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 Seed thoughts for public speakers 
 
 3 1924 014 524 536 
 
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 Seed CbougDts for Public Streakers 
 
 six hundred suggestive and illustrative paragraphs for 
 the use of preachers and other public speakers. i2mo. 
 Cloth. Price, $1.50 
 
 TunR $ aiagnalls Company « « « • PublisDers 
 
SEED THOUGHTS FOR 
 PUBLIC SPEAKERS 
 
 By ARTHUR T. PIERSON 
 A CoUeftion of Illbstrations, 
 Anecdotes,' Outlines of Ser- 
 mons and Addresses, Etc. . . 
 Designed for Writers and 
 Speakers ::::::: 
 
 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
Copyright, 1900, by 
 
 FUNK & WAGNAI,I,S COMPANY 
 
 [Printed in the United States of America] 
 
A WORD PRELIMINARY 
 
 Everything good is a growth. If there shall be found, 
 in this coUedlion of fancies and fadls, thoughts and say- 
 ings, anything that is helpful, it is because the habit of 
 never losing a good thought, and of gathering up even 
 fragments so that nothing be lost, grew out of the 
 incessant demands of a vocation that, beyond any other, 
 taxes to the utmost all a man's intelledlual resources, 
 and draws heavily upon his largest acquisitions. 
 
 Dr. Bellamy, when asked by a young clergyman what 
 he should do for matter for discourses, quaintly replied, 
 ' ^Fill up the cask! Then, if you tap it anywhere, you get 
 a good stream; but if you put but little in, it will dribble, 
 dribble, and you must tap and keep tapping, and get but 
 little after all." 
 
 It is the sincere hope of the writer of these pages, that 
 the homiletic hints, outlines, and illustrations here given 
 may prove, to some of his brethren in the sacred of&ce, 
 and to teachers of truth and public speakers in general, 
 stimulating and suggestive, and, possibly, add a small 
 contribution to that " treasure " out of which they may 
 bring things " new and old." 
 
 A copious and exhaustive index will be found at the 
 end of the volume, by consulting which any of the con- 
 tents, and their topical bearing, as also the author or 
 source of any quotation whose origin is known, may be 
 quickly found. Great pains has been taken to make this 
 index simple, complete, and analytical. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 I 
 
 Sinners are made bold in sinning by the fact that they 
 seem to sin with impunity. Eccles. viii : 1 1 : " Because 
 sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, 
 therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them 
 to do evil." Pitt said: "I have no fear for England; 
 she will stand till the Day of Judgment." Burke 
 answered: " It is the day of no judgment that I dread." 
 
 Power is not measured by noise, nor energy and efEedl- 
 iveness by violence of demonstration. i Kings xix: 
 12. God was not in the stormy wind, the earthquake, 
 the roaring fire, but in the still, small voice. The pendu- 
 lum swings and flashes and ticks; but the mainspring, 
 which every wheel and lever obeys, is absolutely noiseless 
 and hidden. The mightiest powers of nature adt, for the 
 most part, in perfedl silence. 
 
 3 
 
 The human soul itself contains within itself all the 
 necessary elements of retributive penalty. Gen. xlii : 21 : 
 ' ' We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we 
 saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we 
 would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us." 
 
 5 
 
6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Here is nothing but memory, conscience, and reason, yet 
 what an exhibition and illustration of the self-retributive 
 power of sin! Memory: "We saw the anguish," etc. 
 Conscience: "We are verily guilty," etc. Reason: 
 ' ' Therefore is this distress come upon us. ' ' Ivct a soul 
 go into the future state with a memory to recall, a con- 
 science to accuse, and a reason to justify penalty as 
 deserved, and what more is necessary to hell! Hence 
 Milton (Paradise I<ost, I., line 254): 
 
 The mind is its own place, and in itself 
 
 Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. 
 
 4 
 
 In a grand sense, souls, converted to God, are FOUND, 
 lyuke XV : 24, 32. Sir Humphry Davy, when asked to 
 give a list of his discoveries, carefully traced the history 
 of those successful researches which made him the first 
 chemist of his day, and then significantly added: "But 
 the master discovery of my life was the discovery of 
 Michael Faraday ! " He found him, the untaught son of 
 a smith, taking notes of his ledlures, and yearning to 
 study science. He took him into his laboratory, and 
 there discovered that he had in his humble assistant one 
 who would some day rival, if not eclipse, his master. 
 Blessed work of discovering men! 
 
 5 
 
 ' ' That he mightgo to his own place. ' ' — Adls i : 25. How 
 far may both heaven and hell be the result of spiritual 
 affinity and the law of natural association ? Here God 
 ordains a mixed society, for the restraint of the wicked 
 and the discipline and education of the righteous. There 
 every soul follows the drift of its own nature and tenden- 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 7 
 
 cies; and the separate association of the evil and the 
 good is enough to constitute hell and heaven. 
 
 Dr. Alexander Dickson quaintly suggests this analysis 
 of the above text: 
 
 1 . Kvery man has his own place, here and hereafter. 
 
 2. Kvery man makes his own place, here and here- 
 after. 
 
 3. Every ra'a.-a. finds his own place, here and hereafter. 
 
 4. Every man feels that it is his own place when he 
 gets there. 
 
 It is well to be exaB in our quotation of Scripture. One 
 word, one particle, one letter may be of great consequence 
 in interpreting the meaning of the Word. When Dr. 
 Jas. Alexander was dying, a friend repeated to him 2d 
 Timothy i : 12, but incorredtly, " I know in whom I have 
 believed." " No, no," said the departing saint, " don't 
 put even a preposition between me and my I^ord. I know 
 whom I have believed." Burke says: "Every word in a 
 sentence is one of the feet on which it walks; and to 
 leave out, change, or even shorten one word, may change 
 the course of the whole sentence." 
 
 A firm inquired by telegram as to the financial sound- 
 ness of a Wall Street broker. The reply came, ' ' Note 
 good for any amount." There was a mistake but of one 
 letter; it should have read, "Not good for any amount "; 
 but that one letter caused a heavy financial loss. 
 
 7 
 
 A short definition of what it is to be a Christian: He is a 
 Christian in whom the ruling idea and image is Christ. 
 
 Augustine, in his " Confessions," tells us of a dream 
 in his early Christian life, when as a young lawyer he 
 
8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 was intensely absorbed in Cicero, and all his tastes were 
 Ciceronian. He thought he died and came to the celes- 
 tial gate. ' ' Who are you ? ' ' said the keeper. ' 'Augus- 
 tine, of Milan." "What are you?" "A Christian." 
 "No; you are a Ciceronian." Augustine asked an ex- 
 planation, and the angelic gatekeeper replied: "All souls 
 are estimated in this world by what dominated in that. 
 In you, Augustine, not the Christ of the Gospel, but the 
 Cicero of Roman jurisprudence, was the dominating 
 force. You can not enter here." Augustine was so 
 startled that he awoke; and resolved that henceforth, 
 Christ, and not Cicero, should rule in his thought and 
 heart and life. The dream is not all a dream. He only 
 enters the heaven where Christ is supreme and central, 
 whose life gives Christ here its inner shrine and throne. 
 
 8 
 
 The greatest need of the preacher is unElion, that divine 
 chrism of power so inimitable, so irresistible. Without 
 it, preaching can be only a savor of death. 
 
 St. Antoninus, of Florence, has the following: A great 
 preacher fell sick on the very eve of preaching at a cer- 
 tain priory church. A stranger came to the door of the 
 priory in the . garb of the order, and offered to fill the 
 vacancy; and talked of the joys of Paradise and the pains 
 of hell, and the sin and misery of this world. One holy 
 monk knew him to be Frater Diabolus, and after sermon 
 said to him, "Oh, thou accursed one! vile deceiver! how 
 could' st thou take upon thee this holy office?" To 
 which the devil answered : ' ' Think you my discourse would 
 prevent a single soul from seeking eternal damnation ? 
 Not so. The most finished eloquence and profoundest 
 learning are worthless beside one drop of unilion, of which 
 there was none in my sermon. I moved the people, but 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 9 
 
 they will forget all; they will pradlise nothing, and hence 
 all the words they have heard will serve to their greater 
 judgment." And with these words Prater Diaholus 
 vanished. 
 
 9 
 
 The providence of God controls: 
 
 I. Natural I^aw. 
 
 (a) Framing i^. It is but the order of His going. 
 {b) Insuring the unerring certainty of its working, 
 (r) Recodifying it, if needful in any future crisis. 
 
 II. Human suffering, employing it as 
 (a) Organic and corredtive. 
 
 (Jj) Penal and retributive. 
 
 (c) Disciplinary and educative. 
 
 III. Satanic agencies. 
 
 (a) Restraining by fixed limitations. 
 (V) Permitting within wise bounds, 
 (f) Using for His own ultimate glory and the good of 
 His kingdom. 
 
 JO 
 
 True Eloquence is a Virtue: So says Theremin, the 
 master of rhetoric. Power in speech in its highest exer- 
 cise implies a man behind if. Only moral worth can 
 impart the dynamic force that is most immense and 
 intense in oratory. Buff on finely remarks to those who 
 affedl to despise the culture of a pure style, ' ' Le style, 
 c'est I'homme ! " 
 
 II 
 
 Wonderful organic unity exists in nature. Cuvier's 
 Law is: "Every organized being forms a whole — a com- 
 plete system — all the parts of which mutually correspond. 
 None of these parts can change without the others 
 
lo Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 changing also; consequently, each taken separately indi- 
 cates and gives all the others. ' ' The sharp-pointed tooth 
 of a lion requires a strong jaw, a skull fitted for the 
 attachment of powerful muscles, both for moving the jaw 
 and raising the head; a broad, well-developed shoulder- 
 blade; an arrangement of the bones of the leg which 
 admits of the leg being rotated and turned upward, as a 
 seizing and tearing instrument, and a paw armed with 
 strong claws. Hence, from a single tooth Cuvier could 
 construdt a model of an extindl species of animal. 
 
 IS 
 
 The Book of Esther is an unfolding of Divine Providence. 
 I. An unseen power behind human affairs. 2. Ultimate 
 just awards both to evil and to good. 3. Prosperity of 
 the wicked ending in adversity. 4. Adversity of the 
 righteous ending in prosperity. 5. Poetic exadlness of 
 retribution, e.g., Haman and the gallows. 6. Miniitest 
 matters woven by God's shuttle into the fabric of His 
 design. See chap. vi:i. 7. Yet there is no fatalism 
 taught here, but prayer, resolve, and independent adlion. 
 8. The name of God is not found in the book, perhaps to 
 hint that the hand which regulates all these things is a 
 hidden hand 1 
 
 13 
 
 One of the most marked examples of "Design^' is the 
 camel. From bony frame to hair of coat nothing could 
 be omitted or improved with reference to its uses as the 
 servant of man. So viewed, seeming defedls and deformi- 
 ties, Uke the hump and callosities, become beauties. The 
 seven callosities sustain the pressure of the body when 
 the camel kneels or rises, and keep the skin from injury 
 by the burning sands. The teeth are fitted to cut 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 1 1 
 
 througli the tough desert shrubs; the nostrils, to close 
 against sand drifts. The elastic pads on the feet, tough 
 as horn, yielding as sponge, fit the ' ' ship of the desert ' ' 
 to move noiselessly yet harmlessly over the roughest 
 road. The stomach is made to digest with relish the 
 coarsest plant-tissues; and special reservoirs for water are 
 provided, from which the beast may draw as he needs 
 from day to day. The hump is a repository of fat, to be 
 re-absorbed as food when other nourishment is lacking; 
 while the camel's very build shows that God meant the 
 beast for burden, not for draft. 
 
 14 
 
 Christ's interview with the adulteress (John viii : i-ii.) 
 is a most remarkable presentation of i . Divine wrath, holy 
 indignation against sin which is cloaked behind hypocrisy 
 and accusation of others. 2. Divine judgment, compel- 
 ling self-convidtion, and exhibiting the self-repelling 
 power of simple holiness. 3. Divine grace, forbearing, 
 forgiving, restoring, toward a condemned and penitent 
 sinner. 
 
 IS 
 
 Thomas Aquinas was one of the most remarkable men of 
 the thirteenth century. An accomplished scholar, a 
 devoted student, a master logician, rich in dialedlic 
 powers, prodigious in memory, he was singularly pure in 
 life and inflexible as iron. His fellow-students nick- 
 named him " The Dumb Ox,'' from his size and silence; 
 whereupon his master exclaimed, ' ' This dumb ox will 
 give such a bellow in learning as all the world shall hear! ' ' 
 
 16 
 
 Conscience is like the human eye. When the light is 
 most diffused and dim, it dilates the most, that all rays 
 
12 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 may be gathered and utilized; and, like the eye, it 
 involuntarily shuts at the approach of danger. In the 
 bigot only is it true that, as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, 
 the more light you pour upon it the more it contradls. 
 
 17 
 
 The vane on the Royal Exchange, in London, supports 
 a huge brass grasshopper. There lies behind this curious 
 symbol the story of a babe abandoned by the roadside. 
 While a carriage tarried to give children that were riding 
 a chance for play, one of them chased a large grasshopper, 
 and so came near the crying infant. The foundling was 
 taken to the carriage, adopted as a son in the Gresham 
 family, and subsequently, as Sir Thomas Gresham, 
 founded the first Royal Exchange. Hence this grass- 
 hopper emblem. 
 
 18 
 
 " The altar that sannifieth the gift." It is not the 
 amount we give, but the purpose with which, and to 
 which, we devote the gift, which determines its value. 
 The alabaster box of spikenard had inherent preciousness, 
 but, when broken on Jesus' feet to anoint him for his 
 burial, it became valuable beyond words. The widow's 
 mites were inherently worth but a farthing, but the holy 
 self-denial, the consecrated purpose, which dignified the 
 gift, made them grow into shekels of the sandtuary; the 
 "altar" transformed the copper into gold when the 
 mites were laid upon it. 
 
 19 
 
 Gutenberg^ s dream of the power of the press. He was 
 working in his cell in the St. Aborsgot Monastery, and 
 heard a voice warning him that the power of his inven- 
 tion would enable bad men to propagate their wickedness 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 13 
 
 and sow dragon's teeth; prophesying that men would 
 profane the art of printing, and posterity would curse the 
 inventor. He took a hammer and broke the type in 
 pieces. Another voice bade him desist from his work 
 of destrudtion, and persist in perfedling his invention, 
 declaring that, tho the occasion of evil, God would make 
 it the fountain of infinite good and give the right the 
 ultimate triumph. 
 
 The Church's mission is to go out and compel outsiders to 
 come in. I/uke xiv : 16-24. Charity does not begin at 
 home, nor above all, stay there. Christian love goes out 
 to the most distant, destitute, depraved, despairing; to 
 those who are already destroyed by their own vices; for 
 such are emphatically the ' ' lost. ' ' The very fadl of 
 remoteness from Christian privileges is, to love, an 
 argument and an appeal. 
 
 The two handmaids of Christianity are Industry and 
 Intelligence, as the two handmaids of crime are ignorance 
 and indolence. Froude says the Romans worshiped the 
 virtues; the Greeks, the graces. We must, then, dare to 
 be Romans before we essay to be Greeks, for the virtues 
 are the only basis for the graces. All Christian work for 
 the masses must begin by teaching the idle industrious 
 habits, and the ignorant and superstitious, the knowledge 
 of the truth. 
 
 Permanence and perfeElion are the two grand qualities 
 of all God's works. Eccles. iii : 14. Man's work at best is 
 only imperf edl and unenduring. The eSedl of a studious 
 and earnest contemplation of God's work is to make 
 
14 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 men "fear before Him." To see that it is essentially 
 unchangfing through all the mutations of human affairs, 
 and that it can neither be improved by addition nor sub- 
 tradtion, overwhelms us with awe. This permanence and 
 perfedtion of God's works suggests and implies similar 
 changeless and faultless moral discriminations and divi- 
 sions. This made the thought of the Judgment the most 
 overpowering thought that ever filled the colossal mind 
 of Webster. When God judges, nothing escapes His 
 omniscient eye, and the sentence is irreversible. 
 
 History demands remoteness of time, in order to insure a 
 just verdidl. The adtors in events, especially in great 
 crises, are too much blinded by prejudice or prepossession 
 to see real merit or recognize real malice with clear vision. 
 Blame attaches where it does not belong, and good oflSces 
 are credited to the wrong account. The best survey of a 
 battle-field is made after the smoke of battle clears away. 
 Erasmus was whimsically compared by Buffon to the 
 tapestry of Flanders, with great figures, which to produce 
 their true effedt must be seen at a distance. The illustra- 
 tion serves equally well as to the need of distance of time 
 for just historic verdidls. 
 
 The joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh. viii : lo. 
 I. In the weakness and weariness of doing our duty. 2. 
 In the impotence of confliEl with sin. 3. In the pros- 
 trating and crushing burden of trials. 4. In that divine 
 work of winning souls. 5. In the last hourwhexi. heart 
 and flesh fail. 
 
 35 
 Matthew Arnold's divisions of society: An upper class, 
 materialized; a middle class, vulgarized; a lower class. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 15 
 
 brutalized. By a misapprehension the remark has been 
 misquoted thus : a middle class, ' 'pulverized. " It is one 
 of those blunders that come very near to the truth, for 
 between the materialism of an upper, and the brutality of 
 a lower class, as between opposing millstones, the middle 
 class is sometimes ground to powder. 
 
 216 
 
 Education can do two things for us: first, it can add to 
 our stock of knowledge; and secondly, it can bring out our 
 latent faculty. Hence Walter Scott says that the best 
 part of every man's education is that which he gives to 
 himself; and Dr. Shedd grandly adds: "Education is 
 not a dead mass of accumulations, but power to work 
 with the brain. ' ' The best system of training can do no 
 more than to train us to use intelle(5tual weapons, and 
 then put the weapons within our grasp. 
 
 Dr. Arnold taught pupils to rely on themselves. When 
 he recognized a true self-help, he could overlook all else. 
 He said he was never more rebuked than when a dull 
 but plodding boy, whom he had rather sharply chided 
 for not making more progress, meekly replied, "Why do 
 you speak angrily, sir ? Indeed I am doing the best I can. ' ' 
 
 as 
 
 Passion for souls is the rarest of all Christian virtues. 
 — ^Jer. XX : 9. 
 
 It is kindled in the soul of the believer: 
 
 1. By the convidtion that a divine commission or dis- 
 pensation of the Gospel is committed to him. — ^Jer. 1:17; 
 I Cor. ix : 17. 
 
 2. By a consciousness of a debt owed to humanity 
 
1 6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 (Rom. i : 14; i Thess. ii : 4); we are debtors to man 
 and trustees of the Gospel. 
 
 3. By tlie hearty persuasion of the truth of the mes- 
 sage — i. e., the terrors of the Lord, and the love of 
 Christ. — 2 Cor. v : 11, 14. 
 
 4. By self-sacrifice for others' sake. — Rom. ix : 1-3; 
 X : I ; Col. i : 24. 
 
 5. By confidence in the redeeming power of God's 
 Gospel. — Isa. Iv : 11; i Tim. i : 16. 
 
 Its effeEls in the charadler and life: 
 
 1. Overcoming natural self-distrust, slowness of speech, 
 etc. — ^Jer. i : 4-9. 
 
 2. Boldly meeting antagonism and ridicule. Kphes. 
 vi : 19, 20. 
 
 3. Creating an inward necessity. Pent-up fire. — Ps. 
 xxxix : 3; Matt, xii : 34; Acts iv : 20. 
 
 4. Imparting courage to attempt to save even the chief 
 of sinners. Passion for souls awakening hope for them. 
 
 5. Becoming the secret of adlual uplifting power. Men 
 can not resist impassioned earnestness. No logic like 
 that of love. 
 
 Z9 
 " The powers of the world to come.'" Dr. T. H. Skinner 
 used to say that a minister and a church might exhibit 
 almost any type of piety; save one, and souls remain 
 unconverted; but that, wherever a pastor and his people 
 were pervaded and permeated with a sense of the powers 
 of the world to come, souls would certainly be impressed, 
 reached, and saved under the preaching of the Gospel. O, 
 for this rare type of piety! 
 
 The great need of sinners is to feel their need. The 
 grand aim of preaching is to make them feel it. Socrates 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 1 7 
 
 said his work was a negative one: to bring men from 
 ignorance ««conscious to ignorance conscious. We can 
 realize the full force of the statement only when we 
 remember that the first step in knowing is the conscious- 
 ness of not knowing. So if by any means sinners can be 
 brought from unconscious to conscious want of Christ, the 
 first step toward their salvation is taken. ' ' If any man 
 thirst, let him come unto me and drink. ' ' This conscious 
 want preaching alone can not produce; it is the work of 
 the Holy Ghost in answer to prayer; for, as Dr. Skinner 
 used to say, the province of prayer is to bring down the 
 things of God and the hereafter, and make them real to 
 men. I^t us not, in magnifying the power of preaching, 
 forget the power of praying. 
 
 Desire and emotion are constantly confused. Emotion 
 is often superficial, awakened by mere human sympathy 
 or natural sensibility. Men may weep over the tragedy 
 of Calvary and yet have no true desire after Christ. 
 Desire is deeper than emotion; it differs from it in three 
 particulars: first, it is more abiding; secondly, it contem- 
 plates future good; and third, it incites and impels to 
 positive exertion to attain it. 
 
 The three grand truths of the New Testament are : God, 
 Christ, and the Hereafter. We find them all condensed 
 into the first two verses of the fourteenth chapter of 
 John. If, as lyUther said, John iii : 16 is the "Gospel 
 in miniature, ' ' then this is theology in a nutshell. Who 
 but God knows how thus to pack truth into the smallest 
 compass ? How His words correspond to His works, where 
 an atom is but a minute mystery and everything the 
 microscope touches becomes a microcosm ! 
 
1 8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 33 
 
 The drift of the age is toward the depreciation of doSlrine. 
 We are told that it is no matter what a man believes, if 
 he be only sincere. It is one of Satan's most plausible 
 lies. Unsound thinking is the basis of unsound adling. 
 And we need to remember what the Presbyterian stand- 
 ards have for a century affirmed, that ' ' truth is in order 
 to goodness, and the great touchstone of truth is its 
 tendency to promote holiness, according to our Savior's 
 rule, ' by their fruits ye shall know them. ' And no 
 opinion can be either more pernicious or absurd than 
 that which brings truth and falsehood upon a level, and 
 represents it as of no consequence what a man's opinions 
 are. On the contrary, we are persuaded that there is an 
 inseparable connexion between faith and pradlise, truth 
 and duty; otherwise it would be of no consequence either 
 to discover truth or embrace it." — Form of Government, 
 Cap. I., 14. 
 
 34 
 
 Long Sermons. There is a senseless and absurd clamor 
 in our congregations for short sermons. We do not cer- 
 tainly desire that they be needlessly long. But a dis- 
 course which has in it the elements of power can not be 
 made like a musket in the Springfield arsenal, turned out 
 a prescribed size and length. Truth is crystalline in 
 charadter; and its crystals difiFer in form, dimension, and 
 facial angle. They must be cleft according to the seams. 
 In other words, what we want in a sermon is an impres- 
 sion made; and, until that is made, the sermon is not com- 
 plete; after that is secured, every word may be a waste; 
 and even worse, a weakening of the power already 
 attained. No preacher will reach his true might in pre- 
 senting truth who either draws out, or shrinks up and 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 19 
 
 dwarfs, a train of thought to fit a procrustean bed of rigid 
 rule as to time. Brevity must be subordinate to power. 
 
 35 
 
 To be in the minority, and even to be violently opposed, 
 is no necessary sign that one is in the wrong, or in antag- 
 onism to God. Caleb and Joshua were but two against 
 ten — nay, against the whole congregation who, in their 
 panic fear of the Anakim, would have stoned them with 
 stones. Yet, tho in such a desperate minority and in 
 such risk even of life, they were the only ones who dared 
 to speak the truth, trust in God, and stand by the right. 
 The fadt is, that in a world of sin, and in a church leav- 
 ened with worldliness, it is not often safe to be with the 
 ■majority. 
 
 36 
 
 ' ' Not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to 
 repentance. ' ' — Rom. ii : 4. There is here a very valuable 
 suggestion. It may be doubted whether God does not 
 always first try goodness, as a means of awakening in 
 sinners a sense of sin and godly sorrow for it, as parents 
 use special tenderness to bring back a wayward child. 
 Then, when such appeals of love prove inefficient, calam- 
 ity and judgment come. And this text also suggests, 
 secondly, that the fadt and purpose of God's goodness are 
 not recognized. The continued forbearance of God is 
 rather taken as a sign of His indifference, or blasphem- 
 ously attributed to His impotence. And so ' ' because 
 sentence against an evil work," etc. — Eccles. viii : 11. 
 Those who began by being "earthly," get to be "sen- 
 sual, ' ' and end by being ' ' devilish. ' ' How often do 
 disciples refuse to be reclaimed from wanderings by 
 God's goodness, zx\A. compel hard blows from His corredl- 
 ing rod! 
 
20 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 37 
 
 Nature furnishes many illustrations of grace. Take, 
 for instance, the eucalyptus tree. It seems especially 
 adapted to antidote the miasmatic effeSls of a vitiated 
 atmosphere. It is the loftiest timber tree of Australia; 
 it grows especially in malarious distridts, sometimes to a 
 height of five hundred feet. It absorbs moisture to a 
 very remarkable extent, and grows with extraordinary 
 rapidity, covering vast barren distridls with a huge 
 forest in a few years. And you may enclose seed enough 
 in an envelope to plant an acre. How like the blessed 
 Gospel, making the tree of life to grow in the worst 
 moral marshes, rapidly, beautifully, gloriously covering 
 the deserts with the foliage and fragrance of heaven! And 
 you may distribute the seed so easily and cheaply. 
 
 38 
 
 There is a sinful ' 'faith in God. ' ' A Universalist once 
 remarked to me, when we were somewhat sharply 
 conversing over the tendencies of the day to denial of the 
 final punishment of the ungodly — " Well, I have faith in 
 God; and I believe I am willing to take my chances with 
 Him." I promptly replied, "You can safely take your 
 chances with God only on God's own conditions! " 
 
 39 
 
 It is well to keep the fudgment Seat in view. When Dr. 
 Grant, of the Nestorian Mission, received discouraging 
 intimations to the efledl that it might perhaps be best for 
 him to return to America or plant a mission elsewhere, 
 he answered: ' ' I can not leave this field till I have reasons 
 which I can give at the judgment seat, where I expedl 
 soon to stand." 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 2 1 
 
 40 
 
 What a silent but awful work is charadler-building ! 
 We understand now why ' ' there was neither hammer, 
 nor ax, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while the 
 temple was in building. ' ' It has been discovered that the 
 quarries where the stones were made ready were under 
 the city. All the preparations were made in silence and , 
 secrecy down beneath the tread of busy life; and then, 
 when the great blocks were cleft from their bed, hewn, 
 shaped, polished, and fitted for their place, they were 
 hoisted through a shaft to the temple platform and lifted 
 to their exadl position. So all the preparations for 
 character go forward in silence and secrecy ; but the 
 results are manifest in the strudlure which, for glory or 
 shame, mysteriously grows before our eyes. 
 
 The Last Judgment. — Rev. xx : 1 1-15. 
 
 1. The Throne. " Great," because in comparison all 
 other thrones are small. ' ' White ' ' or glowing, as intensest 
 light that dazzles, blinds, repels. Earth and heaven flee 
 away, as mists vanish, as owls and bats fly, as even stars 
 grow pale and disappear, at sunrise. Before such majesty 
 and glorious holiness what can stand! Adam and Eve 
 shrank behind the trees of the garden. Daniel's ' ' come- 
 liness was turned into corruption," and even John " fell 
 at his feet as dead." 
 
 2. The Judge. Jesus Christ. — ^John v : 22, 27. 
 
 3. The Judged. Small and great; no caste distinc- 
 tions. The Sea, Death, and Hades unlock their depths, 
 and their dungeons deliver up their captives. 
 
 4. The Books. Records of the sorrows and service of 
 saints. — Ps. Ivi : 8; Mai. iii : 16, and of sins unforgiven. — 
 Ps, li : I. Especially the Book of Life. 
 
22 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 5. The I^aw of Judgment. Works, including all forms 
 of adtivity, secret thoughts, words, adls, etc. 
 
 6. The Issues. Eternal Life and Death. 
 
 Yet the believer need have no fear. — Heb. ii : 14, 15; i 
 Johniv : 17, 18; 2 Tim. 1:12. The Judge is his Advocate; 
 his name is in the Book of Life; the record of his sins is 
 " blotted out " ; he is not to be judged on his own merits, 
 and his eternal life is already begun in believing. 
 
 4^ 
 
 The Lion of Scotia. A warm friend of Dr. Chalmers 
 had his portrait in a conspicuous place in his study, and 
 had inscribed under it ' ' The Numidian Lion ' ' — ' ' asleep. ' ' 
 
 43 
 
 The Martyrs. The word ' ' martyr ' ' originally meant 
 simply witness, but, as the early witnesses sealed with 
 their own blood their testimony to the faith, the first 
 meaning was readily merged into the second. At Lyons, 
 A.D. 177, those who had been scourged, branded, and 
 exposed to wild beasts, humbly disowned the name, 
 martyrs, preferring to confine that exalted title to Christ 
 (Rev. I : 5 ; iii : 14) and to those upon whose testimony, as 
 upon Stephen's, He set a special seal; and they said of 
 themselves, ' ' We are but mean and lowly confessors. ' ' 
 
 44 
 
 Prophecy anticipates the glory of History. — ^John viii : 56. 
 •The people of a city were commanded by the oracle to 
 assemble on a plain outside of the city, and he who first 
 saw the sunrise should be made king. A slave turned 
 his back to the sun and looked up the shaft of a high 
 temple where the sun's earliest rays flamed, and he cried, 
 " I see it." He had been told to do so by a wise citizen, 
 who stayed at home. This citizen, revealed by the slave, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 23 
 
 they made king, and lie was the wisest that ever reigned 
 there. 
 
 / 45 
 
 Next in merit to not sinning is confessing sin. A very 
 learned man has said: " The three hardest words in the 
 English language are, ' I was mistaken. ' ' ' Frederick the 
 Great wrote to the Senate, ' ' I have just lost a great battle, 
 and it was entirely my own fault." Goldsmith says, 
 ' ' This confession displayed more greatness than all his 
 victories. ' ' Such a prompt acknowledgment of his fault 
 recalls Bacon's course in more trying circumstances. ' ' I 
 do plainly and ingenuously confess, ' ' said the great chan- 
 cellor, " that I am guilty of corruption, and so renounce 
 all defense. " "I beseech your lordships to be merciful 
 to a broken reed. ' ' 
 
 46 
 
 Success is the reward of endeavor, not of accident. 
 Rufus Choate, when some one remarked that great 
 achievements often resulted from chance, thundered out, 
 " Nonsense! As well talk of dropping the alphabet and 
 picking up the Iliad. ' ' The retort was not original with 
 Choate. Dean Swift said that he would no more believe 
 the universe to be the result of a fortuitous concourse of 
 atoms, than that the accidental jumbling of the letters of 
 the alphabet would fall by chance into an ingenious and 
 learned treatise on philosophy. But, alas for originality ! 
 even Swift borrowed the idea from Cicero, and as Cicero 
 was fond of borrowing, even he may have gotten it from 
 somebody else. 
 
 47 
 
 Training of a Jewish Boy. Canon Farrar says: At five 
 he would begin to study the Bible with parents at home; 
 and even earlier than this he would doubtless have learnt 
 
24 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the Shema and the Hallel Psalms (cxiii-cxviii) in whole 
 or in part. At six he would go to his ' ' vineyard, ' ' as 
 the later Rabbis called their schools. At ten he would 
 begin to study those earlier and simpler developments of 
 the oral law, afterward colledled in the Mishna. At 
 thirteen he would, by a sort of " confirmation," become 
 a "Son of the Commandment." At fifteen he would be 
 trained in yet more minute and burdensome halaMth, 
 analogous to those which ultimately filled the vast mass 
 of the Gemara. At twenty, or earlier, like every ortho- 
 dox Jew, he would marry. During many years he would 
 be reckoned among the ' ' pupils of the wise, ' ' and be 
 mainly occupied with " the traditions of the Fathers." 
 
 48 
 
 Irresistible grace. Dr. Butler says that there may be 
 irresistible conviction, but never irresistible conversion. 
 Paul could not help seeing Jesus and knowing that He 
 was the true Messiah: but nothing compelled him to ask, 
 ' ' What shall I do, Lord 9 ' ' 
 
 49 
 
 Count Zinzendorf presents a character and career of 
 unique beauty. The faith that was in him dwelt first in 
 his grandfather and father. It was like an inheritance of 
 grace. At four years of age he made this covenant with 
 Christ: " Be thou mine, dear Savior, and I will be thine " • 
 and from the window he used to toss letters to the lyord, 
 opening to Him all his child heart. At ten he was a 
 pupil of Francke at Halle, and there formed prayer- 
 circles, cultivating in himself and others a most devout 
 piety. The ambitious designs of his uncle on his behalf, 
 the seductions of the European cities he visited, and the 
 allurements of his own wealth, all failed to draw him 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 25 
 
 from Christ. His motto, adopted by Tholuck, was, 
 " Ich hab' eine Passion, und die ist Er, nur Er " (I have 
 one passion, and it is He, only He). At school he formed 
 his fellows into ' ' The Order of the Grain of Mustard 
 Seed, ' ' which bound them to work for the conversion of 
 souls. He married Countess Reuss, and they two cove- 
 nanted together to renounce rank and. wealth, and be 
 ready to go anywhere as missionaries. He founded the 
 revived sect of Moravians, or United Brethren, and 
 Herrnhut (Protedtion of the Eord) he gave for the com- 
 munity to dwell in. There, after a life of 60 years, he 
 died, and was fitly borne to his grave by 32 ministers and 
 missionaries whom he had reared, from Holland, Eng- 
 land, Ireland, North America, and Greenland. 
 
 50 
 
 The Grand Messianic Poem of the Old Testament is con- 
 tained in the latter 27 chapters of Isaiah — xl.-lxvi. 
 
 Riickert, and others after him, divide this sublime poem 
 into three books or sedlions, each ending with a refrain 
 which marks the division: "There is no peace, saith my 
 God, to the wicked, ' ' etc. The middle chapter of the mid- 
 dle seBion is the liii., which is one grand presentation of 
 vicarious atonement. Thus the very location of this chap- 
 ter marks the centrality of this doctrine. It is also curious 
 to note that the first five verses of chapter xl. contain the 
 germ of truth expanded in the entire poem: i. The Pardon 
 of Iniquity; 2. The Revelation of the Divine Glory; and, 
 3. The Ultimate Results on "all Flesh." Within the 
 compass of this poem a careful, discerning reader will 
 find Christ in His three offices — Prophet, Priest, King; 
 all the great truths of redemption crystallizing about the 
 atonement, and the outline of the whole course of 
 prophecy. Those who would leave the Old Testament 
 
26 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 out of our studies have evidently never studied Isaiah. 
 We venture to say that, as a commentary on the New 
 Testament, no other work can compare with it. 
 
 51 
 
 Versatility is not to be coveted where it implies a lack of 
 concentration. An anonymous writer has left us a very 
 discriminating comparison of two great British statesmen. 
 He likens Canning's mind to a convex speculum which 
 scattered its rays of light upon all objedls; while he likens 
 Brougham's to a concave speculum which concentrated 
 the rays upon one central, burning, focal point. 
 
 The golden pen and the silver tongue are seldom com- 
 bined. Thomas F. Marshall, the "Kentucky orator," 
 maintained that fine speaking, writing, and conversation 
 depend on a different order of gifts. ' 'A speech can not 
 be reported, nor an essay spoken. Fox wrote speeches; 
 nobody reads them. Sir James Mackintosh spoke essays; 
 nobody listened. Yet England crowded to hear Fox, and 
 reads Mackintosh. I^ord Bolingbroke excelled in all; 
 the ablest orator, finest writer, most elegant drawing- 
 room gentleman in England." 
 
 53 
 
 Not far from the kingdom of God. — Mark xii : 34. i. 
 In mind — on the point of convidlion. 2. In heart — on 
 point of persuasion. 3. In will — on point of decision. 
 Yet here lies the greatest peril. To come so near and 
 then turn away, involves deeper damnation. Nowhere 
 is the Spirit so easily and fatally repelled as at the point 
 where it would require only a grain of sand to turn the 
 scale! Almost saved is almost lost! Almost persuasion is 
 almost perdition! 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 27 
 
 54 
 
 Eternal Life is the present possession of the believer. — 
 John iii : 36; v : 24; vi : 47, etc. He who looks lives; his 
 perfedl recovery is assured, if not immediate. He who 
 was struck with death now lives. He is passed from death 
 unto life, into life. The germs of all the future purity 
 and glory are in him already; and it is now only a ques- 
 tion of development. Eternal life is to be judged pri- 
 marily by quality, not quantity; the first is a matter of 
 regeneration, the second of sandtification. The perfedl 
 saint is potentially in the penitent sinner from the instant 
 of his looking unto Jesus. 
 
 55 
 
 The Paradoxes of the Christian life. I^ord Bacon says, 
 in his essays on the " Different Charadters of the Chris- 
 tian": "A Christian is one that believes things his rea- 
 son can not comprehend, and hopes for things which 
 neither he nor any man alive ever saw; he believes three 
 to be one, and one to be three; a father not to be older 
 than his son, and a son to be equal with his father; he 
 believes himself to be precious in God's sight, and yet 
 loathes himself in his own; he dares not justify himself 
 even in those things wherein he can find no fault with 
 himself, and yet believes that God accepts him in those 
 services wherein he is able to find many faults; he is so 
 ashamed as that he dares not open his mouth before God, 
 and yet comes with boldness to God, and asks him any- 
 thing he needs; he hath within him both flesh and spirit, 
 and yet he is not a double-minded man; he is often led 
 captive by the law of sin, yet it never gets dominion over 
 him; he can not sin, yet can do nothing without sin; 
 he is so humble as to acknowledge himself to deserve 
 nothing but evil, and yet he believes that God means 
 
28 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 him all good," etc. This whole essay is so remarkable 
 that even Richard Person could not comprehend it, and 
 thought Bacon must have fallen into a sudden fit of skep- 
 ticism or mental aberration. 
 
 56 
 
 The Bible emphasizes service to Christ. This is the real 
 teaching of that misunderstood paragraph in Paul's Epis- 
 tle to the Ephesians, iv : 11-13: "And he gave some, 
 apostles; and some, prophets; and some, pastors and 
 teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for {unto, or in 
 order to) the work of the ministry {service, ministration), 
 for (in order to) the edifying of the body of Christ. ' ' Tho 
 the two Greek prepositions are translated by the same 
 English word "for," they are not the same, nor have 
 they the same force. Accordingly the Vulgate renders, 
 ' ' ad consumm,ationem sanctorum, in opus ministerii, in 
 adificationem corporis Christi." The teaching of the 
 passage is plain, that these respedlive gifts of apostles, 
 prophets, etc. , are meant to secure the perfecting of the 
 saints in serviceableness. Conybeare and Howson trans- 
 late thus: ' ' He gave some to be apostles, and some 
 prophets," etc., "for the perfedting of God's people to 
 labor in their appointed service, to build up the body of 
 Christ." 
 
 57 
 
 The secret of success in reaching men lies partly in 
 studying the law of adaptation. In watching a wheel- 
 wright at his work, I observed how careful he was never 
 to draw his spoke-shave or drive his plane against the 
 grain; yet how often in our endeavors to influence men 
 are we careless about the fitness of times, occasions, 
 places, ways and means! We do not make a study of 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 29 
 
 human nature and the particular methods of approach, 
 adapted to each new objedl of effort, and so we often work 
 against the grain. 
 
 58 
 
 The highest reward of service is perhaps the privilege of 
 having been of service. Napoleon gave his soldiers, after 
 a famous battle, a simple medal inscribed with the 
 sentence, "/ was there,'' and the name of the bloody- 
 field; yet money could not buy from his veterans this 
 little memorial of their part in the campaigns of the great 
 warrior. To have been a soldier in the wars of God 
 under the leadership of Jesus, will of itself be honor 
 enough to a redeemed soul. I^et us remember Horace's 
 line: ' ' Exegi monumentum perennius cere. I have reared 
 a monument more enduring than brass." 
 
 59 
 
 The enmity of the carnal mind may be shown in many 
 ways. (Luke xiv : 18-20; Matt, xxi : 33-39, etc.) i. 
 Levity and frivolity: "made light of it." 2. NegleB: 
 "one to farm, another to merchandise." 3. Malignity: 
 "beating," and "stoning," and "killing" messengers. 
 4. False humility: unbelief, fearing to trust even God's 
 promise. 5. Pride: self -righteousness; scorning the wed- 
 ding garment. 6. Atheism: denying any claim of God. 
 " Who is the lyord ? " etc. 
 
 60 
 
 Always test argument by common sense. What is called 
 " metaphysics" is often only a beclouding of a hearer's 
 mind by subtleties that are meant to confuse and be- 
 wilder. A certain case at law turned on the resemblance 
 between two car wheels, and Webster and Choate were 
 the opposing counsel. To a common eye, the wheels 
 
30 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 looked as if made from the same model; but Choate, by a 
 train of hair-splitting reasoning and a profound discourse 
 on the " fixation of points," tried to overwhelm the jury 
 with metaphysics and compel them to conclude, against 
 the evidence of their eyes, that there was really hardly a 
 shadow of essential resemblance. Webster rose to reply. 
 "But, gentlemen of the jury," said he, as he opened 
 wide his great black eyes, and stared at the big twin 
 wheels before him, " there they are — look at 'em! " And 
 as he thundered out these words, it was as tho one of 
 Jupiter's bolts had struck the earth. That one sentence 
 and look shattered Choate's subtle argument to atoms, 
 and the cunning sophistry on the ' ' fixation of points ' ' 
 dissolved as into air. 
 
 6i 
 
 Many a charitable deed is purposed but never completed. 
 Baron Munchausen says that it was so cold one day in 
 Russia when he began to play a tune on his trumpet, that 
 half of it froze in the instrument before it could get out; 
 and a few months afterward he was startled, in Italy, to 
 hear of a sudden the rest of the tune come pealing forth! 
 What a blessing might come to the world if those who 
 have had benevolent purposes in the past might get 
 thawed out and let us have the rest of the tune! 
 
 Things unseen and eternal. Not long before his death, 
 Dr. Wm. Adams preached for Dr. Cuyler; and, referring 
 to the contrast between things seen and unseen, he said: 
 "You stand in the Vale of Chamouni and look up. 
 There is nothing visible where you know that Mont 
 Blanc ought to be but a thick veil of mist that hangs so 
 low as to seem to envelop you. The sun rises and pours 
 a flood of rays upon the thick bank of cloud, and pres- 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 31 
 
 ently it vanislies into invisible vapor, and, like the great 
 white throne, there stands before you the unseen and 
 eternal!" 
 
 63 
 
 Beethoven and Mozart. "One brought angels down; 
 the other lifted mortals up. " 
 
 64 
 
 " Architecture is frozen music," is attributed to Madame 
 de Stael by some ; by others, to Schlegel. It is a poetic 
 thought that bears expansion. 
 
 Yes, as tho the strains immortal, 
 
 Harmonies from harps in heaven. 
 Floating past its pearly portal, 
 
 At the silver hush of even; 
 Should by some transforming power. 
 
 Some prevailing angel's prayer. 
 Be transformed, that very hour, 
 
 To a crystal fabric, there! 
 
 65 
 
 This life is at best only the scaffolding about our true 
 life, which is immortal. A scaffolding, tho useful in 
 construdlion, really hides the beauty of the building, and 
 is torn down when the building is complete. Useful as it 
 is, it becomes a deformity when it needlessly withdraws 
 attention from the main strudlure. Should a builder 
 eredl his scaffolding as if it were the building, expend- 
 ing on it so much time, and labor, and money, as to 
 delay or risk the final completion of the edifice, he would 
 be a fool, giving to the scaffolding what can properly be 
 bestowed only on the strudture itself, exhausting his 
 means on that which is transient, rather than on that which 
 is permanent. Such is the folly of a worldly life. In 
 one dread moment all that is temporal collapses and falls 
 
32 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 into ruin, however elaborate and costly. In what con- 
 dition will it reveal our eternal house! 
 
 66 
 
 When Garrick conduHed Dr. Johnson over his new and 
 magnificent residence at Hampton Court, and showed 
 him, with a minuteness of detail, all its luxurious appoint- 
 ments. Dr. Johnson said: "Ah, yes, Garrick; but these 
 things are what make a death-bed terrible ! ' ' 
 
 The story of Naaman, the Syrian leper — 2 Kings v. — is 
 a beautiful example and illustration: i. Of the imparti- 
 ality of grace, treating alike the great and the small. 
 2. Of the simplicity of the way of salvation. Whatever 
 mystery there be in the process, the duty is plain. 3. 
 Of the efficacy of Divine ordinances. No inherent power, 
 but all dependent on a divine arrangement. 4. Of the 
 necessity for a complete compliance. No blessing until 
 the seventh immersion. 5. Of the awful contrasts of life. 
 Naaman, the Syrian, healed; Gehazi, the prophet's serv- 
 ant, smitten. 
 
 68 
 
 There is a curious fable or myth, either Italian or Ger- 
 man in its origin, which represents the devil as plotting 
 to mar the image of God in man, and consulting with his 
 grandmother in hell. He forms four successive plans 
 before he satisfies himself and his grandame. First, he 
 proposes to implant in man's heart the lust of evil. But 
 this plan has the defedl that evil will be recognized as 
 such and be repelled. Then he plans to make him a 
 monster of self-love and self-will; but even selfishness 
 will appear to him to be monstrous and hateful. Then 
 Satan plans to pervert his moral nature, so that he shall 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 33 
 
 mistake right for wrong, and wrong for right. But the 
 difiSculty again is, how shall man be so perverted ? The 
 fourth plan is a master-device. He will ensnare man by- 
 things seemingly innocent — love of dress and temporal 
 good. He will feed his vanity and make him the slave 
 of fashion. Man will say all this is not in itself wrong; 
 there can be no wrong save in excess; and, while he is 
 philosophizing, he shall be drawn into excess. The old 
 grandame is represented as casting her old serpent skin, 
 glowing with rainbow hues, and I<ucifer takes that as the 
 material out of which to form the gay attire of fashion ; 
 and then there was a jubilee in hell over the triumph of 
 Satanic ingenuity ! 
 
 69 
 The " hanging gardens" of Babylon — among the seven 
 wonders of the world — are supposed to have been built in 
 a pyramidal shape — 1,000 feet square at the base, rising 
 to an apex 400 feet high, terrace above terrace, crowned 
 with rare trees, plants, and flowers. They were con- 
 strudled to reconcile Queen Amytis to her Chaldean home. 
 Beneath and within all this mountain of verdure and 
 bloom, was the lions' den. Ah, Babylon, the gilded ! 
 — Rev. xvii : 4, margin. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a pidlure of the famous 
 Sarah Siddons in the character of the Tragic Muse. 
 Instindlively he chose, and instantaneously, the very 
 attitude and expression desirable in the pidlure. The 
 portrait was so fine, and the poetry embodied in it so 
 approached its ideal, that many persons were strongly 
 affedled in contemplating it. He assured the gifted Mrs. 
 Siddons that the colors would remain unfaded as long as 
 the canvas would hold together, and beautifully and 
 
34 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 gallantly added: "And to confirm my opinion, here is 
 my name; for I liave resolved to go down to posterity on 
 the hem of your garment. ' ' Accordingly , his name appears 
 on the border of the drapery. Soon afterward ended his 
 precious life. 
 
 Lost — sought — saved. — lyuke xix : lo. i. What a 
 description of the sinner's state / Away from home, not 
 knowing the way back, unable to get back, if he knew 
 the way. 2. What a suggestion of Christ's work! He 
 knows the way, and is the way. He bears the lost on 
 His shoulders. He will never let the believer perish. 
 3. What an exhibition oi free grace ! It is not we who 
 seek, but He. God beseeches men to be reconciled. He 
 stands knocking, not we. Dr. Munhall once said, there is 
 not even a command to any sinner to pray, before believ- 
 ing. A challenge came from a clergyman in the audi- 
 ence, who quoted Romans x : 13: "Whosoever shall call 
 on the name of the I^ord, shall be saved. " " Yes, ' ' said 
 Dr. M., " but read the next verse: ' How then shall they 
 call on him in whom they have not believed ?' " 
 
 Daniel Krummacher, being once asked in an assembly 
 of his brethren: "Who is the elder son in the parable of 
 the prodigal ? ' ' solemnly said, ' ' I well know now, for I 
 learned it yesterday." Being further questioned, he 
 quaintly, but laconically replied, '^Myself,'" and then 
 confessed how it had fretted his heart, the day before, to 
 find that a very ill-conditioned person had suddenly been 
 enriched with a very remarkable visitation of grace. 
 Even so do the very prodigals who have themselves re- 
 turned to God, find working in their heart the leaven of 
 malice and envy and uncharitableness. 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 35 
 
 73 
 
 Lukewarmness is to be regarded not as a transitional 
 but as a^«a/ state. (Rev. iii : 15, 16.) There are three 
 religious conditions, hot, cold, and lukewarm; they 
 correspond to good fruit, evil fruit, wild fruit; or good 
 works, wicked works, dead ^oxks. lyukewarmness is not 
 the state of soul passing from utter indifference to zeal, 
 ardor, fervor; but a form of creed without a heart trust; 
 a form of godliness without the power. No religious 
 state is so hopeless; a thousand publicans and harlots go 
 into the kingdom of God to one self-righteous Pharisee. 
 
 74 
 
 Christ's Word to the Troubled. Jno. xiv : 1-27. It is 
 noteworthy that these twenty-seven verses form a sedlion 
 of this grand address. They begin and end with the 
 same sentence. This is a discourse on trouble, forbidding 
 it and showing the disciple his refuge from trouble, i . 
 The Refuge of Faith. "Believe in God; believe also in 
 me," etc. Here are the three grand truths which are at 
 the basis of Christianity: God, Christ, Immortality. 
 They are the antidotes to the faithlessness of atheism, the 
 helplessness of guilt, and the hopelessness of death. 2. 
 The Refuge of Love; a personal relation to Christ. He is 
 the Way of God to man and of man to God, the Truth 
 about all that the soul needs to know and for which natural 
 theology fails to give answer; and the Life eternal and 
 blissful. 3. The Refuge of Hope. Here was a personal 
 bereavement. He was about to withdraw, and the loss 
 was the more inconsolable because He was the objedl of 
 faith and love. But He compensates this loss by the 
 promise of the Holy Ghost, through whom they should 
 do greater works, in whom the Godhead indwells in the 
 Church as a body, by whom God is manifest in the 
 
36 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 believer, etc. , and who should abide with them forever. 
 And He promises that He will personally intercede/or 
 believers above, while the Spirit intercedes in them below. 
 And so He who goes away adlually does not leave them 
 orphans, but comes to them, dwells in them, manifests 
 Himself to them, and is seen by them. And so this part 
 of the discourse ends as it began, -^i^h. peace. Peace for 
 the mind harassed with doubt, by establishing the cer- 
 tainties of faith ; peace for the heart, harassed with 
 unsatisfied cravings, by establishing it upon God. 
 
 75 
 
 General Grant will go down to history with such military 
 chieftains as Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Peter the 
 Great, Marlborough, and Wellington. He was specially 
 marked by invincible determination, concentration, and 
 expectation of results. Some of his sayings have passed 
 into proverbs. "The only terms are immediate and 
 unconditional surrender; I propose to move immediately 
 on your works; " "I shall fight it out on this line all 
 summer; ' ' and ' ' Let us have peace ! ' ' He was a singular 
 illustration of a divine design and destiny in a human 
 life, and how a man is a failure until he finds his pre- 
 destined place. 
 
 76 
 
 Proverbs are mighty influences in society. It is remark- 
 able what force inheres in the very form of an axiom. 
 Put a sentiment in the proverbial mold, and it will be 
 commonly assumed to be a sage saying. Take, for 
 example, this from Pope's " Essay on Man " : 
 
 And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite. 
 One truth is clear: whatever is, is right. 
 
 Think how long this has been quoted by skeptics, and 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 37 
 
 by believers, too; by atheists, theists, and deists, alike, 
 and yet bow triumphantly did Charles Dickens unveil its 
 absurdity and folly when he wrote: 
 
 The aphorism, "Whatever is, is right," would be as final as it 
 is lazy, did it not include the troublesome consequence, that 
 nothing that ever was, was wrong. 
 
 77 
 Exegesis vs. Eisegesis. We ought, as far as may be, 
 to come to the interpretation of the Word of God, un- 
 biased by either prejudice or prepossession as to any par- 
 ticular view or philosophy of exposition. Otherwise we 
 may only, after all, warp the text to fit the crook of our 
 dogma or preconception. This reminds one of what Rob- 
 ertson says in one of his letters, when speaking of much 
 of the current criticism of Shakespeare, which finds all 
 knowledge and all philosophies shadowed forth in this 
 ' ' myriad-minded " bard, he adds: "Such critics do with 
 Shakespeare just as Swedenborg did with the Bible — 
 inform it with themselves and their own sentiments and 
 philosophy; or, as the wolf did with Baron Munchausen's 
 horse, began at his tail and ate into him until the baron 
 drove the wolf home harnessed in the skin of the horse." 
 
 78 
 
 What power there is in a magnificent metaphor, to illus- 
 trate and impress truth! An illustration sometimes 
 becomes an argument in power to persuade and move an 
 audience. Dr. Breckenridge, in a sermon before one of 
 our church courts, speaking of the efforts of modern infi- 
 dels to throw discredit upon Christianity, uttered this 
 bold language: "Why, sirs, you might as well plant 
 your shoulder against the burning wheel of the midday 
 sun, and try to hurl it back behind the horizon, into night ! ' ' 
 
38 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Old Dr. Beecher, in a most fervent public prayer, once 
 broke forth into this glowing imagery: " O God, let the 
 sun of righteousness speedily break forth in its noonday 
 splendor, and mounting to the zenith, stand still there a 
 thousand years ! ' ' What a petition for the Millennium ! 
 
 79 
 
 It helps a man to preach well, that he is punctually and 
 generously paid by the people to whom he ministers. It 
 may be that no small amount of poor preaching, in these 
 days, may be accounted for by poor pay. Ralph Waldo 
 Kmerson wrote: " When I asked an ironmaster about the 
 slag and cinder in railroad iron, ' Oh, ' he said, ' there is 
 always good iron to be had; if there's cinder in the iron, 
 it is because there was cinder in the pay! ' " 
 
 80 
 
 All real progress is from God. There is no little truth 
 in the observation of Mephistopheles, " that the human 
 mind merely advances spirally, and reverts to a spot close 
 to its origin. " Dr . R. D. Hitchcock says : " In all human 
 advancement, the motive power has not been a force in 
 man, lifting him upward, or on the earthward side, driv- 
 ing him onward, but the movement has been along an 
 inclined plane, due to an engine drawing from, the top ! " 
 
 81 
 
 Language is more than the expression of ideas. It sus- 
 tains a more vital relation. Thought is a remote abstrac- 
 tion, until it becomes visible, tangible, concrete, in 
 words. Hence Wordsworth, with profound philosophy, 
 wrote: " I^anguage is the incarnation of thought." But, 
 more than this, a man knows not what he thinks until he 
 tries to put it in words. The tongue or pen, sometimes, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 39 
 
 like a whetstone, sharpens thought, giving it edge and 
 point; sometimes, like a painter's pencil, it communicates 
 definiteness, precision, and exquisite coloring to the out- 
 lines of thought; again, like a prism, it seems to analyze 
 and separate blended ideas; again, like a crystal, it 
 imparts clearness, symmetry, brilliance; or, like a mirror, 
 it reflects and multiplies the rays of thought. Verily, 
 " how forcible are right words! " 
 
 What a prophecy of future character and destiny is to be 
 found in our associations! Goethe said: " Tell me with 
 whom thou art found, and I will tell thee who thou art; 
 let me know thy chosen employment, and I will cast the 
 horoscope of thy future." But a wiser than Goethe 
 wrote: " He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, 
 but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." 
 
 83 
 
 The miracle at Cana of Galilee suggested, to some un- 
 known author, one of the most poetic sentiments in the 
 whole range of literature. It has been said that Dryden, 
 when at school, was required to write an essay upon this 
 first miracle of Christ, and that he astonished his master 
 and fellow-pupils by presenting, as his essay, this single 
 
 line: 
 
 The conscious water saw its God, and blushed! 
 
 This may be mere tradition. But, certain it is, we 
 
 find this hne in Richard Crashaw's poems, nearly half a 
 
 century before Dryden. But even Crashaw was but a 
 
 plagiarist, or at best a translator, for in the old Latin 
 
 poems of the Middle Ages we find the same sentiment, 
 
 shaded even more delicately: 
 
 Lympha pudica Deum vidit et erubuit. 
 
40 Seed Thougnts tor fublic Speakers 
 
 I have met somewhere else something almost as poetic: 
 
 I stood beside the Rhine, 
 
 Where the grapes drink in the moonlight 
 
 And change it into wine. 
 
 84 
 
 A great power is lodged in what may be called rhetorical 
 sympathy. In an author, this consists first, in sympathy 
 with the subjedl on which he writes, and the objecft for 
 which he writes; secondly, in sympathy with the reader. 
 In an orator, there must be S5mipathy with the theme 
 and sympathy with the audience, in order to convidtion 
 and persuasion. For unless there be sympathy with the 
 theme, the orator himself is not convinced; how, then, 
 car* he work that convidtion and persuasion in others 
 which is eloquence in exercise — the transfer of the 
 speaker's intelledlual and emotional life to the hearer? 
 Among our platform orators, Rufus Choate possessed, 
 to a remarkable degree, this sympathy with his theme; 
 Henry Clay was equally remarkable for sympathy with 
 his audience, but no man perhaps, in our country, pos- 
 sessed both more eminently than Daniel Webster. In 
 the pulpit, Robert Hall was an example of sympathy 
 with his subjedt; George Whitefield, especially, of sym- 
 pathy with his hearers; in the combination of both ele- 
 ments Thomas Chalmers and John M. MavSon doubtless 
 surpassed them, as Spurgeon and Christlieb after them 
 excelled most other men. 
 
 85 
 
 What is the ideal government? This was the question 
 asked at the court of Periander of Corinth, and seven 
 sages gave their respedlive answers. Bias said: "Where 
 the law has no superior. " Thales: " Where the citizens 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 41 
 
 are neitlier too rich nor too poor." Anacharsis replied: 
 ' ' Where virtue is honored and vice detested. ' ' Cleobtdus: 
 " Where the subjedls fear guilt more than punishment." 
 Chilo replied: ' ' Where the laws are more regarded than 
 the orators." But Solon said: " Where an injury done to 
 the meanest subject is an insult upon the whole constitution. ' ' 
 Combine all these tests, and behold them all, more than 
 met, in the government of God. That is an abso- 
 lute monarchy, but infinite perfe(5tion is the power that 
 guides the one will. The law has no superior, for He is 
 law, represented and embodied. There is social equality, 
 no caste, no invidious distindlion, no aristocracy. There 
 holiness is loved and wickedness hated, and guilt is feared 
 more than penalty. There no appeals to passion, or im- 
 pulse, or unworthy motive sway the holy mind either to 
 obedience or rebellion. Supreme glory of all ! the least 
 and lowest of all the citizens is borne on the very bosom of 
 Deity, and shielded by the very panoply of heaven! All 
 the resources of the universe are marshaled in array to 
 protedt and shelter the rights and privileges of the most 
 insignificant. Indeed, no obedient child of God is insig- 
 nificant. 
 
 86 
 
 Bernard de Palissy, a native of Agen, in France, and a 
 maker of earthenware at Saintes, distinguished himself 
 by his knowledge and talents. He was a Calvinist, and 
 the French king, Henry III., said to him one day that 
 he should be compelled to give him up to his enemies 
 unless he changed his religion. ' ' You have often said 
 to me, sire," was the undaunted reply of De Palissy, 
 " that you pitied me; but as for me, I pity you, who have 
 given utterance to such words as ' I shall be compelled.' 
 These are unkingly words, and I say to you, in royal 
 
42 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 phrase, that neither the Guises, nor all your people, nor 
 yourself, are able to compel an humble manufacturer of 
 earthenware to bend his knee before statues. ' ' 
 
 87 
 
 There is a kind of polyp that applies a suction- valve to 
 every pore, until its victim melts into the form of the 
 destroyer. I have often thought that the world is such 
 a polyp, when it gets hold of the nominal disciple. 
 
 88 
 
 The inscriptions on sun-dials, if coUedled, would make 
 an interesting and suggestive book. Oxford: Pereunt et 
 imputantur: the hours perish and are imputed. Abbots- 
 ford: Nv^ spx^rai: the night Cometh. Another — we know 
 not where: Go about your business. 
 
 Another: Quae lenta accedit, quam velox praeterit horal 
 
 Ut capias, patiens esto, sedesto vigil! 
 Another: En peu d'heure Dieu Labeure. 
 
 89 
 
 The importance of a decision, especially at the crises of 
 life. A French nobleman says: " Every man goes down 
 to Damascus once in his life. ' ' But how few, like Saul 
 of Tarsus, immediately obey the heavenly vision! I 
 insert the original as a very remarkable paragraph: 
 
 Un de plus. — Sous ce titre a paru une brochure du Marquis de 
 Talleyrand-P6rigord. Un de plus, c'est un rfepublicain de plus. 
 Voici d'ailleurs la courte preface de cet 6crit, qui a causfe dans le 
 faubourg Saint-Germain, quelque emotion: 
 
 Tout homme a son chemin de Damas. Bien peu imitent saint- 
 Paul. 
 
 Comme bien d'autres, j'ai, kX.k sourd & la grande voix qui com- 
 mande i I'homme d'etre utile k ses semblables; mais aprfes les 
 malheurs qui ont accablfe la France, en presence des efforts g6n- 
 fereux et constants de la dSmocratie r6publicaine pour faire sortir 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 43 
 
 le pays du gouffre dans lequel I'avait plongfe rempire, je ne me 
 sens pas le droit de rester spectateur indifferent de la lutte. 
 
 Dans la grande armfee humanitaire, je viens prendre mon rang 
 de soldat, simplement, mais loyalement. 
 
 A la dfemocratie contemporaine, je viens dire: 
 
 Comptez sur un r^publicain de plus. 
 
 Ch.-M., Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord. 
 
 90 
 
 The test of a sermon is, after all, its effeEliveness. 
 Judged by the standards of homiletics or hermeneutics, 
 many a discourse is very afefedlive, which is nevertheless 
 very (S/^fedlive. The beauty of the fishing tackle is one 
 thing — the catching of fish is the test of the fisherman. 
 
 9J 
 
 Self-indulgence tends to a monstrous self-absorption. It 
 is a bad thing to get into the habit of thinking and of 
 studying to gratify self. It finds us sickening or weary- 
 ing of one gratification after another, yet constantly 
 seeking something new, till, like Xerxes, we are ready to 
 ofiFer a reward to any one who will invent a new form of 
 pleasure. The habit of self-indulgence is fatal to sym- 
 metry of charadler. The purest gratifications come to 
 us unsought. As Arthur Harwick says, pleasure, like 
 our shadows, flees when pursued, but follows when we 
 seem to forsake it. 
 
 Separation is the Law of Holy Living. When Israel 
 entered Canaan they were forbidden to entangle them- 
 selves with alliances with Egypt, Assyria, and Canaanites. 
 For 400 years they kept aloof. Then Solomon renewed 
 intercourse with Egypt, married Pharaoh's daughter, and 
 flagrantly violated the law in Deut. xvii : 16, by bringing 
 vast numbers of Egyptian horses into Judea. Disasters 
 
44 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 rapidly followed. He lived to see liis worst foes, Jero- 
 boam and Hadad, guests at Pharaoh's court; and in the 
 next generation an Kgyptian king captured Jerusalem 
 and despoiled palaces and even the Temple. Still worse, 
 the Egyptian Idol, Apis, or the sacred bull, was worshiped 
 at Dan and Bethel and swayed the whole northern 
 kingdom. 
 
 93 
 
 Dr. A.J. Gordon said our modem inveniions are little 
 more than the enlarging or elongatingjof our own faculties 
 and organs. The telegraph is the extension of the arm as 
 by nerves of wire, so that we write at the distance of a 
 thousand miles ; the telephone is the extension of our 
 voice and of our neighbor's ear; the bicycle the lengthen- 
 ing of our legs so that we reach ten feet instead of two; 
 the telescope and microscope enlarge our vision so that 
 we see 5,000,000 miles instead of five, etc., etc. 
 
 94 
 
 The Grace of Continuance. Jno. viii:3i, 32. There 
 is a preparatory stage of discipleship; the mind and heart 
 and will moved, but the soul not yet made new in Christ. 
 It is the vestibule of salvation; all depends on holding on, 
 going on, continuing. The seed is in the soil, but needs 
 to get root and grow. Satan then brings all his power 
 to bear to prevent continuance in well-doing. Here the 
 results of continuance are indicated: i. Confirmation of 
 Discipleship. 2. Revelation of Truth. 3. Emancipation 
 from Sin. Our I^ord puts before His followers something 
 to do, to prove, to know, to become. 
 
 95 
 
 The nature of Liberty. Cicero says: I^ibertas est 
 potestas faciendi id quod jure liceat. lyawlessness, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 45 
 
 license, is not liberty. True freedom is found only in 
 obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to 
 flow, only between banks; without these it would only 
 spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool. Planets, uncon- 
 trolled by law, would only bring wreck to themselves and 
 the universe. The same law which fences us in, fences 
 others out; the restraints which regulate our liberty also 
 insure and protedl it. It is not control, but the right 
 kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which make the 
 freeman. Psalm xl : 8. 
 
 96 
 
 Christ in the Word. The main value of the Scriptures 
 is that here is a casket enshrining one priceless jewel, 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. The pearl is found in the pearl 
 shell. The shell is beautiful, but it is only a fainter 
 image of the beauty which is gathered into one sym- 
 metrical sphere, in the gem which it contains. That 
 same beauty, secreted by the mantle of the pearl oyster 
 and diffused over the interior surface, constitutes the 
 mother of pearl. 
 
 97 
 
 The value of a thankful heart. 1. It is the fruit of 
 faith. Natural gratitude is the natural pleasure felt in 
 prosperity; gracious gratitude blesses God, like Job, in 
 adversity, because of faith in His wisdom and good- 
 ness. 2. It is itself one of the foremost of blessings, and 
 parent of all other graces. So says Cicero. It disposes 
 to contentment in all conditions, and puts a bridle on 
 desire. 3. It fnds blessings. Says Dr. O. W. Holmes: 
 ' ' If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there 
 were particles of iron in it, I might look with my eyes for 
 them, and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and 
 be unable to find them; but let me take a magnet and 
 
46 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 sweep it, and how it would draw to itself the most invisible 
 particles by the power of attradlion! The unthankful 
 heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no ihercies; 
 but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and, as 
 the magnet fi'nds the iron, so it will find in every hour 
 some heavenly blessings : only the iron in God's sand is 
 gold." 4. W. fits for greater blessings. God gjives more 
 abundantly where previous gifts are properly valued. 
 Ps. 1 : 23. Chrysostom said, " there is but one calamity, 
 sin ' ' ; and, after many sorrows, died, exclaiming ' ' Soka 
 TO) Beo) TcavTBoy evEKEco." "God be praised for every- 
 thing!" 
 
 98 
 
 Golden Rule. Confucius, being asked if any one word 
 formulates the duty of man to man, replied: ' ' Reciprocity. 
 Our lyord rises far above that: ' Do not even the pub- 
 licans so?'" He bids us adjust our condudl, not by 
 what men adlually do, but what they should do, to us. 
 
 99 
 
 Guisot calls the Reformation a great insurredlion of 
 human intelligence. Was it not also a resurrection of 
 primitive faith and evangelical dodtrine ? 
 
 TOO 
 
 License vs. Prohibition. "Natural law," says Black- 
 stone, "requires that we should live honestly, hurt 
 nobody, and render to every man his due." " Common 
 law," says the same learned authority, " declares that no 
 man has a right to use his property to the injury of 
 another." Mora],_law requires that we love our neighbor 
 as ourselves. All these are in harmony with Divine law. 
 But no law can establish or sandlion such a vicious system 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 47 
 
 without contravening all other laws, natural, common, 
 moral, or divine. lyord Chesterfield said in the British 
 Parliament, ' ' I^uxury, my Lords, is to be taxed, but vice 
 is to be prohibited, let the difficulty in the law be what it 
 will. Would you lay a tax upon a breach of the Ten Com- 
 mandments? Would not such a tax be wicked and 
 scandalous? Would it not imply an indulgence to all 
 those who could afford to pay the tax? " 
 
 lOI 
 
 When, in 1737, Smeaton was building the great Eddy- 
 stone Lighthouse, ' ' to give light and to save life, ' ' Louis 
 XV., King of France, heard a suggestion from an 
 unprincipled courtier that he should give sandlion to 
 cruisers to annoy and harass the workmen. He replied: 
 " I am the enemy of England, but not of humanity." 
 
 I02t 
 
 Our abiding frame is the index of charadler, said Gar- 
 field. "I have seen the sea lashed into fury and tossed 
 into spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the dullest 
 man. But I remember that it is not the billows but the 
 calm level of the sea from which all heights and depths 
 are measured. When the storm has passed and the hour 
 of calm settles upon the ocean — when the sunlight bathes 
 its smooth surface, then the astronomer and surveyor 
 takes the level from which he measures all terrestrial 
 heights and depths. ' ' 
 
 103 
 
 The glory of a stainless life. An Arabian princess was 
 once presented by her teacher with an ivory casket, not 
 to be opened until a year had passed. The time, impa- 
 tiently waited for, came at last, and with trembling haste 
 she unlocked the treasure; and lo! on the satin linings 
 
48 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 lay a shroud of rust; the form of something beautiful, but 
 the beauty gone. A slip of parchment contained these 
 words: "Dear pupil, learn a lesson in your life. This 
 trinket, when enclosed, had upon it only a spot of rust; 
 by negledl it has become the useless thing you now 
 behold, only a blot on its pure surroundings. So a little 
 stain on your charadter will, by inattention and negledl, 
 mar a bright and useful life, and in time leave only the 
 dark shadow of what might have been. Place herein a 
 jewel of gold, and after many years you will find it still 
 as sparkling as ever. So with yourself; treasure up only 
 the pure, the good, and you will be an ornament to 
 society, and a source of true pleasure to yourself and your 
 friends. ' ' 
 
 104 
 
 The Master Evidence of Christianity. ' ' Ye are our 
 epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." 
 — 2 Cor. iii : 2. Benjamin Franklin tried to convince the 
 farmers of his day, that plaster enriched the soil. All 
 his philosophical arguments failed to convince them, so 
 he took plaster, and formed it into a sentence by the 
 roadside. The wheat coming up through those letters 
 was about twice as rank and green as the other wheat, 
 and the farmers could read for months, in letters of living 
 green, the sentence: " This has been plastered." 
 
 105 
 
 Moody s address to the graduates at Northfield once con- 
 sisted of these two words: " Consecrate and Concentrate,'^ 
 and he added a motto that he saw in England : 
 
 Do all the good you can, 
 To all the people you can, 
 In all the ways you can, 
 As long as ever you can. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 49 
 
 106 
 
 Blessings turned to curses. Retzsch, in his ingenious 
 and marvelous illustrations oi Faust, has one most remark- 
 able etching. He represents the demons as contending 
 for the possession (.-f the soul of Faust, and dragging it 
 down into the abyss. From above the angels watch the 
 struggle with intense interest, and, plucking the celestial 
 roses from the bowers of Paradise, fling them down upon 
 the heads of the demons. They leave the blessed heights 
 of heaven roses, but as they pass into the sulphurous 
 atmosphere of the abyss, turn to burning coals, and fall 
 on the demons to burn and blister wherever they touch. 
 
 So it is with the mercies of God; they leave His hand 
 as fair and fragrant flowers, full of heaven's own beauty 
 and sweetness, but when they touch the hard heart and 
 stubborn will of the resolute rebel against both law and 
 grace, they turn to coals of fire. What was meant to 
 bless, burns. The blood, which was shed to justify, 
 adlually condemns. In proportion to the height from 
 which we fall is the depth to which we sink; and so it 
 were better not to have known the way of righteousness 
 than, after we have known it, to turn from the holy com- 
 mandment delivered unto us. 
 
 107 
 
 The snares of the devil. One of the wonders of nature 
 is called the opelet, about as large as the German aster, 
 with many long petals of a light color, glossy as satin, 
 each tipped with rose color. The lovely petals wave 
 about in the water, while the opelet clings to a rock. 
 How innocent and lovely it looks on its rocky bed! Who 
 would suspedl that it would eat anything grosser than 
 dew or sunlight ? But those beautiful waving arms have 
 to provide for a large open mouth, hidden down deep 
 
50 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 among them. The instant a foolish little fish touches 
 one of the rosy tips he is struck with poison as fatal to 
 him as lightning. He immediately becomes numb, and 
 in a moment stops struggling, and then the other arms 
 enfold him. 
 
 io8 
 
 Unconverted teachers in a Sunday-school remind me of 
 the stucco figure sustaining the gas jets in the Music 
 Hall in Glasgow, guiding others in a way in which they 
 never walk themselves. 
 
 log 
 
 Little words with big meaning. "It is one feature of 
 God's Holy Book that small words get invested with a 
 deep meaning, in consequence of being connedled with 
 other words. This is true of short prepositions and pro- 
 nouns. Take, for instance, the little words, '/», wy, 
 with.' When these are associated with the Savior, how 
 deep is their signification. '/« Christ,' 'My beloved' 
 ' With the Lord.' Here we have safety, riches, and frui- 
 tion. Many other instances might be given." 
 
 no 
 
 Involuntary and voluntary hardening. No human soul 
 is ever in exactly the same state or on the same plane 
 after the truth is heard — better or worse, softer or harder, 
 higher or lower, always. There is a hardening process 
 which is involuntary, and which consists simply in the 
 repetition of the same impression. To handle tools makes 
 a callous hand; no event, however startling, could im- 
 press us a second time as it did the first; and so by hand- 
 ling truth carelessly we get callous of mind, and an 
 unheeded warning or invitation of providence or grace 
 can never arouse us a second time as it did at first. No 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 51 
 
 spiritual impression can ever repeat itself in the same form 
 or by the same means. A convidtion resisted becomes 
 ultimately a convi(5lion lost; a heart refusing to respond 
 to love becomes at last insensible to love; a conscience 
 disobeyed becomes by and by silent; a will choosing evil 
 becomes finally incapable of any other choice. This is 
 the law of involuntary and, perhaps, unconscious 
 hardening. 
 
 There is, therefore, also a voluntary process of harden- 
 ing. We may cultivate insensibility to want and woe — 
 wilfully resist the truth, shut our eyes to light, and turn 
 the very message of life into a sentence of death. The 
 sunshine that might melt us like wax hardens us like 
 clay. Nay, we may deliberately sell ourselves to Satan, 
 as Aaron Burr, after forty-eight hours of secluded 
 thought, coolly decided in favor of the world, the flesh, 
 and the devil. We may buy the ' ' marble heart, " if we 
 will, and buy it cheap. We may sear conscience as with 
 a hot iron, and it will cost but little pain to make it 
 painless. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Practical confession of Christ. The late Canon lyiddon, 
 in a sermon at St. Paul's, was advocating the public 
 acknowledgment of Christ. There were, he said, work- 
 shops where a fierce scowl would be the herald of more 
 adlive opposition if the claims of Christianity were 
 acknowledged or pressed, and in the clubs of the educated 
 classes there was not the less bitter curl of the mouth and 
 the contemptuous shrug of the shoulders for those who 
 generally professed Christ. Here followed a remarkable 
 illustration. Fifty years ago, at a dinner party, given in 
 the West End of I/)ndon, when the ladies had retired the 
 conversation of the gentlemen turned on what was dis- 
 
52 Seed Thoughts ior Fubuc Speakers 
 
 honoring to Christ as our I,ord. One guest was silent, 
 and presently asked that the bell might be rung. On the 
 appearance of the servant, he ordered his carriage, and, 
 with perfedt and polished courtesy, he apologized to his 
 host for his enforced departure, for he was still a Christian. 
 The Canon proceeded: "All will think it must have been 
 a bishop or at least a clergyman. It was not; he was 
 then a rising member of Parliament, and became the 
 popular prime minister of the early days of Queen Vic- 
 toria's reign. It was the late Sir Robert Peel." 
 
 112 
 
 Testimony to the Bible from a skeptic. The leading 
 skeptical statesman of America, Thomas Jefferson, was 
 wise enough to make this confession: "I have always 
 said, and always will say, that the studious perusal of the 
 sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, 
 and better husbands. ' ' The words explain the source of 
 America's prosperity. The Christian statesman, Bdward 
 Kverett, said: "All the distindtive features and supe- 
 riority of our republican institutions are derived from the 
 teachings of Scripture. ' ' 
 
 An anecdote of Isaac Barrow. It is related that at his 
 examination for orders, when the usual questions v/ere 
 propounded to the candidates, Isaac Barrow, when his 
 turn came, quickly replied to the "Quid est Fides f " 
 
 ' ' Quod non vides. ' ' 
 
 "Good ! " exclaimed the examiner, continuing. "Quid 
 estSpes?" 
 
 "Nondum res," replied Barrow. 
 
 " Better yet ! " cried the delighted dignitary. "Quid 
 est Caritas?" 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 53 
 
 "Ah, magistar, id est raritas." 
 
 "Best of all!" cried the examiner. "This must be 
 ' either Erasmus or the devil.' " 
 
 114 
 
 The importance of Sabbath preservation. That celebrated 
 statue of Troy was called from Pallas — one name of 
 Minerva — the Palladium; it was regarded as the talisman 
 on whose preservation hung the safety of the capitol. So 
 confident were the Trojans in the power of its presence 
 that, while it remained in the citadel, the citizens braved 
 a siege of ten years, but when, by Diomede and Ulysses, 
 the image was stolen, they gave way to despair, feeling 
 that all was lost, as did the Jews when they saw the 
 marble and gold of their temple wrapped in a winding 
 sheet of flame. If there be any real Palladium to the 
 Christian commonwealth, any gift of God that has come 
 down from heaven to stand in the midst of the state as 
 the talisman of our national life, it is the Christian Sab- 
 bath. Enshrine that in the popular heart, and all else is 
 comparatively safe. About the Sabbath cluster all re- 
 ligious interests. It is linked with an open sandluary 
 and an open Bible, with the worship of God and the 
 works of piety; and while Sabbath keeping is encouraged, 
 all these grand agencies of religious development and 
 moral culture are a thousand-fold more potent. But 
 rudely or recklessly break down the sacred limits which 
 enclose the day of God — and holy hours and holy places 
 and holy things are alike exposed to the trampling feet 
 of the scoffer and the skeptic, the irreligious and the 
 infidel. A blow is struck at national prosperity, national 
 morality, national perpetuity. 
 
54 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 115 
 
 Preaching. It is a divine science. The preaclier may 
 say, as Kepler did of his astronomical researches and dis- 
 coveries: " O, Almighty God, I think Thy thoughts after 
 Thee! " So is it a divine art; as Paul Veronese said of 
 painting: " It is a gift from God. ' ' The preacher, like 
 Michael Angelo, sees the angel imprisoned in the dingy, 
 yellow block, and by God's help sets the angel free. A 
 sermon is the Word of God as found in the Bible, used to 
 save and sandlify souls, through the utterance of an 
 anointed tongue. It implies the Bible with a man behind 
 it, to enforce and emphasize it by personal experience. 
 Hence converted men are chosen, rather than angels, to 
 preach; for 
 
 Never did angels taste above, 
 Redeeming grace and dying Love. 
 
 And so the humblest believer can preach better than 
 Gabriel, for he can say, " I am a sinner saved by grace." 
 
 116 
 
 There are reasons for believing that all impressions 
 made upon memory are essentially indelible and imper- 
 ishable. De Quincey says: " I feel assured that there is 
 no such thing as forgetting possible to the mind. A 
 thousand accidents may and will interpose a veil between 
 our present consciousness and the secret inscriptions on 
 the mind; accidents of the same sort will also rend away 
 this veil; but alike, whether veiled or unveiled, the in- 
 scription remains forever, just as the stars seem to with- 
 draw before the common light of day, whereas, in fadl, 
 we all know that it is the light which is drawn over them 
 as a veil, and that they are waiting to be revealed, when 
 the obscuring daylight shall have withdrawn." Cole- 
 ridge says: " There is both proof and instance that relics 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 55 
 
 of sensation may exist for an indefinite time in a latent 
 state in the very same order in which they were origin- 
 ally impressed; it is even probable that all thoughts are 
 in themselves imperishable, and if the intelligent faculty 
 should be rendered more comprehensive it would require 
 only a different and apportioned organization — the body 
 celestial instead of the body terrestrial, to bring before 
 the human soul the collective experience of its whole past 
 existence. And this — this, perchance is the dread Book 
 of Judgment, in whose mysterious hieroglyphics, every 
 idle word is recorded." What an agent in reward or 
 retribution! 
 
 117 
 
 Recurrence of Doctrine. That was a brilliant sugges- 
 tion of Dr. A. J. Gordon, that dodlrinal truth has a pro- 
 cession through the ages. We must discriminate between 
 innovation and renovation. Reformations are simply 
 revivals of truth lost sight of, or buried under rubbish of 
 error. About one hundred years lie between the great 
 Reformers who represent often opposite phases of related 
 truths. Huss, in the Bohemian Reformation, sounded 
 the watchword of the Calixtenes, ' ' the Kucharist for the 
 people." A hundred years later, I^uther trumpeted 
 forth "Justification by Faith." Another century, and 
 Owen, the non-conformist of Oxford, the center of the 
 Puritan movement, emphasized righteousness of life, the 
 counterpart of justification by faith. Another century, 
 and Wesley in Oxford insisted on the witness of the Spirit; 
 interior vital, spiritual life, the counterpart of external 
 redtitude. Then another century, and Spurgeon and 
 Moody preached salvation by the objedlive work and word 
 of Christ. Every dodlrine lies in two opposite poles, or 
 extremes. Heresy is dividing these, and asserting one 
 
56 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 to the exclusion of the other. Hence in time an old doc- 
 trine comes about in a recurrence to be the "present 
 truth, ' ' needing emphasis in view of present error. 
 
 Ii8 
 
 The unity of the Bible itself evidences the divine origin 
 of the book. A coUedlion of sixty-six books, written by 
 about forty different men, during about fifteen centuries. 
 Here are prophetic, poetic, historic, and didadtic works 
 in prose and parallelisms, bearing every mark of diversity 
 of period and authorship; yet there is both unity and 
 continuity ; instead of discord, perfedl concord, and a 
 progress of dodtrinal development concerning God and 
 the Messiah. It is the unity of a strudlure that grows 
 into completeness, and is the manifest development of an 
 archetypal idea that must have been prior to, and exterior 
 to, the authors themselves. It is an organic unity, like 
 that of a body in which all parts bear one inseparable 
 relation. For one thing no rationalistic theory ever can 
 account: the traditional belief of the Jews, that One 
 should come who should be at once a prophet greater 
 than Moses, a priest higher than Aaron, a king wiser than 
 Solomon. Back beyond the i , 500 years of written revela- 
 tions, we can trace this hope and faith through 2,500 
 years of oral revelations. This traditional belief holds 
 steadily on its way, branching out into new particulars, 
 till it reaches the minutest prophetic predictions ; is never 
 once lost sight of, even in days of apostasy and exile. 
 The prophecies adlually involve paradoxes and enigmas 
 which only history could unlock. And yet, after 400 
 years of prophetic silence, and the closing of the Old Testa- 
 ment canon, all this marvelous unity of predidtion and 
 expectation finds, after 4,000 years of persistent growth 
 one marvelous Person in whom all is fulfilled. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 57 
 
 119 
 
 Danger of fanciful interpretations. It is an important 
 rule in construing types to find your docftrine first of all 
 in the purely didadlic and prosaic portions of the Word, 
 and then use your type as an illustration and confirmation 
 of the dodlrine; otherwise you may be only informing 
 Scripture with your own sentiments and fancies. Mr. 
 Taylor, in ' ' Primitive Culture, ' ' gives us in parody a 
 very amusing satire upon sundry recent attempts to 
 explain almost all early history and legend by myths of 
 dawn and sunrise. " Sing a song of sixpence " is obvi- 
 ously to be clothed with a typical significance. ' ' The 
 four-and-twenty blackbirds" are the four-and-twenty 
 hours, and the pie that holds them is the underlying 
 earth covered with the overarching sky. How true a 
 touch of nature it is that when the pie is opened — that is, 
 when the day breaks — the birds begin to sing ! The king 
 is the sun, and his counting out his money is pouring 
 out his sunshine, the golden shower of Danaae. The 
 queen is the moon, and her transparent honey the moon- 
 light. The maid is the rosy-fingered dawn which rises 
 before the sun, her master, and hangs out the clouds, his 
 clothes, across the sky. The particular blackbird who 
 so tragically ends the tale by snipping off her nose, is the 
 hovir of sunrise. 
 
 "None other name.'' Joshua Reynolds, closing his 
 leAure on art, said: "And now, gentlemen, there is but 
 one name which I bring to your attention, it is the name 
 of Michael Angelo. ' ' So the true preacher can sum up 
 all his preaching with the one name of Christ. I/ong- 
 fellow's "Divine Tragedy " bears on the cover a beauti- 
 ful and significant device — the four words I^Kx, Rex, 
 
58 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Dux, lyUX — arranged in the form of a Greek Cross, the 
 cross itself being the letter X in which they all terminate. 
 
 121 
 
 Jeremy Taylor's Inaccuracy. He was not a careful and 
 critical inquirer into fadls of history and philosophy. 
 Strange as it may seem for a man of such genius and 
 learning, if such alleged fadls suited his purpose, he 
 received them without examination and retailed them 
 without scruple: and we therefore read in his works of 
 such doubtful or incredible examples as that of a single 
 city containing 15,000,000 inhabitants! of the Neapolitan 
 manna, which failed as soon as it was subjedted to a tax! 
 of the monument, nine furlongs high, eredled by Ninus! 
 He referred to a mule as begotten of the horse as father, 
 and born of the ass as mother — the exadl reverse of fadl. 
 He located Gideon's 300 with rams' horns and pitchers 
 at the siege of Jericho! His own understanding was 
 evidently inventive rather than critical. — Bishop Heber. 
 
 122 
 
 Oriental Justice. Dr. Jacob Chamberlain of the Arcot 
 Mission tells the following: Four men in India buying 
 cotton undertook to transport it to the seaboard, but were 
 overtaken by the monsoons, and, finding the roads 
 impassable, built a thatched shed to shelter the bales. 
 Then, to keep out rats and mice, bought a cat. In all 
 their transadlions they shared equally, and so each took 
 one leg of the cat as his property. In turning over the 
 bales, the cat, springing after the rats and mice, got her 
 right foreleg broken. Its ovmer put it up in splints, and 
 kept it bathed with the oil of balsam. A fire was built 
 in the shed to keep them warm; but a large spark 
 snapped out and set the oiled splints of the cat's leg afire; 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 59 
 
 she ran among the bales and set them afire, and so the 
 cotton and the shed were consumed. The other three 
 men conspired to make the owner of the unfortunate cat- 
 leg pay them for their cotton, on the ground that it was 
 this broken leg that carried the fire among the bales, and 
 got a decision in their favor. But a sagacious rajah, to 
 whom the case was appealed, reversed the decision, on 
 the ground that it was the other three legs that enabled the 
 broken one to move among the cotton bales! This reminds 
 one of the Syrian judge, to whom a son appealed for 
 justice. A slater fell from a roof upon a passer-by and 
 killed him, but himself escaped unhurt; the unfortunate 
 passer-by was the complainant's father, and the charge 
 brought was "manslaughter." The judge decided that 
 the slater was guilty, and decreed this sentence: "You, 
 the son, shall go up to the roof from which he fell; he 
 shall stand where your father stood, and you shall fall 
 upon and crush him! " At the last accounts the sentence 
 had not been carried into effedl. 
 
 X23 
 
 The Faith of Jesus transforms sorrow, and even death. 
 The southern cape of Africa used to be known as the 
 "Cape of Tempests," from the violent and dangerous 
 storms encountered by early navigators in doubling it. 
 But a Portuguese navigator, discovering a safe passage 
 round this bold promontory, the old ominous title gave 
 way to a more auspicious one. He said: " Henceforth it 
 shall be ' Cabo de Bon Esperanza ' ; Cape of Good Hope. ' ' 
 Even the stormy cape of death has been changed into the 
 Cape of Good Hope since Jesus himself sailed round it 
 and opened a safe passage for all believers. 
 
6o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 124 
 
 " Le Chasse de Bonheur" is the name of a magnifi- 
 cently melancholic pidture — an awful satire on the mad 
 pursuit of the gilded prizes of worldly treasure and 
 pleasure. A nude female figure floating in air, and of 
 surpassing sedudlive beauty, draws after her a youth, 
 who madly spurs on an exhausted steed, chasing the 
 lovely vision. At her feet she rolls a golden sphere along 
 a narrow beam that spans an awful chasm, holding in her 
 hand a gilded crown. Behind the haggard-faced rider 
 Death closely foUgws, holding up the hour glass, with the 
 sand half run out. Beneath the feet of the wild horse 
 which the young man urges on, lie crushed forms of 
 fairest beauty, symbols of the precious heritage of love 
 and bliss, which the idolater of pleasure tramples under 
 foot in pursuing phantom joys. His eyes are so fas- 
 cinated by the seducing vision before him, that the mad- 
 man sees not the yawning gulf into which he is just 
 about to plunge! Ten thousand counterparts to that sad 
 pidlure may be seen in society around us. O, for a trum- 
 pet to arouse the seekers of worldly gain and pleasure and 
 power, to the sense of their peril ! 
 
 The peril of self-satisfaction. In the memoir of Baron 
 Bunsen it is related that, calling one day on the great 
 sculptor, Thorwaldsen, he found hira greatly depressed. 
 He had recently put the finishing touches on his colossal 
 statue of Christ for Copenhagen. He explained his dis- 
 couragement and melancholy by saying that he feared his 
 genius had reached its best and would henceforth decline, 
 "for," said he, "I have never before been satisfied with 
 any of my works; but I am satisfied with this and shall 
 never have a great idea again," which reminds us of 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 6i 
 
 Spinoza's famous saying that there is "no foe to progress 
 like self-conceit, and the laziness which self-conceit 
 begets. ' ' 
 
 1216 
 
 Nothing is suck a revelation of character as our uncon- 
 scious habits of speech and condudt. There is a deep 
 philosophy in the I^atin word, mores, which means both 
 manners and morals. ' ' MacGregor' s boy was stolen during 
 the war between the Scottish clans, and made to exchange 
 clothes with a peasant boy. He unconsciously revealed 
 his identity, however, even in peasant's clothes, dj/ the way 
 in which he used the things of the palace. The question 
 to be decided was, which of the lads is MacGregor's son? 
 And this was the method of discovery. Both lads were 
 brought into the palace and watched. The peasant boy 
 threw himself down to sleep upon the straw bed in the 
 servants' apartment, for such was his wont; but Mac- 
 Gregor's boy spurned the bed of straw and chose the best 
 couch in the palace. Everybody said, as they looked 
 upon the sleeping boy, 'That is MacGregor's son.' " — 
 Rev. David Gregg. 
 
 A timely and needed warning. Dr. Paley says he spent 
 the first two years of his life as an undergraduate happily 
 but unprofitably.^ ' ' At commencement of my third year, 
 after having left the usual party at a late hour, I was 
 awakened at 5 A. M. b5'^ one of my companions who stood 
 at my bed: ' Paley, I have been thinking what a fool you 
 are. I could do nothing were I to try, and can afford the 
 life I lead. You can do everything and can not afford it! ' 
 Paley changed from that hour the whole course of his 
 life." 
 
62 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Z28 
 
 "Matter and force not eternal, but contingent." 
 ' ' The real princes of science, on whose brows the ivy is 
 still green, have not been slow to lift an anthem of praise 
 to God. Herein they stand in bold contrast with the 
 atheistic scientists of our day. As I read the biographies, 
 I am impressed with their reverence for God, and His 
 right of recognition in all their discoveries. I hear the 
 ardent Galileo, all trembling with the inspiration of true 
 science, singing aloud, 'Sun, moon, and stars, praise 
 Him ! ' I hear Kepler, overawed with a sense of God's 
 majesty in the firmament, saying, as the discovery of his 
 'third law' broke in upon his mind, March 8, 1618, 
 ' God has passed before me in the grandeur of His ways ! 
 Glorify him, ye stars, in your ineffable language! and 
 thou, my soul, praise Him ! ' I hear the immortal New- 
 ton exclaiming: ' Glory to God, who has permitted me 
 to catch a glimpse of the skirts of His garments. My 
 calculations have encountered the march of the stars!' 
 What sublimity of expression! What rapture of emo- 
 tion! So sang Copernicus and Volta. Were these men 
 less ' scientific ' because they recognized God, or believed 
 themselves made in the ' image of God, ' and not in the 
 image of atoms or apes ? No. Young has said : ' The 
 undevout astronomer is mad,' but I have still higher 
 authority for saying that the non-considerer of God in all 
 his ways is lower than ' the ox and the ass ! ' For the 
 natural sciences are but the embroidered robes of the 
 majesty and presence of God as He reveals Himself to 
 the vision of man; every law a fragment of His will, 
 every discovery a monument of His wisdom and His 
 power. And while it is false to teach Pantheism, or that 
 all is God, it is true to teach Theopantism, or that God 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 63 
 
 is in all tilings, the source and support of their being, 
 motion, and life, so that, in this sense, we can truly say 
 of Him that He 
 
 "Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
 Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees — 
 Lives thro' all life, extends thro' all extent, 
 Spreads undivided, operates unspent. 
 
 ' ' And sometimes a fond dream ' overcomes ' me ' like a 
 summer cloud, ' that if all men would only so think and 
 feel, we would soon have an ' instauration, ' once more, 
 of philosophy and faith, religion and science, tripping 
 hand in hand in a sublime dance — ' all four forward ' — to 
 the music of Divine love; drying many a tear, disburden- 
 ing many a heart, and crowning many a life with joy. 
 Then, perchance, when false science has sped away on 
 her dark wings, like some dusky demon of the night 
 before the ascending sun, a new cosmos will appear, rising 
 out of our chaos, and science and religion, freed from 
 their errors, illustrate to men the grandeur and truth of 
 God's work and way as never before. Then, when the 
 conflidl is over, the lovers of ' culture, ' the children of 
 the ' Zeitgeist, ' will condescend to hear the ' Gospel of 
 the grace of God,' and not abuse it, and find that the 
 faith required of them to believe in Him who is the ' one 
 thing needful ' for salvation, exadls of them no more than 
 does the faith required of them to believe in first truths, 
 the ' one thing needful ' for science. Then the oracles of 
 consciousness will return to their right, and be respedted 
 by all, and the Word of God be revered. Then academy 
 and lyceum will unite with synagog and church, and 
 Athens and Jerusalem become one ' City of God,' and 
 the disciples of Haeckel, and Comte, and Spencer, and 
 Clifford will bum, as the EJphesians did, their books of 
 sorcery, and the whole crowd bow, consalutant, to the 
 
64 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 incarnate One, as tlie sheaves of Joseph's brethren bowed, 
 in the dream, to Joseph's sheaf, and ' crown Him I^ord 
 ois\V"—Dr. Nath. West. 
 
 Paul's passion for souls. He was, at Rome, a prisoner 
 xuider military custody, chained by the arm both night 
 and day to one of the imperial bodyguard. What pas- 
 sion for souls burned like a pent-up fire in his bones when 
 he not only turned his lodgings into a sandluary , ' ' receiv- 
 ing all who came to him," but adlually used his close 
 contadl with these soldiers as a means of extending his 
 acquaintance and influence. With these sentries he 
 spoke of the great salvation, until, as they relieved each 
 other, he was brought into contadl with the whole body- 
 guard in turn; and this is doubtless what he means when 
 in Philippians i : 13 he says, that his bonds became mani- 
 fest in Christ throughout the whole of the Prcetorian camp. 
 Grand man! the clank of whose chain, like the pome- 
 granates and bells on the high priest's robe, were vocal 
 with the music of the Gospel's message! who could not 
 be kept from witnessing to Christ and winning souls even 
 by present fetters and prospedtive martyrdom! 
 
 130 
 
 The significance of dynamite. Professor Ely, of J. 
 Hopkins University, says, dynamite explosions are "a 
 local manifestation of an international devil, ' ' and adds : 
 " I believe we are just beginning to enter on a terrible 
 era in the world's history — an era of internal and domes- 
 tic warfare, such as has never been seen, and the end of 
 which only the Almighty can foretell." The Christian 
 Statesman adds: "As if to prove the futility of mere 
 force as an agent for the regulation of society, and to 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 65 
 
 throw the world back on the necessity for spiritual influ- 
 ences as the controlling power in human affairs, science 
 has armed the dangerous classes with a weapon so terrible, 
 so easily concealed, and so easily procured, that the 
 strongest government is helpless before it. The lesson 
 will be terrible, but it will not be long. In Milton's 
 immortal epic, when the warring angels armed themselves 
 with subterranean fires, and when they began to over- 
 whelm each other with the lifted hills, the eternal Father 
 sent his Son to subdue the commotion, whose continuance 
 threatened the security of heaven itself. The very 
 violence of the impending conflidl, and the nature of the 
 weapons employed, will be a reason to hope for a speedy 
 issue of the struggle. ' For the eledl's sake, those days 
 shall be shortened. ' The ' overturning ' of earthly 
 things will indicate the near approach of His kingdom, 
 ' whose right it is to reign.' " 
 
 131 
 
 Fearlessness of faith. When the Broadcloth mob were 
 thundering before Wm. I^loyd Garrison's office in Boston, 
 crying, ' ' Hang him ! ' ' the women were met in an 
 adjoining room praying for the cause of abolition; and 
 at that moment one of them was praying, ' ' O lyord, there 
 be many to molest, but none can make us afraid." There 
 is a political, commercial, social conscience; but woman's 
 conscience is often corrective of all. 
 
 The demands of skepticism. There is a familiar story 
 of the Russians, chased by a hungry pack of wolves, 
 driving at the height of speed over the crisp snow, find- 
 ing the beasts of prey gaining fast upon them, and 
 throwing out one living child after another, to appease 
 
66 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the maw of wolfish hunger, while the rest of the family 
 hurried on toward safety. The skepticism of the day 
 pursues Christian believers, and some would appease the 
 spirit of infidelity by making concession after concession; 
 but it is vain. Offering after offering may be flung to 
 the sacrifice, but only to be followed by a hungrier 
 clamor and demand for more. We may as well stop 
 right here and fight these wolves; it has already become 
 a question of life and death, and the crisis is desperate. 
 
 133 
 
 Scales of Divine Judgment. I Sam. ii : 3; Dan. v : 27. 
 A most interesting Egyptian relic is the ' ' Grand Hall of 
 Judgment." The God, Thoth, led the Soulinto Amenthe, 
 the Lower World, at whose entrance was a big- throated 
 monster, " Devourer of many who go into Amenthe; 
 lacerater of heart to him who comes with sins to the 
 house of justice." The Soul, entering, kneels before the 
 forty-two Assessors of Osiris, with deprecating declara- 
 tions and entreaties. Then in the awful ' ' Hall of the 
 Two Truths," the final trial; the approving and con- 
 demning hall, or Hall of the Double Justice, the Reward 
 and Punishment; where the three divinities, Horus, 
 Anubis, Thoth, weigh the Soul in the balance. In one 
 scale, a standard weight, the image of Thmei, goddess of 
 truth; in the other, a heart-shaped vase, symbol of the 
 heart of the deceased, with all the adlions of the earth- 
 life. Thoth notes on a tablet the result, and the Soul 
 advances with it to the throne of Osiris to receive sentence. 
 
 134 
 
 The f able of the Effendi and the little bird. A bird being 
 caught in the folds of his garment, he said, "Allah is 
 good; here is a bird sent for my dinner." "Don't kill 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 67 
 
 me," said the bird, "and I will give you three wise 
 maxims: the first, perched on your knee; the second, 
 on a tree above your head; and the third, as I fly away." 
 It being agreed, the bird, perched on his knee, said: 
 "Never believe the impossible." On the tree branch, 
 ['Never regret the past." But, as the bird flew away, he 
 said: ' '7 have a diamond weighing ten ounces in my throat. ' ' 
 The Effendi wrung his hand. ' ' Why did I let you go ? 
 my fortune would be made!" "You forget my two 
 wise maxims, for you believe the impossible. How could 
 a little bird like me, weighing only a few ounces, carry a 
 diamond in the throat weighing ten ? And you forget 
 that you should never regret the past." And away he 
 flew. 
 
 135 
 
 Eggs and evolution. Frank Buckland, the naturalist, 
 says: "Birds that lay their eggs in holes have round 
 eggs. Certain birds, however, incubate their eggs with- 
 out any nest, upon the ledges of rocks. In this position 
 the egg is at risk of being accidentally moved by the 
 parent-bird, or by the wind. If the egg was round, it 
 would probably roll off the precipice and be smashed. 
 See how the problem of the preservation of this egg is 
 managed by creative wisdom. The egg of the guillemot, 
 for example, is not round, but elongated at one end; con- 
 sequently, when touched, like a common screw placed 
 near the edge of a table and set gently in motion, instead 
 of running off the edge, it will simply turn round on its 
 small end — its own axis. I can not conceive anything 
 more beautiful than this arrangement of the eggs of birds 
 which build on ledges of rocks, and which are very liable 
 to destrudtion. Of late years the dodlrines of ' evolution ' 
 and ' development ' have seemingly gained ground. I 
 
68 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 steadfastly believe that the Great Creator made all things 
 perfedl and ' very good ' from the beginning; I am very 
 willing to prove my case by holding a court, at any time 
 or place, before any number of people of any class. I 
 would empanel a jury of the most eminent and skUful 
 railway and mechanical engineers, while the only wit- 
 nesses I would call would be the fish fresh from the fish- 
 monger's slab. I would adduce from them evidence of 
 'design, beauty, and order,' as evinced in such as the 
 eledlric organs of the torpedo, the gunlock spire of the 
 file-fish, the water-reservoirs and spedlacles of the eel, the 
 teeth of the gilt-head bream, the anchor of the lump- 
 sucker and remora, the color of the perch and bleak, the 
 ichthyophagous teeth of the pike, shark, and silvery hair- 
 tail, the tail of the fox-shark, the prehensile lips of the 
 dory and sprat, the nose of the barbel and dogfish, the 
 resplendence of the Ardlic gymnetrus and scabbard-fish, 
 the dagger in the tail of the stingray, the vest of the 
 stickleback, the armor-plates of the sturgeon, the nostril- 
 breathing powers and store of fat on the salmon; migra- 
 tions of the salmon, herring, pilchard, sprat, and 
 mackerel, and, above all, the enormous fertility of fishes 
 useful as food to the human race. I am satisfied that I 
 should obtain a verdidt in favor of my view of the case — 
 namely, that in all these wonderful contrivances there 
 exists evidence of design and forethought, and a won- 
 drous adaptation of means to an end." 
 
 136 
 
 The sin of selfishness. I. It is the foe of the selfish 
 soul. We become monsters by simply consulting our 
 own interest and gratification. No heroic character ever 
 developed without self-sacrifice. II. It is the foe of our 
 fellowman. Society makes us mutually dependent. We 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 69 
 
 are bound to think of others. Politeness is unselfishness 
 in common and often little things. A thousand little 
 obligations are created by our bond of social life. This 
 law of unselfishness, for instance, makes punctuality a 
 duty, that we may not disturb or delay others, etc. Any 
 form of monopoly is a crime, for it assumes that the indi- 
 vidual is independent. No love can be won without self- 
 sacrifice. Philip Sidney showed himself the ' ' gentleman 
 of his age," when, himself wounded and burning with 
 thirst on the battlefield, he passed on to a dying soldier 
 the vessel of water offered him, saying, ' ' His need is 
 greater than mine." When Muelhause, in Prussia, 
 plunged his arms into seething pitch to pull out the 
 explosive hand-grenade accidentally dropped by a work- 
 man, the citizens came en masse to present him with a 
 splendid sword and watch in admiration of such heroism. 
 Clara Barton's labors among poor, sick, and wounded in 
 late European wars, brought to her the Black Cross of 
 Germany, the Golden Cross of Remembrance, and the 
 Red Cross of Geneva, signs and symbols of self-sacrifice. 
 III. It is the foe of God. Selfish souls are like the 
 Caspian Sea, which receives into its immense basin the 
 floods of six great rivers and many others, and the pouring 
 rains, and sends out not one rill to gladden the wastes. 
 Selfishness is the root of all sins. Comp. 2 Tim. iii : 3-6. 
 This awful catalog of hideous sins starts with love of 
 self, and culminates in hypocrisy. Selfishness leads to 
 rebellion against God. The issue is: Self or God; and 
 idolatry of self would dethrone God as a rival were there 
 a chance of success. Yet this sin lies so deep, is so 
 subtle and secret, has so many forms of manifestation, 
 that, while we cut off a thousand of its branches, the 
 deadly root remains. 
 
7o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 137 
 
 The power of the Bible. In "Unbeaten Tradls in 
 Japah," Isabella I/. Bird relates a remarkable instance of 
 the power of the Scriptures over criminals. A portion of 
 the New Testament, the only parts then translated and 
 printed in Japanese, was given to the keeper of the prison 
 at Otsu, a place in the interior of Japan, beyond the reach 
 of missionary instrudlion. The officer of the prison gave 
 it to a scholarly convidl, incarcerated for manslaughter. 
 Time passed, and nothing was heard from this precious 
 gift. It seemed to have been thrown away on these 
 heathen. But not so. A fire finally broke out in the 
 Otsu prison. " Now is your opportunity," would be the 
 natural thought to each of the hundred prisoners. But 
 when all were looking to see them attempt an escape^ 
 every one of the prisoners helped to put out the flames, 
 and voluntarily remained to serve the rest of his sentence. 
 Such honorable condudt mystified the heathen authoritieSj 
 and led to a careful investigation. This investigation 
 developed the fadl that the manslaughterer had become so 
 impressed with the truth of Christianity by studying the 
 Scriptures which the officer had given him, that he had 
 embraced the life-giving truth, and then had devoted 
 himself to teaching his fellow-prisoners. Thus the power 
 of the Word of God wrought in these men. The circum- 
 stance led to the release of the manslaughterer, but he 
 preferred to remain in Otsu, that he might teach more of 
 the ' ' new way ' ' to the prisoners. 
 
 138 
 
 The Genoa Crucifix illustrated remarkably the force of 
 native genius. This exquisite statue was the work of an 
 untutored monk, Fra Carlo Antonio Pensenti,of the Con- 
 vent of St. Nicholas, Genoa, who, adting under the 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 71 
 
 influence of genius for art, heightened by religious 
 enthusiasm, believing himself inspired, felt bound, as a 
 labor of penance and devotion, to carve from an immense 
 block of ivory which had long been an objedl of curiosity 
 and wonder in Genoa, an image of his Savior on the 
 Cross. The weight of this block of ivory was 125 lbs., 
 its length 3 feet, its diameter upwards of 14 inches. 
 This being a fragment of one of the tusks of an animal of 
 the elephant species, some idea may be formed of the bulk 
 and mass of the whole of the head to which a pair of such 
 tusks, and a trunk of corresponding magnitude had been 
 attached, and of the size and muscular power of the 
 animal that could wield so enormous a mass. This monk's 
 waking dream, which he regarded as a heavenly visitation, 
 he realized, after four years of labor in his solitary cell, 
 secluded from the world, and almost so from the other 
 inmates of the convent, frequently devoting twenty or 
 thirty hours continuously to labor and prayer, without 
 sleep or food. The result was a work of the highest order 
 of art, worthy of the great sculptors of ancient Greece, or the 
 old Italian masters, possessing the same charadleristics as 
 their most celebrated produdtions; exquisite beauty com- 
 bined with perfedt accuracy, and a purity and simplicity 
 of style which contrasts so strongly with the often popular 
 efforts of mere mediocrity, where contortion is substituted 
 for expression, and exaggeration for originality. In this 
 really wonderful work, produced by a man unacquainted 
 with the technicalities of art, and aided by no other 
 teacher than his own extraordinary genius, all is calm, 
 beautiftd, and divine. There is no coarse struggle, altho 
 not merely the countenance, but the whole figure, every 
 muscle, vein, and fiber, powerfully express the moment 
 of dying; yet so finely is this expression combined with 
 that of God-like resignation, that it can hardly be said 
 
72 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 that the agonies of death are represented, but rather the 
 last pulsation of life. This figure was purchased from 
 the monk by the American Consul at Genoa; was carried 
 to Florence, and there visited, criticized, and admired by- 
 Mr. Powers and the most celebrated artists and amateurs 
 of that city. It has been seen by thousands in this 
 country; and while in Ivondon was visited by many of the 
 first artists and anatomists, who unanimously pronounced 
 it a masterpiece, combining the highest perfedtions of 
 anatomical accuracy, manly beauty, and divine expression. 
 It now adorns the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 139 
 
 Christianity and philanthropy . There have been Seven 
 Golden Ages of History: the Age of the Ptolemies in 
 Kgypt, of Augustus in Rome, of Pericles in Greece, of 
 lyco X. in Italy, of Ivan III. in Russia, of Louis XIV. in 
 France, of Elizabeth in England; but, notwithstanding 
 the glories of architedlure and art, poetry and music, 
 wisdom and law, warlike achievement and intelledtual 
 attainment, all these were as ages of iron and stone as to 
 all sympathy for humanity in its woe and pain, except so 
 far as Christianity touched some of them with its human- 
 izing influence. At the height of Athenian culture and 
 Roman virtue asylums were unknown. To be helpless 
 was to be hopeless. Society rudely flung her burdens 
 from her shoulders, and so faithful slaves who had lived 
 beyond their days of service were cruelly slain, and even 
 aged parents were turned out of doors to die of starvation. 
 The first genuine teacher of philanthropy was the Christ, 
 by whom men were first truly taught to love one another, 
 and to account every destitute human being a neighbor 
 and a brother. Among nations, unblessed by the influence 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers ^jt^ 
 
 of Christianity, we look almost in vain for those hos- 
 pitals, asylums, and retreats which are the peculiar off- 
 spring of a Christian civilization. 
 
 140 
 
 Obstructionists. There are people that are great, like 
 Dr. Guthrie's elder, only in objecting. They are good on 
 3, pull, but it is only a pull back. They used to say of 
 I^ord Eldon that the amount of good he prevented was 
 greater than the^z/z7any other man had done. Wm. Wil- 
 berforce wrote and spoke and wrought for twenty years 
 against an opposing Parliament to get the slave traffic 
 stopped by Kngland; but he had to wait twenty -six years 
 more for the Emancipation Adl, while he was giving 
 from one-quarter to one-third of his whole income to 
 charity. Wm. Carey was hindered for ten years in 
 carrying out his holy enthusiasm for missions, by the 
 apathy and lethargy and downright opposition of brethren 
 in the ministry. 
 
 141 
 
 Man was made to be free. There is no more conclusive 
 argument against bondage, whether physical or intellec- 
 tual, than that man becomes satisfied -^MCa. such thraldom. 
 Even the nightingale will not sing in its cage unless you 
 first put out its eyes. And man's eyes must be put out 
 before he can sing in a cage! 
 
 142 
 
 The awful enormity and deformity of sin. There is, 
 in the lyUxembourg Gallery, at Paris, a painting which 
 made for Couture, the French painter, both fame and for- 
 tune. It is the ' ' Romans of the Decadence. ' ' The scene, 
 the court of a temple in the last days of Roman decline, 
 and during the orgies of a Bacchanalian revel. In the 
 center, a group of men and women, wreathed in elaborate 
 
74 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 indelicacy of luxurious posture. Their faces, dehumanized 
 and brutalized with excesses, no longer burning with the 
 old Roman fire, scarce flicker with the light of reason and 
 intelligence. Their disheveled hair is encircled with 
 coronals of leaves, while they drain from goblets of 
 antique grace the fatal liquid-fire. Looking down upon 
 the revelers, stand the statues of the good and great, 
 relics of the golden age of Roman virtue, as tho integrity, 
 even when chiseled in marble, rebuked the wild wicked- 
 ness of such riotous sensuality. A youth, whose bloom 
 of boyish beauty is inflamed with the flush of intoxica- 
 tion, and redness of eyes, is sacrilegiously touching, with 
 his dripping goblet, the marble mouth of a venerated 
 Roman patriot. Toward the extreme edge of the pidlure, 
 is another group, representing all that survives of the age 
 of the Antonines, a few noble and virtuous Romans, with 
 careworn brows, and hands raised to their faces as in 
 melancholy meditation, just quitting forever the dis- 
 honest court of the ruined and falling empire. 
 
 What is saddest about the pidture is that, tho the scene 
 is laid in the Rome of a remote era, it really belongs in 
 the Paris of to-day. These sensual faces have been seen 
 on the boulevards, and even these women, who are 
 strangers to all that is purest and loveliest in woman; 
 so that the models for this pit5lure of humanity, in its 
 decadence, were furnished to the artist by the very city in 
 which he lived. 
 
 143 
 
 Bismarck on fame. In the condudl of public affairs he 
 often seemed strangely indifferent to personal honors. 
 An English lady chanced to be at his house, when, after 
 the final vidlory of the Franco-Prussian war, the people 
 thronged the street to do him honor, and were loudly 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 75 
 
 calling for a speech. After many calls he rose from his 
 chair in the most indifferent manner, and saying: " If the 
 battle had turned the other way, they would have been 
 here to mob me, — such is fame," he walked to the balcony 
 and merely bowed his acknowledgments, with a few words 
 of praise to the soldiers who had won Sedan. Yes, 
 such is fame. ' ' The king is dead — long live the king. ' ' 
 A bronze statue of Sir Robert Peel was lately melted 
 down and recast into a statue of I^ord Palmerston. 
 
 144 
 
 Origin of weights and measures. A curious fadl it is, 
 that we have to recur to nature for standards of uniform- 
 ity. The word '^ grain " occurring in Troy weight, and 
 "barley corn" in long measure, show, that in England 
 the originals or natural units resorted to as the means of 
 fixing, and, in case of need, restoring, the value of meas- 
 ures, were natural objeSls, A statute of Henry III., 
 A.D. 1266, enadts "that an English penny, called the 
 sterling, round, without clipping, shall weigh 32 grains 
 of wheat, well dried, and gathered out of the middle of 
 the ear; and twenty pence (penny weights) to make one 
 ounce, 12 ounces a pound, 8 pounds a gallon of wine, 
 and 8 gallons of wine a bushel, which is the eighth part 
 of a quarter." Edward II., A.D. 1324, provides that 
 the length of 3 barley corns, round and dry, shall make 
 one inch, 12 inches a foot, etc. 
 
 BffeSlive preaching. Were all preaching judged by its 
 effectiveness, how speedily would the pretensions of some 
 brilliant pulpit orators have a disastrous fall. Sir Astley 
 Cooper, visiting Paris, was asked by the chief surgeon of 
 the empire, how often he had performed a certain wonder- 
 ful feat of surgery. ' ' Thirteen times, ' ' said he, "I have 
 
76 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 performed that operation. " " Ah ! but Monsieur, I have 
 done him i6o times." " How many times did you save 
 the patient's life?" continued the curious Frenchman, 
 looking into the blank amazement of Sir Astley's face. 
 ' ' I saved eleven out of thirteen ; and how many did you 
 save out of i6o ? " " Ah, Monsieur, I lose dem all ! but 
 de operation was very brilliant. ' ' When it is remembered 
 that, on the whole, Mr. Spurgeon was, perhaps, the most 
 (j^rfzf^ preacher of the century, how puerile become some 
 of the criticisms which have been hurled at him ! 
 
 146 
 
 The touchstone. This was kind of silicious stone, or 
 flinty jasper, otherwise called ' 'I,ydian stone, ' ' or basanite, 
 velvet black and densely hard and smooth, used for test- 
 ing precious metals. When metals were rubbed across 
 it, the streak left on the stone, when compared with that 
 left by touch-needles, revealed to the experienced eye of 
 the assayer the relative proportions of metal and alloy. 
 The Divine touchstone of charadler is Romans viii : 9. 
 
 147 
 
 Searching with all the heart. — Jerem. xxix : 13. Kepler, 
 first in fadt and in genius of modern astronomers, deserv- 
 edly called "the legislator of the heavens," sought with 
 all his heart to solve astronomical problems. With agony 
 he strove to enter the strait gate and narrow way that 
 lead to the secret chamber of science, and to explain the 
 enigmas of six thousand years. Vainly did the secrets 
 of planetary and stellar worlds seek to elude him. He 
 forged key after key, that he might unlock the doors of 
 these mysteries. His courage and patience transfigured 
 even failure into success. If one theory proved inade- 
 quate, there was at least one less to try, and so the 
 limits became narrower within which truth would be 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers ']'] 
 
 found. He exhausted eight years of toil, only to prove 
 worthless nineteen successive experiments. At last, 
 driven to abandon the circular orbit, he founded his 
 twentieth hypothesis on the curve which is next to the 
 circle in simplicity, viz., the ellipse, and, as all the con- 
 ditions were met, the problem was solved. Bursting with 
 enthusiasm, he cried: "O, Almighty God, I am think- 
 ing Thy thoughts after Thee ! ' ' Pressing his research 
 further, he established his second and third laws, and, 
 almost wild with triumph, exclaimed: "Nothing holds' 
 me! I will indulge my sacred fury! The book is written 
 to be read either now or by posterity; I care not which! 
 It may well wait a century for a reader, since God has 
 waited six thousand years for an observer." If Kepler 
 was the minister of science, Agassiz was her missionary. 
 He had no time to make money, but was found wander- 
 ing alone on Pacific slopes, a pilgrim, to gather speci- 
 mens of flora and fauna, minerals and metals, shells and 
 pebbles, for the cabinets of science. What would not 
 such zeal accomplish in religion? 
 
 148 
 
 Salamanders. The fable, that there were animals that 
 lived in the fire, came from the glowing brilliance of some 
 metals that when they are heated to a white heat acquire 
 a supernal splendor and apparently a new and mysterious 
 life. The metal seems now to live, breathe, heave, move; 
 at every new expansion and contradlion, a hundred hues, 
 indescribably brilliant and radiant, play around the molten 
 surface. So of heroic and holy souls in the furnace-fires 
 of trial. The flames can not destroy, but only display, 
 them. They manifest a new and divine vitality in fires 
 that consume others. 
 
1 
 
 y8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 149 
 
 Power of prejudice. Francis Bacon long ago affirmed 
 that tlie principal hindrances to scientific progress or re- 
 ligious advancement are the prejudices of men : first, 
 prejudices of the race, or "idols of the tribe''; second, 
 prejudices of the individual, or "idols of the den'' or 
 cave; third, prejudices communicated by common con- 
 tadl, or " idols of the forum" ; and, last, prejudices im- 
 , bibed from the great teachers, or men of influence, ' ' idols 
 of the theater." 
 
 150 
 
 Christ's miracles. The famous clock in Strasburg 
 Cathedral has a mechanism so complicated that it seems 
 to the ignorant and superstitious almost a work of super- 
 human skill. The abused and offended maker, while as 
 yet unpaid for his work, came one day and touched its 
 secret springs, and it stopped. All the patience and in- 
 genuity of a nation's mechanics and artisans failed to re- 
 store its disordered mechanism and set it in motion. After- 
 ward, when his grievances were redressed, that maker 
 came again, touched the inner springs, and set it again in 
 motion, and all its multiplied parts revolved again obedient 
 to his will. When thus, by a touch, he suspended and 
 restored those marvelous movements, he gave to any 
 doubting mind proof that he was the maker — certainly 
 the master — of that clock. And when Jesus of Nazareth 
 brings to a stop the mechanism of nature, makes its 
 mighty wheels turn back, or in any way arrests its grand 
 movement — more than all, when he can not only stop, 
 but start again, the mysterious clock of human life. He 
 gives to an honest mind overwhelming proof that God is 
 with Him. For a malignant power might arrest or des- 
 troy, but only God could reconstrudl and restore! 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 79 
 
 151 
 
 Self-made men. A half-drunken Congressman once 
 staggered up to Horace Greeley and exclaimed, " I am 
 a self-made man." Horace replied that lie was glad to 
 hear it, ' ' for, ' ' said he, ' ' that relieves God of a great 
 responsibility. 
 
 Expulsive power of a new affection. Dr. Chalmers, 
 riding on a stage-coach by the side of the driver, said: 
 ' ' John, why do you hit that off-leader such a crack with 
 your lash ? " " Away yonder, ' ' said he, "is a white 
 stone; that off-leader is afraid of that stone; so by the 
 crack of my whip and the pain in his legs, I want to get 
 his idea off from it. ' ' Dr. Chalmers went home, elabor- 
 ated the idea, and wrote ' ' The Expulsive Power of a New 
 Affection." We must annul the influence of the world, 
 the flesh and the devil by putting a new idea in the mind. 
 
 153 
 
 Thou hast given a banner, etc. Ps. Ix : 4. The Amer- 
 ican army stood before Fort Donelson, exhausted with 
 three days' fighting. I^ate on Saturday afternoon, Feb- 
 ruary 15th, it was resolved to storm that almost impreg- 
 nable fortress. Colonel I^auman led his brigade into the 
 very jaws of death — the leaden hail poured upon the ranks; 
 but the storming party moved in solid columns up the 
 steep hill, scaled the heights, drove the enemy from his 
 intrenchments, and flung out the Federal ensign. As the 
 smoky cloud lifted, and the army saw the national ban- 
 ner displaying its folds from the enemy's citadel, the 
 enthusiasm was indescribable. It rose to the intensity of 
 frenzy. First they saw the flag near the top of the hill — 
 then they lost sight of it — then again it appeared planted 
 on the citadel. In an instant deafening cheers rose from 
 
8o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 tens of thousand of loyal voices. Half-bandaged patients 
 — men with heads bound up with bloody handkerchiefs, 
 and, with shattered limbs, crawled, hopped, or hobbled 
 along to see so great a spedlacle, while the whole of that 
 grand army, forgetting the discipline of war, rushed in 
 overwhelming numbers to sustain the ensign where a few 
 determined men had planted it. It was the Star-Spangled 
 Banner, waving firom that parapet, that won the day. 
 
 154 
 
 The Son of Man. We notice about Jesus no narrow 
 limits of individuality. James Watt suggests the inventor; 
 Benj. West, the painter; Napoleon, the warrior; Colum- 
 bus, the discoverer; Pitt, the statesman. Men of mark 
 stand out from the mass with individual traits, as Peter 
 suggests impetuosity, Paul energy, and John love. 
 
 But Christ's peculiarities did not isolate him from other 
 men, so as to draw some to him from sympathy and 
 similarity, and drive others from him by natural antagon- 
 ism. Yet there is no lack of positiveness in this perfedl 
 man, like a coat fitting everybody, yet fitting nobody; no 
 such elasticity of charadler as stretches or contracts to 
 suit every new demand; but such a common fitness as 
 tells of something in common with every man; a beauti- 
 ful fulfilment of the Scriptural figure that "as in water 
 face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." 
 
 Nor was this perfedl man limited to a narrow nation- 
 ality. Demosthenes is always the Greek; Cicero, the 
 Roman; Hannibal, the Carthaginian; the Jew, always and 
 everywhere the Jew, who scarcely associates, and never 
 assimilates or amalgamates, with any other people. The 
 Jew is the iron forever unmixed with the clay; try to 
 weave him into history — the scarlet thread is seen all 
 through the fabric, never lost sight of amid the other 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 8i 
 
 colors of the warp and woof. Paul said, " I am a Jew ; ' ' 
 but Jesus, " I am the Son of Man ; ' ' not so much Hebrew 
 as human, filling out the grand motto of Terence, "Homo 
 sutn — nihil humani a me alienum puto ! ' ' 
 
 Christ represents the generic man, which properly 
 includes the woman as well as the man. " God made 
 man in his own image, in the image of God created He 
 him; male and female created He them." The ideal man 
 combines and includes the womanly graces with the 
 manly virtues; that which is gentle and tender with that 
 which is strong and firm. The king of birds has not 
 only the stern eye, the firm beak, the strong talons, but 
 the soft, downy breast as well; and the king of men will 
 be a woman also, in the qualities of heart which make 
 her the radiant center of the home. Christ had the kingly 
 majesty and the queenly grace — none could be manlier 
 than He; yet without being effeminate He was feminine; 
 without being womanish, he was womanly. 
 
 155 
 
 Spoiled by promotion. Fox quaintly said of the elder 
 Pitt that he ' 'fell upstairs ' ' when he was elevated to the 
 peerage. Many a man can not stand going up higher. 
 He becomes haughty, proud; he affedls dignity, he lords 
 it over God's heritage, he becomes too big with conscious 
 superiority. I,ike Jeshurun, he waxes fat and kicks. 
 He falls up-stahs, if not down. 
 
 156 
 
 Unsatisfa£loriness of skepticism. " Mr. Spencer gives us 
 the hint of a God discovered by science, but no adequate 
 religion; Mr. Harrison, the hint of religion found in and 
 derived from humanity, but no worshipful God; and Mr. 
 Matthew Arnold has added to Mr. Spencer's hint of a 
 God found in nature, and Mr. Harrison's hint of a relig- 
 
82 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 ion found in humanity, a worship based upon fable and 
 fidlion, with which he asks us, self-deluded, to beguile 
 ourselves, that we may feed the spirit within us, which 
 needs the satisfadtion of a true life." — Contemp. Review. 
 
 I5T 
 
 The power of the resurreSiion. " What manner of per- 
 sons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godli- 
 ness ? ' ' That hope has widened the scope of all our 
 plans and purposes. It is told of Michael Angelo that 
 on examining the work of one of his students, he took 
 his pencil and wrote on it the one word, ' ' ainplius ' ' 
 — wider. So the resurredtion of Christ has written 
 ' ' amplius ' ' on the whole sphere of human life and char- 
 adler. 
 
 " The Pillar Coin.'' This relic of antiquity, known as 
 ' ' Moneda Columnaria, ' ' presented on one side the arms 
 of Spain, supported by the Pillars of Hercules, the boun- 
 daries of the world as known to the ancients. Above 
 was the lyatin inscription, ' 'Plus Ultra, " " more beyond, ' ' 
 to hint that one must cross the ocean to find the rest of 
 the empire of Charles V. , who had caused the coin to be 
 struck from the royal mint. The believer comes to the 
 bounds of his mortal life, and says, ' ' more beyond. ' ' The 
 two globes, which this same great monarch bore on his 
 escutcheon, suggest another illustration of the believer's 
 inheritance in two worlds: "Godliness" hath "promise 
 of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. ' ' 
 
 159 
 
 Temporal and eternal things. Over the triple door- 
 ways of the Cathedral of Milan there are three inscrip- 
 tions, spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 8 
 
 o 
 
 a beautiful wreath of roses, and underneatli is the legend: 
 ' ' All that which pleases is but for a moment. ' ' Over 
 the other is a sculptured cross, and there are the words: 
 " All that which troubles us is but for a moment." But 
 underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is 
 the inscription: "That only is important which is 
 eternal. ' ' 
 
 i6o 
 
 Giving versus hoarding. "It is a shame for a rich 
 Christian to be like a Christmas-box, that receives all, 
 and out of which nothing can be got till it is broken in 
 pieces." — -John Hall, D.D. 
 
 i6i 
 
 Blunders of skeptics. 2 Samuel xii:3i has been vio- 
 lently assailed as proof of David's cruelty. This man 
 "after God's own heart " sawed the people of Rabbah in 
 twain, drew over them iron harrows, clove them with 
 axes, or roasted them in brick-kilns! But what if this 
 verse only refers to the work at which he set them ? An 
 infidel paper in Boston devoted a column of ridicule to 
 the " quail story " (Numb, xi : 31), estimating the bush- 
 els of quails piled up over the country, and showing that 
 each of the 6,000,000 Israelites would have 2,888,643 
 bushels of the quails per month, or 69,629 bushels for a 
 meal. But the Bible does not say that they were piled 
 two cubits high over a territory forty miles broad; the 
 wind brought them from the sea and swept them within 
 reach, or about three feet above the ground. If one 
 should say that he saw a flock of birds as high as a 
 church spire, would an infidel suppose they were, in a 
 solid mass, packed so high ? 
 
84 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 " The Oyster Boy." There was a boy at Dr. Richards' 
 private asylum in New York, who seemed utterly irra- 
 tional, and without the self-helpful instincts of a normal 
 animal. He would lie on the floor, his tongue lolling 
 from his mouth, without apparent thought or sensation. 
 For months they tried to awaken a sign of conscious life, 
 or impress upon him one idea. One day Mrs. Richards 
 dropped her thimble on the floor, and the metallic ring 
 startled the idiotic mind into feeble adlion — and he turned 
 slowly, as Bottom would say, ' ' to see a noise which he 
 heard," and then back his intelledl retreated into the 
 darkness, as a snail into its shell. But that simple sign 
 meant the awakening of consciousness ! It was the first 
 tint that tells of the dawn of day. And on the morrow, 
 again, the thimble was dropped, and again the oyster boy 
 moved and looked, this time a little more quickly and 
 intently — and so, little by little, the darkness gave place 
 to the dawning light, till the tongue no longer hung from 
 the mouth, but began to learn the mystery of speech. 
 By-and-by a shoemaker made a shoe before his eyes, fit- 
 ting it to his feet, and then Dr. Richards, laying his hand 
 on the shoe, and then on the workman, would say, 
 "Shoemaker makes shoe." And so a tailor and a coat. 
 Dr. Richards then desired to arouse at once the mental 
 and moral faculties by introducing to this awakening 
 intelligence some conception of God. It was a summer 
 morning — and the glorious sun was pouring his flood of 
 light into the bay-window. He took the boy to the 
 casement, reverently pointed to the sun and said, with 
 holy awe: " God made the sun! " and the boy, catching 
 the tone and the thought together, repeated, " God made 
 the sun ! ' ' And Dr. Richards left him gazing. He re- 
 turned two hours later, and that oyster boy still stood 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 85 
 
 reverently gazing and saying as though his whole soul 
 were overwhelmed, " God made the sun! " 
 
 163 
 
 Too Late. Russian peasants tell of an old woman at 
 work in her house when the Eastern sages passed by 
 seeking the infant Christ, and guided by the star. 
 " Come with us," they said; "we are going to find the 
 heavenly child! " "I will come," she replied, "but not 
 just now; I will follow very soon and overtake you." 
 But when her work was done the wise men were gone, 
 the star had disappeared, and she never saw the Holy 
 Child. 
 
 164 
 
 Searching the Bible. ' ' Texts from the inexhaustible 
 mine of truth remind us of those singular formations 
 which often occur in rocks, called Drusic Cavities. You 
 pick up a rough, ordinary-looking stone of somewhat 
 round shape; there is nothing specially attradtive or in- 
 teresting about it. You split it open with a hammer, 
 and what a marvelous sight is displayed! The conunon- 
 place boulder is a hollow sphere, lined with the most 
 beautiful crystals, amethysts purple with a dawn that 
 never was on land or sea. ' ' — Hugh McMillan. 
 
 165 
 
 " Worldly Pleasures." Centers or center-pieces of wood 
 are put by builders under an arch of stone, while it is in 
 process of construdtion, till the keystone is put in. Just 
 such is the use that Satan makes of pleasures to construct 
 evil habits upon; the pleasure lasts, perhaps, till the habit 
 is fully formed; but, that done, the structure may stand 
 eternal. The pleasures are sent for firewood, and the hell 
 bums in this life. — Coleridge. 
 
86 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 i66 
 
 Master Kung's Golden Rule. " Kung's grandson, 
 Tsze-Kung, having asked the Master if there were one 
 word which would serve as a universal rule for life, was 
 answered, ' Is not reciprocity such a word ? What you do. 
 not want done to yourself , do not to others.^ " 
 
 167 
 
 Sheridan said of Gibbon, that he was an author rather 
 " voluminous than luminous." 
 
 168 
 
 All men adopt as their motto, "Win Gold." But men 
 are distinguished from each other by the pradlical ending 
 of that motto. The vain man adds, ' ' and wear it " ; the 
 generous man, "and share it"; the miser, "and spare 
 it"; the prodigal, "and spend it"; the usurer, "and 
 lend it " ; the fool, ' ' and end it " ; the gambler, ' ' and 
 lose it "; but the wise man, "and use it." 
 
 i6g 
 
 Genius of Industry. Lady Morgan visiting Rossini 
 exclaimed, ' ' I have found you in a moment of inspira- 
 tion." "You have," he rejoined, "but this inspiration 
 is thundering hard work." Hogarth told Gilbert Cooper: 
 "Genius is nothing but labor and diligence." 
 
 170 
 
 The Gospel in Miniature was Luther's characterization 
 of John iii:i6. How wonderfully the Great Teacher 
 condensed into one brief sentence the essence of the good 
 news of salvation! Twenty-five years ago, we put upon a 
 card of invitation to church services that marvelous 
 epitome of grace in the form of a simple acrostic that 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 87 
 
 strikingly illustrates how that utterance of Jesus enshrines 
 the Gospel: 
 
 God so loved the world that He gave His 
 
 Only begotten 
 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
 
 Perish, but have 
 
 Everlasting 
 
 liife. 
 
 This arrangement is an illumination of this condensed 
 Gospel that is suggestive. ' The Gospel in a nutshell ' is 
 a common expression, but the above form of putting 
 that text frames the Gospel ' apple of gold in a picture 
 of silver.' " 
 
 Here is another acrostic arrangement: 
 
 Come unto me all ye that labor. . . and I will give you 
 
 Rest! Take my yoke upon you and learn 
 
 Of me. . . . And ye 
 
 Shall find rest unto your 
 
 Souls. 
 
 Samson as a type of misdireEled force . 
 
 1. Violence of passion, lust, anger, revenge. 
 
 2. Riot and anarchy. Carrying off gates at Gaza. 
 
 3. The foes of the public weal. The lion's carcase. 
 
 4. Destrudlive recklessness. Foxes and firebrands. 
 
 5. Slavery of superstition. Grinding in mill. 
 
 6. Pulling down church and state. Dagon's temple. 
 
 172 
 
 Friends in heaven. Recovering from a slight illness, 
 William Wilberforce remarked: "I can scarce under- 
 stand why my life is spared so long, except it be to show 
 that a man can be as happy without a fortune as with 
 
88 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 one." And then, soon after, when his only surviving 
 daughter died, he writes: "I have often heard that 
 sailors on a voyage will drink ' friends astern, ' till they 
 are halfway over; then ' friends ahead.' With me it has 
 been ' friends ahead ' this long time. ' ' 
 
 173 
 
 Zoroaster's followers were enjoined periodically to 
 quench the fires burning on their hearths, that they 
 might rekindle them with coals from the sacred fires in 
 the temple of the sun, and so be frequently reminded that 
 fire was the gift of heaven. What an illustration of our 
 need of frequently resorting to God, for the gift of the 
 sacred fire which alone supremely qualifies us to preach 
 the Gospel and win souls ! 
 
 174 
 
 Themistocles , who led the Greeks in the famous naval 
 battle of Salamis, unaccountably to his troops, delayed the 
 engagement. It was expedled that he would avail him- 
 self of the early morning hours; and, when what seemed 
 the golden opportunity had gone in inadlivity, there were 
 not a few who were ready to suspedl him of being a 
 traitor to his country. But he was waititig for the land 
 breeze which he knew would begin to blow at nine o'clock 
 in the morning. He proposed to harness the very winds 
 to his war-galleys, and make them waft his boats to sea, 
 and so save the strength of his men for the fighting. 
 And so those who would have been only rowers, became 
 warriors. Blessed is he who, waiting for power from on 
 high, thus finds himself able to use in the proper work 
 of God, energies that would be otherwise exhausted in 
 secular employments. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 89 
 
 175 
 
 At Waterloo, the English troops, obeying orders, fell 
 on their faces for a time, and let the hot fire of the French 
 artillery pass over them; then they sprang to their feet, 
 and rushed to the thickest of the fight and beat back 
 their foes. The I/)rd wants His people flat on their faces, 
 before they attempt to meet the great crises of life. 
 
 176 
 
 Infidelity. A thoughtful scholar said that ' ' for years 
 he had read every book he could find that assailed the 
 religion of Jesus Christ, and should have become an \a.- 
 ^A.€i but for three things." First: "lam a man. I am 
 going somewhere. To-night I am nearer the grave than 
 I was last night. I have read all such books can tell me. 
 They shed not one ray of hope or light upon the dark- 
 ness. They shall not take away the only guide and 
 leave me stone blind." Second: "I had a mother. I 
 saw her go down into the dark valley where I am going, 
 and she leaned upon an unseen arm as calmly as a child 
 goes to sleep on the breast of its mother. I know that 
 was not a dream." Third: " I have three motherless 
 daughters. They have no protedlor but myself. I would 
 rather kill them than leave them in this sinful world if 
 you blot out from it all the teachings of the Gospel." 
 
 A Ivondon clergyman met with an infidel who ' ' wished 
 all the churches were swept from the land, beginning 
 with Spurgeon's." "Then which of you infidels will 
 be the first to take upon himself the responsibility of Mr. 
 Spurgeon's Orphanage?" was the clergyman's reply. 
 The silence following the question was very expressive. 
 
90 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 177 
 
 Secularism begetting atheism. A recent incident in the 
 Paris Municipal Council illustrates the canker of athe- 
 ism. The council has control of the public schools, and 
 has prohibited instrudlion in religion. The national 
 schools are condudled on a purely secular basis, to pre- 
 serve Catholic children from Protestant teaching, and the 
 reverse. But the Paris council discovered a text-book in 
 use which had the audacity to recognize God. Here is an 
 extradl from this ' ' First Reader : ' ' 
 
 " Q. Towards whom have you duties ? 
 
 "A. First toward God. 
 
 " (2. Do you think of loving Him and thanking Him ? 
 Children, there is some one who is better to you than 
 your mother. It is He who gave you this good mother; 
 it is He who gave you all things; it is He who made this 
 earth upon which we Uve; it is God. 
 
 "A. I know nothing; but I should like to learn to 
 become good, to love God with all my heart, etc. 
 
 ' ' Upon the reading of these passages the council 
 shouted ' blasphemy,' and an order was passed banishing 
 the book from the schools, and forbidding parents to 
 possess copies, under heavy penalties. But this was not 
 all. One of the most influential members of the council 
 declared, with great heat, that there was no fixed system 
 of morals, since immorality varies according to human 
 ideas, and, therefore, the ' teaching of morals as a science 
 must be banished from the school curriculum.' " 
 
 178 
 
 Thos. Chalmers. Guthrie said: "Men of his caliber 
 are like mighty forest trees, we do not know their size 
 till they are down. ' ' 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 91 
 
 179 
 
 Evolution. Prof. Dana is reported to have stated in a 
 recent ledlure that ' ^No evidences have ever been found of any 
 inferior race from which men could have sprung. The 
 similarity between the recent study of Nature and the 
 Mosaic law ought to satisfy the doubting students of 
 Nature of the truth of the creation as related in the first 
 chapter of Genesis. ' ' 
 
 180 
 
 Betterton's epigram. 
 
 You in the pulpit tell a story; 
 We on the stage show facts. 
 
 This is the original, which Whitefield used to quote as 
 follows: " Betterton, the a<5lor, said to the Lord Bishop 
 of London, ' We adtors speak of things imaginary as tho 
 they were real; you clergymen speak of things real as 
 tho they were imaginary. ' ' ' 
 
 181 
 
 The wonders of an egg. Mr. Matthieu WilUams, in 
 one of his ledlures, says: "Every one who eats his 
 matutinal egg eats a sermon and a miracle. Inside of 
 that smooth, symmetrical, beautiful shell lurks a ques- 
 tion which has been the Troy town for all the philoso- 
 phers and scientists since Adam. Armed with the 
 engines of war — the microscope, the scales, the offensive 
 weapons of chemistry and reason — they have probed and 
 weighed and experimented; and still the question is un- 
 solved, the citadel unsacked. Prof. Bokorny can tell you 
 that albumen is composed of so many molecules of carbon 
 and nitrogen and hydrogen, and can persuade you of the 
 difference between adtive and passive albumen, and can 
 show by wonderfully delicate experiments what the aide- 
 
92 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 hydes liave to do in the separation of gold, from Ms com- 
 plicated solutions; but lie can not tell you why from one 
 egg comes a ' little rid hin ' and from another a bantam. 
 You leave your little silver spoon an hour in your egg- 
 cup, and it is coated with a compound of sulphur. Why 
 is that sulphur there? Wonderful, that evolution should 
 provide for the bones of the future hen! There is phos- 
 phorus also in that little microcosm; and the oxygen of 
 the air, passing through the shell, unites with it, and the 
 acid dissolves the shell, thus making good, strong bones 
 for the chick, and at the same time thinning the prison 
 walls." 
 
 A fable about preaching . "Once on a time the Chris- 
 tian faith heard of the threatening and formidable incur- 
 sion of her foes, so she determined to muster her preach- 
 ers and teachers to review their weapons, and she found 
 beyond all her expectations everything prepared. There 
 was, namely, avast host of armed men; strong, threaten- 
 ing forms, weapons which they exercised admirably, 
 brightly flashing from afar. But as she came nearer she 
 sank almost into a swoon; what she had thought iron and 
 steel were toys; the swords were made of the mere lead 
 of words; the breastplates, of the soft linen of pleasure; 
 the helmets, of the wax of plumed vanity; the shields 
 were of papyrus, scrolled over with human opinions; the 
 colors were spider webs of philosophical systems; the 
 spears were thin reeds of weak conjedlure; the cannon 
 was Indian reed; the powder, poppy seed; the balls, of 
 glass. Through the indolent negledl of their leaders, 
 they had sold their true weapons and substituted these; 
 moreover, they had sallied forth in their own strength. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 93 
 
 forgetting to take with them the Sword of the Spirit 
 which is the Word of God." 
 
 183 
 
 Spiritual culture and art. The Duke of Northumber- 
 land, in an address at the Alnwick Art Exhibition, said 
 to the students: "In addition to the cultivation of the 
 intellecft, cultivate the spiritual part of your nature, with- 
 out which all art will comparatively assume a low level. 
 It was a devotional feeling which animated all the great 
 masters, who, at any time, have left lasting marks in the 
 history of art, or pccupied a great space in history. 
 Whether you take the early Greek artists, the Egyptian, or 
 the Roman, you will find, more especially in the first two, 
 that the great periods in which their art flourished and 
 triumphed were when it was exercised upon devotional 
 purposes. So with medieval art, wherein all the great 
 works have been made through the means of that devo- 
 tional feeling; and I think it is the want of this feeling 
 to which, in a measure, the comparative poorness of 
 modern art may be attributed, and from which it arises 
 that so many modern edifices, and so many results of 
 statuary art, are calculated rather to deface than to im- 
 prove our great towns." 
 
 184 
 
 Death. The stanza, given below, was written by Mrs. 
 Barbauld in extreme old age. Our admiration grows 
 with every reading, and it seems to us increasingly beau- 
 tiful. The poet Rogers regarded it as one of the finest 
 things in English literature. Henry Crabbe Robinson 
 says that he repeated the stanza to Wordsworth twice, 
 and then heard him muttering to himself, " I am not in 
 the habit of grudging people their good things, but I 
 wish I had written those lines." It is stated that in his 
 
94 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 last moments Dr. Fuller said to his nephew, Dr. Cuth- 
 bert, on taking leave of him, ' ' Good night, James — ^but 
 it will soon be good morning! ' ' Perhaps the echo of this 
 stanza was in the ear of the dying preacher: 
 
 Life! we have been long together. 
 
 Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 
 
 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear, 
 
 Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; 
 
 Then steal away; give little warning; 
 
 Choose thine own time. 
 
 Say not, Good-Night! but, in some brighter clime. 
 
 Bid me, Good-Morning! 
 
 A lady once asked Mr. Wesley, " Supposing that you 
 knew that you were to die at twelve o'clock to-morrow 
 night, how would you spend the intervening time ? ' ' 
 " How, madam? " he replied. " Why, just as I intend 
 to spend it now. I should preach this evening at Glou- 
 cester, and again at five to-morrow morning; after that I 
 should ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and 
 meet the societies in the evening. I should then repair 
 to fidend Martin's house, who expedls to entertain me, 
 converse and pray with the family as usual, retire to my 
 room at ten o'clock, commend myself to my heavenly 
 Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in glory." 
 
 185 
 
 An Oriental myth. When the Creator fashioned the 
 birds they were at first without wings. With gorgeous 
 plumage and sweet voices endowed, they knew not yet 
 how to soar. Then He made the wings alone, and bade the 
 birds go take these burdens up and bear them. At first 
 they seemed a load, but as they carried them upon their 
 shoulders cheerfully and patiently, lo! they grew fast. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 95 
 
 The burdens became pinions, and that which once they 
 bare now bore them up to realms of cloudless day. 
 
 We are the wingless birds, and our duties are the 
 pinions. When at the beck of God we first assume them 
 they may seem but burdens. But if we cheerfully and 
 patiently bear them we shall find them less and less a 
 load. The yoke will be easy and the burden will be 
 light, till we shall at last discover that we who were once 
 but servants are now freemen, free to rise on wings, as 
 eagles, free to soar aloft toward God and heaven. To do 
 His will shall thus become our delight. 
 
 186 
 
 The triumvirate of authors: Hooker, Barrow, Taylor. 
 "Hooker claims the foremost rank in sustained and 
 classic dignity of style, in political and pragmatical wis- 
 dom. To Barrow must the praise be assigned of the 
 closest and clearest views, and of a taste the most con- 
 trolled and chastened; but in imagination, in interest, in 
 that which more properly and exclusively deserves the 
 name of genius, Taylor is to be placed before either. 
 Hooker awes most, and is the obje<3; of our reverence; 
 Barrow convinces most, and is the objedl of our admira- 
 tion; but Jeremy Taylor persuades and delights most, and 
 is the objeA of our love." — Dr. Rust's sermon at Tay- 
 lor's funeral. 
 
 187 
 
 We must consider times and seasons. George Miiller 
 used to say that he first asked and settled this question 
 concerning any proposed measure: "Is this the Lord's 
 work?'' Then, "Is it my work?" Then, " Is this 
 the I^ord's way?" And last, not least, "Is this the 
 I^ord's timef'^ 
 
96 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 188 
 
 Curious fa£ls about the sea. As to the quantity of 
 light at the bottom of the sea, there has been much dis- 
 pute. Animals, dredged from below seven hundred 
 fathoms, either have no eyes, or there are but faint indica- 
 tions of them, or else their eyes are very large and pro- 
 truding. If the creatures in those lower depths have 
 any color, it is of orange or red, or reddish-orange. Sea 
 anemones, corals, shrimps, and crabs have this brilliant 
 color. Sometimes it is a pure red, or scarlet, and in 
 many specimens it inclines toward purple. Not a green 
 or blue fish is found. The orange-red is the fish' s pro- 
 teElion; for the bluish-green light in the bottom of the 
 ocean makes the orange or red fish appear of a neutral 
 tint and hides it from its enemies. Many animals are 
 black, others neutral in color. Some fish are provided 
 with boring tails, so that they can burrow in the mud. 
 The surface of the submarine mountain is covered with 
 shells like an ordinary sea-beach, showing that it is the 
 eating-house of vast schools of carnivorous animals. A 
 codfish takes a whole oyster into its mouth, cracks the 
 shell, digests the meat, and spits out the rest. Crabs 
 crack the shells and suck out the meat. Whole mounds 
 of shells are dredged up. Not a fishbone is ever dredged 
 up. A piece of wood may be dredged up once a year, 
 but it is honeycombed by the boring shellfish, and falls 
 to pieces at the touch of the hand. If a ship should sink, 
 with all on board, it would be eaten by fish, with the 
 exception of the metal, and that would corrode and dis- 
 appear. Not a bone of a human body would remain 
 after a few days. Nothing made by the hand of man 
 was dredged up after cruising for months in the track of 
 ocean vessels, except coal clinkers shoved overboard from 
 steamships. Twenty-five miles from land was dredged 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 97 
 
 up an india-rubber doll. That was one thing the fish 
 could not eat. — Prof. Verrill. 
 
 189 
 
 Possibilities of mankind. To appreciate these, we must 
 look on men, the most degraded and depraved, as we 
 look on the refledlion of trees in a stream. Their inverted 
 images indicate the possibilities and capacities of right 
 and nobleness. — Dr. Punshon. 
 
 190 
 
 Lyman Beecher, when born, was a seven months' child, 
 so puny and feeble that the woman who attended on 
 his mother adlually thought it useless to attempt to keep 
 him alive. He was wrapped up and laid aside. But 
 after a while, finding that he was not dead, it was con- 
 cluded to wash and dress the baby. Many a young con- 
 vert is treated in the same way by the Church, that 
 should be a nursing mother to his feebleness and infancy. 
 
 191 
 
 Shaftesbury s dying words: " I am touching the hem of 
 His garment." John Newton's: " I am still in the land 
 of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon." 
 
 192 
 
 Agis IV. of Sparta was one of the most beautiful and 
 unselfish charadlers of antiquity. Ascending the throne 
 at twenty years of age, he found 700 heads of families, of 
 whom not more than 100 were wealthy, monopolizing all 
 the power and privilege of the state, and he, with his 
 mother and grandmother, were among the wealthiest. 
 He assumed the plain attire of a citizen, and publicly, in 
 the town hall, set the example of giving up his property, 
 encouraging the I,ycurgian law of limiting property 
 
98 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 owners to one lot of land. He shared all the hardships of 
 soldiers in his army, and was as popular in camp as in the 
 town hall. The rich monopolists headed a revolt, and 
 Agis had to flee to a sandluary; but on coming out of the 
 temple he was kidnapped and imprisoned; then hurriedly 
 tried and sentenced, and at once put to death. Observing 
 one of his guards weeping, he said: " I^ament me not; I 
 would sooner die innocent, as I am, than live as my 
 murderers will do." 
 
 193 
 
 A higher civilization ! The Maoris say that their 
 beautiful honey bird sucked the blossoms in which their 
 native bee also hid, having no sting. But the English 
 came and brought their European bee, with its sting, and 
 as the honey birds, unsuspecting, sucked the blossoms 
 they were stung, and so have all perished from New Zea- 
 land. And so, they say, has it been with rum, which 
 they have learned to use from contact with Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 194 
 
 Regeneration. I have seen, beneath the microscope, a 
 seed, three thousand years old, start into instant germin- 
 ation, when touched with a drop of warm water. So, a 
 human soul, long apparently lifeless, begins to grow 
 when touched by the water of life. 
 
 195 
 
 Dislodging sin. Buckland, the naturalist, found a 
 vessel in port infested with cobras. They had gotten 
 between the ship's armor and planking, and there was no 
 way to dislodge them. He advised the ship-owners to 
 remove the cargo, put the vessel in dry dock, and then 
 let in the water upon her until she was entirely sub- 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 99 
 
 merged, and so every cobra was drowned. So it is with 
 the man who, after vain efforts to dislodge evil habits, 
 comes to Christ, and has his whole nature submerged in 
 the sea of His love. 
 
 196 
 
 Inconsistent Christians. A rocky reef without a light- 
 house is less dangerous than one where the lighthouse 
 stands, but the Hght has gone out. 
 
 197 
 
 Getting a living. "I have no quarrel individually 
 with the rumsellers, neither have I with those little 
 insects which are fine entomological specimens, exquis- 
 itely construdted, and beautiful as specimens of creative 
 power, with a jumping energy forty times greater than 
 mine; but I do objedl, in both cases, to the way they get 
 their living ! ' ' — Canon Wilberforce. 
 
 198 
 
 Rum drinking is ruinous to the most of those who in- 
 dulge; it is dangerous even for the professed moderate 
 drinker; while total abstinence is for all absolutely safe. 
 
 Early to bed and early to rise. 
 Wear the blue ribbon and advertise, 
 
 is now the motto of success in England. 
 
 199 
 
 The peril of conscience is, that it shall give you no un- 
 rest. There is a mine in Sweden where an eledlric bell 
 always rings, unless the fire-damp finds vent, when it 
 afEedls the mercury, and the mercury the eledlric appara- 
 tus, and the bell stops. When the miner no longer hears 
 the bell, he rushes to the shaft, and seeks instant escape. 
 
lOO Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 zoo 
 
 Need of a firm hold on God. A sailor on one of Her 
 Majesty's vessels tumbled out of the rigging; in his fall 
 he caught with both hands a rope; and observers said: 
 He is saved! But the rope itself had no fastening, and 
 he fell further and faster as the rope payed out, till he 
 struck the deck a mangled mass. A man may attempt 
 to save himself by will-power; but what if the will itself 
 have no hold on God! — Canon Wilberforce. 
 
 20I 
 
 Gen. Gordon and prayer. When the heroic Gordon 
 went to the Sudan, his parting message to me was — 
 written on a card, and referring to a prayer-meeting held 
 at his house — ' ' I value more the prayer of that little 
 circle than all the wealth of the Sudan. ' ' 
 
 Z02 
 
 Salvation. The captain shouted to a man overboard, 
 "Have you got hold of the rope? " There came back a 
 faint voice, '^ No, but the rope has a hold of me ." The 
 man had slipped the noose under his arms, and so he 
 was pulled on board. 
 
 203 
 
 upon your knees. A marble cutter, with chisel and 
 hammer, was changing a stone into a statue. A preacher 
 looking on said: "I wish I could deal such clanging 
 blows on stony hearts." The workman made answer: 
 ' ' Maybe you could, if you worked like me, upon your 
 knees. ' ' i 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers loi 
 
 it04 
 
 A thousand dollar diamond stole. An announcement 
 was made that a certain clergyman wore a white stole 
 embroidered in three shades of blue, the same done in 
 monograms and flowers, set with carbuncles and bugles; 
 with Maltese crosses set with sapphires and diamonds; 
 with lilies set with garnets; the whole number of dia- 
 monds numbering forty, and of precious stones, one 
 hundred and thirty-five. Estimated cost of this memorial 
 gift, $i,ooo." An editor adds : The caption should have 
 been, " A Thousand dollars stolen." 
 
 Talleyrand's brain. Vidlor Hugo tells this story con- 
 cerning its fate: "The dodtors embalmed the corpse. 
 After the manner of the ancient Egyptians, they removed 
 the bowels and brains. After having transformed Prince 
 Talleyrand into a mummy, and having nailed it up in a 
 coffin, lined with white satin, they went away, leaving 
 on the table that brain which had thought so much, in- 
 spired so many men, construdled so many ambitious edi- 
 fices, managed two revolutions, deceived twenty kings, 
 and held the world in check. The dodtors gone, the 
 servant entered and saw what they had left. Not know- 
 ing that it was wanted, and regarding it as a loathsome 
 objedt, he gathered it together and threw it into the sewer 
 in front of the house..' ' 
 
 The corruptibility of popular leaders is one of the 
 worst "signs of the times." The greatest of European 
 journals moves like a weather-vane just as the day's 
 wind blows. The best talent of Europe is for sale, for or 
 against despotism. Some of the most gifted men in the 
 House of Lords have been of plebeian birth, bought by 
 
I02 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the bribe of a title, like Harry Brougham, when his great 
 influence became a terror to the aristocracy. The Duke 
 of Newcastle is said to have bought one-third of the 
 House of Commons. A measure, however infamous, may 
 be pushed through legislative bodies if the lobbyists are 
 "influential and numerous," and the money plentiful 
 enough. We may well give God thanks for every man in 
 the community who is not on the audlion block to be 
 knocked down to the highest bidder. In days of abounding 
 fraud and falsehood, men begin to feel the value of simple 
 honesty. In their admiration of the genius of intelledl, 
 men sometimes forget that only the genius of goodness 
 inspires heroism. Better to nerve timid hearts to be loyal 
 to principle than to deserve the encomium of Augustus, 
 who ' ' found Rome of brick, and left it of marble. ' ' The 
 Karl of Chatham refused to keep a million pounds of 
 government funds in the bank and pocket the proceeds; 
 as Edmund Burke, on becoming paymaster-general, first 
 of all introduced a bill for the reorganization of that 
 department of public service, refusing through the 
 emoluments of that lucrative office to enrich himself at 
 public expense. 
 
 Escurial. Philip II. vowed that if St. lyawrence would, 
 give him vidlory over the French in the battle of St. 
 Quentin in 1557, he would build for him the most mag- 
 nificent monastery in the world. St. I<awrence suffered 
 martyrdom by being broiled on a gridiron, and the ground 
 plan represents a gridiron reversed, with handle and bars 
 complete. The body and bars of it are represented by 1 7 
 ranges of buildings, 60 feet high, crossing each other at 
 right angles, forming a parallelogram enclosing 24 courts, 
 with a square tower 200 feet high on each of the four 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 103 
 
 comers for the upturned feet. A wing 460 feet long, 
 and containing the royal apartments, represents the 
 handle. 
 
 208 
 
 Gulf Stream. There is a river in the ocean. In the 
 severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest 
 floods it never overflows. Its banks and its bottom are 
 of cold water, while its current is warm. The Gulf of 
 Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is the Arctic seas. 
 It is the Gulf Stream. There is in the world no other so 
 majestic flow of water. Its current is more rapid than 
 the Mississippi or the Amazon, and its volume more than 
 a thousand times greater. Its waters, as far out as the 
 Carolina coasts, are of an indigo blue. They are so dis- 
 tindlly marked that the line of jundlion with the common 
 sea water may be traced with the eye. Often one-half of 
 the vessel may be perceived floating in the Gulf Stream 
 water, while the other half is in the common water of the 
 sea, so sharp is the line and want of afEnity between these 
 waters; and such, too, the reludlance, so to speak, on the 
 part of those of the Gulf Stream to mingle with the 
 waters of the sea. In addition to this there is another 
 peculiar fadt. The fishermen on the coast of Norway are 
 supplied with wood from the tropics by the Gulf Stream. 
 Think of the Ardlic fishermen burning upon their hearths 
 the palms of Hayti, the mahogany of Honduras, and the 
 precious woods of the Amazon and Orinoco. 
 
 2og 
 
 Daily grace. When some one asked Mr. Moody whether 
 he had grace for a martyr's death, he said "No." 
 "Have you grace to die?" "No! I only want grace 
 to stay where I am, for these three days, and do my duty. ' ' 
 
I04 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 2IO 
 
 An Eastern story. The haughty favorite of an Orien- 
 tal monarch threw a stone at a poor priest. The dervish 
 did not dare to throw it back, for the favorite was very- 
 powerful. So he picked up the stone and put it carefully 
 in his pocket, saying to himself: ' ' The time for revenge 
 will come by and by, and then I will repay him." Not 
 long afterward, walking in one of the streets, he saw a 
 great crowd, and found, to his astonishment, that his 
 enemy, the favorite, who had fallen into disgrace with 
 the king, was being paraded through the principal Streets 
 on a camel, exposed to the jests and insults of the popu- 
 lace. The dervish seeing all this, hastily grasped at the 
 stone which he carried in his pocket, saying to himself: 
 ' ' The time for my revenge has come, and I will repay 
 him for his insulting condudl. ' ' But, after considering 
 a moment, he threw the stone away, saying: " The time 
 for revenge never comes ; for if our enemy is powerful, 
 revenge is dangerous as well as foolish, and if he is weak 
 and wretched, then revenge is worse than foolish, it is 
 mean and cruel. And in all cases it is forbidden and 
 wicked." 
 
 The cost of Solomon's Temple. It has been estimated 
 that the talents of gold, silver, and brass, expended and 
 used in the constru(3:ion of the temple, amounted to 
 $34, 399, 112,500. The jewels, reckoned to have exceed- 
 ed that amount, may be estimated as at least equal to it. 
 The vessels of silver consecrated to the uses of the tem- 
 ple were equal to $2,446,720,000; the vessels of gold, 
 $2,726,481,015; the silk vestments of the priests, $50,000; 
 the purple vestments of the singers, $1,000,000; trum- 
 pets, $100,000 ; other musical instruments, $200,000. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 105 
 
 Ten thousand men were engaged in hewing timber on 
 lycbanon, 70,000 were bearers of burdens, 20,900 men 
 were overseers, all of whom were employed seven years. 
 Solomon bestowed on them $33,669,885. Food and 
 wages, estimated at $i.i2}4 per day, $469,385,440; the 
 cost of the stone and timber in the rough, $12,726,480,- 
 000. 
 
 Methods of composing. M. Th^ophile Gautier, like 
 the poet of society, could " reel it ofE for hours together;" 
 but he was so bored by the daily task, that he used three 
 inks — red, black, and blue — saying: "Now, when you 
 have finished this page, you shall have a turn at the red 
 ink; that helps to cheat the tedium of putting black on 
 white forever." M. Paul de Saint- Victor — according to 
 M. Alidor Delzant — when he had to " do " a new play, 
 coUedted all the books bearing on the subjedt. Then he 
 took a sheet of paper and threw on to that phrases and 
 ' ' mots-images, ' ' separated by spaces of blank. Then 
 into these blanks he introduced other words necessary for 
 the harmony of the sentence, and finally he packed it all 
 up in his article and went to press. 
 
 Progress by trial. 
 
 'Tis weary watching wave on wave. 
 
 And yet the tide heaves onward; 
 We build like corals — grave on grave, 
 
 But pave a pathway sunward. 
 We're beaten^ back in many a fray, 
 
 Yet ever strength we borrow; 
 And where the vanguard rests to-day. 
 
 The rear shall camp to-morrow. 
 
io6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Poetic retribution. A French statesman has recently- 
 showed that, when France signed the revocation of the 
 Edidt of Nantes, France by this very aEl, gave, at least, 80 
 eminent officers to the German staff of the terrible inva- 
 sion of 1870, by which the nation was trodden in the dust! 
 
 Tennyson in the ' ' New Locksley : ' ' 
 
 Tumble nature heel over head and yelling with the yelling street; 
 Set the feet above the brain and swear the brain is in the feet; 
 Bring the old dark ages back, without the faith, without the hope 
 Beneath the State, the Church, the Throne, and roll their ruins 
 
 down the slope; 
 Authors, atheists, novelist, realist, rhymester, play your part; 
 Paint the mortal shame of nature with the living hues of art. 
 Feed the budding rose of boyhood with the drainage of your 
 
 sewer; 
 Send the drain into the fountain, lest the stream should issue 
 
 pure. 
 Set the maiden fancies wallowing in the trough of Zolaism; 
 Forward, forward, aye, and backward, downward, too, into the 
 
 abysm! 
 
 The marvelous reproductive power of inserts. Alphonse 
 Karr says of plant lice: " One of these aphides will pro- 
 duce nearly 20 young ones in the course of a day; a vol- 
 ume of ofEspring 10 or 12 times equal to its own body. 
 A single aphis, which, at the beginning of warm weather, 
 would bring into the world 90 aphides, which go, 1 2 days 
 after, would each produce 90 more, would be in the fifth 
 generation author of 5,904,009,000 aphides. Now one 
 aphis is, in a year, the source of 10 generations; I very 
 much doubt whether there would be room for them upon 
 all the trees and the plants in the world. These aphides 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 107 
 
 are the game that nourish other inse<5ls, which, in turn, 
 form the food of birds we eat. ' ' 
 
 The use of thinking. Galileo, when under twenty years 
 of age, standing one day in the metropolitan church of 
 Pisa, observed a lamp suspended from the ceiling, swing- 
 ing backward and forward. Thousands had seen it 
 before; but Galileo observed it, and struck by the regu- 
 larity with which it moved backward and forward, re- 
 fieAed on it, and perfe<5led the method now in use of 
 measuring time by means of a pendulum. 
 
 A historic bull. In Duruy's History of France, the 
 writer says: "The first king of France was Pharamond, 
 an imaginary being, who never had existed. He was 
 succeeded by his son." 
 
 Organic penalty . A young heir complains to Jupiter 
 that, in consequence of his father's debaucheries, he is 
 pierced with pangs, and punished with pains for sins 
 not his own. Jupiter replies that, in accordance with 
 the very law of which he complains, he also receives from 
 his father delicate nerves, vigorous muscles, and keen 
 senses, which are inlets of joy, and many noble capacities 
 and faculties of mind and heart. Jupiter offers in his 
 case to suspend the offensive organic law; but warns him 
 that, in losing his pain, he shall also lose all advantages 
 and benefits coming to him through that same law of 
 hereditary descent. And he further reminds him that 
 even his pain is a messenger of mercy, a monitor to warn 
 him from the paths of vice, trodden by his own father. 
 The sufEerer withdraws his complaint, resigns himself 
 
io8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 to his sufferings, and resolves, by pious obedience to all 
 bodily laws, to reduce his pains, and, if possible, bring 
 back his body to a normal and healthy estate. — Combe on 
 the constitution of man. 
 
 2ZO 
 
 "Just as I am.'" An artist in Rome saw a beggar on 
 the street, so utterly abjeft and forlorn that he hired him 
 to sit for his pi<flure, as a typical beggar. The next day 
 he came to him, quite transformed. He had hired the 
 clothes of a companion in which to have his portrait 
 taken. The artist did not recognize him; and on learning 
 that he was the beggar he had hired, he said: "No! I 
 hired a beggar, and wanted him just as he was, or not at 
 all. ' ' Christ, for a different reason, wants us just as we 
 are, without any effort at self-transformation, that the 
 new Creation may all be "to the praise of the glory of 
 His grace. ' ' 
 
 221 
 
 Grace knows no respe5l of persons. Wilfrid S. Blunt at- 
 tributes the spread of Islam in Africa to the fadl that the 
 Mohammedan missionary from Morocco says, even to the 
 Negro: "Come up and sit beside me. Give me your daugh- 
 ter and take mine. All who pronounce the formula of 
 Islam, ' There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is 
 his prophet, ' are on an absolute level of equality in this 
 world and in the next. ' ' Whereas the Christian mission- 
 ary makes his way slowly, for he has no true brother- 
 hood to offer the Negro, except in another life. He 
 makes no appeal to the present sense of dignity in the 
 man he would convert, does not descend to the Negro's 
 level, and sit with him at meat as his equal. At best he 
 is the teacher with the pupil, the master with the servant, 
 the man with the child. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 109 
 
 The death of Strauss. At lyudwigsburg — ^where Strauss 
 was born, and where also he died and is buried — a gen- 
 tleman, one of his personal friends and admirers, told the 
 following, of which he claimed to have been an eye and 
 ear witness: Strauss had a daughter, whom he had, 
 strangely, sent to a pietistic school, while he was sepa- 
 rated from her mother. She was educated a pious girl, 
 and subsequently married a physician. She was called home 
 when her father was about to die, and was deeply affedled. 
 When he saw her weeping, he took her hand in his and 
 said: "My daughter, your father has finished his course. 
 You know his principles and views. He can not comfort 
 you with the assurance of seeing you again. What your 
 father has done will live forever, but his personality will 
 forever cease to be. He must bow to the unchangeable 
 law of the universe, and to that law he reverently says, 
 'Thy will be done!' " 
 
 A costly burial. There is a tomb in the famous Milan 
 Cathedral, in a subterranean chapel, which is the richest 
 sepulchre in Europe. Here the visitor comes in contadl 
 with the most distinguished and wealthiest deadhead in 
 the world, the lamented St. Charles Borromeo, who died 
 two hundred years since. ' ' None knew him but to love 
 him; none named him but to praise." He was a car- 
 dinal. Bishop of Milan, and good to the poor, and for his 
 many virtues was canonized. His remains lie in a rich 
 coffin of silver, and through the crystal sides may be seen 
 the dead and withered skull grinning in the midst of rich 
 robes, rare jewels, and flashing gems. The coffin is hung 
 with costly offerings, and the ceiling of the chapel is 
 covered with bas-reliefs, in solid silver, representing 
 
no Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 events in the saint's life. In this little chapel, ten feet 
 by twelve, four million francs have been lavished. In the 
 coffin hangs a gold cross containing seven emeralds, each 
 as large as a chestnut, incrusted in diamonds. This little 
 ornament is worth $100,000. 
 
 A German princess, Marie Dorothea — let her name live 
 with her saying! — took leave of a Christian missionary 
 with these words: "Christians never see each other for 
 the last time — Adieu! " 
 
 There is need of a reconstruSlion of our giving to mis- 
 sions and to every other benevolent cause. Bishop Coxe 
 once said he knew a man in Western New York who put 
 five cents in the offering on Sundays in the free church 
 which he attended, but paid $800 a season for an opera- 
 box; and The Living Church matches him with a million- 
 aire who subscribes a dollar a Sunday toward the ex- 
 penses of his church, but stops payment during his winter 
 excursions in the South, in which he spends thousands 
 of dollars upon himself and family. 
 
 Every dollar belongs to God. — If we have been pur- 
 chased by the precious blood of Christ, all we are and all 
 we have belongs to him. Dr. William Kincaid says: 
 ' ' A friend of mine, receiving some money at the hands 
 of a bank ofiEicer the other day, noticed depending from 
 one of the bills a little scarlet thread. He tried to pull it 
 out, but found that it was woven into the very texture of 
 the note, and could not be withdrawn. 'Ah!' said the 
 banker, ' you will find that all the government bills are 
 made so now. It is an expedient to prevent counterfeit- 
 ing. ' Just so Christ has woven the scarlet thread of His 
 blood into every. dollar that the Christian owns. It caij 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 1 1 1 
 
 not be withdrawn; it marks it as His. When you take 
 out a government note to expend for some needless 
 luxury, notice the scarlet thread therein and refledl that 
 it belongs to Christ. Do not trifle with the price of 
 blood." 
 
 226 
 
 Self-giving. — The well-known authoress, A. I/. O. E. 
 (Charlotte Maria Tucker), when she addressed a letter 
 to the secretary of the Christian Vernacular Education 
 Society, proposing the mission station of Batala, in the 
 Punjaub, as a promising central point for their opera- 
 tions, said in the course of her appeal: "It has often 
 occurred to me that many true servants of God are not 
 sufficiently ingenious in finding out ways to increase 
 their means of giving. When, in Israel's tabernacle, 
 brass was required for a laver, the women gave their 
 rs^^\aX mirrors . What & sacrifice of vanity vi&s ^isxe). A 
 Mohammedan woman here has lately devoted the jewels 
 which adorned her head (120 rupees in value) to swell 
 the subscription for Turkey. Is there here no example 
 for us ? Many a Christian lady could sacrifice the gold 
 chain and the jeweled ring, and so realize the delight of 
 laying her gems at the feet of her lyord. Why should 
 the table of the Christian gentleman be loaded with super- 
 fluous plate, when it might afford to him the privilege of 
 laying up treasure in heaven? Oh, if my brethren and 
 sisters in Christ saw what I see — the struggle so interest- 
 ing, so momentous, between darkness and light — and 
 realized the honor of being permitted, however feebly, to 
 fight under the banner of the cross, they would feel more 
 inclined to throw themselves into the breach and sacrifice 
 everything for God and souls. ' ' 
 
112 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Seven ways of giving. — i. The careless way: to give 
 something to every cause that is presented, without in- 
 quiring into its merits. 
 
 2. The impulsive way: to give from impulse, as much 
 and as often as love and pity and sensibility prompt. 
 This is uncertain and irregular. 
 
 3. The lazy way: to make a special effort to earn 
 money for benevolent objedls by fairs, festivals, etc. 
 
 4. The self-denying way: to save the cost of luxuries 
 and apply them to purposes of religion and charity. 
 This may lead to asceticism and self-complacence. 
 
 5. The systematic way: to lay aside, as an offering to 
 God, a definite portion of our gains — one-tenth, one-fifth, 
 one- third, or one-half. This is adapted to all, whether 
 rich or poor, and gifts would be largely increased if it 
 were generally pradlised. 
 
 6. The equal way: to give to God and the needy just 
 as much as we spend on ourselves, balancing our personal 
 expenditures by our gifts. 
 
 7. The heroic way: to limit our own expenditures to a 
 certain sum, and give away all the rest of our income. 
 This was 'John Wesley's way. 
 
 Nathaniel Cobb, more than half a century ago, sat down 
 in his counting-house in Boston and wrote the following 
 solemn covenant: 
 
 ' ' By the grace of God, I will never be worth more 
 than fifty thousand dollars. By the grace of God, I will 
 give one-fourth of the net profits of my business to char- 
 itable and religious uses. If I am ever worth twenty 
 thousand dollars, I will give one-half oi my net profits; if 
 I am ever worth thirty thousand dollars, I will give three- 
 fourths, and the whole after fifty thousand. So help me 
 God, or give to a more faithful steward and set me aside. ' ' 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 113 
 
 This covenant he subscribed and adhered to with a con- 
 scientious fidelity as long as he lived. On his deathbed 
 he said to a friend, ' ' By the grace of God, nothing else, 
 I have been enabled, under the influence of these resolu- 
 tions, to give away more than forty thousand dollars. 
 How good the I<ord has been to me! " 
 
 2128 
 
 ' ' Slopping over. " — "I am accused of slopping over. I 
 suppose I do slop over sometimes. Well, it's the mistake 
 of temperament and disposition. Can you carry a brim- 
 ming pail without its slopping over ? Put a pint of milk 
 in a big bucket and it will stay there. And take a man 
 that has but a pint in him, and if he is a roomy man 
 there is no danger he'll slop over. But bring a bucket of 
 water from the well, and it will be dripping dripping, 
 dripping all the way, and every blade of grass and daisy 
 is glad of it. So don't be sorry you have been generous 
 even to an unworthy objedl. You can't afford to calcu- 
 late when you'll be mean. Give your heart some head- 
 way, and in the long run it will be better." — H. W. 
 Beecher. 
 
 229 
 
 There is help even in an inimitable ideal of life. We 
 shall never here perfectly do the will of God, fulfil all 
 His will. But we must aim toward it. ' ' Bring back 
 the flag to the men," said some one to a standard-bearer 
 who was pushing on to a parapet faster than the ranks 
 could follow. ' ' Bring up the men to the flag ! ' ' was the 
 heroic reply. 
 
 To go where God leads, to do what he bids and wait 
 everywhere and always for his signal, is the grand per- 
 fedlion of heroism. 
 
 General KUiott, governor of Gibraltar during the siege 
 
114 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 of that fortress, was making a tour of inspedtion to see 
 that all under his control was in order, when he suddenly 
 came upon a German soldier standing at his post silent 
 and still, but he neither held his musket nor presented 
 his arms when the general approached. 
 
 Struck with the negledt, and unable to account for it, 
 he exclaimed, "Do you know me, sentinel, or why do 
 you negledl your duty ? " 
 
 The soldier answered respedlfuUy: " I know you well, 
 general, and my duty also; but within the last few min- 
 utes two of the fingers of my right hand have been shot 
 off, and I am unable to hold my musket. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Why do you not go and have them bound up, 
 then? " asked the general. 
 
 ' ' Because, ' ' answered the soldier, ' ' in Germany a man 
 is forbidden to quit his post until he is relieved by 
 another. ' ' 
 
 The general instantly dismounted his horse. ' ' Now, 
 friend, ' ' he said, ' ' give me your musket, and I will re- 
 Ueve you. Go and get your wounds attended to. ' ' 
 
 The soldier obeyed, but went to the nearest guard- 
 house, where he told how the general stood at his post; 
 and not till then did he go to the hospital and get his 
 bleeding hand dressed. This injury completely unfitted 
 him for adlive service; but the news of it having reached 
 England, whither the wounded man had been sent, King 
 George III. expressed a desire to see him, and for his 
 bravery made him an officer. 
 
 250 
 
 Noble use of money. — A man who shall give five hun- 
 dred dollars a year, say for twenty years of his life, may 
 leave twetity churches virtually built by him to bless all 
 coming generations. He who gives five thousand dollars 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 115 
 
 at once, and builds in a single year ten or twelve Chris- 
 tian sandluaries in which shall perpetually be dispensed 
 the Word and ordinances by which men shall be trained 
 for heaven, does a work the ultimate value of which only 
 the judgment day itself will fully reveal. He who in 
 the final disposition of his property, when life is drawing 
 toward its close, shall leave his ten or twenty or thirty 
 thousand dollars for the building of temples of the living 
 God for the use of those who are to iill this land in com- 
 ing years, will be a blessed minister of good to men and 
 will be helping to elevate and save his country, when he 
 himself shall be walking with the redeemed of God and 
 with the lyamb. — Dr. Ray Palmer. 
 
 331 
 
 Giving blessed. — A merchant of St. Petersburg at his 
 own cost supported several native missionaries in India, 
 and gave liberally to the cause of Christ at home. On 
 being asked how he could afford to do it, he replied: 
 
 " Before my conversion, when I served the world and 
 self, I did it on a grand scale and at the most lavish ex- 
 pense. And when God, by His grace, called me out of 
 darkness, I resolved that Christ and His cause should 
 have more than I had ever spent for the world. And as 
 to giving so much, it is God who enables me to do it; for 
 at my conversion I solemnly promised that I would give 
 to His cause a fixed proportion of all that my business 
 brought in to me, and every year since I made that 
 promise it has brought me in about double what it did 
 the year before, so that I easily can, as I do, double my 
 gifts for His service. ' ' And so good old John Bunyan 
 
 tells us, 
 
 A man there was, some called him mad. 
 The more he gave, the more he had. 
 
 And there are truth and instrudtion in the inscription on 
 
ii6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 tlie Italian tombstone, "What I gave away I saved, 
 what I spent I used, what I kept I lost." "Giving to 
 the lyord," says another, "is but transporting our goods 
 to a higher floor. ' ' And, says Dr. Barrow, ' ' In defiance 
 of all the torture and malice and might of the world, the 
 liberal man will ever be rich, for God's providence is his 
 estate, God's wisdom and power his defence, God's lovf 
 and favor his reward, and God's word his security." 
 
 Richard Baxter says, ' ' I never prospered more in mjl 
 small estate than when I gave most. My rule has been, 
 first, to contrive myself to need as little as may be, to 
 lay out none on need-nots, but to live frugally on a little; 
 second, to serve God in any place upon that competency 
 which he allowed me to myself, that what I Jiad myself 
 might be as good a work for common good as that which 
 I gave to others; and, third, to do all the good I could 
 with all the rest, preferring the most public and durable 
 objedl and the nearest. And the more I have pradlised 
 this the more I have to do it with, and when I gave 
 almost all more came in, I scarce knew how, at least un- 
 expedled. But when by improvidence I have cast myself 
 into necessities of using more upon myself or upon 
 things in themselves of less importance, I have prospered 
 much less than when I did otherwise, or had contented 
 myself to devote a stock I had gotten to charitable uses 
 after my death instead of laying it out at present." 
 
 233 
 
 A clown's sermon. During the exhibition of a 
 traveling menagerie and circus in a Virginia town the 
 painted jester of the ring delivered the following homily: 
 
 ' ' We have taken in six hundred dollars here to-day — 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 117 
 
 more money I venture to say than any minister of the 
 Gospel in this community would receive for a whole year's 
 services. A large portion of this money was given by 
 church members, and a large portion of this audience is 
 made up of members of the church. When your preacher 
 asks you to aid in supporting the Gospel you are too poor 
 to give anything. Yet you come here and pay dollars to 
 hear me talk nonsense. I am a fool because I am paid 
 for it; I make my living by it. You profess to be wise, 
 and yet you support me in my folly. But perhaps you 
 say you did not come to see the circus, but the animals. 
 If you came to see the animals, why did you not simply 
 look at them and leave ? Now is not this a pretty place 
 for Christians to be in? Do you not feel ashamed of 
 yourselves ? You ought to blush in such a place as this. ' ' 
 It is facetiously added that the sensation following a 
 speech like this, in such a place, from such a speaker, 
 may be imagined. The local clergy availed themselves 
 of the spirit thus produced; a religious revival was 
 attempted and a colledlion for foreign missions resulted 
 in the sum of $4.50. 
 
 234 
 
 Hatred of sin. There are three things which the true 
 Christian desires with respedt to sin: Justification, that 
 it may not condemn; sandlification, that it may not reign; 
 and glorification, that it may not be. — Cecil. 
 ', An Arminia7i, arguing with a Calvinist, remarked, "If 
 I believed your dodlrine, and were sure that I was a con- 
 verted man, I would take my fill of sin." " How much 
 sin," replied the godly Calvinist, " do you think it would 
 take to fill a true Christian to his own satisfadlion ? " 
 Here he hit the nail on the head. ' ' How can we that 
 are dead to sin live any longer therein ? " A truly con- 
 
ii8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 verted man hates sin with all his heart, and even if he 
 coiild sin without suffering for it, it would be misery- 
 enough for him to sin at all. 
 
 235 
 
 A holy life. Dr. Arnold of Rugby gives in one of his 
 letters an account of a saintly sister. For twenty years 
 through some disease she was confined to a kind of crib; 
 never once could she change her posture for all that time. 
 "And yet," says Dr. Arnold, and I think his words are 
 very beautiful, ' ' I never saw a more perfedt instance of 
 the spirit of power and love and of a sound mind. Intense 
 love, almost the annihilation of selfishness; a daily mar- 
 tyrdom for twenty years, during which she adhered to 
 her early-formed resolution of never talking about herself; 
 thoughtful about the very pins and ribbons of my wife's 
 dress, about the making of a doll's cap for a child; but of 
 herself — save as regarded her improvement in all good- 
 ness — wholly thoughtless; enjoying everything lovely, 
 graceful, beautiful, high-minded, whether in God's work 
 or man's, with the keenest relish; inheriting the earth to the 
 very fullness of the promise ; and preserved through the very 
 valley of the shadow of death from all fear or impatience, 
 or from every cloud of impaired reason which might mar 
 the beauty of Christ's glorious work. May God grant 
 that I might come within but one hundred degrees of her 
 place in glory. ' ' 
 
 Whitefield' s prayer. "I prayed God this day to make 
 me an extraordinary Christian." So reads an entry in 
 the diary of the great and good Whitefield, and his life is 
 the evidence that the prayer was heard and answered. In 
 spirit, in prayerfulness, in ceaseless labor, in love to 
 Christ, and in earnest and tireless efforts to win men from 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 119 
 
 their sins to Him, he was, as he prayed to be, ' ' an extra- 
 ordinary Christian.^'' As I read the prayer I can not but 
 approve and admire its spirit. But can I and do I adopt 
 it as my own 9 Is it my daily, earnest, heartfelt prayer, 
 "O Lord, make me an extraordinary Christian." — T. 
 Edwards, D.D. 
 
 SanBification and influence. ' ' That no man put a 
 stumbling block or occasion to fall in his brother's way." 
 We have heard of a blind man carrying a lantern to pre- 
 vent others from stumbling over him. On the contrary, a 
 street lamp in a very conspicuous place is often rendered 
 useless by one shattered pane; the wind blows against 
 the light, makes it waver and flicker, and go almost if 
 not. quite out. How like a life whose inconsistencies and 
 inconstancies make all uniform and unvarying testimony 
 impossible! The Christian's relation to the world vnMSt 
 be considered in determining all questions of outer and 
 even inner life: not the inherent charadler of an a<Sl or 
 example alone, but the relative charadler and influence 
 even on the weak, is to be prayerfully weighed. 
 
 238 
 
 God honors our faith. Sir William Napier was one day 
 taking a long walk near Freshford, when he met a little 
 g^rl about five years old, sobbing over a broken bowl. 
 She had dropped and broken it in bringing it back from 
 the field to which she had taken her father's dinner in it, 
 and she said she would be beaten on her return for hav- 
 ing broken it; then, with a sudden gleam of hope, she 
 innocently looked into his face and said: "But ye can 
 mend it, can't ye?" Sir William explained that he 
 could not mend the bowl; but the trouble he could mend 
 
120 Seed Thoughts for PubUc Speakers 
 
 by the gift of a sixpence to buy another. However, on 
 opening his purse, it was empty of silver, and he had to 
 make amends by promising to meet his little friend in the 
 same spot at the same hour next day, and to bring the 
 sixpence with him, bidding her, meanwhile, tell her 
 mother she had seen a gentleman who would bring her 
 the money for the bowl next day. The child, entirely 
 trusting him, went on her way comforted. On his return 
 home he found an invitation awaiting him to dine in Bath 
 the following evening, to meet some one whom he espe- 
 cially wished to see. He hesitated for some little time, 
 trying to calculate the possibility of giving the meeting 
 to his little friend of the broken bowl, and of still being 
 in time for the dinner party in Bath; but, finding that 
 this could not be, he wrote to decline accepting the invi- 
 tation, on the plea of a " pre-engagement, " saying to one 
 of his family as he did so, " / can not disappoint her, she 
 trusted me so implicitly. ' ' 
 
 239 
 
 Comfnunion with God. Prayer is not always and only 
 petition, thanksgiving, confession, adoration; often an 
 unuttered and unutterable comfjtunion. A nervous clergy- 
 man who could only compose to advantage when abso- 
 lutely alone and undisturbed, thoughtlessly left his study 
 door unlocked, and his little three-year old child softly 
 opened the door and came in. He was disturbed, and a 
 little impatiently asked: ' ' My child, what do you want ? ' ' 
 "Nothing, papa." Then what did you come in here 
 for?" " Just because T wanted to be vuith you" was the 
 reply. To come into God's presence and wait before Him, 
 wanting nothing but to be with Him — how such an hour 
 now and again would rest us ! We have a friend who 
 leaves his business place, especially when particularly 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 121 
 
 burdened with care, and rides up to the great Cathedral, 
 where he sits down for an hour, and then goes back again 
 to business. He says: " It is so quiet there, it rests and 
 quiets me." How much more might we find a quiet 
 resting-place for our weary souls and bodies, by just rest- 
 ing in the Lord, sitting without petition at his feet, or as 
 John, leaning our heads upon His bosom. — Independent. 
 
 240 
 
 The outstretched hand. Some years ago a member of 
 the church to which I ministered was lying very sick. 
 The daughter who watched with her noticed her mother's 
 arm thrust out from under the covering, and stretched 
 out upon the pillow. Fearing that her mother might 
 take cold, she gently replaced the arm and hand, but ere 
 long it reappeared. Again and again it was replaced, 
 only soon again to reappear. In the morning the daughter 
 asked her mother why she persisted in keeping her arm 
 extended and her hand upon the pillow. She replied : 
 " I was too weak to pray, and I knew that Jesus would 
 see my open hand and know what it meant."- — W. P. 
 Breed, D.D. 
 
 241 
 
 Habits of prayer. When a pump is frequently used, 
 but little pains are necessary to have water; the water 
 pours out at the first stroke, because it is high. But if 
 the pump has not been used for a long time, the water 
 gets low, and when you want it you must pump a long 
 while, and the water comes only after great effort. It is 
 so with prayer; if we are instant in prayer, every little 
 circumstance awakens the disposition to pray, and desires 
 and words are always ready. But if we negledl prayer, 
 it is difficult for us to pray, for the water in the well gets 
 low. — Felix Neff. 
 
122 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 242 
 
 Dr. Adoniram Judson, while laboring as a missionary, 
 felt a strong desire to do something for the salvation of 
 the children of Abraham. But his desire seemed not 
 gratified; even to his last sickness, he lamented that all 
 his efforts in behalf of the Jews had been a failure. He 
 was departing from the world sad with that thought. 
 Then, at last, a gleam of light thrilled his heart with 
 grateful joy. Mrs. Judson, sitting by his side while he 
 was in a state of great languor, read to her husband one 
 of Dr. Hague's letters from Constantinople. That letter 
 contained some items of information that filled him with 
 wonder. At a meeting of missionaries at Constantinople, 
 Mr. Schauffler stated that a little book had been pub- 
 lished in Germany giving an account of Dr. Judson's life 
 and labors; that it had fallen into the hands of some 
 Jews, and had been the means of their conversion; that a 
 Jew had translated it for a community of Jews on the 
 borders of the Euxine, and that a message had arrived in 
 Constantinople, asking that a teacher might be sent to show 
 them the way of life. When Dr. Judson heard this, his 
 eyes were filled with tears, a look of almost unearthly 
 solemnity came over him, and, clinging fast to his wife's 
 hand, as if to assure himself of being really in the world, 
 he said, " lyove, this frightens me; I do not know what 
 to make of what you have just been reading. I never 
 was deeply interested in any objedt, I never prayed sin- 
 cerely and earnestly for anything, but it came; at some 
 time — no matter how distant the day- — somehow, in some 
 shape, probably the last I should have devised, it came ! ' ' 
 What a testimony! It lingered on the lips of the dying 
 Judson; it was embalmed with grateful tears, and is 
 transmitted as a legacy to the coming generation. The 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 123 
 
 desire of the righteous shall be granted. Pray and wait. 
 The answer to all true prayer will come. In Judson's 
 case the news of the answer came before he died, but it 
 was answered long before. 
 
 2!43 
 
 C. H. Spurgeon said that the efficacy of prayer was with 
 him not a matter of faith, but of knowledge and every- 
 day experience. He could no more doubt it than doubt 
 the law of gravitation. He pointed to his orphanage: to 
 keep it going entailed an annual expenditure of about 
 ;^io,ooo. ' ' Only ^i ,400 is provided for by endowment. 
 The remainder comes to me regularly in answer to prayer. 
 I do not know where I shall get it from day to day. I 
 ask God for it, and He sends it. Mr. Miiller of Bristol 
 does the same on a far larger scale and his experience is 
 the same as mine. The constant inilow of funds — of all 
 the necessary funds to carry on these works — is not 
 stimulated by advertisement, by begging letters, by can- 
 vassing, or any of the usual modes of raising the wind. 
 We ask God for the cash, and He sends it. That is a 
 good, solid, material fadl, not to be explained away." 
 
 244 
 
 Spurgeon' s witness. Some two years ago a poor woman, 
 accompanied by two of her neighbors, came to my vestry 
 in deep distress. Her husband had fled the country; 
 in her sorrow she went to the house of God, and some- 
 thing I said in the sermon made her think I was per- 
 sonally famiUar with her case. Of course, I had known 
 nothing about her. It was a general illustration that 
 fitted a particular case. She told me her story, and a 
 very sad one it was. I said: "There is nothing that we 
 can do but to kneel down and cry to the Lord for the 
 
124 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 immediate conversion of your husband." We knelt 
 down, and I prayed that the Lord would touch the heart 
 of the deserter, convert his soul and bring him back to 
 his home. When we rose from our knees I said to the 
 poor woman, "Do not fret about the matter I feel sure 
 your husband will come home; and that he will yet 
 become connedted with our church. ' ' She went away, 
 and I forgot all about it. Some months after she 
 reappeared with her neighbors and a man, whom she 
 introduced to me as her husband. He had indeed come 
 back, and he had returned a converted man. 
 
 On making inquiry and comparing notes we found that 
 the very day on which we had prayed for his conversion, 
 he, being at the time on board a ship far away on the sea. 
 Stumbled most unexpedledly upon a stray copy of one of 
 my sermons. He read it. The truth went to his heart. 
 He repented and sought the I^ord, and as soon as possible 
 he returned to his wife and to his daily calling. He was 
 admitted a member, and last Monday his wife, who up to 
 that time had not been a member, was also received 
 among us. That woman does not doubt the power of 
 prayer. All the infidels in the world could not shake her 
 convidlion that there is a God that answereth prayer. I 
 should be the most irrational creature in the world if, 
 with a life every day of which is full of experiences so 
 remarkable, I entertained the slightest doubt on the 
 subjedl. I do not regard it as miraculous; it is part and 
 parcel of the established order of the universe that the 
 shadow of the coming event should fall in advance upon 
 some believing soul in the shape of prayer for its real- 
 ization. The prayer of faith is a divine decree com- 
 mencing its fulfilment. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 125 
 
 245 
 
 Answer long delayed. When Captain K of Phila- 
 delphia sailed on his last voyage from America he left a 
 prayer for his infant child, written on a paper, and sealed 
 up in an oaken chest. He died at sea. His widow locked 
 up the chest for the use of the child when he should have 
 grown to manhood. The child grew up, dissipated and 
 dissolute. The mother, on her dying bed, gave him the 
 key of the chest; but he was afraid to open it, for his con- 
 science suspedled that there was something in it to 
 trouble him. When he was fifty-six years old, he 
 determined one day to gratify his curiosity, and opened 
 the chest. On the bottom of it he discovered a carefully 
 
 folded paper on which was written : ' ' The prayer of M 
 
 K for his wife and child. ' ' He opened the paper, 
 
 read it, and then putting it back, resolved that he would 
 never unlock that chest again. But the arrow of con- 
 vidlion had entered his soul. His distress became so 
 intense that the woman with whom he was living in guilt 
 thought him deranged! He cried to his father's God for 
 mercy, and repented of his sins as in dust and ashes. 
 Faith in Jesus brought peace to his conscience, and a new 
 and purer life to his home. He married the woman he 
 had wronged, made a public confession of Christ, and 
 served faithfully his father's God to a ripe old age. 
 
 246 
 
 Apparent denial. When Augustine, a great champion 
 of the faith once delivered to the saints, was a yotmg man, 
 his habits were very dissolute. When he avowed his 
 purpose to go to Rome, his mother, Monica, prayed 
 earnestly that he might be prevented, apprehending that 
 in so corrupt a city he might be led on by surrounding 
 
126 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 temptations to utter ruin. Notwithstanding all her 
 entreaties, her son went to Rome; and thence, on the 
 recommendation of a friend, he passed on to Milan, and 
 was there converted to the truth under the ministry of 
 Ambrose. "Thou, O my God!" he says, "didst give 
 her not what she asked then; but by refusing that, didst 
 give what she was always asking. ' ' 
 
 PiWs dying testimony. Mr. Pitt on his deathbed felt 
 and deplored his own negledt of prayer. When told of 
 his imminent danger, and invited to prepare himself by 
 prayer for appearing before God, ' ' I have too long neg- 
 ledled prayer, ' ' said he, ' ' during life to have much con- 
 fidence in its ef&cacy on my deathbed. But I throw 
 myself on the mercy of God through Jesus Christ. ' ' This 
 he uttered with a fer\'ency but humbleness of devotion 
 which was most touching. 
 
 248 
 
 Even material creation is pervaded by truth. God's 
 works conform to truth, and exhibit the supreme love of 
 truth. Man's work cautiously covers up and conceals 
 imperfedtions. The Roman potter pressed wax into the 
 cavities of the vessel which he wrought to conceal its 
 flaws; hence a sincere vessel was one without wax — sine 
 cera. The more minutely and microscopically God's 
 works are examined, the more perfedl they appear. Be- 
 hind the apparent perfedtion of man's work appears the 
 real defedt. Behind the apparent blemishes of God's 
 works their perfedtion is revealed on a more careful 
 study. 
 
 The Bible is preeminently a revelation of truth. 
 Nowhere else is such a sublime system of morals to be 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 127 
 
 found. It is unadulterated ethics, winnowed wheat, 
 silver ' ' seven times purified. ' ' Not an encouragement 
 there of anything false or superficial. Truth in the 
 inward parts is inculcated, virtue inherent in the sub- 
 stance of being, like substances imbedded in amber. 
 
 Truth may not be analyzed, but may be recognized by 
 its effedts. Ivight is still a mystery, so is heat; so, above 
 all, is life. Yet we know all these by their efEedts, and 
 how to make them subservient to the needs and uses of 
 man. No reasoning, however subtle, will persuade a 
 man that truth and falsehood are not exadlly contrary, 
 both in nature and tendencies. The chemistry of sub- 
 stances is often misleading. Poisons and the most harm- 
 less substances may be composed of similar elements, and 
 even in similar proportions; there is something in their 
 respedlive combinations that renders one innoxious and 
 the other harmful. 
 
 The pursuit of truth can not, therefore, be vain. Nor 
 can it be a matter of indifEerence whether truth be found 
 and embraced or not. It does make a difference whether 
 truth or error be believed, however sincere the embrace 
 of error may be; for truth and error can never build up 
 charadter into equal beauty and symmetry. 
 
 The highest evidence of Christianity is a life incarnating 
 truth. " My dear, in thy face I have seen the eternal ! " 
 said Bunsen to his English wife when dying. A noted 
 infidel dared not stay in Fenelon's company for two 
 hours; it would "compel him to be a Christian." Hume 
 confessed that his Deistic ' ' philosophy could not explain 
 a Christian life. ' ' These are living epistles, translating 
 the Word of God into adtual forms, and illustrating and 
 illuminating that Word. "Christians are the world's 
 Bible " — the only one that many ever read. 
 
 Christ taught the truth on the very highest themes: life, 
 
128 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 its origin and end; death and the hereafter; the charadler 
 of God; the impassable gulf between Jehovah and Jove; 
 between monotheism and polytheism. Other systems 
 contain truth, but it is like an exotic flower in the midst 
 of a garden of weeds. In Christianity truth is indigen- 
 ous and in harmony with its surroundings. Christ speaks 
 of the deep things of God as a master discourses of the 
 mysteries of science as of most commonplace and familiar 
 things. 
 
 249 
 There have been three great centers whence life has 
 radiated: three metropolitan exponents: Rome left us a 
 legacy of law that is even yet the basis of the code of 
 the most enlightened nations. Greece was the mother of 
 arts and eloquence, and the models she left are the stand- 
 ards to-day. But from Jerusalem and Judea went forth the 
 grandest conceptions of moral and religious truth, before 
 which all ethical teaching pales its splendor. All other 
 systems of morals or religion shine, at best, like the 
 moon, with a light borrowed from this sun. 
 
 Truth is to be esteemed above all price, both as a trait in 
 man and as a gift from God. To be true and know what 
 is true represents the height of charadler and knowledge. 
 Instindlively we feel the beauty and sublimity of truth, 
 and bow before it, even tho ourselves false and faithless. 
 Truth is the foundation of all goodness, as falsehood is 
 the prime element of all sin. God is the God of truth. 
 The devil is a liar and the father of lies, and his first adl 
 on earth was a falsehood. Cain's first crime was murder; 
 his second was a lie. Truth is the very bond of the uni- 
 verse. ' ' Do the devils lie ? " was asked of Sir Thomas 
 Browne. "No," he replied, " for then even hell could 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 129 
 
 not subsist. ' ' Truth is so essential to God, that Pythago- 
 ras said that if it were possible for God to become incar- 
 nate, He would take light for His body and truth for His 
 soul. 
 
 Truth and morality. Without it no man can make any 
 pretension to charadter. Even the false and vain Ches- 
 terfield acknowledged, ' ' Truth makes the manners of a 
 gentleman." Charadlers, great and noble, were remark- 
 able from an early age for reverence for truth. Masters 
 of education, like Arnold of Rugby, always succeed in 
 awakening and cherishing youthful regard for this prime 
 virtue. Thomas Sherwin, late Master of Boston's Eng- 
 lish High School, among many traits, had a grand man- 
 ner of administering rebuke. Once, when one of his 
 pupils had been guilty of falsehood, he called him to the 
 platform, and then began a soliloquy on the beauty and 
 majesty of truth, and so impressively was it spoken, that 
 the boy's face turned scarlet, and then he burst into 
 tears. Without a word of diredl rebuke, he was allowed 
 to take his seat, and was never afterward known to be 
 untruthful. 
 
 Statue of Truth. In Aurora, N. Y., is an institution 
 for the education of young ladies. In its parlor stands a 
 marble statue, a symbolic feminine figure of full life-size. 
 The face expresses womanly sweetness, blended with 
 heroic resolve, befitting the helmet on the head, and the 
 sword in the right hand. An open lily lies upon the 
 pure bosom; the left hand gathers the folds of the robe, 
 as if keeping it from contadt with something which might 
 soil its whiteness; the point of the sword touches the 
 pedestal near the feet, and close beside lies a mask. As 
 
130 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the eye glances downward along the figure, it falls at last 
 upon the inscription on the front of the pillar, ' ' Truth. ' ' 
 She has smitten the face of Dissimulation, and carefully 
 holds her white garments away from the defiling touch of 
 her foe. The power of that silent statue is wonderful. 
 It tells of the awful loveliness of Truth; of such absolute 
 sincerity that Dissimulation is unmasked and put to shame. 
 What a regeneration of social life would there be, if only 
 truth should purify social intercourse ! "In such a social 
 atmosphere men would rise to a nobler manhood, and 
 human speech from lips of man or woman would become 
 a power, filling with nobler, holier meaning than we have 
 yet conceived, that deep word eloquence^ — Dr. H. A. 
 Nelson. 
 
 253 
 
 Half truths are almost as bad as whole errors. Satan's 
 first lie was a half truth. He told our first parents that 
 to eat the forbidden fruit would open their eyes, and it 
 did, but it was to see themselves sinners; he said they 
 would know both good and evil, and so they did; but 
 how much better to have known only goodl He said 
 they should not, in the day they ate, surely die; and they 
 did not, in the lower sense of physical death, tho they 
 did die to God's favor and sympathy. Satan's favorite 
 device for deluding and destroying souls is to use half 
 truths. He coats the poison of error with a sugar coating 
 of truth, and so it tastes sweet at first, but is bitter and 
 deadly after we swallow it. 
 
 254 
 
 Truth vindicated. At the funeral of a man, very gen- 
 erous and lovely, but ungodly and dissipated, I felt 
 unwilling to make a funeral address that should be 
 untrue to my convidtions of the truth of the Word of 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 131 
 
 God. Accordingly I spoke to the business men, present 
 in very large numbers, who had been his companions, 
 about the folly of neglecting the soul even for the sake of 
 worldly profit. They had expedted to hear a eulogy of 
 the dead, and get comfort in their own ungodliness, and 
 were much incensed. One of them cursed and swore that 
 he would provide in his will that I should never oflSciate 
 at his funeral. Shortly after, God smote him with incur- 
 able disease, and for many months he lingered in great 
 agony, and died. He would send for me and cling to me 
 like a child, confess to me his sinful life, and beg me to 
 pray for him and with him. Before his death he wrote me 
 a letter with a trembling hand — a letter that is to me as 
 precious as gold. In it he says: ' ' Be always honest and true 
 with men; tell them the truth, and even those who at the 
 time may take offence, will afterward stand by you and 
 approve your course. ' ' When he came to look into the 
 great hereafter, he wanted no shallow quicksand of flat- 
 tering falsehood on which to rest his feet. There comes 
 a time when every man wants to know the truth. 
 
 255 
 
 Sinners like to believe a lie, and will not come to the 
 light, lest their deeds be reproved. A celebrated clergy- 
 man, riding in the same conveyance with a noisy infidel, 
 and hearing him propose a shallow objedlion to Christian- 
 ity, thought he would see how sincere he was, and he 
 said: " My dear sir, have you ever examined the book of 
 the prophecy of Jedediah as furnishing an answer to your 
 objedtion ?" " Yes, ' ' said the skeptic, ' ' I have examined 
 it thoroughly and do not deeyn it satisfactory! " Dr. 
 Brookes, of St. lyouis, once challenged a blatant infidel 
 who had much to say about the irreconcilable contradic- 
 tions and absurdities of the Bible, to show him one such 
 
132 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 contradiElion, offering $500 reward for each instance. 
 After four weeks of brooding over the challenge, he sent 
 Dr. Brookes the following amusing reply: 
 
 " Dear Sir: In Matt, xii : 30 it is said: ' He that is 
 not with me is against me.' In Mark ix : 40 it is said: 
 ' He that is not against us is on our part. ' ' ' 
 
 And on this shallow basis he claimed the $500! 
 
 There is very little honest skepticism. Men take 
 refuge from a guilty conscience in cherishing doubts of 
 the truth; they try to persuade themselves that some 
 things are not true because they do not want to believe 
 them; and sometimes they succeed. But there comes a 
 day when the eyes open to see — tho it is too late. 
 
 A death vision. A young, talented architedl of my 
 acquaintance had led a life of negle(5t of God and religion, 
 and cultivated skeptical opinion, till he got to doubt even 
 whether there was a God or a future life. One day he 
 sank into a slumber so profound that he was supposed to ' 
 be dead. After a half hour he opened his eyes, and 
 slowly said : ' ' Yes, there is a life beyond ! I know it 
 now, for I have been treading along its boundary and 
 looked across into the eternity beyond. ' ' And shutting his 
 eyes he passed into the great hereafter. He had come 
 back long enough, after touching the bound, to leave his 
 testimony! A glance into the future, from the dying 
 hour, cured him of his skepticism. 
 
 The telling of the truth transfers all responsibility to the 
 hearer. He that knows the truth is responsible for ading 
 or not adting up to his knowledge. And therefore he 
 that knows his I^ord's will and doeth it not, shall be beaten 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 133 
 
 with many stripes. This, above all, will make the sinner 
 speechless at the bar of God. To have heard and to have 
 rejedted the Gospel of salvation makes damnation both 
 sure and terrible. Men frame many pretexts to cover 
 their guilt here; but no excuses will stand at the great 
 white throne. 
 
 About 1826 the Third Presbyterian Church in Roches- 
 ter, N. Y., was organized. Joel Parker was chosen 
 pastor. Samuel I<ee was one of his first converts. At 
 the request of Samuel Scofield, one of the elders and a 
 brother-in-law of I^ee, Mr. Parker called on Lee to talk 
 with him about his salvation. Mr. Lee was indifferent 
 and self-righteous and full of excuses. He thought him- 
 self a pretty good man. Was moral and industrious; that 
 he was quite as good as many professors of religion, and 
 in his own opinion much better. Mr. Parker tried to 
 make him realize that he was a sinner; that he must be 
 born again of the Spirit or he could not be saved. After 
 a long and earnest conversation Mr. Parker saw that he 
 had made no impression on Mr. Lee's mind. Mr. Lee 
 had thrown off all his arguments with this and that 
 excuse. 
 
 At last he said to him : ' ' Mr. Lee, I want to tell you 
 one thing, and I want you to remember it. Will you 
 remember it?" "Probably," said Mr. Lee, "if it is 
 anything important." "But," said Mr. Parker, "I 
 want you to promise to remember it." Mr. Lee hesi- 
 tated. He thought, ' ' What has Mr. Parker got to tell 
 me, that he wants me to promise to remember ? What can it 
 be ? He has been talking about death and the future life. 
 What can he have more to tell?" "Mr. Lee," said Mr. 
 Parker, "will you promise to remember it ?" "Yes, I 
 will, ' ' said Mr. Lee. ' ' You will have no excuse at the 
 bar of God, poor man !" said Mr. Parker, and turned and 
 
134 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 left him. Mr. I,ee resumed his work. But the arrow 
 had penetrated through all his defences and reached a 
 vital part. " No excuse," rang in his ears. He tried to 
 drown this inward voice by the increased noise of his 
 hammer. (He was a silversmith.) But his awakened 
 conscience repeated in thunder tones, ' ' No excuse ! no 
 excuse !" Then he stopped work and said to himself : 
 ' ' Did I not go forty miles to Batavia on foot to bail out 
 Brother Scofield, where he was sent to prison for debt ? 
 Is that nothing?" "No excuse!" came back. Then 
 he called up one kind a&. after another of his life, and 
 said to himself, ' ' Is there no excuse or set-ofE in these 
 deeds?" His awakened conscience replied to all these 
 pleas for justification, "No excuse! no excuse!" At 
 length his convidlion became so deep that he dropped his 
 hammer, closed his shop, went into his house, took down 
 his unused Bible, and with it under one arm and his wife 
 on the other, went to his chamber, and there fell on his 
 knees and prayed and wept, and wept and prayed, and 
 read the Bible until he found joy and peace in believing. 
 His joy was so great that the same day he went around 
 among his friends to tell what a Savior he had found. 
 
 That day, in after years, was kept sacred as his birth- 
 day. No work was done. In the morning he recounted 
 to his wife and children the mercies and blessings re- 
 ceived during the last year, following this review with 
 family prayer and thanksgiving. The balance of the 
 day was spent in calling on his friends and recounting 
 God's mercies. 
 
 2158 
 
 To obey the truth is to make constant advance. Some 
 people, however adlive, seem to be not at all aggressive; 
 there is motion, but no progression. They are like the 
 man who got on the ferryboat and kept going to and fro. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 135 
 
 At last he was asked where he was going. He said ' ' he 
 started for Charleston, but they had been making land- 
 ings ever since, and he could not seem to get on. " 
 
 Devotion to truth and justice. In Regulus, the Roman 
 Senator, calmly turning away from his weeping family 
 and the awe-struck Senate to redeem his pledge to the 
 enemy, and meet the dreadful death prepared for him 
 rather than break his word, you have a magnificent ex- 
 ample of the virtue of whatsoever things are true; also in 
 the Roman Judge delivering up his sons to die, amid 
 tears and intercessions of wife, mother and citizens; and 
 in the steadfast resistance of that Hebrew youth to the 
 solicitations of sin in circumstances of most powerful 
 temptation; so in the Roman matron presenting to her 
 trembling husband the dagger plucked from her own 
 bosom, " It is not painful, Paetus "; or Lady Jane Grey, 
 bidding farewell to her husband as he passed on to the 
 scafEold, where she so soon was to follow; or the widow 
 of John Brown, of Priesthill, gathering up her husband's 
 scattered remains and yet warm skull, and answering to 
 the rude taunt of the murderers, who asked ' ' What 
 thinkest thou of him now, woman?" " I aye thocht much 
 of him, and now much more than aye." 
 
 Departures from truth. One denial of essential truth 
 leads to another, until the first step of departure ends in 
 the falling away of a dreadful apostasy. A man plays 
 Hamlet on the theater stage who was some years since an 
 orthodox Congregational minister in Brooklyn, N.Y. He 
 first became unsettled as to the dodtrine of the atonement, 
 then successively abandoned the incarnation of God in 
 
136 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Christ, and the inspiration of the Scriptures; then a 
 future state of rewards and punishments. He was called 
 to succeed Robert CoUyer of Chicago, but so rapidly did 
 he go down into the abyss of utter unbelief , that even the 
 loose creed of the Unitarian was too confining to his 
 ' ' liberalism, ' ' and he startled that congregation of skep- 
 tics by announcing his inability longer to defend any dis- 
 tindtive dodlrine of our holy faith. He proclaimed himself 
 an agnostic — sure of nothing, not even the existence of 
 God, and so turned to destroy the faith he once preached; 
 an awful warning of the rapid apostasy that follows 
 the denial of one fundamental dodlrine. And he is but 
 oneof hundreds whose downfall illustrates the same law of 
 progress in denial of the truth. 
 
 ai6i 
 
 Dignity of truth. The truth can not be burned, beheaded 
 or crucified. A lie on the throne is a lie still, and truth 
 in a dungeon is still truth; and the lie on the throne is on 
 the way to defeat, and the truth in the dungeon is on the 
 way to victory. 
 
 Loyalty to the truth. When the Italians were smarting 
 under the yoke of multiform oppression, and yet jealous 
 of their own liberty and independence, they managed to 
 display their darling tricolor in the very face of their foes, 
 by a seemingly accidental arrangement of red, white and 
 green, the colors of Italy's flag, in the very vegetables they 
 displayed in market or carried to their homes. "Thou 
 hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be 
 displayed because of the truth." — Ps. Ix : 4. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 137 
 
 263 
 
 Truth vs. consistency. "Don't be 'consistent,' — but be 
 simply TRUE. The longer I live, the more I am satisfied 
 of two things: first, that the truest lives are those that are 
 cut rose-diamond fashion, with many facets answering to 
 the many-planed aspedls of the world about them; 
 secondly, that society is always trying in some way or 
 other to grind us down to a single flat surface. It is hard 
 work to resist this grinding-down adlion. " — O.W. Holmes. 
 
 2164 
 
 Aristotle on truth: " Truth is what a thing is in itself, 
 in its relation, and in the medium through which it is 
 viewed. " It is impossible to separate our vision of truth 
 from the organ of vision. A humid atmosphere not only 
 bedims the heavenly luminaries, but invests them with a 
 false halo. A colored lens will impart a hue to any objetft 
 viewed through it. A diseased eye sees double. " If 
 thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. ' ' 
 
 265 
 
 Obedience to the truth brings the certainty of experiment. 
 When Congress appointed the famous committee of five to 
 examine as to the expediency of appropriating $30,000 to 
 build that pioneer telegraph line from Washington to 
 Baltimore, the vote stood two and two — the fifth man with- 
 drew and experimented on a miniature telegraph line 
 eredledfor the purpose. On returning, he said, " Now, 
 gentlemen, I am prepared to vote ' Yes, ' for I have myself 
 had a communication over the wires. ' ' 
 
138 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 2i66 
 
 Near to the path, but not walking in it. On September 
 5th, 1870, a caravan of eleven persons left Chamouni to 
 ascend Mt. Blanc; Messrs. Randall, Bean, and Corkin- 
 dale, with guides and porters. On their way down they 
 were overtaken in a wild storm, which lasted more than 
 a week, and they were found — ten of the eleven — dead 
 near the summit. They became bewildered and wandered 
 around, going over their own tracks, in a space not 
 more than a hundred yards square, until, exhausted by 
 hunger, cold, and fatigue, they at last lay down to die, 
 not knowing that they were so near to the path that five 
 more steps would have brought them into it! How many 
 souls perish as close as that to the way of truth and life! 
 
 A woman's heroism. During the siege of Gibraltar, 
 over one hundred years ago. Count d'Artois came to St. 
 Roch to visit the place and works, and while in com- 
 pany with the Duke de Crillon, a bomb fell among them. 
 A French woman, who had at the time two children in 
 her arms, deliberately seated herself on the bombshell and 
 put out the match! What wonder the count and duke 
 united to bestow on her a pension of eight francs a day ? 
 
 268 
 
 The alphabet of church socials. The church entertain- 
 ments that are devised to raise money for various ends' — 
 pastor's salary, parsonage building and furnishing, church 
 building and repairing, to furnish mission funds, etc. — 
 have, as The Faithful Witness remarks, exhausted the 
 alphabet. We have art socials and authors' socials, 
 blackberry and broom brigade, and busy bee, cream, cake, 
 calico and charade, dorcas and donkey, evergreen and 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 139 
 
 Easter, farewell and fan, garden and gift, harvest home 
 and Halloween, ice cream and instrumental, jug-breaking 
 and jelly-making, knitting and keepsake, lawn and 
 literary. May queen, Martha Washington and mission, 
 necktie and New Year, old folks' and old fashion, pink 
 and pound, quarterly, reading and raspberry, spelling- 
 bee and strawberry, tea-drinking, tableaux and Thanks- 
 giving, union and variety, white yuletide, young folks' 
 and zenana socials. It is suggested that the 'alphabet be 
 completed by a few xtra xcentric socials, if it is possible 
 for any progressive church to arrange it. 
 
 26g 
 
 Phosphorescence at sea. The luminous appearance of 
 the surface is sometimes so widespread and brilliant that 
 the vessel seems floating in a sea of liquid silver. This 
 brilliance seems to depend upon the agitation of the 
 water, and is most intense in the wake of the ship. 
 Naturalists are divided in opinion, some attributing phos- 
 phorescence to eledlricity generated by fridlion, others to 
 the presence of countless animalculse. In 1785, on the 
 evening of July 31, Dr. Buchanan, during a voyage from 
 Johanna to Bombay, saw the sea milk-white and floating 
 luminous bodies so that the ocean seemed to have become 
 a ' ' mUky way, ' ' in which larger stars could be seen as in 
 constellations. The light was so bright as to illuminate 
 the ropes and rigging of the vessel. He found 400 of 
 these phosphorescent animals in one gallon of water. 
 
 Sacred gardens. " Eden " has its counterparts. The 
 gardens of Alcinous and of the Hesperides, of Adonis, of 
 Flora, were famous among the Greeks and Romans. 
 These traditions are verifications of Scripture history. 
 
140 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 The very name ' ' Horti Adonides ' ' answers to that of 
 Paradise or Eden; ''gardens of pleasure," as Horti 
 Adonides, to Garden of the I^ord. 
 
 Avenging monkeys. The East Indians superstitiously 
 revere these animals and seldom destroy them. A new 
 mode of revenge is to sprinkle rice or corn on the roof of 
 an enemy's house or granary, just as the rainy season 
 begins. The monkeys will congregate on the roof, eat all 
 they can find outside, and then rip off the tiles to get at 
 what has fallen through the crevices. Thus the house 
 or granary is exposed to the weather and the contents 
 are ruined. 
 
 2i7Z 
 
 Chinese mirrors. Sir David Brewster describes a 
 singular illusion produced by images delineated on the 
 face of metallic convex mirrors. The figures are drawn 
 on the surface in very shallow lines or are eaten out by 
 acid. Then the surface is very highly and delicately 
 polished, so that the sunken lines take as high polish as 
 the rest, and the figures appear only in a strong light. 
 We fear that some of the images seen in the mirror of the 
 Word are those that human hands have delineated there! 
 
 2i73 
 
 The follies of fashion. Nothing can be more absurd 
 than the silly homage paid to the fashions of this world, 
 notwithstanding they quickly pass away, and the pains 
 taken to keep up with the latest style, however extreme. 
 In the fifteenth century the headdresses of women in 
 Flanders rose to a height so enormous that those of a late 
 day were but dwarfs in comparison to these giants. 
 Juvenal des Ursins declared that so high and broad were 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 141 
 
 these hair ornaments, with their huge artificial ears, that 
 ladies could not go through any ordinary door! Thomas 
 Conedte, the Carmelite friar, preached vehemently against 
 these absurd superfluities, and was burned at Rome in 
 1434 in consequence. 
 
 274 
 
 The social instinSl may be found remarkably prominent 
 even in animals, as the beaver among quadrupeds and the 
 bee among insedls. The Loxia socialis of South Africa is 
 a notable illustration among birds, as also the PhilcBterus 
 socius. These birds build an enormous assemblage of 
 nests under a common roof placed among the branches of 
 a tree, the roof so compadlly interwoven of herbage as to 
 shed the heaviest rain. The separate nests are on the 
 lower surface, having separate apertures. I^e Vaillant 
 found 320 chambers inhabited. And most curiously he 
 found that these birds do not pair, but each male has 
 several wives, each of them having, as becomes a poly- 
 gamous community, a separate cell. 
 
 275 
 
 Inse£l eyes are alone a sufficient proof of a designing 
 hand in the great Creator. They are evidently adapted 
 for distindl modes of vision of which we, whose eyes are 
 modelled on one pattern, can not conceive. Many insedls 
 have on the crown of the head several eyes set "like 
 'bull's eyes' in a ship's deck," and besides these, com- 
 pound eyes on each side of the head, whose multitudinous 
 lenses depend on the same optic nerve. These lenses vary 
 in number from 50, as in the ant, to 25,000 in the mor- 
 della, every one a perfedl eye furnished with iris and 
 pupil and nervous system. 
 
142 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 27^ 
 
 Qtieen bee. Reaumur witnessed the apparent drowning 
 of a queen bee and her attendants. He drew them from 
 their peril before they were quite dead, and by appli- 
 cation of gentle heat revived them. The common bees 
 first revived, and the instant the queen bee began to show 
 signs of life they came about her and rubbed and licked 
 the body as tho the bees had some code of laws for 
 resuscitation of drowned members of their community; 
 and as soon as she moved they hummed aloud as if they 
 were performing a triumphant anthem. 
 
 Z77 
 
 Hair as an index of charaSler. The ancients thought 
 ringlets not only an ornament but a sign of merit, as in 
 Achilles, Ajax, and Augustus. Auburn locks were 
 supposed to indicate industry, intelligence, and amia- 
 bility, but red hair was viewed with aversion; hence the 
 proverb, "Wicked as a red ass." Abundance of hair 
 was associated with liberality, and lank hair with 
 cowardice and parsimony. 
 
 Scientific men are not infallible. Jacob Bobart, keeper 
 of the physic garden at Oxford, it is said, took a dead 
 rat, altered its head and tail, distended its skin on each 
 side with sticks to resemble wings, then let it dry as hard 
 as might be and submitted it to the learned for classifi- 
 cation. It was pronounced a dragon, and essays were 
 written and verses composed about this rare relic of an 
 extindl and remarkable species of animal. 
 
 278 
 
 Demosthenes' stratagem in the oration ' 'On the Crown ' ' : 
 "Athenians, do you regard Eschines as Philip's friend or 
 hireling?" For the last word he used /ftrffiooroj, but he 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 143 
 
 accentuated the last syllable, /iidBooToS. The acute ear of 
 the Athenians, resenting a mispronunciation, cried out, 
 "fii66ooroi^ /xidBwToi." 
 
 " There, Eschines," said Demosthenes, " you see what 
 they think of you ! " 
 
 zrg 
 
 Mausoleum. Artemisia built a tomb for her husband 
 Mausolus, so sumptuously splendid that all costly sepul- 
 chres have borrowed his name, " mausoleum." 
 
 Joy at deliverance. When the Greeks heard that the 
 Macedonian invader was overthrown, it is said that a 
 whole nation raised to heaven such a shout that birds on 
 the wing dropped down as if stunned. In their ecstacy 
 they exclaimed, 'Soarrtp, 'Smrr^p ! " " Savior, Savior ! ' ' 
 
 281 
 
 A brilliant retort. Sergeant Armstrong was pleading 
 in the Irish Assizes. The window of the court-room 
 being open, a jackass feeding in the yard stuck his head 
 in the window and brayed. The judge rapped with his 
 gavel, and said, "One at a time, sergeant." Subse- 
 quently, while the judge was charging the jury, the ass 
 again intruded his head into the open window, and made 
 the court-room resound with his braying. Quietly rising 
 and motioning to the judge, the sergeant begged his 
 pardon for interrupting him; but, said he, "There is a 
 very disagreeable echo in the court/" 
 
144 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Homer, Virgil, and Milton. 
 
 Three poets, in three distant ages born, 
 Greece, Italy, and England did adorn; 
 The first, in loftiness of thought surpassed; 
 The next, in majesty; in both, the last. 
 The force of nature could no further go; 
 To make a third, she joined the other two. 
 
 — Dry den. 
 
 283 
 
 '^ Old Harry '^ as a name for Satan. Henry VIII. com- 
 mitted a crime so bad that the people of those days 
 thought that only the devil could equal it. He imprisoned 
 the pope and put his mitre on his own head, and so they 
 named the devil "Old Harry ! " 
 
 284 
 
 Poetry consists of three things: " Invention, expression, 
 inspiration. ' ' — Schlegel. 
 
 285 
 
 Meters and their uses. 
 
 Trochee trips from long to short; 
 
 From long to long, in solemn sort, 
 
 Slow spondee stalks — strong foot! unable 
 
 Ever to come up with dactyl trisyllable. 
 
 Iambics march from short to long; 
 
 With a leap and a bound the swift anapests throng; 
 
 One syllable long with one short at each side. 
 
 Amphibrachys haste with a stately stride. 
 
 In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column; 
 
 In the pentameter aye falling in melody back. 
 
 — Coleridge, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 145 
 
 Z86 
 
 A fine example of onomatopceia. 
 
 I love that language, that soft bastard Latin, 
 
 Which melts like kisses from a female mouth, 
 And sounds as if it should be writ on satin, 
 
 With syllables which breathe of the sweet South, 
 And gentle liquids, gliding all so pat in. 
 That not a single accent seems uncouth. 
 Like our hard northern, whistling, grunting guttural. 
 Which we're obliged to hiss and spit and sputter all. 
 
 — Byron. 
 
 Z87 
 
 Hexameter. lyongf ellow says, ' ' Inexorable hexameter, 
 in whicli the motions of the English muse are not unlike 
 those of a prisoner dancing to the music of his chains. ' ' 
 Is this necessarily so ? Take this version of Calypso's 
 bower written in college days: 
 Flowers of great beauty were there, and with branches gracefully 
 
 blending. 
 Forests of stateliest trees the fairy-like grotto surrounded 
 With alder and poplar growths, and sweet-scented cypress 
 
 abounded. 
 Vines with luxuriant clusters about the fair grotto were growing, 
 Fountains of crystal water in every direction were flowing, etc. 
 
 Longfellow' s finest lines. 
 
 Clamorous labor 
 Knocked with its hundred hands at the golden gates of the 
 morning, 
 
 will be recognized by Homeric students. 
 
 288 
 
 The word "God,'" originally "good,'" is found in many 
 tongues spelled with four letters, and often the words 
 bearing to each other a strong resemblance, which argues 
 a common linguistic stock: 
 
 Deus, Zeus, e«os, Dieu, Gott, Odin, Codd, Adon, 
 
146 Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 
 
 Adad, Syra, Idza, Dios, Esgi, Zeni, Addi, Aumn, Zeut, 
 Zain, lyian, Zene, Chur, Eher, Dieh, Doga, Oese, Alia, 
 Rogt. Zeus, from Zaoo, " I am," reminds us of the " I 
 am " of Exodus, etc. 
 
 2189 
 
 ' 'Bankrupt ' ' is from the Italian ' ' banco rotto, ' ' a 
 broken bench. When first adopted into English, spelled 
 bankerout. " Bankerout quite his wits." — Shaks., 
 Love's Labor's Lost. When a money-changer could no 
 longer redeem his pledges, the people broke up his bench. 
 
 zgo 
 
 Modem inventions. During the last fifty years more 
 of the great mysteries of nature have been penetrated, 
 and more of her resources have been developed and util- 
 ized, than during five thousand years preceding. So say 
 scientific men, and it is probably no exaggeration. The 
 last fifty years have probably been the most important 
 and intelledlually progressive period of human history. 
 Within this half century the following inventions and 
 discoveries have been among the number: 
 
 Ocean steamships, street railways, elevated railways, 
 telegraph lines, ocean cables, telephones, phonograph, 
 photography, and a score of new methods of pic- 
 ture making, aniline colors, kerosene oil-, eledlric lights, 
 steam fire-engines, chemical fire-extinguishers, anaes- 
 thetics and painless surgery, gun-cotton, nitro-glycerine, 
 dynamite, giant powder, aluminum, magnesium, and 
 other new metals; electro-plating, spectrum analysis and 
 spectroscope, audiphone, pneumatic tubes, eledlric motor, 
 eledlric railway, eledlric bells, typewriter, cheap postal 
 system, steam heating, steam and hydraulic elevators, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 147 
 
 vestibule cars, cantilever bridges. Tbese are mly a part. 
 All positive knowledge of the physical constitution of 
 planetary and stellar worlds has been attained within 
 this period, and before 1840, there were but 500 miles of 
 slow steam railway in the United States. 
 
 291 
 
 Curiosities of vibration. When the first iron bridge 
 was building at Colebrook Dale, England, it is said a 
 fiddler came along and threatened to ' ' fiddle the bridge 
 down. ' ' The workmen laughingly bade him ' ' fiddle 
 away. ' ' He tried note after note on his instrument until 
 he hit upon one that coincided with the strudture's vibra- 
 tory movement, and as he sounded that note with pro- 
 longed effort, the strudlure began to quiver so perceptibly, 
 that the workmen begged him to stop lest the half-com- 
 pleted bridge should fall. A human voice will sometimes 
 cause a glass shade or delicate vessel to crack or break 
 because it strikes the key-note of that vessel. A dog's 
 bark or other animal sound will set piano strings vibrat- 
 ing. When vibrations of two substances correspond, the 
 motion of one will often set the other moving. Two 
 clocks, with pendulums oscillating over similar arcs, will 
 often start each other. The milk-carriers in London dis- 
 cover that unless they change their step firom time to 
 time, they spill the milk from the pails. 
 
 zgz 
 
 Some modern wonders of the world, i . The Bank of 
 England with buildings covering eight acres and with 
 over 1,000 clerks. 2. The Vatican gallery of sculpture, 
 the largest and richest in the world. 3. Tintoretto's 
 Paradise, the largest painting in the world, now in the 
 
148 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Doge's Palace, Venice, covering 2,700 square feet of can- 
 vas. 4. The imperial emerald, in the Schaltzholm at 
 Vienna, weighing nearly 3,000 carats. 5. The monster 
 cannon at Ghent, Belgium, with a bore 33 inches in 
 diameter. 6. The monster organ, in St. Bayou Church, 
 Haarlem, Holland, with 5,000 pipes and 60 stops. 7. 
 The Maelstrom, off Norway, near I^ofoden Isles, which 
 is one and a half miles broad. 8. The monster numis- 
 matic colledlion, at Vienna, containing 125,000 coins, 
 50,000 of which are Greek and Roman. 9. The monster 
 theatre, at Milan, " I,a Scala," the stage of which is 150 
 feet wide, overlooked by six tiers of boxes. 10. The 
 largest chain, in the imperial arsenal, Vienna, with 8,000 
 links. It was thrown across the Danube by the Turks 
 in 1529. II. The monster suspension bridge from New 
 York to Brooklyn, one mile and a quarter long, the great- 
 est triumph of engineering skill. The cantilever bridge 
 over the Firth of Forth, near Edinburgh, is two miles 
 long. 12. Nature's greatest cathedral, the famous Fin- 
 gal's Cave, on StafiFa, the roof rising to a height of 76 
 feet in the gable, on beautiful columns of basalt; the 
 breadth of the cave is 56 feet, and the distance from 
 the opening to the rear wall, 324 feet. We never felt 
 such emotions of awe as when we heard ' ' Old Hundred ' ' 
 sung beneath those arches! 
 
 Z93 
 
 Trees as meteorological records. Exogenous trees pre- 
 serve in their rings a record of the seasons for the entire 
 period of growth. Mr. Twining, over sixty years ago, 
 inspected a large lot of hemlock timber, and every tree 
 told the same story as to the same season. He found, for 
 instance, that some layers or accretions were much 
 broader than others, perhaps five or six times as broad. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 149 
 
 This was the record of a very growing season. Begin- 
 ning with the external layer, and counting back to the 
 wider rings, he always found them correspondent, whether 
 the rings were thirty or two hundred in number, indi- 
 cating, therefore, the same year of growth. ' ' I had thus 
 before me two or three hundred meteorological tables, all 
 of them as unerring as nature. ' ' Mr. Twining suggested 
 that these secftions of trees might thus be utilized as 
 records. One side, neatly smoothed, would exhibit its 
 record as distindl as a drawing; on the other side might 
 be recorded the locality of the tree, sort of timber, exadl 
 date of felling, soil in which grown, points of compass in 
 respedl to its growth, and any other data of any impor- 
 tance. 
 
 ^94 
 
 Diogenes not "the philosopher of the tub,'' after all. 
 Thepithos is a sort of earthen jar, distinguished from the 
 amphora by a wide mouth and a flattened base. It was 
 shaped more like a gourd or pot, and in size adapted for 
 a small cistern or water-butt. Brougnart stoutly main- 
 tains that the celebrated cynic dwelt in a pithos. So does 
 Dr. Murray, custodian of the British Museum, who 
 showed us a pithos abundantly large to hold a man, and 
 which, lying on its side, would offer a very comfortable 
 \ sleeping berth, with a sloping arched roof to shed rain, 
 and a corresponding arched floor to prevent too close con- 
 tadt with the damp earth, offering also a much more com- 
 fortable bed for a human being than a flat surface. 
 Juvenal, referring to this story, speaks of the fragility of 
 these vessels, and of the fadt that fire would not burn 
 them, which would not be true of a tub. 
 
150 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 295 
 
 The black stone at Mecca. This is near the entrance of 
 the Kaaba, and is called by Moslems the Heavenly Stone 
 — Hajra el assouad. It forms part of the sharp northeast 
 angle of the building, and is inserted four to five feet 
 above ground level, in shape an irregular oval, seven 
 inches in diameter. Its color is a deep reddish brown, 
 with a border of similar color, both encircled by a silver 
 band. It looks as if it had been dashed to pieces and 
 reunited by cement. It has passed through many dis- 
 asters. In 682 A.D., a fire split it in three pieces; hence 
 the rim of silver. It was broken during the plunder of 
 Mecca; in the eleventh century, Ha Kem, the mad Sultan 
 of Egypt, tried to destroy it with an iron club, but he 
 was slain by the populace. The millions of caresses and 
 kisses have worn it uneven and to a considerable depth. 
 Orthodox Moslems hold it to have been originally a 
 translucent hyacinth brought by Gabriel from heaven to 
 Abraham, but which has degenerated both in color and 
 substance by contadl with the impurities of humanity 
 
 Ancient ventriloquism. This seems to have been asso- 
 ciated with necromancy and divination. The witch of 
 Endor is called in the Hebrew a woman-mistress, or 
 owner of 6b. The word 6b means a skin-bottle, and 
 seems to be applied to the distended belly of the ven- 
 triloquist, as if it were a bottle in which the demon was 
 contained. The Greeks had necromancers, called psy- 
 chagogi, and who called up departed spirits for consul- 
 tation. Some think that the ' ' wizards that peep and 
 mutter ' ' were ventriloquists. The art of ' ' speaking 
 from the belly ' ' seems to have been carried to singular 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 151 
 
 perfedlion, and used in the interests of imposture, peculi 
 arly by the Egyptian priests and diviners. The people 
 might easily be persuaded that a god was speaking, so 
 thoroughly was the ventriloquist's voice disguised. 
 
 297 
 
 The origin of the crescent. During the progress of the 
 great siege of Byzantium, by Philip of Macedon, the city 
 was saved from capture by surprise in a way that was 
 deemed miraculous. As the besieging party drew near 
 under cover of night, a sudden flash of light illumined 
 the northern horizon like a silver semi-circle and betrayed 
 the proximity of the besiegers. In honor of this super- 
 natural event, interpreted as a divine interposition in be- 
 half of the city of the Golden Horn, a crescent was 
 stamped on the Byzantine coins. When the Turks in the 
 fifteenth century took Constantinople, they adopted this 
 municipal symbol as their own national device, and it has 
 ever since been the eledt symbol inscribed upon their 
 banners, standards, and mosques, and they have named 
 their dominion the Empire of the Crescent. 
 
 The Egyptian emblem of charity. A boy, naked, his 
 heart in his hand, giving honey to a bee that has lost its 
 wings. How beautiful, and how suggestive! 
 
 Z99 
 
 Ludicrous effect of fear. In 17 12 Mr. Whitson, having 
 calculated the return of a comet for the 24th of October, 
 at five minutes past five in the morning, gave notice to 
 the public accordingly ; also that a dissolution of the 
 world by fire would take place on the Friday following. 
 Mr. Whitson' s repute, both as a divine and philosopher. 
 
152 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 left little doubt with the populace as to his predidlion. 
 Several ludicrous events now took place. A number of 
 persons about Ivondon seized all the barges and boats on 
 the River Thames, concluding that when the conflagra- 
 tion took place there would be the most safety on the 
 water. A gentleman who had negledled family prayers 
 for five years informed his wife of his intention to resume 
 them the same evening; but his wife, having a ball on 
 hand at her house, persuaded him to put it ofi" till they 
 saw whether the comet appeared or not. The South Sea 
 stock immediately fell to five per cent. , and the India stock 
 to one; and a captain of a Dutch ship threw all his powder 
 into the river, that the ship might not be endangered. 
 The next morning the comet appeared according to pre- 
 didlion, and before noon the belief was universal that the 
 day of judgment was at hand. One hundred and twenty- 
 five clergymen were ferried over to I^ambeth, it is said, 
 to petition that a short prayer might be ordered, there 
 being none in the service for such an occasion. Three 
 maids of honor burnt their collection of novels and plays, 
 and sent to the booksellers to buy each of them a Bible 
 and a copy of Taylor's " Holy I^iving and Dying." The 
 run upon the bank was so prodigious that all hands were 
 employed in discounting notes and handing out specie. 
 On Thursday considerably more than 7,000 who kept 
 mistresses were legally married, and to crown all. Sir 
 Gilbert Heathcote, at that time head colledlor of the 
 bank, issued orders to all the fire officers in Ix)ndon, re- 
 quiring them to keep a good look out, and have a partic- 
 ular eye upon the Bank of Kngland. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 153 
 
 300 
 
 Curious Bible fa£ls. The Old Testament ends with 
 "curse;" the New, with a blessing. How befitting, 
 since one embodies law and the other reveals grace! The 
 middle verse of the Bible is Psa. cxvi : 8; the longest 
 verse, Esther viii : 9; the shortest, John xi : 35. In Psa. 
 cvii four verses are alike, the 8th, 15th, 21st, and 31st; 
 each verse in Psa. cxxxvi ends alike. Somewhere 
 in the Bible, and usually but once, may be found an 
 exhaustive treatment of all subjedls that most closely 
 concern man's welfare and happiness. Acts xxvi is 
 the finest chapter to read. The most beautiful is Psa. 
 xxxiv. The five most inspiring promises are John xiv : 
 2, xiv : 23, John vi : 37, Matthew xi : 28, and Psa. 
 xxxvii : 4. Isaiah Ix : i is the verse for the new convert. 
 All who boast of their perfedlness should learn Matthew 
 vi. All humanity should learn I^uke vi from the 20th 
 verse to the close. 
 
 301 
 
 Apostle spoons. Among old Knglish spoons some are 
 called Apostle spoons, of various forms, the handles ter- 
 minating in sculptured figures of the twelve Apostles. 
 Sets of thirteen were sometimes made, but only very few 
 containing the ' ' Master ' ' spoon are known to exist, one 
 of them being in possession of Corpus Christi College, 
 Cambridge, England. The figure of each spoon is recog- 
 nized by some emblem, and the list of these may be of 
 interest to those who have a taste for these old treasures: 
 
 1. James the I^ess, with a fuller's bat. 
 
 2. Bartholomew, with a butcher's knife. 
 
 3. Peter, with a key, or sometimes with a fish. 
 
 4. Jude, with a cross, a club, or a carpenter's square. 
 
 5. James the Greater, with a pilgrim's staff and a 
 
154 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 gourd, bottle, or scrip, and sometimes a hat and escallop 
 shell. 
 
 6. Philip, with a long staff, sometimes with a cross in 
 the T, in other cases with a double cross or a small cross 
 in his hand, or with a basket of fish. 
 
 7. The Savior or Master, with an orb and cross. 
 
 8. John, with a cup (the cup of sorrow). 
 
 9. Thomas, with a spear; sometimes he bears a build- 
 er's rule. 
 
 10. Matthew, with a wallet, sometimes an ax and spear. 
 
 11. Matthias, with an ax or halberd. 
 
 12. Simon Zelotes, with a long saw. 
 
 13. Andrew, with a saltier cross. 
 
 30a 
 
 The Devil's Code. In the Royal I,ibrary at Stockholm 
 is a literary curiosity called the "Devil's Code," said to 
 be the largest manuscript in the world, yet each letter as 
 beautifully formed as the most minute care could make 
 it. The story of its origin is as follows: A poor monk, 
 condemned to death, was told that his sentence would be 
 commuted if he could copy the whole of the code in a 
 single night. His judges, knowing the impossibility of 
 the task, furnished him with the requisite materials and 
 left him in his prison. He began his impossible task, 
 but he quickly saw that he could not save his life by his 
 own exertions, and, afraid of the cruel and certain death, 
 and doubtful of a better life hereafter, he invoked the aid 
 of the Prince of Pandemonium, who appeared at the 
 summons, and promised to help the affrighted man if he 
 would surrender his soul. The bond was made, and in the 
 morning the task was completed; hence the Devil's Code. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 155 
 
 303 
 
 Decalogue of Jefferson's practical rules, i. Never put 
 off till to-morrow what can be done to-day. 
 
 2. Never trouble others to do what you can do yourself. 
 
 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 
 
 4. Never buy what j-^ou do not want because it is cheap. 
 
 5. Pride costs as much as hunger, thirst, and cold. 
 
 6. We never repent of eating too little. 
 
 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 
 
 8. How much pain those evils cost that never happen. 
 
 9. Take things by their smooth handle. 
 
 10. When angry always count ten before you speak. 
 
 304 
 
 A remarkable plant. In South Africa there is a curious 
 plant, known as hook-thorn or grapple-plant, said to bear 
 some resemblance to the cuttlefish. The large flowers 
 are of a lovely purple hue, and spread themselves over 
 the ground, or hang in masses from the trees and shrubs. 
 The long branches have sharp, barbed thorns, set in pairs 
 throughout their length. When the petals fall off and 
 the seed-vessels are developed and fully ripe, the two 
 sides separate widely from each other, and form an array 
 of sharp curved hooks. Wo be to the traveler who 
 ventures near at such a time! The English soldiers in 
 the last Kafir wars suffered terribly from this plant. 
 While the Kafir, unclothed and oily, escaped harmless, 
 the European was certain to be made and held prisoner. 
 Imagine one hooked thorn catching a coat sleeve. The 
 first movement at escape bends the long slender branches, 
 and hook after hook fixes its point into the clothing. 
 Struggling on trebles the number of thorned enemies, and 
 there is no way of escape except to stand still, cut off the 
 
156 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 clinging seed vessels, and remove them one by one. What 
 an illustration of the malign power of evil habit! 
 
 305 
 
 Da Vinci and the Last Supper. Upon the large fresco 
 of ' ' The Last Supper ' ' at Milan, Da Vinci was engaged 
 at least ten years. It is said that he often spent whole 
 days so absorbed that he forgot to eat. Then for days 
 he would only come and stand before it with folded 
 arms, as if criticizing it. Sometimes he would hasten 
 in the heat of midday from the cathedral, add a touch 
 or two to his pidture, and immediately return. Unfor- 
 tunately he mixed his colors with oil — a fatal innova- 
 tion — so that in the course of a few centuries it has been 
 repaired no less than three times. With strange insensi- 
 bility the monks allowed the lower portion of the central 
 group to be destroyed in order to make a door in the 
 wall; and Napoleon's dragoons not only made the refec- 
 tory a stable, but amused themselves throwing brickbats 
 at the apostles. It is now a ruin, but one can form an 
 idea of its merit from the copy made by Marco Uggione, 
 one of Leonardo's best pupils, and which is now in the 
 Royal Academy, London. Goethe has, perhaps, better 
 than any one, given verbal expression to the artist's 
 intention. 
 
 306 
 
 How old is glass f The oldest known specimen of pure 
 glass is a little molded lion's head bearing the name of an 
 Egyptian king of the eleventh dynasty, in the Slade col- 
 ledtion at the British Museum. More than two thousand 
 years before Christ glass was made, and with a skill 
 which shows that the art was nothing new. The inven- 
 tion of glazing pottery with a varnish of glass is so old 
 that among the fragments which bear inscriptions of the 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 157 
 
 early Egyptian monarchy are beads, possibly of the first 
 dynasty. Of later glass there are numerous examples, 
 such as a bead found at Thebes, which has the name 
 Queen Hatasoo or Hashep, of the eighteenth dynasty. 
 Of the same period are vases and goblets and many frag- 
 ments. The story, preserved by Pliny, which assigns 
 the credit of the invention to the Phoenicians, is so far 
 true that these adventurous merchants brought specimens 
 to other countries from Egypt. Dr. Schliemann found 
 disks of glass in the excavations at Mycenae, tho Homer 
 does not mention it as a substance known to him. That 
 the art of the glassblower was known long ago is certain 
 from representations among the pictures on the walls of 
 a tomb at Beni Hassan, of the twelfth Egyptian dynasty; 
 but a much older pidlure, which probably represented 
 the same manufadlure, is among the half-obUterated 
 scenes in a chamber of the tomb of Thy, at Sakkara, 
 and dates from the time even of the fifth dynasty. 
 
 307 
 
 Curious fads about man. According to Prof. Huxley, 
 the proper normal weight of man is one hundred and 
 fifty-four pounds, made up as follows: Muscles and their 
 appurtenances, sixty-eight pounds; skeleton, twenty- 
 four; skin, ten and one-half; fat, twenty-eight; brain, 
 three; abdominal viscera, eleven; blood which would 
 drain from the body, seven. The heart of such a man 
 should beat seventy-five times a minute, and he should 
 breathe fifteen times a minute. In twenty- four hours he 
 should vitiate one thousand seven hundred and fifty cubic 
 feet of pure air to the extent of one per cent. — a man, 
 therefore, of the weight mentioned should have eight 
 hundred cubic feet of well-ventilated space. He would 
 throw ofE by the skin eighteen ounces of water, three 
 
158 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 hundred grains of solid matter, and four hundred grains 
 of carbonic acid every twenty-four hours, and his total 
 loss during that period would be six pounds of water and 
 a little more than two pounds of other matter. 
 
 308 
 
 How coffee was discovered. We have read a quaint 
 story concerning the discovery of this favorite beverage. 
 Toward the middle of the fifteenth century, a poor Arab, 
 traveling in Abyssinia, and finding himself weak and 
 weary from fatigue, stopped near a grove. Then, being 
 in want of fuel to cook his rice, he cut down a tree which 
 happened to be full of dead berries. His meal being 
 cooked and eaten, the traveler discovered that the half- 
 burned berries were very fragrant. CoUedting and 
 crushing them with a stone, he found that their aroma 
 had increased to a great extent. While wondering at 
 this, he accidentally let fall the substance into a can 
 which contained his scant supply of water. lyO, what a 
 miracle ! The almost putrid liquid was instantly purified. 
 He brought it to his lips; it was fresh, agreeable, and, 
 in a moment after, the traveler had so far recovered his 
 strength and energy as to be able to resume his journey. 
 The lucky Arab gathered as many berries as he could, 
 and having arrived at Aden, in Arabia, he informed the 
 Mufti of his discovery. That worthy divine was an in- 
 veterate opium-smoker, who had been suffering for years 
 from the effedls cf that poisonous drug. He tried an in- 
 fusion of the roasted berries, and was so delighted at the 
 recovery of his own vigor that, in gratitude to the tree, 
 he called it cabuah, which in Arabic signifies /orte. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 159 
 
 309 
 
 A Chinese Solomon. Two women before a Mandarin, 
 each protesting that she was the mother of a little child 
 they had brought, were so eager and positive that the 
 Mandarin was sorely puzzled. He retired to consult with 
 his wife, a wise and clever woman, whose opinion was held 
 in great repute. She requested five minutes to deliberate. 
 At the end of that time she said: ' ' lyet the servants catch 
 a large fish in the river and bring it to me here alive. ' ' 
 This was done. ' ' Bring me now the infant, and leave 
 the women in the outer chamber." This was done, too. 
 Then the Mandarin's wife caused the baby to be undressed, 
 and its clothes put on the large fish. ' ' Carry the creature 
 outside now, and throw it in the river, in the sight of the 
 two women." The servant obeyed her orders, and the 
 fish rolled about in the water, disgusted, no doubt, by the 
 wrappings in which it was swaddled. Without a moment' s 
 pause, one of the ' ' mothers ' ' threw herself into the river 
 with a shriek, to save what she thought was her drown- 
 ing child. "Without a doubt she is the true mother," 
 the Mandarin's wife declared, and commanded that she 
 should be rescued, and the child given to her. And the 
 Mandarin nodded his head, and thought his wife the 
 wisest woman in the Flowery Kingdom. Meantime, the 
 false mother crept away. She was found out in the im- 
 posture, and the Mandarin's wife forgot all about her in 
 the occupation of dressing the little baby in the best silk 
 she could find in her wardrobe. 
 
 Simplicity in preaching. I^ord Cockbum was both a 
 sagacious barrister and a wise and witty judge. He used 
 to say that his rule, while pradlising at the bar, was this: 
 "When addressing a jury, I invariably picked out the 
 
i6o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 I — 
 
 stupidest looking fellow of the lot and addressed myself 
 specially to him; and for this good reason: I knew that if I 
 convinced him, I would be sure to carry all the rest. ' ' 
 
 311 
 
 Pictorial preaching. Dr. McCosh called Dr. Guthrie 
 ' ' the pidlorial preacher of the age. ' ' When an artist, 
 with a little warmth repelled his criticism saying, 
 "Remember, Dr. Guthrie, you are a preacher, not a 
 painter," he replied, "Beg your pardon, my friend, I 
 am a painter: only I paint in words while you use brush 
 and colors." 
 
 Careful elaboration of illustrations. Dr. Guthrie culti- 
 vated his illustrative power, but he studied accuracy and 
 variety. One hearer said of his nautical illustrations: 
 " He is an old sailor; at least he was a while at sea! " 
 Another said, referring to his illustrations drawn from 
 anatomy, " If he stick the minister trade, yon man would 
 make his bread as a surgeon! " It has been said: " In 
 his logic you might detedl a flaw; in his illustrations, 
 never. ' ' 
 
 313 
 
 Vivid effect of Guthrie' s preaching. He described a ship- 
 wreck and the launching of a life-boat to save the perishing 
 crew in such vivid colors that a young naval officer sprang 
 to his feet and began to take off his coat. His mother took 
 hold of him and pulled him down; but it was some time 
 before he could realize where he was. He was so eledlri- 
 fied that he rose to cast his coat and man the life-boat. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers i6i 
 
 314 
 
 Power in argument. Dr. McCosh, hearing Sir William 
 Hamilton say that Dr. Guthrie was the best preacher he 
 ever heard, replied that while he did not wonder at the 
 high estimate of Guthrie, he was surprised to hear it from 
 so eminent a logician, since logic was not Guthrie's forte. 
 " I^ogic! " said the philosopher; "he has the best of all 
 logic: there is but one step between his premises and his 
 conclusion. ' ' 
 
 315 
 
 Do not read sermons. Dr. Guthrie wrote to Rev. A. 
 Maxwell: " One thing you must shake off, that is your 
 chain; I mean the 'paper.' Perhaps you don't read 
 commonly; but you should read never. You will find 
 one among a thousand who can read so well it does not 
 mar the efiedl of the matter — not more. The reading of 
 sermons produces monotony, and adts like mesmerism on 
 an audience; to keep an audience wide awake, attentive, 
 adlive and on the stretch, all the natural varieties of tone 
 and adlion are necessary — qualifications incompatible 
 with the pradlice of reading." He encouraged com- 
 mitting to memory, saying: "What I find difi&cult to 
 remember has commonly fallen flat upon the people. 
 Finding it blunt, I have set myself to give it point and 
 grind it to a sharper edge. Finding it heavy, I have 
 joined it to a figure — an illustration — something like a 
 balloon, to make it rise, ' ' etc. ' ' Another advantage of 
 preaching without a manuscript is that you are more free 
 to avail yourself of those thoughts and varieties which 
 the animation and heat of the pulpit give. When the 
 soul is excited, thoughts and even language acquire a 
 fire and brilliancy which they have not in the calmness 
 of the study." 
 
1 62 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Arousing conscience. ' ' Agitation ' ' was Daniel O' Con- 
 nell's motto. Burke defined it as " marshaling the con- 
 science of a nation to make its laws. ' ' And Dr. John 
 Ritchie, when he was remonstrated with for going up and 
 •down the country resorting to it, to arouse the churches, 
 replied: ' ' What good was ever done in the world without 
 agitation? We can not even make butter without it! " 
 
 3ir 
 
 Free churches. In passing up and down the old Cow- 
 gate in the Scotch Athens, one observes the public well, 
 where all comers, old and young, rich and poor, without 
 class or caste distindlions, draw water. They bring their 
 pitcher without their penny, for the water flows full and 
 free without money and without price. Dr. Guthrie used 
 to sigh to see the Gospel well of salvation equally free. 
 He entered house after house in his own parish, where 
 for years the inhabitants had never crossed a church 
 threshold. It was vain to bid them ' ' come to church, ' ' 
 for it was bidding a man to pay six shillings for a seat who 
 would bless you for six pennies that he might buy a meal 
 for his children. But says one, ' ' Send him to the pauper 
 seats." But what right have you to make any man a 
 ' ' pauper ' ' in God's house ? No man likes to be branded 
 by his fellows as a pauper. One man being told that 
 'there were free sittings answered with a natural and 
 laudable pride: ' ' Wait till I can make up five shillings, for 
 I have no notion of being set among those pauper bodies. ' ' 
 Would you not, if you are half a man, feel just as he 
 did? 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 163 
 
 318 
 
 Sometimes there may be found in a Latin proverb, not 
 only the seed of a whole sermon but the embodiment of 
 centuries of human history — the essence of the wisdom 
 of ages. We propose giving a few examples: 
 
 Good works. ' ' Regula retributionis, sed non causa 
 mercedis. ' ' Was there ever a better expression of the 
 true relation of good works to salvation ? They are not 
 the causal ground of our entrance into heaven, but they 
 are the measuring rule of our reward, determining its 
 comparative degree. 
 
 319 
 
 Conscience. " Index, Judex, Vindex " — the indicator 
 of duty, the adjudicator of destiny, the vindicator of 
 right and wrong. Here is the germ of a whole volume 
 on the province of the moral sense. 
 
 Video meliora proboque 
 Deteriora sequor.— OwzV. 
 
 I see and approve the better while I follow and pradlise 
 the worse. Here is a hint both as to the testimony and 
 the condemning power of conscience. 
 
 "Mens conscia recti." — What greater blessing than a 
 mind conscious of its own redtitude! What a support in 
 the hour of calumnious assault! 
 
 320 
 
 Justice. ' ' Justitia liberalitati prior. " — In other words, 
 justice before generosity. Or, as Sir Matthew Hale said, 
 ' ' When I am tempted to exercise undue mercy, let me 
 remember that there is a mercy due to my country ! " 
 What would God's love be but a blemish, if it were at 
 the expense of justice! . 
 
 ' ' Silent leges inter anna. ' ' While conflidts are ra- 
 
164 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 ging, it is difiEcult to secure equitable administration of 
 law. 
 
 Discrimination. " Nullum simile est idem." — Things 
 may be similar and yet not the same, or identical. What 
 a secret of sophistical argument is often exposed when 
 we stop to draw this distindlion ! Antecedents are not 
 causes; pretexts are not excuses, nor excuses reasons. 
 
 322. 
 
 Mediocrity. " Mediocra firma." "Medio tutissimus 
 ibis. ' ' Both these express the idea of Agur, ' ' Give me 
 neither poverty nor riches." The safest, surest, best 
 position in life is the middle position. 
 
 323 
 
 Character. ' ' Rex metuit, cupit nihil. ' ' — A true king 
 neither fears nor covets. He is an independent man, a 
 real sovereign among men, who is free alike from 
 cowardice and envy. "Cassis tutissima virtus." — Hor- 
 ace. Virtue is thy safest helmet. 
 
 ' ' In magnis voluisse sat est. ' ' — It is a great thing to 
 have formed a great purpose. Men are shown not alto- 
 gether by what they accomplish, but by what they will 
 to do. 
 
 " Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus." — Juvenal. 
 The only true nobility is that of virtuous chara(5ler. All 
 pride of ancestry and high sounding titles are insig- 
 nificant before the intrinsic beauty and dignity of char- 
 adler. 
 
 324 
 
 Concentration. ",Non omnia possumus omnes." — 
 Virgil. We can not, all of us, do everything. I^et us 
 find out what we can do and concentrate our attention 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 165 
 
 upon that. Undue versatility is usually at expense of 
 effedliveness. 
 
 "Vitam operose nihil agendo perdidi." — One may 
 spend his life laboriously doing nothing. There is a 
 great deal of adlivity that is like a treadmill in which 
 with all our walking we fail to get on. 
 
 " Cogenda mens est, ut incipiat." — Seneca. The mind 
 needs to be compelled to exert itself. 
 
 ' ' Arcum intensio frangit, animum remissio. ' ' — The 
 bow is broken by undue tension, but the mind is weak- 
 ened by undue relaxation. What wisdom is here ? 
 
 32s 
 
 Drunkenness. ' ' Absentem laedit cum ebrio qui liti- 
 gat." — He who quarrels with the inebriate, hurts the 
 absent — i. e., when your opponent is drunk, his sense, 
 his reason is gone, his true self is absent. 
 
 Truth. ' ' Ridentem dicere verum quid vetat ? ' ' — 
 Horace. What forbids one to speak the truth, laughing ? 
 A humorous veil does not conceal a sober fadl. Under 
 the garb of a jest, many a serious truth may be found. 
 
 " Candor dat viribus alas." — Truth, candor, gives 
 pinions to our energies. 
 
 Pleasure. " Voluptates commendat rarior usus." — 
 Juvenal. In other words, the moderate indulgence of 
 pleasures prolongs our capacity to enjoy, and intensifies 
 our relish while it lasts. 
 
 "Curtse nescio quid semper abest rei." — Horace. To 
 our imperfedt human estate always something is felt to 
 be lacking. 
 
1 66 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 The three kingdoms. " Lapides crescunt; vegetabilia 
 crescunt et vivunt; animalia crescunt, et vivunt, et sen- 
 tiunt. ' ' All the ages liave failed to improve on this wise 
 distinction of I^innseus. The minerals grow by accre- 
 tion; vegetables grow and live; animals grow and live 
 and FEBL. We need to add Hobbes' ' ' rationale et 
 orationale." Animals and man differ by reason and 
 speech, properly possessed by man alone. 
 
 3Z9 
 
 Humane sympathies. "Homo sum; et humani a me 
 nil alienum puto. ' ' I am a human being, and nothing 
 which pertains to man is aUen to me. So said Terence, 
 who, nevertheless, advised his wife to "expose" their 
 baby because it was a girl! 
 
 330 
 
 Charity. " In necessariis unitas, in non necessariis 
 libertas, in omnibus caritas." This famous motto is 
 from Augustine. 
 
 In things essential, unity, 
 In non-essentials, liberty. 
 In all alike, sweet charity. 
 
 " Multse terricolis linguae, coelestibus una." Many 
 tongues to mortals, but to heaven's inhabitants but one. 
 
 331 
 
 Value of a specimen. " Ex pede Herculem," from 
 Hercules' foot, you can construdt the whole statue. So 
 Cuvier from a bone modeled the whole body of an ex- 
 tindt species of animal. ' ' Ex uno disce omnes. ' ' 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 167 
 
 The argument from silence. ' ' Tacent, satis laudant. ' ' — 
 Terence. A fine hint this that, when our adversaries are 
 silent it is the highest proof that they have no cause of 
 attack. Compare Daniel, vi : 5. When the censorious 
 find nothing to complain of, it is the highest praise. 
 
 333 
 
 Eloquence. ' ' Pecflus est quod disertum tacit. ' ' — 
 Quintilian. In other words, the true fountain of elo- 
 quent speech is fervent feeling— or, as Theremin says, 
 there must be a man behind the speech. Kloquence is 
 virtue, speaking. 
 
 ' 'Ars est celare artem. ' ' The highest skill is found in 
 concealment of art in public address, so that everything 
 shall appear spontaneous and natural. 
 
 334 
 
 Holy wrath. "Odit errores, amat errantes." God 
 hates the sins while He yearns over the sinner. 
 
 335 
 
 Death. ' ' Mors Janua Vitae. ' ' Death is the gateway 
 of immortality. 
 
 ''Mors ultima linea rerum est." — Horace. Death is 
 the outermost limit of all human adlivities. 
 
 "Omne capax movet urna nomen." — Horace. In 
 death's capacious urn, every name is shaken. All are 
 mortal. The high and low alike come to the same inevi- 
 table fate. 
 
 " Dum exspiro spero." The worldly man can at best 
 say, "Dum spiro, spero," while I still live, I hope. The 
 
1 68 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Christian can triumphantly say, while I am dying, I still 
 hope. 
 
 ' ' Ne plus ultra. ' ' Nothing more beyond, says the 
 worldling; the disciple says, "plus ultra" — my greatest 
 possessions are on the other side. 
 
 ' ' Pereunt et imputantur. ' ' The hours perish, but an 
 account is to be rendered. 
 
 JJ<5 
 
 God' s plan in our lives, i. The late Prince Albert's 
 maxim: "Find out the plan of God in your generation; 
 and then beware lest you cross that plan, or fail to find 
 your own place in it. ' ' 
 
 2. Pastor Monod of Paris: "Our work is but a seg- 
 ment in the great sphere of God's eternal work, and if 
 we have eyes to see, we may read in that portion of His 
 work which belongs to us, our name and the date of the 
 present year. ' ' 
 
 3. Constantine, when marking out the bounds of Con- 
 stantinople, being told that the city would never fill out 
 such a vast area, replied: " I am following Him who is 
 leading me. ' ' 
 
 337 
 
 Unconscious accommodation to the world. No believer 
 can afford simply to breathe a polluted atmosphere, and 
 if his work for God compels such associations, he must 
 frequently go, as Christ did, apart with God, and on the 
 lofty mountain tops breathe a pure air, taking long and 
 deep inspirations of that purifying and strengthening 
 oxygen and ozone. Prof. Bernard used to illustrate our 
 unconscious accommodation to a vicious atmosphere by 
 placing a sparrow under a bell glass receiver, with air 
 enough for three hours' respiration. Then, at the end of 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 169 
 
 two hours, lie put a second sparrow under the receiver, 
 and it fell over dead, while the former bird was able to 
 sustain the process of respiration for the remaining hour. 
 So there is a law not only of physical but of spiritual 
 toleration. We learn to live in a polluted atmosphere, to 
 accommodate ourselves to a low level of spiritual life. 
 Could we come suddenly from a pure society into the 
 carnal and worldly and selfish atmosphere often found 
 even in Christian churches, we should be stifled. I,et us 
 live much with God, in the closet, and so learn to detedl 
 and flee from a contaminated atmosphere. May this law 
 not explain in part the high consecration of true mission- 
 aries ? They can maintain spiritual life amid such sur- 
 roundings only by much converse with God. 
 
 338 
 
 Taking a stand for God. The Rev. George Duffield 
 was the author of "Stand up! Stand up for Jesus!" 
 This hymn was written under affedting circumstances. 
 In 1858 the Rev. Dudley A.Tyng had been engaged in 
 a remarkable mission in Philadelphia, and on the Sunday 
 before his death had preached in Jayne's Hall one of the 
 most stirring sermons of modern times, so that out of the 
 five thousand present at the delivery, at least a thousand 
 are believed to have been converted. On the following 
 Wednesday he left his study and went to a barn where a 
 mule was at work on a horse-power shelling corn. Pat- 
 ting him on the neck, the sleeve of his study-gown caught 
 in the cogs of the wheel, an arm was torn out by the 
 roots, and in a few hours he died. Just before his death 
 he sent the message, "Stand up for Jesus!" to those 
 assembled at the Young Men's Christian Association 
 prayer-meeting, a message which suggested the hymn, 
 and formed the concluding exhortation of the funeral 
 
170 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 sermon for Mr. Tyng, which was preached from 
 Ephesians vi : 14, by its author. It was printed as a 
 fly-leaf for the Sundaj'-school scholars. 
 
 In the Waldensian Synod Hall there is a crest of the 
 Vaudois Church — an anvil with many hammers broken 
 about it, and the motto : ' ' Trituntur mallei : reinanet 
 incus. ' ' 
 
 339 
 
 The greatness of self-rule. Stanley has said some 
 fine things in a letter to the lyondon Times : ' ' For my- 
 self I lay no claim to any exceptional fineness of nature. 
 But I say that, beginning life as a rough, ill-educated, 
 impatient man, I have found my schooling in these very 
 African experiences. ... I have learned by adlual 
 stress of imminent danger that self-control is more indis- 
 pensable than gunpowder, and that persistent self-control 
 is impossible without real, heartfelt sympathy." 
 
 340 
 
 The true gentleman. It is almost a definition of a gen- 
 tleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain. He 
 carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the 
 mind of those with whom he is cast — all clashing of opinion 
 or collision of feeling, all restraint or suspicion or gloom or 
 resentment; his great concern being to make every one at 
 ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company, 
 he is tender toward the bashful, gentle toward the dis- 
 tant, and merciful toward the absurd. He can recolledl 
 to whom he is speaking; he guards against unseasonable 
 allusions on topics which may irritate; he is seldom prom- 
 inent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes 
 light of favors when he does them, and seems to be receiv- 
 ing when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 171 
 
 except when compelled, never defends himself by a mere 
 retort; he has no care for slander or gossip, is scrupulous 
 in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and 
 interprets everything for the best. He is never mean or 
 little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantages, never 
 mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or 
 insinuates evil, which he dare not say out. From long- 
 sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient 
 sage, ' ' that we should ever conduct ourselves toward our 
 enemy as if he were one day to be our friend. ' ' He has 
 too much good sense to be affronted at insults. He is 
 too well employed to remember injuries, and too indolent 
 to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned 
 on philosophic principles; he submits to pain because it is 
 inevitable, to bereavement because it irreparable, and to 
 death because it is his destiny. — Cardinal Newman. 
 
 341 
 
 The true riches. God shows us what is His estimate of 
 riches, first, by what He says about them : "A man's 
 life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which 
 he possesseth; " and, secondly, in the condition in which 
 He permitted His own Son to enter and pass through 
 this world. " Foxes have holes and the birds of the air 
 have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His 
 head." 
 
 342 
 
 I saw at Braemar, near the Queen's castle at Balmoral, 
 four emblems: A tree by the water, lilies of the valley, 
 a vine in process of pruning, and waving palms. The four 
 together represent the four stages of Christian Hfe. First, 
 growing through the truth ; second, blossoming into 
 beauty; third, undergoing chastisement; and fourth, en- 
 joying final triumph. 
 
172 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 343 
 
 Justice the strength of government. It was a saying of 
 Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, that a republic walks upon 
 two feet; one being just punishment for the unworthy, 
 the other due reward for the worthy. If it fail in 
 either of these, it necessarily goes lame. How if it fail 
 in both? 
 
 344 
 
 An officer of the English army, in Egypt, asked an 
 Egyptian why he believed in the Mahdi, and the answer 
 was, because he can work miracles. The officer, having 
 a glass eye, took it out, tossed it up, caught it and put it 
 back in its place. ' ' Do you think the Mahdi could do that? ' ' 
 The Egyptian was appalled, and could not say a word. 
 
 345 
 
 The appeal to the Bible. The wife of a French infidel 
 successfully trained her family to a pious life, without 
 diredl antagonism with her husband and their father, by 
 simply appealing for a decision of every question to the 
 supreme authority of the Bible. Instead of coming into 
 constant collision with the authority or opinion of the 
 father, she taught them to ask: " What saith the Lord?'^ 
 
 346 
 
 They have their reward. A well-known woman in 
 Western New York sent, on her dying bed, for a very 
 godly minister, and told him as her dying confession, 
 that she had trained her children to a nominally godly 
 life, but really had desired for them fashionable cul- 
 ture, polite manners, wealthy alliances, etc., and that 
 her heart's desire had been fulfilled but to the ruin 
 of their spirituality. Not her outward professions but 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 1 73 
 
 her inward longings had shaped their charadlers and life. 
 They grew up to be vain, beautiful, gay, and pradlically 
 godless. That clergyman declared it was the most solemn 
 confession to which he ever listened. 
 
 347 
 
 A praBical cure for skepticism. In the life of Dr. Tlem- 
 ing Stevenson we find an interesting commentary on the 
 words, ' ' If any man will do His will he shall know of the 
 dodtrine." At one time his mind was in a somewhat 
 unsettled state regarding some elements of the creed in 
 which he had been brought up, to which he clung with 
 loyal reverence. It was by plunging into pradlical 
 mission work that light was to come to him upon these 
 thorny points of theology. 
 
 This reminds us of what Shaftesbury used to say to 
 young men : 
 
 ' ' Nothing is more likely to keep you from mischief of 
 all kinds — from mischief of adlion, of speculation — from 
 every mischief that you can devise, than to be everlast- 
 ingly engaged in some great practical work of good. 
 Christianity is not a state of opinion and speculation. 
 Christianity is essentially pradtical, and I will maintain 
 this, that pradlical Christianity is the greatest curer of 
 corrupt speculative Christianity. No man, depend upon 
 it, can persist from the beginning of his life to the end of 
 it in a course of self-denial, in a course of generosity, in a 
 course of virtue, in a course of piety, and in a course of 
 prayer unless he draws from his well-spring, unless he is 
 drawing from the fountain of our I,ord Himself. There- 
 fore, I say to you again and again, let your Christianity 
 be pra£lical. ' ' 
 
1 74 Seed Thoughts lor Public Speakers 
 
 348 
 
 Lowering the standard. The unjust steward, liable to 
 be thrust out of his stewardship, curries favors with his 
 lord's debtors by reducing the face of their bills of obliga- 
 tion. What an illustration of the so-called preachers of 
 the Gospel who venture to make concessions to unbeliev- 
 ers and disbelievers and worldly-minded hearers, chang- 
 ing the terms of the Word of God and catering to the 
 demands of the carnal nature! 
 
 349 
 
 A hint on inspiration. In the palace of Belshazzar the 
 awful sentence of doom on the wall was a divine message 
 inspired and infallible, yet it was written with the fingers 
 of a man' s hand (comp. Daniel v : 5, 26-28). 
 
 350 
 
 The three advents: a key to sacred history. There are 
 three prominent events in sacred history, all of them 
 ADVENTS. I. Creation, or man's advent. 2. Incarna- 
 tion, or Christ's advent, as last Adam. 3. The second 
 coming, or the final advent of Christ. About the first — 
 the advent of man — cluster five events: The creation of 
 the world, the creation of man, the fall, the curse, the 
 promise of a Redeemer. About the first advent of Christ 
 cluster five more: Incarnation, manifestation, crucifixion, 
 resurrection, ascension, with the ascension gift of the Holy 
 Ghost. About the second coming cluster five great con- 
 summations: "Redemption,'" "Restitution," "Regenera- 
 tion," "Resurrection," "Revelation" — the Biblical terms 
 to express them. It will be seen that each advent thus 
 links itself to that which follows — the promise of a Re- 
 deemer links the first with the second, and the ascension 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 175 
 
 links the second with the last, which is the descent of 
 Christ again to earth. 
 
 351 
 
 Hints of the Trinity in the Old Testament. Rev. David 
 Baron, the converted " prince ofthe House of David," has 
 shown in his marvelous Bible expositions how the adum- 
 brations of the Trinity are found all through the Old 
 Testament, from the verse, "I^et us make man in our 
 image," in Genesis, and the plural Ehhitn, down to 
 Malachi, with the "God of Israel," the "I^rd" sud- 
 denly coming to His temple, as the ' ' Messenger of the 
 Covenant," and the " Spirit," with whom is the residue 
 or excellency. The attentive student will find hints of 
 the Triune God where he has never thought of them 
 before. Many promises are threefold — e.g., Christ's 
 promised presence (Matt, xxviii.), thte promise ofthe 
 Father, the power of the Holy Ghost. In Ivuke xv. the 
 three parabolic divisions seem to hint the three persons 
 of the Godhead — the Son as Shepherd, the Father of the 
 Prodigal, the Holy Spirit as the woman in the house 
 seeking the lost silver that belongs on the necklace of the 
 bride. And so the three-fold "verily, verily," in John 
 iii : 3, 5, II. In the first place, we observe " the king- 
 dom of God; " in the second, the birth " of the Spirit/ " 
 in the third, Christ speaks as a witness. It is curious 
 and interesting to trace the triune form in many state- 
 ments, promises, and presentations of truth. Sometimes 
 it is suggested in clusters of graces, like faith, hope, 
 charity — God as the objedl oi faith, the I/ord Jesus our 
 blessed hope, the Holy Spirit the spirit of love. 
 
I 76 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 352 
 
 Hypocrisy. In one of the paintings in the old world is 
 a suggestive pidlure of hypocrisy. A friar is seen clad 
 in canonicals, and apparently absorbed in his religious 
 devotions. We draw very near. What seemed to have 
 been a book proves to be a punch-bowl, into which the 
 clasped hands are squeezing a lemon. 
 
 353 
 
 A law of God. In God's government it is a law that 
 the things most easily obtained are the necessities of life, 
 and luxuries are more dif&cult to obtain. Things that 
 are decidedly hurtful, like alcohol, are obtained only by 
 torturing nature by a kind of malignant sorcery. 
 
 354 
 
 Human praise. The Pope of Rome has to build him- 
 self a tomb while he is alive, if he wants any, because 
 his successor may not care enough for him to build a 
 monument to his memory. 
 
 355 
 
 Eloquence. Gladstone defines eloquence as ' ' the pour- 
 ing back upon an audience in a flood of that which has 
 been first received from them in vapor." We greatly 
 need a monograph which shall set forth the true contri- 
 bution of a hearer to the eloquence of the speaker. 
 
 356 
 
 Truth. Aristotle has defined truth as " what a thing 
 is in itself, in its relations, and in the medium through 
 which it is viewed. ' ' The last condition is a very im- 
 portant one. Goethe says : ' ' When one is reading a 
 writing, it behoves him to see to it that all is clear within. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 177 
 
 In the twilight, even a clear writing is illegible. What 
 people think to be spots in the sun may really be a catar- 
 adl in the eye, or a speck on the eyeballs, or on the lens 
 of the telescope. ' ' 
 
 357 
 
 Hegel said there was only one thing his philosophy 
 would not explain, and that was Israel. For ourselves 
 we fail to find any explanation of this mystery of God's 
 ancient people except the key given in Romans xi. 
 
 Hegel also said that only one man besides himself un- 
 derstood his philosophy, and he did not. Much that pro- 
 fesses to explain Scripture needs explanation. Sermons 
 that deal in metaphysical subtleties and hair-splitting dis- 
 tinctions may gratify the preacher, but fail to edify the 
 hearer. 
 
 358 
 
 When Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster 
 Abbey, three presents were made to her: first, the Sword 
 of State; second, the Imperial Robe; and, lastly, the 
 Bible; these words accompanying the gift: "Our gra- 
 cious queen, we present you with this book, the most 
 valuable thing the world affords. Here is wisdom; this 
 is the royal law; these are the timely oracles of God. 
 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words 
 of this book; that keep and do the things contained in it. 
 For these are the words of eternal life, able to make you 
 wise and happy in this world, nay, wise unto salvation, 
 and so happy forever more, through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever. Amen." 
 Words as true as they are beautiful ! — and by few 
 monarchs have they been put to a fuller test than by the 
 royal lady to whom they were addressed. 
 
178 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 359 
 
 There are four types of religious life: i . The rational- 
 istic, in which all truth and dodlrine are submitted to the 
 reason as the supreme arbiter. 2. The ecclesiastic, in 
 which the Church is pradlically the final authority. 3. 
 The mystic, in which the ' ' inner light ' ' interprets even 
 Christian dodlrine. 4. The evangelic, in which the soul 
 bows to the authority of the inspired Word, and makes 
 the reason, the voice of the Church, and the inner in- 
 stincts and impulses subordinate, as fallible sources of 
 authority, to the one supreme tribunal of Scripture. 
 Between these four every believer must make his eledtion. 
 
 360 
 
 When Napoleon's horse ran away, and a common sol- 
 dier caught him, Napoleon said, "Thank you, captain," 
 and the man at once went to the ofiScers' quarters and sat 
 down with them at mess. Had not the emperor called 
 him "captain," and was not his place with the captains? 
 I,et us take our place with Christ. — F. B. Meyer. 
 
 361 
 
 The late Rev. James A. Spurgeon, a very acute thinker, 
 said as to infant salvation, that the figure of the Shepherd 
 carrying the lambs in His arms, while He only calls the 
 sheep to follow, was to him most instrudlive. Those who 
 die before free moral agency and voluntary sin are unable 
 to choose Christ, and are, therefore, borne by Him; but 
 those who sin voluntarily and choose to transgress must 
 voluntarily repent and follow Him as leader. 
 
 He also said that he never despaired of any man as 
 lost, however little he might know of his latter hours, 
 when he remembered the story of Jonah; when he was 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 1 79 
 
 cast over-board and swallowed by tbe great fish, one 
 would have said that he was lost, and had fallen under 
 the judgment of God. Who could foresee that in the 
 fish's belly he would repent, would be cast on the shore, 
 and yet fulfil his great commission at Nineveh ? 
 
 36:3 
 
 When Mr. Moncure D. Conway attempted to popu- 
 larize the agnostic teaching in I<ondon, the results were 
 summarized by a club man who ventured into the chapel 
 on a Sunday afternoon and said that he found ' ' three 
 persons and no God." 
 
 363 
 
 What a grand epic might yet be written on the marvels 
 of missions ! What a theme to be woven into the golden 
 web of the poet's loom — the wondrous transformations of 
 the individual and society under the power of the Gospel 
 of Christ and the Holy Spirit of God! Religion has 
 always given to the fine arts their noblest inspiration. It 
 remains for the poet of the future to tell in verse the story 
 of the "Stone Cut out without Hands." 
 
 364 
 
 Church finances . A pastor should not be unnecessarily 
 mixed up with the finances of his church. Professor 
 Graham Taylor, of Chicago, was once told that he 
 would better ' ' look after his subscription list. " "I am 
 not the pastor of a subscription list, ' ' he quaintly replied. 
 
 365 
 
 The unseen and eternal. It is told of Henry IV. that 
 he asked the Duke of Alva if he had noticed a recent 
 eclipse. He replied that he had so much to do on earth 
 that he had no time to look up to heaven. 
 
i8o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 366 
 
 Balzac's ' ' Peau de Chagrin ' ' is founded on the myth of 
 the magic skin. A young man becomes possessor of a 
 magic skin, the pecuHarity of which is that, while it 
 gratifies every wish formed by its possessor, it shrinks in 
 all its dimensions each time a wish is gpratified. He 
 makes every effort to find the cause of its shrinking, 
 invokes the aid of the physicist, chemist, student of 
 natural history, all in vain. He draws a red line around 
 it. That same day he indulges a longing for a certain 
 objedt. The next morning there is a little interval 
 between the red line and the skin close to which it was 
 traced. So always inevitably, as he lives on, satisfying 
 one desire or passion after another, the shrinking process 
 continues. A mortal disease sets in which keeps pace 
 with the shrinking skin, and his life and its talisman come 
 to an end together. What a fable to illustrate the moral 
 atrophy of self-indulgence! 
 
 367 
 
 Taking glory to ourselves is like plucking the ripe fruit 
 to carry to the Master, and picking off" on the way the 
 best grapes of the cluster. 
 
 368 
 
 Sydney Smith sneered at the early advocates of mis- 
 sions as ' ' apostates of the loom and the anvil. ' ' He put 
 Carey and such as he in the pillory and then hurled at 
 them the mockery of a pitiless ridicule. To-day the 
 Church, and the world, too, bows in homage before the 
 name and memory of these humble workingmen who left 
 the shoemaker's bench, the weaver's loom, the black- 
 smith's forge, the shepherd's calling like the primitive 
 apostles, called from the lakeside and the tax-coUedlor's 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers i8i 
 
 bench, to undertake a world's evangelization. The 
 apostates of the anvil and the loom have become the 
 apostles of a new and grand era of world-wide missions, 
 and Sydney Smith is now in the pillory. The retribu- 
 tions of history are sometimes very rapid, and the 
 Nemesis of Providence has a scourge of scorpion stings. 
 
 369 
 
 The drift of the age is toward naturalism and material- 
 ism. To drop out the Divine fadtor from history is to 
 imperil the very existence of the community. Atheism 
 in philosophy begets anarchism in society. So long as 
 men believe God is in history, they have a motive to bear 
 patiently wrongs that He will right, either here or here- 
 after; but, if human history is the result of purely human 
 forces, then the only hope of the oppressed is to under- 
 take revolution, for men must right their own wrongs. 
 Hence come anarchists, communists, nihilists, as the legit- 
 imate fruit of denying God. Why should right be for- 
 ever on the scaffold and wrong forever on the throne, 
 unless we believe that that scaffold does sway the future 
 and that God is keeping watch above all things, and will 
 adjust conflidling elements and bring cosmos out of chaos? 
 If God is not going to rectify matters, man must under- 
 take to redtify them for himself. 
 
 370 
 
 Dr. Robert Moffat and the Hottentots. When this 
 pioneer advanced toward the heart of Africa, among 
 those who had never seen a cart-wheel or a steam-engine, 
 his ox-wagon and tea-kettle attradled no little attention. 
 Dr. Moffat told them that in his country long pieces of 
 iron were laid down and on them many ox-wagons were 
 drawn by a big tea-kettle; and when he set up his magic 
 lantern screen and showed them the train of cars on the 
 
1 82 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 lantern slide, they cried out: "See the ox- wagons and 
 tea-kettle ! ' ' When Dr. Moffat brought to England the 
 son of a chief, and he first rode in a steam-carriage on a 
 railway, he said: " Doctor, this is the ox- wagon and big 
 tea-kettle ! ' ' This is a fine illustration of the fadl that, 
 when God seeks to convey to us a knowledge of things 
 beyond our experience or present capacity to understand, 
 He must draw His terms from our limited experience; 
 but we must not suppose those terms to express the exadt 
 fadls, but only so much as our imperfedl language can 
 convey, or our limited intelligence receive. — Rev. James 
 A. Spurgeon. 
 
 371 
 What we do not know. It is well to ascertain the limits 
 and boundaries of our knowledge. A man had a blind 
 horse which he put into a pasture lot bounded by a brick 
 "wall and a ditch. The horse walked one way till he hit 
 the stone wall with his head, then the other way, till he 
 found himself in the ditch; but, henceforth, while he was 
 in that pasture lot, he understood his own limitations, 
 and never again did butt his head against the wall or 
 flounder in the mire of the ditch. — Rev. James A. 
 Spurgeon. 
 
 372 
 Selfishness seeks inlets and limits, but never outlets. 
 I^ove seeks outlets, but is strangely indifferent to inlets 
 and limits; it is self -abandoning, more eager to give than 
 to receive, and knowing no limits but opportunity and 
 capacity. 
 
 373 
 The power of prayer. There is a newspaper office in 
 London, which from its upper story communicates by 
 two telegraphic wires with an office in Edinburgh, in 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 183 
 
 order to secure the latest Scottish news. Two operators 
 inhabited this part of the structure. One night one of 
 them was detained out until an unseasonable hour, and 
 could not make his companion hear his knock, or ring, 
 or call. He stepped to a neighboring telegraph office, 
 and sent a message to Edinburgh, and by way of Edin- 
 burgh reached the office in the top of the building, so 
 that by sending a message through Edinburgh he soon 
 reached his companion in the top story of the house. It 
 is said that during the great blizzard in America, parties 
 in Philadelphia, who desired to communicate with Boston, 
 sent a cablegram to lyondon, and by way of London 
 reached parties in Boston. These are good illustrations 
 of the fadl that difficulties which are not removable by 
 human power may be removed by way of an appeal to 
 the throne of grace, a fadl which has often been exempli- 
 fied in the history both of individuals and of nations. 
 
 3T4 
 
 Drink and missions. "More money," says Miss Ger- 
 aldine Guinness, ' ' is expended on drink in one day in 
 England than on missions to the Chinese in five years." 
 It shows the average amount of money given by modem 
 Christians for the support of missionary effort that 2,000 
 people, giving one penny a day, or two cents, might sup- 
 ply the entire amount of money last year expended by 
 one of the great missionary societies of England. 
 
 375 
 
 Zaccheus (I,uke xix. ) is a fine illustration of a model 
 convert. On the day on which salvation came to his 
 house, because of his belief in Jesus, he performed two 
 signal adls. First, an a<5l of justice, restoring fourfold in 
 every case in which he had wrongfully taken by false 
 
184 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 accusation from any man; and, secondly, an adl of gener- 
 osity by which he gave out and out one-half of all his 
 goods to the poor, inasmuch as publicans, and especially 
 the chief of the publicans, were prone under the system 
 of farming out taxes to colledt all they could get from the 
 oppressed people subjecft to a foreign yoke. No one can 
 tell how large a portion of the remaining half was ex- 
 pended in adts of restitution. What would the Church 
 not give for a few converts like Zaccheus, who would 
 begin by restoring everything that was wrongfully appro- 
 priated, and restoring fourfold; and who in addition to 
 this would give absolutely to the purposes of benevolence 
 one-half of all their goods! 
 
 376 
 
 The Scriptural teaching of life and death. I saw a pic- 
 ture in the South Kensington Museum, I^ondon, which 
 greatly moved me. " Truly it is a great scene of world- 
 history, this in old Whitehall, Oliver Cromwell drawing 
 nigh to his end. He died, this hero Oliver, in resigna- 
 tion to God, as the brave have all done." So writes 
 Thomas Carlyle of the death of the greatest man of Eng- 
 lish history. It was the pidture of this death I saw. 
 Most significant to me the management of the pidture. 
 The whole room was dim with shadows — shadows cur- 
 taining the bed, shadows falling on the face of Cromwell's 
 daughter standing by the bedside, shadows everywhere, 
 except in one place; and that place the Bible, lying on 
 the hero's breast, and over which his hands were clasped, 
 and the light focussing itself there flashing upward and 
 irradiating the hero's face. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 185 
 
 377 
 
 The short sword. Dr. Holmes says of the Romans that 
 they conquered the world with the short sword, and lost 
 it when they adopted the long sword — that is to say, they 
 were invincible when they went to meet their enemy, 
 and closed with him hand to hand; they were vanquished 
 when they stayed behind their fixed defences and awaited 
 their foes' assault. Our policy must be the policy of the 
 short sword. May we not apply this to the Saxon 
 tongue ? Is it not the short sharp sword of Saxon utter- 
 ance by which the greatest conquests are made in public 
 oratory ? 
 
 378 
 
 An infidel said, "David was a man after God's own 
 heart. Was he ? And yet a pretty specimen of God's 
 man! An adulterer, liar, and murderer." "You are a 
 proof of the truth of God's Word," quietly answered the 
 disciple to whom these words were addressed; "for the 
 Bible says that Nathan told David, ' By this deed thou 
 hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blas- 
 pheme ! ' " 
 
 379 
 
 The three reasons which a good woman presented for 
 objedling to a preacher were striking ones. She said 
 that, in the first place, he read his sermon; in the second, 
 he did not read it well; and in the third place, it was not 
 worth reading. 
 
 380 
 
 The words "right," "reaitude," "eredtness," 
 "straight," are mathematical words applied to moral 
 subjecfts. They are singularly expressive. What is a 
 right course but one that makes a right angle with duty; 
 what is an eredt man but one who has no bends and twists 
 
i86 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 in charadler, and leans toward no wrong; and what is a 
 straight path but the shortest way, the most diredt road 
 between life's true starting-point and goal ? 
 
 381 
 
 To all sermon-makers one great maxim may be given: 
 cultivate the homiletic habit; accustom yourself to the con- 
 strudlion of sermon outlines; study analysis and synthe- 
 sis; learn by patient study and pradlice to find out what 
 is in a text, to mark every suggestion which it contains, 
 and to arrange these suggestions in symmetrical and 
 effedlive order. 
 
 A second maxim, scarcely less important, is, cultivate 
 the pra5lical habit, have a pradlical end in view always, 
 and let everything bend to that result. Dr. Candlish 
 said of a sermon which was submitted to his criticism: 
 ' ' This discourse consists of an introduction which might 
 have been spared, a second part which does not deal with 
 the text, and a conclusion which concludes nothing ' ' — 
 except, we suppose, the discourse. Contrast with this 
 the solemn testimony of Robertson of Irvine, who wrote: 
 ' ' On looking back on my ministry I can not charge myself 
 with ever having uttered in the pulpit one word I did not 
 believe; and I never spoke frivolously. If I were to 
 express in one word what has been the great aim of my 
 ministry, it would be this: to lead all the human race to 
 cry, ' O I^amb of God, have mercy upon us! ' " 
 
 Still a third maxim belongs with the other two: culti- 
 vate the methodical habit. There are manifest advantages 
 of method in all work that is to be thoroughly done, and 
 sermon preparation's certainly no exception. To hus- 
 band material, to classify and arrange it so as to be avail- 
 able, and to bring forth the treasure when the need arises 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 187 
 
 for its use — this is no small part of the secret of the 
 preacher. 
 
 But above all would we say, cultivate the prayerful 
 habit; for all true insight into the truth and power in its 
 use and application depend on Divine help. 
 
 Socrates and his servant. A story is told, not, perhaps, 
 historically trustworthy, about the servant giving himself 
 to his master on his birthday, and the master loading his 
 faithful servant with presents, and saying, ' ' Now I give 
 thee back thyself richer than before. ' ' Then the servant 
 replied, ' ' But now, my master, I am more than ever thy 
 servant still." That is an illustration of the "free 
 spirit." (Ps. li.) 
 
 383 
 
 An adlual case of judicial death occurred in this coun- 
 try. A man sentenced to be hung was not hung, the 
 sherifE misunderstanding the order, and so the day 
 passed. The court was consulted as to the course to be 
 pursued, and the judge decided: " That man is unknown 
 to the court; he is to the court an executed felon ! ' ' 
 
 384 
 
 A friend once asked an aged man what caused 
 him so often to complain of pain and weariness in the 
 evening. ' 'Alas ! ' ' said he, ' ' I have every day so much 
 to do. I have two falcons to tame, two hares to keep 
 from running away, two hawks to manage, a ser- 
 pent to confine, a lion to chain, and a sick man to tend 
 and wait upon." "Why, you must be joking," said his 
 friend; "surely no man can have these things to do at 
 once." "Indeed,! am not joking," said the old man. 
 
1 88 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 "but what I have told you is the sad, sober truth; for 
 the two falcons are my two eyes, which I must diligently 
 guard; the two hares are my feet, which I must keep 
 from walking in the ways of sin; the two hawks are my 
 two hands, which I must train to work, that I may be 
 able to provide for myself and for my brethren in need; 
 the serpent is my tongue, which I must always bridle, 
 lest it speak unseemly; the lion is my heart, with which 
 I have a continued fight, lest evil things come out of it; 
 and the sick man is my whole body, which is always 
 needing my watchfulness and care. All this daily wears 
 out my strength." 
 
 385 
 
 The facilities for modem missionary work — the the- 
 ology of inventions. Gladstone's statement that the first 
 fifty years of the present century eclipse all the centuries 
 preceding in human progress is no exaggeration. Con- 
 sider the triumphs of astronomical science in the perfec- 
 tion of the telescope and the invention of the spedlro- 
 scope and in sidereal photography. Consider micro- 
 scopic science and its present perfedlion and utility, the 
 advance in medicine and surgery, and especially in the 
 case of anaesthetics, in the science and art of mining and 
 the invention of giant explosives, such as nitro-glycerine, 
 dynamite, giant powder; the perfedlion of photography 
 and kindred methods of producing pidlures by the aid of 
 sunlight. Consider eledlricity as a motor, messenger, 
 and illuminator, unknown one hundred years ago; aniline 
 colors, the telegraph, the telephone, the phonograph, the 
 steam-engine, the steam printing-press, the sewing- 
 machine and the typewriter, the postal union, and the 
 wide world communication. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 189 
 
 386 
 
 There is danger even in civilization which is not per- 
 meated by Christianity. I have somewhere met with 
 an argument on the development of personal independ- 
 ence and individual liberty from the decline of feudalism 
 to the period of the French Revolution, in which the 
 position was asserted and maintained that altho feudalism 
 broke up the petty tyrannies of Europe, the final result 
 had been that liberty, equality, fraternity, the motto of the 
 French Revolution, represented license, socialism, and 
 skepticism, the swinging to the extreme of independence 
 of all restraints of law, and faith, and conscience. The 
 Church is not a development of humanity, but a new 
 creation of God; and if we want to develop a high order 
 of civilization we must lay Christianity as its basis — the 
 Church beneath the State rather than the State beneath 
 the Church. 
 
 387 
 
 A flight of locusts. Mr. G. T. Carruthers has de- 
 scribed a flight of locusts, first seen crossing the sun's 
 disk in a dense white flocculent mass, traveling northeast 
 at the rate of 1 2 miles an hour. The steamship Golconda 
 was traveling at the rate of 13 miles an hour, and esti- 
 mating the length and breadth of the swarm 48 miles, 
 its thickness half a mile, its density 144 locusts to a cubic 
 foot, and the weight of each locust one-sixteenth of an 
 ounce, then it would have covered an area of 2,304 
 square miles; and that ship of 6,000 tons burden would 
 have had to make 7,000,000 voyages to carry this great 
 host of locusts. The locusts were of a red color and 
 about 2}^ inches long. 
 
I go Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 3S8 
 
 Heathen liberality. Among the obje<5ls of most strik- 
 ing interest which the traveler sees in the ancient city of 
 Kioto, Japan, are the temples of Hon-gwan-ji — "Kast- 
 ern" and "Western," so called. One of these temples 
 is quite new, in fadt, it is not yet completed. To those 
 sanguine souls who are inclined to think that the force of 
 idolatry in Japan is spent, that idolatrous shrines gener- 
 ally are in the last stages of decay, and that no more will 
 be built, we commend a few fadts concerning the present 
 building of this new Hon-gwan-ji strudlure. It is built 
 entirely from the free-will offerings of the people of the 
 Buddhist sedl which it represents, from all parts of the 
 empire. These contributions are of costly jewels, metals, 
 woods for the building, human hair, and money without 
 stint. 
 
 On one of the platforms of the temple are twenty-four 
 coils of rope from three to four inches in diameter, made 
 of this human hair. Attached to one of the coils is a 
 placard with this inscription: 
 
 " Since the thirteenth year of Meiji (1800), when the 
 rebuilding of the two halls of the Eastern Hon-gwan-ji 
 was begun, the faithful laymen and laywomen of every 
 place have been unanimous in presenting to the principal 
 temple, Hon-gwan-ji, strong ropes made of their own 
 hair, to be used for the work of eredtion. The number 
 of these ropes reached fifty-three. Twenty-nine of them 
 became worthless from use. The total length of the re- 
 maining twenty- four is 4,528 feet, and the total weight, 
 11,567 pounds." 
 
 Besides these ropes were several large coils of hair, 
 several of them gray, the gifts of the aged, which came 
 in too late to admit of being used. The total cost of this 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 191 
 
 temple is to reach the enormous sum of $11,000,000. 
 The offerings of devotees in Kioto, apart from gifts for 
 eredting the temple, to these two shrines, during the 
 year 1889, amounted to the sum of $367,000, Mexican. 
 
 389 
 
 Gordon. Mrs. Charles says of Charles George Gordon: 
 ' ' Not that he tries to renounce the poor prizes of this 
 world; like Joan of Arc, he simply does not value them. ' ' 
 Prince Kung visited Sir Frederick Bruce, the Minister of 
 China, when Gordon was coming home after putting down 
 the Taiping rebellion, and said, ' ' We do not know what 
 to do. Gordon won't take money from us, and we have 
 already given him every honor the empire can bestow; 
 but as these have little weight with him, I have come to 
 ask you to give this letter to the Queen, for her to bestow 
 upon him something which will be valuable in his eyes. ' ' 
 But the queen could do no more than the emperor. Gor- 
 don hated demonstrations, despised money, fled from the 
 praise of men, or valued these things rather only as the 
 current coin of the country he had lived in to purchase 
 the eternal things he did value — to do the will of God 
 and to serve and succor the weak. He could not care 
 for its rewards or notices. He belonged not to a con- 
 ventional society, but his citizenship was in keaven. 
 
 390 
 
 The Protestant has always said, ' ' The Word of God is 
 my infallible guide; and to that all questions of dodlrine 
 and duty shall be referred." The Romanist says, "The 
 Church is my infallible guide. I do not go to the Word 
 of God to find dodlrine and duty, but to the Church, and 
 to the Word of God for the confirmation of what the Church 
 says; and the Pope, as the head of the Church, is my 
 
192 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 infallible guide. ' ' Hence the Romanist consistently for- 
 bids an ordinary man to read the Bible, because he might 
 make a mistake in interpreting it; he must let the Church 
 interpret the Word of God for him. This reminds one 
 of the boy in Ireland whom the priest found with a New 
 Testament, and to whom he said, " My boy, it is not 
 proper for you to read the New Testament; you are a 
 babe in Christ, which loves the milk of the Word, but 
 takes the milk of the Word as it is given to you by the 
 Church. Therefore, give me your New Testament, and 
 come to me for guidance." " But, sir," said the boy, 
 ' '/ would rather kape the cow myself. ' ' 
 
 391 
 
 God alone the author of life. A noted scientist has de- 
 clared that by the next ten years the chemical laboratory 
 will be able to produce the identical alkaloids of nature, 
 such as lime, potash, soda, ammonia, etc., bearing all 
 the charadleristics in their artificial nature, so to speak, 
 essential to producing a productive soil. This will cer- 
 tainly be a great achievement. But let it be remembered, 
 there can be no soil produdliveness without a seed germ 
 planted in it; and, after all, the secret of the seed's life, 
 the one element which alone can prove produdtiveness, 
 will still be as impossible of imitation as it ever has been. 
 God alone knows that secret, and He alone knows how 
 to store it; and only He will impart or will not impart 
 that secret to the chemist. 
 
 God' s greatness, man'' s littleness. One of the most im- 
 portant things to the chemical analyst is to secure the 
 accurate weight of atoms which he may be examining 
 in the course of experimentation. While man thus 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 193 
 
 weighs atoms God has already ' ' weighed the mountains 
 in scales and the hills in a balance." (See Isa. xl.) 
 
 393 
 
 ' 'Against that day. ' ' All the oxygen breathed into our 
 lungs is not at once expended again. By the complex 
 processes of our human system no remotest corner of the 
 body but is supplied with this element of the air against 
 such uses as may require it throughout a future more or 
 less extended. Vigor of body, vigor of mind, vigor of 
 soul, are but other expressions to denote the sum of ener- 
 gies which are in reserve in the respedlive realms of the 
 physical, the mental, and the spiritual. Christianity's 
 power, even at present, it is not possible to estimate, and 
 never will be known unless we can know the reserve of 
 .yow/ which God's heavenly grace has stored in His chil- 
 dren's hearts. In [the final conflidl between good and 
 evil this reserve will doubtless be called upon. Thus 
 against that day let ns preserve and reserve His grace. 
 
 394 
 
 Heredity. Heredity has been largely explained and 
 understood through certain recent achievements of science, 
 which are too full of detail for treatment here. Suffice 
 it to quote the formulation of Weismann: " Heredity is 
 brought about by the transference from one generation to 
 another of a substance with a definite constitution." 
 What the substance, or how transmitted, can not be ex- 
 plained, because, as Weismann further says, ' ' a trans- 
 mitted substance must be immortal to a distindl degree, 
 and an immortal, unalterable living substance does not 
 exist, but only immortal forms of adtivity of organized 
 matter." 
 
194 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers. 
 
 395 
 
 All things become new. Professor Bailey, of Cornell 
 University, has said: " It is commonly supposed that as 
 quality in cultivated fruits increases, various other char- 
 adlers, as size, color, and vigor of plant, decrease. On 
 the contrary, there is a general increase in all charac- 
 ters as amelioration progresses, at least in all characters 
 which are particularly sought by fruit culturists; and this 
 fadl must ever remain the chief inspiration to man in the 
 amelioration of plants." Thus let the quality of Divine 
 grace increase in the heart, and human virtues are ame- 
 liorated and increased likewise, not decreased. 
 
 396 
 
 Adaptation. The " rose " of the poet, that "wastes its 
 sweetness on the desert air, ' ' succeeds in doing so only 
 because it is capable of adapting itself to its barren envi- 
 ronment to the best advantage possible. Recent science 
 presents an interesting study of this adaptation of plants 
 and flowers to their environment, however unpromising 
 it may prove to be. 
 
 397 
 
 The Archbishop of York said, in a late speech in 
 lyondon, that ' ' destroying the supernatural was destroy- 
 ing the center " — that is, of all faith, of all religion. He 
 charges a class of scientific men and rationalistic critics 
 with doing this destructive work, not by bold assault, 
 diredl and positive, but by ' ' working in from the peri- 
 phery ' ' toward the center, with the intent and hope of 
 overturning the supernatural altogether in the end. De- 
 fenders of the faith, therefore, may as well join at once, 
 and not wait while the sappers and miners are advancing 
 toward the foundation of the great Christian strudture, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 195 
 
 but meet all opposers at the gateway; the citadel within 
 will rest in quietness and safety. 
 
 398 
 
 "The devil is an everlasting No," as Goethe says 
 in "Faust," "the spirit of negation," that, and noth- 
 ing more. Man is satisfied when he is asserting and 
 confirming, not when he is contradi<5ling and denying, for 
 even a child glows with greater pleasure if he can only 
 construdt something than when he indulges in mere des- 
 trudlion. " In a few years the destrudlionist critics will 
 be all pensioned off, but not on any annuity better than 
 that of contemptuous oblivion." 
 
 399 
 
 Rev. H. A. Stimson, D.D., says: "Some years ago a 
 prominent man of science, then residing in Brooklyn, 
 long an attendant, and, if I mistake not, a member of the 
 church of which Dr. Abbott was pastor, read a paper 
 on evolution before a ministerial association. Silence fol- 
 lowed, one and another declining to speak. At last a 
 prominent minister, very earnest and successful in win- 
 ning souls, was urgently called upon to reply. He arose 
 and said he would like answers from the essayist to three 
 simple questions : ' According to his scheme of the uni- 
 verse, was there anyplace for the incarnation, as a Divine 
 life, coming into earthly life from without? Was there 
 any place for the new birth as a supernatural change ? 
 Was there any place for the dodtrine of the Holy Ghost ? ' 
 He sat down. The essayist arose and said : ' Such ques- 
 tions show the folly of a scientific man attempting to dis- 
 cuss truths before ministers.' That was all, and the 
 meeting broke up. I may be exposing myself to a like 
 rebuke, but I beg to remark that these questions will con- 
 
196 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 tinue to be put in the face of ' unity ' and ' dualism ' and 
 ' evolution ' alike, and I have a strong convidtion that our 
 Congregational churches will decline to accept any scheme 
 of philosophy or of faith which proposes to answer them 
 in the fashion above described. ' ' 
 
 400 
 
 Of Martin I^uther, the Pope's ambassador, who came 
 offering bribes for his return to the bosom of a corrupt 
 church, exclaimed in disappointment, "That German 
 beast does not care for gold ! ' ' 
 
 401 
 
 The study of astrology is strangely being revived even 
 in the closing years of the nineteenth century. It seems 
 incredible, but it is true, that a system which determines 
 charadter by the date of birth, the position of the moon 
 and planets among the zodiacal signs, can get a hold upon 
 sensible (?) people. For instance, one of these books 
 on solar biology gives a description of each type of 
 charadter as connedted with a certain day of the month, 
 etc. It is so construdted that it might adroitly answer 
 to almost any personality, like a heathen oracle, adjust- 
 able to any issue of events. For example, " There will 
 be in such a character a tendency to morbid anxiety, a 
 disinclination to new ventures, adlivity and perseverance 
 in pursuing a purpose, a lack of confidence in ability, and 
 a liability to disease from melancholy and fear ; dyspepsia 
 and spleen must be cared for, and such have need of cul- 
 tivating a hopeful, cheerful temper. ' ' 
 
 Such description would be applicable to seven persons 
 out often. Any one who feels anxious about the future, 
 naturally avoids risks, has times of depression, and needs 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 197 
 
 more hopefulness, and would therefore feel this outline 
 to be applicable to his own case. 
 
 402 
 
 ' ' As doves to their windows. ' ' The instindl; if it be 
 such, which leads the dove to return to its home from a 
 distance, has ofttimes proved its serviceableness to man. 
 It is a striking fadl, however, that the beautiful creature 
 possessing this instindl should now be transformed from 
 a messenger of peace into one of war. Most of the gov- 
 ernments of Europe have adopted a regular system of 
 training so-called homing pigeons for military purposes, 
 England alone, of all the great powers, having negledled 
 it. It is an occasion of congratulation that the more 
 perfedt the preparations for war, the more probable the 
 continuance of peace; so that the dove may after all 
 prove itself, by the very faculties that render it service- 
 able for military purposes, an agent of the Divine Peace- 
 maker, who assumed its form in His descent upon the 
 Prince of Peace. 
 
 403 
 
 The peculiarity of man is the "image," after the 
 ' ' likeness, ' ' of God. That image and likeness is mani- 
 fold. It consists of independence, intelligence, con- 
 science, spirituality, reason, volition. Whatever resem- 
 blances exist between man and lower animals, we can 
 not but observe great dissimilarities. Instindl is fully 
 developed at the outset, and incapable of essential im- 
 provement. The bird, and beaver, and bee have never 
 improved upon the first nests, dams, cells. Man's capa- 
 city of improvement has no assignable limits. In man 
 conscience seems to be a native faculty; in animals, any 
 moral sense seems the result of education, and mostly of 
 
1 98 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the remembrance of former rebukes and corredlions. 
 Man is the only animal capable of proper dominion. With 
 other animals mastery is that of brute force; with man, 
 of brain force and capacity to command. 
 
 404 
 
 Hartley Coleridge, the son of the great Samuel Taylor 
 Coleridge, and inheriting from his great father the moral 
 blight of a weakened and vicious will, and giving him- 
 self over into the grip of the destroying appetite for 
 drink — Hartley Coleridge wrote in his later years these 
 sad and pathetic lines on the fly-leaf of his Bible: 
 
 When I received this volume small. 
 
 My years were barely seventeen, 
 When it was hoped I should be all 
 
 Which once, alas! I might have been. 
 
 And now ray years are thirty-five; 
 
 And every mother hopes her lamb. 
 And every happy child alive, 
 
 May never be what now I am. 
 
 Oh, do not be untrue to your mother's hopes, as Hart- 
 ley Coleridge confessed himself to be! 
 
 405 
 
 Do you remember Wordsworth's poem of "Laod- 
 amia ? ' ' The oracle had said that the Greeks could not 
 conquer the Trojans except the chief of some ship of 
 Greece, pushing itself boldly up upon the Trojan shore, 
 should be the first to suffer death. The husband of 
 I^aodamia determined to be the chief who, grounding his 
 vessel's keel the first upon the Trojan strand, should 
 meet death first, and so open the gates for the Grecian 
 vidlory. After his death, the husband of I<aodamia, by 
 the permission of the gods, revisits his wife to tell het 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 199 
 
 the story of his death. And the poem is the recital to 
 her of how he purposed to do the noble deed; but for 
 love of life and for love of her was full of hesitation, and 
 on the edge of it and yet not doing it. And in two lines 
 the poet tells the necessary story of every noble life : 
 
 Old frailties then recurred; but lofty thought 
 In act embodied my deliverance wrought. 
 
 Ah, that was the secret of it — that must be the secret 
 for every noble life and deed; notwithstanding frailties, 
 getting lofty thought in adt embodied.* Thus, with 
 truth to your ideals, war the good warfare. 
 
 406 
 
 Idolatry. If the testimony of history affirms anything, 
 it is that ancient Babylon was the first great imperial 
 stronghold of idolatrous polytheism. Herodotus affirms 
 that this tower was not only finished but became the 
 central temple of Chaldean idolatry; and even if the 
 Temple of Belus be not this tower, there seems to be a 
 consensus of opinion that the Tower of Babel furnished 
 the suggestion and pattern of those that followed it. 
 
 Various uses have been suggested for this tower at 
 Babel, as astronomical observation, sleeping-chambers for 
 chief priests, etc. But it is known that astrology and 
 idolatry were from remote ages inseparably connedled 
 among the Chaldeans. The Magians naturally were a 
 religious caste under Zoroaster, as the worship of the 
 sun would of course connedt the observation of the 
 heavens with religious worship, etc. 
 
 ♦ From a book, " Gleams from Paurs Prison." 
 
200 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 407 
 
 On the point of faith's committal to God, Russell 
 Sturgis has told a very beautiful story in illustration. A 
 party of visitors at the national mint were told by a 
 workman in the smel ting-works that if the hand be dipped 
 in water the ladle of molten metal might pour its contents 
 over the palm without burning it. A gentleman and his 
 wife heard the statement. ' ' Perhaps you would like to 
 try it?" said the workman. The gentleman said, 
 shrinking back, "No, thank you. I prefer to accept 
 your word for it! " Then turning to the lady, he said: 
 ' ' Perhaps, madame, you would make the experiment. ' ' 
 "Certainly," she replied; and suiting the action to the 
 word, she bared her arm and thrust her hand into a 
 bucket of water, and calmly held it out while the metal 
 was poured over it. Turning to the man, the work- 
 man quietly said: " You, sir, it may be, believed; but youf 
 wife trusted." 
 
 How long shall we be in learning that in all true faith 
 there is this element of entrustment — v&aXxire:, committal ? 
 
 ' ' I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded 
 that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto 
 Him." 
 
 408 
 
 ' 'Behold the fowls of the air . . . your heavenly father 
 feedeth them." (Matt. vi. : 26.) A new illustration of 
 God's care of the birds is furnished by a recent inter- 
 esting occurrence at the French Museum of Natural 
 History. A specimen of the rare Apteryx, a struthi- 
 ous bird of New Zealand, was brought alive to the 
 museum and most carefully provided for. It was 
 placed in a warm room and fed with specially pre- 
 pared food, for it was generally supposed that this 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 201 
 
 rara avis could not endure the climate easily, nor be 
 able to subsist upon the usual food given other birds. 
 Great was the consternation, therefore, when one day the 
 much prized Apteryx disappeared. The whole museum 
 force turned out for the search and scoured the entire 
 Jardin des Plantes, but without success. The winter, 
 then coming rapidly on, had almost passed by before, on 
 a bleak March morning, a dog belonging to the museum 
 happened to smell out the bird's retreat. It had taken 
 up its abode in a new building not far from the museum, 
 securely housed in a ventilating-hole in the cellar wall. 
 It must have lived on whatever it happened to find, 
 enduring all the changes of winter weather, since the 
 building had not been thrown open for occupancy. The 
 curator of the museum reports that the bird had never 
 been in better condition, despite its long and rigorous 
 outing. 
 
 A description of this bird shows that it, equally with 
 all other birds God has made, can most easily provide for 
 itself, and in its native haunts has no difficulty in doing so. 
 
 The natives call it Kiwi-Kiwi, from its peculiar cry. 
 It belongs to the family famous for the emu, the ostrich, 
 and the now extin<5l dodo. Its beak and claws are large 
 and powerful, and as it has no power of flight to speak of, 
 its plumage is loose. As early as 181 2 Shaw pronounced 
 this bird extindl. Only one stuffed specimen was in the 
 possession of scientists, and that hardly satisfactory; but 
 about twenty -five years later, several of these birds were 
 found and placed on exhibition in I,ondon. 
 
 The birds' feeding-ground is usually in regions covered 
 with fern, where their favorite food consists of snails, 
 insedls, and various kinds of larvse. 
 
 They are swift runners and can readily defend them- 
 selves at close range with their rather formidable-looking 
 
202 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 feet. The natives prize the bird for its strong skin, of 
 which they make dresses. 
 
 409 
 
 Prebendary Webb-Peploe, of I^ondon, and Rev. Andrew 
 Murray, ofWellington, South Africa, when at the North- 
 field conferences, made a very profound impression. We 
 culled some of the gems from their addresses for our 
 readers. 
 
 On one occasion, learning that a very ignorant and bad 
 man had been converted at one of his services, and was 
 dying, Mr. Peploe at his bedside inquired what words of 
 his had been the means of his turning to God. The 
 answer was, " Well, you remember, sir, when that organ 
 squeaked and you couldn't work it, you said, ' We will 
 sing, without the organ, " Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me," ' 
 and how you did bellow that tune, and it just went 
 bang through me, and I was convarted ! ' ' 
 
 On another occasion he confronted, at night, on the 
 doorstep of a vicarage, a woman who had been much im- 
 pressed at a meeting, but was in search of more light. 
 She had heard of the power of God to enable her to tri- 
 umph over sin and have vidtory, but when he asked her 
 whether she had been able so to lay hold of Christ as to 
 get the adlual viAory, she answered that she was "a 
 peculiar person, that her circumstances and temptations 
 were so very, very peculiar, that she could not expedt 
 such overcoming power." "Well," said Mr. Peploe, 
 "suppose you tell God so." Whereupon he didlated a 
 prayer to God, asking her to follow him: "O God, I 
 thank Thee for all Thy promises of overcoming power in 
 Christ; but my circumstances and temptations are so 
 very, very peculiar that I find them too strong for Christ 
 to help me. I am sorry He is not stronger to meet my 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 203 
 
 case, but my case is so very, very peculiar I can not ex- 
 pedl to find His help sufficient." " Why do you not say 
 this after me ? ' ' inquired Mr. Peploe. ' ' Why that is 
 rank blasphemy," she answered. "Just so," said he, 
 ' ' but this is only your thoughts put into words, and why 
 is it worse to say this to God than to think it of Him ? 
 Now let us, ' ' he added, ' ' try another approach to God : 
 ' O God, I thank Thee for all Thy promises in Christ of 
 overcoming power, and that, tho I am a peculiar person, 
 and my circumstances are very, very peculiar, and my 
 temptations very, very peculiar. Thy grace is very, very 
 peculiar, and abundant to meet my very, very peculiar 
 needs, and very, very peculiar difficulties, in a very, very 
 peculiar degree. ' ' ' She saw the truth, embraced it, and 
 went away rejoicing in God. 
 
 410 
 
 Whenever you return to your old sins renounced in 
 Christ, or compromised with the world you have forsaken 
 for Him, it is like the children of Israel reaching across 
 the Red Sea to shake hands with the Egyptians — nay, to 
 revive their dead foes, and return to their broken bond- 
 age. Every disciple that goes back to his old carnal in- 
 dulgences and gives advantage to the flesh, shakes hands 
 with sin across Christ's grave. How shall we that are 
 dead to sin live any longer therein ? 
 
 411 
 
 Psalm Ixii. : 5 reads in the Dutch version: ' ' My soul, be 
 thou silent before God; for all my expe<ftation is from 
 Him." And Andrew Murray says the most important 
 exercise in prayer is keeping silence before God, waiting 
 for the revelation and impression of His presence — before 
 a single word is spoken in supplication. 
 
204 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 When a man is ledluring and desires to use a map or 
 any chart for illustration, he uses a pointer; but his audi- 
 tors do not look at the pointer, but at the places indi- 
 cated on the map, or the figures and forms on the chart, 
 tho the pointer be of solid gold. And the Bible is a 
 pointer, diredting attention to God. 
 
 413 
 
 When William IV. of England woke on June 18, 1837, 
 he remembered that it was the anniversary of the battle 
 of Waterloo. He was a dying man, but expressed a wish 
 to live through that memorable day, and called for the 
 flag that the Iron Duke always sent him on that anni- 
 versary. He laid his hand on the eagle which adorned 
 the flagstaff, and said, ' ' I feel revived by the touch. ' ' 
 
 What a pathetic pidlure! And how it reminds us of 
 the dying disciple laying his hand on the Cross of Christ 
 and the blood-stained banner of redemption, and feeling 
 the reviving power of the touch. 
 
 414 
 
 A slave's logic. A negro who stole chickens considered 
 that as his body was his master's property, if he stole his 
 master's chickens to feed his master's "body," it was 
 all right. He said to his master, ' ' If you have less 
 chicks, you have more nigger." 
 
 41S 
 
 Forgetting self. ' ' When a dog is not noticed, he 
 doesn't like it. But when the dog is after a fox, he don't 
 care whether he is noticed or not. If a minister is seek- 
 ing for souls, he will not think of himself. Self is forgot- 
 ten in the single aim to save others, — C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 205 
 
 416 
 
 A rather neat oratorical flight was that of Mr. Depew's 
 on the occasion of the presentation of the Huntington 
 portrait of Cyrus W. Field and his Atlantic cable coad- 
 jutors to the New York Chamber of Commerce. ' ' When 
 in Genoa a year ago," said he, "looking at that splendid 
 statue of Columbus, which is its chief monument, I 
 noticed upon the base this inscription, ' There was one 
 world. lyCt there be two, and there were two. ' After 
 four centuries Mr. Field came with his cable and said, 
 ' There are two worlds. Let there be one, and there was 
 one.' " 
 
 417 
 
 " I can't die," said a woman of twenty-eight when told 
 that she was mortally injured in a railway accident. " I 
 have never yet begun to live. All I have ever done yet 
 is to lead the fashion." 
 
 418 
 
 I would rather aim at perfedlion and fall short of 
 it, than aim at imperfedlion and fully attain it. — A. J. 
 Gordon. 
 
 419 
 
 Dr. Mackay, of Formosa, quaintly charadterizes the 
 changes he has met in his visits to Canada, since he went 
 out to the East. He says, that "twenty-three years 
 ago it was the ice age in the Church, and he was treated 
 as a hot enthusiast. Thirteen years ago it was the water 
 age, and the Church was floating bazaars." Now it is 
 the steam age, and the Church is full of her machinery; 
 but, he adds, there is too much treadmill about it all. 
 "We are at the same place at night as in the morning. 
 
 He also says that present methods of raising money for 
 missions are anti-scriptural, anti-historical, and anti- 
 
2o6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 spiritual; and that not until the era of unselfish and 
 self-denying giving is inaugurated once more, can there 
 be much progress in reaching men with the Gospel. 
 
 420 
 
 Dr. Patton says that the famous axiom of Descartes, 
 Cogito ergo sum, may be freely rendered, "I'm here any- 
 how." 
 
 He also says that religion is the individual soul dealing 
 with God; but Christianity is theism plus the incarna- 
 tion. 
 
 That as Isaac Newton unnecessarily made a big hole 
 for a big cat and a little hole for the little cat, we need not 
 trouble ourselves about the lesser miracles, if the greater 
 — that of the resurrection of Christ — ^be established. 
 That is the big cat-hole, and the little miracles can go 
 through that. And he adds that Christianity tumbles 
 when you take away the resurredlion of Christ. 
 
 421 
 
 William Booth said that he found choirs infested with 
 three devils — the quarreling devil, dressing devil, and 
 courting devil. He might have added the aesthetic devil. 
 
 422 
 
 The late Prince Imperial was called ' ' Little Ten Min- 
 utes" from the inveterate habit of pleading for "ten 
 minutes more, ' ' even holding up both hands in the morn- 
 ing for "ten minutes" more sleep, etc. Ten minutes' 
 delay in the face of an agile enemy made the difference 
 between safety and death. All his prospecfts were sac- 
 rificed to a childish whim. — Mrs. Booth' s Life, Vol. II., 
 p. 122. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 207 
 
 When the wife of Sir Battle Frere had to meet him at 
 the railway station, she took with her a servant who had 
 never seen his master. ' ' You must go and look for Sir 
 Battle, ' ' she ordered. ' ' But, ' ' answered the nonplussed 
 servant, "how shall I know him?" " Oh," said Lady 
 Frere, ' ' look for a tall gentleman helping somebody. ' ' 
 The description was sufficient for the quick-witted man. 
 He went and found Sir Battle Ftete helping an old lady 
 out of a railway carriage, and knew him at once by the 
 description. 
 
 424 
 
 "The Blades " of Sheffield are thus described : 
 
 ' ' Samson their tutelary god, 
 
 Dick Turpin their high priest, 
 
 Bradlaugh their prophet. 
 
 Infidelity their cteed, 
 
 Anatchy theit millennium. 
 
 The devil theit ctowned and accepted king." — Life of 
 Mrs. Booth Vol. II., p. 368. 
 
 Macaulay tells of the rich Brahman who saw a drop of 
 sacred Ganges water under the microscope, and bought 
 the instrument and dashed it to atoms that it might not, 
 by its revelations, rebuke his superstitious practices. 
 
 Mrs. Booth said that when she did not "enjoy realiza- 
 tion she lived by faith." Adherence and assurance were 
 words that Matthew Henry used to describe a similar 
 experience. He said when he could not ' ' enjoy the 
 faith of assurance, he lived by the faith of adherence. ' ' 
 
2o8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 427 
 
 Lessons from plant life. Any one who has cultivated a 
 garden himself, will sympathize with Charles Dudley 
 "Warner in his impressions about the ' ' total depravity ' ' 
 of weeds. If you try to pull up or root out any snake- 
 grass or devil-grass, you will find it reappearing with 
 amazing rapidity and tenacity of life; in fact, pulling it 
 up seems to agree with it, and stimulates its growth, a 
 dozen new shoots coming up for every stalk you pull out. 
 Take pains to trace a single root in aU its branchings 
 below the surface, and you will find the threadlike root- 
 lets running often a foot or more under the soil, and, 
 however slender, as strong as twisted flax; in fadl a net- 
 work of fibres, with knots here and there, whence grow 
 vigorous shoots, each destined to appear above ground as 
 a separate shoot, and challenge your uprooting. You 
 may dig out your snake-grass, but to keep it out is an- 
 other thing. How like that sin, which shows on the 
 surface in innumerable sins, and within the heart is found 
 to be a network of evil propensities and passions, not to 
 be exterminated by cutting off some form of sinful indul- 
 gence, but reappearing in new forms continually ! 
 
 428 
 
 Lessons from the animals. The curious refledlions of 
 human charadler for which the animals seem to furnish 
 living mirrors may be illustrated by that strange animal, 
 the chameleon. Pour very marked peculiarities pertain 
 to this ' ' lion of the ground. " i . His slow, methodical, 
 and cautious gait. 2. His eyes, which can, strangely 
 enough, look different ways — one up and the other down, 
 one forward and the other backward. 3. His immense, 
 elastic, slimy tongue, that darts at its prey with unerring 
 precision. 4. His power to change the color of his coat, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 209 
 
 and puff himself out to twice his natural size with pride 
 and self-satisfadlion. Who, that has read English his- 
 tory, does not think of a prominent member of Parlia- 
 ment who moved slowly and cautiously, never losing his 
 hold on a policy or a party till he had another secure 
 grip; whose eyes could at the same time be piously di- 
 redled heavenward and earthward to suit observers; 
 whose tongue was unequaled in his generation for vitu- 
 perative and venomous speech, and as a weapon of assault; 
 and whose outward appearance exhibited the passions 
 that made him their vidtim, now showing the jealousy, 
 or again the malice, or again the conceit that filled him ? 
 What variety of human vices can not be expressed by 
 animal forms and habits! 
 
 Victor Hugo suggests that the purpose of animal life 
 is in part to projedt man's better or worse self before 
 him, to show him his pride in the peacock, his vanity in 
 the turkey-gobbler, his rapacity in the wolf, his sensual- 
 ity in the swine, his laziness in the sloth, his treachery in 
 the panther, his subtlety in the serpent, his stubbornness 
 in the mule, his stupidity in the ass, etc. Only how slow 
 man is to learn the lesson! 
 
 Some papal excom-tnunications. Mr. Warner re- 
 minds us how, in the Middle Ages, the St. Bernard 
 monks at Clairvaux excommunicated a vineyard as a 
 matter of discipline; how, in the twelfth century, a bishop 
 of lyaon gave similar sentence against the caterpillars in 
 his diocese; and, the year after, St. Bernard took the 
 same course as to the flies that infested the monastery of 
 Foigny; as also, in the sixteenth century, the rats of 
 Autun, Macon, and I<yons had pronounced against them 
 the fatal decree by the ecclesiastical court. It seems in- 
 
2IO Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 credible that even papal ignorance and superstition could 
 ever have fulminated anathemas against vines and flies, 
 rats and caterpillars ! 
 
 The same charming author quaintly suggests that let- 
 tuce is a fine expression for good conversation; it must 
 be fresh, crisp, sparkling, moist; needs a good deal of 
 oil, to avoid fridlion and keep the company smooth; and 
 a little mustard and vinegar so mixed as to avoid sharp 
 contrast, and a trifle of sugar. It must not be too bitter 
 or left to run to seed, and is of the best sort when it 
 comes to a full head and so remains; and in salad as in 
 conversation, you may put a little of almost anything, 
 and the more the variety the better. 
 
 430 
 
 " The Rhine is the lyyric, the Alps, the Epic, of 
 Europe. ' ' 
 
 ' ' War opened the Simplon and Spliigen passes for the 
 Bible to follow; and so of four great wars since 1856, 
 which opened Turkey, India, China, and Italy to the 
 Gospel." 
 
 " Italy, a stage, with the footlights toned down." 
 
 " Of Boniface VIII. it was written: ' Intravit ut vul- 
 pes, regnavit ut leo, mortuus ut canis. ' ' ' 
 
 ' ' Improvidence, thriftlessness, and sloth are charadter- 
 istics of Italy. ' ' 
 
 "In 1865, in the scourge of cholera, not one sanitary 
 regulation would the Neapolitans adopt — San Gennaro 
 would save them." 
 
 ' ' Where pardon may be had for money, the sins of the 
 people become the wealth of the priesthood, and the vices 
 of the State the riches of the Church." 
 
 " De Boni says: 'Rome has yet power over woman, 
 and that is power in the house. ' ' ' 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 211 
 
 ' ' Were the New Testament to be written at this hour, 
 Rome would blot out the name of Christ and substitute 
 Mary; as already in Dublin you may read the inscription 
 on a temple, ' Marise, peccatorum refugio.' " — Extracts 
 from Dr. J. A. Wylie's Books. 
 
 431 
 
 Opportunity neglected. There was a time in history 
 when an opportunity waited for the man, and the man 
 failed to recognize the opportunity. With Christian dis- 
 ciples in the latter part of the fourth and beginning of 
 the fifth century, when the yoke of ceremonialism had 
 begun to gall the necks that bore it, and the elaborate 
 ritual growing up, and the equally elaborate hierarchy 
 becoming dominant, made God's people yearn for a refor- 
 mation which might restore and revive the primitive 
 simplicity of the apostolic age, it was only needful to find 
 some man who would sound the trumpet and rally the 
 faithful to his side. The age furnished the man capaci- 
 tated in every way to become the leader. He was revered 
 to the point of almost worship; he was believed to be at 
 once the purest, wisest, holiest of men, who mingled 
 firmness and fearlessness with mildness and prudence, 
 ability and humility. His eloquence was commanding, 
 and his piety conspicuous. His influence upon his own 
 age can not be well exaggerated. It was Augustine, 
 Bishop of Hippo. It has been well said that the destiny 
 of ages hung on his decision. Had he led the way in re- 
 form, the Papal church might have died in infancy. But 
 he hesitated, and then gave the weight of his charadter 
 and influence in favor of the growing superstition, and 
 from that hour the cause was lost and the reformation 
 waited from 416 A.d., to 1516, until Martin Luther dared 
 to do what Augustine did not. 
 
212 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 433 
 
 Mendelssohn at Fribourg. Mendelssohn, it is said, once 
 visited the cathedral at Fribourg, and, having heard the 
 great organ, went into the organ loft, and asked to be 
 allowed to play it. The old organist, in jealousy for his 
 instrument, at first refused, but was afterward prevailed 
 on to allow the great German composer to try the colos- 
 sal ' ' thunderer ' ' of the cathedral. And after standing 
 by in an ecstasy of delight and amazement for a few 
 moments, he suddenly laid his hands on the shoulders of 
 the inspired musician and exclaimed : ' ' Who are you ? 
 What is your name ? " " Mendelssohn, ' ' replied the 
 player. ' ' And can it be ! I had so nearly refused to 
 let Mendelssohn touch this organ ! ' ' How little sinners 
 and saints, too, know what they do when they refuse to 
 let Jesus Christ have full possession of their whole nature 
 and evoke the full melody and harmony of which it is 
 capable ! 
 
 433 
 
 Mozart's burial. Mozart's body was lowered into a 
 pauper's grave, and no loving eye to note the spot. A 
 few friends went as far as the church, deterred from going 
 farther by a storm. The widow was ill and seemed indif- 
 ferent as to the disposition of the remains, and on inquiry 
 it was impossible to learn where the grave had been dug. 
 
 434 
 
 Moods of Handel. Handel was a strange mass of con- 
 tradidlions. On one hand, a sublimity of musical genius 
 and inspiration in setting the Bible to music, as in the 
 oratorio of " Messiah." He scorned the low aim of 
 simply entertaining people, and confessed that his aim 
 was to make them better. When composing ' ' The 
 Messiah ' ' he was so overcome with emotion that he could 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 213 
 
 scarcely command liis eyes or his hand. Being found 
 bowed over his work with his face wet with tears as he 
 wrote the contralto air, ' ' He was despised and rejedled 
 of men," he said, " I seem to have all heaven before me 
 and to see the great God Himself." And so of the 
 Hallelujah Chorus. 
 
 On the contrary his temper was absolutely ungovern- 
 able. On one occasion when Signora Cuzzoni refused to 
 sing her part in a rehearsal, he said to her, ' ' You have a 
 demon in you, but I'll show you I am Beelzebub, the 
 prince of demons," and so saying he bore her in his 
 strong arms to an open window and threatened to throw 
 her out. On another occasion when the Prince of Wales 
 was to be present, all the instruments were carefully 
 tuned in advance, but a mischievous fellow slyly untuned 
 them all; and when at a signal they struck up horrible 
 discord, in his madness of anger he overturned a double 
 bass, and caught up a kettledrum and threw it at the 
 condudtor. He would get angry and swear in several 
 languages whUe writing out his principal scores. 
 
 435 
 
 The motives we attribute to others are a revelation of 
 the motives that adluate us. In a double sense, with 
 what judgment we judge we shall be judged. A man 
 who is transparent and sincere may sometimes by 
 incaution or imprudence expose himself to malign attack, 
 and may have attributed to him secret purposes which he 
 would blush even to disclaim. But such judgment of 
 his motives hurts only the party so judging. As layman 
 Beecher would say, "That gun kicks so badly that it 
 were better to be before it than behind it. ' ' 
 
214 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 43 G 
 
 A friend of mine in Philadelphia went into a hardware 
 shop to buy a shovel. One was brought to him, and 
 setting his foot upon the neck of it to try its temper he 
 asked, "Is this a first-class shovel?" "My friend," 
 said the shopkeeper, ' ' I think you can know very little 
 of shovels. You will notice that shovel is made by 
 
 . He is a Christian man, sir, and makes 
 
 a Christian shovel; and anything you see marked with his 
 name you may know to be first-class — just what it claims 
 to be. " " lyct every man in that calling wherein he is 
 found abide with God. ' ' 
 
 437 
 
 Man is a mirror, and it is an all-important matter which 
 way the mirror is turned. If downward it can refledl 
 only earthly things, the mire, the dirt, the filth of earth; 
 if turned upward it may refledt the heavens with all their 
 glory of sun, moon, and stars. The mirror turned down- 
 ward is the carnal mind; the mirror turned upward is the 
 spiritual mind. Sometimes in an instant of time the 
 inversion is accomplished, and he who before was of the 
 earth, earthy, comes to discern and refledl the things of 
 God and heaven. 
 
 438 
 
 The Bible and the Talmud. Dr. A. Weiner, a great 
 living JeAvish rabbi, in a book on the Jewish food pre- 
 cepts, has a word about the Bible and the Talmud: " The 
 Bible alone is for us the holy source, the Talmud some- 
 times serves to elucidate and elaborate its teaching; some- 
 times it only envelops in fog that which was clear, and 
 troubles the sweet waters of the original text. The Bible 
 alone is our trustworthy guide and master; the Talmud 
 can never be anything more than its disciple and help- 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 215 
 
 mate, an office wliich it sometimes fills with intelligence 
 and learning, at others with stupidity and gross ignor- 
 ance. Therefore we can not stake our faith upon {he 
 Talmud. ' ' This, from a respedled Jewish rabbi of eighty- 
 four years of age, is grand. Oh! that his words may go 
 far, 'and do much toward breaking the spell of the tradi- 
 tions of men which make the Word of God of none effedt. 
 
 439 
 
 Savonarola^ s monument. Those who have visited the 
 great library of San I^orenzo have, perhaps, been shown 
 the Bible which Savonarola studied. Its broad margin is 
 written all over in the small, neat, careful notes which 
 enable us to follow the diligent study of the Scriptures 
 that in those dark, degenerate days made this monk the 
 mighty man he was, and prepared him to be the martyr 
 he proved, for the truth's sake. 
 
 It is now four hundred years since the fires went out 
 at that stake. His persecutors found that tho they had 
 burned Savonarola, they could not extinguish him. In 
 fadt, they only fanned the fires of his testimony and 
 scattered the sparks to light other fires of holy witness. 
 The followers of the great Florentine were wont to come 
 secretly and kiss the spot where the cruel flames had re- 
 duced all that was mortal of him to ashes. Then the 
 reigning duke, Pietro di Medici, learning of this fadt, 
 devised a scheme to put a stop to a custom which not 
 only annoyed him, but served to perpetuate the memory 
 of the martyr and glorify his witness. 
 
 So he had eredted on the very spot where the stake had 
 stood a statue of Neptune, surrounded by a circular basin, 
 where a fountain sends up its crystal jets, to sprinkle the 
 sea-nymphs that cluster about its brim. 
 
 Now, he thought, he had by an ingenious expedient 
 
2i6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 put Savonarola's memory into a tomb of oblivion. But 
 the very effort which the duke used to obliterate all recol- 
 ledtions of the sacred spot and the tragedy there enadled 
 served only to identify it, and to perpetuate Savonarola's 
 name and fame to all generations. And, whatever doubt 
 might have existed as to the exadl locality, it is now for- 
 ever fixed by a monument. Pilgrims from every land 
 turn toward the hallowed spot, and say: "There was 
 burned the martyr of Florence, one of God's missionary 
 apostles, who kept up the sacred succession in the age of 
 the apostasy." 
 
 440 
 
 What a scene for a painter! A funeral is taking place 
 in the Highlands of Scotland. It is a very dark, over- 
 cast, and gloomy day, and the day deepens the gloom as 
 one peculiarly loved is laid to rest. Just as the coffin is 
 lowered, a rift in the clouds suddenly exposes the sun, 
 and the rays beam diredlly into the open grave. A lark, 
 attracted by the sunbeams, suddenly sweeps into the 
 midst of the golden pathway of light, and just above the 
 grave slowly rises, and pours forth melody ! 
 
 441 
 
 The following is a genuine account of a conversation 
 in Newport, England: 
 
 Dorothy (five years) — "Mama, it does puzzle me so 
 who made God! Because, you see. He must have been 
 made by somebody, for He couldn't have made Himself, 
 could He?" 
 
 Oswald (eight years) solemnly — " But you know, 
 Dolly, He's a spirit; we can't see Him; He hasn't got a 
 body!" 
 
 Dorothy — " Yes, but then He sent Jesus with a body 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 217 
 
 that we miglit know what He was like." (After a long 
 pause) — ' ' But, perhaps, after all. He did make Himself, 
 for you know He can do some very clever things ! ' ' 
 
 Robert Haldane' s tour. In 1816, Robert Haldane an- 
 nounced his intention of making a missionary tour on the 
 Continent of Europe. The results of that step are so sig- 
 nificant and far-reaching, that eternity and infinity only 
 can measure them. As Grattan said of Charles James 
 Fox, you must estimate his influence by parallels of lati- 
 tude, and we might add, meridians of longitude and cycles 
 of eternity. Robert Haldane' s name is now inseparably 
 interwoven with the history of the revival of evangelical 
 faith in France and Switzerland. As D'Aubigne, him- 
 self one of the first-fruits of that Genevan visit, says, the 
 narrative of the origin and progress of that wcrk of grace 
 would form ' ' one of the most beautiful episodes in the 
 history of the Church." We refer to it now to show by 
 an example what good one man can accomplish who is 
 master of that one book — the Bible. In Haldane' s own 
 mind, the great significance of this work lay in the en- 
 couragement it affords to :il! those who, casting away 
 worldly policy, and setting before them only the glory of 
 God, rest boldly on the promise of blessing as sure to 
 follow God's word, written or spoken. 
 
 Knowing not one individual on the Continent, Mr. 
 Haldane expected to be absent about six weeks, but soon 
 was so engrossed in his work that he stayed about three 
 years. A chance meeting with one young man led to 
 the formation of a small Bible class. The attendants 
 were a score of men skeptical in charadler, whose- doubts 
 Mr. Haldane met by a constant appeal to the word of 
 God. And out of that class came Adolph Monod, Gaus- 
 
2i8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 sen, D'Aubigne, and in fac5l every man that has largely- 
 influenced the evangelical faith of these two countries for 
 the last eighty years, was either a student in that class or 
 has been influenced by those who were. 
 
 443 
 
 Responsibility the test of character. When Saladin was 
 a young man, he was given to self-indulgence, and was 
 regarded by those about him as a trifler. The Calif of 
 Egypt, desiring for his counselor one who would merely 
 echo his own opinions, and who would be nothing more 
 than a servant to execute his master's will, seledled Sal- 
 adin for his vizier. But Saladin had that in him which 
 was eledlrified by the touch of power. Responsibility 
 compadled his energies as a weight compadls the muscles 
 that dare to lift it; and he exclaimed, "Away now with 
 all frivolity and dissipation! " His alert self-mastery 
 quickly mastered the Moslem world. We sometimes 
 speak of men as the creation of their opportunities. It is 
 not so. The strong seize the favoring circumstances. 
 The weak either let them slip or are borne down by the 
 weight of responsibility which they impose. 
 
 444 
 
 God' s providence in nature. Nature teems with illus- 
 trations of this. Another instance comes to us from the 
 island of Madagascar. In a recent article upon that 
 country, a writer, in Le Genie Civil, describes a certain 
 tree which belongs to the banana family, and is called by 
 the French " Arbre de Voyageurs," or "Traveler's 
 Tree." When the rain falls, the great wide peduncles 
 of the tree, curving upward from the base, serve as a 
 reservoir. Here the water, if not disturbed, will remain 
 until the end of the dry period. A simple incision with 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 219 
 
 a knife-blade will at once obtain a cool and abundant 
 supply of good, sweet water. 
 
 445 
 
 Proposed new Bible. Such men as Dean Farrar, Dr. 
 Horton, and Dr. Marcus Dods have united in a proposi- 
 tion to prepare a Bible for children and families founded 
 upon the theories and alleged discoveries of the higher 
 criticism. It is assumed that the time has come when 
 the Old Testament Scriptures, reconstrudled according 
 to the deliverances of modern critical science, should be 
 put in place of the ancient Bible. 
 
 We have already a children's Bible for the public 
 schools, a women's Bible with all the portions omitted 
 that are supposed to bear hard on womankind; and now 
 we are to have a thoroughly scientific Bible prepared by 
 a scientist and scholar who is free from all cant, bigotry, 
 and prejudice, as all scientific and intelledlual men are. 
 And why not now a Universalists' Bible, with all parts 
 omitted that look like final perdition to ungodly 
 men; and a Unitarians' Bible, in which all is omitted 
 that implies the deity of our Lord? By the time we have 
 all the new Bibles which modern invention devises, and 
 modern unbelief and disbelief make expedient, what will 
 be left of the dear old Book? 
 
 446 
 
 Beecher and Ingersoll. The following story has been 
 often told, and, whether true or not, is very suggestive 
 and helpful: 
 
 It is said that in a small company of men, Colonel 
 Ingersoll was one day indulging in his assaults on Chris- 
 tianity. Among his hearers was Henry Ward Beecher, 
 who seemed to be listening in an abstra<fted way. When 
 
2 20 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the blatant infidel had done, the old man slowly lifted 
 himself from his attitude and replied: 
 
 " If you will excuse me for changing the conversation, 
 I will say that while you gentlemen were talking, my 
 mind was bent on a most deplorable spedlacle which I 
 witnessed to-day." 
 
 "What was it?" at once inquired Colonel Ingersoll, 
 who, notwithstanding his peculiar views of the hereafter, 
 was noted for his kindness of heart. 
 
 ' ' Why, ' ' said Mr. Beecher, " as I was walking down- 
 town to-day, I saw a poor lame man with crutches slowly 
 and carefully picking his way through a cesspool of mud 
 in the endeavor to cross the street. He had just reached 
 the middle of the filth, when a big burly ruffian, himself 
 all bespattered, rushed up to him, jerked the crutches 
 from under the unfortunate man, and left him sprawling 
 and helpless in the pool of liquid dirt, which almost en- 
 gulfed him. ' ' 
 
 "What a brute he was! " said the Colonel. 
 
 " What a brute he was! ' ' they all echoed. 
 
 "Yes," said the old man, rising from his chair and 
 brushing back his long white hair, while his eyes glittered 
 with their old-time fire as he bent them on Ingersoll — 
 "yes, Colonel Ingersoll, and you are the man. The 
 human soul is lame, but Christianity gives it crutches to 
 enable it to pass the highway of life. It is your teach- 
 ings that knock these crutches from under it, and leave 
 it a helpless and rudderless wreck in the slough of 
 despond. If robbing the human soul of its only support 
 on this earth — religion — ^be your profession, why, ply it 
 to your heart's content. It requires an architedt to eredl 
 a building; an incendiary may reduce it to ashes." 
 
 The old man sat down, and silence brooded over the 
 scene. Colonel Ingersoll found that he had a master in 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 221 
 
 his own power of illustration, and said nothing. The 
 company took their hats and parted. 
 
 447 
 
 One evening Charles I^amb and some of his friends 
 were conversing on the probable effedts upon themselves, 
 if they were brought face to face with the great and 
 wonderful dead. " Think," said one, " if Dante were to 
 enter the room! How should we meet the man who had 
 trod the fiery pavement of the Inferno, whose eyes had 
 pierced the twilight and breathed the still, clear air of the 
 mount of the Purgatorio, whose mind had contemplated 
 the mysteries of glory in the highest heaven ? " "Or 
 suppose, ' ' said another, ' ' that Shakespeare were to 
 come? " "Ah! " cried Ivamb, his whole face brightening, 
 "how I should fling my arms up! how we should 
 welcome him, that king of thoughtful men!" "And 
 suppose," said another, " Christ were to enter?" The 
 whole face and attitude of Lamb were in an instant 
 changed. ' ' Of course, ' ' he said in a tone of deep 
 solemnity, ' ' we should fall upon our knees. ' ' 
 
 44S 
 
 Ministerial salaries. Some of the religious weeklies 
 have been discussing the poor pay of the ministers in the 
 earlier history of our country. When the town of Stock- 
 bridge, Mass. , called Jonathan Edwards to the pastorate 
 of their church at a town-meeting February 22, 1750, it 
 voted that he should receive ' ' six pounds, fifteen shillings, 
 and four pence ' ' a year, or about thirty-five dollars. To 
 this there were added one hundred sleigh-loads of fire- 
 wood, which was to be chopped for use, a place to live in, 
 and plenty of ground for raising vegetables, etc. Bishop 
 Asbury, of the Methodist Episcopal, received, according 
 
22 2 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 to the records, sixty-four dollars a year, never having 
 risen above that up to the time of his death in 1816. 
 Considering the contrast between these and some modern 
 salaries. The Christian, of Boston, is moved to say: 
 
 ' ' Times have changed since then. Some things were 
 much cheaper then than now, while others were much 
 dearer; but we have a lingering suspicion that if the men 
 who to-day profess to believe as did Edwards and Asbury 
 should preach as they did, pradlise as they did, work as 
 they did, it is doubtful if they would get larger salaries 
 than those eminent laborers received; and as for Paul, 
 who preached a far purer Gospel than either of them, his 
 salary was probably as much smaller as his preaching was 
 better than theirs. ' ' 
 
 There is no doubt only too much truth in this state- 
 ment. The salary of the preacher is not an infallible 
 index to the quality and grade of his preaching. Is there 
 not reason to fear that the salary question is coming to 
 occupy too large a place in the minister's horizon? 
 
 449 
 
 Good deeds are great deeds. The pyramids, which were 
 built by human pride, are being worn away by the silent 
 fri(5lion of the centuries that drift over them, while the 
 old wells dug by the patriarchs to water their thirsty 
 flocks are still pouring forth their sweet waters. So the 
 works of mere ostentation, however wonderful, will be 
 forgotten, while good deeds, however humble, open veins 
 from out the heart of the eternal. 
 
 450 
 
 Church unity. lyUther's great mistake: Zwingle and 
 he met at the council at Marburg. They agreed on all 
 points but the Lord's Supper. The controversy was long 
 and bitter. I^uther insisted on a real presence of the body 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 223 
 
 and blood of the Lord. Zwingle held the blood and body 
 to be present only in emblems, and that the words, 
 ' ' This is my body, ' ' were to be interpreted like those 
 similar words, ' ' I am the door, " "I am the vine, ' ' or 
 that strikingly similar phrase used of the Paschal I^amb, 
 "This is the Lord's passover," — where, Zwingle 
 pointed out, the word " is " means ' ' represents. ' ' Even 
 so, said he, " this is " means " this represents my body." 
 This word "is" was the rock on which the Eeformation 
 split. Agreement being impossible, Zwingle turned to 
 Luther and said: "Martin Luther, let us confess our 
 union in all things in which we agree, and, as for the rest, 
 let us remember that we are brothers, with the same cause 
 at heart. While we all hold the g^and dodlrine of 
 salvation by faith, we can not consent to differ on minor 
 points." There was an anxious pause, waiting for 
 Luther's response, and the great tears rolled down 
 Zwingle' s face as he reached out the hand of brotherly 
 love to Luther. But, alas! the great reformer of Saxony 
 refused that outstretched hand, and the opportunity for 
 a new and mighty illustration of Augustine's motto, 
 " In essentials unity, in unessentials liberty, in all things 
 charity, ' ' was forever lost. The Swiss reformers and the 
 German reformers parted in sadness, and even yet the 
 breach is not healed. 
 
 451 
 
 Rev. F. B. Meyer tells of a laundress in England, 
 whose newly- washed clothes looked so white as they hung 
 on the line, until a sudden snow-squall covered the ground, 
 and then they looked unclean in comparison. ' ' But, ' ' said 
 the simple-minded washerwoman, "what can stand, sir, 
 against God Almighty's white ! " The moral is plain. 
 
224 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 452 
 
 Unconscious influence. Of the late Prof. Henry Drum- 
 mond, the following incident is related. A woman whose 
 husband was dying came late on a Saturday evening and 
 asked him to come to the house. ' ' My husband is deein' , 
 sir; he's no able to speak to you, and he's no able to 
 hear you; but I would like him to hae a breath o' you 
 aboot him afore he dees. ' ' 
 
 453 
 
 As surely as the barnacles ate their way through the 
 oak timbers of the Albatross and sank her, selfishness eats 
 into Christian character. Often when there appear no 
 more repulsive forms of sin, simple selfishness, as God 
 sees it, behind all its veil and disguise of refinement, cul- 
 ture, polite manners, learning, fame, and social rank, is 
 charadlerized by an enormity and a deformity that make 
 any other single sin look comparatively less hideous. 
 And this is the sin of which most of us seldom, if ever, 
 think. 
 
 454 
 
 Among other suggestive statements, we quote the fol- 
 lowing fine illustrations of the influence of our surround- 
 ings and associations on our character : 
 
 ' ' Black and white is a type of coloration so conspicu- 
 ous, and, at the same time, so rare among the larger 
 mammals, that whenever it occurs it is developed for some 
 special purpose; altho, unless we see the animals in their 
 native haunts, it is almost impossible to divine what that 
 purpose may be. Travelers tell us that when seen in the 
 haze of an African desert, the black and white stripes of 
 the zebras fade at a very short distance to an almost in- 
 visible gray. This may even be observed in a hot sum- 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 225 
 
 mer, when the grass is burned brown, in the Duke of 
 Bedford's seat at Woburn Abbey, where several of these 
 beautiful animals are allowed to roam at will in the park 
 during the summer months. With regard to the parti- 
 colored bear, the startling contrast presented by its streaks 
 and patches of creamy white on a jet-black ground may 
 harmonize with patches of snow on black rocks, or possi- 
 bly with the lines of light between the dark stems of 
 forest trees. 
 
 ' ' But one of the most striking instances of this color 
 arrangement is seen in the guereza, a thumbless African 
 ape. The fur of the body and limbs is of a deep shining 
 black. But it has a flowing mantle of long white silky 
 hair, which hangs down each side over this black coat. 
 I,ike others of their kind, these monkeys pass most of 
 their time high up on trees, where they sleep either rest- 
 ing on a bough or hanging beneath by their hand, or 
 hands and feet. In the dense forests clothing Mount 
 Kilima Njaro, and other distridts of East Africa, the 
 black-stemmed trees are thickly draped with pendent 
 mosses and wreaths of gray beard moss, or lichen, which 
 reach for several feet below the boughs. 'As the monkeys 
 hang from the branches, ' writes Dr. Gregory, ' they so 
 closely resemble the lichen that I found it impossible to 
 recognize them when but a short distance away.' " 
 
 455 
 
 A changing point of view. "I'm free to admit," re- 
 marked Farmer Comtossel, "that I won't never git 
 through demandin' more prosperity." 
 
 ' ' But you are in comfortable circumstances. What 
 do you mean by prosperity ? " 
 
 "There's jes' the difficulty. It means somethin' 
 different fur everybody. Ef you've got a mortgage, 
 
2 26 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 ' prosperity's ' gettin' it paid off. Ef ye've got it paid 
 off, ' prosperity's ' ownin' a cabinet organ. Ef ye've 
 got a cabinet organ, ' prosperity's ' havin' enough to 
 be able to trade it in fur a grand pie-anno — an' so on, 
 without no limit whatsomever. " — Washington Star. 
 
 There is nothing like looking at the great problems of 
 life from a personal standpoint. It gives them new in- 
 terest; and, if we are not too stupid, it will help us to 
 see ourselves as others see us. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher, in his youth, often waxed high 
 in discussions with his father — turning on some such 
 questions as this : A man walking by the side of a river, 
 full of floating ice, hears the cry of a stranger, and moved 
 by the impulse of generosity, plunges in, struggling to 
 save the drowning man at the risk of his own life, and at 
 last succeeds in bringing him to the shore; then takes 
 him home, and sees that he is made dry and warm and 
 comfortable. " Now," said I, " father, was it a good or 
 bad adt in that man to risk his own life to rescue a fellow 
 man from drowning? Was it acceptable to God, or was 
 it not?" "There was no virtue in it," said father; 
 it was a mere nat'ral impulse." " Well," said I, "sup- 
 pose such nat'ral impulses were spread all through a man, 
 what would be the difference between nat'ral impulses 
 and grace ? ' ' 
 
 457 
 
 In his old age the true preacher lives in a charmed 
 world. The wife of William Blake, the poet-painter, 
 who saw visions and dreamed dreams in a sooty lyondon 
 street, could not share his raptures. She said that she 
 looked where her husband looked, but somehow she 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 227 
 
 failed to see or hear what he saw and heard. The trained 
 eye and ear were lacking. A preacher often gives us his 
 best fruit in old age. He never goes out of business. He 
 only waits for promotion. ' ' I am not tired of my work, ' ' 
 said Judson, the missionary, ' ' neither am I tired of the 
 world, yet when Christ calls me home I shall go with the 
 gladness of a schoolboy bounding away from school." If 
 Ivowell be right, and " not failure, but low aim, is crime," 
 then the faithful preacher needs not to fear lest he should 
 outlive his usefulness. Wesley could only faintly utter a 
 few syllables when they lifted him into the pulpit at 
 eighty-seven; but the eloquence of a whole life of devoted 
 service spoke louder than any wealth of words. 
 
 458 
 
 A grateful soul finds joy in God in the depths of spir- 
 itual life and holy communion. 
 
 One of the hottest regions on earth is along the Persian 
 Gulf, where little or no rain falls. At Bahrein the arid 
 shore has no fresh water, yet a comparatively numerous 
 population contrive to live here, thanks to the copious 
 springs which break forth from the bottom of the sea. 
 The fresh water is got by diving. The diver, sitting in 
 his boat, winds a great goatskin bag around his left arm, 
 the hand grasping its mouth; then takes in his right 
 hand a heavy stone, to which is attached a strong line, 
 and thus equipped he plunges in, and quickly reaches the 
 bottom. Instantly opening the bag over the strong jet 
 of fresh water, he springs up the ascending current, at 
 the same time closing the bag, and is helped aboard. 
 
2 28 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 459 
 
 The beggars' bridge. The following legend relates how 
 a certain grand duke of Florence built a bridge without 
 expense to the state: The grand duke issued a proclama- 
 tion that every beggar who would appear in the grand 
 plaza at a certain designated time, should be provided 
 with a new suit of clothes, free of cost. At the appointed 
 hour the beggars of the city all assembled, whereupon the 
 oflBcers caused each avenue of the public square to be 
 closed, and then compelled the beggars to strip off their 
 old clothes, and gave to each one, according to promise, 
 a new suit. In the old clothes thus coUedted, enough 
 money was found concealed to build a beautiful bridge 
 over the Amo, still called the Beggars' Bridge. 
 
 460 
 
 Forgiveness illustrated. One of the most notable ex- 
 pressions of Divine forgiveness is ' ' casting sins in the 
 sea." Comp. Micah vii : 19. 
 
 A strange scene witnessed by an English visitor at 
 Odessa on the first day of the Jewish year, furnishes a 
 fine illustration. I^ate in the afternoon a large number 
 of the 50,000 or 90,000 Jews inhabiting Odessa wended 
 their way toward the sea with the purpose of throwing 
 their last year's sins into it, in order to begin the new 
 year with a clean soul. They stood around in groups, 
 closely packed together in some places, looking toward 
 the water, reciting prayers or reading Psalms or a portion 
 of Isaiah. The groups were formed for the most part of 
 listeners, with a man, and in a very few instances a 
 woman — an old woman with spectacles on her thoroughly 
 Jewish nose — reading to them. Some of the people 
 turned their empty pockets inside out and shook them 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 229 
 
 toward the sea. Others merely made a sign of throwing 
 something into the sea. 
 
 Another beautiful aspedt of forgiveness is illustrated in 
 a famous Hindu epigram: "The good man goes not upon 
 enmity, but rewards with kindness the very being who 
 injures him. So the sandal-wood, while one is felling it, 
 imparts its sweet savor to the very ax which is hewing it 
 down." 
 
 461 
 
 Early in the war, before General Robert E. I^ee had 
 proved his preeminence as a general, he was severely criti- 
 cized on more than one occasion by a General Whiting. 
 Whiting had stood at the head of his class at West Point, 
 and was considered a bright and capable man. One day 
 President Davis, wishing an officer for some important 
 command, called upon General I,ee for advice. 
 
 " What do you think of Whiting? " 
 
 I^ee answered without hesitation, commending Whiting 
 as one of the ablest men in the army, well qualified in 
 every way. 
 
 One of the officers present was greatly surprised, and 
 at the first opportunity drew Lee aside. "Don't you 
 know what unkind things Whiting has been saying 
 about you ? ' ' 
 
 Lee's answer was of the best. " I understood," he 
 said, " that the president desired to know my opinion of 
 Whiting, not Whiting's opinion of me." 
 
 Cost of smoking. The single indulgence known as 
 smoking, as nearly 25,000,000 now smoke in the United 
 States, costs $600,000,000 a year! Sir Michael Hicks- 
 Beach, the English Chancellor of the Exchequer, in pre- 
 senting his annual budget in 1896, remarked that, taking 
 
230 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the value only of the part of the cigar or cigarette thrown 
 away by smokers, in Britain alone, it amounts in a year 
 to more than the amount expended in all the foreign 
 mission enterprises of the United Kingdom. 
 
 Aristotle said that slavery would last forever, or 
 would cease only when the shuttle would weave of its 
 own accord. A double mistake, this; for slavery is all 
 but abolished, and, thanks to invention, the shuttle may 
 be said to work of its own accord. 
 
 ' ' Before fifty years are over, all Europe will be repub- 
 lican or Cossack, ' ' prophesied the exile of St. Helena in 
 the first decade of this century. We are nearing now its 
 fag-end, but ' ' Old Yurrup ' ' is less republican than ever, 
 and is still some way from universal Cossackery. 
 
 " Italy is but a geographical expression, and will 
 never be anything else, ' ' opined Prince Metternich, and 
 just before his death he saw what he considered Utopia 
 on the point of becoming a reality. 
 
 ' ' The railways will never be of any use for the trans- 
 port of goods," sang out M. Thiers, leading a chorus of 
 sententious economists. 
 
 ' ' There is no morrow for universal suffrage, ' ' ex- 
 claimed M. Guizot, on the eve of the very revolution 
 which sent him into exile, and promulgated universal 
 suffrage as sovereign law. 
 
 "Never," was M. Rouher's answer to those asking 
 after Mentana when Rome would become the capital of 
 Italy. A very short time after the trick was done. 
 
 ' ' The United States of Kurope, ' ' was the prophecy of 
 all ardent democrats, from Victor Hugo to Carlo Cattaneo, 
 and its fulfilment was to take place immediately after the 
 downfall of the Napoleonic empire. It is thirty years 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 231 
 
 now since that eventful moment, but the States of 
 Europe are, if anything, more disunited and more aggres- 
 sive than ever. 
 
 464 
 
 Gentle preaching to rich sinners. "Brethren, you 
 must repent, as it were, and be converted in a measure, 
 or you will be damned to some extent. ' ' 
 
 This, according to a contemporary, is a Methodist 
 Episcopal bishop's description of the kind of preaching 
 addressed to rich sinners in some of the aristocratic con- 
 gregations. Is it not too near the truth to pass for a 
 parody? ' ' The vulgar man ! ' ' said an aristocratic lady 
 of a noted Episcopal preacher; " Why, he said 'You 
 sinners ! ' " 
 
 The Spirit against the flesh. Rev. F. B. Meyer says: 
 ' ' In the best of men there is a tendency to do certain 
 things they ought not, but the more they are filled with 
 the Holy Spirit, the more it is true of them that they are 
 kept from doing what otherwise they would. When I 
 was a boy I used to go to the Polytechnic in I^ondon, 
 where my favorite diversion was a diving-bell, which had 
 seats around the rim, and which at a given time was filled 
 with people and lowered into a tank. We used to go 
 down deeper and deeper into the water, but not a drop 
 ever came into that diving-bell, tho it had no bottom and 
 the water was quite within reach, because the bell was 
 so full of air that, tho the water lusted against the air, 
 the air lusted against the water, because air was be- 
 ing pumped in all the while from the top, and the water 
 could not do what it otherwise would. If you are full 
 of the Holy Ghost, the flesh life is underneath you, and 
 tho it would surge up, it is kept out." 
 
232 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 466 
 
 John Ruskin, speaking of forced interruptions in serv- 
 ice, said : ' ' There is no music in a rest, but there is the 
 making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the 
 music is broken off here and there by ' ' rests, ' ' and we 
 foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God 
 sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed 
 plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the 
 choral-hjrmn of our lives, and we lament that our voices 
 must be silent and our part missing in the music which 
 ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. See Him beat the 
 time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note as 
 if no breaking-place had come between. Not without 
 design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours 
 to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the ' ' rests. ' ' 
 They are not to be omitted. If we look up, God Him- 
 self will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him we 
 shall strike the next note full and clear. 
 
 467 
 
 There is a large amount of waste of energy and time 
 that is not the waste of idleness so much as of misdiredled 
 effort. The first question to be asked is. Is this work 
 worth doing ? A Chinese woman, wanting a needle, pro- 
 ceeded to grind down a bar of iron to the requisite fine- 
 ness. Many a man who has not been a sluggard will 
 find his labor lost because he has been consuming need- 
 less effort and valuable time in something which brings 
 no adequate result and reward. All these matters should 
 be settled in advance; then there is a courageous, persist- 
 ent, patient, and continuous exertion, based on a deep 
 and unshakable convidlion that one is Divinely called to 
 execute his task. How melancholy when one must only 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 233 
 
 confess with poor Hugo Grotius, ' ' Perdidi meam vitam 
 operose nihil agendo. ' ' 
 
 468 
 A great German defined the difference between Social- 
 ism and Christianity in a very clever epigram : Socialism 
 says, ' ' What is thine is mine. ' ' Christianity says, 
 ' ' What is mine is thine. ' ' The difference is infinite. 
 But the epigram needs corredtion. Christianity really 
 teaches us to say: "What seems thine is not thine, what 
 seems mine is not mine; whatever thou hast belongs to 
 God, and whatever I have belongs to God ; you and I 
 must use what we have according to God's will." — Dr. 
 R. W. Dale. 
 
 469 
 
 Rousseau said a good thing, worthy the attention of 
 every generation, when he declared : ' ' Temperance and 
 labor are the two best physicians of man. It is the idle 
 hands and the beer-muddled brains that are the curse of the 
 land. The temperate and industrious man, on the other 
 hand, helps make the republic strong. Such manhood is 
 the true glory of this age of machinery. ' ' 
 
 470 
 
 A merchant of happiness. ' ' I would wish my task 
 finished, to establish myself as a merchant of happiness. 
 My reward would be in my success." — Alphonse Daudet. 
 This wish of the brilliant French novelist may be French, 
 but it is not Christian. Human observation and expe- 
 rience agree with the Bible that happiness can not be given 
 or sold to men, or bought by men. It must come to man 
 from within, and as a result of his own conformity to 
 righteousness. It always eludes the man who seeks it for 
 its own sake. We are afraid that Daudet could never 
 have devised a merchant marine large enough to establish 
 
234 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 himself successfully in that kind of mercantile life. Had 
 he devoted himself to the gospel of the well-being of 
 man, in the sense of right-being, he might — incidentally, 
 and as a consequence — have secured man's comfortable 
 being, but not otherwise. 
 
 471 
 
 According to a statement recently published, Mr. lyin- 
 coln said to Joshua Speed, his intimate personal friend, 
 at the Soldiers' Home, near Washington, and about a 
 year before his death : "I am profitably engaged reading 
 the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you 
 can, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a 
 better man." 
 
 472 
 
 Pagan consolation. ' ' Take heed, dear friends. I was 
 as much grieved and shed as many tears over Eumoerus 
 as I did over Didymus, and I did all that was fitting, and 
 so did all my friends, Epaphroditus and Thermouthion 
 and Philion and Apollonius and Plautas. But still there 
 is nothing one can do in the face of such trouble. So I 
 leave you to comfort yourselves. Good-by. ' ' 
 
 This is the translation of a letter of consolation (?) 
 written twenty centuries or more ago, and recently found 
 among the Oxyrhynchus papyri. It was in this wise 
 that bereaved mothers used to comfort one another in the 
 days when the "sweet reasonableness" of Greek civili- 
 zation dominated the world. What better illustration of 
 pagan hopelessness! 
 
 473 
 
 The older I grow — and I now stand upon the brink of 
 eternity — the more comes back to me the sentence in the 
 Catechism which I learned when a child, and the fuller 
 and deeper its meaning becomes; "What is the chief end 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 235 
 
 of man? To glorify God, and enjoy Him forever." — 
 Thomas Carlyle. 
 
 474 
 
 The Bible gallery of portraits. There is, in a Russian 
 palace, a famous "Salon of Beauty," wherein are hung 
 over eight hundred and fifty portraits of young maidens. 
 These pictures were painted by Count Rotari for Catha- 
 rine the Second, the empress; and the artist made a jour- 
 ney through the fifty provinces of that vast empire of the 
 north to find his models. 
 
 In these superb portraits that cover the walls of this 
 salon, there is said to be a curiously expressed compli- 
 ment to the artist's royal patron, a compliment half con- 
 cealed and half revealed. In each separate picture, it is 
 said, might be detected by the close observer some hidden, 
 delicate reference to the empress for whom they were 
 painted. Here a feature of Catharine appears; there an 
 attitude is reproduced, some adl, some favorite adorn- 
 ment or environment, some jewel, fashion, flower, style 
 of dress, or manner of life — something peculiar to, or 
 charadleristic of the empress; so that the walls of the 
 salon are lined with just so many silent tributes to her 
 beauty or compliments to her taste. So inventive and 
 ingenious is the spirit of human flattery when it seeks to 
 glorify a human fellow mortal, breaking its flask of lavish 
 praise on the feet of an earthly monarch. 
 
 The Word of God is a picture gallery, and it is lined 
 with tributes to the blessed Christ of God, the Savior of 
 mankind. Here a prophetic portrait of the coming One, 
 and there a historic portrayal of Him who has come; 
 here a typical sacrifice, and there the bleeding I^amb to 
 whom all sacrifice looked forward; here a person or an 
 event that foreshadowed the greatest of persons and the 
 events that are the turning-points of history; now a par- 
 
236 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 able, a poem, an objedl-lesson, and then a simple narra- 
 tion or exposition or explanation that filled with Divine 
 meaning the mysteries that hid their meaning for ages, 
 waiting for the key that should unlock them. But, i» 
 whatever form or fashion, or whatever guise of fadt o( 
 fancy, prophecy or history, parable or miracle, type or 
 antitype, allegory or narrative, a discerning eye may 
 everjrwhere find Him — God's appointed Messiah, God's 
 anointed Christ. Not a human grace that has not been 
 a faint forecast or refledtion of His beauty in whom all 
 grace was enshrined and enthroned— not a virtue that i? 
 not a new exhibition of His attradtiveness. All that is 
 glorious is but a phase of His infinite excellence; and so 
 all truth and holiness found in the Holy Scripture ar^ 
 only a new tribute to Him who is the Truth, the Holy 
 One of God. 
 
 This language is no exaggeration. On such a theme 
 exaggeration is not only impossible, but the utmost 
 superlative of human language falls infinitely short ol 
 His Divine worth, before whose indescribable glory cher- 
 ubim and seraphim can only bow, veiling their faces and 
 covering their feet. The nearer we come to the very 
 throne where such majesty sits, the more are we awed 
 into silence. The more we know of Him, the less we 
 seem to know, for the more boundless and limitless ap- 
 pears what remains to be known. Nothing is so con- 
 spicuous a seal of God upon the written Word as the fadl 
 that everywhere from Genesis to Revelation we may find 
 the Christ; and nothing more sets the seal of God upon 
 the living Word than the fadl that He alone explains 
 and reveals it. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 237 
 
 475 
 
 Archdeacon Sinclair tells a good story of the famous 
 Dr. Keate, head master of Eton. He was a disciplina- 
 rian that earned a nickname similar to that which will 
 ever cling to that other great schoolmaster, Bushby, of 
 Westminster, and was called ' ' Flogging Keate. ' ' Finding 
 one morning a row of boys in his study, he began, as 
 usual, to flog them. They were too terrified at the awful 
 little man to remonstrate till he had gone half-way down 
 the row, when one plucked up courage to falter out: 
 " Please, sir, we're not up for punishment — we're a con- 
 firmation class ! " "Never mind," said Dr. Keate, "I 
 must be fair all around, and it will do you good. " So he 
 went on through the row as usual! 
 
 476 
 
 F^nelon's prayer. I have recently met with a prayer 
 of Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, which I regard as 
 about as high an example of prayer as I have ever found 
 out of the Word of God: 
 
 ' ' O I^ord, I know not what I should ask of Thee. 
 Thou only knowest what I want, and Thou lovest me, if 
 I am Thy friend, more than I can love myself. O Lord, 
 give to me. Thy child, what is proper, whatsoever it be. 
 I dare not ask either crosses or comforts, I only present 
 myself before Thee. I open my heart to Thee. Behold 
 my wants, of which I am ignorant, but do Thou behold 
 and do according to Thy mercy. Smite or heal, depress 
 or raise me up. / adore all Thy purposes without knowing 
 them. I am silent. I offer myself in sacrifice. / 
 abandon myself to Thee. I have no more any desire but to 
 accomplish Thy will. I^ord, teach me to pray. I beseech 
 Thee, dwell Thou Thyself in me by Thy Holy Spirit. 
 Amen." 
 
238 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 477 
 
 As to ideal charadler in a pastor, take the following 
 from Bishop Ken, for illustration: 
 
 Give me the priest whose graces shall possess 
 
 Of an ambassador the just address; 
 
 Pi. father's tenderness, 2. shepherd' s care, 
 
 A leader's courage, which the cross can bear; 
 
 A ruler's awe, a watchman' s wakeful eye, 
 
 K fisher's patience, and a laborer's toil; 
 
 K guide's dexterity to disembroil; 
 
 K prophet' s inspiration from above; 
 
 A teacher's knowledge, and a Savior's love. 
 
 478 
 
 Examples of genius in distress. Homer was a beggar; 
 Plautus turned a mill; Terence was a slave; Boetius died 
 in jail; Paul Borghese had fourteen trades, and yet 
 starved with them all; Tasso was often distressed for five 
 shillings; Bentivoglio was refused admittance into a 
 hospital he had himself eredled; Cervantes died of 
 hunger; and Vagelas left his body to the surgeons to pay 
 his debts as far as the money would go; Bacon lived a 
 life of meanness and distress; Sir Walter Raleigh died on 
 the scaffold; Spenser, the charming, died in want; the 
 death of Collins was through negledt, first causing mental 
 derangement; Milton sold his copyright of "Paradise 
 lyost ' ' for fifteen pounds at three payments, and finished 
 his life in obscurity; Dryden lived in poverty and distress; 
 Otway died prematurely, and through hunger; I^ee died 
 in the street; Steele lived a life of perfedl warfare with 
 bailiffs; Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield " was sold for 
 a trifle to save him from the grip of the law; Fielding lies 
 in the burying ground of the English fadtory at Ivisbon, 
 without a stone to mark the spot; Savage died in prison 
 at Bristol, where he was confined for the debt of eight 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 239 
 
 pounds; Butler lived a life of penury and died poor; 
 Chatterton, the child of genius and misfortune, destroyed 
 himself. 
 
 479 
 A German photographer, Herr Ottomar Anschulz, has 
 succeeded in preparing photographic plates so sensitive, 
 that an exposure of one five-thousandth of a second is 
 sufficient. A very small lens must be used, so that the 
 pidtures are generally only seven-sixteenths of an inch in 
 length and breadth. Enlarged to one and one-half inches 
 on glass plates and rotated in series of twenty-four be- 
 fore a Geissler tube, the pidlures are used for reproduc- 
 ing the motions of an animal on a large screen. 
 
 480 
 
 Importance of primary truths. I^et us not forget the 
 importance of primary truths. God has shown his in- 
 finite wisdom and compassion in dealing so largely with 
 these in redemption. The majority of men are incapable 
 of receiving anything more advanced and abstruse ; on 
 account of intelledtual infancy, moral stupidity, and spirit- 
 ual incapacity, they must be taught rudiments or nothing. 
 But even the wisest and most capacious and sagacious 
 minds have to come back to these primary truths for final 
 rest and comfort. Spurgeon was a great preacher and a 
 marvelous man, but he made his death-bed 'creed out of 
 four words: "Jesus died for me." The late Bishop of 
 Durham had many days of quiet sickness toward the end. 
 Friends thought him working at some new scholar's 
 problems! But he said: " No. I take three or four 
 great truths, and keep thinking on them." Bishop But- 
 ler, known as the Melchizedek of the English Church, 
 because there was no one before or after him like him, 
 had dark days as death approached, and he asked his 
 
240 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 chaplain: "What shall I lay hold of ? " Being reminded 
 of the atonement, he asked: " But how shall I know it 
 is for me?" " Him that cometh unto Me I will in no 
 wise cast out, ' ' was the answer. ' ' Oh, this is comfort- 
 able! " were his last words. 
 
 When Sir George Williams whispered in the ear of the 
 dying Shaftesbury the words, " Complete in him," and 
 added, " Complete means lacking nothing," he brought 
 heaven's light into the soul of the dying earl. Robert- 
 son, of Irvine, repeated as his last words: "Able to save 
 unto the uttermost." Michael Faraday, when asked, 
 "What are your speculations?" replied: "I am not 
 pillowing my dying head on speculations; I know whom 
 I have believed. ' ' 
 
 And so all true believers, great and lowly, ignorant 
 and learned, have to fall back on the same blessed, all- 
 sufficient, and divinely simple truths, which God has 
 made so simple that even a little child may recognize and 
 receive them. Let us beware lest our minds be corrupted 
 and led away from the simplicity which is in Christ. 
 And let our preaching be in simplicity and godly sincer- 
 ity, and not in fleshly wisdom, that the cross of Christ be 
 not made of none effedl. A Gospel that a little child can 
 get salvation from is the Gospel for Caesar's household. 
 
 481 
 
 The attitude of trust. Writing about the attitude of 
 ' ' believers ' ' toward the future life, of whose details their 
 knowledge is limited, a correspondent of The Spectator in- 
 sists that it should be one of trust, similar to that re- 
 posed by Garibaldi's volunteers in their leader. Quoting 
 from a life of Garibaldi, the correspondent says: 
 
 "In 1859 Garibaldi's volunteers, some rich, some 
 poor, were near Alessandria. On May 23 the camp of 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 241 
 
 the 'Alpine Huntsmen ' was in complete confusion. Tlie 
 improvised soldiers rushed to arms to the sound of the 
 trumpet. 
 
 " 'Quick, quick ! ' said the officers, ' we are to start.' 
 
 ' ' ' Where are we going ? ' 
 
 ' ' ' That is a mystery. Garibaldi knows where, and 
 that's enough ! ' 
 
 ' ' Garibaldi went through the ranks with words of en- 
 couragement to the weary and sympathy for the enthusi- 
 astic; and in person saw to every need. 
 
 " This motley host drove the Austrians, in a twenty 
 hours' battle, twenty miles up the Stelvio Pass, over the 
 glaciers of the Ortler, and back into Tyrol. ' ' 
 
 The most unkind thing — not only the most imprudent 
 thing — would have been for these volunteers to have been 
 supplied with a full and accurate plan of what lay before 
 them. The silence of God as to the future life is at least 
 kind. Knowledge, without corresponding power to adl, 
 tends to become a burden. It would be no kindness to 
 humanity to bewilder it by descriptions of an unrealizable 
 state, and to distradt it from that daily path of duty 
 which leads thither. 
 
 482 
 
 According to atheistic materialism, man is a gill of 
 water, enclosed in a glass vial, and floating on an ocean. 
 At death the vial breaks and he returns to the ocean. 
 
 483 
 
 Vision of Catharine of Siena. Perhaps the most mem- 
 orable of all the visions, or ' ' dialogs, ' ' of Catharine of 
 Siena was one in which demons seemed to be relentlessly 
 pursuing her, and inviting her to share in their diaboUcal 
 revels. All sorts of suggestions, sensual and cynical, 
 
242 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 impure and blasphemous, the fiery darts of Satan, were 
 hurled at her. And to make the torment insupportable, 
 God Himself seemed to have forsaken her, as He did for 
 one awful moment her vicarious Savior on His cross of 
 shame, so that she seemed to be left to devilish hate and 
 wiles. But, instead of ceasing to pray, she increased her 
 supplication, and without a murmur waited for God to 
 interpose, tho her little room at the Fullonica seemed 
 hopelessly infested and infedled with the presence of 
 demons. The evil spirits followed her with taunts, 
 and threats of final vidlory; but she could only respond, 
 " I will, if need be, endure until death." And, on thus 
 determining that nothing should part her and her Lord, 
 a light above the brightness of the midday sun shone 
 round about her, and the assurance of God filled her soul 
 and drove away the demons. 
 
 She tells how the lyord now drew near and spoke with 
 her, and of the strange " dialog " that followed: 
 
 ' ' I^ord, where wast Thou when my heart was so tor- 
 mented ? ' ' 
 
 " I was in the midst of thine heart, Catharine." 
 
 ' ' I^ord, Thou art the everlasting truth, and before Thy 
 word I humbly bow; but how can I believe that Thou 
 wert in my heart when thoughts so utterly hateful filled 
 it?" 
 
 ' ' Did these suggestions and temptations of Satan give 
 thee pleasure or pain, Catharine ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Exceeding pain and distress, O Lord. ' ' 
 
 " Thou wast in wo and distress, Catharine, because in 
 the midst of thy heart I was hidden; it was My presence 
 that made these thoughts intolerable to thee. Thou didst 
 strive to repel them, because they filled thee with sorrow, 
 and because thou didst not succeed, thine heart was 
 bowed down with deep sorrow. When the time for the 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 243 
 
 conflidl had passed, I sent forth My light to drive away 
 the death-shade. Because thou hast with thy whole 
 heart endured these trials, thou art forever delivered. It 
 is not thy trouble that pleases Me, but the will that has 
 courageously endured this trial ! ' ' 
 
 It was after this last and greatest of her diabolical 
 temptations that she had that strange vision, and entered 
 into that ' ' mystical marriage, ' ' that have suggested to 
 so many Italian painters the theme of their art work, in 
 which the Virgin Mary is depidled as guiding the hand 
 of the infant Jesus in placing upon Catharine's finger the 
 syxabolic ring. From this time she regarded herself as 
 inseparably and exclusively the bride of Christ. 
 
 484 
 
 A difficulty of Darwinism. The following argument, 
 drawn from language, is from Prof. Max Miiller's " Auld 
 I^ang Syne ' ' : 
 
 ' ' I had been warned that Darwin could not carry on a 
 serious discussion for more than about ten minutes or a 
 quarter of an hour, as it always brought on his lifelong 
 complaint of sickness. I therefore put before him in the 
 shortest way possible the difficulties which prevented me 
 from accepting the theory of animals forming a language 
 out of interjedlions and sounds of nature. I laid stress on 
 the fadt that no animal, except the human animal, had 
 ever made a step toward generalization of percepts, and 
 toward roots, the real elements of all languages, as signs 
 of such generalized percepts, and I gave him a few illus- 
 trations of how our words for one to ten, for father, 
 mother, sun, and moon, had really and historically been 
 evolved. That man thus formed a real anomaly in the 
 growth of the animal kingdom, as conceived by him, I 
 fully admitted ; but it was impossible for me to ignore 
 
244 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 fadls, and language, in its true meaning, has always been 
 to my mind a fadl that could be wiped away by argument 
 as little as the Himalayas could be wiped away with a silk 
 handkerchief, even in millions of years. He listened 
 most attentively without making any objedlions, but be- 
 fore he shook hands and left me, he said in the kindest 
 way, ' You are a dangerous man.' I ventured to reply, 
 ' There can be no danger in our search for truth, ' and 
 he left the room. ' ' 
 
 485 
 
 Good works vs. vain words. Paul contrasts the profit 
 of good works with the unprofitableness of vain words. 
 (Titus iii : 8, 9.) The Jews were given to " foolish ques- 
 tions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings 
 about the (ceremonial) law ! ' ' The rabbis wrote dis- 
 quisitions on such questions as ' ' whether an egg, laid on 
 a festival day, may be eaten; " and parties among their 
 sages arrayed themselves upon the opposite sides in such 
 a momentous controversy! The school of Shammai de- 
 cided that it might be eaten; the school of Hillel as 
 solemnly affirmed that it must not. Swift's satire was not 
 wholly a fidlion, when he represented two great nations 
 — the Big Kndians and the Little Endians — as separating, 
 beyond reconciliation, upon the question whether in eat- 
 ing eggs you should crack them upon the big or the little 
 end. These wise rabbis held learned discussions over 
 ' ' what sort of wick and oil is to be used for lighting 
 candles for the Sabbath ? " If a tithe of the study and 
 diligence wasted on controversy, through the ages, had 
 been given to the culture of piety, what a world we 
 should have had and what a Church in the midst of it, 
 abounding in good works! 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 245 
 
 486 
 
 Self-denial the grand law of all holy living, has been 
 defined by Neal Dow, as ' ' living with reference to the 
 future. ' ' Self-indulgence lives for the present and the 
 immediate present, and utterly disregards a future that is 
 often by no means very remote. Accordingly the Bible 
 represents it as a fatal sin to be content, as are ' ' men of 
 the world, ' ' to have our ' ' portion in this life. ' ' Dives 
 is charged with neither immorality nor inhumanity, but 
 simply with having his own choice, in his ' ' lifetime re- 
 ceiving his good things ! " ' 
 
 487 
 
 The conneBion between text and sermon ought to be 
 vital. A minister once told his congregation that "he 
 only took his text as a hook to hang his thoughts upon. ' ' 
 The old saying that ' ' if the text has a contagious disease, 
 the discourse would run no risk of taking it, ' ' is put be- 
 fore us in a new and better shape by one who compares 
 a text to " a gate opening into the Lord's garden; " and 
 says that many ministers, ' ' instead of unlatching the 
 gate and leading their hearers in to pluck the fruit and 
 flowers, content themselves by getting upon the gate and 
 swinging to and fro. ' ' Moreover, there is room for selec- 
 tion even in using the inspired Word. An English clergy- 
 man found a poor dying woman whose husband, with 
 tears trickling from his eyes, was reading to her a list of 
 genealogies from the book of Chronicles. 
 
 488 
 
 He who stops learning should stop teaching or preaching. 
 He who ceases to acquire is unfitted to impart. Even the 
 stores of knowledge gathered in past years lose their 
 freshness, vitality, and vitalizing influence when accumu- 
 
246 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 lation no longer goes on. I,et us have a running stream; 
 who wants stagnant water ? Or, as President Angell, of 
 Michigan University, said : ' ' No man can produce 
 attradlive and nutritious food for others by incessantly 
 thrashing, in the same monotonous way, the very same 
 straw which, for an indefinite period, he has been turning 
 over and over, and pounding with his pedagogic flail. ' ' 
 
 489 
 
 The attempt to make conscience approve a course didlated 
 by inclination rather than duty is like forcing a magnet 
 to point a certain way. If it does point in any other 
 diredlion than toward the magnetic pole, you have only 
 disordered the delicate instrument and made your com- 
 pass untrustworthy. Dr. William Adams said that 
 ' ' some men follow conscience only as a man follows a 
 wheelbarrow, which he pushes before him with all the 
 energy of a determined will." 
 
 490 
 
 Nehemiah was a model organizer. In all the work of 
 temple and city repair and rebuilding, mark his three 
 grand principles, i. Division of labor: Every man over 
 against his own door. 2. Cooperation: AU energies find- 
 ing their common center in a unity of plan and harmony 
 of aim, essentially one work. 3. Concentration: All rally- 
 ing to the defence of any assaulted point at the signal of 
 the trumpet. 
 
 491 
 
 The story of the shipwreck (in Adls xxvii. ) reads like an 
 allegory of the Voyage of Life ! Disregarding the voice 
 of inspired warning, reje(fting the word of the I/ard for 
 the conclusions of worldly wisdom; seeking worldly 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 247 
 
 havens of security and comfort; deceived by the sedudlive 
 south wind of pleasure, meeting the sure euroclydon of 
 trial and temptation, facing irresistible evils, like the 
 wreck of bodily health, fortune, and household joy; vainly 
 resorting to worldly helps and expedients, sacrificing 
 almost everything in hope to save at least life; then com- 
 pelled to abandon oneself to inevitable doom, and sinking 
 into utter darkness and despair. But God's opportunity 
 is found in man's extremity; and just here, when human 
 help and hope fail, comes the word of faith: " Believe, 
 and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 What a parable is that of the sower! The seed: Christ 
 the kernel in the husk of the word. Yet what a kernel 
 must that be that is put in such a husk! The sower: it 
 matters not, whether skilled farmer or little child, if the 
 seed gets in the soil ! The soil: of four sorts: the trod- 
 den path, the thin layer of earth with the rock beneath, 
 the soil with seeds of weeds and thorns in it, and the 
 good, deep, rich earth. Every feature of this parable 
 bears investigation and expansion. For example, the third 
 class — the grain that grows among weeds grows long and 
 spindling, but never 7?//^ out the ear — a pidlure of the dis- 
 ciple whose growth is so hindered by worldly cares or 
 lusts, that he never becomes a converter of souls! In him 
 is no seed of propagation and reproduBion. 
 
 493 
 
 " There were giants in the earth in those days'' is the 
 simple record of the age before the flood. There has 
 been no age without its giants; not, perhaps, in the nar- 
 row sense of great physical stature, but in the broader 
 sense of mental might, capacity to command and control. 
 
248 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Such men are but few, in the most favored times, and it 
 takes but few to give shape to human history and des- 
 tiny. Their word shakes the world ; their deeds move 
 and mold humanity; and, as Carlyle has suggested, his- 
 tory is but their neglecSed shadows, the indefinite pro- 
 longing of their influence, even after they are dead ; and, 
 like giant trees, we do not realize their stature until they 
 fall! 
 
 494 
 
 History is the most profitable of all studies, and biography 
 is the key of history. In the lives of men, philosophy 
 teaches us by examples. In the analysis of charadler we 
 detect the essential elements of success, and discern the 
 causes of failure. Virtue and vice impress us most in 
 concrete forms, and hence even the best of all books en- 
 shrines as its priceless jewel, the story of the only perfeSl 
 life. 
 
 495 
 
 Wordsworth says: " I^anguage is the incarnation of 
 thought," i.e., thought taking form. Within this brain- 
 temple resides a strange, invisible creator, ' ' walled about 
 with flesh and bone and muscle." There are five gates 
 that open into this mysterious chamber: eye-gate, ear- 
 gate, smell, taste, feeling. The great gate of egress is 
 the two-leaved gate of speech. At the door of the lips 
 the invisible thought or emotion takes sensible form. 
 Hence that is the most skilled and trained tongue that 
 can give thought its most perfedt form in speech. How 
 many an unuttered epic, or ethical system, or mighty 
 oration, lies behind an incompetent tongue, agonizing for 
 competent expression! F. W. Robertson's "dumb 
 poet ' ' used to stand at a window during a thunderstorm, 
 gaze intensely into the clouds, thrill with excitement as 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 249 
 
 the thunder rolled away, sinking from a cannon's roar to a 
 faint murmur, and then exclaim, "That's what I mean ! " 
 "We sometimes give undue proportion of our educational 
 training to the discipline of the thinking faculty, while 
 the speaking faculty is negledled; and so many a thought, 
 well conceived, never comes to the birth, or, if at all, 
 only with a very imperfedt, awkward, and ungraceful in- 
 carnation. Let us try to perfedl the divine art of speech; 
 as Hobbes said, the difference between animals and man 
 is ' ' rationale et orationale. ' ' 
 
 496 
 
 Breaking the whole law. In Bultmann's notes to 
 Besser is found an instrudlive story. An honest farmer, 
 Michael, on his deathbed, bade his son Jack get the 
 Catechism and see how his life compared with its teach- 
 ings. The first two Commandments were read to him. 
 "These two I have kept; I have not worshiped idols, 
 like pagans, nor bowed before images, like papists." 
 " Read the third, Jack." "Here I am right again, for 
 I never swore an oath, save in a court of justice." 
 "Read the next." "Remember the Sabbath day." 
 "Well, I have gone to church of a Sunday, and never 
 played cards, nor made servants work." "Honor thy 
 father and thy mother." "Jack, follow my example, 
 for, as a boy, I showed all honor and respe«5l to my poor 
 parents, God bless them! Next." "Thou shalt not 
 kill." " Well, thank God, that is not on my conscience; 
 I never, even in lawful war, slew a man." "Thou 
 shalt not commit adultery. " "Of that I have kept clear, 
 too; always faithful to your dear mother." "Thou 
 shalt not steal." " Yes, I never took what did not be- 
 long to me. What is next ? " " Thou shalt not bear 
 false witness. " "I never swore falsely against any per- 
 
250 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 son." "Thou Shalt not covet." "Stop, Jack, there; I 
 must think a little. Yes, I can't say I have never 
 coveted. Pray look for poor mamma's Bible on the sub- 
 jedl. ' ' Here was found a reference to Matthew v. , by 
 which Michael was led to see that he had broken the law, 
 and so he was convinced of sin, and died a believing 
 penitent. 
 
 497 
 
 Jeremy Taylor, an evidence of Christianity. Dr. Rust 
 sums up his excellence thus: "He had the good humor 
 of a gentleman, the eloquence of an orator, the fancy of 
 a poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profoundness 
 of a philosopher, the wisdom of a chancellor; the sagac- 
 ity of a prophet, the reason of an angel, and the piety of 
 a saint. He had devotion enough for a cloister, learning 
 enough for a university, wit enough for a college of vir- 
 tiwsi; and, had his parts and endowments been parceled 
 out among his poor clergy that he left behind him, it 
 would, perhaps, have made one of the best dioceses in 
 the world. His person was comely; duty was his delight; 
 his piety, a passion. His faith was the more vivid in 
 proportion as his fancy was more intensely vigorous; 
 with him the objedl of his hope and reverence was scarcely 
 unseen or future; his imagination daily condudled him to 
 diet with the gods, and elevated him to the same height 
 above the world, and the same nearness to ineffable things, 
 which Milton ascribes to his allegorical ' cherub, Con- 
 templation.' " 
 
 498 
 
 Faith and works. Faith is the condition of justifica- 
 tion, and works justify, or prove and exhibit faith. The 
 faith which justifies is, therefore, a vital bond of union 
 with Christ, and seminally carries with it, and within it, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 251 
 
 the germ afterward developing into holy obedience. Paul 
 and James not only express agreeing and analogous, but 
 identical sentiments. Paul speaks of faith as the seed of 
 works; James, of works, as the flower and fruit of faith. 
 As Mr. Titcomb says: "Faith is the seminal agent of 
 justification; works, the visible agent. They resemble 
 the convex and concave surfaces of a crescent; the one 
 implying the other under all circumstances. When we 
 contemplate a spiritual adlion from its motive side, it is 
 faith; on its /ra^zVa/ side, work. Faith and works are 
 part and parcel of the same reality." 
 
 499 
 
 Wasted time reminds us of the calendars on our tables: 
 Time tears off a new day, but the other side is a blank. 
 
 500 
 
 In danger the religious instinSl asserts itself. Young 
 men justify card-playing as an innocent and harmless 
 diversion. But in the battle of Sunday morning in our 
 late war the soldiers were observed to clean out their 
 pockets before the engagement and throw away their 
 cards. 
 
 501 
 
 France, in the Revolution, hung up her motto, ' ' Liberty, 
 equality, fraternity. ' ' Napoleon changed it to " Infantry, 
 cavalry, artillery," ss-ys Punch. 
 
 502 
 
 Ambition sacrificing life. Henry Kirke White, who sac- 
 rificed life to literary triumphs, said that if he were to paint 
 fame as crowning an undergraduate after the senate-house 
 examination, he would represent him as concealing a 
 death's-head under a mask of beauty. He has been com- 
 
252 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 pared to a struck eagle, stretched on a plain, viewing its 
 own feather on the arrow; the plumage which had warmed 
 its own nest drinking the last life-drop. 
 
 503 
 
 The relation of Old and New Testaments to the Mys- 
 teries of God is finally set forth in Augustine's famous 
 saying: " Novum Testamentum in Veterelatet; Vetus, in 
 Novo patet. ' ' The mystery of the Gospel mainly rests on 
 four fadts: Christ's sufferings, death, burial, and resur- 
 redlion. The Old Testament contained these enigmas in 
 prophecy and history, symbol and sacrament. Bengel 
 says it was like a clock moving in silence and in darkness. 
 The machinery was there — the hands were moving on the 
 dial; but few heard clearly or saw clearly the wondrous 
 things of God. But the New Testament is God's .lEono- 
 logium, the clock of the ages, with an illumined dial plate, 
 and a grand apparatus that strikes the hours. 
 
 504 
 
 The domain of science. Three offices pertain to science: 
 I. Observation. 2. Classification and arrangement. 3. 
 Indudlion. Its fundlions are experimental, construc5tive, 
 and indudtive. A man who is both safe and scientific in 
 observation may be careless in classification, and illogical 
 in indudlion. His premises may be sound, and his con- 
 clusion false. We must beware of the assumption of in- 
 fallibility by scientific popes. There is a tendency to 
 speak "ex cathedra" — to lend the sandtion of a great 
 name to a mere theory, and substitute speculation for 
 knowledge, theory for fadl. But even if a zoologist 
 ' ' calls a sheep's tail a leg, it does not make it so." 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 253 
 
 505 
 
 Liturgical forms, devised by men, have this disadvan- 
 tage: Any human form of prayer is like the shell of the 
 cocoon — the life within will ultimately burst and break 
 through it, or it will hinder and cramp the development 
 of life. No forms but those which the Holy Ghost has 
 framed have ever proved elastic and flexible enough for 
 growing spirituality. Even inspired forms sometimes 
 have to give way to ' ' groanings which can not be 
 uttered." 
 
 506 
 
 Evolutional development can not explain two things: 
 The origin of life, or the order in creation. Matter can 
 not give what it has not got; atoms and molecules had 
 not sensation, instindl, memory, intelligence, will, reason, 
 conscience. These were not previously in the molecule. 
 How did they come to be in man ? Whatever develop- 
 ment may have accomplished, the introdudlion into the 
 produdl, of new powers, potencies, and possibilities, could 
 only be by special adl of God. Evolution implies previous 
 involution. 
 
 507 
 
 Civil baptism. The advanced republicans of France, 
 who already have civil marriages and civil funerals, are 
 now beginning to pradtise civil baptism. A few weeks 
 ago, at a village in the Indre-et-Loire, the mayor offici- 
 ated, and pouring white wine on the child's head, pro- 
 nounced the words, " Pierre Vidlor, I baptize thee in the 
 name of I^iberty, Kquality, Fraternity. Vive la Repub- 
 lique!" 
 
254 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 508 
 
 Power of forgiveness. When the Dauphin, lyouis 
 XVII., a child, torn from the arms of his mother, Marie 
 Antoinette, was imprisoned in the Temple, he was put in 
 charge of Simon, a violent and brutal Jacobin, who indi- 
 redily tried to murder the boy by cruelty. He left him 
 to languish in a solitary cell, without amusement, em- 
 ployment, or exercise. He had no fresh air, little water, 
 and coarse food flung in at the half-opened door. He 
 could not even wash himself, his bed went unmade for 
 six months, and for more than a year his clothes were 
 unchanged. The child was, by this treatment, reduced 
 to the borders of imbecility. Yet, when there seemed 
 likely to be a counter revolution, which should put him 
 on the throne, his brutal jailer, with a Satanic leer at 
 him, asked, " What would you do with me, if you found 
 yourself on the throne ? " " Je vous pardon erai. " "I 
 would pardon you! " was the angelic answer. Even 
 Simon showed some signs of being touched by the Divine 
 pathos of such forgiveness! 
 
 509 
 
 The last fortress — the central stronghold of the unre- 
 generate soul — is self-will. The pride of human righteous- 
 ness is the last to bow to God. After Alexander had 
 passed the Granicus, he offered to rebuild Diana's fane at 
 Ephesus, with all its former magnificence, if he might be 
 allowed to inscribe upon its frontispiece his own name. 
 
 510 
 
 Every life whose center and secret is God's will has a 
 Divine mission. Jean Ingelow adds: " Every life has an 
 end to serve. With some people it is to teach others for- 
 bearance and patience, to try temper; none of us know 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 255 
 
 what we are till we are tried. Not tliat God designed any 
 of his creatures for such a purpose; but if we do not 
 perform the good part we may have it in our power to take 
 upon us, God will make even our evil subservient to the 
 good of others. God will turn our very faults into bless- 
 ings for other and more obedient souls." 
 
 511 
 
 Professor Drummond says: " What is the end of life? 
 The end of life is not to do good, altho many of us think 
 so. It is not to win souls, altho I once thought so. The 
 end of life is to do the will of God. That may be in the 
 line of doing good or winning souls, or it may not. For 
 the individual to answer the question, ' What is the end 
 of my life ? ' is to do the will of God, whatever that may be. 
 Spurgeon replied to a committee inviting him to preach to 
 an exceptionally large audience, ' I have no wish to preach 
 to 10,000 people, but to do the will of God,' and he de- 
 clined. If we could have no ambition but the will of God, 
 our lives would be successful. If we could say, ' I have 
 no ambition to go to the heathen or to win souls; my am- 
 bition is simply to do the will of God, whatever that may 
 be,' that makes all equally great, or equally small, be- 
 cause the only great thing in life is what of God's will 
 there is in it. The maximum achievement of any man's 
 life after it is all over is to have done the will of God. No 
 man or woman can have done any more with a Ufe ; no 
 lyUther, no Spurgeon, no Wesley, no Melanchthon can 
 have done any more with their lives, and a dairy maid or a 
 scavenger can do as much. Therefore, the supreme prin- 
 ciple upon which we have to run oiur lives is to adhere, 
 through good report and ill, through temptation and 
 prosperity and adversity, to the will of God, wherever 
 that may lead us. It may take you away to China, or 
 
256 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 you who are going to Africa may have to stay where you 
 are; you who are going to be an evangelist may have to 
 go into business, and you who are going into business 
 may have to become an evangeUst. But there is no hap- 
 piness or success in any life till that principle is taken 
 possession of. ' ' 
 
 Death. The swift transition. It is said that an Alpine 
 hunter, in passing over the Mer de Glac6, lost his hold, 
 and slipped into a frightful crevasse. Catching, in his swift 
 descent, against the points of rocks and projedling spurs 
 of ice, he broke his fall, and reached the bottom alive, but 
 only to face death in a more terrible form. On either 
 hand the icy walls rose high, and above he saw only a strip 
 of the blue sky. At his feet trickled a little stream 
 formed from the melting glacier. There was but one 
 possible chance of escape — to follow this rivulet, which 
 might lead to some unknown crevice or passage. In silence 
 and terror he picked his way along till his advance was stop- 
 ped by a giant cliff that rose up before him, while the river 
 rolled darkly below. He heard the roaring of the waters, 
 which seemed to wait for him. What should he do? 
 Death was beside him and behind him, and, as he feared, 
 before him. There was no time for refledlion or delay. 
 He paused an instant, and plunged into the stream. One 
 minute of breathless suspense — a sense of darkness and 
 coldness, and yet of swift motion, as if he were gliding 
 through the shades below, and then a light began to glim- 
 mer faintly on the waters, and the next instant he was 
 amid the green fields, and the flowers, and the summer 
 sunshine of the Vale of Chamouni. So it is when believers 
 die. They come to the bank of the river, and it is cold 
 and dark. Nature shrinks from the fatal plunge. Yet 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 257 
 
 one chilly moment, and all fear is left behind, and the 
 Christian is amid the fields of the paradise of God. 
 ' ' Morsjanua vita. ' ' Death is the gateway of life. The 
 worldly man can only say: " Dum spiro spero," but the 
 disciple can reply: " Dum espiro spero." 
 
 513 
 
 A remarkable escape. According to the inscription on 
 a tombstone in the Island of Jamaica, Lewis Galdy, a 
 native of Montpellier, France, was in the great earthquake 
 of 1672, swallowed up, and by a second shock, ejedted 
 into the sea, where he continued to swim until picked up 
 by a boat. He lived sixty-five years afterward, and died 
 at the age of eighty. 
 
 514 
 
 The Culbine sands. Near Elgin, and Forres, and the 
 Findhom, in Scotland, are the famous sand hills that 
 mark a very peculiar disaster. In the seventeenth cen- 
 tury the peasantry inconsiderately pulled up the bent 
 juniper and other plants which bound the mass together, 
 and this originated a grave calamity. Under the adlion 
 of the strong winds, the fine particles of sand loosened, 
 began rapidly to drift like snow; they were blown over a 
 distridl of ten square miles. In the course of twenty 
 years, the barony of Culbine, before renowned for fertil- 
 ity, was turned into a barren and dreary wilderness, de- 
 populated as well as rendered sterile. The manor houses, 
 offices, and orchards were completely covered and hidden 
 by the drift, and the desolation of this tradt remains to 
 this day. 
 
258 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 515 
 
 A great snow-storm. In 16 14-15 there was, in Derby- 
 shire, the greatest snow-storm recorded in history. It 
 began January i6th, and fe|l at ten successive times, daily 
 increasing until March 12th, and it was not till the 28th 
 of May, that the last of it disappeared from the roadways. 
 The first fall covered the earth to the depth of three feet 
 nine inches, and the heaps and drifts became so deep, 
 that travel both by horse and foot was over hedges and 
 walls, and in some cases even houses. 
 
 516 
 
 The Golynos oak. This remarkable tree grew on the 
 estate from which it takes its name, near Newport, Mon- 
 mouth. It took five men twenty days to strip and cut it 
 down, and two men were engaged 138 days in sawing it 
 up. The expense of its conversion into timber was over 
 $400. The trunk was nearly 10 feet in diameter and 30 
 feet in circumference. Its rings showed that it had been 
 growing for over 400 years, and it had no doubt stood 
 more than a century after attaining maturity. When 
 standing, it covered over 450 square yards of ground, 
 and it yielded about 25,000 cubic feet of timber, bringing 
 in the market about $3,000. 
 
 Remarkable phenomena of sound. The Gardens of I,es 
 Rochers were once the residence of Madame de S6vigne, 
 the French epistolary writer. In the center of the broad 
 gravel walk leading to the mansion, there is a particular 
 spot where, if two persons stand about ten or twelve yards 
 apart, a low and almost inaudible whisper is responded 
 to by myriads of voices that seem to start from the very 
 earth beneath, as tho the very pebbles spoke, the sen- 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 259 
 
 tence being repeated witli a swift and hissing sound like 
 tlie whirl of small rifle shot through the air. No solu- 
 tion of the mystery has ever been discovered, tho the 
 earth has been dug up to a considerable depth. 
 
 518 
 
 Kaleidoscopic changes. An instrument containing 
 twenty fragments of different forms and colors is capable 
 of so many combinations that, at the rate of one turn of 
 the instrument every second, it would take the incredible 
 number of 75,000,000,000 years to exhaust them. 
 
 519 
 
 Tradition of Calif Omar. It is said in connection 
 with the destrudlion of the 700,000 manuscript volumes 
 of the Alexandrian lyibrary, that the Calif Omar said: 
 ' ' Kither these books conform to the Koran or they do 
 not. If they do, they are not needed; if they do not, 
 they are positively harmful. Therefore let them be 
 destroyed ! " So much tradition has been mixed up with 
 history as to this whole matter, that it is impossible 
 now to separate them. Some of the most trustworthy 
 fadls it may be worth while to note. 
 
 The Alexandrian Library was the largest coUedlion of 
 books in the ancient world. It was founded by Ptolemy 
 Soter, in Alexandria, Egypt. In the time of Demetrius 
 Phalereus, its first manager, the number of volumes or 
 rolls had reached 50,000. It finally contained between 
 400,000 and 700,000, and embraced thecoUedted literature 
 of Rome, and Greece, and India, as well as Egypt. The 
 greater part of it was burned dtiring the siege of Alex- 
 andria by Julius Caesar ; Mark Antony presented to 
 Cleopatra the Pergamos coUedlion, and so replaced the 
 
26o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 destroyed books which had been in the Brucheium quar- 
 ter. The part of the library kept in the Serapis, led to 
 the destrudlion of most of the literary treasures under the 
 Archbishop Theophilus, 391 A. D. It was then, and 
 not at the time of the taking of Alexandria by the Arabs 
 under Omar, that the destrudlion was begun. The story 
 that for six months the 4,000 baths of Alexandria were 
 heated with manuscripts as fuel, is an Arab exaggeration 
 that is entitled only to ridicule. If there were the entire 
 700,000 manuscripts yet extant at the time, this would 
 have allowed to each bath but 175 manuscripts. But one 
 great moral lesson is connedled with this destrudlion; the 
 mass of ancient literature was so vile, that a similar 
 necessity to that of the deluge caused God's providence 
 to decree its destrudlion. Much as we would now give 
 for some relics there destroyed, the world is, on the 
 whole, no loser by the ashes. 
 
 520 
 
 Books are a part of the tools of the sermon-maker. 
 But it is not every book that is worth reading. In these 
 days, perhaps, no greater abuse of books is common 
 among literary men then excess of reading. Henry Ward 
 Beecher had a remarkable faculty, which he himself called 
 ' ' skimming the cream off the literary pans of milk. ' ' He 
 could run through a book with amazing rapidity and 
 catch at the most valuable matter which it contained, and 
 pass over, and almost without perusal, all the rest. 
 Bacon called this discriminating examination of books, 
 "reading without attention," i. e., without having the 
 whole mind attend upon the contents, and contrasted it as 
 tasting with chewing and digesting food. 
 
 There is a certain demand of this day that he who, as a 
 public orator, guides the million minds about him, shall 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 261 
 
 be pradlically omniscient. To keep up with the times he 
 must keep abreast of the current literature, and even of the 
 omnipresent newspaper. And this is no small demand. 
 If one is to comply with any such requisition it is 
 necessary that he shall learn to read eledlively and 
 selecflively — glancing at much that will not repay a pro- 
 longed and intensely searching look. To do more than 
 glance at much that occupies the public mind will make 
 necessary an amount of seclusion and absorption in books 
 that will turn a man into a recluse or hermit. 
 
 521 
 
 The magazine literature is especially useful to him who 
 knows how to utilize it, and especially harmful to him 
 who abuses it. There are some public men who are 
 simply magazine readers. Instead of reading a book, 
 they read a review of it, and all they know of it they 
 know through the speAacles of the reviewer. There is 
 no patient mastery of a subjedl; the stereopticon is the 
 substitute for the adlual investigation of travel and 
 exploration, and a second-hand opinion is a refuge of such 
 laziness as shirks the labor of forming an intelligent and 
 individual and independent judgment. This abuse of 
 magazines makes a most superficial man. The sermon- 
 maker is often reduced to the level of a compiler of frag- 
 ments. The scissors and the gum-bottle are the main 
 helps in such homiletics. The scrap-book is the creative 
 abyss out of which all cosmical order is to develop. Such 
 sermons resemble a ' ' crazy quilt, ' ' in which there is 
 simply the skill of putting together all sorts of material 
 in all sorts of shapes, without harmony or agreement or 
 pattern. 
 
262 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 We have come to the conclusion, after no little careful 
 observation of the methods of the leading minds of the 
 age, that the men, in or out of the pulpit, who, by pen 
 or tongue, mold permanently the sentiment and move 
 effedlively the lives of the people, are thorough men, men 
 who have mastered at least some department of human 
 thought. There is a power, a virtue in the pursuit of a 
 specialty in literature as well as in medicine or science. 
 He who thoroughly acquaints himself with any parti- 
 cular subjedt becomes on that subjedl an acknowledged 
 authority. He who, in attempting to gather a superficial 
 acquaintance with all departments of human thought, 
 sacrifices a true knowledge of anything, becomes an 
 authority on nothing. Sooner or later it is obvious that 
 he is a retailer of others' wares, and second-hand goods 
 command purchasers only among the vulgar. 
 
 523 
 
 The true law of reading is rumination. It is immate- 
 rial in how many, or in whose pastures yoa feed, if you 
 only give your own milk. When a book is so thoroughly 
 and refledlively read as that it enters into, and becomes 
 part of us, is chewed, digested, assimilated, it is no longer 
 foreign matter, it has become our own. And the highest 
 benefit derived from a book, is not any information, 
 knowledge, suggestion acquired or derived, but the effe^ 
 it leaves upon the character. All streams have their 
 residuum. Where iron is in solution, it is seen in the 
 reddish hue of the stones of the bed; where sulphur is 
 deposited, the green tints are unmistakable; and if the 
 waters bring gold, the beds will show the gleaming metal. 
 A book imparts tone to the mind. Every book, read, 
 deposits a residuum; and too often it is a residuum that 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 263 
 
 taints the imagination, memory, conscience, with its de- 
 filement. For this reason, it is better, perhaps, not to 
 read promiscuously and without seledtion. The mind 
 ought not to be fed — indeed it can not be fed — on husks. 
 The mental pabulum should be nutritious, wholesome, 
 and of first quality. It is, therefore, a form of courage 
 that is much needed in these days, to dare not to read 
 a great many books. Probably a half dozen first-class 
 books, read thoroughly, are better for the mental furnish- 
 ing and habit than twenty times as many, read superfici- 
 ally or without proper seledtion. Hence it is sometimes 
 advantageous to read an author whose views you do not 
 accept; that you may keep your mind on the alert, testing, 
 proving every position, and holding fast only the good. 
 Such reading is a sifting process. The reader learns to^ 
 detedt and rejedt the chaff, and gather and garner the 
 pure grain. He cultivates the critical faculty, and noth- 
 ing more rapidly acumenates the mind than to read, search, 
 refledt, and dissedt as you go. Frederick W. Robertson's 
 sermons have probably inspired more high-toned intelled;- 
 ual pulpit work than those of any other author since 
 Robert South. But Robertson was always treading on 
 the verge of heterodoxy, if not heresy; and the careful 
 reader found himself at every step challenging his posi- 
 tions, or at least questioning. It will not do to follow an 
 original thinker slavishly. His originality saves him 
 from a peril into which his mechanical imitator is prone 
 to fall. Genius strikes out new paths; but genius can 
 often find its way, or make its way back to the truth, 
 when men of no genius get hopelessly lost and astray. 
 Robertson could penetrate into the depths of many a 
 jungle because he had his eye on the stars; while too 
 many who followed his lead wandered, and never got out 
 of the gloom. 
 
264 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Sometimes hooks exercise undue influence in shaping 
 our views. We lose our own independence in imbibing 
 the opinions of others, and are like sponges that simply 
 absorb whatever they are soaked in. 
 
 One of the dangers of a much-admired professor, in 
 college or theological seminary, is an over-enthusiasm on 
 the part of his students. ' ' Veneration sometimes be- 
 comes idolatry, and leads to ludicrous adulatory utter- 
 ances." There was, for instance, a Princeton student, 
 who could not sufficiently express his high conception of 
 the attainments of Dr. Hodge. "Oh, Dr. Hodge is a 
 wonderful man! Such a master in theology, while in 
 exegesis he has no equal! You should hear him explain 
 the Epistle to the Romans. Why, I verily believe that he 
 understands it better than Paul himself did ! ' ' 
 
 Another anecdote of similar tenor, reported as authen- 
 tic, and relating to the time of the old battle between the 
 Princeton and the New Haven theologians, offers the 
 corroborative idea of a second admiring student. The 
 story is, that at an examination of a Princeton class in 
 theology, by Dr. Hodge, the professor said: "Tell us 
 what we think here to be a corredl view of the atone- 
 ment." " Owrdodlrine," replied the student, "is, that 
 Christ had a specific end in view in making an atone- 
 ment, and that he died only for the eleEl. " " Well, what 
 do they teach, on this point, at New Haven ? " " Oh, 
 Dr. Taylor holds quite a different view; he teaches, that 
 God so loved the whole world, that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 265 
 
 perish, but have everlasting life! " It has never been 
 decided which was the greater, the consternation of Dr. 
 Hodge at such an unfortunate answer, or the amusement 
 of Dr. Taylor when the story reached his ear. 
 
 Commentaries should be used sparingly by preachers, 
 until the first steps are complete in the framing of the 
 sermon. If this precaution be not taken the discourse is 
 apt to be a mere refledlion of the commentator. But, if 
 a preacher will first take his theme, find his scriptural 
 basis, then examine carefully the text with the parallel 
 passages, in the original; then, after framing the outline 
 at least, and the general form of his sermon, more or less 
 minutely, will examine the best commentaries to confirm 
 or corredt his own views, he will find himself able to 
 enrich his own preparations, and yet not forfeit his own 
 independence of mind or matter. No man will ever be an 
 independent thinker who always runs to another's the- 
 saurus to get the material for his discourse. As well 
 attempt to teach a child to walk by accustoming the 
 infant to artificial supports. Give the mind a chance to 
 do its own original work on the Scriptures first, then any 
 help you may get from others is only a tonic and stimu- 
 lant, not a narcotic and sedative. 
 
 Demon worship. On the coast of Malabar, in Canara 
 alone, are 4041 temples to evil spirits, besides 3,682 to 
 other gods. Here, in the very heart of the East Indies, 
 men worship demons as deities. Evil spirits have for 
 centuries been held in homage by all classes of Hindus 
 except Brahmans. Even the lowest caste — that of slaves 
 — ^have been believed to have power to let loose the evil 
 
266 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 demons upon men, and exorcists have been employed 
 with noisy native drums, charms, and incantations, to 
 drive out the evil spirit. Here is a whole community 
 living in terror of demons, and demons, let loose by slaves, 
 to be bound again only by the charms of a conjurer. We 
 go down to the fetish worshipers of Africa and we find 
 among these most degraded tribes almost precisely similar 
 superstitions. Evil spirits are the terror of the sable sons 
 of Africa. Any plague or pestilence among men or cattle, 
 any blight upon crops, any drought upon streams, calamity 
 of any form, must be attributed to this source. Some- 
 body is possessed — ^witchcraft is at work. The medicine 
 man is called in. Some innocent party is tainted with 
 suspicion; the casca draught must be taken; if it adls as 
 an emetic, the party is innocent; if as a cathartic, he is 
 guilty and must be drowned or burned; and as the medi- 
 cine man knows that whether the poison will adl as an 
 emetic or cathartic depends on the strength of the 
 draught, human life is absolutely in his hands and at his 
 mercy. Any man or woman whom it is desired to put 
 out of the way, may thus be sacrificed to the jealousy or 
 malice or hate of any designing foe. 
 
 529 
 
 Knowledge and zeal. Fuel does not make fire, but feeds 
 it. No amount of missionary information will create zeal 
 if there be no Spirit of Christ within the man. Knowl- 
 edge will not take the place of zeal, but will increase it 
 when it is enkindled. 
 
 530 
 
 Peace, God's way of making it. God is the God of 
 peace. 
 
 ' ' Come, behold the works of the lyord, what desolations 
 He hath made in the earth." 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 267 
 
 ' ' He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth. ' ' 
 This is His way of making desolations. 
 
 531 
 
 Church music. A fair sample of our modem church 
 music may be derived from the reply of a celebrated 
 divine, who when asked his opinion of the music in some 
 of our churches, said : "I attended a fashionable church, 
 where I sat all through the sermon, wondering how in the 
 world I got in without a ticket ! " Speaking, also, of the 
 usual style of singing by the choir, he takes, for example, 
 the sentence 
 
 "Take Thy pilgrim home,'' etc. 
 
 which, being rendered artistically, has the following sub- 
 lime effedl: First, the soprano sings," Take Thy pil — ," 
 foUpwed by the alto and tenor in a duet with like 
 advice (while the soprano is magnificently holding on to 
 the "pill"), and as the bass profoundly echoes the 
 same ' ' Take Thy pil — , ' ' they finally unite, and repeat 
 together, eventually succeeding in singing ' ' Take Thy 
 pilgrim home, ' ' etc. , greatly to the relief, no doubt, of 
 both minister and people, who must have been alike 
 horrified at the suggestive advice so forcibly pro- 
 mulgated. 
 
 532 
 
 Long and short speeches. It was not the long speeches 
 that took up the time of the Conference, it was the multi- 
 plicity of short speeches and subsidiary motions that have 
 their origin in the failure of members to understand the 
 main matter. Fifteen minutes is a very short time to 
 set forth a complicated matter clearly, and very few as 
 long as this, were made at former conferences. Better 
 hear four men that do not know what they are talking 
 
268 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 about, for fifteen minutes, and one man fifteen minutes 
 that does, tlian to liear fifty-five men that do not know 
 what they are talking about, talk five minutes each. 
 Now if you bring this thing down so that no man can 
 speak over ten minutes, the result will be that thirty or 
 forty men will talk on matters and motions, when a clear 
 statement from one man that saw right through the sub- 
 jedt and knew what he meant, would settle the matter. 
 Some men are like an ocean steamer that takes some time 
 to get under weigh, others are like a ferry-boat that gets 
 under weigh at once. This ten-minute rule is in the inter- 
 est of flippant talkers, and dead against the wise men 
 who want a little while to get under weigh. — /. M. 
 Buckley, D. D. 
 
 533 
 
 Chalmers and Bpurgeon. Dr. Theodore i;. Cuyler pro- 
 nounces Spurgeon, and justly, the greatest preacher of 
 the last half of the nineteenth century, as Thomas Chal- 
 mers is credited with this distindtion in the first half of 
 this century. 
 
 534 
 
 Encouraging sin. We may make ourselves the min- 
 isters of sin by helping people too easily over difficulties 
 — applying the salve of misappropriated promises to make 
 them comfortable in sin, instead of using the knife that 
 cuts out the cancer or tumor. 
 
 We are very unskilful and unfaithful physicians when 
 we use what is meant to be a cathartic as a stporific and 
 pervert a stimulant into a narcotic, or a purgative into a, 
 sedative; or when we use a poultice instead of the scalpel. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 269 
 
 535 
 
 There is sevenfold completeness wliicli marks the wliGle 
 plan and scheme of redemption as revealed in the Word 
 of God; and when all these particulars are embraced in 
 our conception, in proper order and relation, nothing can 
 be added. The perfedl entirety of the plan is itself a 
 proof of the origin and source of it. 
 
 1 . A Supernatural Creation whose crown and consum- 
 mation is man. 
 
 2. A Supernatural Revelation whose crown and con- 
 summation is the Bible. 
 
 3. A Supernatural Incarnation whose crown and con- 
 summation is Jesus Christ. 
 
 4. A Supernatural Indwelling whose crown and con- 
 summation is the Holy Spirit. 
 
 5. An eledl People separated from all peoples of earth. 
 
 6. An elecft Church gathered out from all nations. 
 
 7. An eledt Kingdom finally to incorporate and assimi- 
 late all other kingdoms. 
 
 8. A new Creation in which holiness reigns and God is 
 all in all. This is the logical and philosophical order. 
 
 The historical order is diiferent: the Creation, the eledl 
 people, the Revelation, the Incarnation, the indwelling 
 Spirit, the eledl Church, Kingdom, and new Creation. 
 A life's ministry might be profitably spent in simply going 
 over and over this program. It would be found to include 
 the entire revelation of Scripture truths, to embrace all 
 the great fadlors of Redemption, of man's spiritual history, 
 and Go i's spiritual dealing with the race. It contains 
 all tb" divisions of a perfedl theological system and 
 suggests Hie whole relation and duty of man toward God's 
 creation. 
 
270 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 536 
 
 Building from the base. In the remarkable book, "From 
 Death Into Life, ' ' the writer tells of an elderly Cornish 
 woman deeply taught in things of God, who, observing 
 that he was trying to promote a higher standard of Chris- 
 tian adlivity without due care to lay right foundations in 
 holy living — asked him one day as he passed by, " Mr. 
 Haslam, are ye gain' to build your spire from the topf'' 
 
 The question was like an arrow, not easily dislodged, 
 and he could not get that thought out of his mind. 
 " Have I begun at the beginning? Am I building from 
 the bottom or absurdly attempting to construdt from the 
 top down ? ' ' Such questions he kept asking of his own 
 inner self, until compelled to make a new start, and lay 
 the broad, deep, and firm foundation of all holy serving 
 in holy living and holy praying. This experience sug- 
 gests the radical need in all true Christian enterprise, of 
 a reconstruction from the base upward; for to secure a 
 broad, strong, firm basis in a holier, diviner life in the 
 Church, would cause the whole structure of our Christian 
 adlivity to take on new charadler. 
 
 537 
 
 Calvin and Arminius. The distindtive difference be- 
 tween these two theologians and their theologies may be 
 concisely stated. Calvin and Arminius differ not so much 
 in the minor, as in the major positions of their respective 
 systems. Calvin took his center and point of view in 
 God; Arminius, in man. As was natural, God filled 
 Calvin's horizon, and man filled that of Arminius. And, 
 as was also natural, from Calvin's point of prospedt man 
 seemed insignificant and scarcely visible, while from that 
 of Arminius, God became disproportionately small. It 
 was as if two observers were studying the solar system, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 271 
 
 one from the sun's surface, the other from the earth's. 
 From the sun, earth is but a speck, if visible at all; from 
 the earth the sun appears, however large among the 
 celestial bodies, small in comparison to the earth. And, 
 altho Calvin's point of view was much the safer for an 
 estimate of truth, it is possible that even he gave human 
 adtion and volition too little comparative importance, 
 while Arminius gave it too large a prominence. To re- 
 cur again to our illustration, if one would get a true con- 
 ception of the relations of earth and sun, he must take 
 his imaginary point of view midway between them, and 
 so learn accurately their comparative magnitudes. Divine 
 sovereignty and human freedom are alternately empha- 
 sized in Scripture, and no attempt is made to harmonize 
 them. The fault with all theological systems is that they 
 attempt a scientific harmony and adjustment of what the 
 Word of God leaves an unsolved problem and a hopeless 
 paradox. C. H. Spurgeon had not long been a preacher 
 and a pastor before he also was content to insist on God's 
 sovereign eledlion of man and on man's voluntary elec- 
 tion of God, as both true and essential to salvation. But 
 he made no more attempt to make them harmonize than 
 Christ did before him, when he said almost with the same 
 breath, "No man can come to me except the Father 
 which hath sent me draw him," and " All that the Father 
 giveth me, shall come to me, ' ' and again, ' ' Ye will not 
 come unto me. ' ' 
 
 53S 
 
 A minister'' s farewell. After half a century of public 
 life, the Rev. Dr. Guinness Rogers — the fine old stalwart 
 of Noncomformity — preached his farewell sermon as pas- 
 tor at the Clapham Congregational Church, I^ondon. "At 
 twenty," said he, "we know everything; at seventy we 
 
272 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 know nothing. ' ' His message to the Church at large 
 will live for years to come. It runs thus: " Concentrate 
 thought, feeling, work, all on the one point of the evan- 
 gelical faith. I am confident that we make mistakes in 
 going into speculations on other things. Our own work 
 is to make men understand more clearly the Gospel mes- 
 sage, that Christ died to save sinners. There is more in 
 it to affedt men's hearts than in all the other truths. I 
 would have the truth more evangelical, and more evan- 
 gelistic. ' ' 
 
 539 
 
 The abstainer's creed. I believe that the Demon of 
 Strong Drink is the gigantic foe of God and man ; that 
 it ruins man alike for happiness on earth and blessed- 
 ness in heaven ; and that two-thirds of all the pauperism, 
 crime, and wo on earth may be traced to him as his 
 progeny; that he was conceived of Satan, born of the 
 depraved appetites of men, and inflidls only suffering 
 upon his vidlim;. that under his rule reason is crucified, 
 love dies, and conscience is buried ; that man descends 
 into a hell even upon earth, and has no resurredtion 
 for his manhood nor redemption for his enslaved soul 
 but in the power of God ; that no drunkard can enter 
 into the kingdom of God or abide His presence who shall 
 come to judge the living and the dead. 
 
 I believe in the saving and keeping power of the Holy 
 Ghost ; that the whole Catholic Church should unite to 
 assault and overthrow this awful trafl&c in strong drink, 
 and deliver humanity from the curse of the drink habit ; 
 that the only salvation for humanity is in uncompromising 
 total abstinence for the individual, progressive prohibition 
 for the community, and above all the embrace of the Gos- 
 pel of Christ, who alone can redeem body and soul from 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 273 
 
 the slavery of sin, and thrill us with the power of life 
 everlasting ! 
 
 540 
 The perils of the age. Dr. A. A. Hodge said ' ' there is 
 going on a triangular contest. At the apex of the triangle 
 equality and liberty meet in the sovereignty of God and 
 the supremacy of Law. At the base of the triangle, 
 absolutism at the one angle, and license at the other, com- 
 plete the awful figure and present the opposite extremes 
 to which society swings in rebellion against God and 
 Law." 
 
 Rapid growth. The rapidity of national growth implies 
 peril. History shows that for a nation to grow fast, 
 unless material growth is matched by moral progress, is 
 sure degeneracy; as in botany excessively rapid develop- 
 ment means deterioration — loss of value and vitality — 
 fungus. 
 
 Church attendance. Dr. Bellows said: "I never knew 
 one man or woman who steadily evaded the house of 
 prayer and the public worship on the Lord's day, who 
 habitually negledted it, and had a theory on which it was 
 negledled, who did not come to grief and bring other 
 people to grief. ' ' 
 
 543 
 
 Self-satisfaction. There is, in human nature, a morbid 
 tendency to a kind of satisfadtion with present attain- 
 ments, a vicious complacency as to our present spiritual 
 estate. It corresponds, in water, to stagnation, offensive 
 and pestilential; in vegetation, to the point where devel- 
 opment is displaced by decay; and in animal life, to 
 dwarfism, which is only a form of disease and deformity. 
 
2 74 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 In society, it marks the dark age of ignorance and sensu- 
 ality; and in the Church of God, it has two peculiar 
 forms of manifestation; retrospedtion and retrogression. 
 
 544 
 
 The law of Christian aspiration. The normal law of 
 the Christian life is aspiration. A holy discontent, a Di- 
 vine dissatisfadlion as to any present or past development 
 is a first necessity to true Christian progress. The ideal 
 life is daily and hourly advancing in intelledlual, emo- 
 tional, spiritual experience. Its tides never ebb and 
 never cease rising. They have no flood-mark this side 
 of perfedlion ! 
 
 The history of every disciple should be inspired by 
 such an ideal. True, no man realizes his own ideal; but 
 he is not to choose a lower standard. Aspiration needs 
 inspiration, and the highest inspiration proceeds only 
 from that which is perf edl. This is the philosophy of the 
 Bible, in presenting before us a perfedl model. 
 
 545 
 
 Abnormal childhood. There is an abnormal childhood, 
 and Paul indicates seven marked features by which this 
 abnormal childhood may be known. First, incapacity for 
 all solid spiritual diet. Secondly, instability of charadler. 
 Next, childish contentions and rivalries; next, a prolonged 
 estate of tutelage. Fifthly, immaturity in knowledge and 
 love; sixthly, lingering among the rudiments; and, sev- 
 enthly, complacency in our childishness. 
 
 54^ 
 
 Trials and compensations. A German pidlure, called 
 ' ' Cloud-land, ' ' hangs at the end of a long gallery; and at 
 first sight looks like a huge, repulsive daub of confused 
 color, without form or comeliness. As you walk toward 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 275 
 
 it it begins to take shape, and proves to be a mass of 
 little cherub faces, like those in Raphael's "Madonna 
 San Sisto, ' ' Close to the pidture, you see only an innu- 
 merable company of little angels and cherubim. How 
 often, frightened by trial, we see nothing but a confused 
 and repulsive mass of broken expectations and crushed 
 hopes! but if, instead of fleeing away into unbelief and 
 despair, we would only draw near to God, we would 
 soon discover that the cloud was full of angels of mercy. 
 In one cherub face we would see, ' ' Whom I love, I 
 chasten." Another sweet angel would say, " !Let not 
 your hearts be troubled ; believe also in Me. In My 
 Father's house are many mansions. Where I am, there 
 shall ye be also." — Cuyler. 
 
 547 
 
 Culture defined. Culture is that which makes one 
 efficient. It gives power to work with the brain. It is 
 not tinsel luster, but luster added to weight. Solomon 
 described it well when he said : " If the iron be blunt, and 
 he do not whet the edge, then he must put to more 
 strength; but wisdom is profitable to diredt." That is, 
 if we have not culture we must make up for it by a larger 
 amount of force. The ministry of culture has for its ends : 
 (i) To accumulate information, /^formation is knowl- 
 edge put into us and taking a symmetrical form. (2) 
 Education, which is educing latent power, bringing out 
 what is in the man. When a father objedled to Arnold's 
 teaching his son I^atin, because he did not see what the 
 boy could do with it, Arnold replied that it was not for 
 the sake of what the boy would do with the lyatin, but for 
 what the I,atin would do with the boy. (3) The devel- 
 opment of charadter, mental, moral, and spiritual, in beau- 
 tiful proportion and symmetry. The Athenians used to 
 
276 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 say that if one should set a slave to teach his boy he would 
 finally have two slaves. (4) To fit one for the highest, 
 best, and noblest form of usefulness. Milton said: ' 'Edu- 
 cation is that Which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, 
 and magnanimously all the offices, public and private, in 
 Church and State." 
 
 54S 
 
 Culture: its ideal. Christian culture represents the 
 only ideal of education. ( i ) True culture embraces the 
 whole man. Man has been called a " political animal; " 
 but he is also a religious animal. (2) Sir Wm. Hamil- 
 ton truthfully said, ' ' The only thing on earth that is 
 great is man, and the only thing in man that is great is 
 his soul. ' ' The true culture, giving most attention to 
 that which is most important in man, was seen at Mt. 
 Holyoke, under Mary L,yon. She was conscience incar- 
 nate. Upon her tombstone is inscribed a charadleristic 
 remark of hers: "There is nothing, young ladies, which 
 I so much fear, as that I shall not know my duty, or that 
 knowing it, I shall not do it." 
 
 As to the ministry of art, or what art has to do with 
 culture, in some people's notions art is concerned only 
 with beauty, not with utility. If it be so we should not 
 negledl art, for, as Goethe said: " We must take care of 
 the beautiful, for the useful will take care of itself. ' ' Art 
 implies the power to do that which nature does not teach 
 us to do. While science has knowledge in view, art has 
 work in view. 
 
 549 
 
 Art and its relations. Art has manifold connedlions: 
 (i) with science, which furnishes the intelledlual basis; 
 (2) with beauty, which furnishes the esthetic basis; (3) 
 with culture, which furnishes the ideal basis; (4) with 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 277 
 
 utility, whicli furnislies the material basis; (5) with eth- 
 ics, which furnishes the moral basis; (6) with religion, 
 which furnishes the genius and inspiration of the highest 
 art. 
 
 There is a special connedlion of art with utility. The 
 common classification of the arts as "fine arts" and 
 ' ' useful arts, ' ' is misleading. Beauty is utility. The 
 esthetic faculty is a part of true manhood. A true edu- 
 cation will develop the whole man. Man's intelledtual 
 faculties may be classified as the cognitive, conservative, 
 comparative, and construdlive. While science develops 
 them all, art has especially to do with the comparative 
 and construdlive faculties, which are the highest. Fur- 
 thermore, art is utility, since it enables one to do his 
 work in the best manner. 
 
 550 
 
 Seven laws of painting. Seven laws govern the pro- 
 dudlion of a first-class painting: (i) The law of concep- 
 tion; that the pidlure should exist in the mind of the 
 artist before he begins to paint. (2) The law of concen- 
 tration; that everything in the work must be such as to 
 express the artist's conception. (3) The law of consis- 
 tency; that the parts of the painting must be consistent 
 with each other. The true artist does not say: "Be 
 true," but " Be consistent. " (4) The law of contrast; 
 that shadows be so used as to bring out lights, and lights 
 so used as to bring out shadows. (5) The law of com- 
 , pleteness; that sufficient attention be paid to details. (6) 
 The law of comprehensiveness; that in the details there 
 shall be as much variety as is consistent with the one 
 purpose. (7) The law of sensibility; that the artist shall 
 have sympathy with nature, or the power of giving nature 
 a soul. This is more than mechanical conformity to 
 rules. 
 
278 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 551 
 
 Carefulness in reading. Ralph Waldo Emerson' s advice 
 was never to read a book till it has been out a year, sup- 
 posing that length of time necessary to show whether the 
 volume has, as the French say, " a reason for being." 
 
 One should not read everything that intrudes itself 
 upon his notice any more than one should admit to his 
 companionship every person he meets. ' ' Books, like 
 friends, should be few and well chosen." 
 
 There is always danger of reading too much, but the 
 best authors may be read many times with profit. If 
 Macaulay be read until he becomes thoroughly familiar, 
 a solid foundation of historical knowledge is secured 
 around which to group earlier and succeeding events. 
 Dr. Johnson's method, was, when he had read something 
 he particularly wished to remember, to tell it to some 
 appreciative friend, and thus fix it in the mind. 
 
 The modern novel may become a ' ' thief of time. ' ' 
 Reading too much fidlion saps the mental powers as surely 
 as dissipation weakens the body. 
 
 At one of our public libraries quite recently a boy was 
 reported who had adlually read one hundred and two 
 novels or stories, in ninety-one days. To a large class 
 of readers our public libraries are only known as contain- 
 ing a supply of the most exciting tales, and it becomes a 
 question whether it is right and best to furnish any litera- 
 ture but that which instrudts and elevates. 
 
 552 
 
 Zeal for the Scriptures. There was a peasant in the 
 county of Cork, who understood that a gentleman had a 
 copy of the Scriptures in the Irish language, and begged 
 to see it. He asked whether he might borrow the New 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 279 
 
 Testament in his own tongue. The gentleman said he 
 could not obtain another copy, and he was afraid to trust it 
 to anyone to take a copy in writing. ' ' Where will you get 
 the paper?" he asked. "I will buy it." "And the 
 pens and ink?" "I will buy them." "Where will 
 you find a place ? " "If your honor will allow me your 
 hall, I would come after I had done my work in the day, 
 and take a copy by portions of time in the evening. ' ' 
 The gentleman was so struck with such zeal, that he 
 gave him the use of the hall and light by which to take 
 a copy. The man was firm to his purpose, finished the 
 work, and produced a copy of the New Testament in 
 writing by his own hand. 
 
 553 
 
 Biblical fa£ls. The Scriptures have been translated 
 into 421 languages and dialedls, of which 121 had, prior 
 to the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
 never appeared. 
 
 The first division of the Divine order into chapters and 
 verses is attributed to Stephen I^angton, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, in the reign of King John, in the latter part 
 of the twelfth, or the beginning of the thirteenth century. 
 Cardinal Hugo, in the middle of the thirteenth century, 
 divided the Old Testament into chapters as they stand in 
 our translation. In 1661, Athias, a Jew of Amsterdam, 
 divided the sedtion of Hugo into verses. In 1561 a 
 French printer divided the New Testament into verses as 
 they now are. 
 
 The Old Testament contains 39 books, 929 chapters, 
 23,214 verses, 592,439 words, and 2,738,100 letters. 
 
 The New Testament contains 27 books, 270 chapters, 
 7,931 verses, 132,253 words, and 933.380 letters. 
 
28o Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 The entire Bible contains 66 books, 1,190 chapters, 
 31,174 verses, 753,692 words, and 3,565,480 letters. 
 
 The name of Jehovah, or 'Lfird, occurs 6,855 times in 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 The word " and " occurs in the Old Testament 35,543 
 times. 
 
 The middle book of the Old Testament is Proverbs. 
 
 The middle chapter is the 20th of Job. 
 
 The middle Verse is in 2d Chronicles, 26th chapter, 
 17th verse. 
 
 The middle book of the New Testament is 2d Thessa- 
 lonians. 
 
 The middle chapters are in Romans, 13th and 14th. 
 
 The middle verse is Acts xi : 17. 
 
 The middle chapter and the shortest in the Bible is 
 Psalm 117. 
 
 The middle verse in the Bible is Psalm xviii : 9. 
 
 The least verse in the Old Testament is in ist Chron- 
 icles i : 25. 
 
 The least verse in the Bible is John xi : 35. 
 
 The 19th chapter in 2d Kings and 27th in Isaiah are 
 identical. 
 
 The 2ist verse of the 7 th chapter of Ezra contains all 
 the letters of the alphabet; I and J being considered as 
 one. 
 
 The Apocrypha (not inspired, but sometimes found 
 between the Old and New Testaments) has 4 books, 183 
 chapters, 15,081 verses, and 158,185 words. 
 
 The preceding fadts were ascertained by a gentleman 
 in 1 7 18, also by an Englishman residing at Amsterdam 
 in 1722, and it is said to have taken each nearly three 
 years in the investigation. 
 
 There is a Bible in the library of the University of 
 Gottingen written on 2,470 palm leaves. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 281 
 
 554 
 
 An illuminated Bible. The most beautiful volume 
 among the half million in the Congressional Library at 
 Washington is a Bible which was transcribed by a monk 
 in the sixteenth century. It could not be matched to- 
 day in the best printing-office in the world. The parch- 
 ment is in perfedl preservation. Every one of its thou- 
 sand pages is a study. The general lettering is in 
 German text, each letter perfedl, as is every one, in cold 
 black ink, without a scratch or blot from lid to lid. At 
 the beginning of each chapter, the first letter is very large, 
 usually two or three inches long, and is brightly illumi- 
 nated in red and blue ink. Within each of these capi- 
 tals is drawn the figure of some saint, and some incident 
 of which the chapter tells, is illustrated. There are two 
 columns on a page, and nowhere is traceable the slightest 
 irregularity of line space or formation of the letters. Even 
 under a magnifying glass they seem flawless. This 
 precious volume is kept under a glass case, which ia 
 sometimes lifted to show that all the pages are as perfedl 
 as the two which lie open. A legend relates that a young 
 man who had sinned deeply became a monk, and resolved 
 to do penance for his misdeeds. He determined to copy 
 the Bible, that he might learn every letter of the Divine 
 commands which he had violated. Every day for many 
 years he patiently pursued his task. Each letter was 
 wrought in reverence and love, and the patient soul 
 found its only companionship in the saintly faces which 
 were portrayed on these pages. When the last touch 
 was given to the last letter, the old man reverently kissed 
 the page and folded the sheets together. The illustrated 
 initials in perfedlion of form and brilliancy of color sur- 
 pass anything produced in the present day. With all 
 
282 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 our boasted progress, nothing either in Europe or America 
 equals it. 
 
 555 
 
 Aristotle and Bacon. The main distindlion in their 
 system of philosophy, is that expressed in the words 
 induElion and deduction. The Aristotelian method was 
 dedudlive, leading downward from a supposed law or con- 
 jedlural theory to the phenomena whose explanation is 
 desired. The Baconian philosophy was indudlive, leading 
 upward from particular fadls or phenomena to some 
 general law by which they may be explained. Aristotle 
 used synthesis, construdling fadts about a supposed 
 principle; Bacon insisted on analysis, separating and 
 classifying fadls till some principle is developed or dis- 
 covered. Dedudlion compels us to test doubtful theories 
 till we strike a corredl hypothesis, with which fadls 
 correspond and by which phenomena are explained. 
 Indudlion teaches to reason, as logicians say "a pos- 
 teriori," the theory being adopted subsequent to the 
 investigation of the fadls which it explains, yet by which 
 it is confirmed. Kepler, the legislator of the heavens, 
 seeking to discover the true orbit of planetary revolution, 
 is a good illustration of the Aristotelian method. With 
 sublimely resolute patience during ten years of untiring 
 adlivity, he successively tested and rejedled nineteen 
 separate hypotheses, rejoicing when the ordeal of severe 
 and rigid experiment proved a theory false, because the 
 limits within which truth must be found were thus made 
 narrower. Only after a score of unsuccessful experi- 
 ments did he, describing in the limitless field of space the 
 elliptical orbit and shifting the sun to one of its foci, thus 
 track the planet in its path about the sun. Franklin, 
 on the other hand, patiently experimenting with elec- 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 283 
 
 trical phenomena until the law by which they were 
 governed was revealed and the subtle fluid thus flashed a 
 new light on his mind, is an example of the Baconian 
 method. 
 
 556 
 
 Schmolke's hymn. That pious German pastor, Benja- 
 min Schmolke, is an example of how a hymn is written. 
 A fire raged over his parish and laid in ruins his church 
 and the homes of his people. Then God's Angel of 
 Death took wife and children, and only graves were left. 
 Then disease smote him and laid him prostrate; then 
 blindness took the light of his eyes away, — and under all 
 this avalanche of ills Schmolke didlated these words. We 
 itaUcize words that refer to his afflidlion: 
 
 My Jesus, as Thou wilt! 
 
 Oh, may Thy will be mine; 
 Into Thy hand of Love 
 
 My all I would resign. 
 
 (Bereavements.) 
 
 Through sorrow, or through joy, 
 Conduct me as Thine own; 
 
 And help me still to say, 
 
 " My Lord, Thy will be done!" 
 
 (Blindness.) 
 
 My Jesus, as Thou wilt; 
 
 Tho seen through many a tear. 
 Let not my star of hope 
 
 Grow dim or disappear I 
 
 (Blindness.' 
 
 Then to my home above 
 
 I travel czXrsAy on. 
 And sing in life or death, 
 
 " My Lord, Thy will be done ! 
 
 (Home broken up.) 
 (Palsied.) 
 
284 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 557 
 
 Forward — an acrostic. 
 
 Faith, from which all virtue springs; 
 
 Opportunity improved; 
 
 Reverence for hallowed things; 
 
 Work, where hands and heart are moved; 
 
 Associations pure as light; 
 
 Resolutions fixed and right; 
 
 Duty lifted to delight! 
 
 FORWARD! 
 
 558 
 
 The Declaration of Independence. Rev. Dr. S. H. Vir- 
 gin stated in an address that recently in Washington he 
 had examined with microscopic scrutiny the original 
 draft of the Declaration of Independence, and not a trace 
 could be found of the signatures of the men who put 
 forth that immortal instrument. Their names had faded 
 out, but they never will be forgotten. 
 
 559 
 
 The eagle, i . The eagle is (a) built for flight. His 
 whole strudlure, hollow feathers and bones, combining 
 strength and lightness, and muscular power, etc. 
 
 (b) Built for high flights — -capable of mounting above 
 all other birds and sustaining himself at will in the upper 
 heaven. 
 
 (c) Built for sustained and tireless flights — maintaining 
 himself without exhaustion for any length of time and 
 resting on the wing. 
 
 (d) Built for fearless flight — he soars above the abyss 
 without even a trace of timidity. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 285 
 
 560 
 
 Imparting strength. A touching story is told of a sick 
 eagle, whose vitality had been so reduced by long con- 
 finement that, when set loose, and placed on the heather, 
 it only drooped and seemed ready to die. Then an eagle, 
 that from the heights saw the feeble bird, swept down, 
 touched it and fanned it with his great wings. Over and 
 over this was repeated, until the sick bird, gradually 
 feeling the inspiration of the other's vitality, preened 
 itself, expanded its wings, and ultimately followed in the 
 upward flight. We never get an upward look or aspira- 
 tion or ascent, unless some one from the heights sweeps 
 down and touches us. God uses ripe saints to help us 
 out of the depths by their conta(5l and contagious conse- 
 cration. 
 
 561 
 
 Eagle resting. The eagle knows how to rest. No bird 
 can be so still, absolutely without perceptible motion, for 
 half a day at a time. When he settles down on a crag 
 and grasps it with his talons, the more he settles down 
 the firmer his clutch. His sleep, therefore, is so secure 
 that for him to fall from his elevated perch would be im- 
 possible, for his grasp can only relax as he rises upon his 
 feet and so relaxes all the sinews which release his talons 
 from their grip on the rock. He goes to sleep, therefore, 
 without a doubt that he will ' ' find himself there ' ' in the 
 morning. 
 
 The eagle is built for the storm. He perceives it afar 
 off and is not alarmed. He preens his feathers, and 
 shakes himself, and as the violent tornado and tempest 
 approach actually ' ' takes the very front ' ' and leads the 
 storm, outflying it at its most rapid pace, rejoicing in its 
 violence, and, when he will, rising far above it into the 
 
286 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 clear heights of cloudless day, whence he looks down 
 upon it. 
 
 The eagle is built for a solitary life. There is no bird 
 so alone. Other birds go in flocks — the eagle never, two 
 at most together, and they are mates. Its majesty con- 
 sists partly in its solitariness. It lives apart because 
 other birds can not live where and as it lives, and follow 
 where it leads. The true child of God must consent to a 
 lonely life, apart with God, and often the condition of 
 holiness is separation. The true children of God, who 
 live near to Him, are always a "little"' flock, the few 
 and not the many. 
 
 The eagle is made for the heights, and can not dwell on 
 earth. The wild duck is a bird of flight, the ' ' domestic ' ' 
 duck can ' ' neither fly nor go, ' ' but waddles and swims 
 about in the same old puddle from year to year, and only 
 stirs up the same old mud. Kven its cry — its quack — is 
 different from that of the untamed bird. What a pity 
 that souls, born to aspire and soar, should, with dipt 
 wings, be content to waddle and move in a puddle of 
 mud all their days. 
 
 Faith. "We are naturally, as Burke said, "religious 
 animals. ' ' We have a nature that demands a religious 
 faith. The body needs food, air, adlion; the mind needs 
 knowledge, training, thought; the heart needs love, sym- 
 pathy; so the soul needs God. Said Augustine: "Thou, 
 O God, hast made us for Thee, and our heart is restless 
 till it rests in Thee. ' ' There is no rest in sin or in unbelief. 
 We never find the ' ' peace which passeth all understand- 
 ing," till our minds find certainty of convidtion and our 
 hearts find satisfying affedtion in God. 
 
Seed Thoughts for PubHc Speakers 287 
 
 563 
 
 Opportunity. There come to eacli of us golden moments, 
 and often unawares. Unimproved, they go by, never to 
 return. A door that shuts never opens again; other 
 doors may open, but not the same a second time. The 
 old Latins told of the sibyl who came back to offer her 
 mystic books for sale, but each time demanding a higher 
 price. Paul tells us to " buy up opportunity ' ' like 
 articles sold in the market at their cheapest rate, but 
 whose price is sure to advance. 
 
 Reverence. There are sacred things — things to be 
 treated with respetft or even reverence. Never treat an 
 old man with disrespedl; honor gray hairs. Touch with 
 careless hand no sacred thing; God's name and word, 
 God's day and house — let them be put upon a high 
 throne in your mind and heart. The spirit that dis- 
 regards hallowed things and draws no line between the 
 holy and the common, comes very near to the spirit of the 
 scorner, whose seat is in the gate of hell. 
 
 56s 
 
 Work. To have something to do and to do something 
 is a security against a thousand temptations that lie ready 
 to employ idle hands. The nobler the work, the better; 
 but all honorable and honest toil may be a calling in 
 which we "abide with God." Baruch "earnestly 
 repaired the piece " of the wall; he put his earnestness 
 into the work of a mason. The Jews said that "not to 
 teach a boy a handicraft was to teach him to steal." 
 And the word of God tells us to be " not slothful in busi- 
 ness, fervent in spirit, serving the I/)rd." 
 
288 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 566 
 
 Association. "A man is known by the company he 
 keeps; " yes, and by his company you may know what 
 he is coming to be. We unconsciously fall into the 
 habits of thought and feeling of those with whom we are 
 associated. We grow better or worse, nobler or meaner, 
 by the influence of our companions. Our ideas are molded 
 by our ideals; our condudl by our examples. To choose 
 refining, purifying society, is the grandest step up and on; 
 to keep the company of the vicious and the vile, is as sure 
 a step toward ruin. The Church is mainly given us to 
 meet this demand of our social nature. 
 
 Trained by discipline. The parent eagle trains the 
 young to fly — the thorn, planted in the side of the nest, 
 makes the fledgling uncomfortable if it nestles down too 
 long in the eyrie; and, if need be, the mother pushes the 
 young bird off the edge of the cliff, and lets it fall over 
 into the abyss — sees it tumble, screaming and screeching^ 
 apparently doomed to be dashed in pieces; but the mother 
 bird, watching, drops like a plummet, with incredible 
 rapidity, beneath the young bird, and receives it on the 
 broad maternal wings and bears it up to the heights, only 
 to let it drop again; until, by and by, the fledgling is 
 prepared, as the mother bird swoops down to arrest its 
 fall, to take the wing and follow the parent in her 
 majestic flight. 
 
 Funerals. All funeral services should be concluded at 
 the house and the gathering disperse, the immediate 
 family subsequently going with the body to interment. 
 The custom of flowers should be done away, save as a 
 few inexpensive buds, etc. , might be laid about the body. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 289 
 
 All Sunday funerals, and except in rare cases, all church 
 funerals should be discountenanced, and eulogies over the 
 dead. 
 
 And it would be better, doubtless, if the whole custom 
 of mourning attire were banished. If some simple badge 
 or sign of bereavement, like crape on a hat, or an arm, 
 or a mourning collar for ladies, or any other simple and 
 inexpensive badge, to save embarrassment by contadl with 
 persons who do not know of the afBidlion, were to take 
 place of present extravagant funeral habits, what a bless- 
 ing to poor and rich alike ! 
 
 569 
 
 Resolution. I/ike the backbone in the body is the will 
 in the moral nature — the spinal column of character. 
 The power to say ' ' No / " is one of the high marks of a 
 grand charadler. The best thing about Nehemiah was 
 that of some things done by others he could say, ' ' In the 
 fear of God this did not I. ' ' Daniel shone in Babylon for 
 his fixed will to do right. The fiery furnace could not 
 compel, nor the lion's den constrain him to conceal his 
 religion. 
 
 Duty. What a watchword! Conscience is the very 
 representative of God in the soul. We say the man has 
 a conscience, but Dr. Dorner says, " Conscience has the 
 man " — that is, we are in its grip; and if we do not do as 
 we ought, we shall by-and-by bitterly regret it. There 
 is no safety in doing evil. We ought to make duty our 
 delight. Then it ceases to be a yoke chafing and fretting, 
 and is more like a wing lifting us than like a load which 
 we lift. 
 
290 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 571 
 
 Curse of drink. Not long since, in a manufadluring 
 town in Rhode Island, an employer paid his work- 
 men $700, on a Saturday night, in new bills which 
 he secretly marked. On the following Monday, $450 of 
 these marked bills were deposited in the bank by saloon 
 or grog-shop keepers. This probably was an exceptional 
 case; but the amount which wage earners squander at the 
 grog-shop, is the price of comfort to many families. 
 
 Dreams and illusions. Wundt regards most of dream 
 representations as really illusions, emanating from sen- 
 sorial impressions which, tho weak, continue during 
 sleep. An inconvenient position causes the representa- 
 tion of painful work, perilous ascent of a mountain, etc. 
 A slight intercostal pain becomes the point of a dagger or 
 the bite of a dog. Difficulty in respiration causes 
 nightmare, a weight seeming to be rolled upon the chest, 
 or a horrible monster which threatens to stifle the sleeper. 
 An involuntary extension of the foot is a fall from the 
 dizzy height. Flying is suggested by the rhythmic 
 movements of respiration. Further, "those subjective 
 visual and auditory sensations which are represented in 
 the waking state as a luminous chaos of an obscure visual 
 field, by humming and roaring in the ears, and especially 
 subjedlive retinal sensations have an essential role," ac- 
 cording to Wundt. ' ' There are shown to us innumer- 
 able birds, butterflies, fish, multicolored pearls, flowers^ 
 etc. But if there be some cutaneous irritation, these 
 visions are usually changed into caterpillars or beetles 
 crawling over the skin of the sleeper. The sleeper some- 
 times dreams of his appearing on the street, or in society, 
 only half dressed; the innocent cause is found in some of 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 291 
 
 the bedclothes having fallen off. An inconvenient posi- 
 tion of the sleeper, a slight hindrance to respiration, or 
 interference with the adlion of the heart, may be the 
 cause of dreams where one seeks an objedl without being 
 able to find it, or has forgotten something in starting 
 upon a journey. The movements of respiration may 
 suggest to the sleeper, as previously mentioned, flying, 
 but this flight may be objedlive, and instead of himself 
 flying, he sees an angel descending from the heavens, or 
 a luminous chaos where birds are swiftly moving. The 
 representations of dreams having sensorial origin may 
 have mingled with them those which arise solely from 
 the reprodudlion of past memories. Thus parents or 
 friends cut off in the flower of life ordinarily appear in 
 dreams because of the profound impression which their 
 death or burial has made; hence the general belief that 
 the dead continue during the night their intercourse with 
 the living." 
 
 573 
 Doubt: its cause. Dr. Merle D'Aubign6, the historian 
 of the Reformation, when a student in Germany, was 
 perplexed with doubts, and applied to an experienced 
 teacher — one of the celebrated brothers Haldane— with a 
 detail of his difficulties. The reply was an absolute 
 refusal to touch them. "Were I to rid you of these, 
 others would come. There is a shorter way of anni- 
 hilating them. lyCt Christ be really to you, the Son of 
 God, the Savior, the Author of eternal life, and the light 
 of Christ will lead you into all truth." 
 
 574 
 
 The power of God. When studying the Epistle to the 
 Ephesians, saysD'Aubign^, with Haldane, wecametothat 
 passage: "Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding 
 
292 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to 
 the power that worketh in us," etc., the expression 
 " exceeding abundantly " fell upon his spirit like a new 
 revelation. We knelt in prayer, and ' ' When I arose in 
 that room," he says, "I felt as if my strength were 
 renewed like the eagle's. From that time I compre- 
 hended that my own syllogisms and efforts were of no 
 avail; and that Christ was able to do all by the power that 
 worketh in us. The habitual attitude of my soul was to 
 lie at the foot of the cross. ' ' 
 
 575 
 
 Dies IrcB. Translated by Macaulay. The following 
 translation of this grand medieval hymn, by I^ord Ma- 
 caulay, is not found in most of his published " Miscel- 
 lanies." It was written in 1826: 
 
 On that great, that awful day, 
 This vain world shall pass away. 
 Thus the sibyl sang of old, 
 Thus hath holy David told; 
 There shall be a deadly fear 
 When the Avenger shall appear. 
 And unveiled before His eye, 
 All the works of men shall lie. 
 Hark! to the great trumpet's tones 
 Pealing o'er the place of bones; 
 Hark! it waketh from their bed 
 All the nations of the dead, — 
 In a countless throng to meet 
 At the eternal judgment seat. 
 Nature sickens with dismay; 
 Death may not retain his prey. 
 And before the Maker stand 
 All the creatures of His hand. 
 The great book shall be unfurled. 
 Whereby God shall judge the world: 
 What was distant, shall be near, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 293 
 
 What was hidden, shall be clear. 
 To what shelter shall I fly? 
 To what guardian shall I cry ? 
 O, in that destroying hour. 
 Source of goodness, source of power, 
 Show Thou, of Thine own free grace, 
 Help unto a helpless race! 
 Tho I plead not at Thy throne, 
 Aught that I for Thee have done. 
 Do not Thou unniindful be, 
 Of what Thou hast borne for me; 
 Of the wandering, of the scorn, 
 Of the scourge, and of the thorn. 
 Jesus, hast Thou borne the pain, 
 And hath all been borne in vain ? 
 Shall Thy vengeance smite the head 
 For whose ransom Thou hast bled? 
 Thou, whose dying blessing gave 
 Glory to a guilty slave: 
 Thou, who from the crew unclean 
 Did'st release the Magdalene: 
 Shall not mercy, vast and free. 
 Evermore be found in Thee? 
 Father, turn on me Thine eyes. 
 See my blushes, hear my cries; 
 Faint tho be the cries I make. 
 Save me, for Thy mercy's sake. 
 From the worm, and from the fire, 
 From the torments of Thine ire. 
 Fold me with the sheep that stand 
 Pure and safe at Thy right hand. 
 Hear Thy guilty child implore Thee, 
 Rolling in the dust before Thee. 
 O, the horrors of that day! 
 When this frame of sinful clay. 
 Starting from its burial place. 
 Must behold Thee face to face. 
 Hear and pity, hear and aid. 
 Spare the creatures Thou hast made. 
 Mercy, mercy, save, forgive: 
 O who shall look on Thee and live ? 
 
294 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 576 
 
 America: Discovery. A new statue of Leif, son of Eric, 
 has been placed on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. 
 
 It is of bronze, and represents a heroic figure, eight 
 and one-half feet in height. There stands the typical 
 Northman, whose look combines firmness and gentleness. 
 The attitude is easy; the weight of the body is thrown 
 chiefly upon the right foot, which is slightly advanced. 
 The hair is disheveled and tossed as by winds. Firmly 
 grasped in the right hand is a horn. The body is clothed 
 in a shirt of mail, with leggings of buckskin. The shoes 
 are heavy and strong. The pose suggests the eager, 
 straining search of a man standing upon the prow of his 
 vessel, and earnestly looking for the land he hopes to 
 find. 
 
 At each comer of the pedestal is a dolphin's head. The 
 base is shaped like an ancient Norse bark. On the 
 prow is carved the head of a sea monster, while the stern 
 is cut like the tail. On the east face is the inscription: 
 
 THE DISCOVERER, 
 
 SON OF ERIK, 
 
 WHO SAILED FROM ICELAND 
 
 AND LANDED ON THIS CONTINENT 
 
 A. D. 1000. 
 
 On the west face is the same inscription in ancient 
 Runic. On the other two faces are tablets of bronze. 
 One of these represents the discoverer's landing on the 
 rocky shore; the other, his telling of the story on his 
 
 return. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 295 
 
 577 
 
 Doubts: How to get rid of. i. Cultivate a childlike 
 spirit by adling as tho you believed. Especially in 
 period of transition from childhood to manhood. 
 
 2. Cultivate self-forgetfulness. There is a broad dis- 
 tindlion between assurance of faith, hope, and love. 
 Morbid self-examination may darken the mind. 
 
 3. I^ive up to present ^^i". A grand Satanic device is 
 to make doubts on some unimportant matter a pretext for 
 disobedience where there is no doubt. 
 
 4. Hold fast what you know to be true. Ask yourself 
 if this is error, what is truth. ' ' Whereas I was blind, ' ' etc. 
 
 5. Get filled with Christ. 
 
 578 
 
 Dancing. Here is an extradl from a purely secular 
 paper, the New York Journal of Education: "A great 
 deal can be said about dancing; for instance, the chief of 
 police of New York City says that three-fourths of the 
 abandoned girls in this city were ruined by dancing. 
 Young ladies allow gentlemen privileges in dancing, 
 which, taken under any other circumstances, would be 
 considered as improper. It requires neither brains nor 
 good morals to be a good dancer. As the love of the one 
 increases, the love of the other decreases. How many of 
 the best men and women are skilful dancers ? In ancient 
 times the sexes danced separately. Alcohol is the spirit 
 of beverages. So sex is the spirit of the dance; take it 
 away and let the sexes dance separately and dancing 
 would go out of fashion very soon. Parlor dancing is 
 dangerous. Tippling leads to drunkenness and parlor 
 dancing leads to ungodly balls. Tippling and parlor 
 dancing sow to the wind and both reap the whirlwind. 
 
296 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Put dancing in the crucible, apply the acids, weigh it, and 
 the verdidl of reason, morality, and religion is, ' Weighed 
 in the balance and found wanting.' " 
 
 579 
 
 It is wonderful to find how often a husband discovers 
 his wife to be incompatible, offensive, and good-for-noth- 
 ing, when some younger or more attradtive woman has 
 taken his fancy. It is no less surprising to observe how 
 often a wife discovers for the first time, suddenly, that 
 her husband is "drunken, brutish, or fiendish," when 
 another richer or more prosperous man stands ready to 
 marry her if her husband were out of the way ! If the 
 law should ofEer to grant divorces freely, tenfold more 
 freely than now, and at the same time, should forbid per- 
 sons divorced from marrying again, does any one believe 
 that there would be one divorce asked where now there 
 are a hundred ? Years ago a legal gentleman who had 
 procured a large number of divorces in his earlier prac- 
 tice, and had afterward renounced the business absolutely, 
 in speaking to us on the subjedl, said: " In all my expe- 
 rience I never found a divorce asked for the sake of being 
 unmarried; a divorce was always the preliminary to a 
 wedding, and with women quite as much as men. ' ' — G. 
 A . Townsend. 
 
 580 
 
 True idea of Denominattonalism. Numbers ii : 2. 
 ' ' Every man .... shall pitch by his own standarti, 
 with the ensign of his father's house: .... about 
 the tabernacle." 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 297 
 
 581 
 
 Dog stories. Prof. Brewer, of New Haven, in a recent 
 ledlure told these two dog stories: In 1876 a Scotch 
 collie, a shepherd dog, was shipped by express from a 
 town on the I,ake Shore Railroad, between Cleveland 
 and Toledo, to a town in Kansas, distant about 900 
 miles, a gift from a father to his son. The dog was five 
 days in making the journey, confined in a close box-car 
 all the way, saving possibly at one or two points of trans- 
 fer. On reaching his point of destination he was tied up 
 over night in the barn of his new owner. The next 
 morning he was gone. In eighteen days he reappeared 
 at his old Ohio home, footsore, worn, and weary, but 
 with evident joy at rejoining his old master. How 
 could he have found his way back over that unknown 
 journey ? The other story was of a Connecticut dog, I 
 believe, who had suffered an injury to his tail which 
 would not repair itself. His owner believed that an am- 
 putation of the extremity would produce a fresh wound 
 which would easily and quickly heal. He gave orders to 
 have the operation performed as humanely as possible, 
 and it was done by a servant with an ax on a block. 
 Judge of the astonishment of the owner when the dog 
 presently appeared before him carrying the excided 
 member in his mouth, and laying it down at his feet, as 
 if to say: "See what has been done to my tail ! ' ' Hav- 
 ing thus presented his case, he carried the fragment out 
 and buried it. Shortly after he repeated this operation 
 as if to emphasize the treatment he had suffered. Find- 
 ing that he made but little impression upon his master, he 
 repeated it again, and then abandoned his claim for in- 
 demnification. ' ' You see, ' ' said Prof. Brewer, ' ' he was 
 i^x'CcdvXto the end.:'' 
 
298 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 Drainage. It was in allusion to deepening of the 
 soil by drainage, that Emerson, in an address at Concord, 
 thus playfully but truthfully said: " Concord is one of 
 the oldest towns in the country, far on now in its third 
 century. The selectmen have, once in five j-ears, peram- 
 bulated its bounds, and yet, in this year, a very large 
 quantity of land has been discovered and added to the 
 agricultural territory, and without a murmur of com- 
 plaint from any neighbors. By drainage we have gone 
 to the subsoil, and we have a Concord under Concord, a 
 Middlesex under Middlesex, and a basement story of 
 Massachusetts more valuable than all the superstructure. 
 Tiles are political economists. They are so many young 
 Americans, announcing a better era, a day of fat things." 
 We wish that the desire of more land, the easily besetting 
 sin of farmers, could be diredted to extending their do- 
 minion perpendicularly instead of longitudinally. Their 
 title gives them possession to the center of the earth, but 
 pradlicaUy they possess only a few inches of the surface. 
 This subsoil costs nothing but a little labor in its redemp- 
 tion firom its sunken, degraded position, requires no addi- 
 tional fencing, and when paying heavy interest on the 
 price of redemption, is seldom thought of by the assessor. 
 
 583 
 
 Dead churches. " Have you ever read the Ancient 
 Mariner ? ' ' asked Rev. Mr. Spurgeon one day of his con- 
 gregation. ' ' I dare say you thought it one of the strangest 
 imaginations ever put together, especially that part where 
 the mariner represents the corpses of all dead men rising 
 up to man the ship — dead men pulling the rope; dead 
 men steering; dead men spreading the sails. I thought 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 299 
 
 what a strange idea that was. But do you know that I 
 have lived to see it done! I have gone into churches; I 
 have seen a dead man in the pulpit; a dead man as a 
 deacon; a dead man handing the plate; and dead men 
 sitting to hear." 
 
 584 
 
 Sleeping churches. In the year 1775, the captain of a 
 Greenland whaling-vessel found himself at night sur- 
 rounded by icebergs, and ' ' lay to ' ' until morning, 
 expedling every moment to be ground to pieces. In the 
 morning he looked about, and saw a ship near by. He 
 hailed it. No answer. Getting into a boat with some 
 of the crew, he pushed out for the mysterious craft. 
 Getting near by, he saw through the port-hole a man at 
 a stand, as tho keeping a log-book. He hailed him. No 
 answer. He went on board the vessel and found the man 
 sitting at the log-book frozen to death. The log-book 
 was dated 1762, showing that the vessel had been 
 wandering for thirteen years among the ice. The sailors 
 were found frozen among the hammocks, and others in 
 the cabin. For thirteen years this ship had been carrying 
 its burden of corpses. 
 
 So from this Gospel craft I descry voyagers for eter- 
 nity. I cry: "Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!" No answer. 
 They float about, tossed and ground by the icebergs of 
 sin, hoisting no sail for heaven. I go on board. I find 
 all asleep. It is a frozen sleep. Oh I that my I/5rd Jesus 
 would come aboard, and lay hold of the wheel, and steer 
 the craft down into the warm Gulf Stream of His mercy! 
 Awake, thou that sleepest! Arise from the dead, and 
 Christ shall give thee Mi&.— The Methodist. 
 
300 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 585 
 
 What day of the week f It may interest some reader to 
 know on which day of the week a certain event has oc- 
 curred. Here is a very simple way of finding out. First, 
 we divide the date of the year of the occurrence by 4. 
 The quotient we hereby receive (leaving away all frac- 
 tions, if there be any) we add again to the date of the 
 year of the occurrence. To this we add the number of 
 days from the first of January to the date of the month 
 of the occurrence (always counting February twenty- 
 eight days). The result of this we now divide by 7, and 
 here the fradlion gives us the exadl day of the occurrence, 
 I counting for Sunday, 2 for Monday, and so on, o count- 
 ing for Saturday. For example, your father was born on 
 March 6, 1837. 1837, divided by 4, equals 459, adding 
 this to 1837, we have 2296. From January ist to March 
 6th, we have 65 days, and adding this, we have 2361, 
 dividing by 7, we have 337, and 2 left, which fixes 
 Monday as the date. 
 
 Washington was born February 22, 1732. To find out 
 on what day he was born: 1732 divided by 4 equals 433. 
 1732 plus 433 equals 2165. From the ist of January to 
 22d of February is 53 days. These added to 2165 equals 
 2218. Now we divide by 7. 2218 divided by 7 equals 
 316, leaving us the fradlion of 6. Hence, Washington 
 was bom on Friday. 
 
 Example for a coming event: If we wish to know on 
 which day in 1882 our parents will have the pleasure of 
 celebrating their golden wedding-day. January 14,1882, 
 divided by 4 equals 470. 1882 plus 470 equals 2352, 
 plus 14 equals 2366, divided by 7 equals 338, leaving o 
 as a remainder, which falls on Saturday. — Marie A. 
 Keppler, in New York Tribune. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 301 
 
 5S6 
 
 Dandng. Rev. Dr. Addison, in his paper, read at ? 
 church congress, on ' ' Christianity and Popular Amuse- 
 ments," says: "I have spoken of the deposit in the soul 
 of Divine life through Christ. I have to speak of what 
 I may call another sacred deposit. It is not mental, nor 
 spiritual, nor purely corporeal. It is perhaps the holiest 
 thing that has survived the fall. It colors our earthly 
 existence. It is full of all tenderness and sweetness. 
 The heart, the imagination, all the powers of our being, 
 are in its service. It is the inspirer and enchanter of 
 human life. It transfigures the hard world. It is the 
 magical mistress of energy, poetry, and heroism. Shall 
 I call it love — the sacred affedtion that glorifies the 
 relationship of man and wife ? It is a great mystery; so 
 the Holy Ghost designates it. God created it and blessed 
 it in Eden. He has thrown around it the shield of law. 
 Christ forbids violence to it even by a glance. All 
 Scripture says, ' Keep it sacred; let not even the breath 
 of an impure thought touch it.' It is veiled in the 
 inmost recesses of our being. It is a sort of Holy of 
 Holies. At the entrance of God's voice, all the enginery 
 of providential punishment, all the wrath of coming 
 judgments are arrayed, forbidding the intrusion of 
 impurity as the very ' abomination of desolation. ' I bring 
 this charge against dancing — that it is the desecrator of 
 this holy mystery. This is a serious charge; and if it be 
 true, fatal to its innocence, constituting it a sin, a monstrous 
 sin. lyet me define the dancing of the day. A woman, 
 improperly dressed, pressed against the person of her 
 partner, whirling around a room. This is only a defini- 
 tion of the visibility, the outward aspedl. It will suffice 
 for my present purpose. It is no reply to this to say it is 
 descriptive only of an excess. The excess is now the 
 
302 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 fashion, and fashion is imperious, inexorable, and irre- 
 sistible. The square dance can not be kept square. 
 Preach and moralize as we may, it will be rounded ofiF by 
 the waltz. Put the old, modest style on the floor of the 
 ball-room to-day, and just as surely as the loosened rock 
 of the precipice will fall into the chasm below, will it fall 
 into the arms and be pressed against the bosom of the 
 ' German. ' ' ' 
 
 587 
 
 Disposition. An eminent divine once remarked in a 
 ledture: " In seledling your partner for life, choose per- 
 sons of naturally good disposition — those who are by 
 nature cheerful and gentle. I am of Baxter's opinion, 
 who said that the grace of God could live with persons 
 that he could not. ' ' 
 
 588 
 
 Conceit. Notable instances thereof. Even the philoso- 
 phers have not shown themselves averse to be sprinkled 
 with the holy water of laudation. Socrates soberly told 
 his judges that they should award him a pension instead 
 of condemning him; and Epicurus assured his corre- 
 spondent that if he desired glory, it was secured to him by 
 the facft that Epicurus had thought him worthy of being 
 written to. 
 
 Alcibiades let all the world know that the one purpose 
 of his life, whether he headed a conspiracy or plundered 
 a city, or cut his dog's tail off, was to make a noise and 
 give the Athenians something to talk about. Aristo- 
 phanes, more frank even than Cicero, made of the para- 
 bases of his comedies vehicles for the most extravagant 
 self-praise, coolly claiming for each successive play not 
 only that it was the best he had written, but that it was 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 303 
 
 also the best of its class, and not to be equaled by any- 
 other effort of human wit. 
 
 There is almost a parallel case in the history of Cotton 
 Mather, the American Prynne, who certainly believed of 
 himself all that he claimed for himself. Some heedless 
 person once passed the old parson by without seeming to 
 be conscious of his distinguished presence. "Lord," 
 said Mather, ' ' I pray thee help that man to take a due 
 notice of Christ ! ' ' 
 
 Watson, the famous Bishop of Llandaff, declared that 
 each book he had written was the very best work upon 
 that subje(Sl. " One God, one Farinelli ! " was the brief 
 but emphatic creed of that wonderful musician. Mon- 
 taigne has been abused for the way in which he con- 
 tinually prates about himself, but that same grande 
 fadaise of the garrulous old essayist which so provoked 
 the scorn of Scaliger, has won, as it deserved, the loud 
 encomiums of posterity. Montaigne's egotism, however, 
 was of a very genial and wholesome kind, passive and 
 humorous, quaint and contemplative. 
 
 Benvenuto Cellini, whose egotism had that charming 
 naivete which was so delightful in the ancients, has filled 
 his autobiography with certificates to his ardor as a lover, 
 his prowess as a man, and his excellence as an artist, 
 establishing the fadl that he repeatedly received super- 
 natural encouragements, was persecuted by the demons, 
 and glorified by a light from on high that hung resplen- 
 dent above his shadow. 
 
 Burns, after he had dined with Glencairn, confessed 
 himself to have been wounded to the soul because his 
 lordship showed ' ' so much attention, engrossing atten- 
 tion, to the only blockhead at the table, the whole com- 
 pany consisting of his lordship, Dunderpate, and myself. ' ' 
 
 It is related of a distinguished senator, who had been 
 
304 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 in rather bad health, that he was accosted by a constitu- 
 ent during one of those breathless periods of the late 
 war, when the very destinies of the nation seemed to our 
 excited fancies to hang upon the fortunes of the hour. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. , I am so glad to see you ! " said the 
 
 friend. ' ' Is there — have you any news ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Thank you ! ' ' responded the senator, with grave 
 serenity — "Thank you; I am much better!" — Lippin- 
 cotL 
 
 589 
 
 Jezebel's death. Mr. Everett, son of the late Hon. 
 Edward Everett, in lecturing on College I/ife in old Cam- 
 bridge, brings in many laughable doings of undergradu- 
 ates. He describes the examination of a student on the 
 death of Jezebel, who, after prefacing his account of the 
 tragedy with the remark that it was most important to 
 preserve the exact words of the sacred narrative, pro- 
 ceeds thus: 
 
 ' ' And as he passed through the gate of the city, there 
 looked out unto him two persons appointed for that pur- 
 pose. And they said unto him, ' Throw her down. ' So 
 they threw her down. And they said, ' Do it a second 
 time, ' and they did it a second time. And they said, 
 ' Do it a third time.' And they did it a third time; and 
 they did it unto seven times, yea, even unto seventy 
 times seven. Last of all the woman died also. And 
 they took up the broken fragments that remained seven 
 baskets full." 
 
 Another student describes the ascent of Elijah into 
 Heaven in this wise: 
 
 "And there came two she-bears out of the wood, and 
 said unto Elijah, 'Go up, thou baldhead, ' and he went 
 up." 
 
 The same examinee, after repeating the Samaritan's 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 305 
 
 saying to the innkeeper, ' ' "When I come again, I will 
 repay thee," added, "This he said, knowing that he 
 should see his face no more." 
 
 590 
 
 A laughable exposition. A preacher was innocently 
 remarking on Isa. Ixii : \, " Beulah means to be mar- 
 ried." At that moment a young lady. Miss Beulah — 
 rather late in entering church, took her seat, suffused 
 with blushes, of course, at this unexpedted announce- 
 ment of her intentions, which she was privately making 
 known to friends. 
 
 Hidden virtues. A man is like a bit of l,abrador spar, 
 which has no luster as you turn it in your hand, until 
 you come to a particular angle; then it shows deep and 
 beautiful colors. — Emerson. 
 
 5921 
 
 Newspapers. It takes two things to make a successful 
 paper; one of which is specific gravity, and the other is 
 specific levity. 
 
 593 
 
 Heresy. ' ' Say, Pa, does getting fat make a man a 
 heretic, or does heresy make a man fat ? ' ' Pater used his 
 handkerchief a moment, and then looking down into the 
 solemn, inquiring eyes of the young philosopher, ' ' Why, 
 Kitty, what makes you ask such a question as that?" 
 "Why, don't you see. Pa, the heretics are all fat, and all 
 the fat people are heretics." 
 
3o6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 594 
 
 Bright and Disraeli. One of Disraeli's admirers speak- 
 ing about him to John Bright, said: "You ought to give 
 him credit for what he has accomplished, as he is a self- 
 made man. " "I know he is, ' ' retorted Mr. Bright, 
 " and he adores his maker." 
 
 595 
 
 Anecdote. A Boston paper tells of a suburban citizen, 
 who, returning from Boston in the car, one day, got out 
 at the Chelsea post-office, and addressing an old colored 
 man who sold lobsters from a wheelbarrow in the square, 
 said: "What do you think? I came over in the car, 
 just now, from Boston. Before we got to Cornhill every 
 seat was taken, and all new passengers had to stand. 
 When we got to Charlestown an old colored woman got in, 
 and would you believe it, a pretty young girl, who sat 
 next to me, acftually got up and gave her a seat. What 
 do you think of that?" "Think? why, / think dar 
 warn' t no gemmen in dat car." The Chelsea man sub- 
 sided, and found shelter in the post-office. 
 
 596 
 
 The passage of the Red Sea. An elder was explaining 
 this miracle by the supposition that the waters were sud- 
 denly frozen, and a hearer asked the privilege of a ques- 
 tion. 
 
 ' ' All right. Sir, ask just as many questions as you 
 want to. ' ' 
 
 "Well," continued the brother, "my knowledge of 
 geography, and the location of the Red Sea, shows that it 
 is located nearly under the Equator, and is, therefore, in a 
 V-ery warm country, and never known to be frozen. Will 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 307 
 
 the gentleman please tell the audience where the ice came 
 from of which he spoke ? ' ' 
 
 The elder became excited, and answered, with disdain, 
 ' ' If the brother who has asked me this question knew 
 half as much about the Scripture and the geography of 
 the country as he pretends to, he would know that this 
 circumstance which I have explained happened thousands 
 and thousands of years ago; yes, Sir, thousands of years 
 before the age of geographies, and before there was any 
 Equator! I think, brethren and sisters, I have answered 
 the gentleman completely. ' ' 
 
 597 
 
 Lincoln as the savior of the country. During the session 
 of the Presbyterian General Assembly in St. I/Ouis, the 
 hotels were very much crowded, and Col. W. E. Gilmore, 
 of Springfield, Mo., was put to bed with a reverend Bour- 
 bon Democrat, who had a great deal to say about politics. 
 The colonel listened in silence until the parson began to 
 talk slightingly of President I^incoln, whom, he assured 
 the colonel, he personally knew, and said that Mr. 
 Lincoln ' ' was a very ordinary man, honest enough, per- 
 haps, but of no talents," etc., etc. " Your estimate of 
 Mr. lyincoln," replied the colonel, "differs remarkably 
 from that of the rest of the world. It is strange how uni- 
 versally people of all classes have been mistaken! Why, 
 a great many adlually regard him as the savior of our 
 government. " " It is a positive sin, sir, to talk of Lincoln 
 as the savior of this country," remarked the parson, 
 "God Almighty saved the country, sir! And it would 
 have been all the same if anybody else than Lincoln had 
 been President at the time." "Well, maybe so," said 
 Gilmore, " but then, parson, Ithinkit required less Divine 
 power to save it through Lincoln than it would have 
 
3o8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 required to save it through — say old Jim Buchanan, for 
 instance! There was a great saving of Divine power, 
 anyhow." 
 
 598 
 Anecdote of Burns. One day a rich Greenock merchant, 
 walking along the quays, incautiously missed his footing 
 and fell into the Clyde. He would have been inevitably 
 drowned but for the bravery of a poor man, who leaped 
 in after him and rescued him from immediate death. The 
 millionaire, after coming to himself, and knowing what 
 he owed to his deliverer, put his hand into his dripping 
 pocket, and rewarded him with the munificent sum of 
 sixpence! This caused a commotion in the crowd that 
 had now gathered, and language more strong than seledl 
 was hurled at the merchant for his unheard-of stinginess, 
 and he began to sneak off, adtually afraid of something 
 worse than hard words. At this stage a stout, broad- 
 shouldered, dark-eyed, noble-looking son of toil came up 
 and asked the cause of the turmoil. On hearing it, with 
 a withering look of contempt at the merchant, he turned 
 to the crowd and said : ' ' My freens, yere a' wrang. I^et 
 him alane; surely he kens the value o' his ain worthless 
 life — just saxpence — better than ony o' us." With a 
 shout of good-natured, but derisive laughter, the crowd 
 dispersed. The speaker was the celebrated Robert Burns. 
 
 599 
 
 Changing his mind. A wealthy man, who owns a 
 country residence, recently became dissatisfied with it, 
 determined to have another, and instrudled an auctioneer 
 famous for his descriptive powers to advertise it in the 
 papers for private sale, but to conceal the location, telling 
 purchasers to apply at his ofBce. In a few days the gen- 
 tleman happened to see the advertisement, was pleased 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 309 
 
 with the account of the place, showed it to his wife, and 
 the two concluded it was just what they wanted, and that 
 they would secure it at once. So he went to the office of 
 the audlioneer and told him that the place he had adver- 
 tised was such a one as he desired, and he would purchase 
 it. The auctioneer burst into a laugh, and told him that 
 that was the description of his own house, where he was 
 then living. He read the advertisement again, pondered 
 over the " grassy slopes," " beautiful vistas," "smooth 
 lawn," etc., and broke out, " Is it possible! Well, make 
 out my bill for advertising and expenses, for, by George! 
 I wouldn't sell the place now for three times what it 
 cost me. ' ' 
 
 600 
 
 Church sociables. Dr. Barrows once had the misfortune 
 to be settled over a church which had a sociable. It was 
 a seledl affair; two or three old ladies came together at 
 the church on the appointed afternoon, and engaged in 
 knitting, while one of the number read aloud from Bax- 
 ter or Doddridge, until the time to go home and get tea 
 for their families. None of the young people came, no 
 gentleman set foot inside, no interest was taken in the 
 meeting by church or congregation. He thought this 
 might be improved, and the sociable be made more worthy 
 of its name. So measures were used which brought in 
 the young people, and drew out the congregation, until 
 the rooms overflowed, tea was prepared at the church, 
 everybody was " made acquainted," and a very enjoy- 
 able evening ensued. At the height of the sociability, 
 the dodlor admiringly remarked to one of the old ladies : 
 ' ' This is rather different from the meetings you used to 
 have, when only two or three came together; now we get 
 all the people here." " Yes" said she, ''but do yon 
 think it is so solemn ? ' ' 
 
3IO Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 6oi 
 
 Denying Christ. Bishop Heber once said : " It is a 
 fatal mistake to suppose that there can be no apostasy 
 from Christ, where we are not absolutely called on to 
 deny His name, or to burn incense to an idol. We deny 
 our Lord, whenever, like Demas, we, through love of 
 this present world, forsake the course of duty which 
 Christ has plainly pointed out to us. We deny our Lord 
 whenever we lend the sandlion of our countenance, our 
 praise, or even our silence, to measures or opinions which 
 may be popular and fashionable, but which we ourselves 
 believe to be sinful in themselves or tending to sin. We 
 deny our Lord whenever we forsake a good man in afflic- 
 tion, and refuse to give countenance, encouragement, and 
 support to those who, for God's sake and for the faithful 
 discharge of their duty, are exposed to persecutions and 
 slander. ' ' 
 
 Origin of the waltz. The waltz was invented just a 
 hundred years ago. As might have been guessed or 
 prophesied beforehand, it was born of the licentious stage, 
 and is twin sister of the ballet. This amorous and gyra- 
 tory hugging was first seen in a Vienna theatre, Dec. 20, 
 1787, and for a time was thought to be too indecent to 
 be tolerated anywhere else. After a time, however, it 
 was introduced into houses of doubtful repute, and finally 
 into German society. For a long time even Paris resisted 
 the licentious libertinism of the thing, and it was not 
 until the present century that it became fashionable. It 
 then went everywhere with a whirl, of course, for Paris 
 set the fashions for the world. The French women of 
 compromising conscience went into it with an abandon 
 which was hit off by a clever writer by saying before the 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 311 
 
 waltz "they danced with their soles," after it " they 
 danced with their souls; " aye, and soiled and wore out 
 the latter as effedlually as the former. The same clever 
 enthusiast recalls his own experience in the waltz, and 
 mistakes his youthful salacity for a " sort of exaltation, ' ' 
 in which ' ' all consciousness of personality was dro-tvned 
 in an ecstatic, poetic illusion; " and concludes by saying 
 that this dance ' ' has furnished nonplussed ministers with 
 many a sermon, and the dull church flock with some 
 much enjoyed scandal." 
 
 The waltzing church member who does not see the 
 sneer, not only at religion, but at chastity as well, in 
 that quotation, is dull indeed. This devotee of the waltz 
 does not pretend that it is decent, admits that it has 
 brought women to ruin, shows in no ambiguous way that 
 he has no conscience in the matter, and it takes but little 
 reading between his lines to see that he enjoys and 
 defends the thing because it is wayward and wicked. But 
 how can one who does have respedl for religion and vir- 
 tue, who does not despise "nonplussed ministers," and 
 does not regard the "church flock," or anything less 
 exciting or less indecent than a dog-fight or a round 
 dance, ' ' dull ' ' — how can such a one practice or apologize 
 for the waltz ? — Christian Standard. 
 
 603 
 
 Gen. Garfield's maxims. " I feel a profounder rever- 
 ence for a boy than a man. I never meet a ragged boy on 
 the street without feeling that I owe him a salute, for I 
 know not what possibilities may be buttoned up under 
 his shabby coat, ' ' 
 
 ' ' The privilege of being a young man is a great priv- 
 ilege, and the privilege of growing up to be an inde- 
 pendent man in middle life is a greater. ' ' 
 
312 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 ' ' Whatever you win in life you must conquer by your 
 own efforts, and then it is yours, a part of yourself. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Growth is better than permanence, and permanent 
 growth is better than all." 
 
 ' ' If there be one thing upon this earth that mankind 
 love and admire better than another, it is a brave man, a 
 man who dare look the devil in the face and tell him he 
 is a devil. ' ' 
 
 ' ' The student should study himself, his relation to 
 society, to nature, and to art, and above all, in all, and 
 through all these, he should study the relations of him- 
 self, society, nature, and art to God, the author of them 
 all." 
 
 " Great ideas travel slowly, and for a time noiselessly, 
 as the gods whose feet were shod with wool." 
 
 ' ' Ideas are the great warriors of the world, and a war 
 that has no idea behind it is simply a brutality. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I would rather be defeated than make capital out of 
 my religion. ' ' 
 
 ' ' After all, territory is but the body of a nation. The 
 people who inhabit its hills and its valleys are its soul, 
 its spirit, its life. ' ' 
 
 ' ' For the noblest man that lives there still remains a 
 conflidt." 
 
 ' ' Come down the glorious steps of our banner. Every 
 great record we have made has been vindicated with our 
 blood and with our truth. It sweeps the ground and it 
 touches the stars. ' ' 
 
 604 
 
 Guiding souls, i. Those who guide inquirers should 
 firmly believe that Jesus can and will save now, and has 
 saved them. 
 
 2. Be ready to tell how you came to Him. 
 
 3. Find the central difficulty which hinders the seeker. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 313 
 
 4. Shun controversy; but meet all honest doubts and 
 objections. 
 
 5. Know how to use your Bible, pointing to the very 
 texts which show the way to salvation. 
 
 6. Be prayerful, humble, earnest in guiding souls. 
 
 7. Press every seeker kindly to a decision now. 
 
 8. Remember that salvation hangs not on feeling, but 
 on choice. 
 
 9. Show what conversion is, from the Bible. Adts 
 viii, ix, X. 
 
 10. Be able to put your finger on the following helpful 
 passages for different classes of seekers: 
 
 1. Backsliders — Jer. ii : 19; iii : 13, 14; Hosea xiv : 4. 
 
 2. Half conviSled — Rom. iii : 10, 23; vii : 24; I John 
 i : 10; Eccl. vii: 20; Isa. liii : 6; Psa. cxliii : 2; Acts 
 xiii : 39; Gal. ii : 16; Eph. ii : 8, 9. 
 
 3. Despairing — Isa. i: 18; xliii : 25; xliv : 22; Rom. 
 V : 6; I Peter ii : 24; Rev. xxii : 17. 
 
 4. Fearful they will not hold out — I Pet. iv : 19; Psa. 
 cxxi : i; Isa. xliii : 2; I Cor. x : 13; II Cor. xii : 9; Rom. 
 viii : 38, 39. 
 
 5. Stumbling over inconsistent church members — Rom. 
 xiv: 12; John xxi:2i, 22; Matt, vii: 1-3; Rom. ii : i; 
 xiv : 3, 4. 
 
 6. Discouraged by previous efforts — Jer. xxix 113; Deut. 
 iv : 29; Rom. iv : 5. 
 
 7. Putting off—Vxov. xxvii : i; James iv: 13, 17; II 
 Cor. vi : 2; Heb. iii : 13. 
 
 8. Not ready to give up all for Christ — Mark viii : 35- 
 37; Phil, iii : 7, 8. 
 
 9. Skeptical — John vi : 40; Psa. xxv : 14; John vii : 17. 
 
 10. How to believe — John v : 24. I^ook, Isa. xiv : 22. 
 Take, Rev. xxii : 17. Believe, John iii: 16. Receive, 
 John i : 11, 12. Trust, Isa. xxvi : 3, 4. Results: Joy — 
 
314 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 John xv:ii. Peace with God — Rom. v:i. Peace of 
 God — Philip, iv : 6, 7. Rest— Matt, xi : 28-30. 
 
 Believers sometimes are in darkness because they are 
 not confessors — Rom. x : 10. 
 
 605 
 
 Modem progress. What a day is this in which to live! 
 Everything moves at a rapid rate, from the iron horse 
 that in five days speeds across the continent from 
 Atlantic to Pacific, to the mind itself, that leaps from 
 discovery to discovery and from invention to invention 
 like a giant with those seven-leagued boots of yore 
 striding from hill to hill and from mountain-top to 
 mountain-top. This is the age of miracles in science and 
 art, when nothing seems impossible to man except 
 absolute creation. Twenty-five years ago Professor 
 Mitchell, the astronomer, ventured to predidl as a distant 
 possibility that we might speak to each other at a distance 
 of miles and be heard, and, lo! we have the telephone. 
 We are solving the problems of the sun and stars with 
 the spe(ftroscope, swelling inaudible murmurs and 
 whispers to thunders with the microphone, taking photo- 
 graphs by telegraph, and distancing all the triumphs of 
 the past by the marvels of a single year. 
 
 606 
 
 Young men. There are no young men any more. I,ife 
 is to be measured by thought, knowledge, opportunity, 
 achievement, progress. Many a young man of twenty is 
 older in science and art and philosophy than Aristotle, 
 Phidias, Plato. Methuselah lived nine hundred and 
 sixty-nine years, but he did not know, see, or do as much 
 as many a man who dies at twenty-five. Human life is 
 short in years, for otherwise how would the present keep 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 315 
 
 balance with the past ? We live intensely, and can not 
 help it, for history is crowded and condensed into these 
 few fleeting hours. 
 
 Mechanical or vital. Mechanical fulness is one thing, 
 vital fulness is another. Fill a pitcher with milk this 
 evening and to-morrow morning the pitcher will be full. 
 Fill a babe quite full with milk this morning, and before 
 to-morrow morning the babe will want more. All vital 
 fulness demands a constant supply. 
 
 608 
 
 The peril of anarchy. Science has discovered the most 
 disastrous explosives of the ages, and sin prompts the 
 worst men to use them for the destrudlion both of property 
 and life. A minister of Baltimore sought an interview 
 with a prominent Socialist, who explained to him the 
 poUcy of the Anarchists, and then said to him: " We are 
 not afraid of your government. I can keep at bay ten 
 thousand men, by one who hides his body behind that 
 chimney to screen himself from rifle balls, and flings 
 dynamite cartridges into the streets below. Pointing to 
 some magnificent and costly churches, built in the inter- 
 ests of a wealthy few, he continued: "Those are our 
 principal allies — they help to embitter the working classes 
 against even your religion. What we are afraid of is the 
 Carpenter's Son, and the few who, with real self-denial, 
 follow the Nazarene Carpenter in ministering to the 
 poor." 
 
 6og 
 
 Nansen and the number thirteen. What a rebuke to 
 silly superstition is the whole history of his expedition. 
 How conspicuous that ill-omened number thirteen, yet 
 how auspicious the voyage proved ! Thirteen in the crew; 
 
3i6 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 the false news of the expedition telegraphed from Irkutsk 
 on the thirteenth of the month (February) ; on the thir- 
 teenth of August the ship escaped the ice clutches; and on 
 the thirteenth of August Nansen arrived home. So, as he 
 said, "thirteen has no perils for him;" it seemed, rather, 
 the ' ' lucky number. ' ' 
 
 6io 
 
 Why Edison believes. Here is Edison's conception of 
 matter, and his belief concerning its origin, as quoted by 
 Mr. I/athrop in his article in Harper, entitled ' ' Talks 
 with Edison. ' ' 
 
 " I do not believe," he said, "that matter is inert, 
 adted upon by an outside force. To me it seems that 
 every atom is possessed by a certain amount of primitive 
 intelligence. I^ook at the thousand ways in which atoms 
 of hydrogen combine with those of other elements, form- 
 ing the most diverse substances. Do you mean to say 
 that they do this without intelligence ? Atoms in harmo- 
 nious and useful relation assume beautiful or interesting 
 shapes and colors, or give forth a pleasant perfume, as if 
 expressing their satisfadtion. In sickness, death, decom- 
 position, or filth, the disagreement of the component 
 atoms immediately makes itself felt by bad odors. Gath- 
 ered together in certain forms, the atoms constitute ani- 
 mals of the lower orders. Finally they combine in man, 
 who represents the total intelligence of all the atoms." 
 
 ' ' But where does this intelligence come from origi- 
 nally? " I asked. 
 
 ' ' From some power greater than ourselves. ' ' 
 
 "Do you believe, then, in an intelligent Creator, a 
 personal God ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Certainly, ' ' said Mr. Edison. ' ' The existence of 
 such a God, can, to my mind, almost be proved from 
 chemistry. ' ' 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 317 
 
 611 
 
 God's almightiness and man's nothingness. God is 
 able, what are your needs ? God is willing, what are 
 your desires ? He is able to do all that we ask, all that 
 we think, all that we ask or think, above all that we ask or 
 think, abundantly above all that we ask or think, 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, 
 according to the Power that worketh in us. — Eph. iii : 20. 
 The power is the Holy Spirit; has He the right of way? 
 
 6IZ 
 
 Richelieu' s courtesy. It is said of the great French 
 statesman, Richelieu, that he could say "No " so grace- 
 fully and winningly, that a man once became applicant 
 for a position upon which he had not the least claim, just 
 to hear the great cardinal refuse. 
 
 613 
 
 Duty. To have simply done one' s duty is no mean vic- 
 tory. To stand — like the anvil below the blows of the 
 hammer — and firmly resist the force of a repeated tempta- 
 tion, is grand and heroic. To be venal is no venial 
 fault; no price which can be weighed in gold can pay a 
 man for the sale of one ounce of his manliness. Con- 
 science is a Samson whose locks are easily shorn, only 
 that they never grow again; whose eyes once put out, or 
 seared with a hot iron, no prayer will restore. And 
 men, as great and wise as Bacon, have, like him, been 
 compelled to confess to their own meanness and the mer- 
 cenary charadler of their virtue. 
 
3i8 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 614 
 
 Hard work. "I have no secret but hard work." — 
 Turner. ' ' The difference between one man and another 
 is not so much in talent as in energy." — Thomas Arnold. 
 ' ' Nothing is denied well-diredled labor, and nothing is 
 to be attained without it." — Joshua Reynolds. "Excel- 
 lence in any department can be attained by the labor of a 
 lifetime; but not at a less price. " — Dr. Johnson. ' 'There is 
 but one method, and that is hard labor. ' ' — Sydney Smith. 
 "Step by step," reads the French proverb, " one goes 
 very far." 
 
 615 
 
 The author of the famous tradt, " Come to Jesus," at 
 one time engaged in a theological dispute, at last sat 
 down and wrote, to some publication of his opponent, an 
 answer bristling with sarcasm and invedtive, sharp and 
 cutting as a razor. Reading it to a friend he asked: 
 
 ' ' What do you think of it ? " 
 
 "It is a masterpiece of invedlive," was the reply. 
 ' ' You fairly flay him alive. What have you decided to 
 call it?" 
 
 ' ' I have not thought of a title. Can you suggest 
 one?" 
 
 ' ' Well, ' ' came the response, ' ' how would it do to call 
 it, ' Go to the Devil, ' by the author of ' Come to Jesus ?' " 
 
 616 
 
 Pascal's genius Jor geometry. Pascal's genius for 
 geometry began to appear before he was even twelve 
 years old, in the room where he passed his hours of play; 
 he procured a piece of charcoal, and drew diagrams on 
 the floor, trying to make a circle, perfedlly round, a tri- 
 angle with equal sides and angles, a perfecft parallelogram 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 319 
 
 and like things. He discovered all this unaided, and 
 then turned his attention to the properties of these 
 figures and their mutual relations and proportions. But 
 as his sire had with such great care concealed from him 
 all mathematical works, the poor boy knew not even the 
 navies of the figures which he drew. Compelled to make 
 his own definitions, he called a circle "a round,'" and a 
 line, "« bar,'' etc., and with these very primitive defini- 
 tions proceeded to construdl his axioms, till at last he 
 wrought out complete demonstrations! 
 
 Step by step he advanced in his studies, one discovery 
 opening the door to another; and so far did he push his 
 researches, that without ever seeing a mathematical work, 
 he got to the thirty-second proposition of the book of 
 Euclid. 
 
 617 
 
 The printing press. Dean Stanley said, in a sermon to 
 the printers of I<ondon, that "once architedture was the 
 press, and told great thoughts to the world in stone; but 
 now the press is architecture, and is building up the 
 world of ideas and usages." 
 
 618 
 
 Pulpit oratory. The highest oratory is the produdl of 
 charadler. Eloquence is not simply the speech of the 
 tongue but the utterance of the soul, and implies manly 
 and heroic qualities. And for this reason, in part, 
 nothing is more radical in all effedtive oratory, especially 
 pulpit oratory, than an absorbing purpose. The higher 
 the purpose the nobler the produdl. Hence the pulpit 
 is the only sphere where the grandest ideal of oratory 
 is possible, for there alone the most perfedt purpose is 
 suggested to the orator. To treat a subjedt, to unfold a 
 text, to please an audience, even to instrudl the ignorant. 
 
2,20 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 is not enough, but to put the truth before human souls 
 so as to lead them to God — that makes a true preacher, 
 and often out of very imperfedl and crude material. As 
 to ornament, there is an architedtural rule that suits 
 the strudlure of the sermon: "Do not construdt orna- 
 ment but ornament construdtion." The best ornamenta- 
 tion is that which comes unconsciously, or at least indi- 
 redtly. The main thing is to impress, convince, persuade. 
 Guthrie said, "Mind the three P's: proving, painting, 
 persuading." Here painting, which addresses imagina- 
 tion and fancy, is in its right place, between proving 
 which addresses the reason, and persuading which ad- 
 dresses the heart and will. He who properly cultivates 
 the imagination will find that as the discourse, fired by 
 earnestness, glows with the heat of argument, sparks will 
 be thrown off; there will be " coruscations " and "scin- 
 tillations ' ' enough without laboring to produce imagina- 
 tive effedls. It is absolutely essential to successful pulpit 
 oratory that the orator should interest his hearer. Rhe- 
 torical sympathy is threefold: sympathy with the theme, 
 with the audience, and with the occasion. To get the 
 first, immersion in the subjedl is the only method; to 
 assure the second and third, the study of the men and 
 the times so as to keep in contadt with living humanity, 
 is the necessary condition. The recluse who buries him- 
 self in his books and his study may burn with his theme, 
 but he will fail of sympathetic contadt with his hearers. 
 There is a winning manner, and there is a repelling man- 
 ner. To be winning is to be wise, but it must not be 
 overdone. We have a friend, an evangelist, who got 
 into the habit of calling his audience ' ' dear souls. ' ' In- 
 advertently he would say, as he passed from place to 
 place, "dear Belfast souls," " dear Dublin souls " — and 
 before he knew it he was saying, ' ' dear Cork souls! ' ' 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 321 
 
 and convulsed his Irish audience. Dr. Broadus gave it 
 as one of his first rules, " Propitiate your hearers. Draw 
 your auditors toward you; " and he pradlised it. Cicero 
 framed a rule not unlike this, that at the early period of 
 an address ' ' the orator and his audience ought to come to 
 a mutual understanding. ' ' 
 
 6ig 
 
 A skeptic. "Are you a Christian? " said Mr. Moody 
 to a gentleman whose appearance was much too cheerful 
 for the inquiry room, if he were a penitent. "O, yes, 
 sir;" the man pertly answered. "Do you believe the 
 Bible? " " O no! no! I don't beheve any such stuff as 
 that. " "Do you believe Webster' s Dictionary ? " " O 
 yes. " " The unabridged ? " " Oh, yes, I believe that. ' ' 
 ' ' Well, my friend, ' ' said the devoted but quick-witted 
 evangelist, ' ' Webster says an infidel is one that does not 
 believe in the Bible. You had better read it more faith- 
 fully and call yourself by your right name." This 
 reminds us of a quaint member, formerly of the New 
 York Conference, of whom many very amusing traditions 
 have been preserved. In a season of revival he asked a 
 person whom he met, who said he was not a Christian, if 
 he did not desire to have his soul saved ? The man, in 
 response, assured him that he did not believe he had a 
 soul ! ' ' Have you any objedlion to my praying for you ? ' ' 
 " O, no! " was the answer. Down upon his knees went 
 
 brother F . "Oh God," he said, "we have been in 
 
 many strange places, in prisons, in hospitals, and have 
 seen many strange men and wonderful sights; but we 
 never saw a man without a soul before. Be pleased to 
 bless this poor wretched cr^^ature with only a gizzard! " 
 
32 2 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 620 
 
 Hearing. "Mr. Bunnell, come in here. There's my 
 cow, Thankful — she can teach you theology! " 
 ' ' A cow teach theology ! What do you mean ? ' ' 
 " Now, see ! I have just thrown her a forkful of hay. 
 Just watch her. There now ! She has found a stick — 
 you know sticks will get in the hay- — and see how she 
 tosses it one side and leaves it, and goes on to eat what is 
 good. There again ! She has found a burdock, and 
 throws it one side, and goes on eating. And there ! She 
 does not relish that bunch of daisies, and she leaves them 
 and — goes on eating. Before morning she will clear the 
 manger of all, save a few sticks and weeds, and she will 
 give milk. There's milk in that hay, and she knows how 
 to get it out, albeit there may be now and then a stick or 
 a weed which she leaves. But, if she refused to eat, and 
 spent the time in scolding about the fodder, she, too, 
 would ' grow lean,' and my milk would be dried up. 
 Just so with our preaching. IvCt the old cow teach you. 
 Get all the good you can ! ' ' 
 
 Carlyle's talk. The public, he said, had become a 
 gigantic jackass ; literature a glittering lie ; science is 
 groping aimlessly amidst the dry, dead clatter of the 
 machinery by which it means the universe; art wielding 
 a feeble, watery pencil; history stumbling over dry 
 bones, in a valley no longer of vision; philosophy lisping 
 and babbling exploded absurdities, mixed with new non- 
 sense about the infinite, the absolute, and the eternal; 
 our religion a great truth groaning its last; truth, justice, 
 God, turned big, staring, empty words, like the address 
 on the sign, remaining after the house was abandoned, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 323 
 
 or like the envelope after the letter had been extradted, 
 drifting down the wind. 
 
 "And what men we have to meet the crisis! Sir Wal- 
 ter Scott, a toothless retailer of old wives' fables; 
 Brougham, an eternal grinder of commonplace and pre- 
 tentious noise, like a man playing a hurdy-gurdy; Cole- 
 ridge, talking in a- maudlin sleep an infinite deal of 
 nothing; Wordsworth, stooping to extradl a spiritual 
 catsup from mushrooms which were little better than 
 toadstools; John Wilson, taken to presiding at Noctes, 
 and painting haggises in flood; the bishops and clergy of 
 all denominations combined to keep men in a state of 
 pupilage, that they may be kept in port wine and roast- 
 beef; politicians full of cant, insincerity, and falsehood; 
 Peel, a plausible fox; John Wilson Crocker, an unhanged 
 hound; I,ord John Russell, a turnip of good pedigree; 
 Lord Melbourne, a monkey; ' these be thy gods, O 
 Israel ! ' Others occupied in undertakings as absurd as 
 to seek to suck the moon out of the sky; this windbag 
 yelping for liberty to the negro, and that other for the 
 improvement of prisons — all sham and imposture together 
 — a giant lie — which may soon go down in hell-fire." — 
 
 The shepherd's rod. In 1849 Dr. Duff was traveling 
 near Simla, under the shadow of the great Himalaya 
 Mountains. One day his way led to a narrow bridle 
 path cut out on the face of a steep ridge. Along this 
 narrow path, that ran so near a great precipice, he saw a 
 shepherd leading on, his flock following him. But now 
 and then the shepherd stopped and looked back. If he 
 saw a sheep creeping up too far on the one hand, or going 
 too near the edge of the dangerous precipice on the other, 
 he would at once turn back and go to it, gently puUing it 
 
324 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 back. He had a long rod, as tall as himself, around the 
 lower half of which was twisted a band of iron. 
 
 There was a crook at one end of the rod, and it was 
 with this the shepherd took hold of one of the hind legs 
 of the wandering sheep to pull it back. The thick band 
 of iron at the other end of the iron was really a staff, and 
 was ready for use whenever he saw a hyena, or wolf, or 
 some other troublesome animal, come near the sheep; for, 
 especially at night, these creatures prowled about the 
 flock. With the iron part of the rod he could give a good 
 blow when an attack was threatened. 
 
 In Psalm xxiii : 4, we have mention made of ' ' Thy rod 
 and thy staff." There is meaning in both, and distindl 
 meaning. God's rod draws us back kindly and lovingly 
 if we go aside from his path; God's staff protedls us 
 against the onset, open or secret, whether it be men or 
 devils that are the enemies watching an opportunity for 
 attack. In this we find unspeakable comfort. The 
 young, inexperienced believer may reckon on having the 
 crook of that blessed rod put forth to draw him back 
 from danger and wandering; and also may expedl that 
 the staff" of it shall not fail to come down upon those that 
 "seek his soul to destroy it." — Life of Dr. Duff. 
 
 Seven hints. Live as in the sight of God. This is 
 what Abraham did: he walked before Him. This is 
 what Enoch did: he walked with Him. — Gen. xxiv : 40; 
 V. 24. 
 
 Do nothing you would not like God to see. — I. Cor. 
 x: 31. 
 
 Say nothing you would not like God to hear. — Psa 
 cxli : 3. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 325 
 
 Sing notHng that will not be melodious in Gtod's ear. 
 Kph. V : 19. 
 
 Write nothing you would not like God to read. — Psa. 
 cxxxix : 2. 
 
 Go to no place where you would not like God to find 
 you. — Psa. cxxxix : 3. 
 
 Read no book of which you would not like God to say, 
 "Shew it me." — Psa. cxix : 37. 
 
 The gift and grace of faith. It pleased the lyord, I 
 think, to give me in some cases something like the gift 
 (not grace) of faith, so that unconditionally I could ask 
 and look for an answer. The difference between the gift 
 and grace of faith seems to me this. According to the 
 gift of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a 
 thing will come to pass, the not doing of which, or the 
 not believing of which would not be sin; according to the 
 grace of faith, I am able to do a thing, or believe that a 
 thing will come to pass, respecting which I have the Word 
 of God as the ground to rest upon, and, therefore, the not 
 doing it, or the not believing it, would be sin. For in- 
 stance, the gift of faith would be needed to believe that a 
 sick person should be restored again, tho there is no 
 human probability, for there is no promise to that effe£l; 
 the grace of faith is needed to believe that the lyord will 
 give me the necessaries of life, if I first seek the Kingdom 
 of God and His righteousness: for there is a promise to 
 that effect. Matt, vi : 33. — Geo. Muller. 
 
 Anecdote. An old colored man at Princeton was asked 
 by a student if he had had a turkey on Thanksgiving 
 Day. "Oh, yes, boss," said he, and on being asked 
 
326 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 where lie got it, he said : "I prayed for dat turkey, but 
 no turkey done come. So I prayed de I^ord to send me 
 after dat turkey, and, bress de I^rd ! I bad three turkeys 
 before morning." 
 
 636 
 
 Trials of faith. The I<ord gives faith for the very pur- 
 pose of trying it for the glory of His own name, and for 
 the good of him who has it; and, by the very trial of our 
 faith, we not only obtain blessing to our own souls, by 
 becoming better acquainted with God, if we hold fast our 
 confidence in Him, but our faith is also, by the exercise, 
 strengthened; and so it comes that, if we walk with God 
 in any measure of uprightness of heart, the trials of faith 
 will be greater and greater. — Geo. Miiller. 
 
 627 
 
 Cross-bearing. The Christian, like the bee, might 
 suck honey out of every flower. I saw upon a snuffer- 
 stand in bas-relief, ' ' A heart, a cross under it, and roses 
 under both. ' ' The meaning was obviously this, that the 
 heart which bears the cross for a time meets with roses 
 afterward. — Geo. Miiller. 
 
 6iaS 
 
 New tastes. What a difference grace makes! There 
 were few people, perhaps, more passionately fond of 
 traveling, and seeing fresh places, and new scenes, than 
 myself; but now, since, by the grace of God, I have seen 
 beauty in the I,ord Jesus, I have lost my taste for these 
 things. . . . What a different thing, also, to travel in 
 the service of the lyord Jesus, from what it is to travel in 
 the service of the flesh! — Geo. Miiller. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 327 
 
 Obedience. Every instance of obedience, from right 
 motives, strengthens us spiritually, whilst every adl of 
 disobedience weakens us spiritually. — Geo. Muller. 
 
 630 
 
 Service to one's generation. My business is, with, all 
 my might to serve my own generation; in doing so, I 
 shall best serve the next generation, should the I,ord 
 Jesus tarry. The longer I live, the more I am enabled to 
 realize, that I have but one life to live on earth, and that 
 this one life is but a brief life, for sowing, in comparison 
 with eternity, for reaping. — Geo. MUller. 
 
 631 
 
 Negle£l of children. The power for good or evil that 
 resides in a little child is great beyond all human calcula- 
 tion. A child rightly trained may be a world-wide bless- 
 ing, with an influence reaching onward to eternal years. 
 But, a negledled, or misdiredled child, may live to blight 
 and blast mankind, and leave influences of evil which 
 shall roll on in increasing volume till they plunge into 
 the gulf of eternal perdition. 
 
 A remarkable instance was related by Dr. Harris, of 
 New York, at a recent meeting of the State Charities Aid 
 Association. In a small village in a county on the Upper 
 Hudson, some seventy years ago, a young girl named 
 "Margaret " was sent adrift on the casual charity of the 
 inhabitants. She became the mother of a long race of 
 criminals and paupers, and her progeny has cursed the 
 county ever since. The county records show two hundred 
 of her descendants who have been criminals. In one 
 single generation of her unhappy line there were twenty 
 children; of these, three died in infancy, and seventeen 
 
328 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 survived to maturity. Of the seventeen, nine served in 
 the State Prison for high crimes an aggregate term of fifty 
 years, while the others were frequent inmates of jails and 
 penitentiaries, and almshouses. Of the nine hundred 
 descendants, through six generations, from this unhappy 
 girl who was left on the village streets and abandoned in 
 her childhood, a great number have been idiots, imbe- 
 ciles, drunkards, lunatics, paupers, and prostitutes; but 
 two hundred of the more vigorous are on record as crim- 
 inals. This negledted little child has thus cost the county 
 authorities, in the effedls she has transmitted, hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars, in the expense and care of criminals 
 and paupers, besides the untold damage she has inflidted 
 on property and public morals. 
 
 Training of children. Seek to cherish in your chil- 
 dren early the habit of being interested about the work of 
 God, and about cases of need and distress, and use them 
 too at suitable times, and under suitable circumstances, as 
 your almoners, and you will reap fruit from doing so. — 
 Geo. Mailer. 
 
 Confessing- Christ before men. One of the best generals 
 Frederick the Great of Prussia ever had was Hans 
 Joachim von Zeiten. He distinguished himself in the 
 seven years' war, both at Prague and Torgau. He was 
 never ashamed of his faith. Once he declined an invita- 
 tion to dine at his royal master's table because he wished 
 to present himself at the table of his Lord and Master 
 Jesus Christ, as it was the Sacrament Day in the church 
 where he worshiped. The next time that he appeared by 
 invitation at the king's table, Frederick, whose infidel 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 329 
 
 tendencies were well known, made use of some profane 
 expressions about the Holy Communion of the lord's 
 Supper; and the other guests laughed at the remarks 
 made on the occasion. Zeiten shook his head solemnly, 
 stood up, saluted the king, and then said with a firm 
 voice: "Your majesty knows well that in war I have 
 never feared any danger, and everywhere have boldly 
 risked my life for you and my country. But there is 
 One above us who is greater than you or I — greater than 
 all men; he is the Savior and Redeemer, who has died 
 also for your majesty, and has dearly bought us with His 
 own blood. This Holy One I can never allow to be 
 mocked or insulted; for on Him repose my faith, my 
 comfort, and my hope in life and death. In the power 
 of this faith your brave army has courageously fought 
 and conquered. If your majesty undermine this faith 
 you undermine, at the same time, the welfare of the state. 
 I salute your majesty!" This open confession of his 
 Savior by Zeiten made a powerful impression upon the 
 king. He felt he had been wrong in his attack upon the 
 faith of the general, and he was not ashamed to acknowl- 
 edge it. He gave his hand to Zeiten, his right hand, and 
 placing his left on the veteran's shoulder, said with 
 emotion: " O, happy Zeiten! how I wish I could believe 
 it! I have the greatest respedt for you. This shall 
 never happen again." The king then rose from the 
 table, dismissed his other guests, but said to Zeiten, 
 "Come with me into my cabinet." What passed in that 
 conference with closed doors between the great king and 
 his greater general no one has ever learned, but this we 
 believe, that the I^ord's own words are now verified to 
 Zeiten: "Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him 
 will I confess before my Father which is in heaven." 
 
330 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 634 
 
 The Savior. Description of Jesus by Publius I/cntulus, 
 president of Judea in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. ' ' There 
 lives, at this time, in Judea a man of singular virtue, 
 whose name is Jesus Christ, whom the barbarians esteem 
 as a prophet, but his followers love and adore him as the 
 offspring of the immortal God. He calls back the dead 
 from their graves, and heals all sorts of diseases with a 
 word or a touch. He is a tall man, and well-shaped; of 
 an amiable and reverend aspedt; his hair of a color that 
 can hardly be matched, falling into graceful curls, waving 
 about, and parted on the crown of the head, running as a 
 stream to the front after the fashion of the Nazarites; his 
 forehead high, large, and imposing; his cheeks without 
 spot or wrinkle, beautiful with a lovely red; his nose and 
 mouth formed with exquisite symmetry; his beard thick, 
 and of a color suitable to his hair, reaching below his chin, 
 and parting in the middle like a fork; his eyes bright 
 blue, clear and serene; look, innocent, dignified, manly, 
 and mature; in proportion of body, most perfedt and cap- 
 tivating; his hands and arms most deledtable to behold. 
 He rebukes with majesty, counsels with mildness, his 
 whole address, whether in word or deed, being eloquent 
 and grave. No man has seen him laugh, yet his manners 
 are exceedingly pleasant; but he has wept frequently in 
 the presence of men. He is temperate, modest, and wise; 
 a man, for his extraordinary beauty and divine perfections, 
 surpassing the children of men in every sense." 
 
 The Savior is so seldom recognized in profane history 
 that this confirmatory contribution to his perfections is 
 especially valuable. T. W. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 331 
 
 The date of the crucifixion. Herr Falb, the German 
 savant, in a work recently published, shows that there 
 was a total eclipse of the moon concomitantly with the 
 earthquake that occurred when Julius Caesar was assas- 
 sinated, on the 15th of March, B. C. 44. He has also 
 calculated back the Jewish calendar to A. D. 31, and the 
 result of his researches fully confirms the fadts recorded 
 by the evangelists of the wonderful physical events that 
 accompanied the crucifixion. Astronomical calculations 
 prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that on the 14th day 
 of the Jewish month, Nisan (April 6th), there was a 
 total eclipse of the sun, which was accompanied, in all 
 probability, by the earthquake when "the veil of the 
 Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and 
 the earth did quake and the rocks were rent ' ' (Matt, xxvii: 
 51); while Luke describes the eclipse in these words: 
 " And it was about the sixth hour (noon), and there 
 was darkness over all the land till the ninth hour (3 
 o'clock p.m.), and the sun was darkened." (Luke xxii: 
 44. ) This mode of reckoning corresponds perfedlly with 
 the result of another calculation our author made by 
 reckoning backwards from the great total eclipse of April 
 20, 1 81 8, allowing for the difference between the old and 
 new styles, which also gives April 6th as the date of the 
 new moon in the year A. D. 31. As the vernal equinox 
 of that year fell on March 25th, and the Jews ate their 
 Kaster Lamb, and celebrated their Erib Pasah, or Feast 
 of the Passover, on the following new moon, it is clear 
 April 6th was identical with Nisan 14 of the Jewish Cal- 
 endar, which, moreover, was on a Friday, the Paraskevee, 
 or day of preparation for the Sabbath, and this agrees 
 with the Hebrew Talmud. Thus, by the united testi- 
 mony of astronomy, archaeology, tradition, and Biblical 
 
332 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 history, there can be but little doubt that the date of the 
 crucifixion was April 6th, A. D. 31. 
 
 636 
 
 Death warrant of Christ. As a specimen of plausible 
 forgery this imposing and interesting judicial document, 
 published in a leading newspaper, is worthy of preserva- 
 tion. It claims to be the identical warrant of our I^ord 
 Jesus Christ. It is noticeable with what particularity of 
 detail the so-called "document" is framed. We tran- 
 scribe the document from a copy of the translation : 
 
 Sentence rendered by Pontius Pilate, adling governor 
 of I/Dwer Galilee, that Jesus of Nazareth shall sufEer 
 death on the cross. In the year seventeenth of the Em- 
 peror Tiberius Caesar, and the fourth of March, in the city 
 of Holy Jerusalem: Adams and Caiaphas being present, 
 sacrificators of the people of God. 
 
 I, Pontius Pilate, governor and prsetatory, condemn 
 Jesus of Nazareth to die on the cross between two thieves 
 — the great notorious evidence of the people saying: 
 
 First. He is a seducer. 
 
 Second. He is seditious. 
 
 Third. He is an enemy of the law. 
 
 Fourth. He calls himself, falsely, the Son of God. 
 
 Fifth. He calls Himself the King of Israel. 
 
 Sixth. He entered the Temple followed by a multitude 
 bearing palm branches in their hands. 
 
 Order the Centurion Quintus to lead him to the place 
 of execution. 
 
 Forbid any person whatsoever, poor or rich, to oppose 
 the death of Jesus. 
 
 The witnesses that signed the death warrant of Jesus 
 are: 
 
 First. Daniel Robani, a Pharisee, 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers ;^^2 
 
 Second. James Horhable. 
 
 Third. Cabet, a citizen. 
 
 Jesus shall go out of the city by gate Strenous. 
 
 The above sentences are engraved on a copperplate. 
 On one side is written these words : ' 'A similar plate is 
 sent to each of the tribes. ' ' 
 
 This was said to be found in an antiq,ue marble vase 
 while excavating in the city of Aquila, in the kingdom of 
 Naples, in the year 1822, and to be discovered by the 
 commissariat of arts attached to the French armies ; and 
 at the expedition to Naples to be found closed in a box 
 of ebony in the Sacristy Courtem. The French transla- 
 tion was attributed to members of the commissioners 
 of arts. 
 
 637 
 
 The Church to-day. Bishop R. S. Foster describes the 
 state of his church in plain language, which has a wider 
 application than to the Methodist Episcopal Chiurch: 
 
 ' ' The Church of God is to-day courting the world. Its 
 members are trying to bring it down to the level of the 
 ungodly. The ball, the theater, nude and lewd art, 
 social luxuries, with all their loose moralities, are making 
 inroads into the sacred enclosure of the church, and, as a 
 satisfadtion for all this worldliness. Christians are making 
 a great deal of I,ent and Easter and Good Friday, and 
 church ornamentation. It is the old trick of Satan. The 
 Jewish Church struck on that rock, the Roman Church 
 was wrecked on the same, and the Protestant Church is 
 fast reaching the same doom. Our great dangers, as we 
 see them, are assimilation with the world, negledl of the 
 poor, substitution of the form for the fadl of godliness, 
 abandonment of discipline, a hireling ministry, an impure 
 Gospel, which, summed up, is a fashionable church." 
 
334 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 638 
 
 Three points. I^et us condense the essence of the Gos- 
 pel into three points. First, you must venture to Christ. 
 This takes you away from sin. Second, you must ven- 
 ture on Christ; this is true faith. And ever after, you 
 must venture _/or Christ; and that is the life of love and 
 self-denial. 
 
 639 
 
 A great reward. Mr. Moody told the following story: 
 " In one of our Western States, a good many years ago, 
 a little girl heard she could do something for her Savior, 
 and her teacher told her she could bring her father to the 
 Sunday-school. At first she could not get him to come, 
 but at last she brought him to the door of the little log- 
 house where the Sunday-school was kept. He had never 
 been at Sunday-school a day in his life. He was a great 
 drunkard and blasphemer, but that little girl succeeded 
 in getting her father to that school; and what is the 
 result to-day? He has planted eleven hundred and 
 eighty Sabbath-schools throughout the Western States." 
 
 640 
 
 Preparation for death. A certain German, it is said, 
 anxiously besought the Deity to reveal to him his future. 
 God heard his prayer, and answered in the enigmatical 
 words, "After six." At first the man was bewildered. 
 Then he imagined the meaning to be, that after the hour 
 of six the next morning he must die. Through the 
 whole night he interceded with God to fit him for the 
 solemn fate. Six o'clock came and passed, but death had 
 not come. Then he imagined the meaning to be after 
 six days. Until the sixth day he prayed and exercised 
 himself to be fitted for his departure. The sixth day 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 335 
 
 came and passed and he was still alive. Now, thought 
 he, it must be the sixth week that is to be my last. 
 The sixth week passed, and the destiny was not fulfilled. 
 Then it appeared to be the sixth month, then the sixth 
 year. But while the man looked for this mysterious 
 moment, he acquired the habit and discovered the 
 pleasures of devotion. 
 
 641 
 
 Seven styles in sermons. The Bishop of Wakefield, 
 England, who had evidently made the art and pradlice of 
 preaching his special duty, wittily divided the modern 
 sermon under the following seven heads: i. " The Ses- 
 quipedalian; " big words hiding little thoughts. 2. 
 "The Wishy-Washy; " no explanation required. 3. 
 ' ' The Pyrotechnic; ' ' blazing with brilliant metaphors 
 and illustration, and finishing with a faint odor of gun- 
 powder. 4. "The Anecdotic;" teeming with stories — 
 some of them good enough once, but gone bad by keep- 
 ing. 5. "The Flowery;" in which rhyme is of more 
 importance than reason. 6. "The Mellifluous;" with 
 calm unbroken flow. 7. "The Paregoric;" against 
 which the powers of wakefulness fail; like a roll of 
 ribbon, so much alike at all points that a yard can be cut 
 off anywhere. 
 
 64s 
 
 Heavenly wisdom. Bishop Potter says: "Some day 
 the close of this century will be described as the time 
 when the heterodox thinkers began to fulminate against 
 the orthodox, and Christians were almost treated as 
 excommunicate. ' ' Men forget the Scripture, which says, 
 ' ' The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then 
 peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated." 
 
33^ Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 643 
 
 Sinning in Adam. Dr. H. A. Nelson was the guest of 
 Dr. Shedd in New York, and took opportunity of putting 
 a question to him on a difficult theme in theology as to 
 the view he held concerning our relation to Adam, insist- 
 ing that ' ' all mankind descending from him by ordinary 
 generation sinned in him and fell with him in that first 
 transgression. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Do you consciously take to your own soul the blame 
 of Adam's first transgression, and feel the same shame 
 and penitence for it as for any distindl transgression of 
 God's law, which you yourself have perpetrated ? " 
 
 A look of awful solemnity gathered upon his face, as 
 he deliberately answered: " When I am conscious of hav- 
 ing personally committed an adl of voluntary trans- 
 gression, it is not that single fadl that shames and dis- 
 tresses me; but it is the demonstration that I am the kind 
 of man to whom it is natural to do such a thing. That 
 nature became my nature in Adam's first transgression." 
 
 644 
 
 The pulpiVs decline. Rev. G. M. Royce expresses his 
 convidlion that the American pulpit has declined in power. 
 His explanation of things in America well deserves at- 
 tention, if only as a warning: " (i) The crude endeavor 
 of the pulpit to deal with every new fashion of criticism 
 as it arises; (2) the prevalent notion among the clergy 
 that their chief business is to entertain and amuse; (3) 
 a feeling abroad that preachers are impostors, teaching 
 what they do not believe; (4) preaching on ' the topics 
 of the hour'; (5) deepest root of all — the lack of 
 spiritual vision." 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 337 
 
 645 
 
 Test of faith. While Dr. Shedd was at Auburn Semin- 
 ary as professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theol- 
 ogy, his little son became the victim of a disease of the 
 throat, and all human hope for his recovery was aban- 
 doned. " About sunset, one day," says Dr. Nelson, " I 
 had a memorable interview with the professor. He in- 
 formed me that all hope of the child's life was abandoned. 
 They were simply waiting for the end. He seemed to 
 me ' as one who suffers most a human heart can suffer, 
 and reasons best a human heart can reason; ' for his rea- 
 soning had long before reached and immovably rested 
 upon the rock, the eternal purpose of the holy and good 
 God. ' I believe,' said he calmly and tenderly, ' that it 
 is pradticable to preengage the grace of God against 
 such trying experiences.' His perfect serenity was evi- 
 dence enough that he had made such preengagement. 
 
 ' ' It was a precious means of grace to me to sit there 
 looking on the calm face and listening to the steady voice 
 of one whose reasoning power I thought unsurpassed by 
 any that I had ever met and tested, and whose faith, 
 simple as any child's, seemed to me strong as Abraham's, 
 and bearing then that supreme test of Abraham's faith, 
 offering up without one murmur, his only son. I called 
 next morning, expedling to see crape on the door. But 
 that child is living now in mature manhood, surviving 
 his father. The faith like Abraham's received the same 
 reward. ' ' 
 
 646 
 
 Covetousness. Rev. Canon Fausset of York says : 
 Covetousness is the idolatry of our present Chris- 
 tendom. Covetousness is idolatry latent, while image- 
 worship is idolatry patent. God requires spiritual 
 worship, but the natural heart requires sensuous cere- 
 
33^ Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 monialism. Idolatry and immorality go together. People 
 never rise above their idols; if their god is impure, their 
 worship is impure also. Conscience was on the side of 
 Jehovah, in the case of the apostate Israelites, and 
 inclination on the side of Baal, with its voluptuous rites. 
 We must make our choice between the Lord and the 
 world's idols; we can not serve both at once. The issue 
 of Israel's attempt to combine the two was given for our 
 warning in that commentary upon Judges — the io6th 
 Psalm — ' ' They did not destroy the nations concerning 
 whom the Lord commanded them, but were mingled 
 among the heathen, and learned their works. And they 
 served their idols, which were a snare to them." To 
 worship God in spirit, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, to have 
 no confidence in the flesh, is at once our blessedness and 
 our safety. 
 
 647 
 
 A pathetic prayer. The fishermen of Brittany utter 
 this simple prayer when they launch their boats upon the 
 deep: "Keep me, my God; my boat is small and the 
 ocean is wide. ' ' 
 
 648 
 
 A strange plant. There has been discovered in the 
 forests of India a strange plant which possesses to a very 
 high degree astonishing magnetic power. The hand 
 which breaks a leaf from it immediately receives a shock 
 equal to that produced by the condudlor of an indudlion 
 coil. At a distance of nineteen feet a magnetic-needle is 
 affedled by it, and it will be quite deranged if brought 
 near. The energy of this singular influence varies with 
 the hour of the day. It is all-powerful about two o'clock 
 in the afternoon, but is ineffedlive during the night. At 
 times of storm its intensity augments. 
 
Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 339 
 
 649 
 
 The minister's burden. The accepted policy of throw- 
 ing the entire burden of the church on one man's 
 shoulders, of making a church a financial investment, on 
 which the minister is to pay the dividends, is encourag- 
 ing and intensifying the demand for the talent which 
 fills pews, and making it the unpardonable sin of the 
 minister not to draw. To more than one faithful pastor 
 his church is a cross on which he is crucified, while the 
 people sit down and watch him there. — Rev. Marvin R. 
 Vincent, D.D. 
 
 650 
 
 Three men. To three men Italy owes her liberation — 
 Garibaldi the soldier, Mazzini the philosopher, Gavazzi 
 the preacher. Of them all, none contributed more than 
 Gavazzi. 
 
 Mock humility. What is called a pidturesque ceremony 
 was performed at the Imperial Castle in Vienna on 
 Thursday, when the emperor washed the feet of twelve 
 old men, in commemoration of the washing of the feet of 
 the Apostles. The ' ' pidluresqueness ' ' consisted in the 
 splendor of the artificially-lighted room, the waxened 
 floor, mirroring the great pillars of the apartment; in the 
 lavish, perhaps barbaric, display of gold on the occasion. 
 The mock banquet was served on gold dishes; it was 
 carried away untasted. Golden were the vases from 
 which water — warm let us hope — was poured on the old 
 men's feet; of the most fine linen the towel with which 
 the emperor perfundlorily dried the said feet; golden was 
 the basin in which the emperor washed his hands after 
 the ceremony, and encircled with the finest lace was the 
 towel with which his majesty wiped his hands. Princes 
 
340 Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers 
 
 assisted in the service; "noble" ladies and higli court 
 officials looked on upon the ceremony — one of silly mock- 
 ery from first to last. 
 
 652 
 
 A strange coincidence. Mr. George I^awrence had the 
 following remarkable incident, in a letter from his daugh- 
 ter, in Cardiff. Miss I^awrence writes: 
 
 ' ' Christmas presents were distributed on Boxing night 
 at the Festival. A Norwegian ' wandering boy ' had 
 left his home and mother twenty-one years ago, and had 
 not written to the latter for sixteen years. He was wan- 
 dering about on Christmas morning in an unhappy frame 
 of mind, when he heard the singing, and went into the 
 
 N church. Mr. H invited all present to the 
 
 Festival to be held next day. At the time named the 
 ' wandering boy ' turned up. The number of his ticket 
 was four hundred and something, and I think the cor- 
 responding present was a muffler. 
 
 ' ' He did not trouble much about it ; but, before 
 ' turning in ' that night, he thought he would inspedt it. 
 Fastened to it was a letter addressed to whatever sailor 
 should receive the gift. He opened it, and read the kind 
 message from the maker and sender, who said she was 
 over seventy years old; she had three sons who had gone 
 to sea; the youngest of them had not written to her for 
 sixteen years, and she knew nothing of him. Her sig- 
 nature was at the bottom. When he read it, imagine his 
 feelings; it was his mother's! 
 
 " He had ^27 coming to him as wages. He received 
 it, ' rigged himself out, ' and took the first steamer home 
 to gladden her heart and give her a ' Happy New Year. ' 
 Was it not wonderful ? — nearly 1,000 presents sent, and 
 the right one to go to the right man. I am sure that she 
 is a praying mother! " 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 The following Index has been prepared with great care. As there are often 
 several paragraphs on the page, the numbers used have always reference not 
 to pages but to paragraphs. 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Abiding in Our Calling With God. 436 
 
 Abnormal Childhood S45 
 
 " Abstainer's Creed," The 539 
 
 Acceptance Only in Christ 220 
 
 Accommodation to World 837 
 
 Accuracy in Quotation of Scrip- 
 ture 600 
 
 Accuracy, Lack of 121 
 
 Acrostic Arrangement of Texts.. 170 
 Acting and Preaching, Compared. 180 
 Adams, Rev. Dr. Win., on Con- 
 science 489 
 
 on the " Unseen and Eternal " 63 
 Adaptation— as the Secret of Suc- 
 cess 57 
 
 to Surroundings 396 
 
 Adoption into God's Family 360 
 
 "Adultery, Woman taken iu"... 14 
 Advance, even through Defeat... 213 
 Advancement of Man: its Source. 80 
 
 Advents, The Three 850 
 
 Adversaries Overcome in Argu- 
 ment 832 
 
 Affection, New. Expulsive Power 
 
 of 152 
 
 Affinity of Souls 5 
 
 Affliction— its Blessing 466 
 
 its Office 567 
 
 its Reward 627 
 
 and Patience 213 
 
 as a Test of Faith 645 
 
 its True Interpretation 546 
 
 Transformed 123 
 
 Agassiz, Devotion to Science 147 
 
 Age, the Materialistic, Drift of... 869 
 
 the Modern, Drift of 33 
 
 Agis IV. of Sparta, his Character. 192 
 Agitation, Daniel O'Connell on... 316 
 
 Burke on 316 
 
 jt Ritchie, Dr. J., on 316 
 
 ■' Agnostic Teaching, M. D. Conway 362 
 
 Agriculture, Emerson on 582 
 
 Aiming at Perfection 418 
 
 Influence of 229 
 
 Alexander and Diana's Temple. . . 509 
 Alexander, Rev. Jas., Dying 
 
 Words of 6 
 
 Alexandrian Library 519 
 
 Almightiness of God 611 
 
 Almost Saved, but Lost 266 
 
 Para^aph 
 Number. 
 
 Altar, The, Sanctifying the Gift. . 18 
 
 Alva, Duke of, and Henry IV 365 
 
 Ambition, Sacrifices of 602 
 
 Ambrose of Milan and Augustine 246 
 
 America, Disco very of 576 
 
 Amphora, the Tub of Diogenes. . . 294 
 
 Anarchy, Danger of 540 
 
 Perils of Modern 608 
 
 Tennyson on 215 
 
 Typified by Samson 171 
 
 Ancient Mariner, Coleridge's 583 
 
 Anecdotes— of a Preacher 590 
 
 of Colored Man and Turkey .... 625 
 
 of Discontented Man 599 
 
 on Politeness 595 
 
 Angell, Jas B., on Teaching 488 
 
 Angelo, Michael — '* Amplius '* 157 
 
 and Block of Marble 115 
 
 Animals, Effect of Color in 454 
 
 and Man Compared 403 
 
 and Man, Hobbes on 495 
 
 Lessons from 428 
 
 Marine 188 
 
 Papal Decrees Against 439 
 
 Plants and Man Distinguished 328 
 
 Revenge of 271 
 
 Sagacity of 454 
 
 Social Instinct 274 
 
 Types of Character 428 
 
 Anschulz and Photography 479 
 
 Answered Prayer 242 
 
 Antoninus of Florence, St 8 
 
 Anvil and Hammers S38 
 
 Aphides, Multiplication of 216 
 
 Apostasy, Progress of 260 
 
 "Apostles' Spoons " 301 
 
 Apparent Denial of Prayer 248 
 
 Apteryx, Bird of New Zealand.... 408 
 Aquinas, Thomas, Character of. . 15 
 
 Arbiter, Final in Religion 859 
 
 Architecture — "Frozen Music".. 64 
 
 Argument, Power in 814 
 
 Sound Test of 60 
 
 Aristotle — and Bacon 555 
 
 Definition of TiMith 856 
 
 Arminius and Calvin Compared.. 537 
 
 Arminian, Views of Sin 334 
 
 Armstrong, Sergeant, and the 
 
 Jackass 281 
 
 Arnold, Dr. Thomas, and Truth. . 251 
 
 341 
 
342 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragrapli 
 Number. 
 
 Arnold, Dr. Thos., as an Educator 37 
 
 on Education 547 
 
 on Holy Living 235 
 
 Matthew, and his Philosophy. 156 
 
 on Social Divisions 25 
 
 Arrogance, Scientific 504 
 
 Art— its Laws and Limits 550 
 
 its Ministry 548 
 
 its Relations 549 
 
 and Spiritual Culture 183 
 
 Indebtedness to Gospel 363 
 
 Artist and Beggars' Picture 320 
 
 Aspiration, The Power of 544, 545 
 
 Association as Index of Character 566 
 
 Influence on Character 82 
 
 "Assurance" and "Adherence" 426 
 
 Astrology, Study of. Revived 401 
 
 Astronomical Search — Kepler. . . . 147 
 
 Atmosphere, Spiritual 337 
 
 Atonement, Centrallty of in Scrip- 
 ture 50 
 
 Different Views on 525, 526 
 
 Audiences, How to Reach and 
 
 Move 810 
 
 Augustine — His Lost Opportunity 431 
 
 and Luther 481 
 
 and Monica 246 
 
 Dream of 7 
 
 on Old and New Testaments. . 503 
 
 on Man 562 
 
 on Unity, Charity, and Liberty 380 
 
 Character of 245 
 
 Author, Gibbon as an 167 
 
 Authors, Poverty of 478 
 
 Triumvirate of 186 
 
 Authorship, Methods of 212 
 
 Avarice, Losing Power 400 
 
 Axioms, Influence of 76 
 
 Babel. Tower of 406 
 
 Why Built 406 
 
 Babylon, and Idol Shrine 406 
 
 Hanging Gardens of 69 
 
 Den of Lions in 69 
 
 Bacon — and Aristotle 555 
 
 His Confession 45 
 
 on Christian Paradoxes 55 
 
 on Prejudice 149 
 
 on Reading 520 
 
 Bailey,. Prof., on Fruit Growing.. 395 
 
 on Plant Life 895 
 
 Ball-room, Influence of 578 
 
 Balzac's " Peau de Chagrin," 368 
 
 Banner, Given to Believer 153 
 
 Displayed for Truth 262 
 
 Bankrupt, Origin of Word 289 
 
 Baptism, Civil, in France 507 
 
 Barnacles, Illustration of Selfish- 
 ness 453 
 
 Barrows, Dr., on Church Socials. . 600 
 
 Isaac, Anecdote of 113 
 
 Jeremy Taylor and Hooker 
 
 Compared 186 
 
 Barton, Cuira, Her Heroism 186 
 
 Paragraph 
 Mamber. 
 
 Battle of Waterloo, Crisis at 175 
 
 Baxter, Richard, Anecdote of 332 
 
 on Bad Temper 587 
 
 on Giving 332 
 
 Bee, Queen 276 
 
 Beecher, Henry Ward, and Books 520 
 
 and IngersoU 446 
 
 on Giving 238 
 
 on Total Depravity 456 
 
 Dr. LjTnan, and Oratory 78 
 
 Infancy of 190 
 
 On Juclgments of Others 435 
 
 Beethoven and Mozart Compared. 63 
 
 " Beggar's Bridge," Thei 459 
 
 Beggar, Self-transformed 320 
 
 Belief and Trust 407 
 
 Believing and Praying 71 
 
 Believer. Delivered from Judg- 
 ment 41 
 
 Believing and Trusting 407 
 
 Bellows, Eev. Dr., on Church-go- 
 ing 542 
 
 Benevolence, Blessing of 230 
 
 the Will and the Deed 61 
 
 Bengel on Old Testament 503 
 
 Bernard, Prof., Experiment With 
 
 a Bird 837 
 
 Betterton on Preaching 180 
 
 Bible, Appeal to the. 845 
 
 and Talmud 438 
 
 and Queen Victoria, Tribute to. 858 
 
 as a Complete Revelation 535 
 
 as a Personal Possession 390 
 
 as Pointing to God 413 
 
 Class of Robert Haldane in 
 
 Geneva 442 
 
 Curious Facts About 800 
 
 Division into Chapters and 
 
 ■ Verses 553 
 
 Gallery of Portraits 474 
 
 Hints of the Trinity 351 
 
 Illuminated, an 554 
 
 Infidel Assault on 378 
 
 Its Inspiration 349 
 
 Its Own Commentary 50 
 
 Its Simplicity of Style. 109 
 
 Lincoln and the 471 
 
 Misunderstood by Skeptics... 161 
 
 Moral Perfection of 348 
 
 New, Proposed 445 
 
 of Savonarola 489 
 
 Power of the 137 
 
 Protestant Position upon 552 
 
 Reason and Faith 471 
 
 Searching the 164 
 
 Societies, History of 558 
 
 Testimony of the Skeptic to.. 112 
 
 the, The Unity of 118 
 
 Biblical Criticism, Laws of 77 
 
 Pacts 553 
 
 Bigotry, and Rejection of Truth. . 16 
 
 Birds— and their Eggs 135 
 
 and their Habits 408 
 
 without Wings 185 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 343 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Bishop, Mrs. Isabella Bird 137 
 
 Bismarck on Fame 143 
 
 Blackstone on Licensing Evil 100 
 
 " Black Stone " of Mecca 295 
 
 "Blades, The," of Sheffield 424 
 
 Blake, William, Poetic Nature of. 4S7 
 
 Blessings becoming Curses 106 
 
 Blind Man and Lantern 237 
 
 Blunt, Wilford S., on Islam 221 
 
 Bobart, Jacob, and his "Dragon" 277 
 Body, The Human, and its Ele- 
 ments 307 
 
 Bolingbroke, Fox, and Mackintosh 
 
 Compared 62 
 
 Bone as an Index of the Animal. . 331 
 
 Bonheur, Le Ohasse de 124 
 
 Boniface VIIi; Described 430 
 
 Book of Life, The 41 
 
 "Books, The," in the Last Judg- 
 ment , 41 
 
 Books — their Power for Good and 
 
 Evil 19 
 
 Use and Abuse of 619, 580, 651 
 
 Booth, Mrs. Catherine, on Assur- 
 ance 4SG 
 
 William, on Choirs 421 
 
 Borromeo, St. Charles, Tomb of. . 223 
 
 Boy, The Oyster 162 
 
 Boys, Their Training in Jewish 
 
 Schools 47 
 
 Brain, Talleyrand's 205 
 
 Breathing, The Process of 398 
 
 Breckinridge, Rev. Dr., and Ora- 
 tory 78 
 
 Breed, Rev. W. P., on Prayer 240 
 
 Brevity in Sermons, and Power. . . 34 
 
 Brewer, Prof., on Dogs 681 
 
 Bribes, Powerless on Luther 400 
 
 Bridge, The Beggars' 469 
 
 Bridges. Liable to Vibration 291 
 
 Bright and Disraeli 594 
 
 Broadus, Rev. Dr., on Preaching. 618 
 Brookes, Rev. Dr. J. H., and the 
 
 Infidel Challenge 355 
 
 Brougham— and Canning Com- 
 pared 51 
 
 Bought With a Title 206 
 
 Buckland, Frank, on Evolution.. 135 
 
 The Naturalist 195 
 
 Buckley, Rev. J. M., on Time 
 
 Limit 632 
 
 Building From the Base 636 
 
 of Character and Destiny 65 
 
 BufEon— Estimate of Erasmus — 23 
 
 on Literary Style 10 
 
 Bull, A Historic 218 
 
 Bultmann's Notes to Besser 496 
 
 Bunsen, Chevalier, Memoir of 135 
 
 and his Wife 348 
 
 Burial of St. Chas. Borromeo 223 
 
 Burke, Edmund, Honesty of 306 
 
 on Judgment of God 1 
 
 on Man °o2 
 
 on Words " 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Burns, Anecdote of 698 
 
 Burr, Aaron, Awful Decision 110 
 
 Butler, Bishop, and Deathbed. . . . 480 
 
 Dr., on God's Grace 48 
 
 Byron, Example of Onoma- 
 topoeia 386 
 
 Byzantium, Siege of 397 
 
 Caleb and Joshua Against the 
 
 Multitude 35 
 
 Calendar, Way of Tracing Dates. 685 
 Calvin and Arminius Compared.. 537 
 
 Calvinist and Arminian on Sin 234 
 
 Camel as Shewing Design 13 
 
 Cana, Miracle of 83 
 
 Cape of Good Hope. 123 
 
 Capacity of Man tor Sin and Holi- 
 ness 189 
 
 Carey, Wm., and Opposition 140 
 
 and Sydney Smith 368 
 
 Carlyle — on Cromwell 376 
 
 on Great Men 493 
 
 hisTalk 631 
 
 his Verdict 473 
 
 Carnal Mind, The, Enmity of 69 
 
 a Mirror 437 
 
 Carrier Doves, Use in War 403 
 
 Catherine II. pf Russia, Portraits. 474 
 
 Centers, Three Great 249 
 
 Chagrin, Peau de. By Balzac.,.. 866 
 Chalmers, Thomas, Estimate of 
 
 Thomas Guthrie 178 
 
 as a Preacher 84 
 
 and Spurgeon Compared 538 
 
 and Stage Driver 152 
 
 " Lion of Scotia " 42 
 
 Chamberlain, Rev. Dr. Jacob 123 
 
 , Chameleon, Peculiarities of 428 
 
 Chance, it can not Explain Crea- 
 tion 46 
 
 Character— of Agis IV., of Sparta 193 
 
 and Christianity 348 
 
 Associations, Key to 83 
 
 Building of, in Secret 40 
 
 Building of 65 
 
 Elements of True Greatness in 340 
 
 God's Estimate of 7 
 
 Indexed by Permanent Frames 103 ' 
 
 its Dependence on Belief 33 
 
 Responsibility, tlie Test of 443 
 
 Relations to Eloquence 618 
 
 Revelation of 126 
 
 Secret of NobiUty 405 
 
 Sources of Power in 569 
 
 Value in Oratory 10 
 
 Valueof Right 833 
 
 Charity, Augustine on 330 
 
 and its Sphere of Action 30 
 
 Charity, Egyptian Emblem of 298 
 
 its Unfinished Deeds 61 
 
 Charles, Mrs., on Gen. Gordon. ... 389 
 Charles V., His Coin and Shield. . . 158 
 
 Chatham, Earl of. Honesty 306 
 
 Chesterfield on Taxation 100 
 
344 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 "Chief End of Man" 473 
 
 Childishness, Complacency in 545 
 
 Children, Their Training 251, 632 
 
 Church's Treatment of 190 
 
 Duty of Keeping a Promise to 238 
 
 Influence of 638 
 
 Neglect of 631 
 
 Possibilities of 681 
 
 Thoughts of God 441 
 
 Chinese — Mirrors, Curiosities of.. 272 
 
 "Solomon," Story of 309 
 
 Choate, Euf us, on " Chance " . . . . 46 
 
 as an Orator 84 
 
 and Webster 60 
 
 Choir Singing, Various Styles of. . 531 
 
 Choirs, WilUam Booth on 431 
 
 Christ— Bible full of 474 
 
 as Consoler 44 
 
 as the Generic Man 154 
 
 as a Philanthropist 139 
 
 and the SouPs Relation to 638 
 
 as Teacher of Truth 248 
 
 Treatment of the Adulteress. 14 
 Boldly Confessed Before a 
 
 King 633 
 
 Confession of Ill 
 
 Controlled Life, Beauty of 432 
 
 in Scripture 96 
 
 Isaiah's Prophecy of 50 
 
 Miracles of 150 
 
 Our Position with 360 
 
 Power over Sin 195 
 
 Supposed Meeting with 447 
 
 Supremacy of, in the Disciple. 7 
 
 Various Offices 120 
 
 Christian — Abiding in His Calling. 436 
 Francis Bacon's Definition of . 55 
 
 Definition of 7 
 
 Inconsistent Types of 196 
 
 Life, its Defects 419 
 
 its Stages 343 
 
 Three Maxims 038 
 
 View of Death 184 
 
 as The World's Bible 248 
 
 Christianity, Evidences of 104 
 
 and its Foes 78 
 
 and Infidelity 176 
 
 and Philanthropy 139 
 
 and Socialism 468 
 
 and the Supernatural 397 
 
 Great Evidence of 104 
 
 Handmaids of 21 
 
 Church — Attendance at 542 
 
 Choirs 421 
 
 Different " Ages " of 419 
 
 its Duty Toward Young 190 
 
 Finances. Prof. Graham Tay 
 
 lor on 364 
 
 Life, Changes in the 419 
 
 Bishop Foster on 637 
 
 Corruptions of 337 
 
 Modern 637 
 
 Worldliness of 637 
 
 Music, Defects of 531 
 
 Faragrapli 
 Number. 
 
 Church Socials, Multicipllcity. . of 268 
 
 Sociables, Anecdotes of 600 
 
 The, as a Guide 360 
 
 Mission of 20 
 
 Unity, Luther and Zwingli 450 
 
 Churches, Free 317 
 
 Cicero— on Change in Creation. . . 46 
 
 and Christ Compared 7 
 
 on Gratitude 97 
 
 on Liberty 95 
 
 Citizenship, Rights of 85 
 
 Civil Virtue, Decay of 142 
 
 Civilization : its Centers 249 
 
 and Christianity 386 
 
 Evil Influences of 193 
 
 Classes in Society, M. Arnold on. . 25 
 
 Clay, Henry, as an Orator 84 
 
 Clocliof Strasburg 150 
 
 "Cloudland " Picture 546 
 
 Cobb, Nathaniel, and Covenant. . . 237 
 
 Cobras Infesting a Ship 195 
 
 Cockburn. Lord, and Methods 
 
 with Jury 310 
 
 Code, The Devil's 802 
 
 Coffee, Discovery of 308 
 
 Coin, the Pillar 158 
 
 Coleridge's Ancient Mariner 583 
 
 On Meters 285 
 
 On Pleasure 165 
 
 Coleridge, Hartley, Vicious Hab- 
 its 404 
 
 College Life, and Blunders of 689 
 
 Color as a Protection to Fish 188 
 
 Columbus— and the Atlantic Cable 416 
 
 Statue of 416 
 
 Combe — on Constitution of Man. . 219 
 
 on Organic Law 219 
 
 Commandments, Breaking the... 496 
 Commentaries, Use and Abuse of. 527 
 
 Commital as an Act of Faith 407 
 
 Common People, the, in Society. . 25 
 
 Common Sense and Logic 60 
 
 Communion with God 239 
 
 Rest in 458 
 
 Companionship, Influence of 566 
 
 Power of 83 
 
 Composing, Methods of 213 
 
 Composition of Human Body 307 
 
 Compromise, Danger of 848 
 
 Compromising with Sin 410 
 
 Conceit, Notable Instances of 588 
 
 Concentration, Need of 324 
 
 Confession of Sin, Its Value 45 
 
 Confessing Christ 633 
 
 Bishop Heber on 601 
 
 Confessors of Christ, Martyrs 43 
 
 Confldenoe of a Child, Honoring 
 
 it 338 
 
 Confucius and Reciprocity 98 
 
 Conscience, Arousing 316 
 
 Compared to the Eye 16 
 
 Convicted by 14 
 
 Forcing the 489 
 
 its Office in Retribution 3 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 345 
 
 Paragraph 
 
 Number. 
 
 Conscience, Silent Peril of a 199 
 
 and its Power 319, 570 
 
 Searing of 110 
 
 Conscious Rectitude, Valueof 319 
 
 Consecrate and Concentrate 105 
 
 Concentration and Consecration. . 105 
 
 Conservation of Force 393 
 
 Consistency, Christian 833 
 
 Consolation, Pagan 472 
 
 Constantine Following God's 
 
 Leading 336 
 
 Continuance, The Grace of 94 
 
 Contradiction of Christian Char- 
 acter 55 
 
 Controversies among Disciples... 642 
 
 Conversation— of Carlyle 621 
 
 Power in 53 
 
 Conversion, Curious Incident 409 
 
 Holy Spirit in 194 
 
 of Men, How Secured 29, 30 
 
 Conviction— and Conversion 48 
 
 of Sin and the Law 496 
 
 Conway, Moncure D 363 
 
 Cooper, Sir Astley, and Surgery. . 145 
 
 Coronation of Queen Victoria 358 
 
 Corruption'Sn Politics 206 
 
 Courtesy of Eichelleu 612 
 
 Courts, Oriental, Curious Deci- 
 sions 123 
 
 Couture, Painting of Decadence.. 142 
 Covenant with God, Zinzendorf's. 49 
 Covetousness, Canon Fausset on. . 646 
 
 Sin of 496 
 
 Coxe, Bishop, on Giving 225 
 
 Crashaw, Richard, on Water 
 
 Changed to Wine 83 
 
 Creation, Bible Doctrine of 506 
 
 Evidences of Design 13 
 
 of Life, an Act of God 391 
 
 of Man, Prof. Dana on 179 
 
 its Relation to History 350 
 
 Result of Design, not of 
 
 Chance 46 
 
 Wonders of 181, 316, 375 
 
 Created anew in Christ 395 
 
 Creator and His Creation 150 
 
 Crescent, Origin of the 297 
 
 Crevasse and Alpine Hunter 512 
 
 Crime, Handmaids of 31 
 
 Criminals, " Margaret," Mother of 631 
 
 Critical and Itchmg Ears 620 
 
 Criticism, Attitude of, toward 
 
 Bible 445 
 
 Critics of Shakespeare, etc 77 
 
 Crisis, Decision in 89 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, Death of 376 
 
 Cross Bearing and Reward 627 
 
 Crucifix, The Ivory of Genoa 138 
 
 Crucifixion of Christ, Date of 635 
 
 Cruelty of Louis XVII's Jailer 608 
 
 Culbine Sands, The 514 
 
 Culture, Definition of 54. , 548 
 
 Cuvier's Law of Organic Unity. . . 11 
 Cuyler, Rev. T. L., on Affliction. . 546 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Cuyler, Rev. T. L., on Chalmers 
 
 and Spurgeon 533 
 
 Cuzzoni, Signora, and Handel 434 
 
 Daily Grace for Daily Need 209 
 
 Dale, Rev. R. W., on Possessions. 468 
 
 Dana, Prof, on Evolution 179 
 
 Dancing, Dr. Addison on 586 
 
 Moral Effects of 578 
 
 Danger a Test of Piety 500 
 
 Daniel, Power of Character in 569 
 
 Darwinism, Difficulty of 484 
 
 Dates, Traced to Day of the Week 585 
 D'Aubigne— on Robert Haldane.. 443 
 
 and Haldane Bros B73, 574 
 
 Daudet, Alphonse, Saying of 470 
 
 Da Vinci, Picture of Last Supper. 305 
 Davy, Sir Humphry, and Fara- 
 day 4 
 
 " Day of the Week," How to Find 
 
 It 585 
 
 Dead — Churches, Spurgeon on... 583 
 
 Facing the 447 
 
 Friends in Heaven 173 
 
 Death, and Review of Life 417 
 
 Bed, What Makes it Terrible . , 66 
 
 Christian Views of 191 
 
 Constant Readiness for 640 
 
 Eternal and Life Eternal 54 
 
 Gateway of Life 335 
 
 Hope in 335, 440 
 
 Illustrated 584 
 
 Judicial 383 
 
 Latin Mottoes on 335 
 
 of a Christian 513 
 
 of Mozart 433 
 
 of Strauss 222 
 
 Poem on, by Mrs. Barbauld. . . 184 
 
 Preparation for 640 
 
 Scriptural Views of 376 
 
 The Sting of 417 
 
 Vision of Future 256 
 
 Warrant of Christ 636 
 
 Decision, Importance of a 48, 53 
 
 Value of 89 
 
 Declaration of Independence 558 
 
 Declension in Pulpit Power 644 
 
 Decline of Roman Empire 142 
 
 Deductive and Inductive Methods 555 
 
 Deeds, Good and Great 449 
 
 Deficiency, Sense of 337 
 
 Degeneracy — of Nations 540, 541 
 
 in Preaching 182 
 
 Delay of Themistocles at Salamis. 174 
 
 Delight in Duty 185 
 
 Deliverance, Joy at 380 
 
 Demon Worship on Malabar Coast 528 
 
 Demosthenes, Stratagem of 278 
 
 "Den of Lions" in Babylon 69 
 
 Denial of Self, Neal Dow on 486 
 
 Denominationalism, True Idea of. 580 
 Denying Christ, Bishop Heber on. 601 
 
 Dependence of Man on Man 197 
 
 Depew, Chauncey, on Columbus. 416 
 
346 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Depravity of Human Nature 643 
 
 De Quincey on Memory 116 
 
 Dervish, The, and Revenge 210 
 
 Descartes, Motto 420 
 
 Design— in Creation 135 
 
 in Nature 275 
 
 Example of 11, 13, 37, 444 
 
 . Desire and Emotion Compared... 31 
 De Stael, Madame, on Architec- 
 ture, 64 
 
 Destiny, Criteria of 7 
 
 Destructiveness of Modern Inven- 
 tion 608 
 
 Development, Theory of 135, 506 
 
 Devil, The, and His Plots, Fable 
 
 of 68 
 
 Offering Himself as a Preach- 
 er 8 
 
 " Dialogues," Catharine of Siena. . 483 
 Diana's Temple, Eebuilding of . . . 609 
 Dickens, Chas , an " Essay on 
 
 Man" 76 
 
 Dickson, Rev. Alex., Quotation 
 
 from 5 
 
 Dies Irae, Translated by Macaulay. 575 
 
 Diligence and Genius 169 
 
 Diogenes and his " Tub " 294 
 
 Discipline— God's Methods of 36 
 
 of his Saints 667 
 
 Discontent, CauseandCureof.... 599 
 
 Discovery —of America 576 
 
 of Glass, AnticLuity of 306 
 
 of Men. 4 
 
 Discrimination, Exercise of 331 
 
 Disobedience to known Truth 258 
 
 Disposition, Index of Character. . 102 
 
 Importance of 587 
 
 Natural, Value of 457 
 
 Unrenewed 72 
 
 D'Israeli and John Bright 594 
 
 Dissimulation, Hatefulness of 253 
 
 Distress and Poverty of great Men 478 
 
 Diversity of Gifts, illustrated 53 
 
 Divine Mission in Life 510 
 
 Diving Bell, Illustration of Truth. 465 
 
 Divorce, The Motives to 579 
 
 Doctrine, Mistaken Depreciation 
 
 of 33 
 
 Recurrence of 117 
 
 Dogs, Interesting Stories of 581 
 
 " Doing One's Best," Thos. Arnold 27 
 Donelson, Fort, and Capture of. . 163 
 
 Dorner, Dr., on Conseiesce 570 
 
 Dorothea, Marie, on Death 224 
 
 Doubt, its Cause and Cure 673, 577 
 
 Doves as Homing Birds 403 
 
 Dow, Neal, on Self -Denial 486 
 
 Drainage, Emerson on 583 
 
 Dream of Gutenberg 19 
 
 Dreams and Illusions 572 
 
 Dress, Love of, a Snare 68 
 
 Drink Traffic— and Missions 193 
 
 Curseof 197 
 
 Drink, Use of 198 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Drowning Man, and the Rope 303 
 
 Drummond, Henry, and Uncon- 
 scious Influence 452 
 
 on Life 511 
 
 Drunkenness, Degradation of 885 
 
 *'Drusic Cavities "in Stone 164 
 
 Dryden— on Great Poets 282 
 
 School Essay of 83 
 
 Duff, Dr. Alexander, on Shep- 
 herds 623 
 
 Duffleld, Rev. George 888 
 
 " Dumb Ox." The, 'Thos. Aquinas. 15 
 " Dumb Poet," The. F. W. Robert- 
 son's 495 
 
 Durham, Bishop of, and Dying 
 
 Hours 480 
 
 Duruy's History of France 218 
 
 Duty and Its Dignity 570 
 
 NobiUty of Doing it 613 
 
 Duties Changed to Delights Id6 
 
 Dying Words— of Agis I V 192 
 
 of John Newton 191 
 
 of Shaftesbury 191 
 
 Dynamite, Significance of 130 
 
 Eagle, " The Sick." 660 
 
 Various Characteristics of 
 
 559, 560,561.567 
 
 Earthquake, Escape from 513 
 
 Eddystone Lighthouse, The 101 
 
 Eden and Other Gardens 270 
 
 Edict of Nantes. Revocation of. . 214 
 Edification, the Object of Gifts. 66, 68 
 Education— in Jewish Families. . . 47 
 
 Nature and Uses of 26, 27 
 
 of Children, Atheism on 177 
 
 of Imbeciles 162 
 
 True Ideas of 547, 548 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, his Salary... 448 
 
 Effort as a Road to Success 46 
 
 Effendi, Fable of 184 
 
 Egg, Wonders of an 181 
 
 Eggs and Evolution 135 
 
 Egotism, Historic Examples of... 688 
 
 Egyptian Ideas of Judgment 183 
 
 Electric Alarm in Mines 199 
 
 EUiott, Gov. of Gibraltar 229 
 
 Eloquence, its True Fountain 833 
 
 Gladstone on 355 
 
 Secrets of 84 
 
 True, a Value 10 
 
 Ely, Prof., on Dynamite 130 
 
 Emblems, Four at Balmoral 842 
 
 Emerson, Ralph W. , on " Pay "... 79 
 
 On Books 551 
 
 On Hidden Virtues 591 
 
 Emotion and Desire Compared ... 31 
 •' End of World," Prophecy of . . . . 299 
 
 Enemies, Treatment of 340 
 
 Enigmas of Life 508 
 
 Enmity to Humanity 101 
 
 Enthusiasm, Excessive 525 
 
 Ephesians, Epistle to 574 
 
 Epigram, Betterton's 180 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 347 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Equality of Believers 2S1 
 
 Erasmus, Estimate of, by BuSon. 23 
 Escape of Lewis Goldy, Eemark- 
 
 able 513 
 
 Eschines, Demosthenes' Oration 
 
 Against 878 
 
 Escurial, Origin of the 207 
 
 " Essay on Man," Pope's 76 
 
 Esther, the Book of, and Provi- 
 dence of God 13 
 
 Eternal— and Unseen Things 63 
 
 and Temporal 65, 68 
 
 Force of the Word 54 
 
 Eternal Life, Present Possession 
 
 of 54 
 
 Ethical Perfection of Bible 248 
 
 Eucalyptus Tree, Illustration of 
 
 Grace 37 
 
 Evangelical Preaching, Impor- 
 tance of 538 
 
 Evangelization, The Duty of 80 
 
 Events: on what Day of the Week 585 
 Everett, Edward, Debt to Bible. . . 112 
 
 on College Life 589 
 
 Evolution, Eggs and 135 
 
 Prof. Dana on 179 
 
 Unsatisfactory Hypothesis of . 399 
 
 Evolutional Development 506 
 
 Exactness in Scripture Quotation 6 
 Examination of Isaac Barrow.... 113 
 
 Excommunication, Papal 429 
 
 Excuses, None at Bar of God 267 
 
 of Sinners, The 59 
 
 ■Tested at the Judgment Seat. 39 
 
 Exegesis vs. Eisegesis 77 
 
 Experiment and South 265 
 
 Expression of Thought 495 
 
 " Expulsive Power of a New 
 
 Affection." 153 
 
 Extempore Preaching, Advan- 
 tages of 815 
 
 "Extraordinary Christian." 336 
 
 Extravagance— and Waste 304 
 
 in Funerals 568 
 
 in Indulgence 463 
 
 Reviewed by Conscience 66 
 
 Eyes of Insects 875 
 
 Fable— Effendi and Bird 134 
 
 on Preaching 182 
 
 Facts, Curious Biblical 300 
 
 Faith— and Committal to God 407 
 
 as a Grace and a Gift 624 
 
 and Infidelity 176 
 
 and Works 498 
 
 " Assurance and Adherence " . 426 
 
 Fearlessness of 131 
 
 Honored by God 238 
 
 in God, a Wrong Kind of 38 
 
 in Working for God 343 
 
 Trials of 636 
 
 Fall, Herr, on Date of Crucifixion 635 
 
 Fame, Bismarck on 143 
 
 its Uncertainty 488, 558 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Fame, Mad Pursuit of 124 
 
 Faraday, Michael, and Sir Hum- 
 phry Davy 4 
 
 and " Speculations " 480 
 
 Farewell, a Christian's 224 
 
 Farrar, Canon, on Training of 
 
 Jewish Boys 47 
 
 Fashion, as a Snare of the Devil. . 68 
 
 The Follies of 273 
 
 Fault, Acknowledgment of 45 
 
 Fausset, Canon, on Oovetousness. 646 
 Fear, Cast out of the Saint 86 
 
 Effects of 299 
 
 of Death Overcome 184 
 
 Feet, Metrical, their Uses 385 
 
 Fellowship with God 339 
 
 Fenelon, Beauty of Character 248 
 
 Prayer of 476 
 
 Fidelity to Duty 239 
 
 Field, Cyrus W., and Chauncey 
 
 Depew 416 
 
 Fight of Faith, The Daily 384 
 
 Fighting and Praying 175 
 
 Finances of Churches, Burdens of 649 
 "Finding" of Michael Faraday.. 4 
 Fire, The Sacred, and Zoroaster. . 173 
 
 Fish of the Sea, Curious Facts 188 
 
 Flag of One's Country; Its Power 413 
 
 Inspiration of 153 
 
 Flogging a Confirmation Class... 475 
 
 Florence, the Beggar's Bridge 459 
 
 Force, as a Regulator of Society . 130 
 
 Typified in Samson 171 
 
 Forgetf ulness of Self 415 
 
 Forgetting, Impossibility of 116 
 
 Forgiveness, Illustrated 460, 461 
 
 Power of 510 
 
 " Form of Government," . Presby- 
 terian, quoted 33 
 
 Fortune-telling, Modern 401 
 
 " Forward " an Acrostic 557 
 
 Foster, Bishop R. S., on Church 
 
 Life 637 
 
 Fox, Chas. James, Grattan's Opin- 
 ion uf 443 
 
 Mackintosh and Bolingbroke 
 
 Compared 52 
 
 France, Atheism in 177 
 
 Motto of 501 
 
 Retribution of 214 
 
 Franklin, Benj., and the Culture 
 
 of the Ground 104 
 
 and Kepler as Discoverers. . . . 555 
 Fribourg, Mendelssohn's Visit to. 432 
 Frederic the Great and Gen. von 
 
 Zeiten 633 
 
 His Confession 45 
 
 Free Churches, Dr. Guthrie on 317 
 
 Freedom, Man Made for 141 
 
 Frere, Sir Bartle, and His Wife. . . 423 
 Froude, on Romans and Greeks. . 21 
 
 Frozen Vessel and Crew 584 
 
 Frugality and Giving 232 
 
 Fruits, and Laws of Growth 395 
 
348 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 FaTagTaph 
 Number. 
 
 Fuller, Dr., on Death 184 
 
 Funeral, a Highland 440 
 
 Funerals, and their Conduct 568 
 
 Future, Astrology, and Conjec- 
 ture 401 
 
 Future Life, Strauss on 223 
 
 Galileo and the Swinging Lamp. . . 217 
 
 and Worship of God 128 
 
 Ganges, Water, Drop of 425 
 
 Garden Weeds, Lesson from 427 
 
 Gardens, Sacred 270 
 
 Garfield, President, and Charac- 
 ter 102 
 
 His Maxims 603 
 
 Garihaldi and his Volunteers 481 
 
 Italy's Debt to 650 
 
 Garrick and Dr. Johnson 66 
 
 Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, and the 
 
 Mob 181 
 
 Gautier, M. Theophile 212 
 
 Gavazzi, Italy's Debt to 650 
 
 Geneva, Robt. Haldane's Visit to. 442 
 
 Genius, in Distress 478 
 
 of Industry 169 
 
 Gentleman, The True 840 
 
 Geometry, Pascal's Genius for 616 
 
 Getting a Living, Modes of 197 
 
 Giants Among Men 498 
 
 Gibbon, Charadterized by Sheri- 
 dan 167 
 
 Gibraltar, Siege of 267 
 
 Gifts Sanctified by the Altar 18 
 
 Gilmore, Col. W. E., on Lincoln.. . 597 
 
 Giving, Blessedness of 281 
 
 Examples of Liberality in 888 
 
 Dr. John Hall on 160 
 
 Purpose and Performance 61 
 
 Reconstruction in 225 
 
 Seven Ways of 227 
 
 Systematic 227 
 
 The True Spirit in 18 
 
 Gladstone, W. E., on Eloquence. . 855 
 
 on Inventions 385 
 
 Glass, The Invention of 806 
 
 "Glass Eye, The," andtheMahdi. 344 
 
 Glazed Pottery, Antiquity of 306 
 
 Glory of God, in the Last Judg- 
 ment 41 
 
 Zeal for 367 
 
 Glory of Man, Uncertainty ,of 205 
 
 Grod, Communion with 239 
 
 Firm Hold on 200 
 
 His Goodness Unrecognized . . 36 
 
 His Last Judgment 41 
 
 His Providential Control 9 
 
 His Works and Man's Com- 
 pared 23 
 
 in the Thoughts of Children.. 441 
 
 Man in the Image of 403 
 
 Man made for service of 562 
 
 Manifestations of 2 
 
 Mysteries of 503 
 
 Perfection of Character in — 834 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 God Presiding over History 12 
 
 Silence before 411 
 
 Standing up for 338 
 
 The Judgment Seat of 39 
 
 The Origin of the Word 288 
 
 Wealth belongs to 225 
 
 God's Care for Birds 408 
 
 Design in Creation, Example 
 
 of 13 
 
 Government, Perfection of . . . 85 
 Greatness and Man's Little- 
 ness 393 
 
 Laws, Example of 353 
 
 Providence in Nature 444 
 
 Way of Answering Prayer 246 
 
 Word, Truth of 878 
 
 Godhead, Intimations of Trinity. . 351 
 
 Godliness and its gain 158 
 
 Goethe on Freedom from Preju- 
 dice 356 
 
 on Power of Association 83 
 
 on the Beautiful and Useful. . 548 
 
 Gold and its Uses 168 
 
 Golden Ages, The, of History 139 
 
 Golden Rule and Confucius 98 
 
 and Reciprocity 166 
 
 " Golynor Oak," The 516 
 
 Goodness and its Foundation 250 
 
 Its Connection With Truth. . . 33 
 Natural, Lyman Beecher on. . 456 
 
 ofGodAbused 36 
 
 Good Works 818 
 
 Gordon, Rev. Dr. A. J., on Doc- 
 trine 117 
 
 on Inventions 93 
 
 on Perfection 418 
 
 Gordon, Gen., on Prayer 201 
 
 Indifference to Reward 389 
 
 " Gospel, in Miniature," The 170 
 
 the, Nature's Illustrations of . 37 
 " Without Money or Price "... 817 
 
 Government, Ideal of 85 
 
 Justice in 843 
 
 Grace, Adapted to Each Soul 409 
 
 Daily 209 
 
 Free, Glory of 71 
 
 How Far Irresistible 48, 53 
 
 Illustrated by Nature 87 
 
 Illustrated in the Way of Sal- 
 vation 67 
 
 Grace of God and Human Virtue. 395 
 
 of God, Exemplified 14 
 
 Our Debt to 220 
 
 Seen in the Believer's Likings 628 
 "Grain of Mustard Seed," Order 
 
 of 49 
 
 Grant, Dr. Asahel, and Judgment 
 
 Seat of God 89 
 
 Gen. U. S., Characteristics of. 75 
 Grasshopper, The, on Royal Ex- 
 change 17 
 
 Gratitude, Natural and Gracious. 97 
 
 Gravitation, Spiritual 5 
 
 Greatness, of Character 839 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 349 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Greatness, Test of 45 
 
 of God and Littleness ot Man. 393 
 
 Greece, Rome and Jerusalem 249 
 
 Greeks' Eejoicing over Victory . . 280 
 Greeley, Horace, and Self-made 
 
 Men 151 
 
 Gregg, Rev. David 136 
 
 Gregory, Dr., on Animal Life 454 
 
 Gresham, Sir Thos. and Royal Ex- 
 change 17 
 
 Gridiron, and Form ot Escurial. . 207 
 Grotius, Hugo, his Confession. . . . 467 
 
 Growth in Grace 395 
 
 Guide, Bible as an Infallible 390 
 
 Guiding Souls to Truth 604 
 
 Guinness, Miss Geraldine, on 
 
 Strong Drink 874 
 
 Guizot on the Reformation 99 
 
 Gulf Stream, Wonders of 208 
 
 Guthrie, Dr. Thos., Dr. McCosh on 311 
 
 on Chalmers 178 
 
 on Reading Sermons 815 
 
 Sir Wm. Hamilton .on 314 
 
 and the Elder 140 
 
 Use of Illustrations 313 
 
 Laws of Preaching 618 
 
 Gutenberg's Dream 19 
 
 Habit, Evil, Power ot 804 
 
 Habits of Life, How Formed 165 
 
 Hair, Index of Character 377 
 
 Human, as an Offering 888 
 
 Haldane Brothers and D'AubignS 
 
 .573,574 
 
 Haldane, Robert, Influence of 443 
 
 Hale, Sir Matthew, on Justice 380 
 
 Half Truths 358 
 
 Hall, Robert, as a Preacher 84 
 
 Hamilton, Sir William, on Man . . 548 
 
 Hand, The Outstretched 840 
 
 Handel and his Moods 484 
 
 Handicraft, Value of 565 
 
 "Hanging Gardens" of Babylon. 69 
 
 Happiness, A Merchant of 470 
 
 its Conditions 470 
 
 Hardening, Voluntary and Invol- 
 untary 110 
 
 Harris, Dr., on Heredity in Crime 631 
 Harrison, Mr. and his Philosophy. 156 
 
 Hartley, Coleridge, quoted 404 
 
 Harwich, Arthur, on Pleasure.... 91 
 Haslam, Rev. Wm., and the Cor- 
 nish Woman 536 
 
 Head-dresses of Flemish Women. 373 
 
 Hearer, Responsibility of 257 
 
 His Contribution to Elo- 
 quence 355 
 
 Hearing, the Eight Way of 630 
 
 Right and wrong Contrasted. 493 
 
 Without Heeding 110 
 
 Heart, Searching with the 147 
 
 Heathen, Liberality of 388 
 
 Heaven, Friends in 173 
 
 Preparation for 1 
 
 Paragraph 
 Kumber. 
 
 Heaven and Hell Within 3, 5 
 
 Heber, Reginald, on Denying 
 
 Christ 601 
 
 on Jeremy Taylor 131 
 
 Hegel, on the Mystery of Israel.. . 357 
 
 on his own Philosophy 357 
 
 Hell and Heaven Within 3, 5 
 
 Helping Others 423 
 
 Illustrated, 560 
 
 Hem of Christ's Garment 191 
 
 *' Hem of Garment," Mrs. Siddons 70 
 Henry, Matthew, on Assurance. . . 426 
 Hen-stealing, Slave's Excuse for. 414 
 Henry III. of France and Palissy. 86 
 Henry IV. and the Duke of Alva. . 365 
 
 Henry VIII., " Old Harry." 283 
 
 Heredity in Crime 681 
 
 Law of, its Justice 319 
 
 Nature of 894 
 
 Organic Law of 610 
 
 Weismann on 394 
 
 Heresy and Fatness 593 
 
 Heroism, A Woman's 367 
 
 Hexameter, Longfellow on 287 
 
 Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael 462 
 
 "Hidden Hand" of God, The 13 
 
 Hidden Virtues 591 
 
 " His Own Place," Finding 5 
 
 Historic, Bull of Duruy 318 
 
 Events, Traced to Day of the 
 
 Week 585 
 
 History, A Plan of God 535 
 
 and Biography, Profit of 494 
 
 Disappointmg Prophecy 463 
 
 Its Forecast or Prophecy 44 
 
 Makers of 493 
 
 Eobt. Haldane's Influence on . 443 
 
 Sacred, Great Crises of 350 
 
 True Record of 23 
 
 Hitchcock, Rev. E. D., and Prog- 
 ress 80 
 
 Hoarding, vs. Giving 160 
 
 Hobbes on Man and Animals 495 
 
 on Eeason and Speech 338 
 
 Hodge, Eev. A. A., on Perils of 
 
 the Age 540 
 
 Chas. A., D.D., and His Stu- 
 dents 535 
 
 Hogarth, on Genius 169 
 
 Holding on to God, Need of 300 
 
 Holiness of Life, Arnold of Rugby 335 
 HoUness, the Foundation of Ser- 
 vice 536 
 
 Whitefleldon 236 
 
 Holmes, Dr. O. W., on the Bigot . . 16 
 
 on Romans 877 
 
 on Thankfulness 97 
 
 on Truth 363 
 
 Holy Living, Rules of 628 
 
 Holy Scripture, Devotion to 653 
 
 Facts of 553 
 
 Ignorance of 589 
 
 Holy Spirit, in Prayer 506 
 
 Opposing the Flesh 465 
 
350 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Homer, Virgil, Milton 282 
 
 Homiletic Habit 381 
 
 Honesty, in Rebuking Sin 254 
 
 Intellectual, Need of 356 
 
 of Earl of Chatham 615 
 
 of Edmund Burke 615 
 
 the Value of 206, 615 
 
 Hooker, Barrow, and Jeremy 
 
 Taylor, Compared 186 
 
 "Hook-thorn," or Grapple Plant. 304 
 
 Hope Beyond Death 158 
 
 in Death 512 
 
 Horace, His "Monument" 58 
 
 Horoscope, Casting the 401 
 
 Hottentots, Dr. Moffat and the... 870 
 House of Commons and Bribery.. 206 
 Hugo, Victor, on Animals and Men 428 
 
 on Talleyrand 205 
 
 Humanity, Enmity to 101 
 
 Superiority of 328 
 
 Human Nature, Study of 57 
 
 Humane Sympathies 329 
 
 Hume, Confession as to Christian 
 
 Life 248 
 
 Humility of Christian Martyrs. . . 43 
 
 False, and Mock 651 
 
 Huss, John, and Reformation 117 
 
 Huxley, Prof., on Constitution of 
 
 Man 807 
 
 Hymns^nd their Origin 556 
 
 Hypocrisy, Pictorial Representa- 
 tion of 853 
 
 Ideal, An Inimitable 229 
 
 Ideals, Power of 229, 544, 545 
 
 Ideas, March of, Pres. Garfield on 603 
 
 Idiotic Boy: His Education 162 
 
 Idols of the Race, Tribe, etc 149 
 
 Idolatry at Babylon 406 
 
 "Ignorance, Conscious and Un- 
 conscious," Socrates on 80 
 
 Ignorance and Indolence, Connec- 
 tion of 21 
 
 " Iliad " not Result of Accident. . 46 
 
 Illuminated Bible 654 
 
 Illustrations, Accuracy in 812 
 
 Guthrie's 812 
 
 Image of God in Man 403 
 
 Imperfection of Man's Work. ... 248 
 Impression, The End of Preaching 34 
 
 Inaccuracy, Jeremy Taylor's 121 
 
 Incarnation, Relation to History. 350 
 
 Inconsistency of Disciples 196 
 
 Indecision in Religion, Risk of . . . . 53 
 
 Inaependence of Opinion 524 
 
 "Index, Judex, Vindex," Con- 
 science 319 
 
 Indifference, Spiritual 73 
 
 Indolence and Ignorance, Connec- 
 tion of 21 
 
 Inductive and Deductive Methods 655 
 
 Indulgence of Self, Effect of 366 
 
 Industry, and Genius 169 
 
 and Intelligence 21 
 
 as Condition of Success 46 
 
 Paragragli 
 Number. 
 
 Infant Salvation 361 
 
 Infancy, Dr. Lyman Beecher's 190 
 
 Infidels, a Retort on 378 
 
 Infidelity , and the Bible 78 
 
 and Its Court 424 
 
 Defined by Mr. Moody 619 
 
 Effect on Society 869 
 
 Hopelessness of 362, 482 
 
 Unsatisfactory 176 
 
 Influence, of Example 237 
 
 of Great Men 493 
 
 over Men, and Prayer to God. 873 
 
 Unconscious 452 
 
 Ingelow, Jean, on Holy Life 510 
 
 IngersoU and Beecher 446 
 
 Inheritance of the Saints 158 
 
 Inquirers, Dealing with 257 
 
 How to Guide them 604 
 
 " Irresistible Grace " 48, 58 
 
 Insects; their Eyes, Wonders of.. 275 
 
 Reproductive Power of 216 
 
 Inspiration, in Art 169 
 
 Nature of 349 
 
 Instinct, and Reason 403 
 
 Social 274 
 
 Intellect, Faculties of. Classified. . 549 
 Training of. True Idea of . . . .26, 27 
 Intemperance, Curse of, (See 
 
 '^Drink") 198 
 
 Evil of 639 
 
 of Hartley Coleridge 404 
 
 Curse of. 571 
 
 Intention, not carried out in Act. 61 
 
 Intercession with God 373 
 
 Intercessory Prayer, Example of. 244 
 
 Value of 201, 203 
 
 Interpretation of Scripture, 
 
 Fanciful 119 
 
 Intolerance in Scientific Men 504 
 
 Intrepidity, in Duty 259 
 
 in Religion 86 
 
 Invention, Modern 93, 290 
 
 Progress of 605 
 
 The Theology of 385 
 
 Invisible Things, Reality of 62 
 
 Israel, Hegel on the Mystery of. . . 357 
 
 Italy, Her Debt to three Men 650 
 
 Dr. Wylie on 430 
 
 " Ivory Crucifix," The 138 
 
 Jackass in Court 281 
 
 Japanese Criminal, his Conver- 
 sion 137 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Testimony to 
 
 Bible 112 
 
 Practical Rules of 808 
 
 Jerusalem, Rome, and Greece. . . . 249 
 Jesus Christ, Date of Crucifixion. 635 
 
 Death Warrant of 636 
 
 Description of 634 
 
 Person of 684 
 
 Faith in 128 
 
 Jews, Adoniram Judson's Prayer 
 
 for S48 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 351 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Jewish Training of Boys 47 
 
 Motto on efiild Training 565 
 
 Jezebel's Death 589 
 
 Johnson, Dr. and Garrick 66 
 
 on Beading 551 
 
 Joy in God, in Midst of Sorrow. . . 458 
 
 Joy of the Lord, our Strength 24 
 
 Judgmenl>-Day of God, Need of. . 1 
 
 for Wasted Time 335 
 
 God's Scales of 133 
 
 kept in View 39, 41 
 
 of God, D. Webster on 28 
 
 Offtoe of Memory in 116 
 
 The Final 41 
 
 Judgments of Others, as an Index 
 
 of Character 435 
 
 Judicial Death, Illustration of 383 
 
 Judson, Adoniram, Joy in Work.. 457 
 
 on Prayer 242 
 
 Jupiter and the Heir 219 
 
 Justice— before Generosity 380 
 
 in Oriental Courts 122 
 
 Justification, Belations to Law. . . 383 
 Eolations to Works 498 
 
 KaabaatMecca 295 
 
 Kaleidoscopic Changes 518 
 
 Karr, Alphonse, on Insects 218 
 
 Keate, Dr., Eden, Story of 475 
 
 Ken, Bishop, on the Pastor 477 
 
 Kepler— and Astronomy, 147 
 
 and Franklin as Discoverers. . 555 
 
 and Worship of God 128 
 
 Thinking God's Thoughts 115 
 
 Kincaid, Kev. Wm., on Giving 225 
 
 King A Noble Example of a 192 
 
 "Kingdom of God," "not far 
 
 from The" 53 
 
 Kingdoms, The Three 828 
 
 "Knees, Upon Your" 203 
 
 Knowing and Doing 677 
 
 Knowledge— and Teaching 488 
 
 and Zeal 529 
 
 Limitations of 371 
 
 Krummacher on the Prodigal Son 72 
 Kung, Master, and Rule for Life. 166 
 
 Labor and Genius 169 
 
 Labor Lost, Dlustration of 467 
 
 Lamb, Charles, Anecdote of 447 
 
 Land Breeze at Battle of Salamis. 174 
 Language— and Thought, Vital 
 
 Kelationof 81 
 
 Wordsworth on 495 
 
 Languages, on Earth and in 
 
 Heaven 380 
 
 "Laodamia,"Wordsworth'sPoem 405 
 Lark Singing Over Open Grave. . . 440 
 
 Late, Too • • ■ • Ig 
 
 Latin Maxims 319, 835 
 
 Laver, of Tabernacle, Made of 
 
 Mirrors 226 
 
 Law, and Protection of Vice 100 
 
 Endangered by War 820 
 
 of God, Breaking the 496 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Laws of Nature and Providence of 
 
 God 9 
 
 Lawlessness and Liberty 95 
 
 Lawrence, St., and Battle of St. 
 
 Quentin 207 
 
 Leaders,PopuIar,Corruptibility of 306 
 
 Leading of God in Life 886 
 
 Learning and Teaching 488 
 
 Lee, Gen. Robt. E., Generosity of. 461 
 
 Lee, Samuel, Anecdote of 257 
 
 Leif , Discovery of America 576 
 
 Statue of, Boston 576 
 
 Leisure, Enforced by AfBiction. . . 466 
 
 Les Rochers, Gardens of 517 
 
 Lettuce as a Type of Food Con- 
 versation 429 
 
 " Liberty— Equahty, Fraternity" . 501 
 
 False Notions of 886 
 
 Man's Birthright 141 
 
 The Nature of. 95 
 
 Liberality in Giving 828 
 
 of Heathen Idolaters 388 
 
 Library of Alexandria 519 
 
 License vs. Prohibition 100 
 
 Liddon, Canon, Sermon 'of Ill 
 
 Lies, Sinners Preference for 255 
 
 Life, a Holy Defined 473 
 
 A Stainless 103 
 
 Beginning to Live 417 
 
 "Eternal,'' Present Posses- 
 sion of BeHever 54 
 
 God, the only Author of 391 
 
 Holy 235 
 
 Human and its Scaffolding.... 65 
 
 Its Responsibilities 384 
 
 Its Value and Waste 127 
 
 Measured by Opportunity 606 
 
 Mottoes of President Garfield. 603 
 
 of Man, a Plan of God 336 
 
 of Man : Its Secret Work 40 
 
 Rules for Conduct of 623 
 
 The End of 510, 511 
 
 The Voyage of 491 
 
 Why Spared by God 172 
 
 Light and the Human Eye 16 
 
 Lighthouse, Eddy stone 101 
 
 Likeness of God in man 403 
 
 Limits of Knowledge 371 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, and Bible 471 
 
 and his Character 597 
 
 as Savior of his Country 697 
 
 Literature— of Ancients 519 
 
 Magazine 521 
 
 Specialty in 524 
 
 Superficial Knowledge of. .582, 523 
 
 " Little Ten Minutes," 422 
 
 Liturgical Forms 505 
 
 Lives of Men, Lessons from 494 
 
 Living, Getting a 197 
 
 Locksley, The New 215 
 
 Locusts, A Great Flight of 387 
 
 Loftiness of Thought and Aim. . . . 405 
 Logic— in Preaching, The Best 
 
 Kind 314 
 
352 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragrapli 
 Number. 
 
 Logic, of a Negro Slave 414 
 
 Tested by Common Sense 60 
 
 Longfellow; Divine Tragedy 120 
 
 Lord's Supper, Controvery About 450 
 
 and Reformers 450 
 
 Lost and Found, Human Souls ... 4 
 Louis XV. of France, Anecdote of 608 
 Louis XVII., Sufferings of, etc... 508 
 
 Luminosity of Style 167 
 
 Luther— and Augustine 431 
 
 and Zwingli, Controversy of . . 450 
 
 Justification by Faith 117 
 
 and the Papal Ambassador. . . 400 
 
 on John iii : 16 38, 170 
 
 "Lydian Stone," The 146 
 
 Lyon, Mary, on Doing Duty -548 
 
 Macaulay— on Brahmans 425 
 
 Translation of Dies Irse 575 
 
 Macgregor's Son, How Bevealed. . 126 
 
 Mackay, Dr,,of Formosa 419 
 
 Mackintosh, Fox, and Bolingbroke 
 
 Compared 52 
 
 McMillan, Dr. Hugh and Bible. ... 164 
 
 Magazine Literature 521 
 
 Magic Skin, The, Balzac 866 
 
 Magnanimity of Gen. R. E. Lee. . . 461 
 Mahdi, The, and the Glass Eye. ... 344 
 
 Majority and Minority 35 
 
 Malabar, Coast of, and Demon 
 
 Worship 528 
 
 Man— and Animals Contrasted. . . . 484 
 
 a Religious Animal 563 
 
 Capacity for Improvement... 403 
 Compared to Labrador spar. . 591 
 
 Curious Facts about 307 
 
 made to be Free 141 
 
 Supremacy over Beast 388 
 
 His Creation, Dana on 179 
 
 Littleness and God's Great- 
 ness 392 
 
 His Mind a Mirror 487 
 
 Manhood, Complete in Christ 154 
 
 Secrets of a True 469 
 
 Mankind, Degrada* ion of 189 
 
 Elevation of 189 
 
 Motto 168 
 
 Possibilities ol 189 
 
 Manners and Morals 126 
 
 Manuscript Famous, by a Monk. . 302 
 Maoris, their Complaint against 
 
 the English 193 
 
 " Margaret," Mother of Criminals 631 
 
 Mariolatry of Rome 430 
 
 Marital Happiness, Secrets of 579 
 
 Marriage, Selecting a Partner 587 
 
 Marshall, Thos. F., the Orator. ... 52 
 
 Martyrdom— of Savonarola 487 
 
 "rtie Privilege of 48 
 
 Martyrs-^as Witnesses of God. ... 43 
 
 Humility of 48 
 
 Mastery of a Subject 522, 588 
 
 Materialism, Absurdity of 128 
 
 FoUyof 482 
 
 Paragraph 
 
 Nmnber. 
 
 Materialism, Hopelessness of 222 
 
 of Present Age 869 
 
 Mathematics —and Morals 880 
 
 Pascal's Genius for 616 
 
 Matter andForce 128 
 
 Mausoleum, Origin of Name 279 
 
 Maxims, Wise 184 
 
 Mazzini, Italy's Debt to 650 
 
 Mecca, the Black Stone of 295 
 
 Meditation in Prayer 411 
 
 Mediocrity, Safety and Value of. . 322 
 Memory, Its Office in Retribu- 
 tion 3 
 
 Permanence of 116 
 
 Men, Discovering 4 
 
 Self-made 161 
 
 Mendelssohn at Fribourg 432 
 
 Mental— Exertion, Incentives to.. 824 
 
 Relaxation, Risk of 824 
 
 Mephistopheles in Faust 398 
 
 Mercies — Changed to Miseries 106 
 
 Mercy, to be Exercised Discreetly 320 
 
 its Blessedness 460, 461 
 
 Message of the Gospel 170 
 
 Messiah, Oratorio of 434 
 
 Testimony of Bible to 118 
 
 Messianic Poem of the O. T 50 
 
 Meters and their Uses 285 
 
 Metaphor, Power of 78 
 
 Methaphysics, and Common Sense 60 
 MethodicalHabit in Preaching... 381 
 Meyer, Rev. F. B., and the Laun- 
 dress 451 
 
 on Carnality 465 
 
 Quotation from 360 
 
 Michael Angelo, Great Name of.. 120 
 Microscope— and Seed Germina- 
 tion 194 
 
 Exposing Superstition 425 
 
 Middle Class, The, in Society 25 
 
 Milan Cathedral— and Inscriptions 159 
 
 Sepulchre of Borromeo In 223 
 
 Military Generalship 75 
 
 Milton, Homer, and Virgil 282 
 
 Lines from Paradise Lost 3 
 
 Mine in Sweden, Danger Alarm. . . 199 
 
 Ministers, Maxims for 881 
 
 Needless Burdens of 649 
 
 Salaries of 79 
 
 Ministry, A Review of a Life Work 588 
 Minority, Truth Sometimes with 
 
 the 35 
 
 Miracle, Water Changed to Wine. 88 
 
 Miracles, Argument for 480 
 
 and the Moslems 344 
 
 Passage of Red Sea 596 
 
 Mirror, Man's Mind a 437 
 
 Mirrors, Chinese 272 
 
 of Hebrew Women 22B 
 
 Missions— and Drink Traffic 193 
 
 Difficulties of 870 
 
 Drink and 374 
 
 Hindrances to Success of 221 
 
 Lack of Interest in 419 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 553 
 
 Paragraph 
 M umber. 
 
 Missions, Marvels of 363 
 
 Sydney Smith's Sneers at 368 
 
 Missionary Zeal and Information . 529 
 
 Mistalies— of Learned Men 463 
 
 of Scientists 277 
 
 Mitchell, Prof. O. M,, on Inventions 605 
 
 Model Organizer, Nehemiah 490 
 
 Moderate Drinking, Danger of . . . . 198 
 
 Modern Inventions 290 
 
 Moffat, Kev. Dr., and Hottentots. 370 
 Mohammedanism and Equality. . . 231 
 
 Moneda Columnaria 158 
 
 Money, Its Use and Abuse 168 
 
 Luther's Indifference to 400 
 
 Manner of Spending 233 
 
 Noble Use of. 230 
 
 Raising, Ways of 419 
 
 Use and Abuse of 204 
 
 Monlceys, Avenging 271 
 
 Monod, Pastor, on Plan of God ...336 
 Mont Blanc, " Unseen and Eter- 
 nal." 63 
 
 Monuments, Most Enduring 58 
 
 Moody, D. L., and Daily Grace. ... 209 
 
 Definition of Infidelity 619 
 
 Definition of Skepticism 619 
 
 on Sunday-schools 639 
 
 Motto of 105 
 
 Moral Sense, Blunted 199 
 
 Morals and Manners 126 
 
 Morality and Truth 251 
 
 Moravians, Belations to Zinzen- 
 
 dort 49 
 
 Morse, Prof., and Telegraph 265 
 
 Motives as Revealing Character.. 435 
 
 Mottoes for Sun Dials 88 
 
 Mountain Climbing and Peril of . . 266 
 Mourning Attire, Disadvantages 
 
 of 568 
 
 Mozart — and Beethoven Compared 63 
 
 and Ms Burial 433 
 
 Muelhause, His Heroism 136 
 
 Miiller, George, on Faith 624 
 
 on Gracious Preferences 628 
 
 on Serving One's Generation. . 630 
 
 onNeglectot Children 631 
 
 on Obedience 629 
 
 on Work for God 187 
 
 Miiller, Prof. Max., and Darwin. . 484 
 Munchausen, Baron, and his 
 
 Trumpet 61 
 
 Munhall, Dr, , on Prayer .- 71 
 
 Municipal Council of France 177 
 
 Murray, Rev. Andrew 409 
 
 on Prayer 411 
 
 Music, Compared to Architec- 
 ture 64 
 
 Power of oS 
 
 " My Jesus as Thou Wilt" 556 
 
 Myth, An Oriental 185 
 
 Naaman's, Cleansing, the Story of 67 
 
 Name, None Other 120 
 
 of God in Different Tongues. . 288 
 
 Faragrapli 
 Number. 
 
 Nansen's Voyages and Number 
 
 Thirteen 609 
 
 Nantes, Edict of, Revoked 214 
 
 Napier, Sir Wm., and his Promise. 238 
 Napoleon, his Medals as Rewards. 58 
 
 Promoting the Soldier 360 
 
 National — Growth, Rapidity of ... 541 
 Prosperity and the Sabbath.. 114 
 
 Retribution 214 
 
 Natural Law and God's Provi- 
 dence 9 
 
 Natural Laws, Examplesof 353 
 
 Nature— and Grace 450 
 
 Wonders of 387 
 
 Need, Spiritual, the Sense of. . .30, 81 
 
 Nefl, FeUx, on Prayer 241 
 
 Negation, the Spirit of 398 
 
 Neglect — and its Injury 103 
 
 of Children, Miiller on 631 
 
 of Opportunity 431 
 
 Nehemiah as an Organizer 490 
 
 Excellence of 569 
 
 Nelson, Dr., Anecdote of Dr. Shedd 645 
 
 on Sinning in Adam 643 
 
 on Truth 263 
 
 "New Affection": Expulsive 
 
 Power of 153 
 
 New, All Things Becoming 395 
 
 Newman, Cardinal, Quotation 
 
 from 340 
 
 Newspapers, Needful Qualities 593 
 
 Newton, Isaac, Anecdote of 420 
 
 Newton, John, Dying Words of . . . 191 
 
 Nightingale and its Cage 141 
 
 Nightmare and its Philosophy 572 
 
 Noble Life, Some Secrets of 603 
 
 Nobility of Doing Duty 613 
 
 Northumberland, Duke of, on Cul- 
 ture 183 
 
 Nothingness of Man 611 
 
 Novel Reading, Risks of 551 
 
 Number Thirteen, Nansen's Voy- 
 ages 609 
 
 Numbers, Risk of Depending on.. 35 
 
 Oak, The Golynos 516 
 
 Outstretched Hand, The 240 
 
 Obedience -and Spiritual Growth. 629 
 as a Condition of Salvation. . . 67 
 
 to the Truth 265 
 
 Obligation, of a Disciple to Body 
 
 of Christ 56 
 
 Obscurity of Origin 17 
 
 Observation, The Power of 217 
 
 Obstructionists 140 
 
 Objectors 140 
 
 Ocean, Facts About its Bed 188 
 
 Odes.sa, Casting Sins into the Sea. 460 
 
 Opelet, The, and Its Habits 107. 
 
 Official Integritv 206 
 
 "Old Harry," Origin of 283 
 
 Omar, the Calif, and Library 519 
 
 Onomatopoeia, Example of 286 
 
 Opportunity— its Value 563 
 
354 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paiagrftph 
 Number. 
 
 Opportunity— Lost 163 
 
 Lost by Aueustine 431 
 
 of Modern Days 606 
 
 Orators, Great, Compared 84 
 
 Oratory, Guthrie on 618 
 
 Laws of 618 
 
 Secrets of 618 
 
 Ordinances of God, Source of 
 
 Value 67 
 
 Organ at Fribourg Cathedral 433 
 
 Organic — Law, Combe on 610 
 
 Penalty 219 
 
 Unity, Cuvier on 11 
 
 Ostentatious Deeds 449 
 
 Ovid, on Disobeying Conscience. . 319 
 
 Owen, John, and Reformation 117 
 
 " Oyster Boy, The " 168 
 
 Pagan Consolation 472 
 
 Pain, Disciplinary Purpose of 219 
 
 Needless Infliction of 340 
 
 Painting, Paul Veronese on 115 
 
 Representation of Hypocrisy 352 
 
 Seven Laws of 550 
 
 Paley, Dr., Early Folly of 127 
 
 Palissy, Bernard de, his Courage. 86 
 
 Palladium, Sabbath the 114 
 
 Palmer, Rev, Ray, on Giving 230 
 
 Papal — Church and Augustine 431 
 
 Excommunications 429 
 
 Parable of the Sower 492 
 
 Paradoxes of Christian Life 55 
 
 Parlcer, Dr. J., and " No Excuse" 257 
 
 Parseeism, Sared Fires 173 
 
 Parsimony, Burns on. ,. 598 
 
 Pascal's Genius for Geometry 616 
 
 Passion for Souls 129 
 
 Pastor, Ideal of a 477 
 
 Pastoral Fidelity Rewarded 254 
 
 Pat, Dying, Witness of 247 
 
 Patience in Waiting God's Time. . 187 
 
 Patton, Eev. Francis L 420 
 
 Patriotism of Italians 262 
 
 Paul— and James on Faith 498 
 
 His Passion for Souls 129 
 
 Pauperism in Churches 317 
 
 Pay and Work 79 
 
 Peace— for the Troubled Soul 74 
 
 God's Way of Making 530 
 
 Peculiar Grace for Peculiar Need. 409 
 
 Pedilavium, Festival of 651 
 
 Peel, Robert, Confessing Christ.. Ill 
 
 his Statue 143 
 
 Pen, The, and the Tongue, Com- 
 pared 52 
 
 Penalty, Organic 219 
 
 Pendulum, How Suggested 217 
 
 Peploe, Preb. Webb-Gems from. . 409 
 Perfection — and Permanence of 
 
 Work 22 
 
 of God's Work 248 
 
 to be Aimed at 418 
 
 Perils of Anarchy 608 
 
 of the Age, Dr. Hodge on 540 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Permanence and Perfection of 
 
 Work 22 
 
 Persons, No Respect of, with God. 221 
 
 Perseverance, Grace of 94 
 
 Pesenti, Fra Carlo Antonio 1.38 
 
 Philanthropy— and Christianity.. 139 
 
 and Infidelity 176, 177 
 
 Philip II. of Spain, and Escurial. . 207 
 
 Phosphoresence at Sea 269 
 
 Photography, Triumphs of 479 
 
 Physicians, The Best 469 
 
 Pictorial Preaching 811 
 
 Pigeons, Homing, Uses of 402 
 
 "Pillar Coin, The" 158 
 
 "Pillars of Hercules" 158 
 
 "Pithos," or th« Tub of Diogenes 294 
 Pitt, William, " Falling Up Stairs " 165 
 
 on Judgment of God 1 
 
 Plan of God— in History 350, 535 
 
 in Human Life 336 
 
 Plan in Work, Value of 490 
 
 Plant, a Remarkable 304 
 
 Life, Curiosities of 648 
 
 Lessons from 427 
 
 Magnetic 648 
 
 Mysteriesot 648 
 
 Rapid Multiplication of Lice, 
 
 on 216 
 
 Pleasure— and its Pursuit 91 
 
 Moderation in 327 
 
 The Pursuit of 124 
 
 Pleasures of the World, Peril 
 
 of 65,66,68, 165 
 
 Poetry, Indebtedness to Religion. 363 
 
 Schlegel on 284 
 
 Politeness, and its Tests 595 
 
 Politics, Corruption in 206 
 
 Polyp, A Curious 87 
 
 Pope, Essay on Man 76 
 
 Popularity, The Risks of 35 
 
 Porson, Richard, on Bacon's Essay 55 
 
 Portrait of a Beggar 220 
 
 Potter, Bishop, on Church Quar- 
 rels 642 
 
 on Heavenly Wisdom 642 
 
 Poverty— and Its Disguises 459 
 
 of Great Men 478 
 
 Power, Exerted in Silence 2 
 
 from on High 174 
 
 of God, Exhibited in Ephe- 
 
 sians 574 
 
 of Touch of Christ 413 
 
 " Powers of World to Come." . . .29, 30 
 
 Practical Habit, in Preaching 881 
 
 Praise, Human, Uncertainty of. . . 854 
 
 Prayer, a Help to Courage 131 
 
 Answer to 245 
 
 at Life's Crises 175 
 
 Delayed 242, 245 
 
 Gen. Gordon on 201 
 
 Habits of 210,241 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon on 243 
 
 of Ffinilon 476 
 
 of Fishers of Brittany 647 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 355 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number, 
 
 Prayer, Power of 203, 873 
 
 The Province of 30 
 
 Unity in 201 
 
 Whitefield's 236 
 
 Prayers, Liturgical 505 
 
 Prayerful Habit in Preachers 381 
 
 Preacher— as a Soul Physician ... 534 
 his Transfer of Responsibility 257 
 
 Motives to Control 28, 29, 30 
 
 The Old Age of a 457 
 
 Use of Books 520, 581 
 
 Wrong Dealing with Sin 534 
 
 Preachers— and Their Pay 79, 448 
 
 Betterton on , 180 
 
 Bishop Kerr on 477 
 
 Dr. Candlish's Advice to 381 
 
 Preaching 355 
 
 and Painting 311 
 
 Bishop Wakefield on 641 
 
 Conditions of Power in . . . 88, 29, 30 
 
 Divine Gift of Power in 173, 174 
 
 Dr. Sogers on B38 
 
 Effective 90, 145 
 
 Fable on 188 
 
 Highest Art in 338 
 
 Length of Sermons 34 
 
 Mistakes in 644 
 
 Need of Unction in 8 
 
 Preparation for !'27 
 
 Reading Sermons 379 
 
 Science of 115 
 
 Secrets of Power in 644 
 
 Simplicity in 310 
 
 Unduly Gentle 484 
 
 Use of Manuscript in 315 
 
 Uses of Texts in 487 
 
 Predictions Mistaken 468 
 
 Pre judice— and Truth 364 
 
 The Power of 149 
 
 Preparation for Preaching 527 
 
 Presence of God Desired 289 
 
 Press, Printing, Power of 19 
 
 Presumption Distinguished from 
 
 Faith 88 
 
 Prince, Imperial, of France, Anec- 
 
 doteot 482 
 
 Printing, its Invention 19 
 
 Printing Press, Dean Stanley on. . 617 
 
 Power of 19 
 
 Procrastination, Evil of 163, 482 
 
 Progress, Facilities for Modern. . . 385 
 
 in Invention 890, 605 
 
 of the World in Invention 885 
 
 Real, its Source 80 
 
 through Obedience 258 
 
 Prohibition vs. License 100 
 
 Promotion, Spoiled by 155 
 
 Prosperity, Spoiled by 155 
 
 Pronunciation, Athenians' Care 
 
 of 1 2T8 
 
 Proof of the Soul's Existence 430 
 
 Prophecy— Anticipating History. . 44 
 
 of Messiah in Isaiah 50 
 
 Uninspired 401 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Proportionate Giving 827 
 
 Protestants— and the Open Bible. 890 
 
 vs. Romanists 890 
 
 Proverbs, Influence of 76 
 
 Providence of God— and Natural 
 
 Law 9 
 
 in Esther 12 
 
 in Nature 444 
 
 Public Address, Highest Art of. . . 883 
 Publius L^ntulus, Description of 
 
 Christ 634 
 
 Pulpit oratory. On 618 
 
 Power, Decline of 644 
 
 Rev. G. M. Royce, on 644 
 
 Punishment of Sin in the Future. 88 
 
 Punshon, Dr., on Manlnnd 189 
 
 Pupils, of Thos. Arnold 27 
 
 Purity, God's Standard of 451 
 
 Purpose, an Honest, Value of 27 
 
 Power of 289 
 
 aNoble 828 
 
 Pythagoras on Truth 250 
 
 Quails and Israel in the Desert ... 161 
 
 Quality and Quantity 895 
 
 Queen Bees 876 
 
 Questions, Unprofitable 485 
 
 Quotationof Scripture, Exact.... 6 
 
 Rabbinical Schools of Opinion. . . . 485 
 
 Rabbis, Jewish, Their Schools 47 
 
 Rationalism and Faith 471 
 
 Reading, Carefulness in 551 
 
 Reading Sermons, Objections to. . 379 
 Reason: Its Office in Retribution. 3 
 
 Reaumur and Bees 276 
 
 Rebukes, How Administered 851 
 
 Reciprocity, Law of 98, 166 
 
 Red Sea, Passage of 596 
 
 Type of Consecration 410 
 
 Reflection on Heavenly Things... 437 
 
 Reflections in a Stream 189 
 
 Reformation, The, Guizot on 99 
 
 Reformers: A Breach Between... 450 
 
 Refuge of Faith, Hope, Love 74 
 
 Regulus and his Fidelity 859 
 
 Regeneration and Its Effect 884 
 
 Rejoicing in God : Its Power 24 
 
 Religious — Instinct 500 
 
 Life, Four Types of 359 
 
 Retzsoh's Illustration of Faust... 166 
 Repentance, Awakened by the 
 
 Goodness of God 86 
 
 Resistance to Demands of Skeptics 132 
 Resolution, Value to Character. . . 569 
 
 Resolves followed by Inaction 61 
 
 Respect of Persons 221 
 
 ResponsibiUty, Effect on Charao- 
 
 ^Qj. 443 
 
 to God, Dr. Grant on 89 
 
 Transferred 257 
 
 Rest, Christ's Invitation to 17C 
 
 from Labor, its Uses 466 
 
 Impossible Without (Sod 562 
 
356 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Rest, only Found in God. . . '. 156 
 
 Restitution for Wrong-doing 375 
 
 Restraint, Necessi^ of 95 
 
 Resurrection — of Christ, Impor- 
 tance of 480 
 
 Relation to Holiness 410 
 
 The Power of the 157 
 
 Retaliation, Wrong 210 
 
 Retort, A BriUiant 281 
 
 Retribution, Historic 214 
 
 National 214 
 
 Natural Provision for 3 
 
 Revenge, Oriental Fable 210 
 
 Reverence— for God, Effect of 162 
 
 for Sacred Things 564 
 
 Revolution, The French, and 
 
 Sliepticism 386 
 
 Rewards, and Relation to Service. 58 
 
 for Good Deeds 449 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, and his Lec- 
 tures 120 
 
 and Mrs. Siddons 70 
 
 Rhetorical Sympathy, Power of . . 84 
 Richards, Dr., and the Oyster 
 
 Boy 162 
 
 Richelieu's Courtesy 612 
 
 Riches— and Poverty, Danger of 
 
 Both 322 
 
 Hoarded 160 
 
 True, God's Estimate of 841 
 
 Rich Sinners, Catering to 464 
 
 " Right Words " and Their Force. 81 
 
 Right and Wrong 76 
 
 Rivers in the Ocean 208 
 
 Robbery of God in Gifts 204 
 
 Robertson, Rev. F. W., on Exe- 
 gesis 77 
 
 Robertson, of Irvine, his Preach- 
 ing ■ 381 
 
 "Rod of the Shepherd" 622 
 
 Rogers, Rev. Dr. Guinness, His 
 
 " Farewell " 538 
 
 Romanism; Its Errors 430 
 
 Romanist Position as to Bible 390 
 
 *' Romans of the Decadence " 142 
 
 Rome, Greece, and Jerusalem 249 
 
 Rope, Without Fastening 200 
 
 Rossini on Hard Work 169 
 
 Rotari's Portraits of Catharine II. 474 
 Rousseau on Temperance and 
 
 Labor 469 
 
 *' Royal Exchange," Vane on the. 17 
 
 Riickert, Analysis of Isaiah 50 
 
 Rules— for Guiding Inquirers 604 
 
 for Holy Living 623 
 
 of Life, Thos. Jefferson's 303 
 
 Rum: Its Curse to the Maoris. . . . 193 
 
 Its Danger to All 198 
 
 "Rumination" in Reading 533 
 
 Ruskin, John, on Rest 466 
 
 Rust, Dr., HisEstimate of Authors 188 
 
 on Jeremy Taylor 497 
 
 Sabbath, Preservation of 114 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Sacrament, Perversion of 507 
 
 Sacrifice, Needful to Giving 326 
 
 Sagacity of Themistocles 174 
 
 Saladin and his Youth 443 
 
 Salamanders, Supposed Existence 
 
 of 148 
 
 Salamis.lConductof Themistocles, 174 
 
 Salaries, Ministerial 448 
 
 Salon of Beauty in Russia 474 
 
 Salvation, a Present Fact 54 
 
 audits Rejection 59 
 
 Dependent on Believing 71 
 
 Joy over 280 
 
 "Justaslam" 220 
 
 of Souls, its Secret 202 
 
 Samson, as a Type 171 
 
 Sanotiflcation— and Influence 337 
 
 in Christ 195 
 
 Sanctified Gifts 18 
 
 Sandal Wood, and Ax that Fells it. 460 
 
 Satan— and Half Truths 253 
 
 Bargaining for a Soul 302 
 
 His Plots to Ruin Man 68 
 
 Preaching the Gospel 8 
 
 Snares of. 107 
 
 Character of 398 
 
 Satanic Agency and Providence of 
 
 God 9 
 
 Satisfaction in God 458 
 
 Savonarola, Monument to 489 
 
 Bible of 439 
 
 Saxon Language, the Short Sword. 877 
 
 Scarlet Thread in Bank BUls 225 
 
 Schlegel on Architecture 64 
 
 on Poetry 284 
 
 Schmolke's Hymn 556 
 
 Schools, Common, in France 177 
 
 Science— and its Limitation 391 
 
 Domain of 504 
 
 Scientific Men's Mistakes 277 
 
 "Scotia," Chalmers, the "Lion 
 
 of." 42 
 
 Scott, Walter, on Education 26 
 
 Scriptures, Zeal for 552 
 
 Scriptural Teaching on Life and 
 
 Death 376 
 
 Sculptor's Secret 203 
 
 Sea, Pacts about the 188 
 
 Phosphorescence at 269 
 
 Seared Conscience, Danger of 199 
 
 Second Coming of Christ. 350 
 
 SeoretLifeof Man, The 40 
 
 Secular and Sacred Things 436 
 
 Secularism — and Atheism 177 
 
 Begetting Atheism 177 
 
 in France 177 
 
 Security, False 200 
 
 Seed, Amazing Vitality of 194 
 
 Self -Control, Importance of 384 
 
 Self -Denial— Defined 486 
 
 in Giving 232 
 
 Self-Forgetfulness in Preaching. . 415 
 
 Self -Giving 336 
 
 SeU-Glory, Meanness of 367 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 357 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number, 
 
 Self-Help in Education, Valueof .26, 27 
 
 Self -Indulgence, Risk o£ 91 
 
 Self-MadeTaen 151, 594 
 
 Self-OfCered to God 382 
 
 Self-Praise, Notable Examples of. B88 
 
 Self -Rule, Importance of 339 
 
 Self -Satisfaction 543, 545 
 
 Risk of 125 
 
 Self -Transformation, No 230 
 
 Self -Will, Obstinacy of 509 
 
 Selfishness, Effect on Character. . 366 
 
 Meanness of 872 
 
 Power of 453 
 
 The Sin of 136 
 
 Sensibility, Superficiality of 31 
 
 Separation, Law of 92 
 
 Sermon, A Clown's 233 
 
 Criticism of, by Dr. Candlish. 881 
 
 Length and Brevity of 34 
 
 Sermon-making, Methods of 527 
 
 Sermons, Effectiveness in 90 
 
 Lack of Power in 182 
 
 Long and Short 84 
 
 Objections to Manuscript 879 
 
 Read, and Delivery of 315 
 
 Seven Styles of 641 
 
 Standards of Excellence in . . . 34 
 
 Superficial Sort of 521 
 
 Service— and its Sphere 511 
 
 Devotion to 457 
 
 Interruption in 466 
 
 Its Highest Reward 58 
 
 to God, a Delight 882 
 
 to God: Its Field 89 
 
 to One's Generation 630 
 
 Serviceableness — Prevented 492 
 
 , The Final Goal 56,58 
 
 The Law of 56, 58 
 
 Sexual Appetite, Power of 578 
 
 Shaftesbury, Earl of. Deathbed. . 480 
 
 Dying Words of 191 
 
 Shedd, Dr. W. G. T., and the Test 
 
 of Faith 645 
 
 on Education 26 
 
 on Sinning in Adam 643 
 
 " Sheffield Blades, The " 424 
 
 Shepherd, The Good, and Lambs. 361 
 
 Sheridan on Gibbon 167 
 
 Sherwin, Thomas, and Teaching.. 251 
 Shipwreck of Paul, Lessons from. 491 
 
 Shipwrecks, Eaten by Fish 188 
 
 Short Sword, The 377 
 
 Sibyl, The Latin Myth of the 568 
 
 Siddons, Mrs., Portrait of , by Sir 
 
 Joshua Reynolds 70 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, Unselfishness. . 186 
 
 Siena, Catharine of, Vision of 483 
 
 Silence, and Exertion of Power. . . 2 
 
 Before God in Prayer 441 
 
 of God, The 481 
 
 The Argument from 832 
 
 Simple Language, Force of 377 
 
 Simplicity of Salvation 67 
 
 Sin, Boldness in 1 
 
 Paragrapli 
 Number, 
 
 Sin, Cast into the Sea 460 
 
 Confessed and Forsaken 45 
 
 Deformity of 142 
 
 Difficulty of Uprooting 427 
 
 Disciple Dying to 410 
 
 Dislodging it 195 
 
 Encouraged in Others 534 
 
 Hatred of 234 
 
 Impunity in 1 
 
 Sincere, Origin of Word 248 
 
 Sincerity— and Conviction, Value 
 
 of 38 
 
 and Truth 248 
 
 Sinful Habit, Power of 304 
 
 Singing in Church, Evils of 421 
 
 Sinner, his Enmity to Qod 59 
 
 Retribution of S 
 
 Boldness in Sin 1 
 
 State of 71 
 
 Sinners, Their Great Need 81, 32 
 
 Sinning in Adam, Dr. H. A. Nel- 
 son on 643 
 
 Dr. W. Q. T. Shedd on 643 
 
 Sins, Returning to Old 410 
 
 Skeptic, Testimony of a 110 
 
 Blunders of 161 
 
 Skepticism, and Deathbed 256 
 
 Awful Blank of 222 
 
 Cure for 847 
 
 Defined 619 
 
 Demands of 132 
 
 Destructiveness of 446 
 
 Dishonesty of 255 
 
 Objection to 176 
 
 Rapid Progress in 260 
 
 Unsatisfactory 156, 899, 446 
 
 Skinner, Rev. Dr. Thos. H,, Quo- 
 tation from 29, 30 
 
 Slave, A Wise, Story of 44 
 
 Slavery, Influence on Morals 414 
 
 Sleeping Churches, Illustrated . . . 584 
 "Slopping Over," H. W. Beeoher. 228 
 
 Smeaton and the Eddystone 101 
 
 Smith, Rev. Sydney, on Carey 368 
 
 Smoking, Cost of 462 
 
 Snakegrass, and Total Depravity . 427 
 
 Social Instinct in Animals 275 
 
 Sociables, Church, Anecdote of. . . 600 
 
 Socialism — and Christianity 468 
 
 as a Peril 130 
 
 Society, ' Artificial Divisions of 25 
 
 Impossible Without Truth. ... 260 
 
 Socrates— and his Servant 382 
 
 His Mission in Athens 30 
 
 Soldier, Anecdote of 229 
 
 Solomon, A Chinese 309 
 
 Solomon's Temple: It" Cost 211 
 
 " Son of the Comman j Ment, A " . 47 
 
 Son of Man, Christ as the 154 
 
 Song of Sixpence" 119 
 
 Sophistry Contrasted with Sound 
 
 Argument 60 
 
 Soul, Surrender of, to Satan 302 
 
 Souls, Found by Grace of God — 4 
 
358 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Soul-winnine, Passion tor. . . .28, 29, 3C 
 
 Secret of 28, 29 
 
 Sound, Phenomena of 517 
 
 Sovereignty and Freedom 637 
 
 Sower, Parable of the 492 
 
 Sparta, Agis IV. of 192 
 
 Specimen, Value of a 331 
 
 Speculum, Concave and Convex. . 51 
 
 The Mind Compared to 51 
 
 Speech, Grandeur and Power of. . 495 
 
 Speeches, Long and Short 582 
 
 Speed, Joshua, on A. Lincoln 471 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, and his Philoso- 
 phy 156 
 
 Spinoza on Self -Conceit 125 
 
 Spirit Against Flesh 465 
 
 Spiritual— Culture and Art 183 
 
 Life, Depths of 458 
 
 Mind, a Mirror 437 
 
 Spoons, Apostles 301 
 
 Spurgeon, Rev. C. H., and Chal- 
 mers Compared 533 
 
 and his Preaching 84,537 
 
 on Preaching 145 
 
 on Dead Churches 588 
 
 on Prayer 243 
 
 on Self-f orgetf ulness 415 
 
 Spurgeon, Rev. James A., on De- 
 ferred Repentance 361 
 
 and his Worlj of Faith 276 
 
 on Dr. Moffat 370 
 
 on Limits of Knowledge 871 
 
 on Infant Salvation 361 
 
 on Primary Truths 480 
 
 Snow-storm, A Great 515 
 
 St. Bernard Monks at Clairvaux. . . 429 
 
 Stagnation of Mind 548 
 
 " Stand up for Jesus," Origin of . . 338 
 
 Standard, Lowering the 343 
 
 Standards — of Comparison, Effect 
 
 of 451 
 
 of Weight and Measure 144 
 
 Standing Firm Lilce an Anvil 613 
 
 Standing of Believer, in Grace 383 
 
 Stanley, Dean, on Printing Press. . 617 
 Stanley, H. M., Quotation from.. . 339 
 Statue of Truth at Aurora, N. Y.. 252 
 
 Stewardship in Property 66, 204 
 
 True Idea of 468 
 
 Stimpson, Eev. H. A., on Slcepti- 
 
 cism 899 
 
 Stinginess, Rebuke of 598 
 
 Stole, A Valuable 204 
 
 Story, An Eastern 310 
 
 Strasburg, Famous Clock of 150 
 
 Strauss, The Death of S22 
 
 Stream, the Gulf, Wonders of . . . . 208 
 Strength, from Joy in the Lord... 24 
 
 Imparted by Others 560 
 
 Strong Drink, Cost of 374 
 
 Curse of 571 
 
 Evil of 589 
 
 Stumbling Blocks — in the Way of 
 
 Souls 196 
 
 Faragrapli 
 * Number. 
 
 Stumbling Blocks— to Others 237 
 
 Sturgis, Russell, on Faith 407 
 
 Style of Writing, Carlyle 621 
 
 Relation to the Man 10 
 
 Subscription Lists, a Burden to 
 
 Pastors 364 
 
 Subsoiling, Effect of 582 
 
 Success — as Reward of Honest En- 
 deavor 46 
 
 in Reaching Men, The Secrets 
 
 of 57 
 
 Motto of 198 
 
 Suffering, and Providence of God. 9 
 
 Sun Dials, Inscriptions on 88 
 
 Sunday-schools, Rapid Growth of 639 
 Supernatural, The, in Christianity 397 
 
 Superstition— and Science 425 
 
 as to Numbers, etc 609 
 
 Study of Astrology 401 
 
 *' Supper, The Last," Da Vinci. . . . 305 
 
 Surroundings, Adaptation to 398 
 
 Swedenborg and Bible 77 
 
 Swedish Mine and Danger Alarm. 199 
 Swift, Dean, and Chance in Crea- 
 tion 46 
 
 Sympathy, Power of Rhetorical. . 84 
 
 Rhetorical 618 
 
 Talleyrand's Brain 205 
 
 on Decision 89 
 
 Talmud and Bible 438 
 
 Taylor, Jeremy— Hooker and Bar- 
 row Compared 186 
 
 Character of ,. 497 
 
 Prof. Graham, on Finances... 364 
 
 Rev. Dr., on Atonement 526 
 
 Mr., "Primitive Culture".... 119 
 
 Teaching and Learning 488 
 
 Successful Conditions of.... 26, 27 
 Teachers in Sunday-school, Un- 
 converted 108 
 
 Telegraphy, Prayer Illustrated by 878 
 
 Temper, A Transformed 461 
 
 Undisciplined, of Handel 434 
 
 Unsanctifled, Evil of 587 
 
 Temple, Building of, at Jerusalem 40 
 
 Last of Solomon's 211 
 
 Temples in Japan, Votive Offer- 
 ings 388 
 
 Temporal and Eternal 65, 68, 159 
 
 Teniptation, Aided by Idleness. . . 565 
 
 God's Presence in 483 
 
 Satan's Method of 253 
 
 Tennyson, Alfred, "New Locks- 
 ley" 215 
 
 Terence, Motto of 154, 829 
 
 Testament, The New, Three Grand 
 
 Truthsof 82 
 
 Testaments, Old and New 608 
 
 Testimony, Pitt's Dying 247 
 
 Text and Sermon, Connection of. 487 
 
 Thanksgiving, Value of 97 
 
 Thankful Heart, Need of 97 
 
 Themistocles at Battle of Salamis. 174 
 Theology, Taught by a Cow 680 
 
Index of Subjects 
 
 359 
 
 Paragrapli 
 14 umber. 
 
 Theremin, on Eloquence 10 
 
 on Pulpit Oratory 618 
 
 " Thinking God's Thoughts " 147 
 
 Thinking, The Use of 217 
 
 Tholuck and his Motto, Zlnzen- 
 
 dorf 49 
 
 Thoroughness In Education. . .522, (23 
 
 Thorwaldsens last Statue 125 
 
 Throne of Judgment, "The Great 
 
 White" 41 
 
 Time— and its Flight 88 
 
 Essential to a Just Verdict .... 23 
 
 Wasted 499 
 
 Wasted In Frivolity 417 
 
 Times and Seasons for God's 
 
 Work 187 
 
 Titoombe on Faith and Works 498 
 
 Tobacco, cost of the Use of 462 
 
 Tomb, A Costly 223 
 
 Tongue, The, and the Pen Com- 
 pared 52 
 
 Tooth, as Key to Animal Struc- 
 ture 11 
 
 Total Abstinence the only Safety. 198 
 
 " Total Depravity " of Weeds 427 
 
 Touch, Reviving Power of 413 
 
 Touchstone, The 146 
 
 Townsend, C. A., on Divorce 579 
 
 "Tragic Muse," Painting by Sir 
 
 Joshua Reynolds 70 
 
 Training— Birds to Fly 657 
 
 False «46 
 
 of Jewish Boys 47 
 
 Transformation of Character 194 
 
 Under the Gospel 363 
 
 Transformations of Grace 628 
 
 Transition to New Life, Through 
 
 Death 512 
 
 Transitory Joys of Earth 159 
 
 Tree, Huge Specimen 616 
 
 " The Traveler's." 444 
 
 Trees as Meteorological Records. 293 
 Trials and their Compensations. . . 546 
 
 Trial, Fires of, their Effect 148 
 
 Progress by 218 
 
 Victory In 123 
 
 Tribunals of Judgment 859 
 
 Trinity, Hints of. In the Old Testa- 
 ment 851 
 
 Triumph in Trial 123 
 
 Trouble and its Brief Period 159 
 
 Troubled, Christ's Message to the. 74 
 
 Trust, Attitude of 481 
 
 Truth, Above Price 250 
 
 and Doctrine 33 
 
 and its Hold on us 202 
 
 and Morality 251 
 
 and its Tests 248 
 
 andSlncerity 83 
 
 Aristotle on 264, 856 
 
 and Christianity 263 
 
 Christ as Teacher of 248 
 
 Compared to a Crystal 34 
 
 Departure from 260 
 
 Pftragraph 
 Knmber. 
 
 Truth, Devotion to 261 
 
 Dignity of 261 
 
 in Materials 248 
 
 Loyalty to 262 
 
 Near the 266 
 
 Obedience to the 558, 265 
 
 Preached Without Power 8 
 
 Power of 326 
 
 spoken in Jest, etc 328 
 
 Statue of 252 
 
 TeUlng the 257 
 
 The Sinner's Hatred of 16 
 
 vindicated 254 
 
 Truths of New Testament, Three 
 
 Grand 32 
 
 Primary Importance of 480 
 
 "Tub," Diogenes and his 294 
 
 Tucker, Miss Charlotte M., on 
 
 Self-Giving 226 
 
 Turkish Crescent, Origin of 297 
 
 Twining on Growth of Trees 293 
 
 Tyng, Rev. Dudley A., Death of. . 338 
 
 Types of Religious Life, Four 859 
 
 Typical Character of Samson 171 
 
 Uncertainty of Dying Hour &40 
 
 Un-Christian Civilization, Danger 
 
 in 386 
 
 Unction, Need of in Preaching 8 
 
 Unity— between Nations 416 
 
 of the Bible 118 
 
 of the Church 580 
 
 Organic, Cuvier's Laws 11 
 
 " Unity, Liberty, Charity " 330 
 
 United Brethren, The, and Zlnzen- 
 
 dorf 49 
 
 Unlversalist, Rebuke of a 38 
 
 Unseen and Eternal, The 62, 865 
 
 Unselfishness — of Character 340 
 
 of Gen. Gordon 389 
 
 Sir Bartle Frere 423 
 
 Utility Compared with Beauty.. 
 
 548; 54S 
 
 Value— of Industry • 169 
 
 of Simple Honesty 615 
 
 Vanity, Sacrifice of 226 
 
 Vaudois Church, Crest of 838 
 
 Venality— of Popular Leaders 206 
 
 of Public Men 206 
 
 Veneration for Teachers 525 
 
 Veronese, Paul, on Painting 115 
 
 Ventriloquism, Ancient 296 
 
 Verdict, Conditions of a Just 23 
 
 Verdicts of History, Uncertainty 
 
 of — 854 
 
 Verrill, Prof., on the Sea 188 
 
 Versatility, Risk of 51 
 
 Vibration, Curiosities of 291 
 
 Victoria, Queen, Coronation of . . . 858 
 Vienna, A Picturesque Ceremony 651 
 
 View, Point of. Effect of 455 
 
 Vindictive Sjpirit, Evil of 210 
 
 Violence of Passion, Samson 171 
 
360 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 Virgil, Homer, and MUton 888 
 
 Virgin. Rev. Dr. 8. H., on Declara- 
 tion of Independence 558 
 
 Virtue, Eloquence a 10 
 
 Vision— Heavenly, Obedience to.. 89 
 
 of Crucifled Christ 138 
 
 Visions of Catharine of Siena 483 
 
 Venturing on Christ 638 
 
 VoluntaryPorerty of Jesus Christ 341 
 Von Zeiten, Gen., Confessing , 
 Christ 633 
 
 Wages and Work 79 
 
 Waiting on God for Power 173 
 
 Wakefield, Bishop of, on Sermons 641 
 
 Waldenses, Motto of 838 
 
 War, Opening Way for Gospel . . . 430 
 Warner, Chas. Dudley, on Lettuce 489 
 
 on Weeds 487 
 
 Warning, Effect on Dr. Paley 187 
 
 Washing Disciples' Feet 651 
 
 Waste— of Energy and Time 467 
 
 of Life, even in Activity 384 
 
 of Time 499 
 
 Wasted Life, and Dr. Paley 187 
 
 Water, Fresh, Diving for 458 
 
 Waterloo — Anniversary of 413 
 
 Conduct of English at 175 
 
 Ways of Giving Compared 827 
 
 Wealth, and how Used 168 
 
 God's Ownership of 285 
 
 Webb, Peploe, Prebendary 409 
 
 Webster, Daniel, as an Orator. ... 84 
 
 and .Tudginent of God 88 
 
 and Rufus Choate 60 
 
 Weights and Measures, Origin of. 144 
 Weighing the Soul in God's Scales 133 
 
 Werner, Dr. A., on Talmud 438 
 
 Wellington's Gift to William IV. . 413 
 Wesley, John— and his Teaching.. 117 
 
 on Death 184 
 
 West, Rev. Nath., on Creation. ... 188 
 White, Henry Kirke, Ambition of. 508 
 Whitefleld, Geo., and Betterton. . . 180 
 
 as a Preacher 84 
 
 Whiting, Gen., and Gen. Robt. E. 
 
 Lee 461 
 
 Whitson's Prophecy of End of 
 
 World 299 
 
 Weismann on Heredity 394 
 
 Widow's Mites, Offered to God ... 18 
 Wilberforce,Wm,, on Slave Trade 140 
 
 on Friends in Heaven 178 
 
 Canon, on Rumselling 197 
 
 Wilfulness, Danger of 489 
 
 Will of God, Abandonment to the 476 
 
 Law of Life 511 
 
 Seeking to Fulfil 229 
 
 Will of Man, its Office in Salva- 
 tion 48, 53 
 
 William IV. , of England 418 
 
 Williams, Mr. Matthieu 181 
 
 Wine, Water Changed to 88 
 
 Wings and Weights 185 
 
 WInningSouls, Passion tor. 28, 29, 30 
 
 Para^frapb 
 Namber. 
 
 " Wisdom from Above " 643 
 
 Wisdom, illustration of 44 
 
 Wise men of Greece on Govern- 
 ment 85 
 
 Wit and Wisdom of Barrow 113 
 
 Witness, Rpurgeon's 844 
 
 to Christ, in the Life 601 
 
 to Christ With the Lips 633 
 
 Witnesses of God, Martyrs 43 
 
 Wonders— of an Egg 181 
 
 of Creation, the Sea 188 
 
 of World, Modern 892 
 
 Word of God, The, Living and 
 
 Written 96 
 
 Power of 187 
 
 Written and Living 474 
 
 Words— as Clothing of Ideas 81 
 
 Expressive 380 
 
 Little, Forceof 109 
 
 Mathematical and Moral 380 
 
 Vain, and Good Works 485 
 
 Wordsworth— on Language. . . .81, 495 
 
 on Mrs. Barbauld 184 
 
 His Poem; Laodamia 405 
 
 Work, A Security Against Temi)- 
 
 tation 565 
 
 tor God, Secret of 203 
 
 for the Lord, How to Do It ... . 187 
 
 Is it Worth Doing 1 467 
 
 of Every Day 384 
 
 Relations to Genius 169 
 
 Works, Good 318 
 
 Working, Daily Toil 436 
 
 for Christ, Emphasized 66, 58 
 
 with God, Handel 434 
 
 World, Absorption in 365 
 
 Compromise with 337 
 
 Seven Modern Wonders of 892 
 
 The, and the Life to Come 65 
 
 Worldliness, A Denial of Christ. . . 601 
 
 and its Peril 237 
 
 and Piety 87 
 
 in the Church, Bishop Foster 
 
 on 637 
 
 its Effect on Destiny 65, 68 
 
 Worldly — Alliances, Power of 92 
 
 Amusements in Church 868 
 
 Honors, Indifference to 839 
 
 Pleasures 165 
 
 Wrath, Divine, Presentation of. . . 14 
 Holy Character of 384 
 
 Wundt, on Dreams, etc 572 
 
 Wylie, Rev. Dr. J. A., his Sayings 430 
 
 Xerxes, and Self-indulgence 91 
 
 Yoke of Christ, and Rest 185 
 
 York, Archbishop of, on the 
 
 Supernatural Religion. . .397, 399 
 Young Men, and Opportunity.... 606 
 
 Zaccheus, as a Convert 376 
 
 Zeal and Knowledge, Relations of 529 
 Zinzendorf , Count, Childhood of. . 49 
 
 Character of 49 
 
 Zoroaster and the Sacred Fire. ... 173 
 
Texts 
 
 361 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS 
 
 Paragraph 
 Number. 
 
 ii.cts 1 : 25 S 
 
 1 Cor. vil : 80-24 436 
 
 a Cor. iii : 2 104 
 
 2Cor. lv:18 62 
 
 Daniel v : B, 86-28 849 
 
 Daniel v: 27 133 
 
 Daniel vi ; 5 832 
 
 Deuteronomy xvii : 16 92 
 
 Ecclesiastes iil : 14 22 
 
 Ecclesiastes viii ; 11 1, 36 
 
 Ecclesiastes x : 10 547 
 
 Ephesians iii : 80 611 
 
 Ephesians iv : 11-18 56 
 
 Ephesians v ; 16 563 
 
 Ephesians vi : 14 838 
 
 Genesis zlii : 21 3 . 
 
 Hebrews ii : 14, 15 41 
 
 Isaiah xl-lxvi 50 
 
 James iii : 17 642 
 
 Jeremiahxx;9 28, 29 
 
 Jeremiah xxix ; 18 147 
 
 Johvi:25 81 
 
 John ii 83 
 
 John iii : 16, Luther on 38 
 
 John iii : 16 170 
 
 John iii : 36; V : 84; vi : 47 54 
 
 1 Johniv:17, 18 41 
 
 John V ; 22-27 41 
 
 John vii : 87 30, 81 
 
 John viii : 1-10 14 
 
 John viii : 31-32 94 
 
 John viii : 56 , . 44 
 
 John xiv : 1-8 82 
 
 John xiv: 1-27 74 
 
 1 Kings xix: 12 2 
 
 2 Kings V 67 
 
 Luke xiv : 16-24 20 
 
 Luke xiv : lS-80 59 
 
 Paragrajfti 
 Ntimber, 
 
 Luke XV : 11-82 72 
 
 Luke XV : 24, 32 4 
 
 Luke xix: 1-10 375 
 
 Luke xix : 10 71 
 
 Malachi iii : 16 41 
 
 Mark xii : 84 5S 
 
 Matthew vi : 26 408 
 
 Matthew X ; 32 63S 
 
 Matthew xi : 28-30 170 
 
 Matthew xiii : 18 492 
 
 Matthew xxi : 33-39 59 
 
 Micah vii:19 460 
 
 Nehemiah viii "10 24 
 
 Numbers ii:2 580 
 
 Numbers xi : 31 161 
 
 Fhilippians i : 13 121} 
 
 Proverbs xiii : 20 82 
 
 Psalm xxiii : 4 682 
 
 Psalm xl:8 95 
 
 Psalm 1:83 97 
 
 Psalm Ii : 1 ; Ivi : 8 41 
 
 Psahnlx:4 153,263 
 
 Psalm Ixii : 5 4H 
 
 Revelation i : 5; iii : 14 43 
 
 Bevelation iii : 13, 14 73 
 
 Revelation xvii : 4 69 
 
 Bevelation xx : 11-15 41 
 
 Romans ii : 4 86 
 
 Romans viii : 9 146 
 
 Romans x : 13 71 
 
 Romans xi 857 
 
 1 Samuel ii : 3 183 
 
 2 Samuel xii : 31 161 
 
 1 Timothy iv: 8 158 
 
 8 Timothy i : 18 6,41 
 
 2 Timothy iii : 8-8 869 
 
 Titus iii: 8,9 485