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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029541665 
 

 Tour Round My Library 
 
 AND 
 
 SOME OTHER PAPERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 B. B. COMEGYS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 GEORGE H. RIGBY, 
 
 1 1 13 Arch Street. 
 1894. 
 
 U \i I V !- ix & I 1 Y 
 Lie lw\KY 
 
A - ' 7 
 
 / 
 
 Copynglit, 1S93, by 
 Benjamin B. Comegys. 
 
To 
 
 THE PHILADELPHIA BANK, 
 
 The Oldest Bank in the City Chartered by the Commonwealth, 
 
 An Institution which for Ninety Years has held a most 
 
 coijspicuous place among the best of the Banks in our 
 
 City, second to none in presenting a model of 
 
 sound conservative Banking ; whose Directors have always been 
 
 distinguished for their wise and liberal support of all 
 
 Public Measures for the good of the Nation, the 
 
 , State and the City, as well as for their just 
 
 and generous treatment of those employed 
 
 in their service ; whose methods of 
 
 business and system of training 
 
 have graduated an unequalled 
 
 number of men into higher 
 
 positions — 
 
 A TRUE ALMA MATER, 
 
 this book is dedicated 
 by the 
 
 PRESIDENT 
 
 (iii) 
 
Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. 
 A house without books is like a room without windows. No 
 man has a right to bring up his children without surround- 
 ing them with books, if he has the means to buy them. It 
 is a wrong to his family. He cheats them. Children learn 
 to read by being in the presence of books. The love of 
 knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it. And the 
 love of knowledge, in a young mind, is almost a warrant 
 against the inferior excitement of passions and vices. . . . 
 A little library, growing larger every year, is an honorable 
 part of a young man's history. It is a man's duty to have 
 books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries 
 
 of life. 
 
 — H. W. Beecher. 
 
 (v) 
 
For books 
 Were ready comrades whom he could not tire — 
 Of whose society the blameless man 
 Was never satiate. Their familiar voice, 
 Even to old age, with unabated charm 
 Beguiled his leisure hours, refreshed his thoughts ; 
 Beyond its natural elevation raised 
 His introverted spirit ; and bestowed 
 Upon his life an outward dignity 
 Which all acknowledged. The dark winter night, 
 The stormy day, each had its own resource : 
 Song of the muses, sage historic tale. 
 Science severe, or word of holy writ 
 Announcing immortality and joy 
 To the assembled spirits of the just, 
 From imperfection and decay secure. 
 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 (vi) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THERE are few lives so busy that some intervals cannot 
 be found for the indulgence of a taste for art, science 
 or literature. For most of my life I have been engaged in 
 an occupation laborious, exacting and full of responsibilities. 
 But from my early youth I have been a lover of books, and 
 though I make no claim to scholarship, the cultivation of a 
 taste for general literature has been one of the chief pleasures 
 of my life. The companionship of books has been, and is, 
 among my most cherished companionships, and I love them 
 as I love my friends. 
 
 The love of books has led me to the gathering of some such 
 as I cared most to have, and which were within my means ; 
 and the "intervals," which have always been the evenings,, 
 have given me opportunities for reading and sometimes for 
 writing. 
 
 It is the merest fancy to call these informal sketches, 
 most of which were written in the form of letters to an old 
 friend, "A Tour Round my Library," for a whole life might 
 
 be spent in such a journey. The "Other Papers" are 
 
 (vii) 
 
■vni PREFACE. 
 
 some of the articles I have written on Religious, Literary, 
 Financial and other subjects — and, whether printed hereto- 
 fore or now for the first time, will perhaps best show the 
 <:ourse of reading and study which I have pursued through 
 my long life. 
 
 Some of the chapters have to do with religious truth and 
 •duty or the interpretation of the Scriptures, and grew out of • 
 lessons to a Bible class which I had the honor to teach for 
 several years in the church to which I belong : and in these 
 there is probably much in the way of Scripture illustration 
 for which I am indebted to the writings of others, for I have 
 spared no reasonable expense in supplying myself with the 
 -works of the best commentators, in English, on the Bible. 
 
 In so few chapters, I can notice only a few of my "friends," 
 those whom I know the best and love the most : anything 
 more than this would swell this volume to an unreasonable 
 size. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. — The Thought of the Library 
 
 II. — APreliminary Glance . 
 
 III. — The Thought of a Tour 
 
 IV. — The Library .... 
 
 V. — The American First-Class Book 
 
 VI. — Sir Walter Scott 
 
 '^ VII. — Bulwer 
 
 VIII.— John Todd 
 
 IX. — Dean Stanley 
 
 X. — Jacob Abbott . 
 
 \^ XI. — Henry Alford — Albert Barnes 
 
 ^ XII. — Frederick D. Maurice . 
 
 XIII. — A Memory of the East 
 
 XIV. — ^Athens and St. Paul 
 
 XV. — The Rev. Dr. Moses Law 
 
 XVI. — On the Improvement of Church Services 
 
 XVII. — How to Deal with the Wednesday Evening 
 Meeting 
 
 XVIII. — How to Promote a Revival of Religion 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 8- 
 
 II 
 
 15; 
 19. 
 26 
 34 
 39 
 47 
 55 
 6r 
 
 65 
 72 
 86 
 9S 
 
 "5 
 
 120 
 
 (ix) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 XIX. — The Place of the Hymn in Social Worship 126 
 XX. — The Holy Communion 129 
 
 XXI. — The Crucifixion 
 
 XXII. — An Easter Talk 
 
 XXIII. — The Sunday-school Teacher's Work: What 
 it is — How TO do IT . 
 
 XXIV. — The Girard College .... 
 
 XXV. — The Bible: What it is — How to Study it 
 
 XXVI.— The Young Man : What can He do ? What 
 SHALL He be? 
 
 XXVII. — The Uneducated Employed 
 
 XXVIII. — Some Principles of Safe Banking 
 
 XXIX. — A National Bank Currency without the 
 Security of United States Bonds 
 
 XXX. — How to Treat Your Banker 
 
 XXXI. — The Merchants' Fund 
 
 13s 
 158 
 
 165 
 179 
 189 
 
 21.0 
 236 
 254 
 
 262 
 266 
 270 
 
A TQUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 I. 
 The Thought of the IvIbrary. 
 
 A LIBRARY is a collection of books for reading or for refer- 
 ence. So common are books nowadays that eSrery dwelling- 
 house, containing more rooms than are absolutely necessary 
 for living-rooms, has one which is called the L,ibrary. 
 It may not have many books ; it may be used as a family 
 sitting-room and work-room, where the children have their 
 playthings and study their sehool-lessons in the evening ; 
 "but all the books belonging to the family are gathered in 
 this room and it is very properly called the lyibrary. It 
 ought to be, and generally is, one of the cosiest, most com- 
 fortable rooms in the house, so attractive from its books, 
 pictures and objects of art that the family prefer it to any 
 other common room in the house. It is quite proper in small 
 houses to combine the uses of the library with the parlor 
 or reception-room, or even with the family-room, where the 
 daily meals are taken ; but every dwelling-house where the 
 father and mother and children are able to read and write 
 ought to have its library, whether large or small. 
 
 I have nothing to do now with professional libraries. The 
 physician, the scientist, the architect, the lawyer, the theo- 
 logian, must, each have his own library, for books are the 
 tools of his trade ; nor am I dealing with the library of the 
 specialist, which may have hundreds and thousands of vol- 
 times, treating of certain special subjects or branches of 
 - 1 (1) 
 
2 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 knowledge of any kind, but I am thinking of a general 
 library for the household. A business man of cultivation, 
 who had gathered four or five thousand volumes of gen- 
 eral literature, and who had built a beautiful room to con- 
 tain them, but who died before he had enjoyed them as 
 much as he had expected, once said to me that his idea of a 
 library for the family was such a collection of books as 
 would give one information, and answer any questions on any 
 subject within .the range of ordinary inquiry or discussion. 
 In other words, that one need not go outside of his own 
 library to obtain any knowledge he seeks. My friend's large 
 fortune permitted him to fill his shelves with everything 
 necessary to this thought. 
 
 ' A library bought for the purpose of filling a room, large 
 or small, with books, even if well selected as to authors, 
 subjects and binding, is not a library in the truest and best 
 sense. A library for the family should be the growth of 
 many years. Begun with a few books over the mantel shelf, 
 and growing to fill a cupboard or two, then overflowing tO' 
 some temporary shelves, it grows until a bookcase is needed; 
 then another and another, until the room itself scarcely con- 
 tains its treasures. Children must be provided with books,, 
 picture-books at first, then stories well chosen, then histories, 
 such as the admirable series of histories and biographies by the 
 Abbotts ; then large histories, then fiction, then poetry, then 
 books for Sunday reading, of which there is a vast field most 
 attractive : for a household that is brought up to make a dis- 
 tinction between Sunday reading and every-day reading, will 
 be none the worse for it when the children are grown, even 
 if some people do sneer at such a distinction ; then polite 
 letters generally, then books of reference, never intended to 
 be read, then dictionaries, then encyclopaedias. . 
 
 A library formed on some such plan, the needs of the 
 family being the motive for getting the books, may be years 
 and years before its accumulations are large ; but every book 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 3 
 
 SO purchased will have a history of its own, every book will 
 be loved for its own sake, its author will somehow become 
 as a personal friend and visitor in the house — and no book, 
 the reading of which would bring a blush to the cheek if 
 read aloud, will find a place in that library. 
 
 The value of a library does not depend upon the number 
 of books it contains. The readers of "Ten Thousand a 
 Year," Dr. Warren's charming novel, will not fail to recall 
 the attempts of Tittlebat Titmouse to gather a library. 
 This ridiculous character was, in this quest, a type of man 
 whom some of us have seen in our country. 
 
II. 
 
 A Preliminary Glance. 
 
 As we agreed the other night that "a library is not a 
 luxury, but one of the necessaries of life," you asked me 
 what writers I would recommend to a young collector of 
 books. Come and let me present you to a few of my friends 
 — first, the Historians. 
 
 If one wants to study the history of England, he can get 
 all he needs for general purposes from Hume, Macaulay, 
 Froude and Green ; if the history of Greece, Mitford and 
 Grote ; if the history of Rome, Arnold, Gibbon, Merrivale 
 and Milman. 
 
 Of France there seems to be nothing entirely complete 
 and satisfactory, and the same may be said of most of the 
 other countries of Europe. Prescott, Motley and Freeman 
 are most important writers. When you come to our own 
 country, Bancroft and McMaster bring the story down as far 
 as it is worth while to bring it, for it is too soon yet to write 
 the history of the civil war. 
 
 One does not need to have all the poetry that has been 
 published in England in the last five hundred years. Some 
 of Chaucer and Spencer, Milton of course, old George 
 Herbert, Pope and Dryden and Parnell, and in later times 
 Scott (selections only from Byron and Burns), Wordsworth, 
 Southey and Tennyson, the Brownings, and Matthew Arnold 
 and Sir Edwin, and of our own poets, Bryant, L,ongfellow, 
 I^owell, Whittier and others. 
 (4) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 5 
 
 Of dramatists it is hardly too much to say that Shakes- 
 peare is all that the general reader needs or cares to know. 
 
 When you come to fiction, the field is boundless ; but all 
 that one cares to know has appeared within say one hun- 
 dred years. This period includes Scott, James, Bulwer, 
 Thackeray, Dickens, McDonald, Buchanan, the Brontes, 
 Mrs. Oliphant, Stevenson, Blackmore, Thomas Hardy and 
 many others in England ; and Cooper, Irving, Hawthorns, 
 Marion Crawford and Howells of our country. I do not re- 
 fer to the poets and novelists of other tongues than the Eng- 
 lish, though, of course, one cannot afford to be ignorant of 
 Goethe, Victor Hugo and many others. 
 
 When we come to books of a serious character — religious 
 literature, so called — the field is, indeed, boundless. If by the 
 selection of a few books or by the accumulation of many we 
 could have answered, as my good friend thought, any theo- 
 logical question without going outside of one's own library, 
 happy, indeed, would he be who had such books. But, 
 alas ! " of making many books there is no end " — especially 
 on this subject. 
 
 Yet in a well-selected library that part ordinarily is the 
 most valuable which contains books written to interpret the 
 Holy Scriptures. 
 
 In our many conversations upon theological and religious 
 subjects how often we have referred to the Epistle to the 
 Romans, as one of the most difficult to understand of all the 
 writings of the great Apostle ! Here is Lyman Abbott's 
 Commentary on that book, and in some important respects it 
 is most satisfactory. This is especially so of the full intro- 
 ductory chapters. Here, too, is Dean Alford, who has made a 
 commentary on the whole of the New Testament ; two, indeed, 
 one for Greek students, the other for English readers. And 
 here is Dr. Addison Alexander on the Psalms, on Matthew 
 and Mark, and the Acts; He modestly calls them ' ' The Acts, 
 etc., Explained," and truly they might have been written 
 
6 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 with a lexicon in one hand and a grammar in the other. 
 Good Albert Barnes ! my friend and neighbor (how often he 
 has sat where you are now sitting). See that shelf of his 
 " Notes "—so he called them— notes on all the books of the 
 New Testament and on Job, the Psalms and Daniel. For 
 many years Mr. Barnes was the most popular and most satis- 
 factory of all modern writers on the Scriptures. 
 
 George Bush was in his day, a generation ago, among the 
 clearest and simplest of all the writers on The Pentateuch, 
 but in later life he became a Swedenborgian, and although, 
 there is no tinge of this school of theology in his commen- 
 taries, many readers ceased to care for them. 
 
 Do you see this shelf of little volumes in grey cloth? 
 They are the "Cambridge Bible for Schools," written by 
 many authors and supervised by the Bishop of Worcester, 
 though he is careful to say that he is not responsible for 
 every statement. As a whole, I hardly know where a com- 
 mentary can be found with so much to approve and so little 
 to push aside. What a blessed day it would be for our 
 schools and colleges if we could have some such systematic 
 and scholarly study of the Scriptures as is implied in these 
 volumes ! 
 
 Of course you know Samuel Cox of Nottingham. He is 
 a Non-conformist and one of the ablest living expositors 
 of the Holy Scriptures. His works on Job, Kcclesiastes and 
 some other books are the best of all. For many years he 
 was the editor of the Expositor^ a monthly paper in Fug- 
 land of great value to Bible students; but his "higher 
 criticism" did not suit the views of the owners of that 
 periodical and they dispensed with his services. Bishop El- 
 licott, the late Bishop Lightfoot, of Durham ; and Westcott, 
 the present Bishop of that Diocese, Davies, Farrar, Jowett, 
 Dean Stanley, Trench, Wordsworth, and other Church of 
 England men have made splendid contributions to the 
 literature of Scripture interpretation, while Morison, a 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 7 
 
 Scotchman, has written Commentaries on St. Matthew, St. 
 Mark, and on certain chapters of Romans, not excelled by any 
 written in English, and our own Dr. SchafF, in his transla- 
 tion of Range's great German Commentary by many writers, 
 has done a great work in this direction. 
 
 Matthew Henry is perhaps the only man who ever wrote 
 a Commentary on the whole Bible, and did it well ; but 
 David Thomas, an English Non-conformist, who has rare 
 gifts in this direction of homiletics, if he should live long 
 enough, will approach him as a homilist or expositor nearer 
 than anybody else, for his work upon the Acts, the Psalms 
 and the Proverbs has been admirably well done. 
 
 But I think I have given you enough for one evening. 
 
III. 
 
 The Thought of the Tour. 
 
 Under the title of "A Tour Around My Garden," a 
 French writer, a quarter of a century ago, told the story of 
 two friends who were separated by the departure of one of 
 them on a journey of foreign travel. The other, whose cir- 
 cumstances or inclination did not permit him to accompany 
 his friend, remained at home and beguiled the weary hours 
 by exploring his own garden and writing frequent letters to 
 his absent friend — describing the incidents of his daily walks 
 and the objects of interest which lay in his paths, from the 
 great tree to the spider's web ; from the birds that sought 
 shelter in the deep shades to the tiny insect that made its 
 home under the leaf of the smallest bush ; from the vast trop- 
 ical plants which his conservatories developed to the smallest 
 wild flower that sought and found life in the clefts of the 
 rock. Into these letters the author wove a pleasant story of 
 love and flowers and poetry ; and sometimes a profound 
 philosophy, though often of a decidedly French cast of 
 thought, bubbled up through his brilliant sentences. 
 
 Another French writer, Xavier de Maistre, in the early 
 years of the present century, wrote a pleasant little book of 
 forty-two chapters, which his translator has called, "A 
 Journey round my Room. ' ' It was an instance of ' ' enforced 
 leisure," when under a military arrest in Turin, which con- 
 fined him to his room for forty-two days, he amused himself 
 by writing a description of his chamber and the articles of 
 furniture and art contained in it, with no idea, though, of 
 (8) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 9 
 
 publication. His brother, however, to whom he sent the 
 manuscript, thought better of it, and surprised the author 
 by the return of a printed, volume containing the brilliant 
 little chapters. The book was vefy popular, for it touched 
 just at the edge of many agreeable subjects, affording the 
 author an opportunity to discuss very briefly, in his own 
 quiet way, some things which instruct us all. 
 
 I, too, am a prisoner. A severe cold, threatening serious 
 consequences, has shut, me up in my home, and, after a few 
 days' confinement to my bed, I am allowed to move about 
 the house. I naturally find my way to my own cozy sitting- 
 room, and here, left to myself, I sit, and, looking into the 
 cheerful fire (for it is midwinter), call up the scenes of the past. 
 
 I will not deny that the books referred to, though read 
 many years ago, have suggested the writing to you of a few 
 letters, which may be called, in a very plain and humble way, 
 
 "A Tour round my Ivibrary". — 
 
 Not that I have much of a library to travel round, or that 
 the tour will be a very long one. But I have thought that 
 some things which I have gathered would interest you, and 
 possibly you would like occasionally to hear from one whom 
 you once saw a good deal of, and who, like yourself, is a 
 lover of books. 
 
 I need not remind you that we began life not very far from 
 the same time and the same place. The first fifteen years of 
 life we spent very much together. We attended the same 
 school as boys ; we engaged in the same sports ; we read the 
 same books ; we had mainly the same experience. 
 
 Since then our lives have been separated — you sought your 
 fortunes in another part of our land, and have achieved a 
 character and position of which you may well be proud, while 
 I have remained hearer the place of my beginning, and am 
 only a plodder in the great highway of life. 
 
 We have both traveled far, though never in each other's 
 company. We have crossed oceans, and visited the old world, 
 
10 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 and seen society as developed among the surroundings of an 
 old civilization. We have looked into those venerable seats 
 of learning which are the sources of our best literature. We 
 have heard men, in languages strange to our youth, dis- 
 course in academies of the profoundest mysteries of our 
 nature. We have looked on the broad plains of Germany 
 and of France, the latter so lately, alas, soaked with blood. 
 We have climbed Alpine heights and trodden the fields of 
 perpetual snow. We have gone down into Italy, breathed 
 her balmy air, and rejoiced in her glorious sunshine, reveled 
 in her wonders of Art, and reproduced in imagination, as we 
 looked upon her hills, her plains and her blue sea, her ven- 
 erable and wonderful history. 
 
 Our days of travel are probably over — at least, in foreign 
 lands. But we need not go far from home to see grand 
 things, or to recall the greater and grander things of the 
 past ; and I propose to make one more tour, and to give you 
 an account of its incidents, if you care to hear it. My field 
 is a small one. You have never seen it. A few steps, if 
 you are in a hurry, will take you through it. But years may 
 be spent in it, if you seek for pleasure and profit, and are not 
 driven by steam. In fact and in short the "Tour" con- 
 templated is ' ' round my Library. ' ' 
 
 I propose to talk to you in a chatty way about my books 
 (they are mine in a double sense, by possession, which is 
 common enough, and because / love them) and about their 
 authors ; and if I go somewhat into detail about such of the 
 books as I particularly love, or whose authors I know, or' 
 have met, you will excuse me, for the tour will not be a long 
 one. 
 
IV. 
 
 The Library. 
 
 But first let me describe the room which I call my library. 
 An irregularly shaped room with a deep, wide bay-window 
 on the south and another window down to the floor : a deeper 
 alcove and two windows on the north : the shelves on the 
 west side broken by a wide fire-place and a mantel reaching 
 almost to the ceiling, and a fine old German cabinet: a room 
 wainscoted throughout with wood ; no plaster, paint or 
 paper ; the ceiling of dark yellow pine set in deep panels, 
 with pendants of dark walnut. 
 
 The spaces between the' windows and all the rest of the 
 wall are covered with shelves — the highest range being 
 within easy reach, and over the shelves are placed busts of 
 some of my favorite authors. In the middle of the room 
 is the broad, strong table, that can bear any load of books 
 — so firm that it does not shake under its sometimes heavy 
 load. Across one corner of the room, quite away from 
 the doors and the fire-place, is a most tempting lounge, 
 with its pillows, the other furniture being the easy arm- 
 chairs, all leather-covered, and the chair without arms, but 
 with nearly straight back, which is always drawn up to the 
 table, and which is my work-chair. I must be indulged for 
 a moment here on the subject of chairs. Cowper sang of 
 the sofa, and who can forget that picture in the "Winter 
 Evening ? " 
 
 " Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, 
 Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, 
 
 (11) 
 
12 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 . And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn 
 Throws up a steamy column, and the cups 
 That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, 
 So let us welcome peaceful ev'ning in." 
 
 But I do not sing — I only talk of my friends and chairs. 
 Some chairs are frauds — they do not serve the purpose for 
 which they are made — they are unsightly in appearance, un- 
 comfortable in use. They are either too straight in the back 
 or incline too much — too hard or too soft — and the legs are 
 too stout and heavy or too slight and frail. Then if covered 
 with horse-hair you are slipping out of the seats ; if covered 
 with plush you can't move without rising to your feet. Next 
 to the bed, and not always with this exception, the chair is 
 our most constant companion, and how important that we 
 should be on the best terms with our next friend ! On the 
 whole, my judgment is, that a chair of the height which will 
 rest you most, with capacious arms embracing you not too 
 closely, with casters on the front legs only, and covered with 
 strong leather, will do pretty well until something better is 
 invented, which, however, is not unlikely to be the case, for it 
 may be said of chairs as of lamps, they are not yet perfect. 
 There are wide, deep arm-chairs which invite to rest and 
 meditation. They are not for study : they are too comfort- 
 able for that. Drop into one, touch the spring, and let the 
 back incline gently until you find yourself in a posture that 
 is so restful that forgetfulness steals over you and you are 
 asleep. 
 
 Poor Tom Hood, in his immortal ' ' Miss Killmansegg and 
 her Golden Leg," has helped us to appreciate the bed, but 
 who has thought it worth while to commend the chair ? We 
 have chairmen and chairwomen, who preside at public meet- 
 ings when Mr. So-and-So or Mrs. So-and-So assumes the 
 chair. We have the chair of state, the sedan chair, the 
 chair or chaise with two wheels and one horse ; the chairs 
 that Grandfather Smallweed and his amiable wife lived in 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 13 
 
 (in Dickens' story of " Bleak House "), which they converted 
 into hostile forts, from which missiles were hurled from one 
 to the other. We have the gig-top chairs, such as one sees 
 on the beach at English and Dutch watering-places. Then 
 we have the professor's chair, the curule or ivory seat on a 
 car in classic times, the chairs which hold the iron rails of 
 our roads, and last and least, Jenny Geddes's three-legged 
 stool. 
 
 Now, I leave my chair and go to the window. I look out 
 to the north. The ground is covered with snow ; the sun is 
 bright but it seems to have no power. The polished surface 
 of the snow glitters with a brilliancy which is almost blind- 
 ing. The grand, old trees, which for generations have stood 
 as they now stand, greeting the morning sun, and sighing 
 good-night as he sinks in the west, leaving his golden 
 flush on their trunks — the grand, old trees now throw up 
 their bare arms into the clear, blue sky as if reaching 
 into the very heavens. 
 
 I turn and walk to the south window. What a change ! 
 The same sun is shining and the sno^.lies on the ground, but 
 not so abundantly. In the middle of the day, and protected 
 from the north winds, little pools of melted snow form in the 
 hollows, and soon flow into streams which run down towards 
 the valley, increasing by their own influence the volume of 
 melted snows. The fine old cedar standing so near the win- 
 dow, which for so many years has protected us from the sun's 
 fierce rays in summer, is now so closely invested by the ivy 
 that soon the question will be raised, shall we give up the 
 cedar or the ivy ? For one or the other must die. Through 
 this window I get a glimpse of the little conservatory which, 
 filled with brilliant flowers, is bringing the glory of sum- 
 mer every day of the long, cold winter into our home and 
 hearts. Blessings on the flowers, and on Him who sends 
 them, and who permits us to enjoy them, not only in their 
 own natural sweetness, but who has taught us how to repro- 
 
14 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 duce them even in the cold winter, and thus gladden the 
 sick chamber, and brighten the darkest and gloomiest days. 
 The English papers come to us full of notices of Lord 
 Lytton (Bulwer), whose recent death was announced by 
 telegraph. Some time I may tell you of a visit I once made 
 to him. 
 
V. 
 The American First-Class Book. 
 
 I HAVE been turning over the leaves of an old school-book. 
 It has been a fancy with me to collect the books which I 
 studied at school in my early youth, in the hope (vain hope) 
 that I might reproduce the impressions which such books 
 made upon me then. My school-days were not days of 
 terror, but pleasant days. I was never overburdened with 
 a multitude of subjects of study, never overworked, and never 
 punished. In fact I was always at the head of my class ; 
 but truth compels me to add that the'" class" was numer- 
 ically a very small one. 
 
 The book which I cared most for — which had most to do 
 in creating a literary taste, and was most suggestive in lead- 
 ing me to further reading and study — was the "American 
 First-Class Book, designed for the highest class in public and 
 private schools," by Rev. John Pierpont; published in Boston. 
 The copy that lies before me is a book of 480 pages, small type, 
 bound in leather, very much worn and stained. The selec- 
 tions are from "modern authors of Great Britain and Amer- 
 ica," of prose and verse, alternating through the volume. 
 
 My connection with the public schools of our city, as well 
 as with two very large Institutional schools, has given me 
 opportunities of examining, more or less carefully, many 
 reading-books ; but I have never seen any that was equal to 
 the " First-Class Book." If I could copy its table of con- 
 tents it would be evident that the whole field of English 
 literature, up to the date of its publication, had been laid 
 
 (15) ■ 
 
16 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 under contribution to make the selections. None but a 
 poet or a man of tbe highest literary culture could have 
 made such a book. At that time schools generally, had 
 depended on Lindley Murray's " English Reader j" with its 
 "Introduction" and "Sequel," three books which were 
 hammered into the brains of all scholars until they loathed 
 the very names. Yet these books were not without real 
 merit ; only the compiler was a grammarian simply, having 
 no poetic taste and little imagination. His divisions were 
 arbitrary; his prose selections, entirely from English authors, 
 were heavy, didactic and dull ; and his poetic selections, 
 very few in number, often deficient in taste and placed at 
 the end of the several volumes. 
 
 Dr. Pierpont changed all this by mingling selections of 
 prose and poetry throughout the volume, by a much smaller 
 proportion of "didactic" pieces, and by a very generous 
 selection from American authors. In fact, there is hardly 
 any American author of note at that time who is not repre- 
 sented by one or more selections. 
 
 The book is extremely valuable for its suggestiveness. 
 The interview between Edward Waverley and Fergus 
 Maclvor in Carlisle Castle, on the morning of Fergus' execu- 
 tion, sends the reader at once to the book itself for the whole 
 story, giving a glimpse of one of the Scotch rebellions ; the 
 story of Old Mortality etching the letters on the old grave- 
 stones provokes the reader to look up the book, where he sees, 
 as in pictures, old Balfour of Burleigh, Claverhouse, the 
 slaughter of Archbishop Sharpe, the battle of Drumclog, 
 and the charming love story of Henry Morton and Edith 
 Bellenden, and the never-to-be-forgotten Lady Margaret and 
 Guse Gibbie ; the two extracts from Rob Roy, so well 
 chosen, are glimpses of Scott in his prose writings; 
 while his vivid description of the battle of Flodden and the 
 death of Marmion, as well as Rebecca's hymn in " Ivanhoe," 
 give a taste only, of his wonderful poetic power. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 17 
 
 Wordsworth is seen in his "Deaf Man's Grave," and "A 
 Natural Mirror," from the "Excursion," and in "Goody 
 Blake and Harry Gill," a pathetic poem of the country-side. 
 
 Professor John Wilson is well represented by characteristic 
 tales of Scottish life, such as the " Headstone " and " Gilbert 
 Ainslee " and " Shipwreck; " and Graham, the Scotch poet, 
 by an extract from his ' ' Sabbath. ' ' 
 
 Nothing could be finer than the selections from Shake- 
 speare, such as the scene from ' ' King John ' ' of Arthur and 
 Hubert; and from "Macbeth" of Malcolm, Macduff and 
 Rosse, and the street scene and dialogue between Brutus and 
 Cassius, and the tent scene at Philippi between the same, 
 and, of course, Antony's address over Caesar's body. 
 
 Some of Washington Irving's best things are here — "The 
 Widow and her Son," and "Midnight Musings," and 
 "Forest Trees ;" two speeches of Daniel Webster ; Wirt's 
 "Blind Preacher;" Bryant's "Inscription on an Entrance 
 into a Wood," and "The Waterfowl," and " Thanatopsis, " 
 and "Green River," and "A Winter Scene;" and Per- 
 cival's "Coral Grove;" and Everett's "Alaric the Visi- 
 goth;" and many very choice selections from Sir John 
 Bowring's "Russian Anthology;" also Campbell's " Loch- 
 iel's Warning''' and " Hohenlinden ; " Burns' "Winter 
 Night;" and the Park Scene from Hillhouse's "Percy's 
 Masque;" Byron's "Address to the Ocean;" Milton's 
 "Lycidas;" and Southey's " Alderman's Funeral ; " "Gil 
 Bias and the Archbishop;" Coleridge's "Mont Blanc;" 
 Thompson's "Castle of Indolence ; " Beattie's " Minstrel ; " 
 Channing's fine articles on "Daily Prayer, Morning and 
 Evening;" and many, very many other extracts in prose 
 and verse from American authors, not forgetting ' ' The 
 Son," by Richard H. Dana. 
 
 The compiler was too modest to give extracts from his own 
 writings (was any other compiler ever so modest?) or we 
 should have had glimpses of his own "Airs of Palestine" 
 
1 cannot majte mm aeaa ! 
 
 His fair, sunshiny head 
 Is ever bounding round my study chair ; 
 
 Yet, when my eyes, now dim 
 
 With tears, I turn to him, 
 The vision vanishes — he is not there ! 
 
 I walk my parlor floor, 
 
 And, through the open door, 
 I hear a footfall on the chamber stair ; 
 
 I'm stepping toward the hall 
 
 To give the boy a call ; 
 And then bethink me that — he is not there ! etc. 
 
 The fine old book is forgotten now: it has disappeared from 
 the book-stalls ; the compiler himself has passed from the 
 recollection of all but his own descendants; other reading 
 books, prepared with far less care and taste, have come to the 
 front, full of selections for declamation, as if the cliief end 
 of a reading book were to make public speakers ; but I 
 doubt if there" was ever a school-book so well adapted to 
 cultivate a fine literary taste as Pierpont's "American First- 
 Class Book." 
 
VI. 
 Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 When I come to the shelves which hold Sir Walter 
 Scott's works, I seem to be back again in my school-days. 
 For the Waverley Novels were the first novels I ever read. 
 I began to read them just as the author was passing away. 
 Each story, as I read it, became a picture gallery of men 
 and women whom I seemed to have known personally. The 
 characters were real. The mountains, the valleys, the 
 lakes, the rivers, the cities of Scotland', especially the Border 
 land, became to me almost as familiar as the landscape about 
 my own home. Every novel, from the first, to the last, I 
 read as I could lay my hands upon it, and long before I was 
 able to count them as my own books. The poetical works 
 fell in my way after I had read most of the prose tales. 
 
 It was but natural that when in Scotland a few years ago I 
 should desire to see some of the localities made famous by the 
 life and writings of Scott. So in the early morning of a day in 
 June I set out to seek the place of his birth, in the old town 
 of Edinburgh. I found the College Wynd, where the house 
 had stood in which Scott was born. The house itself had 
 disappeared years before, though my guide tried to persuade 
 me to the contrary ; but this was undoubtedly the narrow 
 street, and this the spot, where Walter Scott was born. 
 There was little need to spend much time there, but one 
 could not help being interested in the thought that here the 
 young boy learned to talk, to walk, to play. 
 
 (19) 
 
20 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 At noon I was at Abbottsford, the house of his own crea- 
 tion, where he hoped to found a family and spend the even- 
 ing of his days, reproducing in a modest way the atmosphere 
 of the feudal days which he knew and described so well, and 
 then passing it on to his eldest son as so many others had 
 done before him. The house is finely situated on the slope 
 of a range of hills, and almost at the edge of a meadow, on 
 the farther side of which is the Tweed. 
 
 At the beginning I said to the guide, or custode, that I 
 had come three thousand miles to see Abbottsford, and 
 stipulated, by promise of double fee, not to be hurried 
 through as others had been. 
 
 Through a narrow passage and up a winding stair I 
 reached the great entrance hall and armory, in which Scott 
 had gathered the many kinds of arms and armor that grate- 
 ful and admiring friends had presented to him. And ftlong 
 the cornice was this inscription : 
 
 "These be the Coat Armories of the Clannis and 
 Chief men of name wha keepit the marchys of 
 Scotland in the auld time for the Kings. Trewe 
 ware they in their tyme, and in their defense God 
 them defendit." 
 
 Then I was shown into the study where he did his work. 
 This was not a large room. The ceiling was high enough 
 to admit of a gallery round the room, so that the walls, from 
 floor to ceiling, were covered with books. A circular stair 
 led from this room to his bed-room immediately above, so 
 that if he desired to work far into the night or in the early 
 morning (not often the case, I believe), he could do so with- 
 out disturbing his family. On the mantle over the' fire-place 
 in the study was the -engraving of Stothard's Pilgrimage to 
 Canterbury ; the bay window was low to the floor, so that 
 the dogs could jump in and out at pleasure, and in a glass 
 case was the plain suit of clothes he wore towards the end 
 

A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 21 
 
 of his life. Here was the large, plain, old-fashioned desk 
 with a lifting lid, and on this desk he wrote most of his 
 wonderful works. A large leather-covered chair faces the 
 desk, protected by a guard to prevent visitors from abusing 
 it, but I was graciously permitted to sit in it and lean on the 
 desk. Ah ! if I could have caught some of the inspiration 
 which filled the soul of the great magician ! 
 
 Through a door, on each side of which was a suit of 
 armor mounted, I passed into the Jibrary. Here was indeed 
 a splendid room — large, well lighted, with a huge bay- 
 window overlooking the Tweed, the .walls covered witli 
 books (twenty thousand, it was said), more than one hundred 
 of which being from his own pen. Here was a large table 
 with many precious gifts from friends ; heire was the famous 
 bust by Chantrey^ and over the mantle was a portrait in oil 
 of his eldest son, in the uniform of a Hussar ; and near the 
 door which led to the dining-room was a picture of Mary, 
 Queen of Scots, taken immediately after her execution, most 
 sad, most touching. 
 
 The dining-room is not shown, although I had a glimpse 
 through the door, which for a moment was ajar. It is only 
 of interest as the room in which Sir Walter died ; a scene so 
 admirably pictured by Lockhart and others. Standing by 
 the library window in that beautiful day in June, the air 
 perfectly still, the sun shining in unclouded brightness, I 
 could easily imagine the scene in the adjoining room when 
 Sir Walter passed away, for I, too, heard the Tweed as its 
 clear waters rippled over their pebbly bottom beyond the 
 meadow. 
 
 In the evening I stood by his grave at Dryburgh Abbey. 
 The old ruins seem almost to have been preserved that they 
 might be a resting-place for him who had made those valleys 
 and hills so famous, that pilgrims from all parts of the world 
 throng there. The spot had been chosen centuries before as 
 the seat of a great religious house by those who knew how 
 
22 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 to select the best sites. It lies in a broad meadow laud, with 
 the Tweed sweeping round it on three sides and the Eildon 
 hills looking down on its beautiful slopes. Just at this hour 
 in the evening the long, solemn procession passed over the 
 plain, pausing a moment at a house in the near distance, and 
 then in a great company gathering about the ruins, where was 
 an open grave, into which the remains were tenderly lowered. 
 Then the service of the Church of England was read, the 
 earth covered the coffin, and the great crowd dispersed. 
 
 As I stood there, how could I help recalling some of the 
 lines in which a writer had endeavored to reproduce that 
 funeral occasion : when, instead of the noble, the rich, the 
 great and the common people who followed in that long pro- 
 cession, he causes" to appear some of the principal characters 
 whom Scott has created, and makes them the chief mourners 
 as they follow the body to the grave ! 
 
 There was wailing on the autumn breeze, and darkness in the sky, 
 When with sable plume and cloak and pall a funeral train swept by ! 
 Methought (St. Mary shield us well) that other forms moved there 
 Than those of mortal brotherhood, the noble, young and fair. 
 
 ' Was it a dream ? Methought the " dauntless Harold " passed fae by, 
 The proud " Fitz -James " with martial step, and dark, intrepid eye ; 
 That ' ' Marmion's ' ' haughty look was there, a mourner for his sake : 
 And she, the bold, the beautiful, sweet " Lady of the Lake." 
 
 With coronach and arms reversed, forth came "McGregor's" clan, 
 
 Red "Dougall's" cry pealed .shrill and wide; "Rob Roy's" bold brow 
 
 looked wan ; 
 The fair " Die Vernon " kissed her cross, and blessed the sainted ray ; 
 And " Wae is me," the Baillie said, "that I should see this day." 
 
 On swept " Eois Gilbert," "Front de Boeuf, " " De Bracy's " plume of woe. 
 And " Cceur de Lion's " crest shone near the valiant " Ivanhoe," 
 While soft as glides a summer cloud, " Rowena " closer drew. 
 With beautiful "Rpbecca," peerless daughter of the Jew. 
 
 And so on in many stanzas. 
 
 As a writer of fiction, whether of poetry or prose; Scott 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 23 
 
 has been more to me than any other writer. I do not mean 
 to say that he wrote the best poetry or the best prose 
 romances ever written, but I mean that on the whole I like 
 him best of all. If you will look around the Library, you will 
 see that this is not said without knowledge of other writers. 
 
 Some years ago it occurred to me that it would be a 
 pleasant work for winter evenings to illustrate the poems and 
 the novels of Sir Walter. So I secured the Abbottsford 
 edition of the novels, originally in twelve thick volumes. 
 This edition, you know, has some two thousand engravings 
 on wood made especially for it, besides a few steel engravings. 
 It was not difficult to obtain sets of the embellishments that 
 had been made for the many other editions. The work grew 
 on my hands : some old book collectors, knowing my quest, 
 supplied me with additional material until my twelve vol- 
 umes grew to twenty-eight volumes, and might better have 
 been thirty; and the steel engravings to more than a 
 thousand. There they are on those shelves, a goodly array. 
 Open some of them. Is it not a fair setting of the precious 
 jewels? 
 
 Then, as to his poems. I found a set of the original editions 
 in royal quarto, in five volumes, in very large type, with broad 
 margins. These five volumes I have expanded to nine, and 
 have added more than three hundred full-page engravings 
 on steel, copper and wood. See ' ' The Lady of the Lake ' ' and 
 ' ' Marmion, ' ' each in two quarto volumes — no photographs, so 
 unsightly in a bound volume. 
 
 If Sir Walter were now living and within my reach, how 
 I would delight to bring him into my Library, and show him 
 my treasures, and say, "What you have done for me can 
 never be measured. My life has been made far happier by 
 you than it would have been without you : this is what I 
 have done for you and your works ; and it has been a labor 
 of love." 
 
 In one sense Sir Walter Scott died too soon, at the early 
 
24 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 age of sixty-two ; in another and sadder sense it would have 
 been better had he died earlier. The pecuniary reward which 
 came to him as an author was marvellous ; no ' other writer 
 had ever received so much. His publishers proposed to in- 
 crease still more rapidly his gains by taking him into 
 partnership. At first, things went well, and the returns 
 were almost fabulous, but there came commercial distress. 
 The firm failed and Sir Walter was deplorably involved. 
 The liabilities were so large that the effort to liquidate them 
 was almost hopeless, and few men would have made the 
 attempt ; hardly any other man would : but Sir Walter deter- 
 mined to pay all these debts. Then began those heroic labors, 
 which have no parallel in authorship. He never spared him- 
 self after this, but month after month and year after year he 
 produced an amount of matter for the press which was almost 
 incredible. And almost all of it, until towards the last, was 
 matter of the best, of the highest literary quality. It is 
 noticeable, however, that it was all prose ; the Muse seems 
 to have left him. These works, produced under such circum- 
 stances, under the lash, as it were, were most abundantly 
 rewarded. He could not write too rapidly for the public ; 
 and they repaid him handsomely. Money came to him by 
 the thousands where other authors were content with hun- 
 dreds ; payments large and liberal were made to reduce his 
 indebtedness, and the work went on, the mind wrought up 
 to the highest tension, taking no rest. Sometimes the author 
 was writing two books at a time, driven as a trained race- 
 horse continuously at the very top of its speed. But this 
 could not endure forever : his powers began to give evidence 
 of the excessive strain ; his family, his friends, his physician 
 urged him to abate somewhat of the relentless drive ; but all 
 was of no avail, until Nature herself protested against the 
 mad struggle. Then began the decline and the decay of his 
 mental vigor ; then some of the things he wrote added noth- 
 ing to his literar)^ fame ; then his friends became more and 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 25 
 
 more anxious. Still he worked and worked, until he could 
 do no' more. Then it was hoped that entire withdrawal from 
 work and from home might restore his overworked powers ; 
 and the King placed a frigate at his disposal, in which he went 
 to Gibraltar, to Malta ; where the fever of writing seized him 
 again, and he began two more novels. He landed at Naples, 
 spent weeks there, was shown all the sights, but he took lit- 
 tle or no interest in anything. He lingered in Italy. There 
 was no improvement. He went to Bologna, to Venice, up 
 through the Tyrol, to Heidelberg, down the Rhine to Rotter- 
 dam, thence by steamer to London, where he remained a few 
 days, waiting a steamer to Edinburgh, hardly conscious most 
 of the time ; landing at Newhaven, he was conveyed in a 
 carriage to Abbottsford. Before he reached his home the 
 familiar scenery aroused him. At a turn of the road he looked 
 out and said, ' ' Gala water surely ! ' ' And so after an absence 
 of many months he reached his dear home. But it was only 
 to die, anfl the tired, wasted brain, the worn-out body, soon 
 yielded to the claims of Nature. * 
 
 There is nothing in authorship more pathetic than the 
 decline and death of Sir Walter Scott. His sun went down 
 too early, in the afternoon ; and no wonder that an examina- 
 tion by his physician disclosed the fact that his death was 
 caused by softening of the brain. 
 
 * Once he insisted on being seated at his desk and having writing mate- 
 rials placed before him. His family could not but indulge him. He smiled, 
 and said, "Now give me my pen, and leave me a little to myself." The 
 pen was put in his hand ; he tried to hold it in his fingers, but they could 
 not close on it — the pen dropped on the paper. He fell back, the tears 
 rolling down his cheeks. He never wrote another line. 
 
VII. 
 ButWER. 
 
 In the earlier part of this century, following close upon 
 Sir Walter Scott, there appeared a new writer, chiefly of 
 fiction, who gave promise of great popularity — Edward 
 Bulwer. He was of noble family, finely educated, of splen- 
 did imagination, and a , man of the world in every sense. 
 The moral tone of some of his earlier tales was more than 
 questionable. I could hardly count them as among my 
 friends, in the best sense; but no one can read wirtiout deep 
 emotion the description of the eruption of Vesuvius and 
 the story of the widow of Nain's son, pieces of unusually 
 fine writing, in the " Last Days of Pompeii ; " and the most 
 pathetic conversation between William Waife and his 
 wretched son, Jasper Loosely, in "What Will He Do With 
 It? " — the contest between mental power and brute force, as 
 depicted in the library scene between the same Jasper and 
 his father-in-law, Guy Darrell — nor the conversation, so 
 reproachful, so sorrowful, between Guy Darrell and Lady 
 Montford, once Caroline Lyndsay, in the same charming 
 and powerful novel. 
 
 Among my earliest recollections of Bulwer are " Pelham," 
 "The Disowned," "Devereux," " Paul Clifford, " etc., and 
 others following in rapid succession. Further on in the 
 series, and of a better, more wholesome character than these, 
 came "The Last Days of Pompeii" and "Rienzi," historical 
 novels of the most absorbing interest. From that far-off 
 (26) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 27 
 
 period until the publication of "The Parisians" I have 
 highly enjoyed the fictions of the great master, for in certain 
 features of his works, his brilliant imagination and his 
 profound philosophy, he certainly had no peer. 
 
 If, in his later works, high moral teaching can atone for 
 the want of this in' his earlier fictions, it has been accom- 
 plished in his novels of society, especially in " The Caxtons," 
 "My Novel," and " What Will He Do With It? " There 
 is nothing in our language finer than these, and they will 
 live and make their impressions long after some of his other 
 works are forgotten, for the reason that the pure, the true, 
 the good, will outlast the evil in all things. It was but 
 natural then, with my high appreciation of the genius of 
 Bulwer, that I should embrace the opportunity of a personal 
 visit to one whose pen had charmed my boyish fancy and 
 also instructed and moved me in later years. 
 
 It was about noon of a bright day in July that I made my 
 call on Lord Lytton. I had a note of introduction from Dr. 
 R. Shelton Mackenzie, of our city, a man of letters who had 
 known Bulwer in his younger days so well that he now 
 addressed him as " My Dear Lord Lytton)" The house was in 
 Grosvenor Square, a plain four-storied building, facing south. 
 I was shown into a reception-room while the servant took my 
 introduction and card. He soon returned with his master's 
 regrets that he could not see me at that time ; he was prepar- 
 ing to go out; but hoped it would be convenient for me to call 
 on the following Monday, at 2 o'clock. This was Saturday. 
 At the appointed time I called again, was met at the door by 
 another servant, who, on receiving my card, asked if I had 
 called by appointment. On my replying in the affirmative 
 he showed me into the reception-room while he went to 
 announce me. While he was gone I made my observation 
 of the surroundings. The house, as I said, was plain, 
 whether his own town home (it did not answer to his 
 address in the city directory) or a hired furnished hopse I 
 
28 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 could not know. The front door opened into a large sqiiare 
 hall, from which the stairway led to the upper rooms. On 
 the left of this hall were, first, a small drawing or reception- 
 room, and back of that, through a wide doorway, now open, 
 I could see the ordinary furniture of a well-appointed dining- 
 room. The furniture in both these rooms was that heavy, 
 almost clumsy kind, of which the English seem so fond, 
 as if it were to last from one generation to another, and 
 as if the fashion were never to change. On the mantel- 
 piece were some good bronzes, and on the pier-table large, 
 heavily chased platters, standing on edge, with classic 
 figures bas-relief Presently the servant returned, a tall 
 man in livery, and asked me to walk up-stairs. We ascended 
 to the third story (the second being occupied by the drawing- 
 rooms), where was the study, and so on to the landing at the 
 top, the door opening into it. 
 
 With no little embarrassment I found myself, when the 
 door opened, face to face with the great author. He was in 
 a working-jacket, sitting at a table in front of a fire-place 
 where, earlier in the day, there had been a fire. ■ In his mouth 
 was a pipe, with astfem so long that the bowl rested upon the 
 hearth. Whether it was lighted or not I cannot say, but 
 there was no smell of tobacco in the room. He took the pipe 
 from his mouth, rose, and came forward to meet me — holding 
 out his hand and giving me a very cordial reception. I 
 thought, however, that there was upon his countenance a 
 very slight expression as if he expected to be bored. I sat 
 down in the chair he offered me, and he very quickly put me 
 comparatively at ease by his conversation. For myself, my 
 eyes were fixed upon his face so closely that, somewhat to my 
 regret, I failed to take a full survey of the room itself It 
 was a moderate sized apartment, with shelves on two or 
 three sides, filled with books ; and with books, pamphlets 
 and papers in heaps and groups lying about. Like his own 
 person, the room was rather untidy, showing the condition 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 29 
 
 of things where a man will have his own way, or where he 
 has no one near enough td him to attempt to keep things 
 in proper order. The only book on his table, among heaps 
 of writing paper, whose title I remember, was Miss Edwards' 
 story, "Barbara's History," in 3 vols. 
 
 Sitting within a few feet of this great man, his counte- 
 nance was strongly impressed upon my memory. His face 
 was that of a man of seventy years at least, and those years 
 not all spent in the open air. It had a worn and tired ex- 
 pression, as if he had seen all there is to see in this life, and 
 enjoyed all that this world can offer to the man of fashion 
 and society. The hair was thin, its natural color restored by 
 the aids of art. His beard also thin, straggly, and also in- 
 debted to extraneous help for its concurrent tint. His figure 
 was slight, much bent as he sat, though quite erect as he 
 stood. There was not much expression in the countenance 
 while he listened, but there was a bright lighting up when 
 he spoke or laughed. 
 
 The conversation turned on America, and first as to his 
 friend, Dr. Mackenzie, who had given me the note. I said 
 he was chief editor of one of our most popular and influential 
 daily papers. We then turned to political matters. What 
 would we do with the question of universal suffrage? 
 '"Ah," said he, "you Americans are teaching us a sad 
 lesson." 
 
 "What is that?" said I. 
 
 " Do you not see," said he, " that men cannot be trusted 
 with the open ballot ? " 
 
 "We do not see that yet," said I. "We hope that our 
 system of public schools will prepare our people for the safe 
 use of the ballot." 
 
 "So it might possibly," said he, "under your form of 
 government; but your danger is from emigration. The 
 hundreds of thousands of people that we and other countries 
 of Europe are sending you every year counteract, in great 
 
30 A TOUR ROUND MY WBRARY. 
 
 measure, the influence of your public education. These 
 people are ignorant — many of them depraved and semi- 
 criminal." 
 
 "Yes," I replied, "but their children go to the same 
 schools as ours, and while we may be able to do no more 
 than keep quiet the fathers of those who come to us, the 
 sons will be as our sons, and they will imbibe the prin- 
 ciples of our free institutions with their daily lessons." 
 
 "But you are teaching these lessons to our people, too," 
 said he, " and we do not want your republicanism, your free 
 suffrage. ' ' 
 
 " It seems to me, however," I rejoined, " that whether the 
 question is pressed upon you from us, or whether it springs 
 up from among your own people, you cannot escape it." 
 
 " It is so," said he ; " the movement in Parliament toward 
 household suffrage is a step in that direction. ' ' 
 
 And I thought as I sat there, how could you look on it in 
 any other light? You, the head of an aristocratic family; 
 you, who have been bred in the lap of luxury; you, who 
 have never known what it is to toil, except for pleasure or 
 for fame; how can you be expected to sympathize with the 
 poor, when you know that if ever the time should come 
 when manhood suffrage prevails in England, down will go" 
 the law of primogeniture which holds together the immense 
 family interests; down will go the hereditary House of 
 Lords; down will gO' the church establishment, and if the 
 monarchy itself remains it will probably be elective, or 
 stripped of its immense emoluments. Less power it can 
 hardly possess. Of course I did not express these reflections, 
 but they came naturally to my mind. 
 
 The conversation then turned towards books, and I felt 
 that it was only just to assure him how he had laid all English- 
 speaking people under obligations for his charming works. 
 To such remarks he would bow very profoundly, and as I 
 went on he resumed his pipe, but not to smoke — the task or 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 31 
 
 the habit of holding it in his mouth, in his study overcame 
 his sense of the presence of a stranger. 
 
 "I cannot help saying to your Lordship that the last 
 book I read before leaving home was ' The Last of the 
 Barons.' " 
 
 He bowed. 
 
 "I read it aloud to my family — the entire four volumes." 
 Again he bowed. 
 
 "And," I added, "my youngest child, a boy of eleven 
 years, would sit up until midnight, wide awake, to listen." 
 
 Again he bowed — this time with a hearty laugh. 
 
 Finding that he was not insensible to compliment, I went 
 on. 
 
 ' ' You can hardly be aware how great is your popularity 
 in my country." 
 
 He smiled, and said that he was aware of it, but that it 
 was of no pecuniary advantage to him. 
 
 I asked if he could not make some arrangements with 
 American publishers, as other English authors had done, by 
 which he could receive a royalty on a new and revised edi- 
 tion of his wdrks. 
 
 He did not know. 
 
 I ventured to suggest the name of Ticknor & Fields, of 
 Boston, as a firm of high character, that would probably 
 make such an arrangement. 
 
 "They publish for Dickens, do they not?" 
 
 There was something in the tone with which he uttered 
 this sentence that satisfied me that he did not want to be 
 associated with Dickens in any way. 
 
 I said, " I hope you will soon give us something more. 
 The last works from your pen have been so admirable 
 and so universally popular that we hope the series is not 
 finished." 
 
 "I believe," said he, looking on his table and around the 
 
32 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 room at the heaps of papers, ' ' I believe th^re is a novel lying 
 about here now somewhere. ' ' 
 
 It was shortly after this that ' ' The Parisians ' ' appeared 
 in successive numbers of Blackwood, and this was doubt- 
 less the "novel lying about here somewhere," of which he 
 spoke indifferently. 
 
 I felt that I had no right to stay much longer, so I said : 
 
 " Before I go, may I tell your Lordship a story ? " 
 
 "Certainly," said he. 
 
 "There were two friends in Philadelphia, one a distin- 
 guished banker, the other one of the most eloquent and pop- 
 ular preachers in America. It was Sunday, and the clergy- 
 man was dining with the banker. After dinner, while sit- 
 ting in the library enjoying their cigars, the banker used 
 some expressions which caused the clergyman to say ' Cax- 
 toniana.' 
 
 "'Do you read Bulwer?' said the banker, turning with 
 some surprise upon the preacher. 
 
 "'Do I?' said he. 'There are three books— the Bible, 
 Shakespeare and Bulwer.' " 
 
 As I said this his Lordship took the pipe from his mouth 
 and, making a very low bow, laughed, " Haw — haw — haw." 
 
 " ' I am delighted, ' said the banker, ' to learn that you 
 are an admirer of Bulwer, though I fancy it is not usual with 
 men of your profession. ' 
 
 " ' The man,' said the clergyman, 'who can preach such a 
 sermon as that which "Parson Dale," in "My Novel," 
 preached ; the man who can talk as "George Morley " talked 
 to "Guy Darrell" in "What Will He Do With It?" has 
 the root of the matter in him, and I honor him as a man and 
 a Christian.' " 
 
 Lord Lytton again took the pipe from his mouth, made a 
 most profound bow, and broke into his " Haw — haw — haw." 
 
 I now arose to leave, feeling, that my call was already 
 probably too long. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 33 
 
 " What can I do for you ? " said he. 
 
 " If your Lordship can give me an order for admission to 
 the House of Lords, I should like much to hear the debates 
 on the disestablishment of the Irish Church. ' ' 
 
 He sat down, took half a sheet of note paper, on which 
 was his coronet, and wrote : 
 
 "Admit the bearer to the House of Lords. 
 
 "Lytton. July ." 
 
 He handed me the note and shook hands cordially, and I 
 turned and left the room. The servant met me in the 
 passage and showed me the way to the street. I need hardly 
 say that while a few shillings judiciously used will admit 
 any one to the House of Lords, I did not waste Bulwer's 
 note for that purpose, but retain it as a memento of my 
 visit. 
 
VIII. 
 John Todd. 
 
 In one corner of the library are gathered the books which 
 I like most, and which have had the most to do with my 
 life. Among them are three by one author — John Todd, 
 They are "The Student's Manual," "The Sabbath-school 
 Teacher " and "Lectures to Children ; " and although Todd 
 wrote many books, these, probably, will survive all the 
 others. "The Student's Manual" was written for college 
 students, and has been most widely circulated and read. 
 More than 150 editions of this book have been published in 
 English ; while it has been translated into German, Welsh, 
 French and many other languages. Its influence could not 
 be, and was not, limited to college students. Many a boy, 
 many a young man, never enrolled as a college student, has 
 read and studied that book over and over again. It has the 
 distinction of being not only the pioneer in the field, but of 
 having no successor or imitator. It stands alone. While a 
 young pastor in the city of Philadelphia, Mr. Todd wrote 
 and delivered weekly to the teachers in his own Sunday-school 
 a series of addresses, which were so popular and useful that 
 they were immediately collected and published here and in 
 England ; and if I were asked to name the book which is 
 well adapted to. give the teacher a large and liberal view of 
 the work, and which would fill his mind and heart with vast 
 conceptions of the good to be accomplished by this means, I 
 should say, "Todd's 'Sabbath-school Teacher.'" There 
 have been many followers in the path of this pioneer, and 
 (34) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 35 
 
 some most worthy, but none have excelled him in magnify- 
 ing that office which he did so much to illustrate. His 
 " Lectures to Children " were the first sermons of a popular 
 character to children ever published in this country. They 
 were translated into most of the languages of Europe, includ- 
 ing modern Greek, and have been printed in raised letters for 
 the blind. There is nothing superior, in their various lines, 
 to these books of Todd. 
 
 Who was the Rev. John Todd ? In the year 1836 a few 
 men and women of New England birth or parentage, con- 
 nected with the Presbyterian church on Arch street, near 
 Tenth, Philadelphia, having become dissatisfied with some 
 things in their own congregation, and desirous of introduc- 
 ing a New England church into Philadelphia, withdrew 
 from the Arch street church ; and having hired a hall on the 
 northeast corner of Eighth and Chestnut streets, they began 
 at once to have public worship, and gathered a Sunday- 
 school. They called their organization ' ' The First Congre- 
 gational Church of Philadelphia." New England Congre- 
 gationalism was unknown in Philadelphia, except as repre- 
 sented by the "First Unitarian Church," of which the Rev. 
 Dr. Furness was pastor, and the people separating from the 
 Arch street church were determined to have an orthodox 
 Congregational church. Their next thought was to get a 
 pastor. Mr. Todd was somewhat widely known even at that 
 early age as an author, but especially as the founder and 
 organizer of churches. At that time he was pastor of " The 
 Edwards Church," Northampton, Massachusetts, which he 
 had gathered and organized. He was invited to come to 
 Philadelphia and take the pastorate of the new Congrega- 
 tional church. This invitation, after much hesitation, he 
 accepted. The new congregation was duly organized ; Rev. 
 Albert Barnes' church having been offered for the services of 
 organization, and Mr. Todd was installed as pastor. Their 
 next need was a church building. This they erected on 
 
36 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Tenth street, below Spruce, depending almost wholly on 
 promises of the members to pay for it. The persons who 
 had so pledged themselves to pay for the church building 
 when it was finished, found themselves — towards the end of 
 1837, when the building was ready for dedication — unable to 
 fulfil their obligations. The panic of 1837, which swept 
 away the Bank of the United States and many other institu- 
 tions and firms all over the land, was felt very severely in 
 Philadelphia, and some of the people who had pledged them- 
 selves largely towards payment of the church building were 
 overthrown in the common distress. The church was fin- 
 ished, however, and dedicated in November. The night 
 of the dedication was one of violent rain, but the house was 
 filled. The musical services were most attractive, and the 
 pastor had thrown his best thought into the sermon, which 
 was undoubtedly able and strong; in fact, the best presentation 
 of Congregationalism that could be made in a city that was 
 distinguished as the headquarters of Presbyterianism. But, 
 unfortunately, in setting forth the distinctive characteristics 
 of his own church, the new pastor thought it necessary to 
 indulge in sharp criticism of almost all the other churches, 
 the result of which was that the sermon was thought to have 
 done far more harm than good. 
 
 The church was heavily mortgaged, and it does not take 
 long for a church under such a condition to become dis- 
 turbed in its internal arrangements. It was so in this in- 
 stance. The people fretted and worried under the burden 
 of the heavy incumbrance, and finally, after five years of 
 heroic effort on the part of the pastor and those who stood by 
 him, the church was obliged to disband, and the property 
 was sold under foreclosure. 
 
 During the short pastorate of Mr. Todd — less than six 
 years — he had succeeded in gathering more active, intel- 
 ligent, educated young men about him than could be found, 
 perhaps, in any other congregation in the city. He had the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 37 
 
 best equipped Sunday-school. He taught the teachers, reg- 
 ularly and faithfully, during the week the lesson they were 
 to teach their scholars on Sunday. He organized the first 
 Young Men's Christian Association ever organized in this 
 city, limiting it, however, to the young men of his own con- 
 gregation ; and he inaugurated a series of cottage prayer- 
 meetings, which up to that time had been practically 
 unknown here. He had the best volunteer choir to be 
 found in the city, and one of the most accomplished organ- 
 ists, a musical composer of acknowledged ability, Mr. George 
 Kingsley. But all these things availed naught. The church 
 was doomed, and its life soon came to an end. 
 
 In 1843 Mr. Todd was called to the First Congregational 
 Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he spent the rest 
 of his life, holding the pastorate of that congregation until 
 he was seventy years of age ; he having previously deter- 
 mined that should he live to that period he would resign 
 pastoral work. He was my first pastor, and I count it one 
 of the privileges of my life — my early life, for I was not 
 much more than a boy — to have sat under his ministry. I 
 heard almost every sermon he preached while in this city, 
 and took notes of very many of them. In a sense^-the gen- 
 eral sense of seeking to catch every word that fell from 
 his lips — I was his pupil. I was very much attached to him, 
 and from the time he left Philadelphia, in the midwinter of 
 i84i-'42, until his death, in 1873, I kept up an uninterr'upted 
 correspondence with him. His life and instructions were of 
 more value to ine than I can express in words. 
 
 Mr. Todd was educated at Yale, and received his theologi- 
 cal training at Andover Seminary. He was a Calvinist of 
 the sternest, strictest character, and yet holding these views 
 in theology, he had the rare faculty of availing himself of 
 the methods used by the New Schpol of Theology, for his 
 ministry in Philadelphia was characterized by revivals of re- 
 ligion and large ingatherings of converts from beginning to 
 
38 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 end. He was the strongest and most impressive preacher I 
 ever listened to. He had the fire and the fearlessness of 
 Jonathan Edwards himself. Once in a conversation I had 
 with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mr. Todd's name was men- 
 tioned, whyi Dr. Holmes said, " I always told Todd that he 
 ought to have been a Puritan colonel so that he might slash 
 the enemies of the Lord." 
 
 Dr. Todd was tall and straight. His short, black hair 
 stood on end. He wore glasses always, for he was near- 
 sighted, but his eyes were very keen. His voice was rough 
 to harshness, but his pulpit power was great. His style was 
 sometimes highly pictorial and even dramatic, and his sen- 
 tences always short. 
 
 The general effect of his preaching (his sermons were 
 almost entirely written and read) was that of a man who was 
 talking to you as an individual, and this style of composition 
 led him to think that his sermons would not read well : at 
 least he always refused to publish a volume of his sermons, 
 though often urged to do so. He said he ' ' could not bear 
 the thought of being the father of a dead child." 
 
IX. 
 
 Dean Stanley.* 
 
 Of all the shelves in my library, none is more attractive 
 for serious reading than that which holds the works of Arthur 
 Penrhyn Stanley, the Dean of Westminster. No writer in 
 the English Church in our time has made so large and so 
 valuable contributions to religious literature as Dr. Stanley. 
 The Church, whether Christian or Jewish, is rich in histori- 
 cal literature, but its readers have been mainly theological 
 students, whose curriculum has compelled them to wade 
 through turbid streams with little satisfaction. It has been 
 a common saying that church history is the least attractive 
 of all historical studies, but no one can now say this if he 
 has read any of the Dean of Westminster's lectures on the 
 Church, whether Jewish or Christian.. 
 
 The man who has done more than any man who has ever 
 lived to throw a flood of light on the history of the church, 
 from the days of Abraham to Christ, and who has reproduced 
 with marvellous beauty the scenes and the. characters of the 
 old time, is Dean Stanley. It is not merely the fascination of 
 his matchless style, clear and pure and pictorial beyond par- 
 allel, but there is 9. magnetism in the spirit of his teaching 
 which sends his hearers and readers to searching their book- 
 shelves to learn more of the subjects on which he has thrown, 
 if only in flashes, the light of his vast learning and eloquence. 
 
 Who is this man whose life devoted to sacred studies, 
 whose splendid genius cultivated in the best schools and 
 
 * October, 1878. 
 
 (39) 
 
40 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 chastened by deep sorrows, have made him foremost of all 
 Christian preachers ? 
 
 Arthur Stanley is the second son of an English Bishop, 
 Edward Stanley of Norwich, one of the most gentle and godly 
 men who ever wore a mitre. When fourteen years old he 
 was sent to Rugby, not long after the appointment of Arnold 
 as Head Master. Here he spent the full course of six years, 
 acquitting himself admirably, and winning the full confi- 
 dence of the Master. The relation between the young boy 
 and the great teacher was not merely that of pupil and 
 master, it was rather that of son and father. It was a true 
 affection ripening into full communion as the years passed, 
 and the Rugby boy became the Oxford student. Of the 
 many graduates of Rugby who have achieved distinction, 
 such as Hughes, Vaughan of the Temple, Lord Stanley, now 
 Earl of Derby, the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of New- 
 foundland, Professor Cunnington, Mr. Gosghen, Matthew 
 Arnold, none have written their names so high or in lines so 
 deep as Arthur Stanley. 
 
 He went from Rugby to Oxford, having obtained a scholar- 
 ship in Balliol College, where his course was, as might have 
 been expected, eminently successful. In his second year he 
 recited his prize poem in English, " The Gypsies, " "took 
 a first class in classics, gained the Latin prize essay in 1839, 
 and the English essay and theological prize in 1840." 
 
 He has held most important positions in the university and 
 in the church. He was a fellow and tutor of University 
 College. He was Secretary to the Oxford University Com- 
 mission, where he. did most essential service. He was made 
 Canon of Canterbury, some say as a reward for these faithful 
 services. He succeeded Prof Hussey as Regius Professor of 
 Ecclesiastical History at Oxford. He was examining chap- 
 lain to Dr. Tait, Bishop of London, Arnold's successor at 
 Rugby, and now Archbishop of Canterbury. He was 
 chaplain to the Prince of Wales, and having declined the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 41 
 
 Archbishopric of Dublin, was, in 1864, made Dean of 
 Westminster, the place he now so worthily holds. 
 
 His literary labors have been great, and have made his 
 name more widely known than that of any other living 
 preacher. The first course of sermons which he published 
 is that on the Apostolic Age — a work not so generally known 
 here as his subsequent works — but full of interest and those 
 graces of style which seem to be his natural expression. 
 
 It is in the preface to this book that he makes that singu- 
 lar acknowledgment, ' ' If there are fewer references than 
 might naturally have been expected to the name of one to 
 whom, though not living, this, as well as any similar work 
 which I may be called to undertake, must in great measure 
 be due, it is because I trust I may be allowed to take this 
 opportunity of vindicating, once for all, for the scholars of 
 Arnold the privilege and pleasure of using his words and 
 adopting his thoughts without the necessity of specifying, 
 in every instance, the sources from which they have been 
 derived. ' ' 
 
 This work was followed by his lectures on the Eastern 
 Church, of which the most brilliant perhaps are those on the 
 Council of Nic^a. Then his lectures on the Jewish Church 
 — first, second and third series — three volumes not equaled 
 by any other three in our language from one mind, in grace 
 and beauty of style, in vividness of description and in pic- 
 torial coloring. 
 
 Then follow, not in chronological order, but as they stand 
 on my shelves, his lectures on the Church of Scotland, which 
 so stirred up the "Auld Reekie" people and which brought 
 a swift rejoinder from Principal Rainy, of the Free Church. 
 Rutherford, Burns, Scott, all sources and authors are laid 
 under contribution for illustration in these lectures, which 
 are preceded by a sermon preached in the Old Grey Friar's 
 Church as an introduction to the course "On the Eleventh 
 Commandment : " "A new commandment I give unto you, 
 
42 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 that ye love one another," which is a splendid specimen 
 of the preacher's broad and liberal Christianity. 
 
 Then comes that charming book, Memorials of Westminster 
 Abbey — which is complete and exhaustive — done as no other 
 man could have done it ; then his Memorials of Canterbury 
 Cathedral of equal interest ; then his grand work on Sinai and 
 Palestine, only excelled by our own Robinson, and by him in 
 certain respects only ; then his sermons preached before the 
 Prince of Wales while traveling in Egypt and Palestine, etc. ; 
 then his essays on Church and State, a selection of his 
 articles from magazines and reviews, a few of which, some 
 of his friends think, ought not to have been reproduced ; 
 then his modest but excellent memoir of his father, Bishop 
 Stanley ; then his Commentary on the Epistles to the Co- 
 rinthians, which, for its clear exposition, its admirable para- 
 phrases, its most satisfactory dissertations and discussions, and 
 especially for its splendid introduction, placed it in the front 
 rank of all works on these grand epistles ; and, lastly, except 
 some smaller books, occasional sermons, etc. , his really grand 
 "Life of Arnold," probably the finest biography in our 
 language. 
 
 It was my good fortune in the summer of 1869 to spend 
 some time in London. On the first Sunday I went to West- 
 minster Abbey. Having been told that in order to hear the 
 sermon distinctly one must be very near the pulpit, I went 
 as early as half-past nine o'clock, and had to wait a little for 
 the gates to be opened. Quite a company had already 
 gathered at.the gates. But I was fortunate enough to get a seat 
 within a few feet of the pulpit, where I could not only hear 
 every word the speaker said, but could see the minutest ex- 
 pression of countenance. The music was good, though hardly 
 so good as that at St. Patrick's in Dublin or at York Minster. 
 The text was from Matthew v. 22, the Gospel of the day : 
 
 ' ' But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his 
 brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 43 
 
 but whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in 
 danger of the council, but whosoe.ver shall say, Thou fool, 
 shall be in danger of hell fire." 
 
 "I propose to speak of the words," he said, "after ex- 
 plaining their meaning, in their application to individuals, 
 churches and nations." He went on to say that the words 
 "Raca," "council," "judgment," "thoufool," "hell fire," 
 implied thoughts and images familiar to the people of the 
 day, but not so familiar to us. Our L,ord is speaking of sins 
 of the thoughts and of words. He speaks of causeless anger. 
 Anger is sometimes justifiable and right. No character is 
 perfect without it. The Lord Jesus was himself angry more 
 than once. But, never quarrel if you can possibly help it. 
 Keep from quarrels, which, if unchecked, may ultimately 
 lead to murder. But, under the feeling of anger, angry 
 words are spoken, such as "Raca," meaning "shallow, 
 thoughtless," a contemptuous expression and another step 
 in the scale of offence ; and then, just as the law of England 
 years ago regarded mere words as not treasonable, another 
 form of words is adopted still more mischievous, such as 
 "Thou fool ! " In the original this is not a Greek word, 
 but Hebrew or Syriac, "Moreh," and should have been 
 so rendered. Its proper meaning is rebel or heretic, and 
 it is the same word that Moses used when he said : "Hear, 
 now, ye rebels, must we bring you water? " for which offence 
 he was so severely punished. Though this word and 
 others of like character are beyond the reach of any earthly 
 tribunal, they may be so used as to convey the greatest 
 reproach. Hell-fire is, more properly, fire of the funeral 
 pile — the burning furnace of that dark accursed valley, 
 the draught-house of Jerusalem, whence the smoke of a 
 continual burning was ailways ascending. All such words as 
 ' ' Raca, " " Moreh, ' ' may have had a religious use once, but 
 are now irreligious and equivalent to cursing and swearing. 
 So far the explanation of the words of the text. 
 
44 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 In the general application, the Dean proceeded to say that 
 it is not the outward act merely, but the inward spirit which 
 God judges. Sometimes we are tempted to use strong lan- 
 guage ; we should check and restrain ourselves. We have 
 given up duelling and feudal barbarities in dungeons, as ab- 
 horrent to the spirit of this' enlightened Christian age ; but 
 so much the more should we give up the use of those insult- 
 ing words which set the soul on fire. We have given up 
 putting people to death for differing from us in religious 
 opinion ; and racks and tortures and the fires of Smithfield 
 are among' the things of the past ; but so much the more do 
 we need to be reminded that they who say "Moreh," 
 "rebel," "heretic," have no other object than to break up 
 Christian fellowship. The Valley of Hinnom was the proper 
 type and emblem of such views and words. 
 
 This warning of Christ, spoken first against individuals, 
 refers also to nations and churches. I^ook at the Christian 
 churches in their fulminations against each other. " Raca," 
 "Raca," Presbyterians against Prelatists, Prelatists against 
 Non-Conformists. Nations invent words of stinging reproach, 
 such as it is not proper to hear in this sacred place. The 
 check to all this is in the Saviour's words, " Thy brother." 
 Thy fellow-man is thy brother. Bach man in common life 
 has such relations. Each church has brotherly or sisterly 
 relations to other churches, which should induce kindly feel- 
 ings and a determination never to quarrel. 
 
 "One application, and the last which I make of this 
 subject," continued the dean, "is this : This is the Fourth 
 of July, the anniversary of American Independence, the day 
 which separated the Colonies from the Mother-country. On 
 such a day our Lord's warning has a peculiar meaning. 
 The sons of that Great Republic are our brothers in such a 
 sense as can be said of no other people — the same in race, in 
 language, in faith, in literature. 
 . ' ' During the fierce days of the Revolutionary struggle, such 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 45 
 
 bitter words as 'Raca,' 'Raca,' 'Rebel,' from one side, 
 'Tyrant,' from the other, were hurled across the Atlantic. 
 But those days are past, and we know how promptly and 
 cordially the new Ambassador was received at the court of 
 the old sovereign. And what American is there now, who 
 does not glory in our old English history, and feel that it is 
 his own! What Englishman does not feel proud of the once 
 dreaded name of Washington ! Woe ! woe ! to those, then, 
 on either side, who would stir up the ashes of the old dissen- 
 sions,, and blessed be the peace-makers who come forward 
 with the firm determination neither to give nor to take 
 offence. ' ' 
 
 It may readily be supposed that such sentiments are not 
 often heard from the pulpit in England, and probably were 
 never heard before in Westminster Abbey. The time and 
 the place alone repressed the applause which would certainly 
 have broken forth from the audience, for there were many 
 Americans present. While these notes of the sermon are 
 brief and disconnected, and give a very bare and incomplete 
 outline of it as a whole, the reference to America is about as 
 literal as could be taken without the aid of stenography. 
 
 During a brief interview with the Dean after the service, 
 when I expressed my great gratification at the pleasure not 
 only of hearing him, but of hearing such sentiments from 
 him, he said that it seemed the most natural and proper 
 conclusion to such a sermon on such a day, and he was most 
 happy to know that there were any Americans present to 
 hear him. 
 
 Such is the man who is so tenderly loved and so bitterly 
 hated in the English Church ; loved for his broad Christian 
 charity, comprehending " all who profess and call themselves 
 Christians," no matter what other name they bear; loved 
 for his own loye of all that is good and true, wherever 
 found ; loved for his magnificent contributions to that litera- 
 ture which is most worthy of study ; loved for his chivalrous 
 
46 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 advocacy of what he believes to be right ; and hated for his 
 liberal views of the interpretation of Scripture, for his 
 independent position in the church (he being the only Dean 
 who is not under a Bishop) and his bold assertions of that 
 position ; hated for his courageous course toward Colenso in 
 that unfortunate controversy ; hated because he shut the 
 doors of his grand old Abbey in the face of the Pan-Anglican 
 Council and opened them for an address from the German 
 layman and philosopher, Max Muller. 
 
X. 
 
 Jacob Abbott. 
 
 There are four books that I have read over and over 
 again, and always with unabated interest ; and it is of very 
 few books I can say so much. They are not much known 
 now, having passed somewhat out of view ; but with a more 
 or less extended acquaintance with this kind of literature, I 
 can frankly say that I have never read anything so good. 
 They are : " The Young Christian, or a Familiar Exposi- 
 tion of the Principles of Christian Duty;" "The Corner 
 Stone : a Familiar Exposition of the Principles of Christian 
 Truth ; " " The Way to Do Good ; or the Christian Char- 
 acter Mature ; " and " Hoaryhead and McDonner." 
 
 These are works of the Rev. Jacob Abbott, a clergyman of 
 the Congregational church, who was born about the begin- 
 ning of this century, and who died in Maine in the year 
 1871. 
 
 Mr. Abbott wrote more books, so far as I know, than any 
 other man. There is a catalogue of at least 180 distinct 
 books, some of them, in fact most of them, very small books 
 intended for children and young people. 
 
 Besides this he was joint author and editor of many more 
 volumes. His life was devoted to making literature for young 
 people, after he ceased teaching school as a principal. He 
 was the founder of the Mt. Vernon school in Boston, and one 
 of the most successful and distinguished teachers of his time. 
 
 The book by which Mr. Abbott was most widely known, 
 in this country as well as in England, was, "The Corner 
 Stone." When he came before a council of the Congrega- 
 
 (47) 
 
4g A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY, 
 
 tional church for ordination to the ministry of that body, 
 there was some hesitation on their part as to whether he 
 should be ordained or not. Certain of the views of Christian 
 truth which he had presented in that book were believed not 
 to be in strict accord with the orthodoxy of that day, and for 
 some time it was very doubtful whether he would pass a 
 satisfactory examination for ordination. He did so, however, 
 and at once entered upon a pastorate in Roxborough. In 
 England this book made quite a stir, and attracted ex- 
 traordinary attention, especially from two sources — Thomas 
 Arnold, the famous head-master of the Rugby School, and 
 also from a writer in the Oxford "Tracts for the Times." 
 This writer was supposed to be Dr. Pusey, and he criticised 
 Mr. Abbott's views of religious truth with the most positive 
 objections. Indeed the writer classed Mr. Abbott with the 
 well-known Thos. Erskine, of Linlathen, a Scotch writer, a 
 layman, who was supposed to be quite far away from the 
 strict lines of orthodoxy. The title of the tract in which the 
 criticism appeared was, ' ' Rationalism in Religion ; ' ' and 
 it was a most severe criticism of Mr. Abbott's book. Some 
 time after the publication of this article Mr. Abbott was 
 in England, and he went to Oxford for the purpose of seeing 
 and talking with Dr. Pusey. Not finding him there, but 
 hearing that Dr. Newman was at Littlemore, two or three 
 miles out of Oxford, he walked out to that village, and went 
 into St. Mary's, where Dr. Newman was holding the regular 
 morning service. From the hotel, immediately after service, 
 he wrote Dr. Newman a note, stating that he was passing 
 rapidly through England, and would be very glad if he 
 might be permitted to call upon him at some hour before 
 noon of the following day, when he intended to leave Oxford; 
 This brought a very prompt reply from Dr. Newman, asking 
 Mr. Abbott to call at once, if it were convenient. In the in- 
 terview which followed, which was an hour or more in 
 length, Mr. Abbott discovered that Dr. Pusey was not the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 49 
 
 author of the tract in question, but that it had been written 
 by Dr. Newman. 
 
 With great frankness, towards the close of the interview, 
 Mr. Abbott admitted, that possibly some of the expressions 
 in the statements of truth as presented by him were un- 
 guarded, and if he could have had such an interview as this 
 before he had written the criticised book he probably would 
 have put some of his statements in a different form ; while, 
 however, he held very firmly to his views of the truth 
 essentially. In return Dr. Newman expressed regret that 
 possibly in his treatment of the book, in the tract referred to, 
 he might have gone beyond the lines of prudence, and have 
 said some things which were personally offensive ; and if such 
 were the case he would be very glad to withdraw them. 
 The interview was extremely interesting, and very creditable 
 to both parties, although neither one was drawn to the views 
 held by the other. Dr. Newman, however, was so much 
 impressed with the candor and Christian character of Mr. 
 Abbott, that when the interview ended, and Mr. Abbott rose 
 to leave. Dr. Newman not only followed him to the door, but, 
 taking his hat and cane, walked across two or three fields 
 with him, as he said to show him a shorter road to Oxford, 
 but in reality for the purpose of prolonging the conversation. 
 A newspaper of the day got hold of a part of this story, and 
 published it, very much to the embarrassment of Dr. New- 
 man, and not entirely to the credit of Mr. Abbott. Dr. 
 Newman very promptly came out over his own signature, 
 in the next issues of the paper, and corrected the misstate- 
 ments ; expressing his sincere regret that Mr. Abbott should 
 ever see the paper which so misrepresented the interview, and 
 be pained by it. 
 
 The other English author who was attracted by Mr. 
 Abbott's books was the distinguished head master of Rugby, 
 Thomas Arnold. In the autumn of 1833, °^ the publica- 
 tion of the "Young Christian," Arnold had written to 
 
50 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Abbott, expressing great admiration of the little book, and 
 as they are both engaged in the work of education, he hopes 
 Mr. Abbott will forgive the liberty a stranger takes in 
 addressing him. He goes on to speak of the importance to 
 the welfare of- mankind that the people of the United States 
 should be a God-fearing people. And he concludes by 
 sending Mr. Abbott a volume of Rugby School Sermons, 
 and another little book of his, for no other reason than the 
 pleasure of submitting his views on great questions to the 
 judgment of a mind, furnished morally and intellectually, 
 as Mr. Abbott's must be. 
 
 A year after, writing to Chevalier Bunsen, he says, "I 
 have been much delighted with two American works which 
 have had a large circulation in England, 'The Young 
 Christian,' and 'The Corn'er Stone,' by Jacob Abbott, of 
 New England. They are very original and powerful, and 
 the American illustrations, whether borrowed from scenery, 
 or the manners of the people, are very- striking. " 
 . But some time after this, probably, is a footnote to an 
 appendix to one of his sermons, speaking of " The Corner 
 Stone ' ' again ; he says ' ' the writer is so anxious to repel 
 ' anthropomorphic notions of a monarch on a throne of 
 marble and gold, with crown and sceptre, and sitting in a 
 fancied region which we call Heaven, ' ' that he ventures to 
 describe "the all pervading Power which lives and acts 
 throughout the whole universe." 
 
 Dr. Arnold thinks Mr. Abbott's language is not sufficiently 
 guarded here, and fe^-rs that, from such expression, some 
 erroneous opinions have been entertained concerning the 
 Divine Nature. 
 
 Three or four years after this, Arnold, in writing to a 
 friend, says: "Jacob Abbott's last work, 'The Way to Do 
 Good,' will, I think, please you very much: with some 
 Americanisms, not of language, but of mind, it is yet delight- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 51 
 
 ful to read a book so good and so sensible, so zealous for 
 what is valuable, so fair about what is indifferent." 
 
 It was a long time ago, and I was not much more than a 
 lad. I had recently connected myself with the church, and 
 had formed the habit of spending many of my evenings in 
 my own room. ' I was away from my father's house, and 
 living in a small family of non-church-going people. 
 
 One of the members of the family was a lady in middle 
 life, a fashionable dressmaker, who rarely, if ever, went to 
 church, but who spent her Sunday mornings in resting and 
 her afternoons and evenings in reading novels. In the late 
 winter and early spring she was so driven by the exacting 
 demands of her patrons that it was her habit to work far into 
 the night, and every night. 
 
 Either her sympathy for the lonely youth, or the desire 
 that her labors might be lightened by the entertainment of 
 reading, perhaps both considerations, led her to ask me to sit 
 in her work-room in the evenings, surrounded as she was by 
 her young apprentices, and read to her. I complied without 
 hesitation, and she gave me properly the choice of books. 
 There was lying on a table in the parlor a copy of ' ' The 
 Corner Stone," by Jacob Abbott. How the book ever got 
 there is a marvel. It was a strange book to me and I knew 
 nothing ot the author. The first chapter interested the 
 reader almost as much as the listener. The interest deepened 
 as the reading went on. No question was ever raised or 
 thought of being raised as to the orthodoxy of the book. 
 We were simply led on from chapter to chapter, and from 
 evening to evening, until the book was finished. Some 
 weeks, because of many interruptions, were consumed in 
 the readings, and at the end the evenings had become shorter, 
 and the readings were not resumed until the following 
 autumn. Long before the readings ended, however, I ob- 
 served that the lady began to go to church. I do not now 
 
52 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 remember that she ever spoke a word to me concerning 
 any change in her feelings until once she expressed a 
 desire to have a conversation with my pastor. An appoint- 
 ment was made with him. I took her to his house, intro- 
 duced her to him, and left them together. At the next com- 
 munion season she made a profession of religion, at- 
 tributing the beginning of her change of heart to the 
 reading of Abbott's " Corner Stone. " It was a real change. 
 The poor woman, working day and night with small remu- 
 neration ; living for this world only ; the future of this life 
 hopeless, grinding toil, with no light from the next world to 
 brighten it — becomes suddenly a child of God, a follower 
 of Christ, bright, cheerful and hopeful ; and living ever 
 afterwards the life of a humble disciple of Him whom she 
 found to be the chief ' ' Corner Stone. ' ' 
 
XI. 
 Henry Alford — Albert Barnes. 
 
 The intelligence has reached us (January, 1871) by the 
 ocean telegraph of the death of Henry Alford, the Dean of 
 Canterbury. All that we know is, that it was a sudden 
 death. 
 
 All over England this announcement will produce pro- 
 found sensation, not only because he was a high dignitary 
 of the Church, but because of his place in the world of let- 
 ters, and of his pure and exalted personal character. In the 
 year 1857 he received the appointment of Dean of Canter- 
 bury, and since that time his pen has never been idle. The 
 later volumes of his Greek Testament have been given to the 
 world in this time — a work deservedly occupying the highest 
 rank. This was followed by his " New Testament for Eng- 
 lish Readers," which "was undertaken with a view to put 
 the English reader, whose knowledge is confined to our own 
 language, in possession' of some of the principal results of the 
 labors of critics and scholars on the sacred text." How well 
 he succeeded in that undertaking is known to those who use 
 that invaluable work. It may well be doubted whether any 
 commentary on the whole of the New Testament has ever 
 appeared in England which for conciseness without obscur- 
 ity, for solid learning, for clearness of statement, for honest 
 admission of difficulties, for soundness of criticism, for that 
 happy medium between advanced principles of interpretation 
 and sound orthodoxy, is the equal of this ' ' New Testament 
 for English Readers." Ellicott and Lightfoot and Davies 
 
 (53) 
 
54 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 and Trench and Stanley and Jowett may have brought a 
 profounder learning to certain portions of the New Testa- 
 ment, but Alford has covered the whole volume with light. 
 Nor should it be forgotten that the little volumes, " How to 
 Study the New Testament," gathered from monthly contri- 
 butions to the Sunday Magazine^ are among the most valu- 
 able aids that have ever been given for this purpose. Most 
 clergymen and all Sunday-school teachers would do well to 
 avail themselves of these little books. 
 
 Probably no man in England has done as much to stimu- 
 late and encourage the study of the Scriptures, and make the 
 Bible plain to the comprehension of plain minds, as Dean 
 Alford. And what higher praise can there be than this ? 
 He has published many volumes of sermons — sermons, too, 
 which were worth publishing ; not striking, startling or sen- 
 sational, but sound, practical and Scriptural. In his college 
 days at Cambridge he was somewhat addicted to poetry. 
 Some beautiful hymns and one or two volumes of verses 
 attest his interest and success in this direction. At this time 
 he was in close intimacy with Tennysou, to whom he has 
 dedicated the latest collection of his poems. There is a very 
 playful vein in some of these pieces, and especially in one 
 which he calls "A I,etter to America," addressed to his 
 friend Hale, in February, 1862, in the height of our war, in 
 the course of which he says, playfully, some things which 
 we could not well bear to hear then,. but which strike us as 
 more tolerable and truthful now. 
 
 There appeared in Dr. Guthrie's Sunday Magazine^ a 
 most valuable periodical, a series of papers called " Fireside 
 Homilies ' ' by the Dean of Canterbury. They are supposed 
 to be familiar talks on Sunday evenings with his children on 
 certain passages of Scripture. One was on that passage, 
 ' ' Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he 
 foUoweth not us, and we forbade him because he foUoweth 
 not us," in which he teaches most lovingly the doctrine of 
 
A TOUK ROUND MY LIBRARY. 55 
 
 Christian charity, toleration towards those who differ from 
 us in our views of Christian truth if they follow Christ. 
 The familiar homily was suggested by the storm of indigna- 
 tion which raged in certain quarters in England because, at 
 the first meeting of the Commission now in session at West- 
 minster for the revision of the authorized version of the 
 Scriptures, a Unitarian clergyman, a member of the body, 
 partook of the Sacrament of the lyord's Supper with his col- 
 leagues preparatory to the commencement of that work. No 
 better lesson was ever more kindly given than the rebuke 
 which Alford administered to that feeling of jealousy and 
 intolerance which the Saviour himself rebuked so plainly. 
 Another homily was on the subject of the words : ' ' Why 
 was this waste of the ointment made ? For this ointment 
 might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, 
 and given to the poor. ' ' But the Saviour rebuked the com- 
 plaint, and commended in the very highest terms the poor 
 ■woman who broke the alabaster box of ointment, and said : 
 "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the 
 whole world, this also that this woman hath done shall be 
 spoken of for a memorial of her, ' ' thus teaching that nothing 
 is too costly or too valuable to be given to Christ and his 
 cause. 
 
 A little more than a year ago I spent a Sunday in Can- 
 terbury. There were but two Sundays left of my long 
 vacation, and I determined to spend one in the old city of 
 Canterbury, that I might, if possible, see and hear Dean 
 Alford ; and the other in the city 'of Chester, that I might, 
 if possible, see and hear Dean Howson, the author of that 
 great work, "The Life and Epistles of Sf Paul." The 
 Cathedral at Canterbury is very old and grand. Its history 
 is the history of England from far back in the middle ages ; 
 for it was here that St. Augustine, a prior from a convent in 
 Rome and sent by Gregory the Great, landed and preached 
 the Gospel nearly thirteen hundred years ago. The little 
 
56 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Church of St. Martin's, on the hill overlooking the old city, 
 is built of Roman bricks, probably as old as the second 
 century, and is said to be the spot where Christianity was 
 first preached in Great Britain. 
 
 In the Cathedral the famous Thomas d Becket was assas- 
 sinated, and here for many years hundreds of thousands of 
 weary pilgrims trod their way to his shrine and offered their 
 devotions. And here was the first Archbishop's throne set 
 up ; here was the first connection of Church and State, which 
 for more than 1,200 years, Roman Catholic and Protestant, 
 has continued the established Church of England. 
 
 I went to the Sunday morning service at the Cathedral, 
 but Alford did not preach. In the afternoon I went again. 
 His sermon was very plain and simple. The text was from 
 Isaiah: "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem 
 of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. ' ' It was 
 an Advent sermon, and was appropriate to the time. I re- 
 member being struck with his modesty in giving another 
 rendering of the passage when he said that " those who are 
 familiar with the original, say that this passage might per- 
 haps more accurately be translated," etc., etc. 
 
 I had a note of introduction to him from the Bishop of 
 British Columbia — a fellow-passenger in our ship — but it was 
 mislaid. I sent in my card, however, after the service, with 
 a word of explanation. He came out of the Chapter House 
 and greeted me in the most cordial manner. I shall never 
 forget his appeiarance. He was above the middle height, full 
 set, with a countenance expressing great dignity and kindness, 
 full gray eyes, regular features, and the lower part of his face 
 covered with a heavy flowing beard, quite un-English, 
 slightly mingled with gray. Neither can I forget the kind- 
 ness with which he pointed out the beauties of the Cathe- 
 dral (one of the finest in England), nor his leading me across 
 the Close to his residence, the Deanery, adjoining the Cathe- 
 dral, and into his library. Oh ! such a library ! — his work- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 57 
 
 shop as he called it — a large, square room, full of books — 
 books on the walls, books in alcoves, book-laden tables, and 
 lounges covered with books ; with a blazing fire of sea-coal 
 in a grate (it was late in November), and the whole room 
 flooded with gas-light — the most beautiful room, except one, 
 that I ever saw ; nor can I forget his reference to Mr. Barnes 
 and his " Notes," which were on his shelves, nor his taking 
 down a volume of his own . ' ' Sermons on Christian Doc- 
 trines, ' ' and presenting it to me as a memento of my visit, 
 with my name written by him with his own on the fly-leaf. 
 
 It seems hard to realize that he is dead ; that a man so vig- 
 orous in appearance, so full of life, so solid and substantia], 
 so full of good works, with ten. years yet before he had ful- 
 filled his threescore and ten, should so suddenly have been 
 called away, when in our poor judgment he is so much 
 needed. In the early days of the new year, while full of 
 plans for the coming year (he was a leading member of the 
 commission for the revision of the Scriptures), God sends his 
 messenger, and the summons must be obeyed. 
 
 So in the last days of the old year our own Mr. Barnes was 
 called from us. His work was finished. He was gathered 
 as a shock of corn, fully ripe. 
 
 There are some circumstances which closely associate these 
 two distinguished men in our minds. They both died sud- 
 denly ; they both had spent their lives in the service of Christ, 
 in preaching his gospel, and in writing commentaries to un- 
 fold his word and make it plain to others ; they had both 
 suffered severe and harsh criticism, and both had endured it 
 in the spirit of their Master ; they were both engaged in 
 doing good to the very last, and died in the full possession of 
 their faculties. The one ascended from the sacred precincts 
 of the venerable Cathedral ; the other passed away in the 
 house of a friend a moment after entering it. " He went out 
 about as far as to Bethany, and while they beheld He was 
 parted from them and was carried up into heaven." 
 
58 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Dean Alford was not a High Churchman, nor a L,ow 
 Churchman, nor a Broad Churchman, in an extreme sense, 
 nor did he anathematize those who were ; he was a sound, con- 
 servative preacher and writer, always holding forth the doc- 
 trine of free grace and salvation by faith in Christ. Sharp 
 and bitter things have been said of him because he dared to 
 say that in the advanced state of modern learning, and 
 Biblical science and Oriental researches, and the discovery 
 of ancient manuscript copies of the Scriptures, a better trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures might now be made than the 
 authorized version ; but he held on his way unawed until he 
 began to draw all scholars to his views. 
 
 Mr. Barnes was persecuted almost unto death because he 
 preached the doctrines that all who would, might repent and 
 be saved ; that Christ died for all ; and that men were lost, 
 not because there was any necessity for it, but because they 
 would not come unto Christ and be saved. 
 
 He lived to see the day when almost a revolution has taken 
 place in this respect, when all pulpits hold forth the doctrines 
 of free grace, and when the statements of a limited atonement 
 are confined to quarterly reviews, which few read. 
 
 Dean Alford' s crowning work is his Commentary on the 
 New Testament, a work which is not likely to be supplanted 
 for many a day ; the only drawback to which is, that it is so 
 costly that it cannot be in everybody's hands. 
 
 But the man who has done more than any other one man 
 in our own time, or in any other time, to make the study of 
 the Scriptures comparatively easy, reducing them to the com- 
 prehension of plain, uneducated minds, is he who so lately 
 walked in and out among us — Albert Barnes. He was the 
 pioneer, and therefore the most original in this, the most im- 
 portant of all the fields of literature. His notes on the New 
 Testament, written in the midst of the duties and trials of a 
 most laborious pastoral charge, have been scattered far and 
 wide wherever the English language is spoken, and have 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 69 
 
 been translated into many other languages ; and thousands 
 of Sunday-school teachers are at this day preparing their 
 lessons with the help of these admirable volumes. Their 
 circulation is not limited to the Presbyterian Church. I 
 have seen them in the study of one of the most learned and 
 critical commentators of the English Church, an Archbishop, 
 and in the hands of plain mechanics, teaching in a humble 
 school in a Methodist church in the ancient city of York ; and 
 not many years ago the rector of one of the most ritualistic 
 Episcopal churches in this city said that he had put a copy 
 of Barnes' Notes in the hands of all his Sunday-school 
 teachers. 
 
 Almost all the commentaries on the Sacred Scriptures that 
 have been published within the last thirty-five years have 
 been modeled on Mr. Barnes's plan, and he is therefore en- 
 titled to the credit of originating that plan. 
 
 The Cathedral of Canterbury was filled with a vast crowd 
 while the service of the Church of England was said ovei: the 
 body of the honored and beloved Dean. High dignitaries 
 of the church followed in the long procession that wound 
 through the narrow streets of the quaint old city to the 
 grave-yard around St. Martin's on the Hill, where after sing- 
 ing his own hymn. 
 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand, 
 
 they laid his worn body to rest, and on the stone which is 
 to cover the grave, will, by his own direction, be engraved 
 these words : — 
 
 Deversorium Viatoris Hierosolvman Proficiscentis, 
 
 i. e., The Inn of a traveler on his way to Jerusalem. 
 
 The stormy day and the bad condition of the streets did 
 not hinder a vast crowd from filling the First Presbyterian 
 
60 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Church, at the funeral of Mr. Barnes, to testify their respect 
 and affection for the man, most of whose life was lived in this 
 city and in this church : a life of singular simplicity, beauty 
 and devotion. Clergymen of all the Protestant branches of 
 the Church were present. Bishop Stevens in tender and 
 appropriate words expressed to the great congregation his 
 sense of the loss the whole community had sustained. The 
 simple funeral service of the Presbyterian Church was most 
 impressive and tender, and the body was borne to Laurel 
 Hill for its final resting place. 
 
 Henry Alford — Albert Barnes — how can the church afford 
 to lose such men ? How can the great head of the Church 
 make up to us our loss ? 
 
 " My Father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! " 
 
XII. 
 Frederick D. Maurice. 
 
 There is hardly any better testimony to the life and 
 writings of one who has been dead for twenty years or more 
 than the fact that Macmillan & Co. have brought out, in an 
 unusually beautiful style, six volumes of sermons preached 
 in Lincoln's Inn Chapel by Frederick Dennison Maurice. 
 The pages of these volumes are so attractive that in turning 
 them over, one lingers as if unwilling to let them pass with- 
 out reading them entirely. But why should not these beauti- 
 ful volumes be illustrated by a portrait of the author ? and 
 with some prefatory note as to why they are published now? 
 The title-page says it is a new edition ; but the admirers of 
 the author in this country (not very many possibly) are not 
 familiar with the sermons in this form. The list of the ser- 
 mons in the first volume is particularly attractive, the first 
 five being called Eucharistic sermons ; the others on practical 
 subjects from texts chiefly from the New Testament. 
 
 I am indebted to a friend in London for an engraved like- 
 ness of Mr. Maurice. It represents a man somewhat past 
 middle life, with clearly defined features, and eyes full of 
 earnestness and tenderness that seem to be looking for some- 
 thing w.e do not see. It is a remarkable face. Sweetness 
 and purity, strength and beauty are most strongly impressed 
 on those features. Frederick Dennison Maurice was one of 
 the foremost men of his time ; one of the best known yet the 
 least known of English churchmen. He was a broad 
 churchman, one of the leaders, if not the founder, of that 
 school of theology. If he did not himself originate that 
 
 ■(61J 
 
62 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 school, he was at heart regarded as the most original of that 
 class of men which included Archbishop Whateley, Arnold 
 of Rugby, Jowett of Balliol, Dean Stanley, Robertson of 
 Brighton, Charles Kingsley, Rowland Williams and Dean 
 Alford in the English Church; whose counterparts in the Kirk 
 of Scotland were Principal TuUoch, Robert Lee of Grey 
 Friars, Norman McLeod, Story of Rosen eath, John Service 
 and Robertson Smith. 
 
 He was a professor for many years at King's College in 
 London ; principal of the Working Men's College there ; 
 chaplain at Lincoln's Inn for a time, holding when he died 
 the chair of moral philosophy at Cambridge. He was a 
 laborious worker and indefatigable and patient thinker, the 
 almost unconscibus possessor of enormous mental power, the 
 leader of a school of thought as diverse as the poles from 
 the Oxford heresy, yet not entirely free from another form of 
 heresy himself. 
 
 If he may be said to be the founder of a school of theology, 
 he hardly knew it, for his mind and heart were so entirely 
 engrossed in lecturing and preaching, so thoroughly in 
 earnest in communicating truth as he understood it, that he 
 did not stop to inquire what use his pupils and hearers would 
 make of his views, only he was anxious almost to distress 
 that they should receive liberal views of religious thought. 
 He did more, perhaps, than any other man in England to 
 stimulate activity of thought and independence of expression- 
 He did not rise to high preferment in the English Church, 
 for his teachings in some important respects were not con- 
 sidered orthodox ; but he lived a life of most extraordinar}' 
 beauty and purity, a life of unusual labor, and has left behind 
 him a score of volumes of teachings, which have helped to 
 mould some of the brightest minds in the Church of England. 
 
 I refer to Maurice to show how a man thoroughly in earnest 
 could leave the impression of his mind on all who came 
 within his reach not only, but who by the force of his char- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 63 
 
 acter as a teacher actually, though unconsciously, developed 
 and enlarged a school of religious thought which has been a 
 most potent factor in theology. 
 
 His views of theology have hardly yet found a large fol- 
 lowing in America, but the materials are not wanting and may 
 be discerned in the teachings of such men as Professor 
 E"ggs, Lyman Abbott, Beecher, Newman Smyth, Hunger, 
 Bishop Brooks, and others. 
 
 A life so laborious, so self-denying, so hidden with Christ 
 in God, had its appropriate ending. As long as he had 
 strength he preached from the pulpit of his own church, 
 St. Edward's, Cambridge ; a living to which he was presented 
 the last year of his life ; a parish with no salary ; and when 
 no longer able to go out he gave a lecture at home. 
 
 During his last illness he hardly ever awoke in the night 
 without repeating aloud the Lord's prayer, and "the grace of 
 our Lord, " or " Praise God from all whom all blessings flow. ' ' 
 When, in answer to the question asked of his physician 
 whether his life was a question of days or of hours, he was 
 told "not days," he prepared at once to receive the commun- 
 ion. Afterwards he talked much and very rapidly, as if he 
 still had much to say ; when one said, "Speak slowly," he 
 went on speaking, but more and more indistinctly, till sud- 
 denly he made a great efibrt to gather himself up, and after 
 a pause he said slowly and distinctly : ' ' The knowledge of 
 the love of God, the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, 
 the Spn, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, amongst us, 
 and remain with us forever. ' ' He never spoke again. In 
 one instant all consciousness was gone. 
 
 ■ It may indeed be true, that while at least in his larger and 
 more philosophical works, or even in his theological essays, 
 his style was obscure and not easily comprehended by very 
 plain minds, yet this can hardly be said of some of his books 
 which were intended for plain people, and which have done 
 so much to make him read now so long after his death. His 
 
64 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 "Family Worship," a dialogue between a layman and a 
 clergyman, the latter speaking his own thoughts ; his "Ser- 
 mons on the Ivord's Prayer ; " his little "Manual for Parents 
 and Schoolmasters," being very short talks on the Lord's 
 Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, the language 
 of which he hopes ' ' will be intelligible to any child ; ' ' his 
 discourses on the Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament, 
 and perhaps some other volumes,. are surely not liable to the 
 charge of obscurity and indefiniteness. 
 
 These are the books which I love to recall, and one of 
 which, at least, I have read more than once. 
 
 Stanley speaks of him as "the noble-hearted man, who, 
 whatever may be thought of the obscurity of his style, the 
 insufficiency of his arguments, or the erroneousness of some 
 of his conclusions, is perhaps the best example that this age 
 can show of that deep prophetic fervor, of that power of 
 apostolic sympathy, which awakens not the less because it 
 often fails to satisfy ; which edifies not the less because it 
 often fails to convince." 
 
XIII. 
 A Memory of the East. 
 
 I HAVE drawn my chair up to the fire, for it is winter 
 weather. It is too early to light the gas. The red glow of 
 the anthracite coals throws a deep crimson light over such 
 parts of the room as are within its range, illuminating the 
 large San Sisto Madonna on the opposite wall, while the 
 shadows are very deep. The wind, which has been high all 
 day, has not " gone down with the sun," but roars through 
 the leafless branches of the trees and beats against the win- 
 dows, as if it too wanted to get near the fire. Alas for the 
 poor wretches who are exposed to the wind on such a night. 
 I think of the car drivers, the post men, the messenger boys, 
 the many workers in offices, shops and mills going home at 
 the end of the day' s toil, through the slippery streets, and of 
 all the people who are compelled to be out in such weather. 
 
 And my thoughts go further. The blazing coals suggest 
 figures. I seem to see a ship in the Mediterranean, rolling 
 and plunging on her way from Italy to Egypt. There is a 
 gale from the northeast, such as drove St. Paul's ship to her 
 doom. But this ship is crossing that path going southeast. 
 I look more closely ; and in the early morning I see two 
 persons on the deck. They have just come up from below. 
 No comfort there, for the ship is rolling heavily. 
 
 One is a young man of slight form and dark complexion ; 
 the other is past middle life, and both apparently uncom- 
 fortable from yesterday's storm. In the older person I recog- 
 nize myself. I am leaning towards the young man as we sit 
 on the bench and with that desire for companionship which 
 5 (65) 
 
66 A TOUR KOUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 even seasickness, except in a violent form, does not entirely 
 destroy, I ask the young man if lie speaks English. He 
 replies that he does. We enter into a conversation, which, 
 to me at least, becomes very interesting. 
 
 From the long ago come the echoes of our voices — will 
 you listen to them ? 
 
 I learned that he was an East Indian who had spent three 
 years in England and now was on his way back to Calcutta. 
 He had been at Oxford, and while not a member of the 
 University had had the advantage of the laboratories in 
 his studies of Physical Science. He had paid his fees, he 
 said, but had attended few or no lectures and had not sub- 
 mitted to any examination. His real education had been in 
 Calcutta. 
 
 To my question whether Christianity was making any 
 progress in India he replied, "Numerically, yes; in real 
 religious power, no. ' ' 
 
 "But I do not believe in Christianity," he continued, 
 ' ' although I believe that Jesus was a Prophet. The mission- 
 aries come among the common people, but they are so far 
 above them in the social scale, live in so much better style 
 in their fine houses, etc. , that the people are not drawn to 
 them." 
 
 " You mean the English missionaries," I said, "for surely 
 this is not true of all." 
 
 ' ' The English and Scotch , ' ' said he. ' ' I see no difference. ' ' 
 
 I spoke of the American missionaries as being of another 
 stamp, but he did not seem to know of them. 
 
 "When your missionaries come to us," he said, " we ask, 
 ' What message do you bring us ? What can you tell us that 
 we do not already know ? What is your gospel ? How is 
 your religion better than ours ? ' Then they begin to preach 
 discourses on the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. 
 But we do not want the doctrine of the Trinity, we do not 
 want theological discourses, we want practical religion. We 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 67 
 
 look and we see that the Christian inissiouaries live above 
 us, and not amongst us, not with us. We look to see some 
 of the self-denial that their Saviour came to introduce. 
 Buddhism has its Trinity, so has Brahma its Trinity : we want 
 something better if you can give it, — self-denial, suffering for 
 the good of others. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Have you read the Christian Scriptures carefully ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes, more or less, especially the New Testament. But 
 the Scriptures are written in Eastern metaphor and are not 
 to be interpreted literally. ' ' 
 
 "But the Sermon on the Mount," said I, "that is more 
 didactic than figurative ; you must approve heartily of its 
 teachings." 
 
 ' ' Yes, ' ' said he, "I do, and what is needed is that believers 
 in your faith should live according to those teachings." 
 
 "They do," I said ; "there are many, very many, whether 
 ydu have met them or not, who are trying to live just as the 
 New Testament teaches. 
 
 ' ' Do you believe in God ? " I continued, ' ' a first great 
 cause who created all things, a personal God ? ' ' 
 
 " I do not know. I can form no conception of God. I 
 cannot give him form or shape." 
 
 ' ' God is a Spirit : he can have no shape or form. ' ' 
 
 "Then how can I conceive of a Spirit?" 
 
 '■' But you can think of Christ as coming into the world, 
 sent to save sinners." 
 
 " Yes, but is he God? His character and life were most 
 beautiful and his teachings were noble and grand. Even 
 Renan, the French writer, could say all manner of beautiful 
 things about his life and character and teachings, but I can- 
 not conceive of a God such as Christians worship. After all, 
 what is there beyond this life? " 
 
 " Does not Jesus most distinctly teach," I said, " that the 
 soul is immortal ? ' ' 
 
68 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 "If you take his teachings literally, yes," said he, " but 
 I do not know whether they are to be taken literally. 
 Besides, what is the soul ? ' ' 
 
 And then he went off into metaphysics where I could not 
 folio whim. He seemed to be familiar with Haegelism, 
 Kantism, Darwinism, Spencerism, Huxleyism and all the 
 other modern isms of which I have heard. 
 
 " Your philosophy is a sad one," said I, "if it gives you 
 no hope of another and better life than this." 
 
 ' ' Perhaps it is, ' ' he replied, ' ' but I am not sure whether 
 there can be another life. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Have you no dread of death ? ' * 
 
 ' ' None whatever ; in fact, it is a matter of indifference 
 whether I live or die. I rather think I should prefer to 
 die. What is there to live for? Before I left Oxford I 
 started a night-school into which I had gathered twenty-six 
 plain, poor people. I told them I would give them my time, 
 but they must pay for the lights, fuel, etc., so I charged them 
 two pence a week. Now I am called away to undertake some 
 educational work in India. Why could I not remain and 
 work with my Oxford people ? What is life to me or to any 
 one?" 
 
 So we talked from time to time as we sat or walked up 
 and down the deck. I tried in my poor way to show him a 
 better faith than he knew of. 
 
 Once as we talked he related the following incident: "I 
 was at a company one evening at Oxford. There was music 
 which I did not understand and could not enjoy, and the time 
 was passing so heavily with me that I took up a book to 
 amuse myself, when a young lady sat down at the piano and 
 sang the following. And then he recited these words : 
 
 Seated one day at an organ, 
 
 I was weary and ill at ease ; 
 My fingers wandered idly 
 
 Over the noisy keys. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 69 
 
 I know not what I was playing, 
 
 Or what I was dreaming then ; 
 But I struck one chord of music 
 
 Like the sound of a grand Amen. 
 
 It flooded the crimson twilight 
 
 Like the close of an angel's psalm ; 
 It lay on my feverish spirit 
 
 With the trust of an infinite calm ; 
 It quieted pain and sorrow 
 
 Like love overcoming strife ; 
 It seemed the harmonious echo 
 
 Of our discordant life. 
 
 It linked all perplexed meanings 
 
 Into one universal peace, 
 Then trembled away into silence, 
 
 As though it were loth to cease. 
 
 I have sought, and seek it vainly, 
 
 That one lost chord divine 
 That came from the soul of the organ, 
 
 And entered into mine — 
 It may be that death's bright angel 
 
 Will speak in that chord again ; 
 It may be that only in heaven 
 
 I shall hear that glad Amen. 
 
 " While she was singing and as the song ended," he said, 
 ' ' my eyes fell upon a picture on the wall which I had not 
 observed before. It was a head of the Christ crowned with 
 thorns, and, although the eyes were really turned upward, 
 they seemed to be fixed upon me. I could not escape their 
 look, and twenty times that night I asked myself the ques- 
 tion, 'What have you been doing with your life these 
 twenty-three years ? How have you been living ? What 
 good have you been doing to your fellow-men ? ' " 
 
 I was not familiar with the words of that song, though it is 
 so well known in our country as well as in England, so I 
 listened with great interest as he recited it from memory. I 
 
70 
 
 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 asked him to give me a copy, and he said he would write 
 it for me when he went to his cabin. 
 
 " I am reminded," I said, "of one of our hymns," and I 
 recited to him that beautiful but now somewhat neglected 
 hymn of John Newton : 
 
 In evil long I took delight, 
 
 Unawed by shame or fear, 
 Till a new object met my sight. 
 
 And moved me to despair. 
 
 I saw One hanging on a tree 
 
 In agony and blood, 
 Who turned his failing sight on me, 
 
 As near his cross I stood. 
 
 Sure, never till my latest breath 
 
 Can I forget that look ; 
 It seemed to charge me with his death, 
 
 Though not a word he spoke. 
 
 A second look he gave, which said, 
 
 ' ' I freely all forgive ; 
 This blood was for thy ransom shed ; 
 
 I die that thou mayst live. ' ' 
 
 Thus while his death my sin displays 
 
 In all its blackest hue, 
 Such is the mystery of grace, 
 
 It seals my pardon too. 
 
 The young man listened with fixed attention as I slowly 
 recited that hymn. When it was finished he asked me for a 
 copy, which of course I gave him. He was apparently 
 much impressed. 
 
 It was the last day of the voyage and just before dark, the 
 great sun having gone down into the sea. He and I were 
 walking up and down the deck. 
 
 " To-morrow," I said, "we shall see Africa, and we shall 
 part; you to go on your way to Calcutta and to your work 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 7]^ 
 
 there ; I to make a short visit to Egypt and Jerusalem, and 
 then soon after to return to my native land and to my work ; 
 but I shall never forget you, and the conversations we have 
 had. You have told me much that I never knew, and that I 
 wanted to know, especially about India, and also about 
 yourself. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," he said, "and I shall never forget you ; but may I 
 show you my picture ? " 
 
 He went to his cabin and brought me, most carefully 
 packed in cotton, a small framed oval photograph of one of 
 Guido Reni's heads of Christ, crowned with thorns. 
 
 "This was given me," said he, "by the lady at Oxford 
 who entertained me the evening I heard the song. 
 
 "When I get home," he added, "this picture will hang 
 on the wall of my bed-room ; it will be the only picture in 
 my room, and on the back I will copy your hymn : 
 
 I saw One hanging on a tree 
 In agony and blood. 
 
xiy. 
 
 Athens and St. Paul.* 
 
 ' ' To describe Athens aright one should be an Athenian. 
 He should have long looked upon her soil with a feeling of 
 almost religious reverence. He should have regarded it as 
 ennobled by the deeds of illustrious men — his own ancestors. 
 The records of its early history should not be an object of 
 study, a science, but should have been familiar to him from 
 infancy. Nor should the period of its remote antiquity be 
 to him a land of shadows, a cave in which insubstantial 
 forms flit before his eyes as if he were in a dream. To such 
 an one the language of its Mythology should have been the 
 voice of Truth. The temples of Athens should not have 
 been to him, as to us, mere schools of art. They should not 
 have afforded materials only for his compass and pencil, 
 but for his affections and his religion. We see Athens in 
 ruins. ' ' 
 
 Most modern travellers approach the city from the east and 
 north on their way from Constantinople to Italy. The place 
 of landing now, as in St. Paul's day, is the Piraeus, and the 
 tourist on leaving his ship lands probably where the great 
 Apostle landed ; but instead of pushing his way on horse- 
 back or on foot, he steps into a railway carriage and is 
 whirled along over a plain, the undulations of which are 
 full of the ruins of the old time. At the railway station he 
 steps into a cab, as in any other city, and is driven over 
 
 * A Bible-class study, 1872. 
 (72) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 73 
 
 roughly paved streets to a modern hotel, where he registers 
 his name as he would on going to one of our cities. That 
 part of the city at present inhabited is built up of houses 
 few of which are fifty years old. The total number of 
 inhabitants is less than 25,000, one-half of whom, on any occa- 
 sion of unusual interest, will be in the street at one time. 
 The streets, with few exceptions, are narrow, crooked and 
 filthy, and one must forget the present very much, if one 
 would enjoy the history of the past. But there is a king's 
 palace and a royal court, a nobility and an aristocracy, a 
 small army and an inefficient police. The city has its streets 
 of shops in which the curious may find many things to tempt 
 them to purchase, with the result of sometimes carrying 
 away, as specimens of a past age, articles made to look like 
 antiques, but manufactured in the present day. 
 
 Athens is situated four or five miles from the sea-coast in 
 the central plain of Attica. It is a wide plain enclosed by 
 mountains, except on the south, where it is bounded by the 
 sea. On the eastern and western sides of the city there run 
 two small streams, both of which are nearly dried by the 
 heats of summer and by the channels for artificial irrigation 
 before they reach the sea ; that on the east is the Ilissus ; 
 that on the west is the Cephissus. 
 
 In the midst of this plain rises a flat, oblong rock, the 
 citadel of Athens, inaccessible on all sides except the west, 
 on which it is approached by a steep slope. This is the 
 Acropolis. Its flat summit is 1,000 feet long, east to west, 
 and 500 feet broad, north to south. Here are the remains, 
 multilated, of three temples ; the Temple of Victory, the 
 Parthenon, the Erechtheum. Of the Propylea, which was 
 the western entrance or vestibule of the Acropolis, some 
 walls and a few columns are still standing and its magnificent 
 entrance has recently been cleared. Of its Agora, the pub- 
 lic place where the citizens met to discuss their public afiairs, 
 all that is left is the fragment of a gate. Of the theatre on 
 
74 A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 
 
 the south side of the Acropolis, where the plays of Eschylus, 
 Sophocles and Euripides were represented, some stone steps 
 remain, but all attempts to discover the remainder have been 
 unsuccessful. Not a vestige survives of the courts in which 
 Demosthenes pleaded. There is no trace of the Academic 
 porches of Plato, or of the Lyceum of Aristotle. Only a 
 few fragments of the long walls, which ran along the plain 
 and united Athens with her harbors, are yet visible. 
 
 The traveller of our day, standing on the site of the an- 
 cient Acropolis of Athens and sweeping the horizon, would 
 see something like this : Just outside of the city walls, or 
 what were the ancient city walls, to the northeast, is Mount 
 Lycabettus, the most striking feature in the immediate sur- 
 roundings of the city. It is to Athens what Vesuvius is to 
 Naples, or Arthur's Seat to Edinburgh, and seems almost to 
 overhang the city, although a mile distant. Over the 
 double-headed Lycabettus, and nine miles to the northeast, 
 is Mount Pentelicus (so famous for its brilliant white marble, 
 better than the Carrara marble of Italy, because entirely free 
 from the metallic stains by which that is sometimes dis- 
 figured), its sides sprinkled over with the dwarf oak, the 
 arbutus and the bay, but no large timber. 
 
 Three miles beyond Pentelicus is the plain of Marathon, 
 on which was fought that battle which preserved the liber- 
 ties of Greece, and perhaps of Europe, from the dominion of 
 Persia. Between two marshes, with their backs to the sea 
 and the declining sun of a September day shining full in 
 their faces, 6400 Persians fell before the Athenian forces, 
 with a loss of 192 men, and the famous battle of Marathon 
 was fought and won. Due north from Athens, and at a dis- 
 tance of not more than eleven or twelve miles, is Mount 
 Parnes, part of the chain which separates the Athenian plain 
 from the Valley of Boeotia by a rocky limestone barrier from 
 east to west. As the eye ranges to the west the vision is 
 bounded by a mountain ridge of which the principal summit 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 75 
 
 is Mount Aegaleos, and which stretches southward from 
 Mount Panics to the bay of Salamis, aud then the eye rests 
 on the sea with its islands and the distant mainland of 
 Peloponnesus, and a little to the south of west the narrow 
 peninsula connecting Attica with the Morea ; and just be- 
 yond the narrowest point of that peninsula, the towering 
 height of the citadel of Corinth, the Acrocorinthus. To the 
 south is the Saronic Gulf, with Salamis in the near distance, 
 and farther off, and apparently anchored in the blue waves, 
 the beautiful island of Egeria with its Temple of Minerva on 
 the bold headland looking north. 
 
 Off to the southeast, and at a distance of twelve miles, is 
 Mount Hymettus, famous for its hives of bees, which have 
 survived all the storms which have swept cities and empires, 
 and which fill the air with their hum of industry as they did 
 3000 years ago. On the side of this mount is a grotto, a 
 natural cave ; you enter this by a descent of a few stone 
 steps, from which opening the interior is dimly lighted. It 
 is vaulted with fretted stone and the rocky roof is gracefully 
 hung with stalactites. On the rock near the entrance are 
 engraved some ancient inscriptions. One of these says the 
 grotto was sacred to the Nymphs. Another refers to the 
 sylvan Pan and the rural Graces as having a share in the 
 same residence. Coming here from the magnificent fabrics 
 of Athenian worship now lying in ruins in the city of Athens, 
 this grotto, a natural temple on a solitary mountain, dedi- 
 cated to natural deities, will be an object of profound in- 
 terest. Here are no ruins. Here time has exerted no power. 
 Sitting alone in the faint light of this cavern and looking on 
 these inscriptions which declare the former sanctity of the 
 place, and on the basins scooped in the rock from which the 
 sacred libations were made, and the limpid well in the cave's 
 recess from which water was supplied for those libations to 
 the rural deities, and with no other objects about us to dis- 
 turb the. impressions which these produce, we might almost 
 
7G A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 imagine that some shepherd of Attica had just left the spot, 
 and that he would return before evening from his neighbor- 
 ing sheepfold on Hymettus with an oflfering to Pan from his 
 flock, or with spoils of the mountain chase, or with the 
 first flowers of the spring just peeped forth in his rural 
 garden. 
 
 The surpassing beauty and clearness of the Athenian 
 atmosphere has been noticed by all travellers ancient and 
 modern. Nothing can exceed the transparent clearness, the 
 brilliant coloring of an Athenian sky, or the flood of fire with 
 which the marble columns, the mountains and the sea, are 
 all bathed and penetrated by the illumination of an Athenian 
 sunset. And yet, to an American who knows what a pecu- 
 liarly clear, brilliant sky our northwest winds expose, and 
 who looks up on a moonless night and sees the stars almost 
 like sparkling steel, the sky and the atmosphere of Greece 
 have a hazy, dreamy appearance, indescribably soft and de- 
 licious, but which the Englishman, so accustomed to fogs 
 and storms and smoke, calls transparent. 
 
 An English writer has given us a picture of domestic life 
 among the peasants. " The family consists of the mistress 
 of the house and her two sons, who have now with them 
 some visitors from the village. As we approach the door- 
 way they are sitting down to supper and they invite us to 
 enter. In a few minutes the members of the family have 
 taken their seats on the clay floor around a low, round table, 
 on which is a bowl of porridge to which each guest helps 
 himself by dipping his bread into the bowl. The mistress 
 of the house pours out the wine and hands it to the guests, 
 who acknowledge the attention by complimentary speeches 
 to herself and family, in the same spirit and character as 
 Minerva does in the Odyssey to her hosts, Nestor and his 
 son, on a similar occasion. When supper is over, the 
 youngest son, a boy of twelve years, rises and turns his face 
 to the wall of the cottage, and towards a sacred picture 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 77 
 
 hanging upon it ; he then takes ofif his red skull-cap, and 
 standing before the picture begins to repeat some prayers in 
 Greek, which he follows by a recital of the Creed, and con- 
 cludes by frequent recitals of the Kyrie Eleison. These are 
 the domestic vespers ; a delightful sight, showing that four 
 centuries of cruel bondage under the Turks have not 
 quenched the sacred flame of piety in this much injured 
 land." 
 
 "My first visit," says Dr. Robinson, "was to the Areo- 
 pagus where Paul preached. This is a narrow, naked ridge 
 of limestone rock rising gradually from the northern end, 
 and terminating abruptly on the south over against the west 
 end of the Acropolis, being separated from it by an elevated 
 valley. The southern end is fifty or sixty feet above the 
 valley, though yet much lower than the Acropolis. On its 
 top are still to be seen the seats of the judges hewn in the 
 rock, and towards the southwest is a descent by a flight of 
 steps, also cut in the rock, into the valley below. On the 
 west of the ridge, in the valley between it and the Pnyx, 
 was the ancient market, and on the southeast side the new 
 market. In which of these it was that ' Paul disputed daily ' 
 it is of course impossible to tell, but from either it was only 
 a short distance to the foot of Mars Hill, up which Paul 
 was probably conducted by the flight of steps just men- 
 tioned." 
 
 ' ' The appearance of the Apostle before this august assem- 
 bly, " says another writer, "involved an exhibition of moral 
 courage that has seldom been equalled, and perhaps never 
 surpassed, in the history of our race. He was in the presence 
 of statesmen, philosophers, orators and poets of the most 
 intellectual and refined nation upon earth. He was there to 
 humor no popular sect ; to flatter no national vanity ; to 
 move upon no springs of ambition or future fame. He was 
 there to unfold, to fortify, and rivet upon the judgment and 
 conscience of his enlightened auditory, doctrines at variance 
 
78 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 with every previous conviction and present impulse ; doctrines 
 totally subversive of that faith in which they were born, in 
 which their fathers died, and which they wished to bequeath 
 to their oflFspring. 
 
 " He had no splendid and imposing forms of worship or 
 mythological mysteries to aid his arguments or conciliate 
 the pride of his audience. He had no temples, statues, or 
 altars to substitute for those which he would make desolate. 
 He had no divinities peopling each hill and vale and grotto 
 and fount, to take the places of those whom he disclaimed. 
 He had only the pure abstract conception of the one su- 
 preme, holy, self-existing God, his universal providence, and 
 man's final accountability. He delivered his message as one 
 raised by his mighty theme above the frown or the commen- 
 dation of his hearers. He was too clear and discriminating 
 for the subtle sneer ; too earnest and impressive for the 
 skeptical jest, and too cogent and massive in thought for the 
 verbal evasion ; and though no corresponding results were 
 immediately obvious, we cannot doubt that convictions 
 were planted there which struck at length into the very 
 heart of Greece, and which finally enthroned the one only 
 and" true God upon the affections and allegiance of the 
 nation." 
 
 Many entire volumes and innumerable single discourses 
 have been written to analyze and illustrate this most remark- 
 able serinon of St. Paul. Perhaps an analysis as simple and 
 natural as is needed, especially for our purpose, is the follow- 
 ing, the divisions of which, for the sake of convenience, will 
 be stated numerically, as follows : 
 
 1. That there is one God. 
 
 2. That he dwells not in temples. 
 
 3. That the world was not only made but is sustained 
 by him. 
 
 4. That all mankind are of one blood. 
 
 5. That God has sent his Son Jesus to redeem mankind. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 79 
 
 6. That he has raised Jesus from the dead as an earnest of 
 future life. 
 
 7. That all men must be judged at the last day. 
 
 Before Paul, as he stood on Mars Hill, was the Acropolis, 
 adorned with numerous works of art ; beneath was the mag- 
 nificent temple of Theseus ; around him were numerous 
 temples, altars, and images of the gods ; facing him, his 
 critical audience. The whole course of the Apostle's oration 
 was regulated by his own peculiar prudence. He was 
 brought into a position where he might easily have been en- 
 snared into the use of words which would have brought 
 down upon him the indignation of all the city. Had he be- 
 gun by attacking their national gods in the midst of their 
 sanctuaries, and with the Areopagites on the seats near him, 
 he would have been in almost as great danger as Socrates 
 was before him. He not only avoided the snare, but used the 
 very difficulties of his position to make a road to the convic- 
 tions of those who heard him. He did not say that he was 
 introducing new divinities. He employed the familiar ob- 
 jects of Athenian life to tell them of what was close to them, 
 and yet they knew it not. He had carefully observed the 
 outward appearance of the city. He had seen an altar with 
 an expressive but humiliating inscription ; using this in- 
 scription as a text, he spoke the words of Eternal Wisdom — 
 a speech distinguished for clearness, brevity, coherence, and 
 simplicity of representation. We will now consider its 
 statements in detail. 
 
 He introduced his subject, not with rude and insulting 
 contempt, but by acknowledging and commending the re- 
 spect of the Athenians for religion. This was highly concil- 
 iatory. There was indeed in his words a very deep and 
 penetrating rebuke, but he did not (like some who profess to 
 be his followers) expect to succeed by affronting his audience. 
 In his opening sentence he declared that he recognized in 
 Athens a very diligent attention to religion. This was un- 
 
80 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 doubtedly the character of the place. Josephus says the 
 Athenians were the most religious of all the Greeks. Paul, 
 though gracefully stating what is true in this respect, and 
 thus winning a friendly attention, did not in the least degree 
 go beyond the truth in any commendation of the quality of 
 this religion. His aim was to show its hollowness -and weak- 
 ness, and this he did by means of the very illustration he 
 took of the peculiar religiousness of the Athenians. In 
 using the word ' ' devotions ' ' he meant to refer to everything 
 connected with the worship of their gods — rites, ceremonies, 
 temples, images and altars ; adding, that among these many 
 altars he had found one with the inscription, "To the Un- 
 known God." One Greek writer says : "It is more discreet 
 to speak well of all the gods, and especially at Athens, where 
 are erected altars also to unknown gods." Some light is 
 thrown upon the origin of these altars by the statement of 
 Diogenes Laertius, that when Epimenides was brought from 
 Crete to stay a plague at Athens, he directed white and black 
 sheep to be driven from the Areopagus, and that where they 
 first lay down new altars should be built to the appropriate 
 god, i. e. , to the divinity by whom the plague had been in- 
 flicted, and by appeasing whom, it was to be removed. The 
 practice thus established or exemplified of trying to propiti- 
 ate an ofiended deity, without even knowing who it was, 
 agrees with the statement of other writers that there were 
 altars to anonymous or unknown gods. 
 
 Some think these altars were so ancient that it was at 
 length forgotten to whom they were built ; others, that they 
 express the distinct consciousness by the Athenians, of the 
 limitations and imperfections of their religious views, and 
 their consequent desire to avoid the danger of not acknowl- 
 edging gods who might be unknown to them. But of all the 
 conjectures on the contested point of the altar "to the Un- 
 known God," the most ingenious and natural is this : There 
 were very ancient altars, older perhaps than the art of writ- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 81 
 
 iug, or from which the inscriptions had been effaced by time ; 
 on these the piety of later ages has engraven the simple words, 
 " To the Unknown God." 
 
 "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I 
 unto you," said Paul ; adding, that this God needed no tem- 
 ple made with hands ; pointing, as it were, from the Areopa- 
 gus to the Acropolis above him, with its Propylea and Par- 
 thenon, and the spear and shield of Minerva gleaming in the 
 sun. Thus he refuted the error of Judaism, that the Deity 
 could be confined or unchangeably attached to any earthly 
 residence. 
 
 This truth, which he now declared, he had heard and dis- 
 puted, when, as Saul, he stood among the persecutors of Ste- 
 phen, ' ' consenting to his death. ' ' Now he was ready to de- 
 clare not that truth only, but God's entire independence of 
 all human care and service as essential to his blessedness and 
 glory. He was not a God to be worshipped "with men's 
 hands." Furthermore, he was the creator of all mankind, 
 notwithstanding their separation into so many nations, and 
 their wide dispersion on the earth. Now the Athenians 
 prided themselves on being distinct from other races, and the 
 offspring of their own soil ; they were not likely to be 
 pleased with this assertion, neither were they ready to be- 
 lieve that in assigning to the nations their respective abodes, 
 God had fixed both the seasons of their prosperity, and the 
 limitations of their territory, i. e. , that he had decided when 
 and how long they should flourish, and how far their do- 
 minion should extend ; nor that all that power exerted in 
 giving existence to men, controlling their destiny, exalting 
 nations, or casting them down, which they had parcelled out 
 among such an infinity of gods, must be concentrated in a 
 single possessor ; they could not grasp the idea of one infinite 
 creator and ruler. In endeavoring to bring this vast concep- 
 tion before the minds of his hearers, the apostle realized their 
 difficulty in accepting it, and is reminded of the blind who 
 
82 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 grope in their darkness. He says they should seek this 
 God, "if haply they may feel after him and find him near," 
 adding, "for in him we live and move and have our being, 
 as certain of your own poets* have said." "We also are 
 his offspring." This is a proof of Paul's knowledge of 
 the classics. The celebrated hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter 
 contains almost the same words. 
 
 There is doubtless much mystery here which we shall never 
 be able fully to understand till the whole plan of salvation is 
 brought to its conclusion ; but this at least is evident — in the 
 varied distribution of nations, and in the circumstances un- 
 der which they have successfully risen and decayed, the ex- 
 periment has been fully tried as to what man can do in the 
 matter of religion without supernatural help. The result 
 has been universal failure. 
 
 The conclusion now drawn by the apostle, and to which 
 he wished his hearers to arrive, is that idolatry is supremely 
 absurd, making that which is destitute of life, motion and 
 intelligence the source of these to others. He softened his 
 rebuke, however, . by saying that they had held these views 
 in ignorance ; but having heard the truth they must believe 
 and repent, because God so commanded, and because of the 
 judgment to come. Ignorance of the nature of God and of 
 his just claims during the whole of the preceding ages, or the 
 past history of the Gentile world, was not excusable, but 
 must be repented of God had "winked at," that is, over- 
 looked, suffered, or endured it, without declaring his disap- 
 probation ; counted not this ignorance itself as a sin, but the 
 abuse of it, by which the heathen sank into deeper degrada- 
 tion. The same argument is found in Romans, first and sec- 
 ond chapters. Ignorance is an excuse for sin only so far as 
 it is not blameworthy, and no farther. The civil law in our 
 
 * Referring to Aratus, a poet of Cilicia, who flourished 270 b. c. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 83 
 
 day makes no allowance for ignorance. All people are sup- 
 posed to be acquainted with the laws. 
 
 Paul insisted upon a repentance so broad that it included 
 all men everywhere. It is most interesting to observe how 
 firm and fearless is the ground which he took. He spoke of 
 the call to repentance as a command, and set forth the 
 majesty of Jesus Christ as requiring absolute submission ; 
 adding, that proof had been provided for the claims of this 
 announcement in that this Judge and Saviour had been 
 raised from the dead. By him the whole world would be 
 judged, and righteously. Here was a direct appeal to the 
 consciousness of sin and the fear of death. Each individual 
 was reminded of his own responsibility and made aware of 
 his relation to the Unknown God ; and the " man " spoken 
 of, by whom personally the just judgment was to be made, 
 was the man Christ Jesus. That his hearers might know 
 beyond doubt to whom he referred, Paul described him as 
 having been raised from the dead. 
 
 How much the apostle intended to represent as proved by 
 the resurrection of Christ we do not know exactly ; but cer- 
 tainly his divine character and mission, and also the truth 
 of all his claims ; markedly, his claim to be a Judge. * When 
 Paul began to speak of the resurrection of the dead he was 
 interrupted by his audience. This belief was not only no 
 part of the Greek creed, either philosophical or popular, but 
 was positively repudiated as a gross absurdity ; for the resur- 
 rection explicitly declared that another life was to be pre- 
 ferred to the present ; another life too, on the threshold of 
 ■^hich a judgment was to be encountered. Now to the 
 Athenian the present life was everything. 
 
 The closing solemn words of this address were recieved 
 by some with derision, by others with indiiferencc, and by 
 others still, were put off for consideration at a more con- 
 venient season. i* 
 * St. John V. 27, 28, 29. 
 
84 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Having delivered his message with all the force of his con- 
 victions and strong nature, he "departed from among them," 
 leaving the assembly, though he does not seem to have been 
 driven away by any tumult or persecution. It is supposed 
 by some that he spent not more than a fortnight in the city. 
 
 Notwithstanding the apparent ill success of his labors, 
 they were not without fruit, for "certain men clave unto 
 him and believed. ' ' This implies a sacrifice and great effort 
 on their part : as when one clings to a rope or mast in the 
 sea as the only safety, they adhered to him in the face of 
 ridicule and opposition, believing his doctrines and accepting 
 the Christ whom he preached as their Redeemer. Among 
 these converts was Dionyseus, an Areopagite, one of the 
 judges of the court. This is all we know of him certainly, 
 though there are many traditions. He is said to have been 
 the first Bishop of Athens ; also to have suffered martyrdom 
 in that city. Of Damaris we know nothing beyond her 
 name and the fact of her conversion. She was probably a 
 woman of some distinction and the only female convert, 
 therefore mentioned with Dionyseus, the most distinguished 
 male convert. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, that, so long as the apostle 
 preached natural religion, they listened with some degree of 
 patience, wondering possibly what he would be at, what 
 turn he would give to the subject. And we need not be sur- 
 prised that when he came, in his application, to speak of 
 Jesus and his resurrection from the dead, some ridiculed the 
 whole subject and, mocking him, turned away. To them it 
 was "foolishness," as the apostle says in another place. 
 There were others who said, "We will hear thee again of 
 this matter ; " but whether that was with a sneer or with a 
 desire to hear more we do not know. 
 
 We cannot help but regret that Paul should have been in- 
 terrupted in this serman. We wonder what he would have 
 said further on such a subject, and to such an audience. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 85 
 
 The meaning is somewhat obscured in our version by the 
 use of the addition, "whereof;" the statement, "whereof 
 he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised 
 him from the dead," being apt to lead the reader to suppose 
 that he means to adduce our Lord's resurrection as affording 
 some evidence that God will, on a certain day, judge the 
 ■world in righteousness by that Man whom he has appointed. 
 But this does not convey the proper meaning of the apostle's 
 ■words. What he intends is, that God has furnished to all 
 men sufficient ground for believing in Jesus by having 
 raised him from the dead ; in other words, that having 
 raised him from the dead, God has thereby fully accredited 
 him to be all that he claims to be ; so that men n»ay, on 
 the most solid grounds, have faith in him as the future Judge 
 of all. 
 
 One word in conclusion. If this Jesus is to be our Judge 
 finally, and if our everlasting condition is to be determined 
 by the manner in which we treat him in this life, how in- 
 finitely important is it to all of us to be at peace with him 
 now, to love him, to honor him, and to give ourselves to 
 his service. 
 
XV. 
 The Reverend Dr. Moses Law. 
 
 It is a night m Christmas week. The Library is dressed 
 in green. Festoons of green vines are hanging from the 
 mantle clock, the upper book shelves, the armour, and the 
 chandeliers. The polished green leaves and brilliant red 
 berrie* of the holly and the white pearls of the mistletoe 
 gleam in the blazing fire-light, and the whole room is filled 
 with the odor of Christmas. 
 
 I am sitting in my arm-chair and looking at the fire, 
 which is blazing and roaring up the wide chimney. I am 
 thinking of the Christmas times of my boyhood, in my coun- 
 try home. I seem to see the forms and faces of the loved 
 ones, parents and brothers and sisters, that made my child- 
 hood and youth so happy. I recall the lines that I loved so 
 well because they described so truly the life of my early 
 home : 
 
 " Scenes of the good old time — the past, 
 How fast ye lighten on mine eye ; 
 As twilight stars come out at last 
 
 To one who gazes on the sky. 
 Touch but the light and secret spring 
 
 That guards those treasures of the soul, 
 And back like breezes on the wing 
 
 The earliest years of memory roll : 
 They sweep the spirit's inmost chords, 
 
 Perhaps for weary years unstrung. 
 Awakening thoughts too deep for tears, 
 That make the sad and aged young. 
 The Christmas fire ! I seem to gaze 
 Upon its deep and radiant red ; 
 (86) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY I^IBRARY. 87 
 
 And round the trumpet sounding blaze 
 
 I see the evening circle spread. 
 Tliough storms are rushing through the heaven, 
 
 rhey cannot chill the joyous flow 
 Of young atfections, warmly given 
 
 To hearts, that answer all their glow. 
 But when the voice of mirth subsides, 
 
 They talk of darkness and its powers, 
 Of some mysterious form that glides 
 
 In silence through the haunted towers. 
 And thus with many a fearful tale 
 
 They while away the night. 
 Till every youthful cheek grows pale, 
 
 With terror and delight." 
 
 So I am dreaming, with my eyes wide open — living over 
 again for an hour, the days of my youth— when a card is 
 brought in, on which is the name of Mr. Moses Law, Brain- 
 full, Vermont. Directing the servant to show him in, I will, 
 while my visitor is removing his wraps in the hall, tell you 
 who Dr. Law is. His card is very modest, but he is a 
 Clergyman, a Doctor of Divinity, of distinction, whom I have 
 seen little of for some years, although a good while ago I was 
 quite intimate with him. He is a gentleman of the old 
 school, holding very clear views of religious doctrines, or 
 dogmas, and not at all afraid to express them. 
 
 As he enters the room, I step forward and give him a cor- 
 dial greeting. Approaching the fire and rubbing his hands 
 from the cold, he is the picture of a robust manhood, a mus- 
 cular Christian. Presently he takes a chair, and we begin to 
 talk. Whether it is the sight of the Christmas greens with 
 which the Library is dressed, or whether it is the evident 
 signs of a joyous season that meet his eyes everywhere, or 
 whether it is that he sees a brass Lectern in the alcove with 
 a very old Church of England folio prayer book on it, I 
 don't know, — but certainly there is an unusual positiveness 
 in his manner and sternness in his voice as he says, some- 
 what abruptly. 
 
88 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 "We pastors who do not observe Christmas and Easter in 
 our churches are naturally ai;d properly asked the reason 
 why?" 
 
 " And doubtless," I say, "you are ' naturally and properly ' 
 annoyed at the question, and not a little puzzled to give a 
 satisfactory reply. ' ' 
 
 Without noticing my repetition of his words, he says very 
 promptly and positively, 
 
 ' ' We may answer in brief that, festive gatherings and gifts 
 of kindred, that promote filial affection, elevate, sweeten and 
 sanctify home life, are grateful to God and man ; but the 
 stated observance by the church of days not authorized by 
 Scripture, does not receive blessing from God." 
 
 " If, " I say, ' ' ' festive gatherings and gifts of kindred ' 
 really ' promote filial affection ' and ' elevate, sweeten and 
 sanctify home life,' how are these gracious, kindly influences 
 weakened orhiuderedby the reading of appropriate Scriptures, 
 and the singing of proper hymns, and the offering of appro- 
 priate prayers in the family at Christmas and Easter ? You 
 say there is no authority of Scripture for such services. If, 
 however, they are allowable in the family without Scripture 
 authority, what right have you to say that such observances 
 in the church ' do not receive blessing from God ? ' " 
 
 "But," he goes on, "our Puritan and Pilgrim forefathers, 
 observing the unhallowed influence of such institutions, 
 and jealous of any religious worship not instituted by God 
 himself, abolished such unblest days of Papal and Pagan 
 origin." 
 
 "Please say when and where 'our Puritan and Pilgrim 
 forefathers observed the unhallowed influence of such in- 
 stitutions ' as Christmas and Easter, and abolished them. And 
 if the doings of these worthy men are to be quoted as au- 
 thority for our doing or not doing certain things now, what 
 do you say of their Sabbath services in their meeting-houses, 
 when conducted without reading the Scriptures, except 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 89 
 
 certain verses in the course of the sermon as illustrating the 
 subject ? What do you say of their wooden meeting-houses — 
 their board seats often without backs — their want of carpets — 
 their insufficient warmth — their clear glass windows — their 
 gathering about the door of the meeting-house in summer 
 time and discoursing on secular subjects, going in only after 
 the singing had begun ? " 
 
 Utterly ignoring my rejoinders, he proceeds : 
 
 " Easter, wholly unauthorized by the New Testament, was 
 imported from Paganism, when the church began to be cor- 
 rupted, in order to please half-hearted Pagan converts." 
 
 ' ' Whatever may be said of the 25th day of December, ' ' I 
 say, ' ' as the day of the birth of Jesus, it is very certain that 
 he was crucified at the time of the Jewish Passover, and this is 
 about the time that the Christian Church observes with more 
 or less ceremony the Easter season. Does it seem to you," 
 I add, growing earnest, ' ' that putting flowers in the churches 
 and Sunday-schools, and reading the chapters in the New 
 Testament which refer to our I^ord's resurrection, and sing- 
 ing appropriate hymns, etc. , indicate corruption in the church 
 or a lack of spiritual life ? " 
 
 But he goes on just as if he were lecturing his own people 
 from the pulpit, or teaching a class where the members were 
 not expected to answer him, and were afraid to ask him 
 questions : 
 
 "The Lord's day is the only day to be observed by divine 
 authority, and this celebrates the resurrection of Christ fifty- 
 two times a year. ' ' 
 
 "Ah, but do the preachers of your church as a rule make 
 any but the slightest possible reference to the great fact of 
 the resurrection fifty-two times in a year ? Do they select their 
 scriptural lessons and their hymns, or do they construct 
 their prayers and their sermons ' fifty-two times a year ' to 
 keep before their congregations the supreme fact of the 
 resurrection ? The answer is ' No ; ' and there is no force 
 
90 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 whatever in your statement. There is neither novelty nor 
 fairness in your remark." 
 
 "God's Spirit and providence," he continues, "may lead 
 to a special series of gospel services with great blessing, but 
 when the church assumes authority to establish such periods 
 as Lent or even the Week of Prayer, they are apt to be 
 characterized by powerless formality, and preceded and 
 succeeded by evil excesses that overbalance the good in 
 them." 
 
 "May it not be," I inquire, " that ' God's Spirit and prov- 
 idence' have led the church to have special religious services 
 at Easter and Christmas ? If not, what was the thought that 
 suggested these observances? And if our week of prayer 
 is right in itself, why not observe it in the season of I<ent, 
 when the hearts of so many Christians are on serious subjects, 
 rather than about the ist of January, when business men at 
 least in cities are so absorbed in their secular duties ? 
 
 ' ' Have you good reason, my dear friend,' ' I continue, ' ' for 
 believing or saying that ' even the week of prayer is apt to 
 be characterized by powerless formality, and preceded and 
 succeeded by evil excesses that overbalance the good in 
 it ? ' If this is your experience in Brainfull, alas for that 
 town ! ' ' 
 
 Without in the least noticing my rejoinders or my pointed 
 questions, with the indifference of Poe's "Raven " he goes 
 on to say : 
 
 "The imitation churches, that shun penance. Lent, and 
 Good Friday, and observe Easter, present to Rome a shrewd 
 absurdity, and to the world a mere musical entertainment in 
 which there is no saving or spiritual blessing. ' ' 
 
 ' ' What do you mean by ' imitation churches ? ' The phrase 
 is new and requires explanation. And what is a ' shrewd 
 absurdity ? ' Can anything that is absurd be shrewd ? And 
 is ' Rome ' a court in Banc to which church observances are 
 'presented' for approval or condemnation? Consider, my 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. • 91 
 
 good friend, have you a choir in your church that sometimes 
 ' entertains ' your congregation with music that has no saving 
 or spiritual blessing ? If you have not, you are to be con- 
 gratulated. ' ' 
 
 He continues, however, not looking at me, not caring for 
 me, not hearing me indeed, like the river of which Bryant 
 writes — 
 
 "Where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound 
 Save his own dashing." 
 
 "Christ was not born on December 25th, and the observ- 
 ance of that day with an Advent reference is a fiction like 
 that of Santa Clans." 
 
 ' ' If you can prove what you so positively assert, that 
 Christ was not born on December 25th, you will greatly 
 oblige many persons by doing so. Many discussions have 
 been made on this point, many more probably will be, but if 
 you have knowledge for it let me have it, let the world have 
 it, and let one thing at least be settled. If you can't prove 
 your statement, it is your duty to withdraw it, if you have 
 said so elsewhere, and apologize for it. ' ' 
 
 If I had supposed that my earnest friend, now thoroughly 
 warmed by my good fire, and by his own fiery zeal, will 
 pause a moment to listen to me, after my rather sharp words 
 of advice, I am mistaken, for with the precision and regu- 
 larity, if not the weight, of a trip-hammer, he goes on to 
 say : 
 
 ' ' If God had desired the nativity of his Son to be celebrated, 
 he would have so appointed, or at least informed us of the 
 day of his birth." 
 
 "Did our Lord," I say, "desire his disciples to commem- 
 orate his death ? If so, why has he not informed us of the 
 day of his death ? Whenever we choose we may commem- 
 orate it. The Scotch Church does it once a year, the Eng- 
 lish Church every day, other churches at their convenience ; 
 who shall find fault with any others who differ ? If you and 
 
92 • A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 I choose the 25th day of December on which to celebrate the 
 birth of our lyord, who has a right to question our judgment 
 or piety ? ' ' 
 
 My friend has no answer to these questions, or else he is 
 withholding it until he has completed his statements, when 
 he can turn his guns which he has been firing in the air to- 
 wards me as a target. So I wait a moment, when he breaks 
 out in these extraordinary words : 
 
 "The celebration of the birth of Christ by the 'world' 
 that rejected and crucified him, and that will cry out for rocks 
 and mountains to hide them from his face when he comes 
 again, is a solemn mockery." 
 
 "Oh, my dear friend, do you really mean what you say? 
 Is it a ' solemn mockery ' to close our places of business, our 
 schools, our courts, our legislatures, and gather our families 
 together in reunion, and exchange presents, and remember 
 the poor and the sick, and send them help, because we do so 
 on Christmas day? And may not some heart, that has 
 heretofore been hard and insensible to the love of Christ, be 
 led by the good thoughts that prevail at Christmas time, to 
 reconsider the claims of the Great Redeemer and give itself 
 to his service? Do you consider it solemn mockery for the 
 'world,' i. e.^ irreligious people, to pay pew rents in the 
 church, or otherwise support the ministry? " 
 
 The fire is burning low, and the room is getting in deep 
 shadows, and there is an increasingly hard and stern expres- 
 sion on his face as he grimly says : 
 
 ' ' The persons most devoted to the ecclesiastical observance 
 of this day are not usually most devoted to the person of the 
 Redeemer, and the separated, cross-bearing and consecrated 
 life which he lived." 
 
 ' ' Dr. Law, have you really considered this statement ? Do 
 you think that members of other branches of the church, who 
 do not observe Christmas and Easter, are ' more devoted to 
 the person of the Redeemer ' than the Episcopalians, Mora- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 93 
 
 viaus and Methodists ? What class of religionists is it that 
 labors most eflFectively in the slums of London and New 
 York? Is it those who care nothing for Christmas and 
 Easter? You must know that it is not. That work, so un- 
 attractive to the carnal mind, is done very largely by Episco- 
 palians and Methodists." 
 
 I think my friend is inclined to pause and reconsider the 
 sternness with which he is expressing himself, but he is only 
 girding himself for his final charge: 
 
 "The general influence of the day," he says, "accords 
 with its Saturnalian origin, in its heart-sickening excesses of 
 drunkenness, debauchery, vice and crime. For this, see the 
 daily papers after Christmas." 
 
 " That is hardly fair," I remark, " for see the daily papers 
 every Monday also! But does this prove that the influence 
 of the Sabbath is bad ? If your illustration proves anything, 
 it proves too much." 
 
 Now comes his last gun, and he evidently intends it 
 to close the conversation, for he loads it with Scrip- 
 ture: 
 
 "Let us therefore, of the 'reformed churches,' stand 
 fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, 
 and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Gal. 
 V. I."- 
 
 "No," I say, thoroughly aroused myself by this time, 
 ' ' No, let those whose hearts are in the condition of harsh 
 illiberality, of self-righteous assurance, of cold, sneering 
 criticism ; who can see but one side of a subject, and that 
 the narrow side; who are not in sympathy with the infinite 
 tenderness of Him who came to save that which was lost; — 
 let such be ashamed of themselves, and go and repent of their 
 ill nature, their jealousy, their ignorance of true Christianity. 
 If we are not to observe times and seasons, nor to adopt 
 methods of Christian life and activity and forms of worship, 
 except such as are especially and minutely enjoined in the 
 
94 A TOUR ROUND MY I^IBRARY. 
 
 Scriptures, we shall find that we lack warrant for many 
 usages, entirely proper, which are so common, that we never 
 think of asking how we came by them." 
 
 My visitor rises at this last rejoinder, and prepares to take 
 his leave. He seems not quite satisfied with the discussion, 
 although he has had full opportunity to say all that he was in- 
 clined to say. There may have been something in the tone 
 and manner of my last observation that troubles him. In 
 recalling the words, I am not quite sure that I held myself 
 as much under control as is my habit, more especially as Dr. 
 Law is my guest. But he takes my offered hand at part- 
 ing, and with a softened and saddened voice expresses the 
 hope that when we meet again we may see things a little 
 more in the same light than we have in this visit; and then 
 he goes out into the darkness. 
 
XVI. 
 On the Improvement of Church Services.* 
 
 I HAVE accepted the invitation to speak to you, with which 
 you have honored me, not without some misgivings, for I 
 have been told that I would be expected, whatever my subject 
 should be, to say something which would provoke discussion. 
 The subject which I have chosen, The Enrichment and 
 Improvement of our Public Services, will, I trust, provoke 
 nothing but kindly discussion, for I shall aim to treat it in a 
 frank and kindly manner, so as not to give offence to any 
 one. In the necessary references which I may make to 
 other branches of the Church, I hope I shall say nothing 
 which would wound or disturb any one outside of our own 
 communion. 
 
 I am a Presbyterian, not by birth or education, but from 
 choice ; a choice made fifty years ago, and not regretted. I 
 have never, however,, felt it necessary to believe that the 
 polity of the Presbyterian Church is unmistakably outlined 
 in the New Testament, nor do I believe this of any other of 
 the numerous families into which the Church of Christ is 
 divided. There is no special form of Church government 
 which can justly claim to be of divine right. Our Lord did 
 not come to establish an organization. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church has a form of government which 
 is venerable and admirable, and more largely in sympathy 
 with the government of our country than that of any other 
 
 * An Address before the Presbyterian Social Union, Philadelphia, March 
 28, 1892. 
 
 (95) 
 
96 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 branch of the Church. The modifications which have been 
 made in this government are very slight, not affecting the 
 great principles which gave our Church its name, and our 
 people, generally, are content to retain it as it is, although 
 there are some who think it might be improved. 
 
 There are, however, many members of our Church, who, 
 while accepting the government and desiring nothing better, 
 are not satisfied with everything else belonging to the Church. 
 Such persons find it difiicult, if not impossible, to believe 
 that the statements of doctrine, made some 300 years ago, 
 are such as would be made now if the Standards were to be 
 rewritten, nor that certain so-called "proof texts," still 
 printed in our Standards, would be chosen for such purposes 
 under the light of modern scholarship and interpretation. 
 
 Some persons of this class go so far as to say that the 
 Scriptures read in the public worship of the Church should 
 be read from the Revised Version, as being the "most 
 approved version ' ' of the Holy Scriptures. They contend 
 that the company of revisers, who have given the Church at 
 large the best result of their labors, were better qualified to 
 do the work than those who did it in King James' time, and 
 that as there can be no royal authority in this country to 
 impose this version on the churches, the Presbyterian Church 
 in America should adopt it and enjoin its use ; or, if this 
 is too much to hope for, that any pastor may have leave 
 to use the Revised Version at his pleasure, without preju- 
 dice to his standing with the Presbytery. He would be 
 accounted a brave or bold pastor who would at this time 
 banish King James' Version from the pulpit and read exclu- 
 sively from the Revised Version. 
 
 Further, there are many persons in our Church who are 
 not satisfied with the forms of worship which prevail among 
 us. They are aware that certain concessions have been made 
 from the very simple forms used a generation ago, and that 
 no bad effects have followed, and they do not see why other 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRAE.Y. 97 
 
 changes may not be adopted, which would not weaken the 
 hold Presbyterianism has now on the Church and the world, 
 but which would add very much to the value and attractive- 
 ness of its services. 
 
 ',' The Directory for the Worship of God in the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in the United States of America," as amended 
 and ratified by the General Assembly in May, 1821, is very 
 explicit in its recommendations. The people are enjoined to 
 take their seats in church decently, gravely, and reverently; 
 during the worship to avoid all whisperings, salutations, sleep- 
 ing, and smiling. The minister is to read such portions and 
 so much of the Holy Scriptures as he may see proper, and 
 expound any part of what is read. Christians are charged 
 to sing psalms and hymns, and advised to cultivate knowl- 
 edge of the rules of music. It is suggested as proper to 
 begin the services with a short prayer of adoration, of the 
 expression of humility, of petition for the presence and 
 assistance of the Holy Spirit in the worship, and acceptance 
 through the merits of Christ. Then, after a psalm or hymn, 
 there should be a full and comprehensive prayer of adoration, 
 thanksgiving, confession, supplication, pleading (which may 
 mean importunity), and intercession. After the sermon should 
 be a prayer in relation to the subject which has been treated of 
 in the discourse. After the prayer a psalm, then a collection, 
 and then the Assembly is to be dismissed with the Apostolic 
 benediction. 
 
 Such is the Directory for our Public Worship, which the 
 framers suggest gives opportunity for such compass and 
 variety as the oiEciating pastor may choose to employ. And 
 probably for many generations this form of service was sub- 
 stantially observed in our churches. 
 
 In some of our congregations now, the first act in the ser- 
 vice on Sunday is the singing of a doxology, followed by the 
 prayer of invocation, and then the reading of sentences from 
 the Scriptures ; then a hymn ; then the Scripture lesson ; 
 7 
 
98 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 another hymn ; a prayer ; reading of notices, like Ezekiel's 
 bones, very many and very dry, often of things which are 
 duly advertised in the daily papers ; another prayer, a hymn, 
 another doxology, the benediction, and then instantly a 
 rush for hats and canes, overcoats having been put on during 
 the singing of the final doxology. How readily we have 
 fallen into these customs ! 
 
 We no longer stand while we pray, nor sit while we sing, 
 as did our forefathers, nor are we reproached for imitating 
 other churches in these respects. 
 
 It seems, therefore, that in many matters connected with 
 our Church, both inwardly and outwardly, we have departed 
 somewhat from the ways of our forefathers, and are apparently 
 none the worse for it. 
 
 Shall we stop here ? Is it not our duty to make our 
 churches and our church services as attractive as possible, 
 provided we do not give up our polity, our doctrines, and our 
 Scriptural worship ? The Presbyterian Church has a splen- 
 did history. Her singular devotion to the Scriptures, her 
 jealous care that her ministers should be educated men, her 
 battles in argument, and with the sword in the old times, for 
 the pure Word and for free civil government, the purity, of 
 her ministry, the high character of her eldership, her grand 
 contributions to religious literature, the high average of in- 
 telligence of her members, her generous benefactions, all 
 these present a magnificent record, and have made impres- 
 sions deep and enduring on the mind and heart of our wide 
 country. If our Church does not include the larger propor- 
 tion of the wealthy and fashionable in our great cities, this 
 is not to be regretted, but it is behind no other branch of the 
 Church in the intellectual quality of its adherents. A census 
 of our law courts all over the land, as to their ecclesiastical 
 relations, would probably disclose the fact that more judges 
 come from the Presbyterian than from any other Church. 
 
 But is the Presbyterian Church at its best ? Is it as aggres- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 99 
 
 sive, as efficient, as popular as it can be made ? Is it taking 
 that hold on all classes of society that it might do and ought 
 to do? Is it making the progress that the Methodist and 
 Baptist churches are making ? In short, is it what it ought 
 to be? 
 
 I venture to say that our church is not at its best, that it is 
 not doing all that it might do, and that there is nothing, ex- 
 cept unwillingness to consider and appreciate the greatness 
 of the work, and unreasonable prejudice, to hinder a progress 
 that would otherwise be irresistible. Much might be said 
 of the development of power among the intelligent laity 
 outside of the eldership, and our church Sessions could 
 hardly address themselves to a more important topic for con- 
 sideration, but my purpose now is to inake a few suggestions 
 concerning the improvement and enrichment of our church 
 services on Sunday. 
 
 1. Let two lessons, one from the Old Testament, one from 
 the New, not necessarily entire chapters, be read at each 
 service. Consider how many people there are in all congre- 
 gations who are deplorably ignorant of the Scriptures. 
 They will not read at home, and to many of them this is 
 their only opportunity. Encourage also the placing of Bi- 
 bles in the pews, for the use of all occupants, resident or 
 strangers. 
 
 2. Let the hymns be selected more generally for their lyri- 
 cal qualities and for their high poetic character and their ex- 
 pressions of praise, than simply because they suit the subject 
 of the discourse. The latter quality is not to be disregarded, 
 but it should not be the first consideration. The greatest 
 of all hymnists was probably Isaac Watts, but it is by no 
 means true that all his hymns are lyrics. Much the same 
 may be said of the hymns of the Wesleys. Some one has 
 said that there are only about 300 English hymns that are 
 worth singing, but there are ten times as many that are ex- 
 cellent for reading. Our congregations should have the very 
 
100 A TOUR ROUND MY UERARY. 
 
 best collections of hymns and tunes that can be made, and 
 if our present Hymnal does not answer these conditions, it 
 having been made many years ago, let not the Board con- 
 tinue to publish it because it is pecuniarily profitable, but 
 let it be put aside and get or make a better one — the best 
 one. The value of good hymns and music as a part of public 
 worship, either as expressive or impressive, is incalculable. 
 I,et the minister refrain from reading the hymns unless he 
 is an expert as a reader of poetry, and let the organist re- 
 frain from playing more than one line of the tune, and have 
 no interludes, and let the people join heartily, but not too 
 loudly, in the singing, and, generally, let the hymn be 
 sung without mutilation, the people always standing. 
 
 But our people, especially our young people, now want 
 more music than the three or four appointed hymns. Some- 
 thing answering to the Anthem of the English Cathedral Ser- 
 vice is required. This has led to the introduction of the 
 "quartette choir," and where the cost is not too great, of a 
 "double quartette." Of course none but accomplished mu- 
 sicians with superior voices will be accepted for such service., 
 And it follows surely that such choirs will not be satisfied 
 with one anthem ; . there must be at least two. And the 
 music selected must be such as to display to the best advan- 
 tage the admirable voices of the quartette, in solo or duet, 
 whether it be the most appropriate music for the time and 
 place or not. I know that I am on delicate ground. I 
 may be told that I am no musician, that I do not understand 
 the subject ; but I do know that I have heard much of the 
 best church music in the world, whether in the English or 
 the Latin churches. I know that rarely, if ever, in them is 
 the "ear pained and the soul made sick" by the straining 
 of voices and the screaming which we have heard at times 
 from the choirs of Presbyterian churches. 
 
 Why cannot we have the Psalms and passages from the 
 Prophets chanted more frequently, such as the musicians 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 101 
 
 of the latter part of the last century and the earlier part of 
 the present have embalmed in their heavenly music ? Our 
 German music, like our German theology, is not always 
 orthodox. I venture to say that in the English cathedrals, 
 where more study is given to the subject of church music, 
 and more money spent on it than we can possibly give, 
 where the anthems are always announced by name or by the 
 first line, always easily found in the book ; the worshipper is 
 never startled, or disturbed, or distressed by sounds inap- 
 propriate in the lord's house. 
 
 This means, however, that the musicians employed to lead 
 us in the devotional part of our Church services ought always 
 to be people of pronounced Christian character, profoundly 
 in sympathy with the service of song. If church Sessions 
 would take the trouble to inquire, it would be found that in 
 many congregations much harm is done by employing me- 
 chanical organists, who are not in sympathy with true church 
 music. We insist that he who leads the devotions of a con- 
 gregation in prayer shall be a godly man. On what prin- 
 ciple do church Sessions employ men and women to lead 
 congregations in their hymns of praise, without knowing or 
 caring whether they are even professors of religion, to say 
 nothing of their special fitness for their work ? 
 
 3. At some convenient place in the service let a selection 
 from the Psalms be read responsively, not verse and verse 
 about, which is so contrary to the structure and purpose of 
 the Psalms, but "line and line about," according to the 
 parallelisms of the Hebrew original and the usage in the 
 Temple service. I say selections from the Psalms, for all the 
 Psalms are not to be sung or said ; some are better read as 
 lessons. The real characteristics of the Psalms are that 
 they are responsive and antiphonai as well. An effort was 
 made to get our General Assembly at a recent meeting to 
 pronounce against this usage of the Psalms, which has been 
 
102 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 adopted in some congregations, but the Assembly declined 
 to commit that folly. 
 
 Can any fair or reasonable objection be urged against the 
 reading of the Psalms and other devotional Scriptures by the 
 minister and people responsively ? On the contrary, the ad- 
 vantages resulting from such regular and frequent use of 
 the Psalms, are incalculable. It would be vastly better if we 
 could chant them, as is so common in the Church of Scot- 
 land, but this can be done successfully only after much culti- 
 vation. No doubt, however, that we shall attain to it in 
 time. What we want now^ and what we can do now, is to 
 read them responsively. But do not allow, as is so common 
 in Sunday-schools, the reading of undevotional and unpoeti- 
 cal Scriptures responsively. 
 
 "Almost any book might be spared out of the Old Tes- 
 tament Scriptures rather than the Psalms. The Bible as 
 a religious book would be most incomplete without it, for 
 in a complete religious book must be not only revelation, 
 but the response to revelation. And the response is no 
 whit less inspired and sacred than the revelation is. We 
 know from whom the inspiration of true worship comes. 
 The prayer and praise which go up to God from hearts 
 that worship Him in spirit and in truth, first came down 
 from Him. And the worship which ' is written in the 
 book of Psalms, ' because it was real worship out of honest 
 hearts, that meant it when they uttered it ; that prayed 
 because they needed to, and sung because for their relig- 
 ious joy they could not but sing ; was doubtless prompted 
 by the presence of the Holiest within them, kindled by the 
 breath of God, illumined by His light, and quickened by 
 His life. The Psalms are real prayers and real praises, most 
 intensely real, and therefore verily inspired. The men who 
 uttered them and wrote them felt what they said and meant 
 it heartily. They cried out for help because they must have 
 help, because if help were not forthcoming ttiey must perish. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 103 
 
 They sung praises and gave thanks because their hearts were 
 full, and they could not restrain expression." 
 
 Said I not rightly, therefore, that the frequent and regu- 
 lar use of the Psalms would be of incalculable advantage 
 to the Church ? This is quite within our reach. 
 
 4. Let more attention be given to the matter of public 
 prayer. Can any person give a good reason why so much 
 thought and labor should be given to the preparation of the 
 sermon and so little to the prayers ? Let any pastor state 
 frankly how many hours in the week he gives to writing or 
 studying his two sermons for Sunday, and how many to the 
 preparation of his six prayers for the same services, and let 
 him give his reasons for the same. Few pastors, probably, 
 would object to have an accurate stenographic report of their 
 sermons published in Monday's newspapers, but would they 
 read and would their congregations read with the same sat- 
 isfaction a verbatim report of all the prayers they uttered ? 
 
 We ought not to expect too much from our young pastors 
 in the matter of public prayer. Consider, the prayers should 
 be common prayers, i. e., the confession should be of com- 
 mon sins, the praise should be for common mercies ; the 
 adoration should be for considerations which are common to 
 all ; and the language employed to express these and other 
 sentiments of worship should be such as can be adopted by 
 all the congregation. The people under some, so-called 
 prayers are put in the position of hearers, not worshippers. 
 
 Now take a young man just graduated from one of our 
 seminaries, who has a dozen or so sermons ahead. Install 
 him over a congregation in a city or country town in which 
 are a judge or two, a general, a colonel, three or four law- 
 yers, two or three physicians, half a dozen merchants, as 
 many teachers, in short, a congregation with one or two 
 score of educated, thoughtful people, who read the best lit- 
 erature, and who form cultivated society, and require him to 
 preach two sermons and extemporize six prayers every Sun- 
 
104 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 day, and to vaxy them all, so that no two of these services 
 shall be exactly alike, are you not imposing an intolerable 
 burden upon him ? 
 
 For a time, and while their sympathies are moved towards 
 their young brother, the people will bear patiently with his 
 crude discussions of religious truth, being written, but will 
 they as patiently listen to his more crude, because unwritten 
 and unstudied, prayers? For they must listen; they can 
 hardly make such prayers their own, because of their inco- 
 herence ; their perpetual repetitions of the name of God ; 
 their didactic and sermonizing character ; their unconnected 
 and inappropriate quotations of Scripture ; their want of 
 solemnity, beauty, and devotion ; their too common viola- 
 tions of syntax ; and for other qualities which are in no way 
 devotional. * 
 
 "Consider how rare is a really finished master of speech, 
 
 * This is the " prayer " offered by the chaplain of one of our Legislatures 
 when the cable announced the death of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales 
 and the death of Cardinal Manning. 
 
 " Oh, adorable God, the heavy news comes from across the sea that the 
 heir presumptive of the British crown is dead, and that the homes of an em- 
 pire on which the sun never sets are shrouded in mourning. Hear our 
 devout and earnest prayer for that most illustrious and gracious lady, the 
 sovereign Queen Victoria, whose reign has been a benediction to the world ; 
 the pillars of whose throne are the faithful hearts of her subjects ; whose 
 name and person are dear and sacred in this land as well as in her own. 
 
 "Again and again has she been called upon to drain the cup of tears. Up- 
 hold her with Thy mighty hand, assuage her grief at the death of her grand- 
 son, and grant her Thy peace, which passeth all understanding. Comfort 
 the Prince and Princess of Wales, and all the royal family in their great sor- 
 row, and grant that they may find that great consolation that palaces and 
 hovels alike may find in Thy love and promises. Especially do we com- 
 mend to Thy fatherly comfort the mother who mourns the death of her first- 
 born, and the young affianced bride whose husband has been snatched from 
 her by the Lord of death. As America stands with England uncovered at 
 this new-made grave, may a brotherly sympathy and tenderness of feeling 
 throughout our vast country bind together the two countries, the fountain 
 of whose blood, speech, conscience and faith is one. 
 
 " Nor do we forget the death of that eminent prelate, scholar, churchman, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 105 
 
 one who can on all occasions express himself with accuracy 
 and propriety, with elegance and force, who is always found 
 ready to say on the spur of the moment what ought to be 
 said, and as it ought. This is confessedly as rare, as it is 
 assuredly an admirable gift. . . . Why, then, should we ex- 
 pect that extemporary prayer should be the common gift of 
 every minister, when the faculty of extemporary speech on 
 other subjects is confessedly exceptional?" 
 
 What is the remedy? To read the six prayers from a 
 book ? Not of necessity, but at least there should be as careful 
 a preparation of prayers as of sermons. And how ? L,et the 
 young, the inexperienced pastor write his prayers, after study- 
 ing approved models, and if he cannot commit them to memory 
 (an unnecessary drudgery), let him lay the manuscript, as he 
 does his sermon, on his open Bible and read it in a reverent, 
 devotional tone, as he utters his extempore prayers, making 
 no concealment of his preparation, as if afraid of having the 
 people know that he reads. He will not need to write as 
 many prayers as sermons, for very shortly he will have accu- 
 mulated a store which will bear repetition more frequently 
 than his sermons. The late Professor Hart, while superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school of the Tenth Church, uniformly 
 wrote and read his Sunday-school prayers. Do not let the 
 young pastor be afraid that some eye, that ought to be closed 
 in devotion, will see him as he reads his prayer and report 
 him. How much it would add to the dignity and comfort 
 of public worship if ministers had the courage sometimes to 
 write and read their prayers ! 
 
 Cardinal-Prince of his Church, whose whole life has been a supreme dedica- 
 tion of himself, his vast power and accomplishments to the cause of onr 
 common Lord and Master, and of his fellow-men ; especially the poor. Em- 
 balm him in the memory of the millions of his brethren. May his noble 
 example stir up all Christian people to a completer consecration of them- 
 selves to Him who gave Himself as a ransom for us, and who opened the 
 gates of living love alike to priest, cardinal and beggar." 
 
106 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 ' ' In all cases of public worship, we must never forget that 
 the speaker supplies a form of words for those who join with 
 him in the service, whether he extemporize, or repeat what 
 he has prepared, or read from a manuscript or a book, in all 
 these cases alike, the spoken prayer is a form to the congre- 
 gation. This is evident. The question is whether the gen- 
 erality of ministers, or rather ministers universally, should be 
 considered competent to produce, without writing them, with- 
 out preparation, or if they so please, without one moment's pre- 
 vious study or consideration, a whole public service for hun- 
 dreds or thousands of people, and that from week to week 
 and from year to year ? Whether the stupidest, rawest, least 
 learned and accomplished stripling, whom any Presbytery 
 may have licensed to preach, or on whose head they may 
 have laid their hands, shall be esteemed qualified to produce 
 six public prayers every Sunday out of his own mind on the 
 spur of the moment, and also to extemporize, as the occasions 
 occur, services for baptism, for marriage, and for the celebra- 
 tion of the most solemn rite of the Christian Church, the 
 Lord's Supper? Those who expect that such services, pro- 
 duced in this way, should be what they ought, must at least 
 have conceived a very low idea of what is required." 
 
 It is to be said, also, that if these services, as they are often 
 performed, are not a great strain upon the intellectual forces 
 of clergymen, they are a great and unnecessary strain upon 
 the endurance of the congregation. 
 
 The masterly discourse, better though it be and generally 
 is than can be heard in other churches than ours, is not in 
 itself worship, is not the prime object of the church service, 
 as has been asserted. The grand object of the church service 
 is prayer and praise, and the Presbyterian Church will never 
 accomplish her glorious mission until, along with her well- 
 equipped pastors, she carries a people who express their de- 
 votions in well-ordered prayer and praise. 
 
 Must, then, the prayers of the sanctuary be all extempora- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 107 
 
 neous, or all in inflexible forms ? Is there no alternative ? 
 Cannot a liturgy be constructed of forms of prayer so general 
 as to suit all congregations, and with a place in every service 
 for special or extemporaneous prayer to suit any occasion ? 
 And can there be any objection to a pastor in his study, with 
 his freshly written sermon before him, with his emotions all 
 aflame and the condition of his people weighing on his heart — 
 can there be objection to his writing his prayers and reading 
 them, instead of reciting or declaiming them ? 
 
 For the assembled people are not a dumb crowd, to be 
 spoken for or spoken to^ but living members of Christ, each 
 of whom is privileged to say for himself: 
 
 "O Lord, open Thou my lips, 
 And my mouth shall show forth ffhy praise." 
 
 Hear what the Rev. Dr. Henry A. Boardman, so long 
 pastor of our Tenth Presbyterian Church, said : 
 
 "An imposed liturgy^ minute and inflexible, which is by 
 many devout Christians held to be only less precious than 
 the Bible, would be to me as much a yoke of bondage as 
 would have been the Ivcvitical ceremonial to the early disci- 
 ples. But carefully composed forms of prayer were much in 
 use among the reformers, and are to be found among the 
 writings of most of those illustrious men whose names adorn 
 the annals of the Presbyterian churches of Europe. The 
 weak point in our services is the devotional offices ; the 
 preaching is better than the praying. The gift of prayer is 
 but scantily bestowed upon some who are not lacking in the 
 grace of prayer. And ministers who are liberally endowed 
 in this respect are not always able to command the sacred 
 faculty. Every pastor knows what it is to go to his pulpit 
 with an aching head, with nerves all ajar from a sleepless 
 night, burdened with some .sorrow, harassed with some vex- 
 ing care, or otherwise unfitted to lead his people to the mercy- 
 seat and speak with and for them to our Father in heaven. 
 
108 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 What a relief it would be to pastors in circumstances like 
 these to have at hand some suitable form of prayer, and how- 
 much it would contribute to the edification of believers. 
 Why should not our General Assembly provide a few such 
 forms, not to be imposed upon the ministry, but to be used 
 by them at their discretion ? 
 
 " Again, if our methods could be revised, I should insist 
 upon the concerl of pastor and people in the audible offering- 
 of the Lord's Prayer and the reciting of the Apostles' Creed 
 once every Sabbath, together with the responsive Amen at 
 the end of every prayer. In respect to the Creed, there are 
 probably many Presbyterians who are ignorant that it is the 
 common heritage of the churches, that it has always been 
 included in our Confession of Faith. As the superintendents 
 of our Sunday and mission schools have judiciously intro- 
 duced these two exercises into their stated services, the way, 
 it is hoped, may be opened for copying the example in our 
 ordinary Sabbath worship." 
 
 I am perplexed by the unwillingness that persons have to 
 written prayers, and I have tried to analyze it, for it is un- 
 doubtedly true that most Presbyterians object to prayers read 
 from a book. The strange thing about it is that the same 
 people do not object to written prayers read from a book, if 
 they are in verse. In such cases we sing our prayers devoutly 
 and most profitably. We all do this. Now why object to 
 reading the same sentiments, the same prayers in prose? 
 Very largely, I think, from prejudice, and for no better 
 reason. 
 
 There is, however, an impression, more or less prevalent, 
 that a prayer read from a book is not as devotional as a spoken 
 extempore prayer. Is this so? How is a blind person to 
 know whether the person uttering the prayer is reading or 
 speaking unprepared language ? How would any congrega- 
 tion know, if their eyes were closed, as they ought to be, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 109 
 
 whether the minister was reading a prayer from a book, or 
 reciting it from memory, or extemporizing it? 
 
 I think it probable that the fact is this. The effort to offer 
 prayer in unprepared or extempore language arouses an in- 
 tellectual glow which the speaker mistakes for devotional 
 fervor, and under this mistaken view he naturally supposes 
 that the congregation shares with him this aroused emotion, 
 while the truth often is that the congregation is not moved 
 at all. I think this will account for much of the unwilling- 
 ness of the minister to read his own written prayers, and 
 you see how little force there is in that objection. Of one 
 thing I am sure, that if ministers would write one-fourth as 
 many prayers as they do sermons, whether they use them or 
 not, their spoken prayers would be immeasurably improved 
 in phraseology and spirituality. We all read prayers and 
 use prepared y&r/«^ of prayer when we read the Psalms. 
 
 If it should be said that any Presbyterian church, that 
 chooses to do so, may worship according to liturgical forms, 
 and therefore there is no need of pressing this subject upon 
 the consideration of the people, let me say that while any 
 church may have the right, public opinion at present is 
 such, that to do so would be likely to provoke most unfa- 
 vorable criticism. A man has the right to go to a funeral in 
 full evening dress if he chooses, or to go to a wedding in a 
 suit of mourning, but no man in his right mind would choose 
 to do so. What we desire is, to create a public opinion which 
 -will not be startled at such a change in our forms of worship. 
 
 Let any one examine the programme of the Christmas 
 festivals, the "anniversaries," the Easter services, even the 
 form of introductory service in many of our Sunday-schools, 
 and ask himself what is likely to be the effect of such educa- 
 tion. It is doubted whether the elders of the Church are 
 consulted in the preparation of these responsive or anti- 
 phonal services, but can any one doubt what will be the effect 
 of this training? Will these young people, who are accus- 
 
110 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 tomed to alternate reading of the Psalms in the Sunday- 
 school, be content when they become men and women, to sit 
 passive and dumb in a church service where the pastor does 
 all the praying and the choir does all the singing? 
 
 At the end of the benediction, let the congregation pause 
 for unspoken prayer at least one-quarter of a minute, in deep 
 silence and stillness, before they leave their places, and let 
 there be no " playing the congregation out " by the organist, 
 as if for troops returning from a military funeral. If the or- 
 ganist desires to play, let it be an appropriate selection from 
 one of the old masters, chosen with knowledge of the sermon, 
 and then, if he is a real organist, the people will be in no 
 hurry to go out. 
 
 Again, let the Lord's Prayer, as recorded in St. Matthew, 
 be recited once in every service by pastor and people in 
 unison (this is common prayer), and occasionally, say at the 
 communion at least, let the Apostles' Creed be recited in 
 unison. And once a month, or oftener, let the Ten Com- 
 mandments be read. 
 
 I believe the time will come when the General Assembly 
 will prepare a liturgy, not composed of ecclesiastical, but 
 of Scriptural prayers (there is a wide difference between 
 the two) ; a liturgy, not compulsory, but optional, or, at least, 
 as Dr. Boardman pleads, prayers that may used as the pastor 
 chooses. 
 
 The General Assembly now provides prayers to be sung in 
 verse for church services, why not provide prayers in p^vse 
 to be said also ? 
 
 I would have our services such that our people would look 
 forward to t"he Sabbath and the going to church, not merely 
 to hear the sermon, but to take part in and enjoy the ser- 
 vices, the prayers, the Scripture readings of the congrega- 
 tion. We have a right to the best preaching, the best prayers, 
 the best music that can be obtained. Nothing is too good 
 for the service of the Lord's house. Let us not forget 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. Ill 
 
 that our oflfering is to God and not merely to please our- 
 selves. 
 
 There is an unmistakable tendency towards ritualism in all 
 churches. , We cannot shut our eyes to it, we cannot prevent 
 it. I^et us meet it and provide for it and control it by the 
 enrichment of our own services, such as will give our people 
 some part in them and so deepen the interest of the young, 
 and keep them from wandering to other places and more 
 attractive worship. 
 
 Now what may be looked for, from such consideration as 
 we are giving to the subject of improvement in our public 
 worship ? What we want is improvement in the dignity, 
 the comfort, the spirituality of the devotional part of our 
 public services. 
 
 May it not be hoped that some clergymen who have been 
 accustomed to spend hours and even whole days in the prep- 
 aration of the language of their sermons to the people, may 
 see the advantage of putting their prayers, which are ad- 
 dresses to the Most High, in language at least as carefully 
 prepared ; and that such clergymen as are deficient in the 
 grace and gift of public prayer may not be ashamed to read 
 their own prayers in public worship when they feel so in- 
 clined ? 
 
 Let us hear also what dear old George Herbert said in his 
 quaint verse. I am sure Dr. Boardman would not object to 
 the association of his name with that of the English church- 
 man. For they both loved and served the same Master here, 
 and they are both before His throne now : 
 
 "They that in private by themselves alone 
 Do pray, may take 
 What liberty they please 
 In choosing of the ways 
 Wherein to make 
 Their souls' most intimate aflfection known 
 To Him that sees in secret, when 
 They are most concealed from other men. 
 
112 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 " But lie that unto others leads the way 
 In public prayer, . 
 Should choose to do it so 
 That all that hear may know 
 They need not fear 
 To tune their hearts unto his tongue, and say 
 Amen ; nor doubt they were betrayed 
 To blaspheme when they should have prayed." 
 
 There are four great events that I think may well be ob- 
 served by the Church in all its branches. They are the 
 Nativity of Christ, the Crucifixion of Christ, the Resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, the Ascension of Christ : or, as we say in 
 home language, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter, and 
 Ascension Day. Why not gather our families, especially 
 our children, in church on Christmas Day, and have appro- 
 priate services ? To say that we do not know that Christ 
 was really born on the 25th of December is a mere evasion, 
 for, whether true or not, all the Christian world keeps that 
 day. 
 
 Why not on Good Friday go to our churches and have a 
 service in remembrance of the death of Christ on the Cross ? 
 There can be no doubt of this day. 
 
 We have been practically forced to a partial observance of 
 Easter, for we cannot well keep out of "the stream of ten- 
 dency ' ' in that direction. 
 
 L,et us add one more day, and that the Ascension, and 
 have appropriate church services and let the people know 
 how much the Ascension means, for they do not know now. 
 
 Shall it be said there is no warrant for the religious ob- 
 servance of these days in the Bible ? Admitting this to be 
 true, shall we apply this test to other observances? Where 
 is the Scripture warrant for the modern Sunday-school with 
 women for teachers, or for the written sermon, or for the 
 quartette choir, or for the costly organ ? But no one doubts 
 the' propriety and value of all these things. 
 
 These questions might be still further extended. It is fair 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 113 
 
 to say that anything that will increase the efficiency of the 
 Church, and deepen and promote its edification and spiritual- 
 ity, ought to be adopted, whether we can find chapter and 
 verse for it or not. 
 
 We lose much, I think, of reverence and respect for our 
 Church by the way in which we speak of it, and permit 
 others to speak of it without protest in our hearing. We 
 ought never to speak of any branch of the Church as a de- 
 nomination. The word is almost as much a commercial as 
 an ecclesiastical term. There is but one Church, made up 
 of the whole company of believers, and the various branches 
 of this Church, as long as they Jiold to the divinity of Christ 
 and His sacrifice on the Cross, are the true Church. There 
 are two words, Church and sect, words each of one syllable, 
 which may be better used than the wor^ denomination, a 
 word of five syllables. 
 
 Sometimes we hear ourselves spoken of as a "religious 
 body. ' ' We ought always to resent this when it is intended 
 to be a qualification or evasion of the use of the word church, 
 and insist on being called a Church. 
 
 The one great hindrance, the greatest of all hindrances to 
 the spread of Christianity throughout the world, is the want 
 of Christian unity. All the persecution which the Church suf- 
 fered in the earliest days ; all the opposition, however mani- 
 fested, of later times ; all the arguments of later times ; all 
 the falling away of the professors of the faith, are as nothing 
 when compared with the want of hearty unity among the 
 people of God. The world, as opposed to Christ, presents a 
 vast army, all under one flag, with unbroken front, rank be- 
 hind rank, of men fully equipped, fighting for life, while the 
 Church stands, with scattered army corps, with broken front 
 and various banners, quarrelling as to the rank of the different 
 commanders, disputing as to who shall have the right or the 
 left or the centre of the advancing columns, questioning as 
 to this regiment, whether it is of the regular army, or as to 
 8 
 
114 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 that, whether volunteer troops have any right to go to the 
 front. I have said that this condition of things does more to 
 hinder and delay the triumph of the religion of Christ than 
 all the hostility of the world. But I know, and I thank God 
 for it, that the responsibility for this does not rest with the 
 Presbyterian Church. We raise no barriers against any other 
 branch of the Church of Christ. We make no conditions ex- 
 cept loyalty to Him. Our skirts are clear, for our Church is 
 ready to meet the foe on any field. We are ready to stand 
 shoulder to shoulder with any Christian soldiers, without 
 asking or caring whether they are regulars or volunteers ; 
 all we want to know is, Are they true to the cause, will they 
 fight? 
 
 Time does not permit me to speak of the sacraments of 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper, these most important parts 
 of the services of the church, nor of the burial service, but it 
 is most devoutly to be wished that the General Assembly 
 would authorize and adopt Scriptural forms (you see we can- 
 not escape from forms) for the proper and uniform observance 
 of these rites and ceremonies. I trust that in the near future 
 people of our Church who go from one part of the country 
 to another, will not be so disturbed by the wide differences 
 they observe in the administration of the sacraments and in 
 the burial of the dead. 
 
 I have now tried, most inadequately, to show what is 
 within the reach of the Presbyterian Church, what she can 
 do for the world if she will. I cannot think that the views I 
 present, if adopted, would weaken the hold the Church now 
 has on her children or on the world, or would lead to the 
 giving up of anything really valuable. If I thought so, I 
 would almost be inclined to say, in the words of that hymn 
 which is sometimes sung with so little sense of its fearful 
 meaning : 
 
 "This hand let useful skill forsake, 
 This, voice in silence die." 
 
XVII. 
 
 How TO Deal with the Wednesday Evening 
 Meeting. 
 
 The subject for our meditation to-night is ' ' How to make 
 the Wednesday evening meeting effective ; ' ' and it is in 
 order to consider at the beginning, the question, What is the 
 object of the meeting ? 
 
 1. It is spiritual refreshment. We live in a busy time. 
 It is a time of " doing " rather than "being." It seems to 
 be easier to float with the current than to withdraw and 
 think — easier to go to church than to secure the advantage 
 of church going. It is well, therefore, to turn aside in the 
 middle of the week, and think of what we are doing — and 
 how we are living. 
 
 2. We need to grow in grace. The Divine life in the 
 human soul must be cultivated, like plants, which need con- 
 stant care and attention. Spirituality does not naturally in- 
 crease in the heart — the trend is in the opposite direction ; it 
 must be nursed and trained and developed by judicious culture 
 and activity. The mid-week evening service, when properly 
 conducted, is a great help to growth in spirituality ; but it is 
 not absolutely essential to that growth. The many instances 
 of high spiritual life, in persons whose days are spent in the 
 country, away from towns and villages, as well as in 
 many invalids who cannot go to church at all, show that 
 growth in grace is the result of close communion with God 
 wherever the Christian is. 
 
 3. The familiar instruction is of great advantage. There 
 is apt to be a stateliness and dignity, and sometimes a for- 
 malism in the Sunday sermons, which are out of place in a 
 
 (115) 
 
116 A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 
 
 week-day evening. We get closer together ; and the sub- 
 jects of remark are more simple and more practical than those 
 of the Sunday discourse. 
 
 4. There is opportunity here, also for the cultivation of the 
 gifts of speech and prayer which we do not have elsewhere. 
 Possibly the Society for Christian Endeavor is a better place 
 for these ; but, indirectly and incidentally, much improve- 
 ment may be accomplished in this meeting also. 
 
 5. There is fine opportunity here for becoming acquainted 
 with our fellow-Christians. The seats are all free ; we sit 
 where we choose ; we meet our friends (whom we get close 
 to only once a week) ; we exchange greetings and inquiries 
 for each other's families ; we grow more social, more like 
 Christians ought to be with each other. 
 
 Such are some of the advantages which may be looked for 
 by those who attend the Wednesday evening meeting. 
 
 Now how shall the meeting be made effective ? There is 
 space to give only a few outlines or hints. 
 
 1. Large numbers are not necessary. It is not denied that 
 there is a sort of inspiration in numbers, but many of us can 
 recall meetings where very few were present, but where we 
 seemed to get very near to the Lord ; and we must not forget 
 the very cheering promise that he made to a company so 
 small that it counted only "two or three." 
 
 2. Much learning and great talents are not necessary, 
 ■either in the leader of the meeting or in those who take 
 part ; nor are these always within reach ; but such con- 
 ditions as aptness, earnestness, directness, in the leader, 
 and teachableness and willingness on the part of the people, 
 a clear view of the subject under consideration and of the 
 Scriptures bearing on it, are necessary ; and one or more of 
 these can always be within reach. 
 
 3. It is not necessary to read long chapters from the 
 Scriptures, but it is very desirable that the Scriptures which 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 117 
 
 are read shall have the clearest and closest application to the 
 subject. 
 
 4. Long speeches and long prayers are not necessary. If 
 the pastor or leader makes remarks and offers prayer at an 
 early stage of the meeting, none of the remarks or prayers 
 from others which follow, need be more than four or five 
 minutes in length. 
 
 It is important, however, that the subject chosen should 
 be very practical. Meetings sometimes fail of their purpose, 
 for want of practicalness. Any subject is appropriate that 
 has reference to Christian thought, Christian life, Christian 
 experience, Christian duty — what we ought to do and es- 
 pecially what we ought to be ; and the more direct and per- 
 sonal we make it the better. While it is desirable that the 
 attention shall be held to the subject announced, it is not 
 absolutely necessary. If the meeting drags because none 
 can or will speak to the appointed subject, let the people be 
 encouraged to speak on any subject which is not inappro- 
 priate. Some one may have read a book or tract with profit, 
 and would like to speak of it if he felt free to do so ; he has; 
 been helped ; others may be. 
 
 On Sunday there should always be an announcement of 
 the subject for Wednesday evening, and it is desirable that 
 certain passages of Scriptures bearing on the subject and 
 illustrating it should be mentioned. 
 
 If the meeting is to accomplish its best purpose, there 
 must be careful preparation by the leader. Not that he may 
 make a long discourse, but that he may condense his 
 thoughts ; not that he must say much, but that what he does 
 say must be just what ought to be said. " Out of the abun- 
 dance of the heart the mouth speaketh ; ' ' but it does not 
 necessarily say. much. 
 
 It is well that those who are expected to take part in the 
 meeting should be advised beforehand. Things that are said 
 "off-hand," except when they are the utterances of well- 
 
118 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 furnished and well-trained minds, are not, as a rule, con- 
 ducive to instruction or spirituality. L,et Mr. A. be asked 
 to speak on the subject of Scriptures assigned ; and let 
 him provide a substitute if he cannot be present, or an 
 alternate to take up the subject if there should be a break 
 down ; though the latter contingency is remote. Let the 
 same notice be given to those who are expected to oflFer 
 prayer. If the persons so designated choose to write and 
 commit to memory, or even read prayers, let them feel that 
 they can do so without prejudice. It is quite the custom 
 nowadays for people to ' ' read papers ' ' on given subjects — 
 why not on the all important subjects of religious discourse 
 or prayer ? And let persons who take part in these meetings 
 speak or pray so that they can be heard all over the room. 
 Many persons do so in low tones of voice, which are very 
 proper in family worship, but entirely unsuited to a large 
 room. 
 
 Why should not women participate in these exercises ? 
 They outnumber us probably five to one — they are more de- 
 votional — more emotional. Why not have the advantage in 
 spoken words, of their spirituality ? Should they desire to do 
 so, why not encourage them to speak or offer prayer ? Or 
 if this is too great a change from existing methods, let them 
 write brief observations and send them to the desk to be read, 
 with or without the name of the writer. Women speak in 
 Sunday-school teachers' meetings — asking questions — why 
 not in the weekly meeting of the church for prayer ? 
 
 Very much depends on a judicious selection and use of 
 hymns. And hymns should not be mutilated. The writer 
 of a hymn never contemplated the breaking of it up into 
 parts. If a hymn is very long, let a few verses be sung 
 at one time and the rest of the hymn afterwards, and to 
 the same tune always. Where the music is in the books, 
 it is not necessary for the organist to play the tune 
 before singing, nor for the leader to read more than one 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 119 
 
 stanza. It takes too much time. In no case should hymns 
 be used in whole or in part to break supposed monotony or 
 to fill up the time. A prayer-meeting of twenty minutes, 
 with half a dozen or more scraps of hymns interspersed, is 
 almost an abuse of the hymn. Singing is just as much a 
 part of true worship as prayer, and almost if not quite as 
 essential to the effectiveness of a prayer-meeting as any other 
 feature. Some hymns are for the worship and praise of God 
 — some are appeals to other people to worship and praise 
 him — some are for personal reading and never intended to be 
 sung. Many of the latter class are found in our Hymn books, 
 and unfortunately are sometimes used in singing. They are 
 simply didactic theological statements and not always ex- 
 pressed in true poetry. 
 
 If the subject of the evening or the appointed Scripture is 
 disposed of within the hour, it is not necessary to wait until 
 the clock strikes. Better close the meeting in three-quarters 
 of an hout'than to let the last quarter drag. Better go away 
 hungry than overfed. If there is unusual interest, extend 
 the time beyond the hour occasionally. 
 
 Let there be no long pauses. There will be none if the 
 foregoing hints are observed. More than one person will be 
 so full that he will be glad to speak. 
 
 The great danger is from formality. Break it up. Let 
 this be a time when all formalism is excluded. We are all 
 one family. 
 
 Occasionally it might be well to reverse the usual order, 
 viz. : Let the members do their part first and the leader close 
 by summing up. This will give variety to the order of the 
 meeting. 
 
 These hints or suggestions may not all be practicable, 
 may not all be within our reach ; but if only one should be 
 thought worthy of consideration, and should lead to the 
 edification of only one disciple, these words are not spoken 
 in vain. 
 
XVIII. 
 How TO Promote a Revival of Religion.* 
 
 Some winters ago the clergy of the Established Church, 
 in London, held what they called a "Mission." They set 
 apart a period of ten days before the beginning of Lent as a 
 season of special preparation for that solemn season. The 
 Bishop of London and the Bishops of Winchester and 
 Rochester, whose dioceses now encroach upon the widening 
 borders of that great city, were in hearty accord on the 
 subject. They invited some of the ablest, the most popular, 
 and the most evangelical clergymen in England to come to 
 London and help them. The first day they met in St. Paul's 
 Cathedral, and held three public services, which were 
 thronged by clergymen and laymen. These services occu- 
 pied almost the whole of the short winter day. The 
 clergy had selected for this purpose churches in all 
 quarters of the city, but more especially such as were 
 located in the lowest and most degraded parts, and were 
 nearest to the theatres and places of resort for the classes 
 usually considered farthest away from the influences of the 
 Gospel. Having chosen these locations, they sent a request 
 to the pew holders that for a period of ten days they would 
 vacate their pews, or at least claim no exclusive privileges 
 there. 
 
 Then bands of church members, men and women, were 
 organized, whose duty it was to canvass thoroughly those 
 parts of the city where the services were to be held ; and 
 distribute tracts, handbills and printed invitations to the 
 people to go to church. 
 
 * A Wednesday evening talk. 
 
 (120) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 121 
 
 All these preparations having been made, the introductory 
 services were held at St. Paul's. The preaching was very 
 earnest and searching, and the prayers, although read or 
 sung from their liturgy, were offered with feeling and faith. 
 The next day the preaching services were held simulta- 
 neously in all the appointed churches, morning, afternoon 
 and night. The preachers were all first-class men, the 
 lay workers were thoroughly in sympathy with them, the 
 churches were crowded, and those near the theatres and other 
 places of resort held services late at night, so as to catch the 
 pleasure-seekers before they went to their homes. Thus for 
 ten days and nights these services were sustained with most 
 extraordinary success, and at the close the church passed into 
 the season of Lent, with its peculiar, protracted and solemn 
 services; and for forty days longer the attention of the people 
 of God in that communion was held to the consideration of 
 the great doctrines of the Cross. 
 
 There are no means of estimating the results of this 
 ' ' Mission. " I do not believe that any effort was made to 
 count up the numbers whose " confirmation," which means 
 publicly professing Christ, could be traced to these efforts. 
 It is quite possible, however, that part of the success which 
 the American evangelists achieved in that great city some 
 time after, especially the favor with which they were regarded 
 by some of the clergy of the establishment, was due to these 
 extraordinary services. 
 
 And the Church of England, we must remember, is 
 extremely conservative, not ordinarily counting anything nec- 
 essary for the propagation of religion, the evangelization of 
 the masses, beyond its own calm and quiet daily service. 
 
 I do not speak of this because I suppose such a course 
 would be the best thing in our city, but only to show how 
 thoroughly a community may be moved when the church 
 sets to work in real earnest. 
 
122 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 The question then is, Shall there be among us a revival of 
 religion ? 
 
 And I venture to put this question with earnestness, for 
 the field is large, and white already to the harvest. There 
 is a large number of people (most of them young) who 
 seem to be waiting for some influence to come and move 
 them. I believe, too, there is a class, and a very large 
 class, of Christian people, more or less well furnished for the 
 •work, who are waiting for some voice to say "here is your 
 work, do it." I believe if religion should be thoroughly 
 revived and all these dormant energies aroused and set in 
 action, and under wise supervision, that not only this room, 
 but this church, would be crowded every Wednesday even- 
 ing, and so a great many people, especially the young, 
 would be brought into the church by a public profession of 
 religion. 
 
 Some one has said that the great awakening in the days 
 of President Edwards, 150 years ago, was largely owing to 
 preaching and the peculiar character of that preaching ; 
 and that the revival which swept over our land in 1857 was 
 very much in connection with public prayer-meetings, some 
 of which were continued without intermission for years. If 
 there should come another great revival, does it not seem 
 that it may be largely owing (humanly speaking) to Bible 
 study — certainly never so general or so conscientious as at 
 this time ? 
 
 How, then, can we promote it ? 
 
 Do not let us depend on any man or any number of men : 
 great helps are they ; but let us all understand that a revival 
 that is to do us any good must be first in our own hearts and 
 then in the church. 
 
 A revival means that the people of God are stirred 
 thoroughly, and that with quickened spiritual perceptions 
 and increased faith they are to work for the conversion of 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 123 
 
 other people. And the best results of this may be expected 
 to come from the Sunday-school. 
 
 The soil has been prepared in the weeks and months that 
 are past, the seed has been sown, the harvest is to be gathered 
 here and soon. And the workers in connection with the 
 Pastor are not only the Elders — his constitutional and spirit- 
 ual advisers — but you Sunday-school teachers, you Christians, 
 you who gave yourselves to the Lord in the work of the 
 church when first you professed your faith in Christ ; you 
 are to help in this work, each one in his own sphere. 
 
 What methods can we adopt ? What can we do to promote 
 these good ends ? 
 
 I mention four things, some one of which is within the 
 reach of every man and woman, every boy or girl in this 
 room. 
 
 I. Personal conversation. And this is the best of all. If 
 there is any person whom you love or care for, whether 
 relation or friend, who you have reason to believe is not a 
 Christian, and whom you earnestly desire to see on the 
 lyord's side and in the church, determine to go to that 
 person, and with all the courage and earnestness which you 
 can summon, and with the love of Christ in your heart, 
 have the fullest, the freest talk with that person. At first 
 it will not be pleasant to either of you, and it will be well 
 if you fortify yourself with earnest prayer for wisdom and 
 grace to say the best things in the best way. But in almost 
 every instance, after the first few words, the work will be 
 easier, the way plainer, and your success more assured. Do 
 not, however, look for success immediately ; it may require 
 many a visit, much conversation, and many a prayer, before 
 you gain your prize ; but think what it is — the salvation of a 
 soul — a soul, it may be, very near and dear to you, that but 
 for your efibrt might never find the way of life. I say this is 
 the best of all, for when you come face to face with one 
 whom you wish to move to the most important of all acts, 
 
124 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 your own soul will gleam in your face, and your friend will 
 be more likely to be won in this way than by any other. 
 
 2. But if you are timid and inexperienced, if you are con- 
 fident that you cannot go and speak directly to your friend, 
 then write a letter. Here you will have more freedom ; 
 you can choose your thoughts and your language delib- 
 erately ; you will not be discouraged by any flashes of 
 indignation at the liberty you are taking on this most per- 
 sonal of all subjects ; you will go straight on putting your 
 case in the strongest light you can ; and behind your state- 
 ments will be the strength of your own personality. You 
 can say many things in a letter that you may not have the 
 courage to say directly and personally, and what you do say 
 remains. Words are uttered and often forgotten, but that 
 which is written is more likely to be remembered ; it can be 
 read again and again, and, best of all, it may lead to a per- 
 sonal interview, and if this should be the result of your letter 
 you have almost surely won your case. 
 
 3. If you have not courage to write a letter, or no skill 
 in writing, or little or no facility of expression, then send 
 a book. There are many books especially adapted for 
 this purpose. If you do not happen to know of any book 
 that will suit the particular case you have in mind, your 
 Pastor or some of the Elders will doubtless point you to just 
 the book you want, the book which will exactly suit that 
 case. When you get the book, read it yourself, or at least 
 make yourself well enough acquainted with its contents to 
 know how to talk with your friend about it, and especially 
 that you may pray over it before you send it and after your 
 friend has received it. 
 
 4. If you do not know of any book yourself, or if you are 
 not pointed to one by others, or if you are afraid to send the 
 book when you have found it, one thing yet remains — you 
 can pray for your friend. There is no hindrance here, no 
 want of skill or experience, no need of courage, no embaj- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 125 
 
 rassment of any kind. You can pray earnestly, persistently, 
 frequently. You know that God hears you ; you know that 
 he is on your side ; you know he lias promised his blessing 
 in answer to just such prayers ; and you can pray in faith, 
 believing that your prayers will be answered soon or later. 
 Besides, you can get others to pray with you ; you can always 
 do that ; you can agree on times and places, even if you can- 
 not meet for the purpose, and you can have the additional 
 promises to the prayers of two or three. And, better still, it 
 may be that this persistent, faithful, united prayer will be 
 answered in giving you the true Christian courage to send 
 the book, or write the letter, or go in person to your friend 
 and Save him. 
 
XIX. 
 The Place of the Hymn in Social Worship. 
 
 What is a hymn ? Webster says "it is a short poem 
 composed for religious service, or a song of joy and praise to 
 God. ' ' There is much religious poetry found in hymn-books 
 which is not lyric, and which, even if intended by the 
 authors for public or social worship, cannot properly be so 
 used. There are descriptive, narrative, didactic, hortatory 
 hymns that are very well, as religious poems for private 
 meditation, but which have no place in public worship. 
 
 It was the custom formerly to have one hymn-book for 
 the Sunday services, and another and smaller collection 
 for the weekly lecture and prayer-meeting, and still another 
 for the Sunday-school. It is still the custom generally to 
 have a special book for Sunday-schools — which would not 
 be necessary if the church book were compiled with more 
 liberal reference to children. But, taking our hymn-books 
 as we find them, how shall we use them ? 
 
 No religious service is well ordered and complete 'without 
 appropriate hymns. In many congregations the hymns are 
 selected by the pastor from a classified table of contents, 
 without much reference to the poetical quality of the com- 
 position, and sung by a quartette choir, with little participa- 
 tion by the congregation. In such instances the chief office i 
 of the hymn is to prepare the people for the sermon, or to 
 deepen the impression of it. And under such conditions it 
 is just as likely that the hymn shall be sung to the congre- 
 gation as to God. When this purpose is not in the mind of 
 
 (126) 
 
A. TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 127 
 
 the person who makes the selection, the hymn is apt to be- 
 come a mere means of varying what might otherwise become 
 monotonous services, where the people sit and listen to the 
 reading of the Scriptures, to the singing of the choir, and to 
 the discourse from the pulpit. 
 
 When we come to consider the social meeting on a week- 
 day evening the subject assumes additional interest. In some 
 congregations, instead of a stately, formal lecture, differing 
 from the Sunday sermon chiefly in that it is spoken and not 
 so long, which prevailed in the old times, with a supplemen- 
 tary prayer-meeting later in the week, where there was freer 
 prayer and from more persons, we now have a compromise 
 between these two, or a combination of both. It is quite 
 usual now to find churches with one weekly service — held, 
 say, on Wednesday evening — to which the more spiritual 
 members of the church resort. Not infrequently, also, after 
 remarks from the leader of the meeting on some passage of 
 Scripture, the meeting is ' ' thrown open ' ' to any who may 
 be disposed to make addresses or prayers. If the church is 
 in a lively condition its best material will be gathered here, 
 and the services most probably will be interesting and edify- 
 ing. But if otherwise, which, alas ! is often the case, the 
 meeting drags. Now comes in the hymn. The meeting 
 would be, but for this most useful factor, an utter failure. 
 The leader calls upon two brethren to pray, one following 
 the other immediately, with no interval. Then what? 
 There is nothing to do but to call upon the hymn. So used, 
 it is intended to break the monotony of the service, or to act 
 as a stimulating influence on the minds of the sluggish con- 
 gregation. May the suggestion be ventured that this is not 
 the true intent of a hymn ? It is, or should be, praise to God, 
 an address to God, not too often prayer to God, and not an ad- 
 dress to men, or even to angels. Many a devout and penitent 
 soul, not able to express devotional thought in spoken 
 prayer, or debarred from the privilege because of sex, has 
 
128 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 been hurt and distressed by the misuse or abuse of so-called 
 hymns. 
 
 Will not our pastors and leaders of meetings consider this 
 subject and treat our hymns more kindly, and not give out 
 a single verse or two verses to fill a gap in a meeting ? The 
 true intent of the hymn is praise to God, therefore just as 
 much worship as prayer. Its purpose is to excite the emo- 
 tions, elevate the affections, quicken the spiritual percep- 
 tions, and so lift the soul nearer to God. 
 
 If this is so, why should organists pause between the stanzas 
 and play what is called an ' ' interlude, ' ' while the congrega- 
 tion is standing ? and why, especially, should they do so 
 wlien the structure of the poetry forbids a pause ? Is it to 
 "breathe" his choir, or to exhibit his skill with his grand 
 instrument, or to permit the worshippers to inspect each 
 other's dresses, or to allow the pastor to run his eye over the 
 assembly to see who are absent ? Think of all this in the act 
 of worship to Almighty God ! 
 
XX. 
 
 The Holy Communion.* 
 
 As we approach the Communion Season, many of us begin 
 to consider whether there is anything within our reach to 
 help us to observe it properly, so as to get the most good 
 from it. 
 
 We turn to the four gospels and we see that although St. 
 John gives the fullest details of the incidents that occurred 
 at the Passover Supper, he gives no account of the institu- 
 tion of the Supper itself. The other gospels give the ac- 
 count with more or less particularity. Then we turn to the 
 First Epistle to the Corinthians and read the earliest, the 
 fullest, the most satisfactory account of all — and yet this is 
 from the pen of one who was not present. He had better 
 authority, however, than even his memory, if he had been 
 present, for this account was given to him by our Lord by 
 direct revelation to his servant Paul. These accounts, with 
 occasional references in the same epistle, give us all we know 
 from the sacred records of the institution of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, and the purpose for which it was established. 
 
 We look about among the literature of this subject and we 
 find books and books in many languages, by many authors 
 living in different centuries, in diiferent parts of the world, 
 and belonging to different branches of the church. These 
 books treat the subject in every variety of method. 
 
 Some regard the bread and the cup as really, tangibly, 
 visibly, the body and blood of our Lord ; and they say that 
 
 *A Saturday evening meditation. 
 9 (129) 
 
130 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 in no other view can the taking of the sacrament be of the 
 slightest possible good to any communicant. The "real 
 presence" with them means that by a miracle, after the 
 prayer of consecration offered by a priest episcopally or- 
 dained, the bread and the wine have been converted into 
 actual flesh and blood. Their authority is the Saviour's, 
 words, " This is my body ; this is my blood." 
 
 Others who do not go so far as this, lest perhaps they 
 should worship these elements, say that substantially, though 
 not actually, the body and blood of Christ are present on the 
 table after the prayer of consecration, but that they can be 
 apprehended only by the faith of the participant. 
 
 There are those who regard the bread and the wine only 
 as bread and wine, and not to be made by any prayer of con- 
 secration anything more than these. They believe that our 
 Saviour took some of the passover bread that was left of the 
 passover supper, and some of the simple red wine in such 
 common use then as now in that country, and made these the 
 symbols of his body and blood in the institution of the last 
 supper; and they contend that the nature of these elements is 
 not changed by any consecrating prayer, but that they are to 
 be received by faith in the Son of God as the Saviour of sin- 
 ners, and that without faith in the heart of the recipient the 
 sacrament cannot do him any good. 
 
 These probably are the three principal views which, with 
 many modifications, are held of the bread and the cup. And 
 around this solemn ceremony have clustered the most de- 
 vout, the holiest thoughts of the disciples of Christ in all 
 ages since his death. Books, almost without number, have 
 been written to sustain these several views and to give com- 
 municants comfort in the celebration of the supper. 
 
 But what good shall we get from the supper or sacrament 
 to-morrow? What do we expect from it? How shall we 
 approach the table ? The circumstances about the original 
 institution have disappeared. The upper room — the preced- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY WBRARY. 131 
 
 ing meal — ^the Master witli his twelve disciples (unless in- 
 deed Judas had gone out) — the evening hour — the absence 
 of women — all these have been changed to our present neces- 
 sary or more convenient surroundings. But the great fact 
 remains. • What shall we do with it ? 
 
 Certainly it should be the most helpful, the most important 
 of all the services of the church. So important do some 
 Christians hold it that they find comfort in the celebration 
 every Sunday, or even every day, — while in some congrega- 
 tions it is celebrated only once a year, and then preceded by 
 many meetings of preparation and much fasting and prayer. 
 Others again celebrate it once in three months, with two 
 preparatory services. 
 
 There is danger that it may be thought to be only an oc- 
 casion of receiving new members into the church ; while this 
 is indeed only an incident, for we should have the Lord's 
 Supper if no new members were added to the church. 
 
 The purpose (we have the highest authority for saying so) 
 is to "show the Lord's death till he come." But how can I 
 do this ? How can any young and feeble disciple do this ? 
 If there was an expectation at that day that the Lord would 
 come speedily, the words "till he come " had a more vivid 
 meaning than now ; — but we too can show the Lord's death 
 till he come by "doing this in remembrance of him." And 
 whether he come or not in our time, he will at least come 
 to each one of us at death. 
 
 But is this all ? No — surely more than this. To us as a 
 congregation, as individuals, it means something besides this. 
 We enter the church to-morrow. The table is spread and 
 covered with a linen cloth. Under that cloth are the sacred 
 vessels containing the bread and the wine, the symbols of the 
 body and blood of our Lord. In many churches of the Prot- 
 estant faith there would be above the table a crucifix with the 
 figure of our Lord in the agonies of death. We do not need 
 this — for our desire is to think of the Saviour, not as endur- 
 
132 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 ing mortal agony, but as establishing a ceremony of remem- 
 brance and love which shall continue through all time and 
 *'till he come." The table is for his disciples, and all are 
 welcome, but no others have any place there. This thought,- 
 however, must not keep church members from the table, 
 who have fear and trembling lest they should eat and drink 
 unworthily. No one who is sorry for his sins and who in- 
 tends to abandon them, and who believes in Christ as his 
 Saviour, need be afraid to come to his table, even if he can- 
 not be absolutely sure that he is a Christian. ■ Even an 
 apostle said that he feared even after preaching to others he 
 might, be a castaway ; and many a disciple, many a minister 
 since, has had the same fear ; but this ought not keep any 
 one from the communiou table ; it certainly would not have 
 kept the apostle Paul from it. 
 
 It is not necessary that any disciple should perfectly un- 
 derstand why it was necessary for our Lord to die that cruel 
 and lingering death upon the cross that we might be saved ; 
 dt is only necessary for us to believe that he did die for sin- 
 ners ; and that through that death, if we believe in him and 
 follow him, we shall be saved. 
 
 Some things seem, however, to be necessary on our part 
 l)efore we can fairly expect much good to come to us from 
 the communion. 
 
 1. If we have enmity in our hearts towards any human 
 being, it ought to be put away before we go to the table. 
 No feelings of hatred, such as would lead us to do harm by 
 word or deed to any person whatever, can be indulged by 
 any disciple of Christ, and if any of us have such feelings 
 (they must be put away. This is entirely within our con- 
 trol. 
 
 2. No conscious sin can be entertained at that table. We 
 are all sinners else we should not need a Saviour, and that 
 table is for sinners; but it is for penitent sinners, who in- 
 tend by God's grace to lead a new life, and not for those who 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 133 
 
 are consciously indulging any sin. This also is entirely 
 within our control. 
 
 3. It must be a season of personal and continual prayer^ 
 and renewed consecration to God. If there is ever a time 
 when the disciple should, more than at any other time, feel 
 in the immediate presence of his L,ord and Master, it is when 
 sitting at his table. Now is the time to make a new and 
 unconditional surrender of everything one has and is to the 
 service of Christ. Let nothing be held back ; let the soul 
 lie at the feet of Christ willing to be anything or do any- 
 thing for his service. 
 
 4. It ought not be a season of gloom. It is not a funeral : 
 it is a feast — a glad though solemn feast. He who sits at the 
 head of that table has no pleasure in looking on sad and sor- 
 rowing faces or hearts. There is peace and true joy even in 
 deep penitence, and he gives peace, such as the world can- 
 not give. 
 
 When our Lord sat down or reclined to eat his last pass- 
 over with his disciples, he said, "With desire I have desired 
 to eat this passover with you before I suffer." 
 
 We, his disciples, also should have a deep and sincere de- 
 sire to meet the Lord at his table. 
 
 A Protestant bishop once said to his people that unless 
 they took Christ in their heart they would not meet him at 
 his table. I would not press that thought, for the Lord 
 sometimes reveals himself to his disciples in the breaking of 
 the bread, and sometimes to the doubting ones by showing 
 them his hands and his feet. 
 
 We should not be content by doing this one thing in re- 
 membrance of him. He has given other commands : we 
 may not choose which we shall obey — we must obey them 
 all. 
 
 So if we go to the table to-morrow with some such feel- 
 ings as I have so briefly suggested, we shall turn from it after 
 partaking with glad and thankful hearts — our weak souls 
 
134 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 having been nourished and fed with spiritual food, even as 
 our fainting bodies are made strong with substantial material 
 food ; and we shall have the grand old sentiment in our 
 hearts even if we do not express it in song, that sentiment 
 which the ancient church always associated with her com- 
 munion seasons, the fine Tresagion : "Therefore with angels 
 and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud 
 and magnify thy glorious name ; evermore praising thfee and 
 saying. Holy, holy, holy, lyord God of Hosts : heaven and 
 earth are full of thy glory : glory be to thee, O Lord Most 
 High. Amen." 
 
 Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins 
 and are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend 
 to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and 
 walking from henceforth in his holy ways, draw near with 
 faith and take this holy sacrament to your comfort, and make 
 your humble confession to Almighty God. 
 
 Almighty God, Father of our lyord Jesus Christ, Maker of 
 all things, Judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our 
 manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time 
 have most grievously committed, in thought, word and deed, 
 against thy divine majesty, provoking, most justly, thy wrath 
 and indignation against us ; we do earnestly repent, and are 
 heartily sorry for these our misdoings. The remembrance 
 of them is grievous unto us ; the burden of them is intoler- 
 able. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, Most 
 Merciful Father, for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ's sake ; 
 forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever here- 
 after serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honor 
 and glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Amen. ' 
 
XXL 
 
 The Crucifixion.* 
 O FoousH Gai,atians, who hath bewitched you, That ye shoui:,d 
 
 NOT OBEY the truth, BEFORE WHOSE EYES jESUS CHRIST HATH 
 BEEN EVIDENTI<Y SET FORTH, CRUCIFIED AMONG YOU? — GalatiatlS 
 3:1- 
 
 When you take up the Epistle to the Galatians several 
 questions arise which seem to claim immediate attention, 
 whether answers are readily found or not. Such questions 
 are not as to the authorship, for the first word in the epistle 
 gives the name of the writer, and almost every verse reflects 
 his life and character, but as to the region called Galatia ; 
 in what part of Asia Minor it was located (and in the uncer- 
 tainty of boundary lines of the geography of the first century 
 it is not easy to answer this question), and as to the people 
 themselves: who were they? where did they come from? 
 how long had they inhabited this region? and what were 
 their mental and social characteristics? Then as to the; 
 churches of Galatia, whether we are to understand by them 
 Christian congregations gathered by the Apostle Paul in 
 cities, the names of which we do not know ; or, whether 
 the Galatian churches were gathered in the cities of the 
 Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Then as to 
 the date of the epistle, and where the Apostle was when it 
 was written, and especially why he wrote it ; what are its 
 character and contents ? Some of these questions are readily 
 
 * This lecture was given as an introduction to a course of lessons to a 
 BiWe-class on the life and writings of the Apostle Paul. 
 
 (135) 
 
136 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 answered, and some will forever remain in obscurity. Nor 
 is it my purpose in the remarks which follow to answer 
 them, though possibly a solution to some of them may be inci- 
 dentally alluded to. My purpose is to make what the book- 
 men call an ' ' explication ' ' of the verse which I have read. 
 
 The language, you observe, is highly figurative and pic- 
 torial. It may help us a little to the meaning, if I take a 
 few moments to explain the words and further illustrate the 
 metaphors. 
 
 The remonstrance so fervently urged in this verse follows 
 naturally the strain of remark in the preceding chapter. 
 The apostle had been detailing his experience some time 
 before with the Judaizing teachers, who came down from 
 Jerusalem to Antioch and hindered him in his ministry 
 there. He dwells at some length upon that sad experience 
 with Peter, who, with that unsteadiness which marked the 
 early years of his Christian life, shrunk from the plain duty 
 of admitting Gentile converts to the full fellowship of Chris- 
 tian brethren. Defining his own position at that time, and 
 narrating the rebuke he administered to Peter, Paul passes, 
 on to show that it is too late to look for justification by the 
 law^ — for that he who lives to God must be dead to the law. 
 And then, in passionate words, he exclaims, "I am crucified 
 with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh I 
 live by the faith of the Son of God." Any other view 
 would be a practical denial of the efiicacy of Christ's death. 
 And under the influence of these feelings he turns upon 
 them, saying, " O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, 
 that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus 
 Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? " 
 
 The word ' ' bewitched, ' ' which recalls the superstitions of 
 youth and the stories of the " evil eye," so common among 
 an uncultivated people, might, with equal accuracy, have 
 been rendered ' ' fascinated, ' ' and if so, there is a sort of 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 137 
 
 parallel with the words farther on in the verse — '■'■ before whose 
 eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth" — as if the 
 fascinating influence had passed from the eye of the be- 
 witcher to the eye of the recipient ; that being the most 
 direct channel of communication and impression. The word 
 foolish^ or senseless^ may have a possible reference to the 
 fickleness of their nature, as he says, in the 6th verse of the 
 1st chapter, ' ' I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him 
 that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. ' ' 
 The words '■''that ye should not obey the truth''"' are said by 
 scholars not to be in the earliest and best manuscripts, and 
 have been added by some unknown hand to show the effect 
 of the bewitching or fascinating influence, — viz., a turning 
 away from or not obeying the truth. The sense, you may 
 observe, is complete if these words are dropped. 
 
 The word rendered by the English equivalent '■'■ set forth''"' 
 may be translated, '■'■placarded,^'' and is the word commonly 
 used to describe all public notices or proclamations. It is 
 further explained and intensified by the use of the word evi- 
 dently^ — i. e., plainly, openly, unmistakably. " Before whose 
 eyes" (bringing out the idea of confronting, as when one's 
 eyes rest on a huge placard), — before whose eyes Christ 
 crucified was set, as in a picture ; and this brings to our 
 minds similar pictorial language used by the same writer in 
 one of his Corinthian epistles (2 Cor. 3 : 18), " But we all, with 
 open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as 
 by the Spirit of the Lord." 
 
 The words '■''hath been evidently set forth " refer to a time 
 previous to the writing of this epistle when Paul had 
 preached Christ among them, in a vivid and almost startling 
 manner, reaching their hearts as if through their eyes ; in- 
 dicating not only the plainness of his preaching, but the 
 interest and liveliness with which they received the image 
 — beholding, as in a picture, the sufferings of Christ. ' ' Who 
 
138 A TOUR ROUND* MY LIBRARY. 
 
 could have betwitched you ' ' by his gaze, when you had 
 only to fix your eyes on Christ, evidently set forth crucified 
 among you, to escape the fascination ? 
 
 It would be of the very highest interest if we could con- 
 ceive of the personal appearance and the manner of the 
 Apostle Paul as he preached to the Galatians. "If we may 
 picture him to ourselves as he appeared to them — a friendless 
 outcast, writhing under the tortures of a painful malady, 
 yet instant in season and out of season ; by turns denouncing 
 and entreating ; appealing to the agonies of a crucified 
 Saviour ; perhaps also, as at Lystra, enforcing this appeal by 
 some striking miracle — we shall ,be at no loss to conceive 
 hoy the fervid temperament of the Galatian might have been 
 aroused. ' ' * 
 
 It would be very interesting also to examine his recorded 
 discourses and his epistles ; to learn his style of address, 
 whether written or spoken ; to notice the peculiarities in his 
 mode of thought and expression ; the striking similarity in 
 his style, even though quite distant in time, and under quite 
 different circumstances. For he has a style of his own, 
 whether in the didactic and argumentative chapters of his 
 epistle to the Romans ; the reasoning, chiding earnestness 
 of his epistle to the Galatians ; the long parentheses of his 
 epistle to the Ephesians ; or the tender, manly, human 
 counsels to Philemon and Timothy. So striking and iden- 
 tical are these peculiarities that there is only one of the books 
 of the New Testament generally ascribed to him of which 
 there is any doubt whatever as to his authorship ; I mean 
 the epistle to the Hebrews. 
 
 One thing, however, we do know, that he preached Christ 
 and him crucified. And I think the language of the text 
 justifies the belief that when he wished to call men to repent- 
 ance he dwelt much on the sufferings of Christ on the cross. 
 
 * Bishop Liglitfoot. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. ' 139 
 
 It is my belief also that he dwelt in much detail on these 
 suiFerings ; that his references were not merely to that death 
 in general terms as an expiation for sins, but that the agony 
 of fhe cross as endured even unto death, in all its thrilling 
 and harrowing details, he was accustomed to describe with 
 the utmost vividness and particularity. How else shall we 
 understand the words, ' ''Jesus Christ hath been evidently set 
 forth crucified among you ? ' ' Paul had not witnessed the 
 crucifixion scene himself, but it was a not uncommon mode 
 of punishment. He may have seen other victims suffer thus. 
 He knew what it was to suflfer, for he had been present at the 
 <ieath of Stephen, and he had been stoned almost to death 
 himself at Lystra. 
 
 And if this epistle was written, as may be believed, from 
 Ephesus, there is a peculiar significance in the "sentence at 
 the close of it, where, after speaking of his own sufferings 
 {as he rarely did however), he sums up with these words, 
 ' From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my 
 body the marks of the Lord Jesus.'' " * 
 
 It has been sought in all ages of the Christian Church to 
 reproduce the scenes of the crucifixion. Sacred drama in 
 scenic representations, sculpture, painting, sacred poetry, 
 sacred music, sacred rhetoric — all have lent their highest con- 
 • ceptions, to make impressions through the senses on the 
 emotional nature of man, by depicting the last hours and 
 sufferings of our Lord upon the cross. 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable scenic representation of sacred 
 subjects ever produced is that which is made every .ten years 
 in the village of Ober Ammergau, in the highlands of Ba- 
 varia. And the most interesting and instructive accounts 
 that I have seen of this most extraordinary spectacle are those 
 given by the Baroness Tautphoeus in her novel ' ' Quits, ' ' by 
 JDean Stanley, and by Mr. George C. Thomas. 
 
 * Bishop Lightfoot. 
 
140 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 The representation is very comprehensive, and includes 
 many of the most interesting incidents in all Bible histor}' — 
 those from the Old and New Testament mingled in their 
 order, so as to relieve and vary by tableaux and chorus the 
 otherwise monotony of chronological regularity. But I refer 
 to it for the purpose of dwelling, at no great length, however,, 
 on the crucifixion scene. 
 
 " The curtain falls (says Mr. Thomas) on the tableaux: 
 immediately preceding the crucifixion, — and there is an 
 interval of breathless suspense ; then the sound of many 
 voices is heard, and presently a horseman emerges at 
 the head of an excited procession from one of the gates 
 of Jerusalem. As the procession winds its way slowly 
 into view, the mother of Christ and Mary Magdalen, with 
 other women and St. John, appear some way off, coming in 
 an opposite direction. They are greatly agitated, and as 
 they scan the advancing throng, they see turning the corner 
 of Annas' house the Man of Sorrows, blood-stained and bent 
 beneath the weight of his heavy cross, which he evidently 
 cannot bear much farther. Some of the soldiers, observing 
 this, seize hold of Simon of Cyrene, who meets them acci- 
 dentally, and compel him to bear the cross. At this point 
 Veronica, accompanied by two other women, comes out and 
 fulfills the part assigned her in the legend — the only incident 
 of the play not directly founded on Scripture. As he ap- 
 proaches Calvary, Christ addresses the daughters of Jeru- 
 salem in the well-known words, and in a short time he passes 
 out of sight. After the procession had departed the chorus 
 came on the stage, in black mantles, and sang a mournful 
 song. Through the melody of the song you hear the sound 
 of the hammer. When the chorus have finished and the 
 curtain rises you see two crosses erected, each bearing its 
 victim ; between these, a taller cross with a sad, pale figure 
 nailed to it. It is slowly raised, fixed into its socket, and 
 there, hanging before you, seems to be the crucified one 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 141 
 
 himself. The body is covered with a tight-fitting, flesh- 
 colored garment ; a crown of thorns is upon the brow ; you 
 see the nail marks, and apparently the blood dripping from 
 the wounds ; and over his head • the inscription written by 
 Pilate." 
 
 "A sceptic (I quote from the novel referred to, 'Quits') 
 might perhaps have followed the representation with criti- 
 cising curiosity, a less imaginative mind with calm self-pos- 
 session. Nora forgot herself, time, place, spectators, every- 
 thing, and saw, heard, felt, with a vividness that at length 
 completely overwhelmed her. As the crucifixion was fin- 
 ished, a shudder of horror passed through her whole frame ; 
 a sensation of extreme cold seemed to thrill her blood ; and 
 after some ineffectual efforts to control, at least outwardly, 
 her emotions, she bent down her head and covered her face 
 with her hands, remaining motionless, until a voice whis- 
 pered, ' Madam, allow me to advise you to leave the theatre 
 now ; another scene might weaken an impression well worth 
 preserving in all its strength. ' ' ' 
 
 While none of those who have witnessed and described 
 the scenes at the Ammergau mystery have failed to be in- 
 terested and affected in the highest degree, none are of the 
 ■opinion that it would be proper to produce it elsewhere. 
 "All that is most peculiar in the performance there would 
 die in any other situation. Its whole merit and character 
 lie in the circumstance that it is a product of that locality, 
 nearly as peculiar to it as the rocks and fruits of the natural 
 soil. The theatre is in the open air, surrounded by a rough 
 wooden enclosure or stockade, capable of containing five or 
 six thousand people. The green meadow and ^he circle of 
 the hills form the background. Its illumination is the light 
 of the sun, poured down through the long hours of the day, 
 and the effects of light and shade are the natural changes of 
 the rising and declining sun and of the passing clouds. The 
 stage decorations and scenery are painted in the coarsest and 
 
142 A TOUR ROUND MY I.IBRARY. 
 
 simplest style, and the dresses of the actors are the work 
 of the villagers. The actors themselves, in all about five 
 hundred, include most of the population of the village. 
 They look upon their calling as actually a religious service ; 
 they begin the day with divine service in their church, and 
 the scenes are represented apparently as if the actors were 
 unconscious of the presence of an audience. The spectators 
 sit in almost bre^athless attention during the long hours of 
 the summer day, and nothing disturbs the solemnity of the 
 scene. Even Luther is reported to have said, ' Such spec- 
 tacles often do more good and produce more impressions 
 than sermons.' In England they were performed in the 
 time of the first Stuarts, and Milton's first sketch of the 
 Paradise Lost was a sacred drama, of which the opening 
 speech was Satan's address to the sun." * 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church has ever been fond of repre- 
 senting in sculpture and painting the passion of our Lord. 
 Beginning with very low forms of art, she advanced in culti- 
 vation, borrowing largely from the Greek , models, until, in 
 painting at least, she has left little to be desired. The 
 Eastern Church cared not to cultivate this taste. 
 
 From the rude and sometimes most repulsive figures that 
 confront the traveller in the wayside chapels and shrines of 
 Catholic Europe, to the divinest conceptions of the great 
 masters of sculpture and of painting which adorn the 
 churches and the museums of the great cities, the contrast 
 is immeasurably wide, but the purpose is the same ; and the 
 peasant who lifts his hat and crosses himself as he passes, or 
 the country girl who leaves her bouquet of simple wild 
 flowers as s^ie kneels and says her short prayer, receives the 
 same impressions probably as the devotee of the upper 
 classes, who kneels and worships before the glorious pictures 
 of Rubens or Van Dyck. 
 
 * Dean Stanley. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 143 
 
 Figures of Christ have been cut from every conceivable 
 substance. Gold, silver, bronze, and all the baser metals ; 
 ivory, common bone ; the finest marbles, and the coarsest 
 sandstone ; wood, plaster and clay, have all been employed 
 with greater or less effect to depict the sufferings of Christ. 
 Depending largely on the senses for the inculcation of truth, 
 the Roman Catholics have exhausted high art in their efforts 
 to produce impression. Every household has one or more 
 crucifixes. No individual member is complete in his pan- 
 oply of devotion without one. No church would be a church 
 without a high altar and the figure of the Saviour stretched 
 upon the cross. In some of the village churches in Switzer- 
 land these figures are formed sometimes so coarse and repul- 
 sive as to be positively hideous ; but the people who worship 
 before such shrines, or through such images, are in a very 
 low scale of Christian civilization, and susceptible to the 
 most vulgar appeals. 
 
 But the highest success of a church which depends less 
 upon the intellect than the senses, in teaching religion, is 
 found in painting rather than sculpture. Almost every- 
 where in Europe her sanctuaries possess the works of the old 
 masters. There was an age when the brightest, the divinest 
 genius, was consecrated to the work of adorning the churches 
 with representations of Scripture scenes, and especially of 
 the passion of our Lord. They were very rude in their be- 
 ginnings, but sacred art reached its highest success in the 
 days of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michael Angelo, Guido, 
 Rubens, Van Dyck. 
 
 There is a picture in the museum at Antwerp, by Van 
 Dyck, representing Christ on the cross. It is the only 
 figure on the canvas. The background is black as night, 
 except in the upper part of the picture, where the sun is 
 seen just passing under a total eclipse. The artist has seized 
 the moment apparently when the Saviour, with his eyes 
 turned towards heaven, is saying, " My God, my God, why 
 
144 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 hast thou forsaken me ! " The body, nailed to the rough 
 uplifted cross, with no covering except about the loins, 
 seems to stand out from the canvas as a real human form in 
 the agony of death. The tension of the arms, the nailed 
 wrists, the writhing body, the trickling blood, cause the 
 spectator to shudder and involuntarily turn away, but he 
 returns again and again, as if fascinated by the thrilling 
 spectacle. 
 
 Another, and in the same collection, but by Rubens, is 
 after the death of Christ, but while his body is still sus- 
 pended. The Roman soldier is piercing his side with his 
 long spear, to hasten his death, but he is dead already^ and 
 the death stroke is not needed. Here there are three crosses 
 — and the writhing, struggling forms on the other two, as 
 they shrink from the crushing blows of the executioners, 
 show that with them life is not yet extinct — they did not 
 " give up the ghost. " At the foot of the cross of Christ, 
 leaning her face almost against the sacred feet, and with her 
 hands stretched out imploringly towards the soldier with the 
 spear, as if she felt its keen point in her own bosom, her hair 
 streaked with his blood, her face swollen with grief, her eyes 
 and mouth expressing most piteously her great sorrow, is 
 Mary Magdalene, who has struggled through the crowd and 
 the soldiers to be near her Master in his last agony. Other 
 figures are there, but we care not to notice them. The 
 eye that for one moment takes in the whole scene, rests on 
 one figure, on one face, and that is the central one — the 
 figure, the face of Christ. The darkness, the gloom seem 
 to be relieved by a supernatural light that shines upon the 
 body and discloses the pallor of death. The head with its 
 crown of thorns hangs heavily on the chest, for the life is 
 gone. The eyes are closed, the muscles, lately quivering 
 with agony, are relaxed, and the whole body hangs helplessly 
 from the pierced hands. 
 
 Auother picture in the same city, by the same artist, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 1-: 
 
 Rubens, but in the famous Cathedral, is "The Descent fro 
 
 the Cross. ' ' The great master seems to have exhausted hit 
 
 self on this wonderful picture. The grouping, the attitude 
 
 the coloring, all make up a picture -which of its kind has i 
 
 superior in all the world. There is but one cross, and tl 
 
 background throws out the scene as if the figure were res 
 
 Ladders have been raised,, and his disciples are detaching tl 
 
 body from the cruel tree. The flesh is livid as in deatl 
 
 they have loosened one arm from its fastening, while the oth< 
 
 is still held, and the head hangs on the drooping shoulde 
 
 The body is not yet rigid in death ; the muscles are lin 
 
 and relaxed, and blood has flowed in streaks down the limb 
 
 It is quite in keeping with the whole scene, and very su 
 
 prising, too, to observe with what delicate hands the discipl 
 
 touch the sacred form and release it from the iron grasp c 
 
 the nails. One assistant on the ladder, and bendir 
 
 over the upper part of the cross, is holding the white clol 
 
 in his teeth, his eyes streaming with tears, while others car 
 
 fully wreathe the white cloth round the lifeless form. In 
 
 woman's touch could be more gentle and delicate than tl 
 
 hands of the disciples who slowly lower the limp and lifele 
 
 body to the embrace of his mother, and Mary Magdalen 
 
 and the other Mary, who wait to receive it at the foot of tl 
 
 cross. No better criticism of the marvellous power of th 
 
 painting could be adduced than the story of two friends wl 
 
 stood before it entranced and spell-bound. At length oi 
 
 of them, less imaginative, or less devotional, perhaps, the 
 
 the other, said, " Let us go. " " Wait," said his companiot 
 
 "wait till they get him down." 
 
 It is this picture which has been made the model for tl 
 
 scene in the Ammergau drama, " and it is related that son 
 
 Munich painters, in their artistic pride, were endeavoring i 
 
 persuade the village priest who superintends the play, thi 
 
 it would be much more effective if the virgin mother c 
 
 Christ swooned at the foot of the cross, instead of stani 
 10 
 
146 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 ing, as she does in Rubens' picture, with clasped hands, 
 her eyes fixed upon him. ' Gentlemen, ' said the cur^, ' the 
 Scripture says she stood at the foot of the cross. That is 
 enough.' " 
 
 The oldest Christian Hymn is undoubtedly Mary's song 
 of thanksgiving in response to Elizabeth's salutation. "My 
 soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in 
 God my Saviour." Certainly, from that day to this the 
 Magnificat, as it is called, sometimes set to the rudest music, 
 and sometimes to the grandest and sweetest strains, has 
 thrilled many a devout Christian heart, and will do so till 
 the end of time. 
 
 It does not fall in the way of these remarks to notice that 
 sweet hymn, "The Celestial Country," written by the monk 
 of Cluny in 1145, so quaint, so beautiful ; nor that most 
 awful of all death-songs, the "Dies Irse, Dies Ilia," espec- 
 ially when sung to Mozart's music, written one hundred 
 years later by a Franciscan monk ; one of the best transla- 
 tions of which is by our own General Dix, ex-Governor of 
 New York ; but I may refer to that hymn which, though 
 not the grandest, has been called the most pathetic of hymns, 
 which the Latin church, for six hundred years, has identified 
 and embalmed in her service for Good Friday, The Stabat 
 Mater! Of the various English translations of this hymn 
 perhaps the best is the following : 
 
 By the cross, sad vigil keeping, 
 Stood the mournful mother weeping, 
 
 While on it the Saviour hung ; 
 In that hour of deep distress, t 
 
 Pierced the sword of bitterness 
 
 Thro' her heart with sorrow wrung. 
 
 Oh, how sad — how woe-begone, 
 Was that ever blessed one. 
 
 Mother of the Son of God ! 
 Oh, what bitter tears she shed, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 147 
 
 Whilst before her Jesus bled, 
 
 'Neath the Father's penal rod ! 
 
 Who's the man could view unmoved 
 Christ's sweet mother, whom he loved 
 
 In such dire extremity ? 
 Who his pitying tears withhold, 
 Christ's sweet mother to behold. 
 
 Sharing in his agony ? 
 
 Ever with thee, at thy side, 
 'Neath the Christ, the crucified. 
 
 Mournful mother, let me be ! 
 By the cross, sad vigil keeping, 
 Ever watchful, ever weeping. 
 
 Thy companion constantly. 
 
 — Lord Lindsay. 
 
 The following hymn was written by the French monk St. 
 Bernard, who lived in the early part of the twelfth century, 
 whom Luther called the best monk that ever lived. "He 
 it was who persuaded the King of France to undertake the 
 Crusade of 1146." 
 
 O sacred head surrounded 
 By crown of piercing thorn, 
 
 bleeding head so wounded, 
 Reviled and put to scorn ; 
 
 Death's pallid hue comes o'er thee. 
 
 The glow of life decays, 
 Yet angel-hosts adore thee. 
 
 And tremble as they gaze. 
 
 1 see thy strength and vigor 
 All fading in the strife. 
 
 And death, with cruel rigor, 
 
 Bereaving thee of life ; 
 O agony and dying, 
 
 O love to sinners free, 
 Jesus, all grace supplying, 
 
 O turn thy face on me. 
 
 The following hymn, by Dr. Faber, a clergyman of the 
 Church of England, who at the age of thirty-one joined the 
 
148 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Church of Rome, may have been written as Sodoma painted 
 his famous head of Christ, weeping and praying as he worked. 
 Whether written before or after his perversion, it seems to 
 bring one to the foot of the cross as the Divine Sufferer is 
 bleeding and dying. 
 
 O come and mourn with me a while, 
 
 O come ye to the Saviour's side ; 
 O come, together let us mourn ; 
 
 Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 
 
 Have we no tears to shed for him, 
 
 While soldiers scofiF and Jews deride ? 
 Ah ! look how patiently he hangs ; 
 
 Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 
 
 How fast his feet and hands are nailed ; 
 
 His throat with parching thirst is dried ; 
 His failing eyes are dimmed w^th blood ; 
 
 Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 
 
 Come, let us stand beneath the cross ; 
 
 So may the blood from out his side 
 Fall gently on us, drop by drop ; 
 
 Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 
 
 A broken heart, a fount of tears 
 
 Ask, and they will not be denied ; 
 Lord Jesus, may we love and -weep, 
 
 Since thou for us art crucified. 
 
 The next illustration I give is that well-known and much 
 loved hymn from the pen of the poet Cowper. It must have 
 been In one of the few brighter or at least more hopeful 
 intervals of that malady which brooded over his soul and 
 threw a dark cloud over his life, that he sung those strains 
 which the church so loves to sing when she comes round 
 the table of the Lord. 
 
 There is a fountain filled with blood 
 Drawn from Immanuel's veins. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 1 
 
 And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
 Lose all their guilty stains. 
 
 The dying thief rejoiced to see 
 
 That fountain in his day, 
 And there have* I, as vile as he, 
 
 Washed all my sins away. 
 
 E'er since by faith I saw the stream 
 
 Thy flowing wounds supply. 
 Redeeming love has been my theme, 
 
 And shall be till I die. 
 
 A writer of one of the "Oxford Essays" calls the folio 
 ing Watts' finest hymn. I read but two stanzas : 
 
 When I survey the wondrous cross. 
 On which the Prince of Glory died, 
 
 My richest gain I count but loss, 
 And pour contempt on all my pride. 
 
 See ! from his head, his hands, his feet, 
 Sorrow and love flow mingled down : 
 
 Did e'er such love and sorrow meet ? 
 Or thorns compose so rich a crown ? 
 
 And the two stanzas which I now read, written by 
 Scotch baronet, Sir Robert Grant (if prayers may propei 
 be turned into hymns), may be accepted as one of the b« 
 liymns of that class, and if read or sung with a true devotic 
 will bring the soul to the foot of the 'cross, with eyes u 
 lifted to the sufferer there : 
 
 By thine hour of dark despair, 
 By thine agony of prayer. 
 By thy purple robes of scorn, 
 By thy wounds, thy crown of thorn, 
 By thy cross, thy pangs and cries, 
 By thy perfect sacrifice ; 
 Jesus, look with pitying eye ; 
 Hear our solemn litany. 
 
 * Not may I, nor would I. 
 
150 A TOTJR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 By thy deep expiring groan, 
 By the seal'd sepulchral stone, 
 By thy triumph o'er the grave. 
 By thy power from death to save ; 
 Mighty God, ascended Lord, 
 To thy throne in heaven restored. 
 Prince and Saviour, hear our cry. 
 Hear our solemn litany. 
 
 Another hymn, and the last that I shall quote, and in a 
 very different strain from the last two, is one, the authorship 
 of which has been claimed by two persons, or rather by the 
 friends of two persons ; although to us, who are living a 
 century later and in another hemisphere, it matters little 
 from whose heart and mind it did spring. It is said to have 
 come originally and roughly from James Allen, who was 
 born in Yorkshire, England, and settled as a minister in a 
 chapel which he built on his own estate ; and afterwards to 
 have been found as a rough diamond by the Hon. and Rev. 
 Walter Shirley, who polished it to the precious gem as we 
 now have it. 
 
 Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, 
 
 Which before the cross I spend ; 
 Life, and health, and peace possessing, 
 
 From the sinner's dying Friend. 
 
 Here I'll sit, forever viewing 
 
 Mercy streaming in his blood ; 
 Precious drops ! my soul bedewing, 
 
 Plead and claim my peace with God. 
 
 Truly blessed is this station, 
 
 Low before his cross to lie ; 
 While I see divine compassion 
 
 Floating in his languid eye. 
 
 Here it is I find my heaven. 
 
 While upon the cross I gaze ; 
 Love I much ? I've much forgiven, 
 
 I'm a miracle of grace. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. ] 
 
 Love aud grief my heart dividing, 
 With my tears his feet I'll bathe ; 
 
 Constant still in faith abiding, 
 Life deriving from his death. 
 
 Whoever wrote it, we know that we love to sing it ; a 
 that there are times in Christian experience when it f 
 nishes expression for certain emotions which no other hyi 
 supplies. 
 
 But it is not merely sacred poetry which has lent 1 
 divine muse to illustrate the passion of our Lord. Saci 
 Music also, in strains which seem almost borrowed fr( 
 celestial harps, has moved and thrilled and melted the sot 
 
 Such strains cannot be reproduced in language, and I Ci 
 therefore, do no more than refer you to the famous Passi 
 Music of Sebastian Bach, and the almost heavenly compc 
 tions of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini and Handel, especia 
 in the Messiah. I dare not even specify particular passa< 
 of these wonderful composers of sacred song — it is not witl 
 my range. I cannot describe, I can only enjoy. I knc 
 as all of you know, what it is to be swayed by the power 
 music, whether by a delicate and effective solo, or by 1 
 volume of a vast chorus. I know, as all of you know, t] 
 the simplest strains, when they embody depth of feeling a 
 are appropriately rendered, lift the soul on the wings of k 
 and faith, or plunge it into the depths of despair. 1 
 Roman Catholics understand this power, and they h; 
 seized on some of the finest compositions and incorpora 
 them in their most solemn and impressive Masses. ( 
 Methodist brethren understand this, and with great si 
 they have wedded the best hymns of their own Wesl 
 — hymns fairly saturated with the tenderest and deepest ff 
 ing — to the simplest and most touching music, whet 
 sacred or secular. Hence the unusually large proportion 
 the members of that church who sing, and hence the s 
 
152 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 cessful use they make of sacred song in their most devotional 
 services. 
 
 I borrow for a further and final illustration of this part 
 of my subject the following from a well-known American 
 writer : * 
 
 "At nightfall I urge my way into the Sistine Chapel and 
 look upon the gaunt figures of Angelo's ' I^ast Judgment,' 
 The choir chants the Miserere. The twelve candles by the 
 altar are put out one by one, as the service continues. 
 The sun has gone down, and only the red glow of twilight 
 steals through the dusky windows. There is a pause, and a 
 brief reading from a red-cloaked cardinal, and all kneel 
 down, and the sweet, mournful voice of the Miserere begins 
 again, growing in force and depth till the whole chapel rings 
 and the balcony of the choir trembles ; then it subsides again 
 into the low, soft wail of a single voice — so prolonged, so 
 tremulous, and so real, that the heart aches and the tears 
 start, for Christ is dead J lyingering yet, the wail dies not 
 wholly, but just as it seems expiring, it is caught up by 
 another and stronger voice that carries it on, plaintive as 
 ever ; nor does it stop with this, for just as you looked for 
 silence, three voices more begin the lament — sweet, touching, 
 mournful voices — and bear it up to a full cry, when the whole 
 choir catch its burden and make the lament change into the 
 wailing of a multitude, wild, shrill, hoarse, with swift chants 
 intervening, as if agony had given force to anguish. Then, 
 sweetly, slowly, voice by voice, note by note, the wailings 
 sink into the low, tender moan of a single singer, faltering, 
 tremulous, as if tears checked the utterance, and swelling 
 out as if despair susta:ined it." 
 
 There is not time to speak at length on the power of Elo- 
 quence when enlisted on the side of sacred truth. Rich as 
 our English language is in serinons on the death of Christ, 
 
 * Donald G. Mitchell. 
 
A. roUR ROUND MY I^TBRARY. 153 
 
 other languages of Europe have also their mines of wealth 
 in the same direction. Without attempting even a glance at 
 such literature in the far-off ages, it is enough for my pur- 
 pose to mention the names of Claude, Bossuet, Bourdaloue, 
 Fenelon, Massillon, in the French church of the past century, 
 or of the brothers Monod and Pressens^ in the present, or of 
 the Italian Gavazzi, whose thrilling eloquence is still ring- 
 ing in our ears, and others of less fame but of great power. 
 
 Some of you may be familiar with the account which 
 William Wirt gives of the blind preacher : 
 
 ' ' It was an old ruinous wooden church in Virginia. It 
 was a day of the administration of the Lord's Supper, and 
 the sermon was, of course, on the Passion of our Lord. The 
 preacher was a tall and very spare old man ; his head, which 
 was covered with a white linen cap, his shrivelled hands 
 and his voice, were all shaking under the influence of palsy ; 
 and a few moments ascertained to me that he was perfectly 
 blind. As he descended from the pulpit to distribute the 
 mystic symbols, there was a peculiar, a more than human 
 solemnity, in his air and manner, which made my blood run 
 cold and my whole frame shiver. He then drew a picture 
 of the sufferings of our Saviour — his trial before Pilate, his 
 ascent up Calvary, his crucifixion, and his death. I knew 
 the whole history ; but never until then had I heard the 
 circumstances so selected, so arranged, so colored. It was 
 all new, and I seemed to have heard it for the first time in 
 my life. His enunciation was so deliberate that his voice 
 trembled on every syllable, and every heart in the assembly 
 trembled in unison. His peculiar phrases had that force of 
 description that the original scene appeared at that moment 
 acting before our eyes. We saw the very faces of the Jews 
 — the staring, frightful distortions of malice and rage. We 
 saw the buffet ; my soul kindled with a flame of indignation, 
 and my hands were involuntarily and convulsively clenched. 
 , . . But when he came to touch on the patience, the for- 
 
154 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 giving meekness of our Saviour; when he drew to the life 
 his blessed eyes streaming in tears to heaven, his voice 
 breathing to God a soft and gentle prayer of pardon on his 
 enemies, ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do,' the voice of the preacher, which had all along 
 faltered, grew fainter and fainter, until, his utterance being 
 entirely obstructed by the force of his feelings, he raised his 
 handkerchief to his eyes and burst into a loud and irrepressi- 
 ble ilood of grief. The effect is inconceivable. The whole 
 house resounded with the mingled groans and sobs and 
 shrieks of the congregation." 
 
 " I wonder not," says the eloquent Bascom, "if one may 
 for a moment personate the divine sufferer, I wonder not 
 that in the garden my disciples, who thought themselves so 
 brave, at the first appearance of the soldiers should have 
 forsaken me and fled ; they are unused to scenes of strife. I 
 wonder not at the cruel buffetings, the spittings, the mockery, 
 the scorn — human malice finds satisfaction in such expres- 
 sions. I wonder not that the soldiers should look on my 
 dying agonies with indifference — their trade is blood. I 
 wonder not that the sun should hide his face from this awful 
 scene and refuse to gaze on it — his office is to illuminate and 
 warm and cheer. I wonder not that the very earth should 
 shrink and quake, and the rocks should rend asunder, as 
 if nature herself could not bear the sight — but^ my God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken mef'' 
 
 One of the traditions of the early church is that St. Luke was 
 a painter, and there are not wanting those who believe that 
 some rough scenes on canvas or in fresco, now shown to the 
 curious in Rome, came from the hand of the good physician. 
 But the Apostle Paul held no painter's brush. His presen- 
 tations of truth, though highly pictorial, were word pictures, 
 with every variety of expression, and in metaphors drawn 
 from architecture, from the army, from agriculture, and from 
 social life. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 1 
 
 But that which more than anything else made him a sv 
 cessful preacher, and which, as a writer (aside from inspii 
 tion), has caused his letters not only to be preserved throu: 
 these eighteen centuries, but to maintain a growing, a cc 
 stantly increasing influence on the mind and in the heart 
 the church, is his impersonation of the character, or ratt 
 of the suiFerings, of his Lord. "7 am crucified with Christ 
 he says in this same epistle to the Galatians. Remarkal 
 language ! It is as if he had taken the place of the penite 
 thief who hung on the cross at the side of Jesus, and suffer 
 with him the agonies of crucifixion. 
 
 While Peter and John, on being let go from the counc 
 could speak in prayer and praise of the "holy child Jesus 
 Paul preached Christ crucified. 
 
 Such are some of the methods by which sacred art a 
 sacred music and poetry and sacred eloquence have lent thi 
 aid to set forth the great cardinal truth of Christianity, " Jes 
 Christ and him crucified. ' ' And in all the ages with mc 
 or less effect have these means been employed to soften a 
 mould human character. 
 
 We Protestants do not need high altars and paintings a 
 statuary in our churches, nor oratories and crucifixes in o 
 houses. We depend more on the intellect and the reasc 
 and less on the sensuous and emotional, in our worship. \ 
 depend more on the Word of God as revealed in the He 
 Scriptures, and on the exposition of that word by his min 
 ters, and on the communications of his grace in answer 
 prayer, than we do on the traditions of the fathers or t 
 gorgeous ceremonies of a brilliant and imposing ritual. E 
 we ought not to forget that all minds are not alike ; tl 
 birth, and education, and culture, and taste create wide d 
 ferences between those who are of the same spirit ; and ^ 
 ought not to frown upon real piety wherever we see it, r 
 deny to other Christians any helps which draw them nea: 
 the infinite Father, through Jesus Christ his Son. "A 
 
156 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out 
 devils in thy name, and he followeth not us ; and we forbade 
 him because he followeth not us. And Jesus said unto him, 
 Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. ' ' 
 
 But this subject will be quite incomplete if I leave it thus. 
 I want to come a little closer to you. I want, in the fewest 
 words, to bring it home to the hearts and consciences of all 
 present. 
 
 To you who are Christians I can say nothing new.. You 
 have heard this story a thousand times before, and you know 
 what effect it had on you when the Spirit of all goodness and 
 truth first opened your eyes to see your helpless, lost condi- 
 tion, and the means of escape through the death of Christ. 
 You may not, you probably did not, understand ' ' the phi- 
 losophy of the plan of salvation ; ' ' why it was necessary for 
 the Infinite Father to send his Son into the world to lead a 
 life of suffering, and finally to die a cruel and lingering death 
 on the cross. You may never, in this world, understand it, 
 but you believed it then, you believe it now, and you are glad 
 to rest your hopes of heaven on that death and sacrifice. Do 
 not forget the price that was paid. Do not forget the sad 
 scenes of Gethsemane, the judgment hall and Calvary. Do 
 not allow the world to draw you off from your devotion to 
 Christ ; do not wait to be reminded, by the table covered 
 with a white linen cloth and spread with the emblems of the 
 body and blood of Jesus, of the infinite obligations you are 
 under to the divine Redeemer, but live, as in his presence, a 
 life of purity and godliness, and never be ashamed to confess 
 him before men. 
 
 If there be any here who are not Christians, who have 
 lived through the years of childhood and youth to this hour, 
 who are now living without gratitude, without love to this 
 Redeemer, whose hearts are unmoved when Jesus Christ is 
 set forth evidently crucified, let me say, with all plainness 
 and sincerity, yet in all tenderness, that so far as can be 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 157 
 
 learned from the Holy Scriptures and from human experi- 
 ence, there is no other hope of eternal life ; and that if you 
 yield not to the influences of the Holy Spirit as he takes of 
 the things of Christ and shows them to you, there remaineth 
 no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of 
 judgment. 
 
XXII. 
 
 An Easter Talk.* 
 
 This is Easter Sunday, a great church festival, the observ- 
 ance of which, until recently, we have been content to leave 
 largely to the Roman Catholic and Protestant Episcopal 
 churches. 
 
 To get a fuller view of its importance and glory, it will be 
 well to contrast it with the two or three days which pre- 
 ceded it. 
 
 On Thursday evening last, as we sat down to supper, 
 some of us thought that at the same season of the year, on 
 the evening of the same day of the week, and at the same 
 hour of the day, about eighteen hundred and sixty years 
 ago, our lyord, with his twelve disciples, sat down to eat the 
 Passover Supper. It was the last time they were all together 
 (one of the disciples was soon to desert them), afid it was, in 
 a certain sense, the last Passover that was ever celebrated. 
 After the supper, our lyord instituted what we call the Lord's 
 Supper (which, forever after, was to take the place of the 
 Passover), by taking some of the bread and wine that was left 
 from the Passover, and so consecrating them for a memorial, 
 gave them to his disciples, directing them forever after to do 
 the same thing in remembrance of him. Then follows the 
 wonderful discourse recorded in the fourteenth, fifteenth and 
 sixteenth chapters of St. John ; then the prayer in the seven- 
 teenth chapter. Then they all left the upper room, went 
 
 *An address to the Sunday-school of the Woodland Presbyterian Church, 
 Philadelphia, Easter, 1892. 
 (158) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 159 
 
 out into the street, out of the City gate, down the hill, across 
 the valley and the stream to the garden of Gethsemane. 
 Then follow the agony in the garden, and the bloody sweat, 
 the weary hours, the betrayal, the arrest, the desertion of the 
 disciples, the two mock trials, the sending to and fro between 
 Pilate and Herod, the condemnation (there was no convic- 
 tion), the delivery to the soldiers and the Jews, the proces- 
 sion to Calvary, the crucifixion at nine o'clock (I cannot dwell 
 upon that), the agony from nine to twelve o'clock, intensified 
 by the taunts and jeers and mockery of those who looked on, 
 as well as by the inflammation and fever from the wounds, 
 then the total darkness and silence from twelve to three 
 o'clock ; ah I who does not know how darkness aggravates 
 suffering ! As our Lord hung there, in that appalling dark- 
 ness, what immeasurable depths of suffering he must have 
 endured, ended at last by that cry, piercing the gloom, the 
 full meaning: of which we shall never in this life know : 
 ' ' My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ? ' ' 
 
 There is one glimpse of light, and only one, in this horror 
 of great darkness. There came from the lips of the Divine 
 Sufferer the words, "I thirst ; " feeble they must have been, 
 perhaps not much more than a wail, but distinctly heard in 
 that awful silence, " I thirst." And one of them — a soldier 
 possibly, we do not know his name ; whoever he was, God 
 bless him — one of them took a sponge and dipped it in vin- 
 egar, their light, sour wine, and with a reed pressed it to the 
 lips of Jesus. It was not refused this time. 
 
 Then came the taking down from the cross, done by tender 
 and loving hands we may believe, the burial in Joseph's 
 new tomb, and all is over on the First Good Friday. 
 
 Saturday morning comes ; a guard is set over the tomb ; the 
 stone was sealed. The long hours of Saturday pass ; all is 
 still ; the night comes and goes. 
 
 Very early Sunday morning, certain women went to the 
 grave with spices to embalm the body of Jesus. They found 
 
160 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 the stone rolled away ; they looked in ; the body of the Lord 
 was gone ; the grave was empty ; the grave-clothes were 
 there ; even the napkin which had been used, then as now, 
 to compose the features of the dead, even the napkin was 
 folded and laid by itself, but the body was gone. They ex- 
 pected to find Jesus there. There were angels, one or two, 
 at one time visible, at another not, who anticipate their ques- 
 tion — " He is not here ! He is risen ! " 
 
 (How slow they were to believe!) 
 
 Then follows the appearance of our Lord to Mary. She 
 was weeping at tte tomb — weeping because she could not 
 find the Lord. 
 
 Suddenly the words were spoken : "Woman, why weepest 
 thou— whom seekest thou?" She turned to the speaker, 
 and, either in the dim light of the early morning or because 
 her eyes were blinded with tears, supposing him to be the 
 gardener, said : ' ' Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell 
 me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. ' ' 
 But when he said, "Mary," she answered, " Rabboni ! 
 Master ! " 
 
 (Let me say to you girls, especially, that the first person 
 to whom our Lord made himself known after his resurrection 
 was a woman.) 
 
 In the afternoon of that day, and probably just about this 
 hour, two men in earnest conversation were walking along 
 a country road. Suddenly there appeared at their side a 
 stranger, who asked them what they were talking about so 
 earnestly, looking so sad. They expressed great surprise 
 that he, apparently just coming from Jerusalem, did not 
 know of the great events that had just happened there. 
 Then they told this stranger the story of the crucifixion, the 
 darkness, the earthquake, and all the horrors of that awful 
 Friday, and ended by telling him of the death of Jesus, who, 
 they added, "we thought would have redeemed Israel." 
 Then the stranger began to talk — " O foolish ones, O slow 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 1 
 
 to believe," lie said, " ought not Christ to suffer these thin 
 and to enter into his glory ?" And beginning at Moses and t' 
 prophets, he expounded to them the things concerning himse 
 
 Then they came near to the village where the two m< 
 were going, and the stranger would have passed on, but 
 charmed were they with his conversation (O that we kn< 
 all that he said !) that they insisted he should go in wi 
 them — "Abide with us, for the day is far spent." Th 
 all went in, the table was spread, they sat down ; the strange 
 in the most natural way, becomes the head of the house, t 
 entertainer ; he breaks the bread. Ah ! what is this ? Is 
 the manner of his breaking the bread, or do they see in t 
 uplifted hands, as he asks the blessing, the prints of t 
 nails ? " It is the Lord ! the crucified one ! ' ' Their e> 
 are opened. He vanishes. 
 
 Ah ! they know him now ! Why did they not know h: 
 before ? why did they not feel his presence as they walk 
 and talked in that country road ? No supper for them no 
 He had disappeared. They rise, they go back again to Jei 
 salem, they seek the disciples, they tell the glad tidings 
 "The Lord is risen. We have seen the Lord," — and st: 
 denly, the doors being shut, he comes in and reveals hims( 
 to them, saying, " Peace be unto you." 
 
 So ends the first Easter. Easter is the greatest of all t 
 festivals of the church. Even in those branches of t 
 church which make the most of great days, Easter is t 
 highest, the best. In nature it is the time of revival. T 
 long, cold winter is gone ; spring is come again ; the bii 
 have come back— where from? How did they know t 
 way ? They look like the same birds that left us when t 
 winter came. The trees are beginning to put out pale, gre 
 shoots, the grass is green again, the flowers are here— hi 
 beautiful ! Look at them— who brought them here? W 
 are they brought here ? 
 
 They are the evidences of a new life. The dead thit 
 11 
 
162 ' A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. ^ 
 
 are no longer dead ; they are alive. Jesus Christ was dead ; 
 he is alive again. He rose from the tomb. Death could 
 not hold him ; nor can death hold us. Because he lives we 
 shall live also. 
 
 It is a time of gladness. Flowers make people glad. 
 Many a sick-room is brightened this Easter Sunday by 
 flowers, especially lilies sent by loving Christian hearts to 
 poor sick sufferers. Many a dull eye is brightened to-day 
 by the gift of Easter flowers. Why do we bring them to 
 church? To make the Lord's House beautiful ; nothing is 
 too good to offer him. Then we shall send them before the 
 bloom is gone to the sick, who cannot come to church or to 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 Easter is the gladdest day in the year. It is children's 
 day. Last Sunday — Palm Sunday — might have been chil- 
 dren's day, when the children met our Lord on the way to 
 Jerusalem shouting, " Hosannah to the Son of David ! " but 
 to-day is better. Then he was going to his death ; now he i& 
 alive. 
 
 What a blessed thought it is that Christian people all over 
 the world to-day — the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek 
 Church, which so far outnumber us, and all the many other 
 sects and fragments into which the body of Christ is unhap- 
 pily divided — that all of us to-day are keeping, with more or 
 less uniformity, this splendid Easter service ! Is not this a 
 most hopeful sign that the friends of Christ are coming more 
 and more close together, and that in the near future we shall 
 be seeing each other in a better light, as workers in a com- 
 mon cause and all devoted to a common Saviour ? 
 
 It was at Westminster Abbey, in the afternoon of Easter. 
 There was a great crowd, so that I could not get near enough 
 to the preacher to hear him. But I went really for the 
 music, and in this I was not disappointed. A boy with a 
 soprano voice sang, with great expression, " I know that 
 my Redeemer liveth," to the end without faltering, and at 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 16 
 
 the end the whole choir followed with the "Halleluja 
 Chorus." 
 
 And there I sat in the Poets' corner almost under the mur; 
 tablet erected to Handel, the author of this heavenly music 
 and looking at his white marble effigy holding in his hand 
 scroll with the words, " I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
 it seemed almost as if he were listening to it and joining i 
 the music. And while the boy was singing the sweet strain 
 "I know that my Redeemer liveth," I thought of anothi 
 boy who some years ago used to touch and soften our hear 
 at home by his sweet singing of the same divine music ; ar 
 when the " Hallelujah Chorus" came in, I could not doul 
 that he was joining in the heavenly chorus, " King of kin| 
 and Lord of lords ! King of kings and Lord of lords ! " f( 
 those two pieces of Handel's Messiah are always associate 
 in my mind with my dear son. 
 
 Why is Easter so important ? Because it is the annive 
 sary of the resurrection of Christ from the grave. If Chri 
 did not rise from the dead, there is no truth in Christianit; 
 He said he should rise ; the disciples did not understand, d: 
 not believe. They could hardly believe he had risen. Son 
 people who call themselves disciples don't believe it now. 
 
 But if Christ did not rise, then there is no resurrectioi 
 and we must drop from the Creed those magnificent words, ' 
 believe in the resurrection of the body aud the life everlas 
 ing. " And if Christ did not rise from the dead, how can v 
 hope to see again those whom we have loved and lost 
 while ? 
 
 Saint after saint on earth 
 
 Has lived and loved and died ; 
 And as they left us one by one, 
 
 We laid them side by side. 
 We laid them down to sleep ; 
 
 But not in hope forlorn ; 
 We laid them but to slumber there, 
 
 Till the last glorious morn. 
 
164 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Some of us know what these lines mean. We have all 
 parted from those we love ; they have gone from us into the 
 eternal world. We bade them good-bye ; we even sent mes- 
 sages of love by them to those who had gone before. Does 
 this mean nothing ? Why, we expect to meet them, to see 
 them again. Surely a time will come — 
 
 " when with the mom those angel faces smile, 
 Which we have loved long since and lost a while." 
 
 Lost a while ; not forever, as it would be if Christ is not 
 risen. 
 
 " If a man die, shall he live again ? ' ' said Job ; and the 
 answer comes from the lips of our I^ord himself: "I am the 
 resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though 
 he were dead yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and 
 believeth in me shall never die. ' ' 
 
 ' ' O blessed day of the Resurrection, which of old was 
 called the Queen of Festivals, and which raised among 
 Christians an anxious, nay contentious, diligence duly to 
 honor it ; blessed day, once only passed in sorrow, when the 
 Lord actually rose and the disciples believed not, but ever 
 since a day of joy to the faith and love of the Church ! In 
 ancient times Christians all over the world began it with a 
 morning salutation. Each one said to his neighbor, ' The 
 Lord is risen ; ' and his neighbor answered. ' Christ is risen 
 indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.' Even to Simon, the 
 coward disciple who denied him thrice, is Christ risen ; even 
 to us, who long ago vowed to obey him and have yet so often 
 denied him before men, so often taken part with sin and 
 followed the world when Christ called us another way, even 
 to us is Christ risen. ' ' * 
 
 * Newman. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 The Sunday-school Teacher's Work, 
 
 What it is — How to do it.* 
 
 I come to speak to you on the Sunday-school teacher's 
 work. 
 
 I hardly suppose I can say anything new. Very likely 
 everything I may say has been already said by others. I 
 have no new theories to present. \ 
 
 You will all admit, however, that the Sunday-school work 
 is a great work. It is not a small thing to teach small chil- 
 dren. I have no fear that it will be overestimated. The 
 church generally does not appreciate its importance. If we 
 could realize that the boys and girls that gather round us 
 in classes will, in five or ten years or so, occupy our places, 
 we should have a higher estimate of the importance of the 
 work. 
 
 The family is a divine institution, and is the first in the 
 order of time and importance of all the appointments of 
 God. God made man and woman in Eden and gave them 
 children, and wherever the knowledge of God has come, 
 the family and the church continue. 
 
 The church has continued, in various forms — once the 
 state, as in the Hebrew theocracy ; sometimes allied to and 
 established by the state, as in England, in Russia, and other 
 countries ; and sometimes entirely independent of the state, 
 as with us. But who is bold enough to say that the diverse 
 
 * Superintendents' Association of the Presbyterian Church. 
 Germantown, May 19, 1884. 
 
 (165) 
 
166 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 forms and organizations in which the church now exists are 
 all of divine appointment? 
 
 Next to the family and the church I think, comes the Sun- 
 day-school. We do not claim for it a divine appointment. 
 But it is justly claimed that the Sunday-school is the natural 
 and proper outgrowth and development of religion through 
 the family and the church. 
 
 The grandest occupation on earth is teaching. Nothing 
 can be more important than to give instruction, especially in 
 such knowledge as is essential to happiness. 
 
 The Sunday-school teacher's authority to teach comes 
 from the same divine source as does that of the ordained 
 clergyman to preach the gospel — "Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the gospel to every creature." The command 
 is so broad that it includes all efforts everywhere and by 
 whomsoever made, to make known the religion of Christ to 
 those who are ignorant of it. The call is from God, and it 
 comes to every one who has himself accepted the overtures 
 of grace and professed his faith in Jesus Christ. 
 
 The call does not come to all disciples with the same appli- 
 cation. Some accept it in its most literal signification, and 
 they go to heathen lands as missionaries ; some accept it in 
 the light of a call to preach the gospel as ordained clergymen 
 at home, and they at once set about a careful and laborious 
 preparation for the great work ; others take it as a call to 
 labor with the pen in the presentation of Bible truth in the 
 printed page of a book, paper, or magazine ; others in the 
 daily life of business or manual labor ; others again in the 
 patient training of children in the family circle ; but very 
 many disciples accept the call as a commission to labor as 
 teachers in the Sunday-school, — for this is on many accounts, 
 outside the family, the simplest and the cheapest of the means 
 of propagating the Christian religion. 
 
 It is well known that in the beginning of the Sunday- 
 school work the primary object was to collect ignorant and 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 167 
 
 destitute children and give them the rudiments of an Eng- 
 lish education. This was all, and the first teachers were paid 
 for their work. Then, as the schools were held on Sunday 
 because poor children could better attend on that day, and as 
 the teachers were Christian people, naturally religious in- 
 struction largely entered into the plans of the teachers. As 
 this instruction advanced to higher methods and attracted 
 more cultivated teachers, the character of the teaching be- 
 came so much more systematic and thorough and practical 
 that the children of the middle and upper ranks of society 
 could not afford to be excluded, and in time the Sunday- 
 school grew to be what it is now — an institution embracing 
 among its teachers some of the best and most cultivated 
 minds of the church, and among its pupils the children of all 
 classes of society, from the highest to the lowest. 
 
 A Sunday-school may be said to be in good condition when 
 it contains as many pupils as can be accommodated within 
 its walls ; when there is a sufficient number of teachers, who 
 are regular and punctual in their attendance, and whose 
 constant aim is to impart spiritual instruction clearly and 
 thoroughly and affectionately ; when its officers are ex- 
 perienced in the best modes of managing its machinery, 
 and are intelligent and spiritual and zealous and persever- 
 ing, and when the Spirit of God is present, quickening and 
 converting. 
 
 The great object of the teacher is undoubtedly to bring the 
 children and youth committed to his care to the Saviour. 
 But how is this to be done ? What means shall the teacher 
 employ to secure this end ? 
 
 It is easier to ask these questions than to answer them. 
 Yet there must be an answer, if we can find it, and a satis- 
 factory answer. 
 
 The instrument to be employed in the work is the in- 
 terpretation and application of the sacred Scriptures. I 
 wish I could say these words so that they might reach the 
 
ib» A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 minds and hearts of all who are engaged in this work. I 
 repeat them. 
 
 The object of Sunday-school teaching is to lead children and 
 youth to the Saviour. 
 
 The means to be employed are the interpretation and appli- 
 cation of the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 You see at once that this is real hard work. It cannot be 
 taken up as a pastime, pursued for a time with little study, 
 and laid aside at pleasure, with any hope of success. It will 
 tax the powers of the greatest intellect and the profoundest 
 scholarship, to do the work in the very best way, and yet 
 the helps to do it well, are within the reach of all who with 
 good common sense and a common English education, and 
 a sincere love for the young, will earnestly address them- 
 selves to the work. 
 
 The Scriptures cannot be satisfactorily explained without 
 patient study. This preparation cannot be made in one hour 
 or two hours. Every lesson properly studied will require more 
 time than this. I fear you will not agree with me. Your 
 mind goes back to your own methods. You recall the fact 
 that you often meet your class when you have found the 
 lesson so plain and simple that a half hour or an hour was 
 all that was needed to prepare you to teach it. 
 
 Ah, no, you are wrong ! If you have the genius of Paul 
 and the eloquence of Apollos you may meet your class weekly 
 with a half hour's study or with no study, but not otherwise. 
 The best man, to prepare Sunday-school lessons that I have 
 ever known was accustomed to spend two or three hours on 
 a single lesson, and he was a man of disciplined mind and 
 large information and great aptness to teach, and thoroughly 
 at home in the Scriptures. 
 
 Notwithstanding the aid afforded by the several writers on 
 the series of " International L,essons" so generally in use, it 
 is very important to have a meeting of the teachers for the 
 study of the lesson. While I am not prepared to say that no 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 169 
 
 school can prosper without such a meeting, I do say that few 
 can afford to do without it. There are many teachers who 
 have not the time, nor the habits of study, nor the helps 
 within reach to prepare lessons by themselves ; if such could 
 have the advantage of a meeting once a week for this pur- 
 pose, where the best informed of the teachers compare the 
 results of their study, and talk over points not always noticed 
 by stately writers on the passage, it would be of immense 
 advantage to the school. 
 
 Such a meeting would be especially useful for the younger 
 and less experienced teachers, and would be well worth all 
 the time and pains it would cost. But almost everything 
 depends on the knowledge and skill of him who conducts 
 such an exercise, to see that time is not wasted on unimpor- 
 tant passages, and to secure the advantages of the best scholar- 
 ship within reach, and to prevent the meeting from becoming 
 common-place and protracted. 
 
 I am thinking of the teacher as he meets his class. The 
 opening exercises, whether brief or protracted, appropriate 
 or inappropriate, are over, and the class settles around the 
 teacher. Whatever the preparation may have been, whether 
 elaborate or insufficient, the time is now come for work. 
 
 How much depends upon the character of the first ques- 
 tion asked, and upon the tones of the voice which utters it ! 
 The pupils see at once whether the teacher is master of the 
 subject, and whether his heart is in the work. If they see 
 in the teacher's eye an intelligent interest, if they observe 
 in the tones of his voice that he is in earnest, their own 
 eyes brighten, their own interest is quickened, for young 
 people love to be taught, they are curious, they are in- 
 quiring, and they will not be satisfied by dullness or com- 
 monplaces. 
 
 You need not tell them that you have not given the sub- 
 ject as much attention as it deserved — they knew that before ! 
 You ought not to apologize too often for want of preparation ; 
 
170 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 their good nature will not excuse always. They are quick 
 to discern and appreciate, and you must not think you can 
 deceive them. 
 
 Every word and phrase and sentence of the lesson ought to 
 be explained. Who was the writer ? In what language did 
 he write ? Was that the language of the country ? What 
 was he trying to teach or explain by this passage ? What is 
 the relation of this verse or sentiment to that which preceded 
 it, and to that which follows, or to the subject in hand ? 
 What is the general scope of the subject ? Who or what are 
 the characters on the scene ? What are the surrounding in- 
 cidents? Then, if the nature of the subject will permit, 
 illustrate it by contemporary history and biography, by 
 geography, government, literature, language, science, archi- 
 tecture, military life, agricultural and social life. There are 
 many parts of Scripture, especially of the New Testament, 
 which will admit of this comprehensive method of treatment. 
 In all our language there is no finer example of this kind of 
 illustration than in Conybeare and Howson's I^ife and Epis- 
 tles of St. Paul. , 
 
 Then faithfully apply the teachings, the thought of the 
 passage to the hearts and consciences of your pupils. Do 
 not hesitate about this. Do not be afraid of giving offence. 
 You cannot be too plain if you are kind, and if your pupils 
 see that you mean what you say ; but if this is done from a 
 sense of duty and with a sort of professional air, you would 
 better leave it unsaid. 
 
 Avoid, if you are at all inclined that way, the habit of 
 lecturing or preaching to your pupils. It is easy for a teacher 
 who has free command of language to dwell upon prominent 
 topics in the lesson, and to deliver very excellent and edify- 
 ing lectures upon them, but this is not the best method. 
 That form of instruction where question and answer follow 
 in quick succession, eliciting remarks and questions from 
 the pupils in return, arousing and stimulating thought 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 171 
 
 and expression, has always seemed to me the more pleasant 
 and profitable method. 
 
 It was formerly thought that none but clergymen could ex- 
 plain the Scriptures. A knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek 
 languages was considered indispensable. But this is not so 
 now. Common sense, and a heart glowing with love to God 
 and to the souls of men, are better than all the learning of 
 the universities without these. 
 
 Commentaries explanatory, textual, expository, homi- 
 letical, are multiplied now and published so cheaply as to be 
 within the reach of all teachers ; and the most learned of all 
 the writers on Scripture in our language, Alexander, Hackett, 
 Owen, Bush, Barnes, of the United States ; Alford, Trench, 
 Stanley, Ellicott, Jowett, , Lightfoot, Westcott, Davies, 
 Wordsworth, Vaughan, in England, and the various writers 
 in Ivange's great and voluminous work, have all labored in 
 the highest regions of sacred criticism to bring the result of 
 the profoundest research to the comprehension of the plainest 
 English scholar. This has never been so before, and there- 
 fore the present time — the time in which we live — is better 
 than any other time for the interpretation and application of 
 Scripture truth. Take the comfort of this thought home to 
 your hearts, and let it help you in your studies and stimulate 
 you to faithfulness, that the present is the best time the world 
 has ever seen for Sunday-school instruction. 
 
 Do not forget, as you take your seat in your class, that 
 you are the pastor of that little flock. To many of the 
 scholars in our Sunday-schools this is true i;i a very impor- 
 tant sense, for they have no religious instruction at home, 
 and the modern plan of holding the Sunday-school in the 
 afternoon, with the second church service in the evening, 
 excludes practically a large proportion of Sunday-school 
 pupils from the house of God, and gives them up to Sunday- 
 school teachers. And if any of the children from non- 
 church-going families stray into the sanctuary morning or 
 
172 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 evening, the sermons which they hear will probably go over 
 their heads, having been prepared for adults and cultivated 
 persons. If the time should come when the Sunday-school 
 service is immediately followed by an appropriate church 
 service attractive to children, it will be a bright day for 
 Sunday-schools and for the Church. 
 
 Do not forget then, I repeat, that you are the pastor of 
 that little flock. Of some of them it may be said that all 
 they ever learn of religion and of religious truth they will 
 learn from you. You have some advantages over the pastor. 
 He deals with adult minds, many of them hardened and 
 dulled by long familiarity with the most solemn truths, and 
 fixed in habits of indifference. You have before you, minds 
 in thefreshnessof youth, with character and habits unformed 
 and immature. He speaks from the pulpit to an audience so 
 large and so far removed from him that he loses in some de- 
 gree the magnetic contact so important in moving and sway- 
 ing the mind and heart ; while you sit face to face with your 
 audience, so close that you can see the tear in the eye and 
 put your hand upon the shoulder. Do not forget that you 
 are the pastor, and that it is your duty to bring your pupils 
 to the Saviour. The work then is very great. The time is 
 very short ; all you see of your class is for an hour and a half 
 or less in a week. 
 
 How much you have to do ! If you have any control over 
 the lessons, make them short, for the instruction must be 
 thorough, and while the lesson is the great thing, the primary 
 object, indeed, of the school, it is too apt to be made subor- 
 dinate to the opening and closing exercises. 
 
 Maintain perfect order in your class; let there be no tri- 
 fling, no insubordination, no unmanliness ; respect yourself, 
 and your pupils will also respect you. And remember you 
 have other things to teach besides the lesson — things which 
 you must teach incidentally. 
 
 The proper use of the library must not be overlooked ; 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY I<IBRARY. 173 
 
 what books to read, how to take care of books ; sometimes a 
 review of a book which has been read ; the lending of an 
 appropriate book of your own, not in the school library ; 
 hints about other literature. You must also guard your 
 pupils from the influence of others in the school and out of it. 
 You must tell them to be careful what they read ; what com- 
 pany they keep ; what they do on Sundays ; how to behave 
 in church, at home, in the street and in public places, at 
 school, in their daily business ; in short, you must, next to 
 their parents and family, be their best friend. 
 
 You must tell them what true manliness is : that it con- 
 sists not in imitating the vices or the foolish habits of men ; 
 not in gay dressing ; not in chewing and smoking tobacco 
 (I do not say that the use of tobacco is not consistent with 
 true manliness, but I do say that true manliness does not 
 consist in these things) ; not in drinking beer or wine or 
 whiskey ; not in the use of profane or obscene language ; but 
 that true manliness consists in straightforward, upright truth- 
 fulness, consideration for others, kindness, forbearance, un- 
 selfishness ! 
 
 But no matter how earnest and faithful and persevering 
 we may be in all these respects, what can we hope to accom- 
 plish without prayer ? Not the opening and closing prayers 
 of the schools merely, not an occasional meeting for prayer, 
 not the prayer of the closet merely, nor the prayer of the 
 pulpit ; but the united prayers of the teachers and scholars 
 together. 
 
 I do not mean the setting aside of the school lesson to hold 
 ^ Sunday-school prayer-meeting, sometimes a very dull af- 
 fair ; but suppose, where the Sunday-school session is not 
 followed by the church service, the superintendent and such 
 of the teachers as can make it convenient should linger in 
 the school-room, inviting the larger and more thoughtful of 
 the scholars to join them, and should spend fifteen or twenty 
 minutes in united prayer, not in much singings for the bless- 
 
174 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 ing of God on the labors, the teachings of the day. What 
 do yon think would be the effect of such a meeting ? I have 
 no doubt, from observation and experience, that the influ- 
 ence would be most happy, and that ere long the hearts of 
 the teachers would be gladdened by the conversion of very 
 many of their pupils. 
 
 A successful Sunday-school is the best adjunct to a 
 church. Most of the activity of the church's life is here. 
 The pastor looks to Ms teachers as his most efficient fellow- 
 workers. 
 
 What would the church be without the Sunday-school ? 
 Observe those who at the stated seasons come from the world 
 to profess their faith in Christ, and see how many come from 
 the Sunday-school. How few, indeed, come from elsewhere ! 
 Very rarely do heads of families join on profession, nor do 
 they add much to the strength of the church unless they are 
 in early life. Examine carefully any church and analyze its 
 elements, and you will invariably see that most of its life 
 and force come from the Sunday-school. 
 
 You see, then, how important it is that the work of Sun- 
 day-school teaching should not be left too much to quite 
 young teachers. Admitting that we need here as elsewhere 
 all the freshness and vigor of youth, we must not forget that 
 the work is to lead souls to Christ through the interpretation 
 and application of the sacred Scriptures^ and this is or ought 
 to be the work of mature minds. 
 
 The subject is a large one, and if time permitted I would 
 like to say more on some of the points that I have barely 
 touched. 
 
 For I do not think that the Sunday-school has done as 
 much as might fairly have been expected of it. 
 
 When we consider how simple and cheap is the machinery, 
 that the children are all about us, that they are easily at- 
 tracted to the schools, that their attendance does not inter- 
 fere with the secular schools, nor with their necessary occu- 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 175 
 
 pation ; that it is easy to find a place to hold a Sunday- 
 school, in the church, in a public school-house, in a kitchen, 
 out of doors ; when we consider how good and cheap and 
 popular a literature is provided especially for such schools, 
 how readily teachers can be found who are willing to work 
 without pay ; I say, when we consider how favorable the con- 
 ditions are, have we not a right to look for larger and better 
 results than we find ? Great advance has been made in the 
 knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and innumerable conver- 
 sions have been made among the children, but what shall be 
 said of the behavior of Sunday-school boys and girls in the 
 streets, in street cars and in other public places? It is be- 
 coming the reproach of our times that the young are so in- 
 different to their behavior in public. Many of these young 
 persons are from families where there is little or no attention 
 paid to decorum. The secular schools dare not, or do not, 
 except in the most superficial manner, touch upon this sub- 
 ject. The Sunday-school teacher can, and must, or it will 
 not be done. A little book under the title of " Don't " has 
 been published lately that deals with kindred subjects, a book 
 that I have had introduced into a large secular school with 
 which I have something to do in the hope that the manners 
 of the pupils may be improved. 
 
 When we see a Sunday-school dismissed and the children 
 rushing out into the street, shouting, throwing stones, etc. , 
 making the air hideous and the highway dangerous ; when 
 we hear loud talking and laughing and see rude behavior 
 in street cars and other places, and know that the boys and 
 girls who behave so are Sunday-school scholars, and some 
 of them from families where no word of advice is ever given 
 on the subject of behavior, we cannot help asking whether 
 the Sunday-school work has been thoroughly done. 
 
 The truth is that the discipline of the Sunday-school is 
 not what it ought to be. We are so anxious to have very 
 large Sunday-schools that we are afraid to control them as 
 
176 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 day-schools are controlled. Do you suppose that a teacher 
 of a secular school would permit the wish or fancy of a 
 pupil to hinder his transfer from one class to another ? Yet 
 are not Sunday-school superintendents thwarted in theii 
 wishes sometimes by the threat that if a pupil cannot go in 
 a certain class he will leave the school ? 
 
 Dr. Arnold said : " It is not necessary that there shall 
 be five hundred boys at Rugby, but it is necessary that those 
 who are at Rugby school shall be gentlemen." 
 
 When I say that the Sunday-school has not done all that 
 might fairly have been expected of it you will ask me, 
 "Why?" One reason is, it has attempted too much. It 
 tries to conduct a Sunday-school and a church service at the 
 same time, and within the compass of an hour and a half. 
 The reason given for this is that as the children will not go 
 to church, the church must be brought to them in the Sun- 
 day-school hour. This requires time and machinery, the use 
 of which must be deducted from the time for teaching. The 
 two things are not identical. The church service ought to 
 follow the Sunday-school service, and the pupils should be 
 required to attend.^ and the service should be brief and ap- 
 propriate. This was in my mind when I said just now that 
 the church does not appreciate the Sunday-school. If some 
 thing in the line of what I have suggested could be adopted, 
 you would soon see a marked change. 
 
 The other reason I give why the Sunday-school has not 
 done all that it could have done is that the teachers are not 
 fully equipped and qualified for their work. 
 
 I ask any superintendent to look over the roll of his 
 teachers and ask himself the question. How many of these 
 most excellent men and women (or boys and girls, as the 
 case may be, for often very young people are so employed), 
 how many of these unquestionably good people are really 
 teaching ? They are all Christians, no doubt, and are anxious 
 or very desirous at least to have their scholars saved, but 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 177 
 
 what do they know about teaching ? How many of them 
 would pass a very easy examination on the theory and prac- 
 tice of teaching? How many are students of the Holy 
 Scriptures except of that portion assigned for the weekly 
 lesson? How many would pass such an examination as 
 would entitle them to a teacher's certificate to teach in our 
 public schools? How many of them have much or any 
 literary taste or are readers of books ? 
 
 I know this is not an assuring view to take of the situa- 
 tion. I know the standard suggested is high and not easily 
 reached ; I know that people who work for no pecuniary re- 
 ward are in one sense beyond criticism — nevertheless, I think 
 this is the truth I am speaking, and it seems to me somebody 
 ought to say it. 
 
 Why do I say such plain things? I thought that one who 
 has been engaged in this blessed work as many years as I 
 have, and who loves it so well, ought to be able from the 
 stores of his experience to say some things which might help 
 some of the less experienced of teachers. Some of you have 
 long been workers in this field, and some for a much shorter 
 period. Some have had a varied experience, and some have 
 had hardly any experience at all. Some of you love the 
 work most heartily, while some do it from a sense of duty 
 only. Success has crowned the efforts of some, while others 
 have labored apparently almost in vain. And so I have ven- 
 tured to trespass on your forbearance. 
 
 What good will come of it ? As you look forward, what 
 are your views of duty ? Who can say that he has been as 
 faithful as he might have been ? Who can say he has been 
 as watchful, as industrious, as earnest, as he might have 
 been ? What are your purposes for the future ? What reso- 
 lutions have you made, and when will you begin to perform 
 them? Oh, teachers, the highest interests on earth are com- 
 mitted to you ! If you are faithful, prayerful, devoted, if 
 you turn many to righteousness, you shall shine as the stars 
 12 
 
178 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 for ever and ever ! But if you neglect these interests, if you 
 are cold and careless in your work, if you have little prayer 
 and less zeal, and if you allow your children to grow up care- 
 less, unimpressed, unconverted, you will be called to a strict 
 account. The blood of souls may be found in your skirts, 
 and how shall you go up to your Father's house and these 
 children and youth not go with you ? 
 
XXIV. 
 The Girard College.* 
 
 " I WAS GI,AD WHBN THEY SAID UNTO ME, LET US GO INTO THE HOUSE 
 OE THE hO'R.Ti."— Psalm 122 : i. 
 
 This psalm was intended to be sung by the people, as 
 they climbed up the rocky steeps to the walls of Jerusalem ; 
 or as they passed through the streets to the temple to offer 
 worship to the great God ; or it was intended to express the 
 delight which filled the heart of the pious Jew when he 
 started from his distant home to go to the Holy City on one 
 of the three great annual feasts. 
 
 Whatever may have been the occasion of its production, 
 it is now a most expressive instruction to us of the feelings 
 with which we should regard the worship of God in his 
 house and on his day. And I have chosen the passage for 
 the purpose of speaking to you about the services in this 
 Cha'Jjel, to which you are called every day, and every 
 Sunday. 
 
 Although Mr. Girard enjoined that no ecclesiastic, mission- 
 ary, or minister of any sect whatsoever, should ever hold or 
 exercise any station or duty whatever in the College, nor 
 ever be admitted for any purpose, or even as a visitor, within 
 the premises appropriated to the purposes of the College, he 
 is careful to say that he does not intend to cast any reflection 
 on any sect or person whatever ; only intending to keep the 
 
 * An Address delivered in the Chapel of the Girard College, on the occa- 
 sion of the introduction of the New Manual, July 22, 1883. 
 
 (179) 
 
180 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 minds of his pupils free from sectarian controversy until 
 their matured reason should enable them to adopt such 
 religious tenets as they may prefer. 
 
 When the College was opened there were many persons 
 living who were better able to determine the meaning of this 
 clause of Mr. Girard's will than some of the critics of our 
 day ; and the first directors without hesitation provided for 
 religious services in a place set apart for the purpose. 
 
 So, for many years, and as long as the number of pupils 
 did not exceed five hundred and fifty, the room in the south- 
 west corner of the main building was appropriated for the 
 purposes of a chapel ; and Judge Jones, the first President 
 of the College (except one who served for a very short period), 
 delivered a course of lectures (afterwards published) on the 
 life of Joseph. When the population of the College was 
 increased above five hundred and fifty, some years ago, this 
 Chapel was built for the purposes of daily and Sunday 
 worship, as well as for other purposes, when all the schools 
 are assembled in one place. 
 
 We are sure then that it is quite within the purpose of 
 Mr. Girard that the principles of our common Christianity 
 should be taught to his pupils. We believe, indeed, that 
 we should be wanting most seriously in our duty to you if we 
 •did not provide appropriate religious instruction. So this 
 Chapel was erected, and here we meet every day and every 
 Sunday to worship God. Although not permitted to have the 
 assistance of men who are devoted to the sacred ministry, 
 we believe that acceptable worship can be offered to Almighty 
 God in any place and by any persons. 
 
 lyong ago, in patriarchal times, a man who was fleeing as 
 a fugitive from the vengeance of his brother, whom he had 
 deeply wronged, found himself at nightfall in a wild and 
 rocky place, and, gathering some stones for a pillow, lay 
 down to sleep. He was alone. There was no house near 
 him, he had no tent to cover him, and he lay down under 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 181 
 
 the clear starlit sky to rest. It was no common sleep, for he 
 had a most wonderful dream. The last things that his eyes 
 rested on before they closed were the deep vault of heaven 
 and the bright stars, nowhere more brilliant than in that 
 country. And in his dream he saw a ladder with the lower 
 end on the ground near his rocky pillow, while its top 
 reached up to the stars, and bright angels were ascending 
 and descending on that ladder, and God stood at the top and 
 talked with the sleeper. And when Jacob awoke from his 
 sleep he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place . . . This 
 is none other but the house of God ; . . . this is the gate 
 of heaven." 
 
 So the next morning early he took one of the stones on 
 which his head had rested in the night, and set it up for a 
 memorial of his vision, an altar to God, and poured a little 
 oil upon it as a sort of sacrifice, and called the place about 
 there Beth-el, which means "the house of God," because 
 there he met God and communed with him and worshipped 
 him. . . . 
 
 About eighteen hundred years after this, in the early spring, 
 and not very far from the same place, a young man, weary, 
 hungry and thirsty, sat down by the side of a well. He was 
 alone. Looking down a hundred feet or more into its depths, 
 he saw the clear, cold water, but could not reach it. He 
 had nothing to draw with. It was midday, and the hot sun 
 poured down its scorching beams on his unprotected head. 
 While he sat there, waiting for the return of his companions, 
 who had left him a little while since, a woman came from 
 the near village to draw water from the well. As she came 
 up he asked her to give him a drink. She looked at him, 
 surprised that he should ask so unusual a favor. And why 
 unusual ? Because there was something in his dress or his 
 accent which showed her that he belonged to another people, 
 and a people who generally would hold no intercourse at all 
 with her countrymen. This surprise she expressed not only 
 
182 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 in her looks, but in the question which immediately followed : 
 "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, a 
 Samaritan woman ? ' ' 
 
 Then followed that conversation between Jesus and the 
 woman of Samaria — one of the most remarkable that ever 
 occurred. 
 
 " If you knew," said he, " who it is that talks with you, 
 you would ask me, and I would give you living water." 
 
 "How could you give me water?" said she, mistaking 
 his meaning. ' ' The well is deep ; you have nothing to 
 draw with." 
 
 The conversation goes on. I do not give the literal 
 Scripture. He explains that he is not speaking of the water 
 in the well, but of the water of life ; but she is very slow to 
 learn or very unwilling to learn, until presently he says 
 something about herself which startles her, for she supposes 
 it impossible that a stranger could know. It was something 
 which she was unwilling to talk about, for it was of the im- 
 proper life she was living. So she tried to change the subject 
 — it was becoming too close, too personal — and, with the ex- 
 clamation that he must be a prophet, she tries to lead him 
 into a theological discussion by saying, "Our fathers wor- 
 shipped in this mountain," pointing up to Mount Gerizim, 
 where the Samaritans at that day offered their sacrifices, and 
 where even down to our own time they slay and eat the 
 lamb at the passover. ' ' Our fathers, ' ' said she, ' ' worshipped 
 in this mountain, but ye say that in Jerusalem is the place 
 where men ought to worship." 
 
 Then came those grand words which have been so often 
 read, so often quoted, and so little understood, which ought 
 to have had so much influence in the world and which have 
 had so little. 
 
 "Woman," said he, "there cometh an hour, it is even 
 now come, when ye shall not only in this mountain nor in 
 Jerusalem worship the Father. True worshippers must 
 
A -TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 183 
 
 worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for God is a spirit. " 
 As if he had said, "Heretofore public worship has been 
 limited to sacred places, but now and hereafter worship, if 
 spiritual, may be offered in any place." 
 
 " The true Christian ideal is this : a holy season extending 
 all the year round, a temple confined only by the limits of 
 the habitable world, a priesthood coextensive with the 
 human race." * In other words, all spiritual worship is 
 acceptable to God, no matter when^ where, or by whom 
 offered. Such is the worship which we offer in this house. 
 
 In accordance with this grand principle we are assembled 
 to-day, in this Chapel, for the worship of God. 
 
 How shall this worship be offered ? What is expected of 
 you as to your part in the service ? what is expected of us 
 who conduct or direct these services ? 
 
 What is expected of you ? 
 
 I. Strict attention. The services will not be long — hardly 
 ever more than an hour in length. So careful are we to 
 protect you from speakers who forget that many of you are 
 very young, and some of whom are ap't to speak longer than 
 you can be expected to listen patiently, that a card has been 
 prepared and placed upon the desk with these words — "As 
 so large a proportion of this congregation is composed of 
 very young children, it is particularly requested that the 
 address shall not exceed twenty minutes in delivery." 
 
 When you come into Chapel there should be no conversa- 
 tion whatever. Unless you watch yourselves carefully you 
 will forget this. It is entirely unnecessary, and cannot be 
 permitted. Neither should there be any effort on the part 
 of any boy to attract the attention of another. There must 
 be no shuffling of feet, no coughing, nothing that will disturb 
 him who sits next you, or anybody else. In short, there 
 should be no necessity for supervision by an officer or teacher. 
 
 * Bishop Lightfoot, Durham. 
 
184 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 I believe it is quite possible for this large congregation to 
 sit as quietly and behave as well as any other congregation. 
 And I believe the time will come when you can be trusted to 
 behave yourselves without the oversight which now seems to 
 be necessary. 
 
 2. Active participation in the services is also expected of 
 you. 
 
 The Board having authorized the preparation of a new 
 Manual, it is in your hands to-day. There is a selection from 
 the Psalms, or from some other part of the Sacred Scriptures, 
 for the morning and afternoon services of thirty-one days. 
 This will give great variety in the readings. The Psalter 
 will not become tiresome from frequent repetition. Indeed 
 this could hardly be so, even if you read it every day in the 
 week. 
 
 The advantages of the reading of the Psalter are very great. 
 You will become familiar with the most poetical and the most 
 devotional part of the Scriptures by this frequent reading. 
 And you cannot estimate the value of this knowledge of the 
 Holy Scriptures. You will observe that the selections are 
 not printed in the usual prose form, but in shorter lines. To 
 the eye it resembles blank verse. Hebrew poetry did not 
 rhyme as our English poetry often does, nor has it the 
 rhythm which marks our poetry. Its chief characteristic is 
 parallelism of meaning. That is, instead of being measured 
 by syllables, or flowing in natural easy measures, or ending 
 in rhymes, it repeats itself in parallel meanings. 
 
 This may not always be' apparent, but it is generally so if 
 the lines are properly divided. 
 
 Now this will give you something to do ; for I think it 
 very important that you should have a part, and an impor- 
 tant part, in this Chapel service. The Psalter is to be read 
 by yourselves. The lines are very short, your attention must 
 be held to the page, the type is large and clear, and after a 
 few services it will become very easy and agreeable to you. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 185 
 
 When I said the Psalter is to be read by yourselves, I meant 
 that he who conducts the service is not expected to read with 
 you. * It is to be desired that the teachers and officers who 
 have charge of you in Chapel will take part in the reading 
 of the Psalter. It will add much to the precision and spirit 
 of the service. Some day it is hoped it may be possible to sing 
 the Psalter. It was so intended by the holy men who wrote 
 these parts of the Scriptures, and they were undoubtedly 
 sung in the daily temple service in the old times. For I 
 look for great improvement in the vocal music here. Much 
 has been done, but much more is to be done, and you are to 
 do it. 
 
 When the Scriptures are read, remember that they are the 
 truth of God. He is speaking to you. In the far-off ages 
 of the past he spake from Mount Sinai, with thick darkness 
 on the mountain, the earthquake, the thunder and the light- 
 ning ; now he speaks through the Sacred Scriptures and by 
 his Spirit. 
 
 Listen earnestly, patiently, to the speaker. No matter 
 how dull he may be, there is something in the address that 
 will do you good if you are on the lookout for it. That 
 must be a very poor speaker indeed that has not one good 
 thought for you. We who come to speak to you are not 
 clergymen — we are business men — but we claim to be stu- 
 dents of the Holy Scriptures. We love to explain them, 
 and we love you. We are not paid for coming. We may 
 not know as much as we ought to know, nor as much as we 
 desire to know, but we know that you are our young 
 brothers — that we are travelling on the same journey of life. 
 We know that we have the start of you by many years, that 
 we know the road better than you do, and we want to help 
 you in the journey. We do not come to teach new truths. 
 Our purpose is to explain and illustrate the Bible, and apply 
 
 * You are to read the lines antiphonally. 
 
186 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 its plain teachings as closely and personally as we can. You 
 may not know, from anything we say, to what branch of the 
 Church we belong, though all of us do belong to some 
 branch of the Church.. 
 
 We do not come to persuade you to join the church — 
 there is no church here to join — but we do ask you to believe 
 in the L,ord Jesus Christ and be saved. Then, at a proper 
 time, we hope that you will seek some church that is most 
 convenient to you, or most in accordance with your tastes or 
 the religious views of your kindred, and join it. For we are 
 so dependent on each other for counsel and sympathy, and 
 are so helped by Christian fellowship, that your Christian 
 life is not likely to be well rounded or very efficient unless 
 you join yourselves to some one company of Christian dis- 
 ciples and live and labor with them. 
 
 I did not take my text as a mere motto for this discourse. 
 I chose it because it is the fitting expression of the feelings 
 which we should have as we think of the house of God. We 
 should be glad when we think of going to Chapel. The 
 services here ought to be such that we should look forward 
 to them with eagerness and pleasure. I hope that in the 
 cultivation of vocal music you will take great pleasure. To 
 many persons there is nothing so sweet as the voices of 
 young boys cultivated in sacred song. There is a quality 
 of excellence in boys' voices which does not belong to the 
 voices of girls. I am not musician enough to explain this, 
 but it is so ; and the fact that the finest music in the great 
 cathedrals is made largely by boys' voices proves what I say. 
 Why should not we here give such attention to this most 
 beautiful accomplishment as to reach a high success? I 
 assure you this is quite worth your while, not only for the 
 present orderly service of the Chapel, but when you acquire 
 a knowledge of sacred music and leave here to make your 
 way in the world, you will learn that it is no mean acquisi- 
 tion ; but, on the contrary, such is the attention given now 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 187 
 
 to this subject in the churches, that a boy who has cultivated 
 his voice in childhood and understands music and has a good 
 voice will find that he can add to his income very handsomely 
 by an engagement in a church choir, 
 
 , The speakers here are laymen of different branches of the 
 Church, but they will not teach any other truths than those 
 in which all Christians agree. I hope these truths will be 
 made so plain that you cannot misunderstand them, and I 
 hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will impress them upon 
 your hearts. 
 
 But is God really here ? You look around. God is every- 
 where. We cannot see his form nor hear his voice, for he is 
 a spirit. He is here, however, just as really as if we could 
 see him and hear him and touch him. 
 
 Come, then, and worship God to-day. He is present by 
 his Spirit. It is difficult to have any distinct idea of God, 
 but you can easily think of Jesus Christ the Saviour. He 
 was once as young as you are. He grew up through the 
 helpless years of infancy as other children ; dependent on his 
 blessed mother, as you were on your mother. He grew to be 
 a man, as you are growing to be men. He was tempted to 
 do wrong, as you all are, but he did not sin ; he was pure, he 
 was holy. But as he was, and as he is, of our nature, he 
 knows how to sympathize with us who are tempted. And 
 he will help us when we are tempted. He, and he only, can 
 help you to keep your good resolutions ; he, and he only, can 
 change your hearts. 
 
 Do not forget, then, that worship— true Christian worship 
 of Almighty God— will be just as acceptable to him when 
 offered here as if this were the grandest temple in the world. 
 
 The time will come when these seats will be filled by 
 other boys, who will gather here every Sunday for instruc- 
 tion and worship. You who are now here are passing 
 through your school-life, and will soon be gone, but others 
 will take your places ; we who are here as teachers and 
 
188 A. TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 friends will pass away and be forgotten ; this house itself, if 
 not consumed with fire, will one day crumble into dust ; 
 but the words that shall be spoken from this desk, if only they 
 be right and true words, will never die. And the souls that 
 shall be gathered here for worship and instruction, the hun- 
 dreds — aye, the thousands — of boys who shall sit on these 
 seats will live forever. 
 
 Oh, that this house may be to all these souls the house of 
 God, the very gate of heaven ! 
 
XXV. 
 The Bible: What it is— How to Study It.* 
 
 The world is full of books. If the author of Ecclesiastes 
 could say nearly 3000 years ago, "Of making many books 
 there is no end," however we may understand that passage, 
 what could he say in our day with the accumulations of these 
 centuries? More than 700,000 volumes are said to have been 
 burned in the Alexandrian library, but our regret at such 
 wholesale destruction of literature is lessened when we reflect 
 that much of it must have been worthless. The press in our 
 day, however, turns out every year more than the contents of 
 that vast library. 
 
 The multiplication of books within the last half-century 
 is almost marvellous. Before this there were few books in 
 our country except in the libraries of colleges and other 
 public libraries. The American Sunday-School Union was 
 the first institution to prepare a wholesome and cheap litera- 
 ture for the young. All the books that were accessible to 
 children and sought by them before this, might be counted 
 on your fingers, and were certainly not of the highest char- 
 acter. Now many kindred societies and firms are engaged in 
 publishing books that are so attractive and so cheap that they 
 are in the hands of almost all the young. I wish it could 
 be added that all these volumes are sound and practical and 
 safe. 
 
 Fifty years ago few families, except the wealthy, had any 
 
 * A Bible-class study, 1870. 
 
 (189) 
 
190 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 books besides the Bible aud a few books of devotion. Now 
 almost every household has its book-shelf with a few or more 
 volumes. 
 
 It is less than 500 years since printing from types was 
 invented in Europe, though the Chinese are said to have 
 printed books from blocks a thousand years before. But the 
 making of books does not depend upon printing. Men be- 
 gan to write very early. Probably the earliest method of 
 communicating thoughts, other than by speech, was by a 
 rude sketch. Thus, if a savage wished to convey the idea of 
 a battle, a horse, a fish, or anything, he would doubtless 
 make a rude pictiire.of it on the sand, on the bark of a tree, 
 or anything else convenient, and this picture would be more 
 or less perfect, according to the state of art among such 
 people. 
 
 This led to engraving, which in the time of Moses must 
 have been more or less known. I believe it is not possible 
 to determine how early in the history of the world an alpha- 
 bet or written language of letters and words was used. Some 
 have thought that when Abraham bought his burying-place 
 from the sons of Heth, the minute details (in the twenty- 
 second chapter of Genesis) imply that he received a deed, or 
 bill of sale. We learn that God with his own hand wrote 
 the ten commandments on two tables of stone, and in letters 
 and words which Moses and the children of Israel could read 
 and understand. But after men in those far-off ages had 
 written with various implements on the bark and the leaves 
 of trees, on bone, ivory, on metallic and wooden tables, 
 a higher culture led to the use of the skins of animals, 
 dressed for the purpose, and characters, letters and words 
 traced thereon in ink. These were but poorly prepared until 
 about two thousand years before Christ, when the art was 
 carried to a great perfection at Pergamos, from which cir- 
 cumstance they were called pergamena, and from this comes 
 our word parchment. The ink which they used in the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 191 
 
 earliest ages was made of charcoal, pulverized, dissolved in 
 water with the addition of a little gum. 
 
 The Bible is the best book in the world. Why is it so? 
 It is the book of God. I mean by this, it is God's book. 
 He is the author. It is his revealed will. It teaches the 
 way of salvation. 
 
 The fact that God is its author, even if its contents did not 
 concern us, would give it transcendent importance. If a 
 book should now be discovered whose authorship could ab- 
 solutely be traced to some great writer of a past age, whose 
 works it had been supposed were all collected years before, 
 how would the world rush after it ! A few years ago thou- 
 sands of persons read a novel of English life and manners, 
 not because it was considered particularly brilliant, or that 
 it contained information that was new or important — not be- 
 cause of the interest of the story, or of any grace or elegance 
 of style, but because it was written by a prime-minister of 
 England. Curiosity was excited to know what such a man 
 thought of events which were occurring at that time. Had 
 the book been published anonymously, it had perhaps hardly 
 been reprinted in this country. But the author was a man 
 who, earlier in life, had been distinguished in literature, and 
 in later years had held the highest place in the government 
 of Great Britain, and the public wanted to know what sort 
 of a book he would now write. 
 
 When we take the Bible in our hands we know it is no 
 human production. We have evidence the most conclusive, 
 external and internal, that it came from God. You cannot 
 believe in the existence of a God, supreme and infinite, 
 governing the world, without supposing that there must be 
 some means by which he makes known his will to his intel- 
 ligent creatures. When Adam and Eve were created and 
 placed in the garden of Eden, and were sinless, God talked 
 with them, face to face, as a man talketh with his friend. 
 He made known his will by his spoken words. 
 
192 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Farther on, and in the days of the patriarchs, he com- 
 municated with men by means of visions and dreams. 
 Sometimes he appeared in an assumed form, either of an angel 
 (at least under that name) or in the form of a man. Not 
 until the days of Moses was the will of God made known 
 through the medium of writing, and in his case he wrote 
 precisely what he was directed to write. After Moses other 
 historians, Joshua, Ezra and some others, continued the his- 
 tory through the succeeding centuries, and one prophet after 
 another took up the strain until the Captivity, and even to 
 the return of the Jews from Babylon, when prophecy ceased, 
 and for some five hundred years the voice of inspiration was 
 hushed. 
 
 During this period other historians arose who wrote as 
 men write history now. But their narratives have not been 
 included in our canon, though we sometimes print them in 
 our Bibles under the name of " The Apocrypha." 
 
 The Bible teaches the way of salvation. The doctrines of 
 vicarious suffering, of expiatory sacrifices, may be found 
 among people where the Bible is not known, although there 
 is little doubt that these doctrines have been handed down 
 by tradition from Scripture sources. But nowhere except 
 in the' Bible and books drawn from it, do we find the 
 great truth of salvation from sin by the death of the Son 
 of God. 
 
 The Bible not only reveals this great doctrine, but it de- 
 scribes the means by which it is made available. It is true 
 that Jesus Christ died to save men, that he came to save that 
 which was lost. The terms of salvation, which can be 
 learned nowhere else, are plainly declared in the Bible. 
 ' ' Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. " " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel 
 to every creature." "He that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. ' ' 
 "Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace." 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 193 
 
 The obligations of the world to the Bible are immeasur- 
 able, almost infinite. If any one doubts this, let him con- 
 trast the condition of the nations of the world that are with- 
 out the Bible, with Great Britain and the United States. 
 Look at the civilization, the government, the domestic life 
 of such nations and then look at ours. Look at the lands 
 where Christianity is disseminated and developed, not in 
 connection with the printed Bible, scattered everywhere as 
 with us, but where its propagation depends upon a gorgeous 
 ritual and blazing altars, and where music and painting and 
 sculpture and incense and architecture and robed priests all 
 appeal to the senses. What makes Spain and Italy and 
 France, and indeed almost all continental Europe, differ so 
 widely in their government, the education of the common 
 people, their literature, their domestic life, from the United 
 States but the fact that here the Bible is scattered every- 
 where, read in our churches, taught in our Sunday-schools 
 and found in so many of our families, while in most of those 
 countries the Holy Scriptures are not within reach of the 
 common people, and not considered necessary to the develop- 
 ment of a healthy civilization. 
 
 ' ' Whether, then, we look at legislative science, the prin- 
 ciples of which are found in the writings of Moses, the 
 Hebrew lawgiver, or to civil liberty, most free in our own 
 •country, but destined to pervade the world, or to religious 
 liberty and the rights of conscience, to secure and maintain 
 which have cost oceans of blood, or to public or private mor- 
 ality, or to the abolition of human slavery, or to the Sab- 
 bath, or to true religion, or to human happiness generally 
 in its highest sense, we cannot but feel that the Bible alone 
 has brought us all that is good, and relieved us of what is 
 bad." * 
 
 The Bible is at once the easiest and the hardest of books. 
 
 * Dr. Spring. 
 13 
 
194 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 It is the easiest because all that is necessary to learn from it 
 as to the way of salvation may be learned by the plainest and 
 most uncultivated mind. 
 
 No learning, beyond the simple ability to read, is neces- 
 sary to enable one to understand the ten commandments, the 
 Lord's prayer, and the sermon on the mount. The parables 
 of the Saviour, though volumes have been written to unfold 
 their meaning, are so plain in their application at least, that 
 he that runs may read. The poor black man in his log-cabin 
 with only one of the gospels, which he spells out by the light 
 of his pine-torch, the rough sailor in his forecastle berth by 
 the light of his swinging lamp, with the Bible in his hands,, 
 may understand enough to point them both to the Lamb of 
 God that taketh away the sin of the world ; and so, says the 
 poet Cowper, speaking of Voltaire, in contrast with 
 
 " Yon cottager who weaves at her own door 
 Pillow and bobbin, all her little store, 
 Content though mean," 
 
 can and does know more of the blessed Bible than the gay 
 and brilliant Frenchman ever knew. 
 
 The apostle Paul in writing his Second Epistle to Tim- 
 othy reminds him that from a child he had known the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 It is evident from this not only that it is our duty to teach 
 the Scriptures to children, but that they are able to learn 
 them. And this, I take it, means not only committing the 
 verses of Scripture to memory, a custom somewhat out of 
 fashion in these days, not merely telling the beautiful stories 
 of the Bible, but explaining it to those who are quite young. 
 Dr. Alexander modestly entitles some of his commentaries, 
 explanations, thus: "The Gospel According to Matthew 
 Explained ;" "The Acts of the Apostles Explained," as if 
 his ideal of a Scripture commentary was simply an explana- 
 tion. Here is encouragement and warrant for Sunday-school 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. I95 
 
 teachers ; for if it is right to teach these great truths to the 
 children of our own households, how important is it to 
 gather in the neglected ones who have no "Mother Eu- 
 nice " nor " Grandmother lyois," as Timothy had, to teach 
 them the Scriptures at home. 
 
 The Bible is also the .hardest of books. In its very struc- 
 ture it is to a great extent fragmentary. It is not a distinct 
 treatise, but a collection of sixty-six books. Its historical 
 narratives, simple and natural and beautiful as they are, are 
 not always consecutive, . and are sometimes quite difficult to 
 harmonize. Its authors are many, and although they spoke 
 and wrote as they were moved by the Spirit of God, they 
 were men of varied ability, attainments and tastes. Their 
 writings are in different languages, not now spoken as then, 
 and the Hebrew having little contemporary literature to 
 illustrate it. The books themselves were written by their 
 different authors stretching over a period of more than fif- 
 teen hundred years. Some of these books are simple narra- 
 tives ; some are poetry — the very laws of which are not easy 
 to understand, but wholly unlike our poetry. Some of this 
 poetry is lyrical, some declamatory ; some of the books are 
 mixed prose and poetry ; some are allegories, abounding in 
 oriental metaphors, the clue to some of which is lost. Some 
 are prophecies fulfilled and unfulfilled ; some are the relations 
 of eye-witnesses ; some the records of accounts given by 
 others. Some are essays and arguments on the foundations 
 of Christian truth, so profound that the ablest minds have 
 been unable clearly to unfold them. Some are the ecstatic 
 utterances of those who were caught up into the third 
 heaven — all are expressed in glowing, figurative language, 
 some of the traces of which, in their common life, we have 
 , lost. 
 
 Then the chronological arrangement as we find it in our 
 English Bibles is very imperfect ; whether we consider the 
 history itself or the time when it was written. Some have 
 
196 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 thought that the book of Job should be placed somewhere in 
 the book of Genesis. With this exception, if this be an 
 exception, the five books of Moses (the Pentateuch) are in 
 proper order. So are the books of Joshua and Judges. But 
 after this, all the books of the Old Testament are in irregular 
 order as to time. The Psalms, which are collected in one 
 book, were written at periods ranging as far back probably 
 as Moses in the Jewish history and as far down as the latest 
 Old Testament prophet. 
 
 The Gospels were not written in the order in which they 
 occur in the New Testament, and the Epistles are grouped 
 without reference to any natural laws. 
 
 Then, too, the Bible iu its separate books is broken up 
 into chapters and verses, and while this is very convenient 
 for purposes of reference, it is often very violently and arbi- 
 trarily done and greatly hinders the meaning. You all know 
 that the division into chapters and verses is a merely human 
 arrangement, and is not pretended to be inspired. 
 
 The New Testament, which you can buy for a few cents, 
 is a volume made of paper, printed from types with black 
 ink, the sheets of paper folded and stitched and bound with 
 pasteboard and covered with muslin or leather. All this is 
 the work of men's hands, just as other books are made by 
 tens of thousands every day. It is not, however, a disserta- 
 tion, an essay, a connected narrative or history, with an in- 
 troduction and divided into sections, chapters and para- 
 graphs, the work of one author, but is made up of twenty- 
 seven books, of which four are biographies of our Lord, more 
 or less complete, one is a history, "The Acts," twenty-one 
 are Epistles or letters, and one is a prophecy or series of 
 prophecies — " The Revelation." 
 
 Of the Epistles, fourteen were written by Paul, if we may 
 count that to the Hebrews as his, three by John, two by 
 Peter, one by James, and one by Jude. Besides his three 
 Epistles, John wrote the Gospel which bears his name and 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY, 197 
 
 the Revelation. Besides his Gospel, I^uke wrote the ' 'Acts 
 of the Apostles," which is a continuation of his Gospel ; 
 Matthew wrote the Gospel which bears his name, and Mark 
 probably that which bears his. 
 
 Matthew and John, disciples of Jesus, wrote describing 
 what they saw and heard ; Luke and Mark, who were not 
 followers, wrote from the testimony of others. Mark it is 
 supposed wrote at the dictation of Peter, or related the events 
 as Peter, from time to time, described them to him, so that 
 in this sense his Gospel may almost be said to be that of an 
 eye-witness. 
 
 As to the language in which the books were written, if we 
 must except the Gospel of Matthew, as some think, all the 
 others were written in the Greek language. The language 
 of the Old Testament is nearly all Hebrew. 
 
 Three hundred years before Christ, Alexander the Great 
 had carried the Greek language all over the Eastern world, 
 as far at least as his conquests reached. ' ' It was the most 
 widely spread language in the then civilized world, and was 
 therefore best adapted for the instruction of all. It was 
 most readily understood by the greatest number of persons. 
 When Christ appeared it was current in Palestine ; it was 
 the language of literature and of the courts. It differed by 
 some strong contrasts from the flowing style of the pure 
 classic Greek and was full of the figures and coloring of the 
 ancient Hebrew." 
 
 It is supposed that few of the books of the New Testament 
 were written by their authors' own hands ; even had it been 
 so, they would all have been lost before our day. The 
 writers who lived very near to the time of the evangelists 
 and apostles make no reference to the originals. The ma- 
 terials on which they were written were perishable and were 
 soon lost. Probably most were written by dictation, — there 
 being an educated class at that day whose business it was to 
 commit to writing the thoughts of others. ' ' In the case of 
 
198 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Paul," says the eloquent Stanley, "we seem to see an old 
 man bearing in the pallor and feebleness of his frame traces 
 of his constant hardships, his eyes at times streaming with 
 tears of grief and indignation, the scribe catching the words 
 from his lips and recording them on the scroll of parchment 
 . or papyrus which lay before him, sometimes writing a part 
 himself, and at others seizing the pen from the hand of 
 amanuensis and writing as a conclusion, ' You can see how 
 large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand,' 
 or, ' look you in what large letters I write with mine own 
 hand.'" 
 
 It is supposed that the original text of the New Testament 
 was written continuously, with no division of words and sen- 
 tences and paragraphs. The fac-similes of some of the oldest 
 MSS. favor this supposition. But this was very inconvenient, 
 and then copies were made in lines containing about as many 
 words as could be read uninterruptedly and resembling some- 
 what in appearance an inscription on a monument. It was 
 hundreds of years before the laws of punctuation were under- 
 stood and applied, and not until printing was discovered 
 were the Scriptures accurately punctuated. If you wish to 
 see how important this is to a proper understanding of the 
 New Testament, just obliterate the punctuation marks and 
 see how difficult it is to read it. Then if you drop the arti- 
 ficial division of chapters, paragraphs, verses, words, capital 
 letters and marks of punctuation, and just print the text, one 
 letter after another and from the beginning to the end of a 
 book, you will see that it is almost impossible to read the 
 text at all. 
 
 The whole of the New Testament, then, has been handed 
 down from the days of the apostles to our own times by 
 these successive copies. This must have been a work of the 
 greatest, the most conscientious care. See how extremely 
 careful the Jews were in making their rolls or sacred books 
 for Synagogue use. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 199 
 
 The parchment must consist of the hides of clean animals, 
 prepared by a Jew especially for this purpose, and joined 
 together with thongs of the same material. Every skin 
 must have a certain number of columns which are equal 
 throughout the whole. The roll must be ruled ; must be 
 ■written with black ink of the purest kind ; the transcriber 
 must follow an authentic manuscript, writing nothing, not 
 even the smallest letter, from memory. Words must not be 
 •divided at the end of lines ; a certain space must be left be- 
 tween each word and section ; some books may close in the 
 middle of a line, but the fifth book of Moses must close ex- 
 actly with the end of a line. The scribe must sit in his full 
 Jewish dress and as often as he writes the name of God must 
 purify himself and wash his whole body. There is an almost 
 endless detail of other directions which I will not weary you 
 by relating, and the failure to comply with these require- 
 ments might destroy the value of the whole book. 
 
 If there was anything like this care in bringing down to 
 the time of printing our New Testament Scriptures, you have 
 some idea of the cost. Indeed, much of the time of the 
 monks in the middle ages was occupied in multiplying copies 
 of the Bible and books of devotion. 
 
 You can see, too, how, notwithstanding all this care, it is 
 quite possible for omissions of words and sentences to have 
 occurred in the copies, and how errors in copying letters and 
 •words may have crept in. Therefore the great object of 
 modern scholars and critics has been to reach the oldest and 
 most authentic and most complete manuscripts and make the 
 most exact and literal translation. 
 
 There are three manuscript copies of the Bible which by 
 scholars are valued more highly than all others (and there 
 are a gfeat many). I mention them in the order in which 
 they were discovered. 
 
 I. The Codex Vaticanus, so called because it is in the li- 
 brary of the Vatican at Rome ; when it was placed there, is not 
 
200 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 * 
 
 known. But the first catalogue of that library, dating 1475, 
 contains it. The text is written three columns to a page. 
 There are certain features of arrangement of the _ text, the 
 handwriting and the character of the text itself, which ap- 
 parently fixed its date at about the middle of the fourth 
 century. 
 
 2. The second is the Codex Alexandrinus, now in the 
 British Museum, sent as a present to Charles First of Eng- 
 land from a man named Cyril Lucar, who had once been 
 patriarch of Alexandria, hence its name. It has two columns 
 to a page and is supposed to be as old as the middle of the 
 fifth century. 
 
 3. The Codex Sinaiticus, discovered in the Convent of 
 St. Catherine on Mount Sinai in 1859 ^y Tischendorf This 
 is the most complete of all the old manuscripts, at least as 
 far as the New Testament is concerned, for that is entire, 
 Tischendorf had spent about thirty years in exploring the 
 libraries of Europe, as well as the monasteries in the Asiatic 
 and African regions where Christianity had been planted, in 
 search of the most ancient copies of the Bible, He was 
 travelling in 1859 under the patronage of the Emperor of 
 Russia, to whom, under a lively sense of gratitude, he trans- 
 mitted this copy, and it is now in St. Petersburg, All three 
 of these manuscripts were written on pages in the book form, 
 instead of on rolls in the map form, and fac-similes have 
 been made of them all. The date of the Sinai manuscript is 
 supposed to be about the middle of the fourth century, or the 
 same as that at the Vatican, and is considered by Tischen- 
 dorf to be the best. 
 
 Valuable as these are, however, they are not the oldest 
 copies of the Bible. Two or three hundred years before 
 the date of these, the New Testament had been written, read 
 in the churches, and scattered all over the Christian world. 
 There are translations of the New Testament into the Syrian, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 201 
 
 Egyptian, Ethiopic and other languages as early as the latter 
 part of the second century. 
 
 Then there are many Christian writers from the first cen- 
 tury to the fifth whose works we have, who constantly quote 
 the New Testament as it was in their time, and of course 
 the quotations of the first three centuries are earlier authority 
 for the original text than any of the (three) manuscripts 
 named. 
 
 But let us pass from the old Greek copies and contemporary 
 writers. 
 
 More than six hundred years elapsed before any part of the 
 Bible was translated into Anglo-Saxon or English. The first 
 parts so translated were the account of the creation, the 
 exodus, and the life and death of our Lord. This did not 
 pretend to be an accurate translation, but was rather a para- 
 phrase. A few years later a version of the Psalms was made 
 by the first Saxon, a monk named Gurthlake. In the year 
 706 Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, translated the Psalter. 
 He praises certain nuns for their daily study of the Holy 
 Scriptures, which seems to indicate that they had copies of 
 the Bible in Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 Twenty-six years after the death of Aldhelm, the vener- 
 able Bede translated another portion of the Scriptures into 
 his native language (English). At that period there stood on 
 the south bank of the Tyne a monastery called Jarrow. The 
 ^surrounding country was then thinly peopled. The river 
 flowed silently through wooded banks and long reaches of 
 moorland, past the towers of the Roman wall and the cliffs 
 of Tynemouth. On the evening of the 26th of May, 735 
 (Ascension day), an unusual stillness pervaded the sacred 
 retreat. The monks spoke in anxious whispers. On a low 
 bed in one of the cells lay an aged priest. His wasted frame 
 and sunken eye told that death was near. His breathing 
 was slow and labored. Near him sat a young scribe, with 
 an open scroll and a pen in his hand. lyooking with afifec- 
 
202 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 tionate benevolence in the face of the dying man, he said : 
 " Now, dearest master, there remains only one chapter, but 
 the exertion is too great for you." " It is easy, my son ; it 
 is easy," he replied. "Take your pen and write quickly ; 
 I know not how soon my Master will take me." Sentence 
 after sentence was uttered in feeble accents and written by 
 the scribe. Again there was a long pause. Nature seemed 
 exhausted. Again the boy spoke. " Dear master, only one 
 sentence is wanting." It, too, was pronounced painfully 
 and slowly. "It is finished," said the scribe; "It is iin- 
 ished," repeated the dying saint, and then added : " lift up 
 my head ; place me in the spot where I have been accustomed 
 to pray." With tender care he was placed as he desired. 
 Then clasping his hands and lifting his eyes heavenward, he 
 exclaimed : "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to 
 the Holy Ghost," and with the last word his spirit passed 
 away. Thus died the venerable Bede, and thus was com- 
 pleted the first Anglo-Saxon translation of the Gospel Ac- 
 cording to St. John. 
 
 We must pass over the numerous translations, in whole 
 or in part, . that succeeded, barely mentioning only a few. 
 There was Wyckliflfe's, a noble work, which prepared the 
 way for, and gave a distinctive character to, the Reformation 
 in England. But this version was not fitted to occupy a 
 permanent place. The style is rugged and homely ; in fact, 
 English was yet in its infancy and WycklifiFe did not trans- 
 late from the originals. 
 
 A hundred and fifty years after the publication of Wyck- 
 liffe's Bible, a small party assembled one evening in spring 
 in the dining-room of Sudbury Hall near Bristol. It con- 
 sisted of Sir John Walsh, the lord of the manor, his Lady, 
 several children and two priests. One of the priests was a 
 man of distinguished appearance. He was in the prime of 
 life, grave and thoughtful, but of extraordinary and brilliant 
 powers of conversation. He occupied the humble place of 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 203 
 
 tutor in the knight's family. The other priest was a man 
 of high social position and much scholastic learning. Dur- 
 ing dinner the conversation turned on those theological 
 questions which were then moving England and Germany. 
 The conflicting views of the speakers soon became apparent. 
 After some sharp passages the strange priest exclaimed : 
 ' ' Better be without God's law than the Pope's. ' ' The tutor, 
 suddenly turning upon him with a look of great dignity and 
 determination, exclaimed : " In the name of God, I defy the 
 Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, ere many years, 
 I will cause the boy that drives the plough to know more of 
 God's law than either you or the Pope." That tutor was 
 William Tyndale. 
 
 Nothing could be more interesting than a history of Tyn- 
 dale and his labors in translating and publishing the manu- 
 script. I barely touch it. He was driven from England ; 
 found an asylum in Hamburg, then in Cologne, at that time 
 (1524) famous for its printing establishments. Here his 
 translation of the New Testament from the Greek, entirely 
 his own work, was put to press ; but before it was printed 
 the authorities were informed of it by a priest, and Tyn- 
 dale and his assistant had to escape up the Rhine to 
 Worms, where the first complete copy of the New Testament 
 in English- was printed, and not at Antwerp, as is generally 
 supposed. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church condemned the book, and 
 burned all the copies they could find, in the presence of 
 Cardinal Wolsey, in front of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, 
 on Sunday, February 11, 1526. But the vengeance of the 
 church did not stop here. While in Antwerp Tyndale was 
 betrayed by a spy, sent by the King of England for the pur- 
 pose, and he was dragged to the castle of Vilvoord, near 
 Brussels, where, after an imprisonment of two years, he was 
 executed. His last words were worthy of the cause for which 
 he lived and for which he died. Standing beside the stake 
 
204 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 •where he was burned, He lifted up his hands and prayed : 
 "Lord Jesus, open the eyes of the King of England." His 
 prayer was answered, for in less than a year from his martyr- 
 dom, a complete English version of the Bible was freely dis- 
 tributed in England by royal authority. 
 
 Tyndale's translation is the basis of our English Bible. 
 Then cameCoverdale's, — then revisions of these by various 
 hands ; and then the "Great Bible," as it was called, pub- 
 lished under the authority of Cranmer, which was the first 
 authorized version. From this the Psalter, in the "Book 
 of Common Prayer," is taken, word for word, and the ten 
 commandments and some other parts of the Episcopal 
 Church service. 
 
 Then came what was called the Bishop's Bible, because it 
 was prepared or revised by a number of bishops in the year 
 1568, while Elizabeth was on the throne. 
 
 The next in point of time is that which we now call the 
 authorized version, our common English Bible. It was 
 translated afresh from the Hebrew and Greek originals and 
 is not a revision of previous translations. It was begun by 
 Royal Commission in the reign of James First, in 1604, and 
 finished in 161 1. Three years were occupied in preliminary 
 arrangements and individual investigations on the part of the 
 fifty-four scholars nominated to do the work, and numerous 
 others whom they consulted. They were divided into six 
 classes, and they divided the Bible into numerous sections. 
 
 They met in classes in London, Cambridge and Oxford. 
 Each member of each class translated all the books entrusted 
 to the class ; then the whole class met, and, after calm and 
 thorough revision, adopted a common text ; then that text 
 was transmitted in succession to each of the other classes for 
 revision ; then a text, approved by the entire six classes, was 
 submitted to the final revision of six selected delegates, 
 with six consulting assistants, and their approved manu- 
 script was finally placed in the skilful hands of Dr. Smith, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 205 
 
 Bishop of Gloucester, who wrote the preface, to examine 
 and prepare for the press. Immense labor and care were 
 taken to bring out the exact sense of the originals. Every 
 clause, and indeed every word, was anxiously weighed, 
 and no point was considered too minute for the keen, critical 
 eyes of the laborious and conscientious translators. Some- 
 times when they could not agree upon the proper English 
 equivalent, by which to render the Hebrew or Greek word, 
 where it was a choice between two, they wrote one in the 
 text and one in the margin. Sometimes when the exact 
 literal translation would sound very strange in English they 
 put it in the margin — thus, "A word fitly spoken " * reads in 
 margin, "A word spoken on wheels ; " and whenever it was 
 necessary to supply a word, or more than one, to complete 
 the sense, the words so supplied are always printed in 
 italics. 
 
 The grammatical knowledge of the Greek language is 
 much more thorough now than it was in the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries, and the apparatus for critical study is 
 far more complete. By these means we are now able to de- 
 tect grammatical inaccuracies in our version which mar its 
 beauty and obscure its sense. The finer shades of meaning, 
 especially in the Epistles of Paul, are occasionally lost by a 
 failure on the part of our translators to perceive, or at least 
 to express, the precise force and bearing of a tense or a case 
 or a particle. Within this century some of the ablest minds 
 in England and Germany and in our own country have been 
 devoted to the critical unfolding of the New Testament. 
 Such men as Archbishop Trench and Bishops Ellicott and 
 Wordsworth and Canon lyightfoot and Dean Alford and 
 Professor Davies and Dean Stanley and Professor Jowett and 
 Dean Plumtre, in England ; and many kindred spirits in 
 Germany (unhappily not all as orthodox), and Moses Stuart 
 
 * Proverbs XXV. ii. 
 
206 A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 
 
 and Addison Alexander and Professor Hackett and Albert 
 Barnes, and many others in our own country, have laid the 
 church and the world under immense obligations for their 
 contributions to sacred exposition. Dean Alford especially, 
 in his New Testament for English Readers (a book which I 
 wish could be placed in the hands of every student of the 
 sacred Scriptures), has labored to put the English reader, 
 who is ignorant of Greek, in possession of some of the prin- 
 cipal results of the labors of critics and scholars on the sacred 
 text. 
 
 The best Greek text of the New Testament is that which 
 Tischendorf prepared or edited, and on which he spent the 
 last years of his most useful life. It is undoubtedly nearer 
 the exact words spoken and written by our Lord and his 
 apostles than any other whatever. But the language is read 
 by so few that its usefulness is necessarily limited to scholars, 
 and Tischendorf wished it to be read by all English-speak- 
 ing people. He therefore asked his friend. Dr. Davidson, 
 than whom no one was better qualified, to translate it into 
 English. 
 
 Dr. Davidson performed that task, and some years ago the 
 book was published in English. I am sure there must be 
 many who will desire to have a most accurate translation of 
 the purest Greek of the New Testament. 
 
 But I have left myself little time to give hints as to how to 
 study the Bible. 
 
 So much of it is devotional — prayers and praises, the ex- 
 pression of devout minds and hearts — that all that is neces- 
 sary to a very high enjoyment of it, is to be in a devout frame 
 of mind. So that if you have nothing but a simple copy of 
 the Bible, without note or comment, or marginal references 
 to parallel passages, you may sit at the feet of Jesus, as Mary 
 did, and drink in his words of heavenly wisdom, words that 
 have not lost their power though handed down these eighteen 
 hundred years and expressed in a different language from 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 207 
 
 that in which he uttered them, and without the tones of that 
 voice which spake as never man spake. 
 
 Some familiarity with the book is necessary to ascertain its 
 true excellence. 
 
 In one of the galleries of the Vatican in Rome is the statue 
 of the Apollo Belvidere, probably the most perfect piece of 
 sculpture in the world. The Abb^ Winkleman, a classical 
 writer upon the fine arts, after descanting with great zeal 
 upon the perfection of sculpture as exhibited in this statue, 
 says to young artists : " Go and study it, and if you see no 
 great beauty in it to captivate you, go again, and if you still 
 discover none, go again and again. Go until you feel it ; for 
 be assured it is there." * 
 
 So I say of the Bible. You may not, you cannot discover 
 its worth at a single reading. Its great truths are plain 
 and easy to be understood, but it requires mental exertion 
 and continuous, regular reading to comprehend and feel the 
 power of so vast a book. ' ' Search the Scriptures, ' ' search 
 them daily, search them not from curiosity merely, though 
 curiosity and learning are amply repaid by the search, but 
 from a deep and personal interest in their instructions. 
 
 So much has been done by modern travellers in the East 
 in the observation and description of the manners and cus- 
 toms of Bible lands, which are so essential to the illustration 
 of the Scriptures, that it is quite necessary to read these re- 
 searches. It is worth knowing that among the best books 
 in the English language on this subject are the volumes 
 written by our own Professor Edward Robinson, late of the 
 Union Theological Seminary, New York, and also ' ' The 
 Land and the Book," by Dr. Thompson, an American mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 Next to commentaries, however, special and general, and 
 in some important respects superior to them, is the "Dic- 
 tionary of the Bible," by Dr. Wm. Smith. It is in four 
 large volumes, which, imfortunately, cost so much that they 
 
208. A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 cannot be owned by everybody. It is made up of contribu- 
 tions of many of tbe ablest writers of our day, and is un- 
 doubtedly the best book of the kind ever made. The best 
 edition of this work is that edited by Dr. Hackett. 
 
 One of the best ways to get at the meaning of Scripture, 
 whether it be one or more verses, is to make questions upon 
 it. Take a paper and pencil, with your Bible, and select a 
 portion and ask yourself all the questions you can think of 
 and write them down. Do not limit yourself to such ques- 
 tions as you are able to answer, but ask yourself every ques- 
 tion that occurs to you to bring out the meaning. You may 
 not be able to answer one-half of them, and there will be 
 many probably that nobody within your reach and no books 
 in your possession can answer for you, but there is an an- 
 swer, probably, for them all, and you will dig deeper and 
 deeper at every such experiment you make in this direction. 
 
 It is a fact, I suppose, and none the less true because 
 lamentable, that very few Christians study the Scriptures. 
 With the exception of clergymen and theological students 
 and Sunday-school teachers, there are few Christians who 
 systematically study the Bible. The loss to the church in 
 its vitality and its aggressive force and influence on the 
 world is, of course, immeasurable, and the dwarfing and 
 freezing of individual souls and the barrenness of Christian 
 experience are deplorable. What can be done to remedy it ? 
 What can be done to rouse the church to its solemn duty and 
 its high privilege in this respect ? 
 
 Have you not observed that few persons have Bibles in 
 their pews now-a-days, and when the Scriptures are read 
 from the pulpit very few follow the reading, Bible in hand ? 
 We lose greatly our interest in and our love for the Holy 
 Scriptures because we make so little use of them either at 
 home or in the church. 
 
 There is not time to speak of the arguments for the authen- 
 ticity of the Scriptures, or of the authority for .believing 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 209 
 
 that the books of the Bible as we now have them are those 
 only that properly belong there ; or of the meaning of in- 
 spiration, the "inspiration of the Scriptures," or of the 
 principles of interpretation ; — thes'e are subjects any one of 
 which is more than enough for an entire lecture. 
 
 No well-informed man, no educated family, can afford to 
 be without the Bible. Better lose all other books from our 
 family libraries, our schools, our colleges than this. 
 
 Blot it out of our literature, and blot all quotations from 
 it and all references to it from other books, and our great 
 libraries would be but hospitals for sick and wounded and 
 mutilated books, entirely beyond the remedial resources of 
 medical and surgical skill, and all the appliances of scientific 
 laboratories, however thoroughly equipped. 
 
 I close with the following from a most distinguished per- 
 vert (or convert if you please) from the Church of England to 
 the Church of Rome. 
 
 ' ' Who will not say that the uncommon beauty and mar- 
 vellous English of the Protestant Bible is one of the strong- 
 holds of heresy in England ? It lives in the ear like music 
 that can never be forgotten — like the sound of church bells 
 which the convert hardly knows how he can forego : its 
 felicities seem to be almost things instead of words ; it is a 
 part of the national mind ; the anchor of national serious- 
 ness ; the memory of the dead passes into it ; the potent 
 traditions of childhood are stereotyped in its verses ; the 
 power of all the griefs and trials of a man is hidden beneath 
 its words. In the length and breadth of the land there is not 
 a Protestant with one spark of religiousness about him whose 
 spiritual biography is not in his Saxon Bible. ' ' * 
 
 * F. W. Faber. 
 14 
 
XXVI. 
 
 The Young Man: What can He do? What shali. 
 
 He be?* 
 
 My first words are words of congratulation, and for these 
 reasons : 
 
 First. Because you are young. And this means very 
 much. You have an enormous advantage over people that 
 are your seniors. Other frhings being equal, you will live 
 longer; and I assume, at the outset, that "life is worth 
 living." Then you have the advantage of profiting by the 
 mistakes committed by those who precede you, and, if you 
 are not blind, you can avail yourselves of the successes they 
 have achieved. 
 
 You have the freshness, the zest, of youth. You are full 
 of courage and endurance. You can grapple with difficult 
 subjects, and with a strong hand ; and, if you blunder, you 
 have time to recover yourselves and start anew. In 
 short, life is before you, and you look forward with the in- 
 spiration of hope and, it may be, also, of determination. 
 
 Second. I congratulate you, also, because you are poor. 
 It is hardly likely that there are many sons of rich men here. 
 As a rule they are not found in such places as this. They 
 do not need the stimulus, the encouragement, of such gather- 
 ings and such counsel as may be expected here. Why 
 should they ? Their fortune is already made. Their bread 
 and butter, their means of living, do not depend upon their 
 own exertions : their necessities and comforts are already 
 
 *An address delivered before the Young Men's Christian Association, of 
 Philadelphia, March 12, 1885. 
 (210) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 211 
 
 provided for them. Why should they bother themselves 
 about such subjects ? You may find them this very evening 
 at their clubs, or in other places, where they are not likely 
 to learn much that is worth kno\ying. You need not envy 
 them. 
 
 But you, I take it, are men who have your own way to 
 make in the world. You know already that if you achieve 
 success it must be because you exert yourselves to the very 
 utmost. Indeed, you must depend upon yourselves, and this 
 means that you must do everything in your power that is 
 right to do, to help yourselves. 
 
 I am speaking, then, to men who thoroughly understand 
 that there is no royal road to success any more than there is 
 to learning, and that there is no time to trifle. If you were 
 rich men's sons, these plain remarks would have no special 
 pertinence, no importance. 
 
 My congratulations are quite in order, also, because very 
 many of the high places in our country are held by those who 
 once were poor lads. 
 
 Should you turn upon me and say, "Why, then, if one is 
 to be congratulated on his poverty, do fathers toil early and 
 late, denying themselves needed recreation, not ceasing when 
 they have accumulated a good estate, almost selling their 
 souls to become millionaires ? why do they so much dread to 
 leave their sons to struggle for a living?" More than one 
 answer might be given to these questions. Some fathers 
 have so little faith in God's providence that they forget his 
 goodness, which now takes care of their families through the 
 instrumentality of parents, and who can continue that care 
 through other means just as well when the parents are gone ; 
 and another reason is that they " who will be rich fall into 
 temptations and snares," one of which is that the race for 
 riches unfits the racer for all other pursuits and amusements, 
 and he cannot stop his course ; he cannot change his habits ,•; 
 he has no other mental resources ; he must work or perish. 
 
212 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 Do not, then, let the fact that you are poor discourage you 
 in the least : it is rather an advantage. 
 
 Third. But again I congratulate you because your lot is 
 cast in America. It is a good thing to be born in this coun- 
 try, for, in all important respects, it is the most favored of all 
 lands. It is sometimes the fashion with certain people to 
 disparage our Government and its institutions, and one must 
 admit that, in some particulars, there might be improvement, 
 and will be some day ; but, notwithstanding these defects, it 
 is unquestionably true that it is the best Government on 
 earth. Is there any country where a poor young man has 
 opportunities as good as he has here to get on in life ? Is 
 there any obstacle or hindrance whatever, outside of himself, 
 in the way of his success ? If a young man has good health 
 of mind and body; and a fair English education, and good 
 manners, and will be honest and industrious, is he not much 
 more certain to attain success, in one way or another, in this 
 country than anywhere else? You know he is. Why? 
 Because of equal rights under the law. There is no caste 
 here, that curse of monarchies. There is no aristocracy in 
 sentiment or in power, no House of L,ords, no established 
 church, no law of primogeniture. One man is as good as 
 another as long as he behaves himself. 
 
 If you want to consider this point further, let me commend 
 to your careful consideration a most readable article by 
 Matthew Arnold in the February number of the "Contem- 
 porary Review." 
 
 And, if you want further evidence, only look for a moment 
 at the condition of the seething, surging masses of Europe, 
 and the very alarming apprehensions of a general war. 
 Before this year 1885 has run its course the United States 
 may be almost the only country among the great powers that 
 is not involved in war. 
 
 And, if further illustration were needed, let me point to 
 that most extraordinary scene enacted in Washington one 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 215 
 
 week ago yesterday. A great political party, which had 
 held control of this Government nearly a quarter of a century, 
 and which had exercised almost unlimited power, yields 
 most quietly, most gracefully, all high places, all dignity, all 
 honor and patronage, to the will of the people who have 
 chosen a new administration. And everybody regards it as 
 a matter of course. Was such a thing ever known before ? 
 And could such a thing occur anywhere else among the 
 nations ? 
 
 Having now spent quite as much time as I can afford in 
 congratulating you generally, I proceed to the serious busi- 
 ness before us. 
 
 Having shown you how favorable are the conditions 
 which are about you, the next point is, what will you do with 
 yourselves ? 
 
 All of you who are not already engaged in business of some 
 kind are expecting to be employed by somebody or engaged 
 in some business. And I suppose you may be looking to me 
 to give you some hints how to take care of yourselves, or 
 how to behave in such relations. 
 
 I will try to do so plainly and faithfully. 
 
 I cannot absolutely promise you success. Indeed, it would 
 be necessary first to define the word. And there are several 
 definitions that might be given. One of the shortest and 
 best might be in these words : "A life well spent." This 
 definition shall be my model. 
 
 If you are at school, or in a commercial college, work hard 
 at your lessons. L,et your ambition be, not to get through 
 quick, nor to go over much ground in text-books, but to 
 master thoroughly everything before you. If you knew how 
 little thorough instruction there is, you would regard this 
 hint. There are so many half-educated people from schools 
 and colleges that one cannot help believing that the terms 
 of graduation are very easy. There have been, and are now, 
 graduates of colleges who cannot add up a long column 
 
214 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 of figures correctly, nor do an example in simple pro- 
 portion, nor write a letter of four pages of note paper with- 
 out mistakes of grammar and spelling and punctuation, 
 to say nothing of perspicuity and unity and general good 
 taste. 
 
 It is quite surprising to find how helpless some young men 
 are in the simple matter of writing letters : an art which, in 
 these days of cheap postage and cheap stationery, almost 
 everybody has something to do with. If you doubt this, let 
 me ask you to try to-morrow to write a note of twenty lines 
 on any subject whatever, off-hand, and submit it for criticism 
 to an experienced writer. Do you wonder, then, that an 
 employer, calling one of his young men, and directing him 
 to write a letter to one of his correspondents, saying such 
 and such things, and bring it to him for signature, is sur- 
 prised and grieved to see that the letter is in such shape 
 that he cannot sign it and let it go out of his counting- 
 house ? 
 
 It is very true that letter-writing is not the chief business 
 of life, not the only thing of importance in a counting- 
 house ; but it is an elegant accomplishment, and most desir- 
 able of attainment. 
 
 In this connection let me say some words about short-hand 
 writing. In this day of push and drive and hurry, when so 
 many things must be done at once, there is an increasing de- 
 mand for short-hand writers. In fact, business as now con- 
 ducted cannot do without this help. A principal in any 
 business cannot generally, or often, take the time to write 
 long letters. Why should he ? It does not pay to have one 
 tjiat is occupied in governing and controlling great interests, 
 and in the receipt of a large salary^ tied to a desk writing 
 letters or reports or statements of any kind. He must ' ' talk 
 off" these things ; and he must be an educated man, whose 
 mind is so disciplined to terse and accurate expression that 
 his dictation may almost |)e taken to be final. Yet it must 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 215 - — 
 
 be brought to him for revision. He wants a clerk who can 
 take down his words with literal accuracy, and who will be 
 able to correct any errors that may have been spoken, and 
 submit the complete paper to his chief for his signature. 
 The demand for this kind , of service is increasing every 
 day, and some of you now listening to me will be so em- 
 ployed. See that you are ready for it when your opportunity 
 comes. 
 
 If you are a clerk in a railroad office, or in an insurance 
 company, or in a store, or in a bank, devote yourselves to 
 your particular duties, whatever they may be. And do not 
 be too particular as to what kind of work it is that falls to 
 your lot. It may be work that you think belongs to your 
 subordinate ; no matter if it is ; do it, and do it as well as 
 he can, or even better. 
 
 L,et none of you, therefore, think that anything you are 
 likely to be called upon to do is beneath you. Do it, and 
 do it in the best manner, and you may not have to do it for 
 a long time. 
 
 Make yourself indispensable to your employer. You can 
 do that ; it is quite within your power, and it may be that 
 you may get to be an employer yourself ; indeed, it is more 
 than probable ; but you must work for it. 
 
 Are you a Sunday-school teacher ? Make your class the 
 model class of the school : in the thoroughness of your prepa- 
 ration, the efficiency of your teaching, and in the admirable 
 quality of the behavior of your pupils, and the last not the 
 least of these items. 
 
 If you are a book-keeper in any counting-house or public 
 institution, remember that you are in a position of trust and 
 responsibility. When you make errors, do not erase the 
 error ; draw faint red or black lines through it and write cor- 
 rect characters over the error. Do not hide your errors of 
 any kind. Do not misstate anything in language or figures, 
 spoken or written. Everybody makes errors at some time 
 
216 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 or other, but everybody does not admit and apologize for 
 them. The honest man is he who does admit and apologize, 
 and does so without waiting to be detected. 
 
 There have been of late some deplorable instances of be- 
 trayal of trust in our city ; I may as well call it by its right 
 name, stealing. The culprits are now suffering, in prison, 
 the penalty for their crimes. While I am speaking to you 
 there are men, young and not young, in our city who are 
 now stealing, and who are falsifying their books in the vain 
 hope that it may be kept secret ; who are dreading the day 
 when they will be caught ; who cannot afford to take a holi- 
 day ; who cannot afford to be sick lest absence for a single 
 day may disclose their guilt. What a horrible condition of 
 mind ! It is hardly likely that such persons are in this audi- 
 ence, for such are not apt to find their way to such gather- 
 ings as this ; but they are among us ; they will go to their 
 desks or their offices to-morrow morning not knowing but it 
 may be their last day in that place. 
 
 And the day will come, most surely, when you will be 
 tempted as these wretched ones have been tempted. In 
 what shape the temptations may come, or when, no human 
 being knows. The suggestion will be made, that by the use 
 of a little money you may make a good deal ; that the ven- 
 ture is perfectly safe ; your broker tells you so, and points to 
 this one, or that one, who has tried it and made money. It 
 is only a little thing ; you cannot lose much ; you may make 
 enough to pay for the cost of your summer holiday, or for 
 your cigar bill, or your beer bill ; or you will be able to 
 smoke better cigars or drink better beer, or buy a gold 
 watch, or a diamond ring, or pin, or anything else ; you 
 cannot lose much. You have no money of your own, it is 
 true ; but what is needed will not be missed if you take it 
 out of the drawer, or withhold a credit of money. Shall 
 you do it? No ! Let nothing induce you to take the first 
 dollar not your own. It is the first step that costs. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 217 
 
 But suppose you do not care for this warning, or forget it ? 
 Suppose the time comes when you find that you have taken 
 something that was not yours, and that it is lost, and that 
 you cannot repay it, what then ? Whj^, go at once to your 
 chief ; tell him the whole story ; keep back nothing ; throw 
 yourself upon his mercy, and ask forgiveness. Better now 
 than later. You will assuredly be caught. There is no 
 possibility of continuous concealment. Tell it now before 
 you are detected ; and, if you must be disgraced, the sooner 
 the better. 
 
 Am I too earnest about this ? Am I saying too much ? 
 Oh, men, young men, if you knew the frightful danger that 
 you may be in, some day, the subtle temptations that will 
 beset you, the many instances of weakness about you, the 
 shipwrecks of character, the utter ruin that comes to innocent 
 wives and children by the crimes of husbands and fathers, 
 as we who are older know, you would not wonder that I 
 speak as I do. 
 
 Every case of breach of trust, every defalcation, weakens 
 confidence in human character. For, every such instance of 
 wrong-doing is a stab at your integrity if you are in a position 
 of trust. Men of the fairest reputation, men who are trusted 
 implicitly by their employers, men who are hedged about by 
 the sacredness of domestic ties, on whom the happiness of 
 helpless wives and innocent children depend, men who claim 
 to be religious, such men (and you and I have known them) 
 go astray, step by step, little by little ; they defraud, steal, lie, 
 try to cover up their tracks, cannot do it long, are caught, 
 tried, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned. Then the 
 qufestion may be asked about you or me : *' How do we 
 know that Mr. So-and-So is any better than those who have 
 fallen?" Don't you see that these culprits are enemies of 
 the public confidence, enemies of society, your enemies and 
 mine? 
 
 If the names of those who are now serving out their 
 
218 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 sentences in public prisons for stealing — not petty theft, but 
 stealing and defrauding in large sums — could be published 
 in to-morrow morning's papers, what a sad record it would 
 be of dishonored names and blighted lives and ruined 
 homes ; and how the memory would recall some whom we 
 knew in early youth, the pride of their parents, or the idol 
 of fond wives and lovely children ; and we should turn away 
 with sickening horror from the record! But, if there should 
 appear in the same papers the names of those who are now 
 engaged in stealing and defrauding and falsifying entries, and 
 holding back what is due, who are yet undetected, but who 
 will, before this year is out, be caught and convicted and 
 punished, what a horrible revelation that would be! 
 
 I would speak some words of encouragement to those 
 among you who are without occupation. It may be that 
 which you have tried has not suited you, or you have not 
 succeeded in impressing your employer with a sense of your 
 value. Failure in something you have tried may mean only 
 that you made a mistake in your calling. This is not 
 uncommon. It may mean also that you needed the discipline 
 which you received in that mistaken occupation to fit you 
 for a place which you are j'et to fill. Men who have been 
 trained as merchants, and have not been successful, have 
 done admirably well at the head of institutions, and men 
 who have not been skillful enough to take care of their own 
 property have proved to be good care-takers of other people's 
 property. 
 
 Men who have failed in one profession have become 
 conspicuous in their successful prosecution of another. A 
 clerk in a dry -goods store may not become the head of the 
 house, but he may get to be the head of something as 
 important and profitable as a dry-goods store. 
 
 Changes are very common in our country, more so than 
 anywhere else. All the conditions of our American life 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 219 
 
 favor change. Do not be discouraged, then, if you are 
 obliged to change your occupation. 
 
 Whatever you are doing, let it be your best. All young 
 lawyers cannot be judges; but is there any reason, my young 
 friend, if you are reading law, why you should not be 
 a judge ? At all events you can work up towards it. Clear, 
 calm, dispassionate reasoning and judgment you will need, 
 if you succeed at the bar, and these are the qualities we look 
 for on the bench. 
 
 All physicians will not get to be professors in medical 
 colleges ; but is this a reason why you should not reach 
 that eminence ? Whether you seek that place or not, seek 
 the qualities which will fit you for it, and you will make a 
 family physician all the better qualified for such preparation. 
 
 All clerks in insurance companies and railroad offices and 
 banks cannot become presidents ; but why should not you, 
 young sir ? Whether you do or not, it is your duty to make 
 the very best use of your opportunities. Don' t you know that 
 men in these conspicuous positions are dying off? Don't you 
 know that, even now, boards of directors are looking about 
 to find men who are qualified to succeed the present incum- 
 bents of such places? Do you think that anybody's eye is 
 on you ? Somebody must fill these places. Will it be you ? 
 
 Do you know that much, very much, depends on your- 
 self? Therefore, I say, do the best you can. So if a com- 
 mittee should inquire about you, and should eveu go so 
 far as to seek a conference with you, they will depend very 
 much upon what is said about you by those who know you 
 best, as well as by what you say for yourself, and by your 
 appearance and manners. And if they meet a man of untidy 
 appearance and slouchy carriage and untidy habits, or in 
 debt to his tailor and grocer, or landlady, they will pass 
 him by, no matter what large promises he makes or others 
 make for him. And remember that smartness, even to 
 brilliant business talents, is not all that is wanted for men 
 
220 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 in upper places. High integrity, absolute incorruptibility, 
 good manners, good education, pure morals, good habits, 
 these are required of men who are to be the leaders in life 
 and the chiefs in public institutions. 
 
 It was my purpose at the beginning of this address to give 
 you some hints about reading — as to What to read and How 
 to read ; but so much time has already been taken that I fear 
 to detain you by any remarks at great length on this impor- 
 tant subject. I cannot, however, let the occasion pass with- 
 out saying something. 
 
 It would be very easy to give you a list of authors, or 
 selections from their works, that may safely be read. But 
 this has been already done by writers for young men. If 
 it were safe and desirable, it would be well to give a list 
 of books that ought not to be read. All I can do now is 
 to say some things in a more general way. 
 
 Read no books but the best. I mean the best of their 
 kind. You cannot afford to waste time over second-rate lit- 
 erature while that of a first-class character is equally within 
 your reach. 
 
 Read what interests you. It is a poor use of time to 
 read unattractive matter for the sake of mental discipline. 
 You can get that discipline just as well with attractive 
 reading. 
 
 Read in the line of your business, whatever that may be. 
 If you are a mechanic or a scientist, read the ' ' Scientific 
 American," or something of that kind. If you are a bank 
 clerk, there is a great variety of literature most practical. 
 
 Read for general culture. This is a wide field, and in- 
 cludes fiction, poetry, essays, etc. 
 
 Read for information. This means history and science, 
 sacred and secular. , 
 
 Read for entertainment. This means that sort of literature 
 which may be read for amusement and recreation. 
 
 But remember you must have a purpose in it all. Not 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 221 
 
 until you are much farther on in life can you afford to take 
 up a book to while away a weary hour or ' ' kill time. ' ' The 
 young have no time to kill. 
 
 How shall you read ? 
 
 Read with care. If the book is your own property, read 
 with a pencil in your hand, and make remarks in the mar- 
 gin, either of a general character, as implying that you may 
 want to read certain passages again, or with certain marks, 
 as signs, to indicate assent to or dissent from, the author's 
 views. Todd, in his "Student's Manual," the best book 
 of its kind ever written, gives a list of such marks, with 
 their meaning, such as he was in the habit of using in his 
 reading. 
 
 You will find, after reading in this way, that, on a second 
 reading, you can go over a book in an hour or two, by way 
 of review, and get all, or most, of what was specially valu- 
 able to you in the whole volume. 
 
 Then, if you want to get the most out of a book, and at 
 the same time secure sound mental discipline, make a sy- 
 nopsis, or digest, of a specially important work now and then. 
 But be sure you take the right kind of a book to begin with. 
 I once tried to make a synopsis of Wayland's "Moral Sci- 
 ence," but I had not gone far before I saw that the book 
 was itself a digest of truth, and could not by me, at least, be 
 made any more compact than it was already. But take 
 Drummond's "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," and 
 Canon Farrar's "Messages of the Books," and, when you 
 shall have made an analysis, or synopsis, or digest of these 
 two volumes, you will know more about theology and the 
 structure of the New Testament than many graduates from 
 theological seminaries. 
 
 Then, again, when a book has pleased you very much, 
 write a short notice of it, as if you intended to send it to an 
 editor (but don't send it), and, in your notice, state the gen- 
 eral drift or purpose of the book, its style, etc. , and whether 
 
222 A. TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 the author has succeeded in his purpose. Don't you see 
 that this will deepen the impression the book makes upon 
 you? If you say you can't read many books at this rate, 
 the reply is, it is not necessary that you should read many 
 books, but it is necessary that your reading should be 
 profitable. 
 
 I know we can't expect young people of our time to be 
 fascinated with the books which interested those of us who 
 were beginning to read fifty years ago. It was once a favorite 
 tho'ught of mine to reproduce the literature of my early youth 
 for the young people about me ; and one book which had a 
 special charm for me, "Tales of the Castle," by Mad. de 
 Genlis, I was at great care and expense to obtain from Lon- 
 don ; but, when obtained, it had no interest whatever for 
 those for whom I desired it, and, in fact, I could not read it 
 myself. 
 
 Now this is not to be deplored, for the literature of our 
 time for young people is immeasurably better than that 
 which was provided for them half a century ago. 
 
 The wide fields of Theology and History and Science and 
 Fiction and Poetry and Biography, never so attractive as 
 now, are open to all of you, and you may roam and browse 
 .at your own will. 
 
 You must never be too busy to study. And, remember, 
 reading is not studying. Your education is going on all the 
 time. You are learning from books and papers every day. 
 Books, however, are the chief means of self-education. 
 Therefore choose the best, and read with a purpose and with 
 care. But don't have too much system or too many plans, 
 else you will tire yourself at the outset, be discouraged, and 
 break down and give it up. 
 
 As to newspapers, don't give too much time to them. 
 Don't let them take the place of books. Some people get 
 nearly all their reading from newspapers. This is not wise. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 223 
 
 They have their purpose, and you know what it is ; keep 
 them within that purpose. 
 
 "As to books of humor," as a distinguished writer has 
 said, "especially those of American origin, they are to be 
 carefully scrutinized and, at most, but tasted. Those of 
 Lowell and Holmes are almost the only exceptions." This, 
 however, is a narrow view. 
 
 And yet how strong is the tendency in the direction of 
 extravagant caricature. Not long since there was a gather- 
 ing of gentlemen at an evening party, at which were two 
 most conspicuous men. One was Mark Hopkins, of Wil- 
 liams College, Massachusetts ; the other was Mark Twain. 
 While many felt that it was no small privilege to talk with 
 the modest and distinguished college president, and listen to 
 his sound, grave and wholesome words, the stream of the 
 guests was towards Mark Twain, who was the centre of an 
 admiring group, convulsed with laughter at commonplace 
 stories and jokes, which, if told by others, would have fallen 
 flat, stale and unprofitable. 
 
 No modern book that cannot be read aloud in the presence 
 of ladies ought to be read by young people. L,et this be the 
 test. I say modern book, because there are expressions in 
 the plays of Shakespeare and in the Bible which one would 
 not like to read aloud. But we must remember that Shake- 
 speare was written, and the Bible was translated, two or three 
 hundred years ago, when expressions were in common use 
 which are now quite immodest. Such changes have been pro- 
 duced by culture and the varying customs of society, and 
 changes in the use of the meaning of words. But no modern 
 book, no book in general literature, printed in our day, ought 
 to be read by the young, that would bring a blush to the 
 cheek if read aloud in the presence of women. 
 
 One of the most pernicious habits is that of reading useless 
 books and papers. I mean the weak and silly books and 
 papers which are scattered in all directions. The most pop- 
 
224 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 ular of all reading is fiction, not merely novels, but news- 
 paper stories. The records of any public library will show 
 that more than three-fourths of all the books taken out are 
 novels. But there is a very large class of people who have 
 few or no books of their own, and who have not access to 
 any library, and who, therefore, depend on the weekly and 
 monthly papers for their reading. The number of such 
 papers is legion ; they are stuflFed with stories ; there is little 
 else in them. Sometimes these papers are illustrated with 
 startling pictures, as extravagant in drawing as the text is in 
 description. 
 
 There was, some years ago, and may be now, a weekly 
 paper of flashy appearance, published in another city, but 
 scattered through our streets by the thousand, full of pictures 
 and high-seasoned stories, and every number of that paper 
 contained at least one picture representing a scene of vio- 
 lence, in which one or more of the characters had a pistol 
 pointed, or a club raised, or a dagger about to be thrust. 
 Can you wonder that the constant reading of such a paper 
 makes brutes and savages of the readers ? 
 
 Young boys, errand boys, in street cars, take such papers 
 out of their pockets and forget everything in the reading. 
 And young girls, also, on their way to and from their 
 daily work in stores and mills and factories, are often ab- 
 sorbed in such papers. It is a fearful waste of time, yet 
 nobody has any time to waste. There is plenty of time with 
 most persons who have a taste for reading, to read what is 
 entertaining and suitable and edifying ; but nobody has time 
 to waste over such books and papers as these. Young boys, 
 at least, have no time for this. I would not, if I could, keep 
 you from reading stories. I am fond of them myself. I 
 have read many of them. I have gained great advantage 
 from them. As long as I am able to read anything at all, 1 
 expect to read fiction ; but I do not read that which appears 
 in the weekly flashy story papers, for it is generally of the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 225 
 
 weakest and poorest description. You can learn nothing good 
 from it ; it is an utter waste of time. But this is not all. 
 Such reading is weakening and debasing to the mind. You 
 read of improbable scenes ; nothing like them ever occurred 
 in human experience. Improbable characters are described ; 
 nothing like such men and women have you ever seen or 
 heard of, except in such stories. They move in society which 
 is not to be found anywhere. They are surrounded by im- 
 possible circumstances. There is no description of life or 
 character that is worth a straw ; no duty presented ; no laud- 
 able ambition excited. What possible good can come from 
 such reading? Can it be in any sense a preparation for the 
 real life that is before you — a life which, to most of you, must 
 be one of trial and hardship and struggle ? 
 
 There is an abundance of attractive and instructive read- 
 ing which is within the reach of you all. There are novels, 
 plenty of them, which no one will object to your reading. 
 They are pure, elevating, wholesome. Even some which 
 seem to have been written with the sole purpose of amuse- 
 ment are not without merit. Some of the finest delineations 
 of human character ever made by an uninspired pen are 
 found in novels ; they are profound studies. Some of the 
 most thrilling and accurate descriptions of battle-scenes ever 
 written are to be found in novels. Some of the finest speci- 
 mens of Christian life and activity, of self-denial and sufier- 
 ing, and of true courage and manliness, are found in novels. 
 The highest, the brightest humor, the deepest pathos, the 
 profoundest philosophy, are found in novels. Some of the 
 best sermons, some of the sweetest hymns, the most fervent 
 prayers, are to be found in novels. Some of the finest, the 
 best minds that have appeared within this century, have 
 been devoted to teaching practical and religious truth and 
 duty through the thin veil of fiction. All the recreation that 
 you need, that you ought to have in what is called light 
 reading, you can get in novels. 
 
 15 
 
226 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 But who shall choose the books ? Is it safe for you to do 
 it? No! No! 
 
 Why? You lack experience. You should seek the ad- 
 vice of others older and wiser than you are. He or she, of 
 whom you make the inquiry, ought to know you, and ought 
 to know what books will suit you best. It is a great thing 
 to have stich a friend or teacher. I once had such a friend, 
 a gentleman of extensive reading and large knowledge of 
 human nature, and, whenever I wanted a book on some 
 special point for myself or for another, I went to him and 
 was never disappointed. You ought not, while young, to 
 read any novel, unless one universally approved, without 
 asking the advice of some intelligent friend. Remember 
 that you have much to learn. 
 
 After a while, even if you do not already know it, you will 
 be surprised to find how little you know. I have read many 
 books, but almost every day I am impressed with the con- 
 viction that I know so little. Oh, if I could live my life 
 over again, with the advantages you have, I would be more 
 careful of what I read. 
 
 A fine literary taste is often formed and cultivated by the 
 use of reading-books in school. If they were a trifle heavy 
 a half century ago, they contained the gems of the language. 
 The sources of supply were the English classics and transla- 
 tions from the lyatin and Greek, and they were read over and 
 over again until they were imbedded in the memory. 
 
 Professor Jowett, the Master of Balliol, speaking in West- 
 minster Abbey over the grave of Bulwer, said : " It is diffi- 
 cult to estimate works of fiction by a moral or religious 
 standard, but we must admit that novels exercise a won- 
 derful influence over us, greater probably in the present age 
 than in any other, and that they form in literature a new 
 element, which was unknown to the ancients. They not 
 only add to the stock of harmless amusement (which is no 
 light matter), but, when the work of a great writer, they 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 227 
 
 may justly be considered as one of the ties which bind us to 
 each other, lowering or elevating the taste of a nation, en- 
 larging our knowledge of human nature, and showing the 
 world to us in many new lights and effects. ' ' 
 
 I would say a brief word about music : its most wholesome 
 effect upon the character of the young, especially when cul- 
 tivated as an art, in the concert, the oratorio or the opera. 
 More particularly is the effect of the oratorio most healthful. 
 
 What shall I say about recreations ? For recreation is ab- 
 solutely necessary to a well-developed life. What shall I 
 say about billiards, and cards, and the theatre, and boating, 
 and base-ball, and tennis, etc. ? 
 
 This I say in general. As to' the first-named, the evil is. 
 chiefly in the associations which surround them. In them- 
 selves they may be perfectly innocent. Billiards and cards 
 and theatricals in a private house are no more to be dis- 
 couraged than chess, checkers, dominoes, nor the reading of 
 Shakespeare, in parts, in a private house ; but don't go to 
 public places to play billiards or cards ; and, if you will go to 
 the theatre, always take with you your mother or your sister, 
 or some other lady for whom you have high respect. And 
 don't go very often, under any circumstances. 
 
 Do you think tha^ any business house or corporation would 
 give you employment if it were known that you were in the 
 habit of going to the theatre, or to billiard rooms or card 
 parties, or that you feel it necessary to smoke incessantly? 
 
 I am not opposed to simple and pure recreations. I ap- 
 prove of them heartily. Macaulay says of the Puritan, that 
 he did not object to bear-baiting so much because it gave 
 pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectator. 
 I am not of that way of thinking. Only I do not want any 
 of you to be so much devoted to amusements, while others 
 turn aside and seize the prizes of life. 
 
 Something must be said of the danger of evil company— 
 a danger to which you are especially exposed. 
 
228 A TOUR ROUND MY UBRARY. 
 
 The desire for companionship sometimes leads people, and 
 especially young people, into company which is wicked and 
 vile. A boy finds himself associated with a schoolmate, or 
 a fellow-apprentice, or a fellow-clerk, who is attractive in 
 manners, full of gayety and fun, but who is not what he 
 ought to be in character. 
 
 I No one is entirely bad. Many persons of bad character 
 have some points that are not repulsive, and sometimes are 
 attractive in some respects. A comparatively innocent boy 
 is thrown into such company and, at first, he sees nothing 
 in the conduct of his new friends which is particularly out 
 of the way. The conversation is somewhat guarded, the 
 jokes and stories are not specially bad, and, for a time, noth- 
 ing occurs to shock his feelings ; but, after a while, the mask 
 is thrown off and the true character is revealed. Then very 
 soon the mind of the pure, innocent boy receives impressions 
 that corrupt and defile it. All that is polluting in talk 
 and story and song is poured out. Books and papers, so vile 
 that it is a breach of law to sell them, are read and quoted 
 without bringing a blush to the cheek, and, before his parents 
 are aware of the danger, the mind and the heart of their son 
 are so polluted and depraved that no human power can save 
 him. 
 
 I very well remember a boy who, early in life, gave him- 
 self up to vile company and vile books and vile habits, and 
 who, long ago— almost as soon as he had reached an early 
 manhood— sunk, under the weight of his sinful habits, into 
 a dishonored grave, but not until he had defiled and depraved 
 many a boy who came under his influence. Better would it 
 have been for his companions, if their daily walks and play- 
 grounds had been infested with venomous serpents, to bite 
 and sting their bare feet, than to associate with a boy whose 
 heart was full of all uncleanness. 
 
 I want you to believe that it is dangerous to associate with 
 the wicked. Circumstances may throw us among them, the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 229 
 
 providence of God may send us there, but we ought never to 
 seek such company, except for good purposes. What I mean 
 is that we ought not to seek such associations, however agree- 
 able they may be in other respects, and not to remain among 
 them except for their good. 
 
 There are wicked people, in every community, of all ages. 
 We cannot altogether avoid contact with them. We find 
 them in the walks of business and among our schoolmates. 
 
 Many a young man, many a boy, has been forever ruined 
 by evil companions. A corrupt literature is bad enough, 
 but evil companions are more numerous and, if possible, 
 more fatal. Bad books and papers have slain their thousands; 
 bad companions have slain their ten thousands. I can recall 
 the names of many who were led away, step by step, down 
 the broad road that leads to destruction, by companions 
 genial, attractive, but corrupt. 
 
 There are some companions from whom you cannot sepa- 
 rate yourselves. They are with you continually ; at home 
 and abroad, in school or at play, by day and by night, asleep 
 and awake, they are always with you. There is no solitude 
 so deep that they cannot find you, no crowd so great that they 
 will lose you. No matter who else is with you, they will 
 not — cannot — be kept away. I mean your own thoughts, 
 your bosom companions. Shall they be evil companions or 
 good? Ah! you know who, and who only, can answer this 
 question. 
 
 I once went through a Monastery in the old city of Flor- 
 ence. It was a retreat for men who were tired of the world, 
 or who felt so unequal to the strife and conflict of life in the 
 world, that they supposed that peace could be found only in 
 retirement. The house was of the order of St. Francis. One 
 of the monks took me into his cell, and I sat down and talked 
 with him. It was a very small room — one door, one window, 
 bare walls, a small table, two wooden chairs, a few books, a 
 crucifix, a washstand, with three or four pieces of crockery, 
 
230 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 and that was all. Here he lived, and, except his calls to the 
 chapel, just across the corridor, and his walks in the cloisters 
 for exercise, here he expected to die. It seemed very dreary 
 and lonely to me. But I thought, if this were a certain and 
 sure way of escaping from evil thoughts, and the only way, 
 men may well submit to the confinement, the solitude, the 
 monotony, the dreariness, and the horror, of this way of life. 
 But, alas! it is not so. No close and narrow cell, no iron 
 ■doors, no bolts and bars, can shut out our thoughts, for they 
 are a part of ourselves ; they are ourselves ; for, "as a man 
 thinketh in his heart, so is he." 
 
 I say these things to you because there never was a time 
 when so much was required of young men in order to achieve 
 success as now. There is the keenest, the. fiercest, competition 
 on all sides. Our schools are sending out every year, thou- 
 sands of candidates more or less thoroughly equipped for em- 
 ployment in the various walks of life ; and thousands of 
 sturdy boys are coming here from the country every- year 
 determined to contest with city boys the right to the best 
 places. You see, then, that it is no child's play to get ahead 
 or keep ahead of this vast throng. It will task all your 
 energies and demand the very highest- qualifications to main- 
 tain such a position. 
 
 I believe that a merchant or mechanic, an officer of an 
 institution, or a clerk, is just as much called by divine 
 providence to that position as the minister of the gospel is 
 called, and that he can just as reasonably claim the protec- 
 tion and help of Almighty God. 
 
 I believe that all work has a religious, as well as a secular, 
 character. I was once turning over the leaves of a large 
 book, which was a register of credits, when a gentleman 
 came into my office and asked me if I read my Bible as 
 carefully as I was reading that book. I replied that I 
 believed it was just as much my duty to read that book 
 carefully, and to remember the contents of it accurately, as 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY I IBRARY. 231 
 
 if I were reading my Bible ; not meaning in the least to 
 disparage the importance of the daily reading of the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 If you have no plan in life, if you have not yet chosen 
 your business, your profession, or your calling, if it seems to 
 you that there are no providential indications as to what you 
 are to do, it is very probable that the very circumstances 
 which surround you will help you to determine your lot, and 
 these are providential. 
 
 The temptations that beset a young man in a great city 
 are innumerable and frightful. Many of them are utterly 
 unknown to those who live in the country. Here you are 
 beset at every comer, and I do not know of any place more 
 dangerous or more fatal to the character of young men than 
 the streets of a great city at night ; and those of you who are 
 in boarding houses, where you have not the comforts and 
 conveniences of a home, who do not like to be alone in your 
 bedroom, or whose bedrooms are so uncomfortable as to ren- 
 der them unsuitable for sitting-rooms, who have few or no 
 comforts, who are often found on the street at night with no 
 special aim or purpose, are most particularly in danger. 
 
 A young man who is fond of reading, who can go to the 
 public library and find pleasant associates and good books, 
 and who has the judgment and the taste to make good use 
 of them, is highly favored. It was not so forty years ago. 
 There were no places accessible to young men, strangers from 
 the country, where they could spend their evenings in safety, 
 when I was a youth, and the consequence was that very 
 many such young men, thus withdrawn from the restraints 
 of their homes, became an easy prey to the dangers that be- 
 set them in the public streets. You cannot even go from this 
 hall to your homes or your lodgings to-night, without being 
 confronted with some of the perils to which I have alluded . 
 Some of you, it may be, will yield ; perhaps you have yielded 
 before ; if so, it will be easier for you to yield again, and you 
 
232 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 may go even from this place of warning and instruction t6 
 places and associations that are utterly destructive to your 
 moral nature. L,et me say to such of you as are accountants, 
 who know something of book-keeping, that every credit 
 must have a corresponding debit, and you well know what 
 that means. ' ' Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 reap." If you do a wrong to yourself, or to any one that 
 falls in your way, or who has the right to look to you for 
 help and protection, you may depend upon it that sooner or 
 later you must pay for it. You cannot do a wrong thing 
 without punishment. It will assuredly come ; if not now, 
 at some time in the future. And I give you this warning in 
 all earnestness, beseeching you to take it to heart, and to 
 see to it that, for your own sakes, for your hopes of happi- 
 ness in this life and hereafter, for the sake of those who may 
 fall within your influence, or who may be connected in any 
 way with you, and who will be rejoiced at your success or 
 overwhelmed at your failure, I beseech you, for the sake of 
 all such, and because of the recollections which will come to 
 you from the future, when you look back upon this scene 
 and these warnings, to take heed, and to walk in that 
 straight path of truth and soberness and righteousness which 
 will end in peace. 
 
 The dangers that beset you in the streets are of two kinds. 
 First, there is the temptation to go to places where liquors 
 are sold. It is very easy to step into these places. The 
 doors are never barred ; the lights are always bright ; the 
 pictures on the walls are attractive ; in cold weather the fires 
 are always comfortable ; the company is apt to be what is 
 called jolly ; you are sure of a hearty welcome ; and the in- 
 ducements to stay late are many. But remember that you 
 cannot touch pitch without soiling your hands ; you cannot 
 take fire in your hands without being burned. And remem- 
 ber, too, that it is easier to go the second time than the first, 
 and that, if you do go more than once or twice, it is very 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY I^IBRARY. 233 
 
 likely to be all over with you for this life. Oh ! if you could 
 see th^ ruined families, the wretched wives, and more 
 wretched children, made so by these dreadful places, you 
 would pause before your feet pass for the first time the doors 
 of these houses of death. 
 
 The other danger is one of which I cannot speak in lan- 
 guage sufficiently plain. I will only say to any man in this 
 audience who has, or who ever had, a pure mother or sister, 
 that these pitiful and lost creatures who meet you in the 
 streets once were as pure, perhaps, as those whom you love 
 so much ; and that they have been brought to that lost and 
 pitiful condition by such as you, if you are without prin- 
 ciple ; and that hereafter, when we shall be called to account 
 for our doings, to Him who knoweth all things, it will be 
 asked why we did such things ? Think of any man doing 
 to one whom you love what you are tempted to do to these 
 helpless ones ! 
 
 Professor Thompson, of the University of Pennsylvania, 
 once said in a baccalaureate sermon that the two things most 
 dreaded by young men are Poverty and Obscurity. I have 
 tried to show you that poverty, at the outset at least, is not 
 to be seriously dreaded ; and, while no one willingly accepts 
 either of these as his lot in life, it is well to know that there 
 are conditions in life much more to be dreaded. Riches do 
 not always or often make the possessor happy, nor are the 
 conspicuous always the most favored. That which is most 
 to be dreaded of all human calamities is crime— self-com- 
 mitted crime— and this is altogether gratuitous, unnecessary. 
 To this you are all exposed, although you may now say, in 
 your virtuous indignation, "What, is thy servant a dog that 
 he should do this thing? " 
 
 I was invited here to speak to young men and to say 
 earnest and serious things to you. I determined to do my 
 duty while here, as I try to do wherever I am. I have seen 
 life in various aspects, very much that is bright and happy ; 
 
234 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 but, alas ! much, also, that is sad ; and among the saddest 
 things that I have seen is the destruction of human char- 
 acter. So I warn you against some evils, the fatal conse-' 
 quences of which I have seen in many young men with as 
 fair prospects as you have. 
 
 Daniel Webster was once with a company of gentlemen at 
 dinner. He had just come from a journey and seemed weary ; 
 he talked but little, and presently sank into a reverie. All 
 attempts at conversation failing, a gentleman put to him this 
 abrupt question : "Mr. Webster, will you tell me what was 
 the most important thought that ever occupied your mind ? " 
 Mr. Webster slowly passed his hand over his forehead and 
 said : " The most important thought that ever occupied my 
 mind was that of my individual responsibility to God. ' ' I 
 do not know how much of the great man's thoughts was 
 given to this overwhelming subject, but I commend the 
 thought to you, young friends, and urge you to consider it 
 seriously. Nothing is of so much consequence to you. 
 
 Life to me is very grand, and it grows immeasurably in 
 importance as I approach its close. I said, in the beginning, 
 that " Life is worth living." I repeat it at the conclusion. 
 
 A third of a century ago a vessel brought from St. Helena 
 the dust of a man who had been the terror of Europe, who 
 had desolated more homes, and broken more hearts, than 
 any man who ever lived. They buried him in Paris, in a 
 splendid temple erected for that sole purpose, and all France 
 wept over the tomb. 
 
 Was his life worth living ? 
 
 On the banks of the Potomac, in a marble sarcophagus, in 
 a very simple enclosure, are the remains of a man whose 
 name stands higher in American history than any other ; 
 who, although a soldier, became such in defence of his 
 country ; who cared nothing for ' ' the pride, pomp and cir- 
 cumstance of glorious war;" who made his country inde- 
 pendent, and in this had his reward ; who lived long enough 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 235 
 
 to see it established among the nations of the earth ; whose 
 death plunged all the people in mourning, and against 
 -whose memory no man living, even at this day, dares utter 
 a word. 
 
 Was his life worth living ? 
 
 Work away ; 
 For the Father's eye is on us, 
 Never off us, still upon us ; 
 
 Night and day 
 
 Work and pray. 
 
 Pray, and work will be completer; 
 
 Work, and prayer will be the sweeter ; 
 Love, and prayer and work the fleeter. 
 
 Will ascend upon their way. 
 
 Live in future as in present ; 
 
 Work for both while yet the day 
 la our own ; for Lord and peasant. 
 
 Long and bright as summer's day, 
 Cometh, — yet more sure, more pleasant, 
 
 Cometh soon our holiday ; 
 Work away. 
 
XXVII. 
 The Uneducated Employed.* 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED Jurist of our city delivered, last summer, 
 an address before one of the societies in the venerable Uni- 
 versity of Harvard, choosing for his subject, "The Case of 
 the Educated Unemployed." With an intimate knowledge 
 of his subject, and with rare felicity of thought and expres- 
 sion, he set before his audience, most of whom were either 
 in the learned professions or preparing to enter them, the 
 over-crowded condition of those professions, especially that 
 of the Law, a preparation for which is supposed to imply a 
 more or less thorough academic or collegiate education. 
 
 I have set myself to a widely different task ; for I would 
 speak to the uneducated employed, I would show the im- 
 portance of education to the workers with the hand, whether 
 in the mills, the shops, or among the various trades and oc- 
 cupations ; who live in the small but comfortable homes 
 which make our city the pride of all who value the well- 
 being and good living of the plain and hard-working classes. 
 By education I do not mean that of the colleges, or of the 
 common schools merelj', but also that which is acquired 
 sometimes without the advantage of any schools. And I 
 particularly desire to show that an uneducated worker, what- 
 ever be his work, is at an immense disadvantage with one 
 
 * Address before the Y. M. C. A., Kensington (a manufacturing district)^ 
 
 Nov. 30, 1885. 
 (236) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 237 
 
 ■who is engaged in the same kind of work, or any other, and 
 ■who is more or less educated. 
 
 A mechanic may be -well trained in his work ; may have 
 more than his share of brains ; may be highly successful in 
 his business ; indeed, may have acquired a large property, 
 and have very high credit, and may hardly know how to 
 ■write his name. A man may have scores or hundreds of men 
 in his employment, and be conducting business on a very 
 large scale, indeed, and yet be so ignorant of accounts that 
 he is entirely at the mercy of his book-keeper, and may be so 
 defrauded as to be on the very brink of ruin and not know it 
 until it is almost too late. In the course of a long business 
 life, more than one such case has come under my observation. 
 A man may be partially educated, able to cast up accounts, 
 able to keep books by double entry (and no other kind of 
 book-keeping is worthy of the name), and yet not be able 
 to write a simple agreement in good English, nor under- 
 stand clearly the meaning of such a paper when written by 
 another. 
 
 Very many of the business failures that occur are due to 
 the fact that the person or firm did not know how to keep 
 accounts. This is not confined to people of small business. 
 How often after a failure are we told " that the man was very 
 much surprised at his condition ; he thought he was all right ; 
 he could not account for his failure, and that in a short time 
 he would have his books in such a shape that he would be 
 able to make a statement to his creditors and ask their advice. 
 It would require ten days or so, however, before he could tell 
 how he stood." Why, if the man had been an educated busi- 
 ness man, and an honest man, he would have known in 
 twenty-four hours how he stood. 
 
 The great majority of people who are employed are not 
 educated. They do not know how to do in the best manner 
 that which they have to do. Perhaps a good definition of 
 education, as the word is applied to a working-man, may be 
 
238 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 that he knows how to do that which he has to do, in the very 
 best way. 
 
 Education may be of three kinds, viz. : 
 
 1. That of the schools. 
 
 2. Self-education, which may be incidental or direct. 
 
 3. That of trade or business. 
 
 That of the schools. And this is the best of all ; for the 
 whole of one's time is given to it, and if the means of your 
 parents or guardians permit, and you are so inclined, you 
 may go through the whole course, as provided in our public 
 schools. And the entire course means very much ; not 
 merely the rudiments, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, 
 grammar, geography ; but it means history, science, the 
 higher mathematics, and even one or more of the modern 
 languages. And all, this with text-books, instruments and 
 other appliances, absolutely free of cost to the pupil. A boy, 
 therefore, who passes through the entire course of study in 
 our public schools, which includes the Boys' High School, 
 has excellent opportunities of acquiring a most substantial 
 education. Whether the system of common schools, now 
 established by law, originally cqntemplated the higher 
 branches of study, or was intended to supply the means of 
 education to the rich, or well-to-do families, are questions 
 which may demand a full discussion some day; but while 
 the present system is in operation, its fine privileges are 
 within the reach of all who persistently seek them. 
 
 Certainly the education of the schools is the best of all \ 
 and if any of you are still in the schools, let me urge you 
 with all seriousness to make the best use of your opportuni- 
 ties. You can never learn as easily as now. You are young. 
 You are not burdened with cares. Do not relax your efforts 
 in the least; do not yield to weariness; do not think you 
 know enough already; do not be impatient lest others of 
 your own age, who have already left school to go to work, 
 get ahead of you in trade or any kind of business; if they 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 239 
 
 have the start of you, they may not be able to keep it; and 
 depend upon it, in the long run you will overtake and pass 
 them, other things being equal, if you have a better school 
 education than they have. When you are told that young 
 men who are well educated are thereby unfitted or unwilling 
 to take the lowest places in trade or business, do not believe 
 it. I know to the contrary. The better the school education 
 you' have, and the more you know, the more valuable you 
 will be to your employer. 
 
 Another kind of education is called, but most inaccurately, 
 SELK-EDUCATION. All that I mean by it is, that education 
 which one acquires between the school and the trade or 
 business. As so defined, it may be divided into t\Vo parts, 
 viz. : the incidental and the direct. 
 
 Let me speak first of the incidental. 
 
 I mean by this that education that comes to us from the 
 church and from society. 
 
 If it is your good fortune, my young friend, to go to a 
 church where there is an educated minister, who knows not 
 only how to explain the Holy Scriptures, and apply skill- 
 fully and faithfully their gracious teachings to the minds 
 and consciences of his hearers, but who is also a man of high 
 cultivation in general literature, and who brings out from 
 his treasures, things new and old; thank God for the great 
 privilege. I shall never forget, nor can I over-estimate the 
 great advantages that I enjoyed in this respect, when a young 
 man, I came to this great city. I learned to study the 
 Scriptures, not only from the two or three sermons of every 
 Sunday, but the one or two every week between the Sundays. 
 And this preaching was of the most interesting and instruc- 
 tive character. The pure, strong Saxon-English of the 
 sermons and prayers was a continual model set before me. 
 The rich stores of sacred and secular learning were a constant 
 stimulus to quicken my desire to know and study. For some 
 four years I enjoyed this great privilege, and its efifect upon 
 
240 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 me was something like that of a college course. Most of 
 you either have already, or can have, some such advantage 
 as this, if you are desirous of a higher cultivation; and 
 I can assure you that a pure style of speaking, even in 
 common conversation; and of writing, if only a letter of 
 friendship, are not without value to one who has to make 
 his way in the world as a mechanic, or as any other business 
 man. 
 
 Another means of incidental education is in society. You 
 cannot live alone, and you ought not if you could. You 
 seek companions, or other persons will seek you. , Let your 
 chosen associates be those whose friendship will be an in- 
 struction to you, rather than simply a means of social enjoy- 
 ment. There are young people of both sexes who, without 
 being vicious, are utterly weak^and foolish, idle and listless, 
 drifting along a current, the end of which they do not care 
 to think of. They are living for this life alone, with no 
 thought of the future, no ambition, mere butterflies, who 
 float in the sunshine when the sun is shining, but who, in a 
 dark and cloudy day, are bored and miserable, and utterly 
 useless. Sometimes they are pleasant enough to chat with 
 for a few minutes, but to be shut up to such companionship 
 as this, would be intolerable. Society has a large element 
 of this description, and you are likely to see much of it in 
 your daily life. 
 
 But this is not the worst phase of life among the young 
 people with whom you may be thrown. There are worse 
 elements than this. There are those who are depraved to a 
 degree quite beyond their age ; who have given themselves 
 up to work all uncleanness with greediness; who put no re- 
 straint on their inclinations; in whose eyes nothing is pure 
 or sacred; who have no respect for that which is wholesome 
 or decent; who are the devil's own children, and who are 
 not ashamed of their parentage. And to such baleful, deadly 
 influences and associations will you be exposed, my young 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 241 
 
 friend ; and you may not be apprised of their true character 
 until it is too late to be delivered. 
 
 But there are direct means of education, so called. 
 
 I. The first of these which I mention is the use of books. 
 This is unquestionably the best means to use. I am suppos- 
 ing that you have some taste for reading; if you have not, it 
 is hardly worth while for me to speak, or for you to listen. 
 I know some people who rarely read a book, and I pity them. 
 They seem to think that all that is necessary to read is the 
 daily newspaper. I do not say that such persons are neces- 
 sarily very ignorant, for very much may be learned from the 
 •daily paper. But the newspaper does not pretend to supply 
 all that you need, to fit you for a life of business, either as a 
 dealer in merchandise or as a mechanic. No, you must read 
 t)ooks, not only for entertainment and recreation, but for in- 
 formation and culture which you can obtain nowhere else. 
 If there is no public library within your reach, seek out 
 some kind-hearted man or woman who has books, and who 
 will be willing to lend them to one who is in search of 
 knowledge. I well remember a gentleman in my early life 
 here, who did this kind office for me before I was able to 
 "buy books, and there are such men now who will do the 
 same for you. 
 
 If you have little knowledge of books you ought to ask 
 the advice of some practical friend to point out such books 
 as you may most safely and properly read. For if left to 
 your own judgment or taste, you will probably waste valu- 
 able time, or be discouraged by an attempt to read something 
 not immediately necessary or appropriate. But do not at- 
 tempt to follow an elaborate plan of reading such as you will 
 find detailed in some books, for you are very likely to be 
 discouraged by the greatness of the task. Such lists, I fancy, 
 are made out by scholars who have read almost everything, 
 and to whom reading is no task whatever, and who have 
 plenty of time. Do not attempt to read too many books, 
 16 
 
242 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 nor too much at a time, and do not be disappointed or dis- 
 couraged if you are not able to remember or put to good 
 account all that you read. You cannot always know what 
 particular kind of food has aflforded you the most nourish- 
 ment. You may rest assured, however, that as every morsel 
 of food that you take and are able to digest, does something 
 ,to build up and develop your system, or repair its waste, so 
 every book or paper that you read that is wholesome, does 
 something, you may not know how much, to strengthen or 
 develop your mind. 
 
 There are books that you read for entertainment or recrea- 
 tion, and that are written for that purpose only. You may 
 read such; indeed, you ought to read them, for you need, as 
 everybody else needs, recreation and amusement, and there 
 is much of the purest and best of this that you can get from 
 books. But you must not make the mistake of supposing 
 that most, or even a very large proportion of your reading, 
 can be of this character. You would not think of making 
 your daily meals of the articles of food that you enjoy as the 
 sweets of your meals. You would not think of living on 
 sponge cake and ice cream for a regular diet. You might as 
 well do so, as to read only the light and humorous matter 
 that was never intended for the mental diet of the working 
 man. No! If you would attain the real object of reading 
 and study, you must read and study books and papers that 
 tax the full powers of your mind to understand them. This 
 will soon strengthen the quality of your mind, even as the 
 exercise of your muscles in work or play will develop a 
 strength of body, that the idle or lazy youth knows nothing 
 of 
 
 If you would know how to make yourself master of any 
 book that you read, form the habit, if the book is your own, 
 of making notes with a pencil in the margin of the pages; 
 but if the book is not your property, or if it is, take a sheet 
 of paper and write at the end of every chapter, full questions 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 243 
 
 on the matter discussed; and tHe answers to such questions 
 will probably bring out the author's meaning so fully that 
 you will have absorbed the book and made it your own ; for 
 as an eminent American author has said, "thought is the 
 property of whoever can entertain it." 
 
 I said just now that the daily newspaper does not pretend 
 to supply all that you need to fit you for a life of business, 
 either as a dealer in goods, or as a mechanic. But the daily 
 paper, is a most important means of education ; so important 
 that no one can afford to ignore it. I hesitate not to say that 
 every young man, every head of a family, ought to take a 
 daily newspaper, which should be his own; that is if he has 
 not the use of one taken by another. Nowadays one cannot 
 be well informed who does not read a newspaper. The 
 whole world is brought before us every morning and even- 
 ing, and if we do not read the news as it comes, we shall not 
 know what we ought to know. It is not necessary to read 
 everything in a daily paper, there are some things that it 
 will be better for you not to read. It is not necessary even 
 to read all the editorials, brilliant as some of them are, for 
 sometimes they discuss subjects that are not at all interesting 
 nor useful to you. Of the newspapers from which I make 
 the most clippings, there is one which is the fullest of ad- 
 vertisements, but which sometimes has nothing whatever in 
 it that I read. But when it does discuss a subject of in- 
 terest, it is apt to leave nothing further to be said. 
 
 But to read with the most advantage one ought to have 
 within easy reach a dictionary, an atlas, and, if possible, an 
 encyclopedia. Then you can read with profit, and the mere 
 outlines which the newspaper gives can be filled up by refer- 
 ence to books which give more or less complete histories. 
 
 I think it may be said that the political articles, which 
 appear in the height of a campaign, are hardly worth reading, 
 unless you think of entering politics as a money-making 
 business, which I sincerely hope none of you are thinking 
 
244 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 of doing. And I am sure that the articles giving full ac- 
 counts of crime, and especially the details of police reports, 
 and criminal trials, you will do well to pass by and not read. 
 I really believe that a familiarity with these details prepares 
 the way in many instances for the commission of crime, just 
 as the reading of accounts of suicide sometimes leads to the 
 act itself. 
 
 Some of the best minds in our country, and in the world, 
 are now employed in writing for the periodicals and maga- 
 zines. No one can be well informed without reading some- 
 thing of the vast amount of matter, which is thus poured out 
 before him. I have not named the newspapers, nor the 
 magazines which you may read, with the most profit; but 
 any of your friends who has any acquaintance with the sub- 
 ject can advise you what to read. Rather is it important 
 for you to know what not to read. Many of the most popu- 
 lar and the most useful books that have been published 
 within the last quarter of a century have first appeared in the 
 pages of a daily or weekly or monthly paper. The best 
 thoughts of the best thinkers first see the light in such 
 pages. 
 
 Besides the newspaper and the literary magazine, there are 
 scientific periodicals, which are of essential value to a worker 
 who wishes to be well informed in any of the mechanical 
 arts. The Scientific Americati is perhaps the best of this 
 class, both in the beauty of its illustrations and in the high 
 quality of its contributions. The Popular Science Monthly 
 is a periodical of a wider range, and more diversified charac- 
 ter, though not always of as sound and wholesome material. 
 These periodicals, if you are not able to subscribe for them 
 as individuals or in clubs, you may find in the public library. 
 But let me urge you to turn away from what is called the 
 Dime Novels. Not because they are cheap, but because they 
 are often unwholesome and immoral. The vile, fiery, poi- 
 sonous whiskey which so many wretched creatures drink 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY, 245 
 
 until the coatings of the stomach are destroyed, and the brain 
 is on fire, is not more fatal to the health and life than is the 
 immoral literature I speak of, to the mind and soul of him 
 who reads. There- is an abundance of good literature that 
 is cheap — do not read the bad. 
 
 Having now spoken of the education you may get in the 
 schools^ and that which you may acquire for yourselves^ if you 
 have the pluck ^to strive for it, either incidentally in the 
 church under an educated ministry^ or in the society which 
 you cultivate, or more directly from books, whether read as 
 an entertainment and recreation, or better still by careful 
 study; or through the daily newspaper, or the periodical, 
 whether literary or scientific, or what is best of all, that 
 which is decidedly religious, I turn now to the education 
 which you acquire as you are working day by day at your 
 daily trade or business. 
 
 Let me beg you to consider the great value of truthfulness 
 in all your training. Hardly anything will help you more to 
 reach up towards the top. And when you are at the head 
 of an establishment, your own or somebody else's (and I 
 take it for granted you will be at the head some day), whether 
 it be a workshop, or a factory of any kind, or a store, no 
 matter what, a fixed habit of keeping your word, of not 
 promising unless you are certain of keeping your promise, 
 will almost insure your success if you are a good workman. 
 How many good mechanics have utterly failed of success 
 because they have not cared to keep their promises ? A firm 
 of high reputation agrees to supply certain articles of furni- 
 ture at a time fixed by themselves. The time comes, but the 
 articles do not come. A call of inquiry is made, and new 
 promises are made, only to be broken. Excuses are offered 
 and more promises given ; then incompetent workmen are 
 sent ; then more delays ; until, when patience is nearly ex- 
 hausted, the work is finished. Then comes the bill, and there 
 is a mistake in it. The whole afiair is a series of disappoint- 
 
246 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 ments and misunderstandings. Will you ever incline to go 
 to that place again ? 
 
 It is usual for miners of coal to place their sons, as they 
 become ten or twelve years of age, at the foot of the great 
 breakers to watch the coal, as it comes rattling and broken 
 down the great wire screens, and to catch the pieces of slate 
 and throw them to one side, and they allow only the pure coal 
 to pass down into the huge bins from which it is dropped 
 into the cars and taken to market. To an uneducated eye 
 there is hardly any perceptible difference between the coal 
 and the slate. But these little fellows soon become so quick 
 in the education of the eye, that they can tell in an instant the 
 difference. When the boy grows older he graduates to the 
 place of a mule driver, and has his car and mule, which he 
 drives day by day from the mouth of the mine to the 
 breaker. Then when he begins to be of age, he fixes his 
 little oil lamp in the front of his cap, and goes down into 
 the mines with his pick, and becomes a miner of coal. It 
 seems a dreary life to spend most of one's time under the 
 ground shut out from the sunshine and from the pure air. 
 And most of these men having no education, and never hav- 
 ing been urged to seek one, are content to spend all their 
 days in this manner. But occasionally there is one who 
 feels that he is capable of better things than this. And I 
 know one, at least, who began his work at the foot of a coal 
 breaker, and worked his way up through all these stages, as 
 I have told you, and who determined to do something better 
 for himself. So he gave much of his leisure (and everybody 
 has some leisure) to study ; nor was he discouraged by the 
 difficulties in his way. He persevered. He rose to be a fore- 
 man among the men ; then having saved some money, instead 
 of wasting it at the tavern, he bought his teams, and then 
 bought an interest in a coal mine, and became a miner of 
 his own coal, and had his men under him, and has grown to 
 be a rich man, and is not ashamed of his small beginnings 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 247 
 
 nor of his hard work. This is only one instance of success 
 in rising from a low position to a high one. 
 
 The same thing is going on all around us, and we see it 
 every day. In a public talk like this it would hardly be 
 proper to give you names, but I could tell you of many within 
 my own knowledge who, from positions of extremely hard 
 labor and plain living, have risen to be the head men in 
 shops and other places, which they entered at the lowest 
 places. Such changes are continually occurring. And there 
 is no reason whatever, except your indifference, which pre- 
 vents many a one of you, my friends, from becoming, if 
 God gives you continued health, the head men in the places 
 where you are now working as subordinates or in very low 
 positions ; or if not where you now are, at least in other 
 places. And I have come to tell you what you know already, 
 that there is plenty of room for advancement. It is the 
 lowest places that are full to overflowing. Who ever heard 
 of a strike among the chiefs of any industry ? No, indeed ! 
 They have made themselves indispensable to their employers 
 and they don' t need to strike. And there is hardly a young 
 man here who cannot, by strict attention to business and con- 
 scientious devotion to the interests of his employer, make 
 himself so invaluable that he need not join any trades union 
 for protection. Do the vast army of clerks in the various 
 corporations, or in the great commercial houses, or in the 
 public service, or in the army and navy, — do these people 
 ever band themselves in any associations like the trades 
 unions ? They know better than that, they accomplish their 
 purposes in better ways. If the working classes, so called, 
 were better educated, they would not suffer themselves to be 
 led by the nose by people who will not themselves work, 
 who will not touch even with their little fingers, the burdens 
 which are crushing the life out of the deluded ones whom 
 they are leading to folly. It is a true education that is 
 needed, a true conscience that must be cultivated, to enable 
 
248 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 men to do their own thinking, and determine for themselves 
 what are their truest and best interests. 
 
 I urge you all to seek that higher and better education 
 which will make you true men. Even if you have not now, 
 nor ever have had, the great advantage of the education of the 
 schools, it is by no means too late to make up, in part at 
 least, for that want. I have tried to indicate several means 
 by which you may make up for what you have lost. Some 
 one or more of these means is within the reach of every one 
 who hears me to-night. I have tried very simply, but not 
 the less earnestly, to show you how you can fit yourselves 
 for higher places than you now hold. It is for you to say 
 whether you will avail yourselves of these plain hints. No 
 earthly power can force you to do that which you will not 
 do. You may lead a horse to a brimming fountain of water, 
 but if he is not thirsty, no coaxing nor threatening nor beat- 
 ing can make him drink. I may show you to demonstra- 
 tion, the abundant fountains of learning, but I can't make 
 you drink, or even stoop to taste the stream, if you are not 
 thirsty. I can' t make you study, however great the advantage 
 to you, or however much they who are interested in you, de- 
 sire that you should. 
 
 Every year this question which I have been pressing upon 
 you becomes more and more important. The great colleges 
 of the country are graduating their thousands of students, 
 many of whom will compete with you for the high places in 
 the mechanic arts. So are the public schools of the country 
 sending out hundreds of thousands, many of them having 
 the same aim. Technical schools, teaching the mechanic 
 arts, are multiplying. Great changes have been made in 
 our own city recently in this respect. The Spring Garden 
 Institute is doing a noble work in this way. The Girard 
 College is moving in the same direction, and soon it will be 
 sending out its hundreds every year to compete with you, for 
 places in the shops, with this great advantage over you, that 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 249 
 
 these Girard boys have a school education, — the best that 
 they are able to receive, — while you, many of you at least, 
 have hardly any education at all. Do you suppose that you 
 can keep up with them ? They will go ahead of you just as 
 certainly as a trained race horse will outrun a draft horse, 
 whose work has been to draw heavy loads very slowly over 
 these rough pavements. 
 
 lyook at the poor ignorant people from abroad who sweep 
 our streets, — look at the stevedores who load and unload the 
 ships, — look at the men who carry the hod of mortar or 
 bricks up the high and steep ladders, — look at the drivers 
 and the conductors on our street cars, the most hard worked 
 and poorly paid people among us, and are you not sure that 
 most of these people are uneducated ? No one wants to be 
 at the bottom all the time. We may have been there at the 
 first ; but those who have made the most progress are gener- 
 ally those who have had the best education. I know that 
 education is not a sure guarantee of success ; many other 
 things enter into the consideration of the question ; but I 
 am saying that, other things being equal, ke who knows the 
 most zvill do the best. There are, alas, many instances of the 
 sons of the rich who have been well educated, who have 
 everything provided for them, who have no stimulus, no 
 spur, who have no regular occupation, and need not have 
 any ; many of whom sink into idleness and dissipation, and 
 their fine education goes for nothing. But you are not of 
 this class. You are men who have to make your way in the 
 world by your own exertions. 
 
 Now as I am urging upon you the necessity of seeking a 
 better education, do not put me ofi" by saying that you have 
 no time, that after ■^yorking all day you have a right to your 
 evenings, that you must have some fun, that you are not 
 going to make a slave of yourself for the mere chance of get- 
 ting ahead faster, that there is no certainty about it anyhow ; 
 these are all chaff, and utterly unworthy of a young Amer- 
 
250 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 lean. Why can't you deny yourself for the sake of the ad- 
 vantage it will be to you hereafter ? 
 
 Think of the long winter evenings that are before you. 
 The most hard worked among you gets through the day's 
 work at six o'clock. Take an hour to wash up and get your 
 supper, and you have three hours before bed-time. What 
 will you do with these three hours every day ? If you wish to 
 know what can be done under the most unfavorable circum- 
 stances, let me tell you of William Cobbett, one of the most 
 vigorous and most voluminous of English writers on polit- 
 ical economy. I do not quote him because there is any- 
 thing to be admired in his views on other, and especially on 
 sacred subjects, but to show what a man of determined will 
 can do. 
 
 "I learned Grammar," said he, "when I was a private 
 soldier on the. pay of six pence a day. The edge of my 
 berth or my guard bed was my seat to study in ; my knap- 
 sack was my book-case ; a bit of card board lying on my lap 
 was my writing table ; and the task did not require a year of 
 my life. I had no money to purchase candles or oil ; in 
 winter time it was very rare that I could get any evening 
 light but that of the fire ; and only my turn even of that. 
 And if I, under such circumstances, and without parent or 
 friend to advise or encourage me, accomplished this under- 
 taking, what excuse can there be for any youth, however 
 poor, however pressed with business, or however circum- 
 stanced, as to room or other conveniences ? To buy a pen 
 or sheet of paper I was compelled to forego some article of 
 food, though in a state of half starvation. I had no moment 
 of time that I could call my own ; and I had to read and 
 write amidst the talking, laughing, singing, whistling and 
 brawling of at least half-a-score of the most thoughtless of 
 men, and that, too, in the hours of their freedom from all 
 control. Think not lightly of the farthing that I had to give 
 now and th,en for pen, ink and paper. That farthing was, 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 251 
 
 alas, a great sum to me. I was as tall as I am now ; I had 
 great health and great exercise. The whole of the money 
 not expended for use at market was two pence a week for 
 each man. I remember, and well I may, that on one occa- 
 sion, I, after all necessary expenses, had, on a Friday, made 
 shifts to have a half-penny in reserve, which I had destined 
 for the purchase of a red herring in the morning ; but when 
 I pulled off my clothes at night, so hungry then as to be 
 hardly able to endure life, I found I had lost my half-penny. 
 I buried my head under the wretched sheet and rug and 
 •cried like a child. And again I say, if I, under circum- 
 stances like these, could encounter and overcome this task, 
 is there, can there be, in the whole world, a youth to find an 
 excuse for not learning that which is necessary for him to 
 know?" 
 
 But we need not go to England for noted examples of this 
 kind. The man who acquired more languages than any 
 •other man in the world probably, was Elihu Burritt, an 
 American blacksmith ; and he worked regularly at his trade 
 until he could afford to leave it and give himself entirely to 
 study. That man knew as many as fifty languages well 
 enough to read their literature. And I have heard him 
 when he held an audience of some two thousand people 
 spellbound, while he talked to them on the same general 
 subject that I am now presenting to you. 
 
 I shall fail of my duty if I do not say some words to a 
 class of persons — some of whom I hope have found their way 
 to this room to-night. I refer to such young men and boys 
 as sometimes stand at the corners of the streets in large and 
 small companies, and amuse themselves by smoking and 
 chewing tobacco, telling bad stories and making remarks 
 upon those who pass by. I am sure much of this arises from 
 thoughtlessness ; but I wish to point out the exceeding 
 impropriety of this behavior. I have known ladies to cross 
 the street and go quite out of their way and at much incon- 
 
252 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 venience, rather than pass within hearing of these boys and 
 young men. And what right has any one to make the 
 streets disagreeable to any passenger ? And what right have 
 you, young man, you, boy, whoever you may be, to block up 
 the way or make loose or rude remarks, or Spit your tobacco 
 on the pavement over which I walk? You have no more 
 right to the streets than I have, and you ought not to annoy 
 me as I go to and fro on my lawful business. 
 
 All this is a most serious waste of time, and you are 
 wasting it probably because no one has particularly called 
 your attention to it. The time may come when you will 
 recall the words of advice which you hear to-night, and you 
 will regret when it is too late, that you turned a deaf ear to 
 what was said. 
 
 I have now tried at some length, and as much in detail as. 
 the time will permit, to show the importance of such educa- 
 tion as will enable you to rise in your trade or business, 
 whatever it may be, to the upper places ; and I have tried to 
 show that a true ambition leads one to strive to be chief 
 rather than a subordinate, to be a foreman rather than a 
 journeyman. 
 
 But, after all, everything will depeud upon yourselves. 
 There is no Royal road to education ; the very meaning of 
 the word shows this ; the mind must be drawn out, worked 
 over, developed, rounded, hammered, somewhat as a black- 
 smith puts a piece of rough iron in the coals, keeps it there 
 until it is red-hot, then draws it out, lays it upon his anvil^ 
 and hammers it, turning it over and over, striking it first on 
 this side and then on that,, rounding it off, then when it 
 cools, thrusting it among the coals again, then hammering 
 away again until he has brought the rough piece of iron to 
 the size and shape he wishes, when he allows it to cool and 
 harden. Now if you are willing to work your mind, (as the 
 smith works the iron) into the shape you want it, you will 
 surely bring yourself to the front among active, ingenious 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. ^ 253 
 
 and successful men. But this means hard work, and work 
 all the time. 
 
 Now if you really mean to avail yourselves of any of the 
 hints which I have given you, or which others may give 
 you ; if- you really mean to succeed ; if you are not content 
 to be a worker low down in the scale of industry ; if you 
 mean to be a boss rather than a common worker, a head man 
 in the mills or in the shops ; if you mean to rise rather than 
 to be obscure ; if you intend to be well-to-do, instead of 
 living from hand to mouth ; if you wish to keep your wives 
 from being household drudges ; if you wish to give your 
 children the advantage of a fair education, as many of you 
 had not, you must grapple wiih the subject with all your 
 might and keep at it all the time. And you must keep out 
 of the streets at night, away from the taverns, and from the 
 low theatres, and from gambling dens, and from other places 
 which I will not name ; and, in short, you must be true 
 Americans, no matter what your fathers were, for there is 
 no truer type of manhood in all the world than a real 
 American ; and nowhere else in all the world has a poor man 
 so good an opportunity to be and do, all this, as in our own 
 good city of Philadelphia. 
 
XXVIII. 
 Some Principles of Safe Banking.* 
 
 I THINK it well to turn aside from the great principles of 
 Finance and Banking, which have been, or will yet be, dis- 
 cussed by other members of this convention, and devote the 
 time before me to some observations on a few of the more 
 simple and homely features of the business in which we are 
 all engaged. 
 
 Until quite lately we thought it worth while to have our 
 own views of legal tender notes as one of the factors in the 
 currency ; and some of us held this short theory, that if Con- 
 gress had the right to issxie legal tender notes in time of peace, 
 there could be no need for any other currency ; but that if 
 Congress had not this right, then the only circulating notes 
 should be those issued by the national banks. This latter 
 view we thought to be sound, but all our cherished views on 
 the subject are of no practical value whatever in the light of 
 the recent decision of the Supreme Court ; and all our big 
 talk about the dishonest silver dollar which Congress creates 
 at the rate of two millions per month, and makes us take at 
 the value of one hundred cents in gold, goes for nothing ; 
 for our masters at Washington are not likely to be affected 
 in any way by anything we say or do on the subject. 
 
 It seems hardly worth while therefore to vex ourselves 
 about things so entirely beyond our reach . Let us address 
 ourselves to something which we can control. 
 
 *An Address before the American Bankers' Association, at Saratoga, 
 August 13, 1884. 
 (254) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 255 
 
 If we do not learn some useful lessons from the sad ex- 
 perience of the last three months, it will surely be because 
 we are uot willing to learn. The teacher is stern, exacting, 
 inexorable ; and if the pupils are not made wiser they should 
 be expelled from school, and seek other means of educa- 
 tion, or other occupations. 
 
 What are some of these obvious lessons ? One is that there 
 appear to be some persons engaged in managing banks who 
 have very inadequate ideas of the gravity and responsibility 
 of their calling. They are inexperienced, and so at the 
 mercy of unprincipled men ; or filled with conceits, and so 
 unteachable ; or so inordinately greedy of profit that they will 
 carry more sail than they can safely do, intending to hold out 
 signals of distress to stronger vessels in the fleet, under the 
 hope which ripens into assurance that they will not be 
 suflFered to go down. 
 
 The cause of the disastrous occurrences within the last 
 three months in one of our cities, and which have been 
 mainly limited to that city, is not far to seek. When the 
 National Banking Act was enacted the banks in the Atlantic 
 cities were most unjustly obliged to redeem their circulating 
 notes in the city of New York. Protests against this arbi- 
 trary feature were unavailing ; but, as a compensation for 
 the wrong, such banks were allowed to keep one-half of the 
 reserve required by law in the banks of that city and count 
 it as cash. This opened a door of profit within the law : a 
 tempting bait indeed to banks, who could thus make one- 
 half of their reserve interest-bearing. This has gone on un- 
 til the banks in the city referred to came to hold the reserve 
 of nearly all the banks in the country ; a fund of many mil- 
 lions of dollars, most of it presumably on instant call. It 
 needs no discussion to show that this became a condition of 
 extreme peril ; for every one knows that call money cannot 
 safely be invested in time-paper. What then? Why this 
 call-money must be lent on call to bankers, brokers and stock 
 
256 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 gamblers (the distinction is clear between these three classes), 
 and on pledges of such stocks and other securities as have 
 an apparent market value. 
 
 It is very well known that " call-loans," no matter how 
 good the security pledged for them, do not always prove to 
 be call-loans. It is within bounds to say that, ordinarily, 
 they do not yield more than half their amount. For all 
 banks resort to them for investments o'f what is called 
 "minute-money," and in time of need, all are likely to call 
 at once ; and, even if they are responded to promptly, it will 
 be found that certain deposits, not apparently connected with 
 the borrower, and which had been counted on as somewhat 
 permanent, have melted under the appeal ; and about one- 
 half the call, or the enrichment to come from the call, has 
 been discounted ! 
 
 The banks in the city referred to have become pretty 
 thoroughly aroused as to the dangers of their position, and 
 through their very able Clearing House Committee have 
 grappled with the subject. Their arguments for the abolition 
 of interest on deposits are very forcible, and sound princi- 
 ples of banking are on that side ; but some of us who live 
 outside of that charmed circle have doubts that the revolution 
 (for it is a revolution) will be successful. 
 
 There is a better way than this to meet the question, and 
 a much more simple way. The redemption of notes is 
 now effected by the treasury at Washington, and by the 
 issuing bank at its own counter. Thus a gratuitous wrong 
 has been righted. Now let the National Banking Act be so 
 amended that a bank shall not be permitted to count as a 
 part of its reserve any cash outside of its own vaults ; except 
 where the associated banks in a city make one of their own 
 number a depository for the common use of all, and where 
 such deposits are represented by Clearing-house certificates. 
 
 If this association could be induced to adopt a resolution 
 calling upon Congress to pass such an amendment to the 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 257 
 
 act, the question of allowing interest on bank balances 
 would shrink to insignificance, and might be left to settle 
 itself. 
 
 Let the honor of moving such a resolution be enjoyed by 
 some representative of that city which has received the 
 greatest benefit from that feature of the law, and which has 
 suffered most in consequence ; and I call upon you, gentle- 
 men, brethren in a good cause, to adopt such a resolution 
 in this convention. Let us commit ourselves to the right 
 in this most serious question ; then shall capital, which has 
 been forcibly diverted or enticed from its home, flow back 
 into its true channels, and the national banking system, 
 which, in most respects, if not in all, is the best the world 
 has ever known, be strengthened at its sources in the several 
 banks. A good so great as this is worth a sacrifice to secure ; 
 for it is a well-known fact that anj' great force disturbed in 
 its natural functions becomes an element of real danger : and 
 hired capital or call-money as a basis of business is most 
 uncertain. 
 
 Here is another very brief suggestion in the line of sound 
 banking. 
 
 Let a credit ledger be opened in the Clearing-house of any 
 city, in which shall be kept a record of the names of payers 
 and endorsers, amounts and maturities, of all notes of $1000 
 and upwards held by the various banks, which have been 
 bought from brokers. Reports of such paper to be made to 
 the Clearing-house anonymously, and information concerning 
 such names to be given only to members of the Clearing- 
 house. Large sums of money may be saved to banks by this 
 means of information. 
 
 We who have charge of the banks in this growing country 
 control an enormous power ; but unless we can work in 
 harmony our forces are greatly crippled. We do not see 
 enough of each other ; the opportunities of meeting are too 
 
258 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 rare. We are good men and true, else we should be out of 
 place where we are. 
 
 For some years past the Scripture saying that "the 
 borrower is servant to the lender ' ' has been reversed, and 
 the lender has been servant to the borrower. The banker 
 has been servant to the merchant or the broker, and has 
 been treated as servants generally are treated, obliged to 
 accept such terms as were offered ; but it looks a little as if 
 our turn had come round again, and as if we might state 
 our terms once more. Do not let us delude ourselves and 
 get proud ; for this reason, among others, that this condition 
 of things may not continue. 
 
 We are not titled men. We wear no stars nor epaulettes 
 on our shoulders — no laurel wreaths on our brows. There 
 are no Doctors in finance. We are not counted among the 
 learned professions. In fact, we are not counted a profession 
 at all — only tradespeople. 
 
 But we have been of some service to the state. We con- 
 tributed a fair share of officers and men, who went to the 
 support of the government in the dark days of the war ; 
 and those of us who did not go to swell the ranks stayed by 
 the stuff. We had charge of the sinews of war ; but for 
 which, the war could not have been prosecuted as it was. 
 First we gave our capital ; that is, the money of our stock- 
 holders ; and when that was all gone, we gave our depositors' 
 money also. And no better work was ever done. 
 
 Was not this heroic ? And we never speak of ourselves 
 as heroes, but only as trustees — a most self-denying and 
 poorly appreciated class of men, trying to make money for 
 other people. 
 
 There are few positions of trust where the temptations are 
 greater to use othter people's money improperly than among 
 bank officers and clerks ; yet, when we remember that among 
 the scores of thousands of such trusted people, there is here 
 and there only one who betrays his trust — not enough in 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 259 
 
 number to make an appreciable percentage — it may well be 
 asked whether men in the professions so called, or in any 
 other business, can show a cleaner record. 
 
 We live in times when to be a bank officer is to be an ob- 
 ject of suspicion or apprehension. And we ought to be 
 men of clean hands. No temptation to enrich ourselves by 
 the use of other people's money ought to be listened to for 
 a moment. No speculation in stocks, even with our own 
 money, ought to be entered into. If we must operate or 
 speculate in stocks, let us get out of the positions of bank 
 officers and go on the street as private capitalists. 
 
 A bank may be said to be in good condition when it has 
 an adequate capital (not too large) ; a contingent fund at 
 least half as large (and no suspended debt or over-due paper) ; 
 when its deposits are free of interest and three or four times 
 the amount of its capital ; when its dealers supply it with 
 business paper to the extent of its needs ; when liberal 
 salaries are paid to its officers and clerks ; when there is a 
 trained man in reserve for every position that may become 
 vacant ; when there is a pension fund adequate to the com- 
 fortable support of its worn-out clerks ; when it has a Board 
 of Directors who are not content to be mere figure-heads, but 
 who understand their business and remember their qualifi- 
 cation oaths ; directors who count the cash frequently, and 
 without notice to anybody ; who insist that every person 
 employed in the bank shall take a vacation of at least two 
 weeks every year, at which time another person shall do his 
 work, and who believe in this dogma, that "nothing is good 
 enough that can be made better. ' ' 
 
 I know something of a bank that has lived eighty years, 
 and has paid to its stockholders an average of more than 
 nine per cent, per annum during all that time ; that has ac- 
 cumulated a profit and loss account of about two-thirds of its 
 capital ; that has provided an adequate pension fund for its 
 superannuated clerks ; that has never been behind its neigh- 
 
260 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 bors ill matters of great public interest ; that has graduated 
 in a single generation, from its staflF of clerks, nearly twenty 
 persons to high positions in its own or other institutions, 
 four of whom became bank presidents and nine became bank 
 cashiers ; the others being secretaries and treasurers of large 
 corporations, and one into the Christian ministry. I think 
 this is a record that she may well be proud of. * 
 
 There are two kinds of government for a chartered bank. 
 
 1. Personal government or government by the president, 
 who manages the bank as if it were his personal property ; 
 making loans and discounts according to his judgment, and 
 reporting to his colleagues of the board just as much as he 
 pleases and no more. 
 
 2. The other kind is representative government^ where the 
 president is the executive officer, carrying out, as far as he is 
 able, between boards, the wishes of his colleagues, and re- 
 porting faithfully to them at their stated meetings all that 
 he has done. 
 
 * I venture the suggestion that a bank is created and sustained not merely 
 for the purpose of making money and paying large dividends to the owners 
 of its shares ; as it is not the chief end of the individual man to make money 
 and become rich. It is eminently proper that a merchant, manufacturer, 
 mechanic, railroad manager or farmer should conduct his business on high 
 principles, dealing justly with his competitors, taking no unfair advantage 
 of the ignorance of others, requiring faithful service and giving just re- 
 muneration ; and it is the office of a well-managed bank so to administer its 
 affairs with reference to the well being of others, that it shall always be 
 ready to aid, within proper limits, legitimate enterprises for the public 
 good ; not overworking or underpaying its employes, nor retaining in 
 its employment persons of unworthy character, but holding up before the 
 community in which it is located, a model bank in all its features. The 
 community has a right to claim this of all its citizens, and it has an equal 
 right to claim it of all banks and other financial institutions ; for all the 
 money in the country except what is in the Treasury of the United States 
 or in the pockets of the people, is in the custody of banks, trust companies 
 or bankers, by whatever name they may be called, and it is of the utmost 
 importance that the business of such institutions should be conducted by 
 men of high personal character. 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 261 
 
 There are two principles of management of the current 
 business of a bank. 
 
 One is strength^ which, under all circumstances, is to be 
 the first consideration. By this is meant that no greed of 
 gain, no desire for large dividends, no ambition to put up the 
 price of the stock, shall induce the management to lose sight 
 of the cardinal principle that in strength only is safety. 
 
 The other is profit. As a rule, the inexperienced men are 
 those who are most anxious for large immediate profit. They 
 cannot wait. Not content with the golden q.%^ every day, 
 they want to draw on the goose sometimes for two or three 
 eggs a day, and — you know the fable. 
 
 I submit these two principles of government, and these 
 two methods of daily management, most respectfully to your 
 consideration, gentlemen ; well assured that you will agree 
 with me that a government of directors^ with strength as the 
 cardinal principle, is the best for a chartered bank. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 A National Bank Currency without the Security 
 OF United States Bonds.* 
 
 The silver question has absorbed so much attention lately 
 % that there is some danger of overlooking another question also 
 of great importance. This is the rapid reduction of the vol- 
 ume of National Bank notes. The frequent calls for payment 
 of bonds held as security for this circulation, the very high 
 price of the bonds which must be bought to replace them, 
 the inclination of many banks in the large cities to with- 
 draw their circulation, the very small profit in this feature of 
 banking, will, at no distant day, unless some change in the 
 law is made, practically blot out the National Bank 
 notes. 
 
 Whether the community will willingly part with this 
 representative of money, which for more than twenty years has 
 proved itself to be the best kind of bank circulation ever 
 devised, is a question not very easily answered. 
 
 The subject must be considered in its broadest sense, 
 and not as one pertaining to the banks only. It is well 
 understood that the banks do not derive much profit from 
 their circulation. Some of the most successful banks are 
 State Banks, which have no circulation, and can have none ;- 
 and many of the National Banks have withdrawn their circu- 
 lation. 
 
 Certain it is that the country must have a paper circula- 
 
 * A paper read before the American Bankers' Association, in Boston, 1886. 
 
 (262) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 263 
 
 tion ; and this ought to be redeemable in coin at the pleasure 
 of the holder. 
 
 The question is, shall that circulation consist of legal ten- 
 der notes, National Bank notes, or both? Or shall it be 
 gold Treasury notes, or silver Treasury notes, representing 
 coin or bullion, dollar for dollar deposited in the Treasury ? 
 
 The National Bank- Act was passed to make a market for 
 Government bonds. That purpose was most successfully 
 accomplished. If the National Banks are to continue to 
 supply the currency for the people, some important changes 
 must be made. The following suggestions are offered, some 
 of which may be worth consideration : 
 
 1. Free banking, i. e.^ free to any number of persons, with 
 not less than fifty thousand dollars capital each for banks 
 in small towns, and two hundred thousand dollars each for 
 banks in cities. 
 
 2. The stockholders of these banks to be liable in double 
 the amount of their capital, pro rata, at par, for the redemp- 
 tion of the circulation (the note holders being involuntary 
 creditors), and to an amount equal to the par of their stock 
 for their deposits (depositors being voluntary creditors). 
 
 3. Such banks to be allowed to issue circulation through 
 the Comptroller at Washington equal to each bank's capital 
 and surplus, provided that the circulation of any bank shall 
 not exceed twice the amount of its capital. 
 
 4. This circulation to be redeemed at the counter of the 
 bank, and at the Treasury in Washington in lawful money. 
 
 5. The 5 per cent, deposit for the redemption fund at 
 Washington to be continued, and counted as part of the 
 required lawful reserve. 
 
 6. Banks in the sixteen cities named in Section 5191 
 Revised Statutes, United States, to be required to keep not 
 less than 35 per cent, of their deposits and circulation in 
 lawful money in their own vaults or in the vaults of a com- 
 mon depository, certificates for which may be used and 
 
264 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 counted as money in settling balances between each other, 
 and banks in all other places to keep not less than 15 per 
 cent, under same conditions. 
 
 7. When a bank fails and is unable to pay its circulation 
 from the Redemption Fund in Washington, or from its own 
 assets, or from the assets of its stockholders, the Comptroller 
 of the Currency shall redeem it, and he shall be reimbursed 
 by a pro rata assessment on all the National Banks in the 
 State in which the insolvent bank is located. 
 
 8. The legal tender notes to be retired in sums not exceed- 
 ing in any three months the issue of the new National Bank 
 notes. This will dispose of the United States legal tender 
 note question. There is no contraction in this, and the one 
 hundred million gold reserve will, of course, go into circula- 
 tion gradually. 
 
 9. The new National Bank circulation to have all the 
 functions that the present bank notes have. 
 
 10. The United States Treasury may issue notes of the 
 denominations of one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hun- 
 dred, five hundred and one thousand dollars, on the deposit 
 of gold coin or bullion of standard fineness and weight ; 
 such deposits to be held for their redemption only ; the 
 Treasury may also issue silver notes of the same denomina- 
 tions on the deposits of silver dollars or silver bullion, both 
 of equal intrinsic value as the gold coin ; such deposits to 
 be held for the redemption of such notes only. All these 
 Treasury notes to be full legal tender. 
 
 11. The cost of printing and issuing new National Bank 
 notes; and the destruction of the old and worn out ones, and 
 the Government examination of all banks of issue, to be 
 divided into two equal parts, one-half to be charged directl)^ 
 to the banks pro rata, the other half to be charged to United 
 States Treasury against the taxes already collected on 
 National Bank circulation. 
 
 12. The new circulation to be taxed at the rate of one per 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 265 
 
 cent, per annum until a redemption fund of 25 per cent, 
 on the circulation of each bank shall have been accumulated, 
 after which there shall be no tax on circulation. 
 
 13. Three-fourths of the reserve fund shall be invested in 
 United States bonds or other securities to be approved 
 by the Secretary of the Treasury and the interest added to 
 the fund. 
 
 14. No other security for circulating notes to be required, 
 and all banks to be permitted to withdraw the bonds now de- 
 posited with Treasurer of the United States as security for 
 circulation. 
 
 It is the conviction of many people that the legal tender 
 money, although justified by the exigencies of the war, 
 should have been called in and extinguished as soon after 
 the war ended as possible. It has been a disturbing element 
 in our finances ever since ; it will continue to be, until re- 
 deemed. 
 
 If it is right to have National Bank notes, there should 
 be no other kind of paper circulation, except gold and silver 
 Treasury notes, representing the deposit of coin or bullion 
 of equal value in the Treasury to redeem them. 
 
 Why is it not right to have legal tender notes ? . Because 
 there is nothing but the faith of the Government to redeem 
 them. Because Congress, with the concurrence of the 
 President, can make money scarce or plenty as they choose. 
 The legal tender circulation now is, say three hundred and 
 fifty millions. If it is right to keep out this amount, why 
 not double it ? Who shall say what is the proper amount ? 
 
XXX. 
 
 How TO Treat Your Banker. 
 
 Some years ago I wrote and sent to the Public Ledger, 
 the leading financial paper in Philadelphia, the following : 
 "Hints to Those who Keep Accounts in Banks." The 
 editor published them with these preliminary words : 
 
 "It is the belief of many observant philosophic persons 
 who are well on their way through life that if people gen- 
 erally knew more they would behave better, though few if 
 any of them believe that knowledge and morality are sy- 
 nonymous terms. Acting on this conviction, the following 
 ' Hints to those who keep bank accounts ' have been sug- 
 gested by a gentleman well qualified by general intelligence 
 and long practical experience to advise the young and un- 
 taught of the several matters whereof he writes. We give 
 the seventeen ' Hints ' in the order furnished, and recom- 
 mend our readers to cut the article out of the Ledger and 
 post it up in some conspicuous position in the counting- 
 house or other place of business, or on the inside back of the 
 day-book or ledger, where it may be in constant view of all, 
 from the apprentice boy to the chief of the house." 
 
 Eleven years after this the same paper republished the 
 "Hints " with the following introduction : 
 
 ' ' The gentleman who suggested these ' Hints ' is to-day 
 in active business, directing one of our foremost financial in- 
 stitutions, and endorses all the ' Hints ' as having stood the 
 full test of the experience of the. eleven years since they were 
 first prepared and published. Now it happens that a prom- 
 inent bank in Europe, having found these 'Hints' floatino' 
 (266) 
 
A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 267 
 
 about the world, and liking them, has issued an elaborate 
 New Year's Circular, which is sent over herewith the 'Com- 
 pliments of the Season, ' reprinting all the ' Hints, ' and say- 
 ing, ' We take the liberty of drawing your attention to the 
 annexed circular ; owing to the excellent counsel tendered 
 therein to bank clients and the public in general we trust 
 you will have no objection to exhibit it at some conspicuous 
 place in your office. ' Thus requested from abroad, we again 
 corral the waif of many years and reproduce the article as 
 giving wise advice and information to all who have dealings 
 at bank." 
 
 Hints About Bank Accounts. 
 
 1. If you wish to open an account with a bank provide 
 yourself with a proper introduction. Well-managed banks 
 do not open accounts with strangers. 
 
 2. Do not draw a check unless you have the money in 
 bank or in your possession to deposit. Do not test the 
 courage or generosity of your bank by presenting, or allow- 
 ing to be presented, your check for a larger sum than your 
 balance. 
 
 3. Do not draw a check and send it to a person out of the 
 city, expecting to make it good before it can possibly get 
 back. Sometimes telegraphic advice is asked about suqh 
 checks. 
 
 4. Do not exchange checks with anybody. This is soon 
 discovered by your bank ; it does your friend no good and 
 discredits you. 
 
 5. Do not give your check to a friend with the condition 
 that he is not to use it until a certain time. He is sure to 
 betray you, for obvious reasons. Do not take an out-of-town 
 check from a neighbor, pass it through your bank without 
 charge and give him your check for it. You are sure to get 
 
 caught. 
 
 6. Do not give your check to a stranger. This is an open 
 
268 A TOUR ROUND MY LIBRARY. 
 
 door for fraud, and if your bauk loses through you, it will 
 not feel kindly to you. 
 
 7. When you send your check out of the city to pay bills 
 write the name and residence of your payee, thus — pay to 
 Jno. Smith & Co. of Boston. This will put your bank on 
 its guard if presented at the counter. 
 
 8. Do not commit the folly of supposing that because you 
 trust the bank with your money the bank ought to tirust you 
 by paying your overdrafts. 
 
 9. Do not suppose you can behave badly in one bank and 
 stand well with the others. You forget there is a Clearing 
 House. 
 
 10. Do not quarrel with your bank. If you are not treated 
 well go somewhere else, but do not go and leave your dis- 
 count line unprotected. Do not think it is unreasonable if 
 your bank declines to discount an accommodation note. 
 Have a clear definition of an accommodation note : in the 
 meaning of a bank it is a note for which no value has passed 
 from the endorser to the drawer. 
 
 11. If you want an accommodation note discounted tell 
 your bank frankly that it is not, in their definition, a busi- 
 ness note. If you take a note from a debtor with an agree- 
 ment, verbal or written, that it is to be renewed in whole or 
 part, and if you get that note discounted and then ask to 
 have a new one discounted to take up the old one, tell your 
 bank all about it. 
 
 12. Do not commit the folly of saying that you will 
 " guarantee the payment " of a note which you have already 
 endorsed. 
 
 13. Give your bank credit for being intelligent generally 
 and understanding its own business particularly. It is much 
 better informed, probably, than you suppose. 
 
 14. Do not try to convince your bank that the paper or 
 security which has already been declined is better than the 
 bank supposes. This is only chaff. 
 
nA tour round my library. 269 
 
 15. Do not quarrel with a teller because he does uot pay 
 you in moniey exactly as you wish. As a rule, he does the 
 best he can. 
 
 16. In all your intercourse with bank officers treat them 
 with the same courtesy and candor that you would expect 
 and desire if the situations were reversed. 
 
 17. Do not send ignorant and stupid messengers to bank 
 to transact your business. 
 
XXXI. 
 
 The Merchants' Fund.* 
 
 It is one of the glories of our American life that we have 
 no aristocracy. There is no royal family among us, no 
 dukes and earls and lords, no privileged class, and no titles 
 except ofi&cial designations. We have our Doctors of Di- 
 vinity, of Medicine, of L,aws and of Music ; our Generals and 
 Captains in the army ; our Admirals and Commodores in the 
 navy, and it is also true that our Judges and members of 
 Congress have the prefix ' ' Honorable ' ' to their names ; but 
 this term as well as that of the doctorate is now-a-days so 
 generally and sometimes loosely applied, that it comes to 
 mean little more than the plain Mr. or Esquire, one or the 
 other of which every man claims ; but which really only dis- 
 tinguishes the sex of the person referred to. 
 
 There is, however, a class of men among us, as there is 
 in all cities — in fact, they build the cities, — a class undistin- 
 guished by any title or uniform dress, whom we have the 
 best authority for calling by a name second only to that of 
 a Monarch. For the old Hebrew prophet Isaiah writing of a 
 city (Tyre) that was at that early day mistress of the Levant, 
 calls her the crowning city, crowning herself and others as 
 if she were mistress of all the world, and he calls her 
 merchants Princes. 
 
 The term merchant, though meaning originally one who 
 
 * Address before the Merchants' Fund, Academy of Music, January 31, 
 1874. 
 
 (270) 
 
THE MERCHANTS' FtiND. 271 
 
 imports and exports various articles of merchandise and sells 
 by wholesale, has by popular use come to include almost all 
 who trade, whether in domestic or foreign goods, whether 
 in large quantities or by retail. 
 
 Between the producer and the consumer, the worker and 
 the capitalist, the man who works with his hands and the 
 man who works with his brains ; between these two classes, 
 that ought never to have opposing interests, but who, by 
 designing men, are often made to appear in conflict with 
 each other, there is a wide, it may be said, an immense field 
 occupied, and necessarily occupied, by those who exchange 
 commodities. 
 
 The farmer who produces grains, vegetables and fruits ; 
 the miner who digs in the earth for his minerals and ships 
 them to a market; the manufacturer who reduces crude 
 elements to the materials and the implements that wait upon 
 the wants of man ; the grazier who rears the cattle upon a 
 thousand hills ; the fisherman who makes the sea give up 
 her treasure ; the axemen who level the forests, all these need 
 the ofl&ces of those who are trained to the business of ex- 
 changing these commodities with each other in barter, or 
 for money, in the shortest possible time and in the least ex- 
 pensive way. 
 
 The men who organize and control the immensely varied 
 and complicated machinery of commerce are merchants. 
 They are not often called to fill the highest places in the 
 councils of the nation. There is a popular notion that a 
 man cannot be a statesman unless he has been bred to the 
 law, but I ask 5'ou what would our National Legislature be 
 without merchants ? What Secretary of the Treasury ever 
 submitted a report to Congress worth reading, who was not 
 materially aided in its preparation by the merchant ? And 
 what tariflP law was ever framed which met in any proper 
 degree the wants of the people and the wants of the Govern- 
 ment, that did not owe all its details and much of its scope 
 
272 THE merchants' fund. 
 
 and grasp to the convenient and ready suggestions of the 
 merchant ? 
 
 And in the darkest hour of our late war, when the fate of 
 the nation hung trembling in the balance, when the Govern- 
 ment was utterly at a loss where to turn for help, the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury sought and found help, and adequate 
 help, from the bank presidents of the three great cities, nearly 
 all of whom were or had been merchants. 
 
 And so our great railroads, hugging and binding the con- 
 tinent with their iron arms ; our canals, running like arteries 
 through the land, carrying the life from the centre through 
 the whole system ; our telegraphic wires, the nerves of 
 thought and intelligence, thrilling the world ; our ships 
 bridging the ocean with an almost continuous ferriage ; all 
 our appliances of steam on the land and the sea ; all are the 
 creatures of commerce, without which society would stag- 
 nate or go back to its original elements of families and tribes, 
 and life would no longer be worth preserving and devel- 
 oping. 
 
 If you ask me whether the mercantile calling is aprofes-. 
 sion, I may not be able to prove to you that it is, but it can 
 be proved that there were merchants before there were law- 
 yers, or even physicians. 
 
 The lawyers may go back as far as Moses, for aught I know, 
 who was the greatest law-giver of all, and we read much of 
 them in the New Testament, though not always in the best 
 connections ; the physicians, it would seem, must have lived 
 as far back as men lived who needed the healing art, though 
 there is no trace of them in history until we read that when 
 old Jacob died in Egypt, "the physicians embalmed Israel," 
 and we know that science had reached a high degree of cul- 
 tivation there ; but the merchant goes back to the days of 
 Abraham, and it would seem, even far beyond that, for we 
 read that that venerable patriarch, from whom the Christian 
 as well as the Jewish Church has sprung, on the death of 
 
THE merchants' fund. 273 
 
 Sarah, though he had been a wanderer and dwelling in tent!s, 
 desired to purchase a place of final rest for his beloved wife. 
 He opened negotiations with the owner of a certain field for 
 its purchase. The bargain seems to have been made in a 
 public place, and in the presence of a number of people. 
 Ephron, the proprietor, either affected with the grief of the 
 patriarch, or desiring to conciliate the good ofifices of a pow- 
 erful chieftain, offered the land as a gift, but the rich and 
 independent Hebrew was too proud to accept as a gift that 
 which he was able to pay for, and he refused the freely offered 
 donation. The land was then said to be worth four hundred 
 shekels of silver (our English word shilling is derived from 
 this), and Abraham closed with the first offer, and weighed 
 to Ephron the amount, four hundred shekels of silver current 
 money of the merchant. This implies, of course, that mer- 
 chants were a class in that early day, and a class long enough 
 and well enough established to regulate the money of trade 
 and commerce, and possibly some of you will agree with me, 
 when I say that if merchants in our time instead of the pol- 
 iticians, had more to do with the regulation of the money 
 of trade and commerce, it might be better for us all. 
 
 The silver in that early day was weighed, for coins among 
 the Hebrews were unknown until the captivity. Nowadays 
 we coin it, and you cannot have forgotten the tremendous 
 effort made by one high in authority only two or three 
 months ago, to turn by a gradual though slou) process all 
 our greenbacks into silver, five dollars at a time ! 
 
 Oh, if our admirable system of paper money had only 
 been in vogue in the days of the patriarchs, Abraham might 
 have floated up and down the land of Palestine, and even 
 into Egypt, on the broad bosom of an inflated currency. 
 
 If I am bound to admit, however, that the merchant of 
 that day was a travelling merchant, I hope you will not insist 
 on calling him & peddler. 
 
 The brilliant author of Caxtoniana, in an essay "on the 
 18 
 
274 THE MERCHANTS' FUND. 
 
 management of money" — an essay which might well be 
 printed in letters of light, and hung in the counting-house 
 of ever>' merchant, and in the bed-room of every merchant's 
 clerk, says : ' ''Money is character — money is also power. I 
 have power not in proportion to the money I spend on my- 
 self, but in proportion to the money I can, if I please, give 
 away to another. . . . Talk of the power of knowledge ! 
 What can knowledge invent that money cannot purchase ? 
 Money, it is true, cannot give you the brain of the philoso- 
 pher, the eye of the painter, the ear of the musician, nor 
 that inner sixth sense of beauty and truth, by which the 
 poet unites in himself philosopher, painter, musician ; but 
 money can refine and exalt your existence with all that the 
 philosopher, painter, musician, poet, accomplish. That which 
 they are^ your wealth cannot make you ; but that which they 
 do, is at the command of your wealth. You may collect in 
 your libraries all thoughts which all thinkers have confided 
 to books ; your galleries may teem with the treasures of 
 art ; the air that you breathe may be vocal with music ; and 
 better than all, when you summon the Graces, they can come 
 to your call in their sweet name of Charities. You can build 
 asylums for age and academies for youth. Pining merit may 
 spring to Hope, to your voice, and Poverty grow cheerful in 
 your sight. Money, well managed, deserves indeed the 
 apotheosis to which she was raised by her Latin adorers ; she 
 is Diva Moneta — a goddess. ' ' 
 
 The desire to possess money is well nigh universal. 
 Whether it be the pleasurable excitement in acquiring it, or 
 the power to give it away, or to exchange it for articles of 
 use or enjoyment, or for the grosser pleasure of heaping it 
 up and adding hoards to hoards; whatever be the motive, 
 we are all striving for possession. It is this which makes the 
 merchant ; it is this which brings the boy from the country, 
 where he has lived as untrained and unshackled as a wild 
 colt, and makes him submit to the restraints of business 
 
THE MERCHANTS' *UND. 275 
 
 habits ; makes him willing to be shut up in a " close and 
 dusky counting-house. ' ' 
 
 As we look out on the surface of society, we see that there 
 is a race going on continually — that race is for riches — and 
 who shall win ? And so universal is this pursuit, that one 
 of the sacred writers has expressed the sentiment in a pas- 
 sage which we would refuse to believe if it were not in the 
 Bible ; a passage which is rarely if ever preached from in 
 our days — for reasons which are most apparent, " the love of 
 money is a root of all kinds of evil." 
 
 But, like other pursuits in life, that of the merchant is 
 not always successful ; in fact, the disappointments are more 
 numerous than the successes. The best educated, the best 
 trained, the wisest men, fall into errors of judgment ; make 
 mistakes in their calculations ; stretch out their hands to 
 help a friend or a neighbor a little too far — lose their balance 
 and fall. 
 
 It seepis impossible to avoid these mishaps. And it will 
 uot do to make provisions against such misfortunes in the 
 way of private settlements on the members of one's family. 
 The high-minded, honorable merchant cannot so provide 
 against possible or probable days of darkness ; for while he 
 continues in business, his creditors, and the public generally, 
 consider that his whole estate is liable for the payment of 
 his obligations, and in the event of insolvency, he cannot 
 enjoy, without harsh criticism, any provision which, in the 
 days of successful business, he may have made for his de- 
 clining years, and for his dependent family. 
 
 You know, you all know, by observation or experience, 
 how sad it is to see a man who has spent the best years of 
 his life in mercantile pursuits, who has held up his head 
 among the highest and the best, in the consciousness of a 
 success and an integrity of his own creation ; you know how 
 sad it is to see such a man overtaken and overwhelmed by 
 misfortune, not always the result of his own mismanage- 
 
276 THE MERCHANTS' FUND. 
 
 ment, plunged into the depths of poverty, hiding himself 
 from the gaze of his fellow-men, and reduced to such deplor- 
 able extremity, as to suffer for the actual necessities of life. 
 I need not, I cannot dwell on this picture. Your own 
 imagination can fill up the outlines and niake the applica- 
 tion. 
 
 Now I tell you nothing new when I say that the object of 
 The Merchants' Fund is to provide for just such cases. 
 
 Some of the best men have found themselves in this con- 
 dition. They are too old to work, they cannot beg — I dare 
 not suggest the other alternative, and they come to be wholly, 
 or in part, dependent on this Fund. It is one of the most 
 delicate and graceful of all charities. The giver and the 
 receiver never meet — they are unknown to each other ; and 
 the pain of obligation is removed as far as it can possibly be. 
 
 There must be, in this audience, many who can help this 
 Fund. Quite recently, as you have heard, a princely gift 
 has been made by a retired merchant (in fact princes rarely 
 make gifts so munificent !), a man whose name will be cher- 
 ished in profound respect and gratitude by coming genera- 
 tions, as it is here and now — a man who, in the light of the 
 highest and best example, is going about doing good — seek- 
 ing objects on which to bestow his large benevolence. He 
 has realized in his own experience that saying of our blessed 
 Lord which, though not found in any of the Gospels, has 
 been preserved in the memory of one of his Apostles, that 
 " it is more blessed to give than to receive." 
 
 Not many are able to make contributions so large — but 
 very many, almost all, in this assembly can do something, 
 however small, for so good an object. The largest benevo- 
 lence ever manifested in our world by any human being, in 
 the way of pecuniary charity, was represented by the lowest 
 possible sum — two mites ! 
 
 When a rich man dies, we read with much interest that 
 part of his will which recites his bequests to benevolent in- 
 
THE MERCHANTS' FUND. 277 
 
 stitutions ; how much he gave to this and that cherished 
 object, and we rejoice to learn that his executors will have 
 the honor of distributing these sums in the directions indi- 
 cated ; but I can tell you of a better thing than this : Be 
 your own executor. Take the satisfaction of giving with 
 your own hand these sums, and enjoy with an excusable 
 selfishness, the only selfishness that is excusable, the great 
 pleasure of making others happy. 
 
 You need not fear that the sacred trust will be betrayed. 
 The names of the officers and managers of this Fund are a 
 sufiicient guarantee that your contributions and your be- 
 quests will be faithfully guarded. Some of the very best 
 names in our city are here, and they are as familiar to you as 
 household words. 
 
 I trust you will not think me invidious, and I know 
 you will excuse me when I say that there is oue name 
 high in the list of officers of this Merchants' Fund — 
 a gentleman who sits on this platform to-night — whose 
 long life, spent in the midst of you, is an illustration of 
 the highest, purest integrity, whose venerable head, white 
 as snow, has never been bowed in shame or grief, unless 
 it be for the faults or misfortunes of others, who gave up 
 the career of an honorable merchant more than twenty 
 years ago to take the charge of a large moneyed institution, 
 which he guides and controls with an intelligent judgment 
 worthy of the very highest praise. 
 
 It is to men of this character that you commit the almost 
 sacred ministrations of your Merchants' Fund. 
 
.>." 
 
 ^« 
 
 .^\\n