  There is a feeling of pride in belonging to a great\nEmpire which has proved itself able to subdue the world.  It seems a\nglorious thing to lead, or even to take part, in such a conquest.  But\nthe more closely we look at the picture, the more we feel that it is\nnot altogether a pleasant and satisfying sight.  The kind of conquest\nwhich the Rider on the White Horse represents is, after all, not a\nblessing, but a judgment which God sends on the world.  It is the\nvictory of strength over weakness.  If it brings glory to some nations,\nit brings destruction to others, and humiliation to others still.  It\nmeans the loss of countless lives, and the wrecking of numberless\nhomes.  It is followed by unspeakable sufferings and bitter sorrows.\nIt knows nothing of pity or mercy.  Its garlands of triumph are stained\nwith blood and tears.\n\nAnd so we gladly turn away from this picture to think of another\nConqueror of whom the Bible tells us, and who is described in these\nwords: _Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having\nsalvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass....  And the battle-bow shall\nbe cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the nations: and His dominion\nshall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the\nearth_.[1]  This conquering King is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He took\nthese words of the prophet to Himself when He rode into Jerusalem to\ndie.  His conquest is of a far nobler kind than that of war and force.\nIt is the victory of right over wrong.  Its motive is not ambition, but\nlove.  He is not stern and pitiless, but tender and gracious.  He rides\nin majesty _because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness_.[2]  He\nis the Prince of Peace.  His triumphs bring no sorrow or hurt or death\nin their train.  He blesses those whom He overcomes.  His Empire is the\nonly one that we can be truly proud to belong to, the only one that\nwill conquer the whole world and last for ever.\n\n\n  Jesus shall reign where'er the sun\n  Does his successive journeys run;\n  His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,\n  Till moons shall wax and wane no more.\n\n  Blessings abound where'er He reigns:\n  The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;\n  The weary find eternal rest;\n  And all the sons of want are blest.\n\n\n\n[1] Zech. ix. 9, 10.\n\n[2] Ps. xlv. 4.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN WITH THE MUCK-RAKE\n\nBY THE LATE SIR J. NOEL PATON, R.S.A.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE MAN WITH THE MUCK-RAKE.  By permission of Mr. Haydon\nHare.]\n\n\nTHE MAN WITH THE MUCK-RAKE\n\n_Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth_.--COL.\niii. 2.\n\n\nIn the second part of the _Pilgrim's Progress_, Bunyan tells us how\nChristiana and her children came to the Interpreter's House, and were\ntaken by the master of it into one of his Significant Rooms.  In one of\nthese there was _a man that could look no way but downwards, with a\nmuck-rake in his hand; there stood also one over his head, with a\ncelestial crown in his hand, and proffered him that crown for his\nmuck-rake; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to\nhimself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor_.\n\nThe late Sir Noel Paton has taken this as the subject of one of his\nmost famous pictures.  The canvas is a large one, and the figures in it\nare of life-size.  That of the man with the muck-rake himself first\narrests your eye, and chiefly draws your attention.  He is an old man\nwith a grey beard.  His face is a handsome one, and you see that he has\ngifts and powers which might have made him wise and venerable in his\nold age, if only he had made a good use of them.  But instead of the\nnoble gravity which you might expect to find on such a face, there is\nnothing but an eager gleam and a senseless smile of perfectly childish\nand foolish delight.  He wears on his head an old broad-rimmed hat,\nadorned with a gold chain and a peacock's feather.  At his belt he has\nseveral bags full of gold, and also a dagger with which he is ready to\ndefend his possessions.  One of the bags has burst, and the coins are\ndropping on the ground.  On his back he carries a wallet, crammed with\nold law-papers and straw.  He kneels on one knee, and his whole body is\nbent downward.  With his left hand he grasps the handle of a rake which\nhas three long prongs.  He is using the rake to draw towards him a lot\nof varied stuff that is littered about in front of him--more straw and\npapers, a broken necklace of beads, and a heart-shaped brooch, besides\ncoins and feathers, and other such things.  A large black beetle creeps\nnear his feet.  A little further in front of him more rubbish lies in a\nheap--a book of fashions, a fan, still more straw, some artificial\nroses and withered leaves, an old lamp, a skull, and a king's crown,\nall battered and bent and blood-stained.  There is a toad crouching\nunder the fan.  Among the other things a snake is crawling, and blowing\nout of its mouth beautifully coloured bubbles, airy and unsubstantial.\nYou can see one of them breaking as it touches a stone.  It is on these\nbubbles that the eager, delighted gaze of the old man is fixed, and to\ngrasp them he is stretching out his thin and trembling right hand.  His\nleft ankle is bound by a strong fetter of gold.  When you have looked\nat the picture for a little while, you see that he is in a prison cell.\nA faint light glimmers through a grated window at the back, where steps\ncome down into the cell by the side of a pillar.  Beside the old man a\nlantern stands on the ground.  Its glass sides are shaped like church\nwindows, but the flame of the candle inside is guttering and going out.\nThe straw on the floor is bursting into red flames and wreaths of\nsmoke, and the whole pile of rubbish is on the point of being burned up.\n\nBehind the man with the muck-rake is another Figure, tall and straight,\nyet bending down in pity.  It is the Figure of Christ.  He stands\nmotionless, with a look of sorrowful patience on His face.  One of His\nhands is laid on the old man's shoulder, and with the other He holds up\na bright crown.  It is a crown of thorns, the same which He wore\nHimself, but on the thorns are seven bright stars.  They turn it into a\ncrown of glory, and shed a radiance over all the picture.  You can see\nthat the Saviour's hands have been pierced, and that the thorns have\nleft bleeding marks upon His brow.\n\nAway in the dim background, hovering on many-tinted pinions, and with\nhands clasped in prayer, is an angel--the guardian angel of the old\nman's soul.  This angel has a face of unspeakable sadness, and eyes in\nwhich you can almost see the trembling of big tears, ready to fall.\n\nThese are some of the things that the genius and the exquisite skill of\nthe painter have put into the picture for our eyes to see.  What did he\nmean our minds and hearts to understand by them all?  Perhaps I may\nbegin to answer that question by reminding you of what John Banyan\nmeant by the man in his story.\n\n_Then said Christiana_ (to the Interpreter), _I persuade myself that I\nknow somewhat the meaning of this; for this is a figure of a man of\nthis world: is it not, good Sir?_\n\n_Thou hast said the right, said he; and his muck-rake doth show his\ncarnal mind.  And whereas thou seest him rather give heed to rake up\nstraws and sticks, and the dust of the floor, than to do what he says\nthat calls to him from above, with the celestial crown in his hand, it\nis to show that Heaven is but as a fable to some, and that things here\nare counted the only things substantial.  Now, whereas it was also\nshewed thee that the man could look no way but downwards, it is to let\nthee know, that earthly things, when they are with power upon men's\nminds, quite carry their hearts away from God._\n\n_Then said Christiana, O deliver me from this muck-rake!_\n\nI think I am not wrong in saying that the story and the picture set\nbefore us two kinds of life--a poor and worthless one which many people\nchoose, and a high and glorious one from which many people turn away.\n\n\nI\n\nThe man with the muck-rake represents _The worldly life_--the life of\nselfishness, of grasping and striving after the good things of this\nearth alone.\n\nThis is a childish kind of life for any one to spend.  A look at the\nold man's face shows us that.  God has given us natures that we can put\nto the noblest uses; but if we prize and pursue nothing save the\npleasures and the riches of this world, we shall carry into our old age\nthe foolishness and senselessness of the youngest children.\n\nSuch a life, besides, is a life of bondage and care.  We make the world\ninto a prison, and we fetter ourselves with chains, when we make its\ngood things our chief aim and reward.  The battered and blood-stained\ncrown shows that the highest earthly ambitions have their pains and\nmiseries even when they are most successful.\n\nThen this kind of life does not satisfy, and does not last.  The varied\nrubbish shows that this world's possessions are not worth much after\nall.  The bursting bubbles show that their attraction is hollow and\ndelusive.  The coins escaping from the bags show that we cannot keep\nour riches for ever, no matter how hard we try.  The rising flames\nremind us that nothing on the earth will endure.\n\nLastly, a worldly life is an unworthy life.  The toad and beetle and\nsnake show that there are often vile things hidden among the treasures\nof earth.  The bent, crouching form of the old man shows how\nselfishness and greed degrade and bow down our nature.  The expiring\nflame of the lantern warns us that worldly grasping puts out the light\nof love and goodness in the soul.\n\n\nII\n\nThe shining crown which Christ holds out calls us to _The unworldly\nlife_.  This is a life of love, of giving, of sacrifice like His own.\n\nSuch a life is the only one that is truly happy, though it may not seem\nso pleasant as the other.  It is far more blessed to give than to\nreceive.\n\nIt is the only life that is truly noble.  There never was such a grand\nlife as the life of the Lord Jesus on earth, and the more our life is\nlike His, the nearer will it come to its highest and best.\n\nIt is the life, too, that leads to the richest reward.  The thorns are\nturned into stars.  The emblem of pain and sacrifice is changed into a\ncrown of light and glory.\n\nBut it is the life of likeness to Christ.  It is a share of His own\ncrown and of His own glory that He offers to us, and we cannot get\nthese except by being like Him.  We can only win them by following Him.\nHe has suffered for us, and given Himself for us.  We need to learn of\nHim, and to be filled with His Spirit of self-forgetting, self-denying,\nself-sacrificing love.\n\nSome of you may be old enough to feel that your life has already been\ntoo much like that of the man with the muck-rake.  It has been too\nselfish and too worldly: it has been a life beneath you; a life of\nchains and bondage; a life perhaps touched with vileness; a life spent\nin pursuit of worthless trifles; a life degrading and darkened and\nfoolish and vain.  Well, this patient Saviour stands beside you.  He\nbends over you in pity.  He touches you with His pierced hand.  He asks\nyou to yield to His love, and to be loving like Him.  He offers you the\ncrown of glory, instead of the rubbish that you have coveted so long.\nIf you will look up to Him, and meet His look, and take His gift, and\nfollow Him, you will find true light, true freedom, true riches, true\nnobility.  His suffering will be rewarded.  His patience will be\nsatisfied.  There will be joy in the presence of the angels of God.","title":"Evangelists of Art: Picture-Sermons for Children","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":11509}