01ass„ Book^ Copyright N° CQKFIGHT DEPOSIT. THE PRECEDING GOD THE PRECEDING GOD By Rev. JAMES TAYLOR DICKINSON, D. D. M THE JUDSON PRESS 1701 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Copyright, 1921, by GILBERT N. BRINK, Secretary Published February, 1921 m 12 is? 1 ©CI.A608653 00 dtrlla SfeCattd lirMtuum FOREWORD This volume is published at the request of friends in the three churches which the author served as pastor covering a period of about thirty-one years — the North Orange Baptist Church of Orange, New Jersey, 1886-1903; the First Baptist Church of Rochester, New York, 1903-1912 ; the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church of Brooklyn, New York, 1913-1918. The author cannot express his loving, grateful mem- ories of these churches and of the three country churches in Virginia where he preached at the beginning of his ministry. As expressing his own feelings, he can quote the Latin motto of which Charles Kingsley was fond, " Amavimus, Amamus, Amabimns!' Most of the contents of this volume have already been printed in " The Examiner/' the more recent " Watch- man-Examiner," the " Religious Herald," or elsewhere. The tribute to Rev. Dr. Alfred E. Dickinson, the author's father, appeared first in volume five of " Virginia Baptist Ministers," and is reprinted here by permission of Dr. George Braxton Taylor, the editor of this valuable series of biography, and of the publishers, the J. P. Bell Co. CONTENTS PART I SERMONS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Preceding God 3 II. Filled With the Holy Spirit 19 III. According to Your Faith 31 IV. What Shall We Think of Heaven ? 41 V. This Same Jesus 54 VI. The Love of God Shed Abroad 64 VII. Making a Fresh Start in Prayer 73 VIII. Christmas and Human Joy 83 IX. Greatness Out of Gentleness 91 X. Christ the Door 99 PART II ADDRESSES I. A Knight of the Sixteenth Century .... 107 II. Poetry and Life 121 III. Lincoln and Washington 126 IV. The Religiousness of Theodore Roosevelt 131 V. Two Hands of Appeal in Foreign Missions 134 VL Memories and Impressions 142 CONTENTS PART III TRIBUTES AND APPRECIATIONS CHAPTER PAGE I. Rev. Alfred E. Dickinson, D. D 151 II. Samuel Colgate 161 III. Howard Osgood, the Man and the Teacher 168 IV. A Tribute to Two Leaders 172 V. Dr. Thomas O. Conant 176 VI. William J. Wright 180 VII. Isaac Edwin Gates 185 VIII. Gardner Colby and Hayward Smith 188 PART IV LETTERS FROM ABROAD I. A Visit to Bethlehem 193 II. A Winter Journey to Italian Shores .... 198 III. Happy Days in Sunny Sicily 202 IV. Letter from Rome 207 V. Rome — the Hill-towns — Florence 212 PART I SERMONS I THE PRECEDING GOD * "Thou goest before me with the blessings of goodness "~ Psalm 21 : 3. " He goeth before them."— John 10 : 4. u But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee." —Matthew 26 : 32. ASSEMBLED here this morning, the past and the present and the future rise before our vision and stir our souls. Again we see the heroic men who founded the three great missionary Societies of our beloved denomination and hear their words of prayer and appeal and holy confidence. We look out upon the world as it is today, and behold its sins, its perils, its glorious possi- bilities, and from every land and hamlet hear voices call- ing for the evangel of divine love. Far into the future we gaze, and with enraptured hearts behold the earth redeemed from evil, transfigured to holiness, and hear the song of the triumphant soldiers of the cross. For such an occasion surely we need not so much ingenious human speculations, not so much historical sta- tistics, as some supreme teaching of God's Word. In early English history, after the death of King Alfred the Great, there were often times of terrible peril and discourage- ment. When the people and the leaders knew not what to do and were near to despair, the cry would arise, " Give 1 Annual missionary sermon at the Baptist Anniversaries at Buffalo, May »4, 1903. 3 4 THE PRECEDING GOD us a word of our Alfred to cheer and guide." A message throbbing with comfort and inspiration from our Divine Redeemer and King our hearts crave chiefly as we front the most glorious endeavor conceivable — the bringing of the entire world to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Back of all questions of practical organization, or systematic benevolence, or doctrinal divergence, there are deep and lofty and immediate relationships of the soul to God which kindle the strongest and only permanent enthusi- asm in Christian service and sacrifice. Our texts suggest these higher heights and fellowships of the soul. The first text is from the Twenty-first Psalm, which is also Messianic, and brings before us the Hebrew king and the rejoicing people. In the preceding psalm the king is pictured as going forth to battle, and the people cry : " The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. Grant thee according to thy own heart." In the Twenty-first Psalm we have the chorus of praise to God sung by the whole congregation as the king returns victorious: " Thou hast given him his heart's desire ; for thou pre- ventest him with the blessings of goodness," More literally, " thou goest before him with the treasures of goodness." So Jesus, speaking of the relationship be- tween himself as Divine Shepherd and his disciples, says, " He goeth before them." Four times in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark Jesus is spoken of after his resur- rection as going before his disciples. The command, " Go, preach, make disciples," is of most urgent, momentous importance. The assurance that God, the living Christ, " goes before " is just as mo- mentous and important for all our work. By the side of the human duty, " Go," let us place the divine assurance, " I go before." Our theme, then, is, The going before of God with blessings of goodness, preparing man's way, THE PRECEDING GOD 5 giving success and power and glory to his efforts. Let us attempt to climb to various heights of thought and emo- tion and historical fact and blessed anticipation, each marked by divine precedence and provision and power for the human follower. In general, there is the sublime fact of an infinite, all- powerful, all-wise, all-loving God existing before this earth and its inhabitants. Creation is not the making of something out of nothing. Ever true is the old Latin proverb, Ex nihilo nihil fit. " In the beginning God." Thus before man from all eternity existed the glorious God, fountain of life, source of all goodness and beauty. More specifically, we observe that in the physical world God preceded man with treasures of goodness. The Genesis narrative tells of the stages in the divine creative work (and with the account agree in essence the teachings of the best science), and one of the notable facts of the narrative is that God made a good and wonderful world before the creation of man. Solid earth, gleaming water, bright sun and moon and stars, plants and flowers, birds of song, flashing fish, and animals of the land, all things serviceable and glorious were made. Then, then came man, the crown of creation — man, the guest for whom God had prepared so wonderful a ban- quet. Throughout all the centuries since every science has been a record and a witness of God's going before man with illimitable physical blessings. Invention and discovery have simply been the taking hold of the divine provision. Treasures of wood and iron and marble and silver and gold and flashing gems, treasures of wheat and oil and fruit, treasures of steam and electric power — these God had placed here awaiting man ; and who would dare prophesy what other treasures await him in earth and air and water? 6 THE PRECEDING GOD But with greater treasures still in a man's mental and spiritual equipment did God go before. Plan and pattern must always precede performance. Before man went the design of man, the image of man in the holy, wise, loving, mighty God, after whose likeness man's essential nature was made. Hence the glories and possibilities stored up in the human soul — thought, and love, and imagination, and joy, and memory, and hope, and aspir- ations Godward and eternityward. Whence comes all that is thus highest and best? Not from the dust. We do not, cannot accept that materialism which has been aptly called a " Gospel of dirt." From the Infinite Spirit must come all the movements and upreachings of our spirits. Goethe said that his best thoughts "came like the singing birds from out of the immensities of the air, and all that he knew about them was when they an- nounced their presence. He did not make them; they came." Often with us truth, power, joy, aspirations find us rather than we find them. As Jesus in the training of the Twelve went before them, leading them on from one high level of truth to another, so God goes before us beckoning us on, quickening us with Authentic tidings of invisible things, • Of ebb and flow and ever-during power, And central peace subsisting at the heart Of endless agitation. This is in accord with the great doctrine and fact of the Holy Spirit. He goes before us with light and peace and power for those who follow stedfastly on. Hence Christ said to his disciples as to the sharp trials awaiting them : " But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak ; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that THE PRECEDING GOD 7 speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Again : " But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. He will guide you into all truth." But man is more than a physical being, and he has another differentiating characteristic besides his intel- lectual and spiritual aptitudes; he is a sinful creature, with a heavy sense of being at war with his highest nature. So far as we know, this earth is the only planet marred by sin and man the only creature with a bitter sense of moral dereliction. But even before man's sin there was provided man's salvation; treasures of re- demptive grace preceded him. His salvation was a fore- thought, not an afterthought. Christ's redemptive work was wrought out in the divine thought even before man's advent. How rich and wonderful are the Scripture teachings concerning this ! " I have loved thee with an everlasting love." " That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." " He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." " The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." So when a child is born into this world, Christ is there by the cradle with spiritual grace. Jesus during his earthly life touched every phase of human experi- ence — childhood, youth, manhood, joy, sorrow, tempta- tion, physical and mental toil, loneliness, death. He is God's Word, his incarnate, uttered thought. As Christ touched and transfigured all of human life, so with sovereign grace God goes before the individual and the race, the same yesterday and today and forever in his redemptive work. Can such everlasting love be baffled? Impossible, cry the deepest instincts of the soul, the wisest reasonings of the intellect. 8 THE PRECEDING GOD What a sense of might and irresistibleness comes to one as he watches the broad expanse of the Mississippi near New Orleans and thinks of the waters of a continent far back among distant States poured into it ! But in the vast stream of divine grace the infinite resources of an eternity back of us have poured and the momentum of an eternity of life-giving power is working for us. Turning from the sublime teachings of Scripture and Christian faith to the evolution of history, we find most impressive illustrations of how the divine power and wisdom and love are ever leading onward humanity's march. The course of human history is often dark with terrible tragedies and reactions, but through the ages one increasing purpose runs fraught with blessing and grad- ual uplift. Each great crisis that seems to foretoken irrevocable disaster is marked by a supernatural presence which brings blessing out of apparent ruin. The early subapostolic church was persecuted with such diabolical cruelty that it seemed as if in a few years there would be no Christians left on the earth, but soon after the faithful disciples had preached the Cross everywhere and almost the whole world had yielded to its message. In medieval times the power and beauty of the primitive faith had apparently gone to return no more; deep darkness, with only here and there a light, covered the face of Europe; some thought the end of the world was near. In overwhelming depression, Martin Luther said, as he surveyed the intellectual and spiritual decay of the church and the wickedness of the world : " Asia and Africa have no gospel; another one hundred years and all will be over; God's Word will disappear for want of any to preach it." But, behold, soon a new and glorious chapter opens for humanity. In close proximity of time Luther proclaims the fresh, strong gospel of Christ, the THE PRECEDING GOD 9 art of printing with movable types is invented, and Columbus discovers a new world. Urged on by a trinity of forces, human history starts afresh with a new world in which to work out the old problems, a new multiplica- tion of the Bible for universal distribution, and, above all, a new return to the redemptive grace of the living Christ. In the early part of the last century, infidelity, skepti- cism, and a cold deism were wide-spread throughout our own country, and accompanying them gross immoral- ities. From his home in Virginia Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams in Massachusetts, " You and I will live to see the time when every child born in America will be a Unitarian. " How grievously the great statesman erred when, leaving politics, he assumed the role of a religious prophet! Not many years after Jefferson's prediction a great wave of evangelical fervor swept over the country, with mighty revivals and spiritual blessings, and Uni- tarianism has long been a waning force. The history of civilization and of the Christian church marvelously illus- trates the divine assurance through the prophet Isaiah: " I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight." But in missionary work, in the evangelization of the world, both at home and abroad, do we behold the most remarkable confirmations of our theme. And where in all the realm of literature shall we find such romances, such poems, such histories of sublime heroism, such heavenly philosophy as in the annals of the missionary enterprise at home and abroad ? Oh for a Milton or a Carlyle to depict with winged words the patience and the courage and the celestial victories of the men and women who in 10 THE PRECEDING GOD earth's darkest places have carried the message of light ! The threefold assurance that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit will go before us are witnessed on every page of these annals. In the moving, the compulsion, of the heart of the worker we see the divine preparation. Sometimes humble men are chosen, sometimes brilliant ones, but the call is such as to exalt the influence of the super- natural. Carey, the shoemaker, was deeply oppressed by his seeming unfitness for the great work into which he was drawn, and would have stayed in his lowly shop; but a heavenly gravitation drew him on and on, until he became the founder of modern missions. Judson seemed to be bound to his own land by the great openings for his splendid gifts and by every human reason ; but a beckon- ing hand — the hand with the wound-print in it — led him across the seas and to distant Burma. Count Zinzendorf had every inducement to lead a life of elegant leisure, but he laid fame, wealth, social position, everything upon the altar, saying, " I have but one passion, and it is He, only He." The call of the living Christ seemed ever in his heart as he journeyed to plant the gospel among distant nations. So it has been with all of Christ's valiant soldiers; a power they could not resist has drawn them on and on. This divine power has been most signally manifested in the opening up of the way for the preaching of the gospel and in the overcoming of obstacles. In our own day the whole world has been thrown open to Chris- tian civilization by circumstances almost miraculous. The capture of Manila by our navy and the thrusting forth of our nation into Asiatic life illustrate the strange events beyond human thought or control that have made all nations accessible to the gospel. Into the heart of humanity, even among the heathen, the divine Spirit has gone before the message of the THE PRECEDING GOD 11 gospel has been preached. How otherwise can we explain the heavy consciousness of sin among non-Christians? How interpret the unhappiness of the race out of Christ ? Whence come the vague yearnings and perturbations of the human soul which exist among the heathen as well as among ourselves ? The very idol-worship and abominable heathen rites bear witness to man's essential religiosity. Humboldt describes his deep emotion at finding an ex- quisite flower on the edge of the crater of Vesuvius. There amidst the lava, a little rich soil had gathered and to it the wind had borne a seed and there amidst awful desolation had sprung up the sweet flower. Nansen declares that he found near the north pole, amidst the icebergs of the arctic sea, in an abyss of wintry darkness, the warm, life-giving movement and pulse of the Gulf Stream. To the heart of humanity the Divine Spirit has come. Many in our own country and in heathen lands have been prepared by heavenly influences for the preached word. A missionary writes that a woman in the wilds of Africa heard for the first time of Christ and his saving grace, and then exclaimed : " That must be the man who comes to me so often in my prayers. I could not tell before who he was." John Fiske, philosopher and historian, relates, in his " Idea of God/' of how an untutored Kaffir savage found in the gospel message the immediate and blessed answer and fulfilment of the vague questionings and yearnings that had long filled his soul. The waiting of the world for Christ, with its yearnings, sins, woes, is dramatically pictured in the poetical-prophetical passage in Romans, the eighth chapter, the nineteenth to twenty- first verses. We who have the knowledge of Christ and the first-fruits of the Spirit " groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption — to wit, the redemption of our 12 THE PRECEDING GOD body." But this is not all, says the inspired apostle; there is a broader synthesis of aspiration Godward ; there is a wider fellowship of spiritual yearning, a more passionate symphony of cryings and groanings. He depicts all cre- ation as a mighty creature, glorious in its possibilities, yet in sore need and bitter sin and suffering, groaning and crying and stretching out bruised and bleeding hands toward the skies. " For the earnest expectation of the creation waited for the revealing of the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together with us until now." Oh, the weary, anguished waiting of the world, its heart touched by the Spirit, for the preaching of Christ! Before us has God gone, fashioning this wonderful material universe, making the human soul a reflex of himself, revealing his heart in Christ's gospel, inspiring the race through the Holy Spirit to continual progress, and in the proclamation of the gospel giving peculiar and irresistible tokens of his leadership. Beyond this brief present life and through all eternity we believe that the divine goodness will go, ever leading into higher and higher enjoyments and employments and spiritual treasures. Let us take to heart special applications of our theme to the majestic plans and efforts of our three great mission- ary societies, and for every realm of Christian effort. Here is the thought of unlimited power and resources pledged for us. This is God's world. He bears it on his heart. What Christ did and felt in his brief earthly ministry, that we may be sure Almighty God is feeling and doing through all the ages. John Foster, in one of his essays, says that in the miracles of the Bible " God rings the great bell of the universe to call the attention of all people." Let us expand the saying. In the mir- THE PRECEDING GOD 13 aclcs of missions God has been ringing the great bell of the universe to waken us from self-centered, man- centered thoughts and to remind us of the supernatural, divine forces all about us. Ah, the infinite power of God in flower and mountain, and ocean and sky, in all the worlds that go circling through space, and in the secret, silent forces by man yet undiscovered, and all this power guided by love and pledged in behalf of the Christian worker ! This limitless power is with us when we follow the divine call. " Ye shall have power." That promise is closely linked to another " shall" — " Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The going before of the ever-living Christ involves our subordination, our subjection. The divine pattern involves a command for human imitation, the divine example involves human exemplification. How blessed is such subordination ! We are simply to follow the divine leadings and leave results with God. There is divine responsibility upon which we may rest with serene faith, as Judson and Livingstone and Clough have done. How large and bold should be our activities in all Christian work under the inspiration of our theme! No plan for Christian expansion can be too ambitious, no faith too bold, no zeal too great, when we remember the needs of humanity and the leadership of Christ. Let us have the spirit of those missionaries who were planning to advance from New Guinea to Murray Island. An attempt was made to stop them by a native, who said, " There are alligators on Murray Island, and snakes, and centipedes." " Hold," said Tapeso, " are there men there ? " " Oh, yes ; there are men, of course ; but they are such dreadful savages that there is no use of your thinking of living among them." " That will do," replied 14 THE PRECEDING GOD Tapeso ; u wherever there are men, missionaries are bound to go." Wherever a single soul is, there is need, there are eternal possibilities, and there is the Divine Spirit preparing the soul for the message. We cannot, must not, rest until every nation and every individual has had an opportunity to accept Christ. Alas for our languor, our spiritual lethargy! The Christian churches of today scarcely do one scintilla of what they might do for the evangelization of the world. The newspapers told us, last March, of how Niagara Falls became almost dry, the great torrent of water having nearly ceased for a few hours. What was the trouble? Power impeded by ice. Great masses of ice from Lake Erie pressed together near the head of Goat Island and diverted the water from the American to the Canadian side, and so for a season the stupendous waterfall vanished. Oh, the im- peded energy of the church, diverted, thwarted, some- times destroyed, by the ice-flows of selfishness, worldli- ness, and sin! f Do you remember that characteristic scene in Victor Hugo's masterpiece, in which that great soul, Jean Val- jean, gives to the uttermost his vast strength for the saving of life? An old man, Valjean's enemy, by a strange accident had fallen under a ponderous cart, which, heavily laden, rested on his breast and was crushing the life from him. The soil was soft with rain, the cart sank deeper and deeper, crushing out the old man's life. In five minutes more he would be dead. Who will crawl under the cart and risk his life to save the perishing one ? Appeal after appeal is made. The police inspector says only one man in France could do it, and he was a convict at the galleys in Toulon. Jean Valjean turns pale. Shall he risk his life and also reveal his unhappy past and destroy his present high position? Meanwhile the cart THE PRECEDING GOD 15 sinks lower. Its victim is manifestly about to die. With- out a word, Jean Valjean falls on his knees ; flat on the ground he crawls under the terrible weight and makes two vain efforts for rescue. The crowd cries : " Come out, come out! You, too, will die." The suffering victim says : " Leave me ! You will get yourself crushed also/' All the spectators are panting with affright. The great cart sinks lower and lower, and both rescuer and victim are apparently about to die. Suddenly Jean Val- jean exercises to the utmost his prodigious, almost super- human, power. His muscles standing forth like ropes, all his strength in limbs and shoulders and back strains upward, upward. The great mass trembles, quivers, rises slowly upward. The dying man moves, is saved! This, O disciples of Christ, is our task, to put our utter- most strength beneath the awful weight of sin and heathenism, and to lift and lift until all oppressed and dying souls are freed from terrible bondage. The more active we are in missionary work, the deeper we go into it, the more glorious and rewardful it becomes to our souls. The splendor of the conception of proclaim- ing the redemptive love of Almighty God far surpasses in grandeur the warrior's plan, the statesman's endeavor for national conquest, the poet's dream of human brother- hood, the philosopher's theory of universal linguistic unity. The soul that truly takes Christ's sublime thought and command for the redemption of humanity is in turn taken control of by that command, every impulse and power sweetened, broadened, vivified, energized! And let us be filled with holy hope and exultant ex- pectation for humanity as we think of God's leadership, Christ's perpetual presence, the Holy Spirit's residence in and preparation of the race. In a time of terrible trial, personal and national, James Russell Lowell wrote : 16 THE PRECEDING GOD " I take great comfort in God. I think he is considerably amused sometimes, but, on the whole, loves us, and would not let us get at the match-box if he did not know that the frame of the universe was fire-proof." Slow may seem the progress of the world's redemption, heavy the burdens on the hearts of faithful toilers, well-nigh insur- mountable the barriers of sin and selfishness, but full victory is near because of what God is. The glorious company of the saints is with us ; the irresistible gravita- tion of eternal truth is with us ; the best yearnings and aspirations of humanity are with us; the momentum of nineteen centuries of Christian work is with us ; the liv- ing, omnipotent Christ is before us. With exultant hearts we climb to some great height of revealed truth and look out with glad expectancy to the consummation of the ages when at the pierced feet of Christ every soul shall fall in loving trust and service. Stronger than steel Is the sword of the Spirit; Swifter than arrows The light of the truth is; Greater than anger Is love and subdueth. The dawn is not distant, Nor is the night starless ; Love is eternal ! God is still God, and His faith shall not fail us ; Christ is eternal. Sudden have been the comings of the Son of God in the history of the world, and this element of unexpected- ness is predicted in Scripture for the day of final triumph. The most experienced missionaries, the most devoted Christian workers the world over, seem to be standing, THE PRECEDING GOD 17 as it were, today on tiptoe in solemn expectancy of some great and surprising turning of hearts to Christ. Sir Alexander Mackenzie, one of the great statesmen of India, said, a few years ago, to Dr. J. H. Barrows, that he thought there were blessed surprises for Christian workers in India ; " that he looked forward to the time when multitudes of the people of India should be pressing into the kingdom of heaven. ,, The distinguished presi- dent of Union Theological Seminary, who has recently been spending a year in India, has just stated that there is a deep longing among the people for spiritual religion, and that Christianity is growing with remarkable rapidity. From missionaries everywhere come tidings of a new and profound anticipation of some great religious transforma- tion near at hand. Who can tell how near the dawn of realization may be? Never can I forget a strange, soul-thrilling sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico, some years ago. Long had been the night to the sleepless travelers, as through blackness and storm the train rushed on. It seemed as if the morn- ing would never come. At last a single bird began to sing. The darkness here and there was penetrated with an arrow of light, the shadows began to tremble and fall away. At intervals the white gleam of the sea waves shone out. But still the day delayed its coming, and we said, Will the night ever end ? Suddenly, as by a miracle, the sun, like a great ball of fire, leaped above the horizon, earth was flooded with a glory as of heaven, the sea shimmered in a blaze of splendor, and a thousand birds sang as if their hearts were bursting with joy. Long, long seems the night, and weary is the watch- ing, but the arrows of divine light are piercing the dark- ness; here and there sentinels of the day are singing, radiant spots begin to appear, the shadows of sin and 18 THE PRECEDING GOD ignorance are receding. Soon — in God's good time — as by special divine intervention, nations will be born into the kingdom of heaven as in a day. Happy, thrice happy, they who watch and work and plan and pray for the advent of the King of Glory ! II FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT " They were all filled with the Holy Spirit/' — Acts 4 : 31. HOW brief and simple seems our text ! Yet it is full of sublime mystery and it is the golden key which un- locks the best joys and powers of this life and of heaven. Here we have the way to spiritual achievement for every Christian and every church. Here is the secret of peace and victory, the secret of Jesus and of God. The Book of Acts has well been called the Gospel of the Holy Spirit, for its pages deal with the onward movements of the Spirit's leadings. In the first chapter we have the ascen- sion of Christ into heaven, in the second the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and the birth of the Christian Church and the conversion of three thousand souls, in the third the first miracle of the apostles, in the fourth the imprisonment and release of the apostles, the prayers of the company of Christians, and then the words, " They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Our text is like a life-giving fountain, back of it the Eternal Hills of God whence it came, in front of it the wilderness transformed into a garden of God as described in the book of Acts and wrought out in the ages of human history since. Let us consider each word of our text as we try to reach some of its gracious meanings. I. The Holy Spirit — it is good for us to study the general teachings of the Bible concerning the Holy Spirit. 19 20 THE PRECEDING GOD His preeminence, his personality, his presence now as the mighty power back of everything good and beautiful and divine in the world — these are some of the teachings that meet us. We are taught that the Divine Spirit is the possible guest for every humble, believing heart. But in these lofty realms of truth and faith mysteries multiply as we ascend from high to higher heights of life. There is the great mystery of the Holy Trinity; but there are other trinities in lower realms which are prophetic of this culmination of them all. Water mani- fests itself as a liquid, as a vapor, and as ice. Man is one personality but he is mind, spirit, and body. God, the mighty, wise, loving Creator and Sustainer of the universe, is presented in the Old Testament; God in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, is the theme of the Gospels and all the New Testament. God as the Infinite, omnipresent Spirit of love and light is the unique and glorious doctrine and reality of the Christian faith since the day of Pentecost. I love to think of the Holy Spirit as God close at hand, as the One through whom Jesus is ever present. Thus we have the conception of the divine immanence. We ought to think of the divine transcendence, that is, of the unspeakable, ineffable glory and wonder of the Infinite Maker and Ruler of the uni- verse, beyond all our wisest thoughts in his uplifted grandeur and holiness. But we rejoice in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit with its teaching of the nearness always, everywhere, of the Holy Father and the com- passionate Saviour. Some of the great leaders of modern thought — especially some of our chief poets — have em- phasized the divine immanence. We remember Tennyson's oft-quoted line, "Closer is He than breathing, nearer than hands and feet" FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 21 Our hearts leap up in response to Whittier's words : So sometimes comes to soul and sense The feeling which is evidence That very near about us lies The realm of spiritual mysteries. The sphere of the supernal powers Impinges on this world of ours. The low and dark horizon lifts, To light the scenic terror shifts ; The breath of a diviner air Blows down the answer of a prayer : That all our sorrow, pain, and doubt A great compassion clasps about, ^ ■% s|s ifc ♦ ■%. £ With smile of trust and folded hands, The passive soul in waiting stands To feel, as flowers the sun and dew, The One true Life its own renew. Wordsworth, it might almost be said, has one supreme theme, namely, the immediate proximity of God to all life here, the interfusing and interblending of the Divine Spirit with all responsive human spirits. He writes: I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean, and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man A motion and a spirit that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought And rolls through all things. But centuries ago Martin Luther said, " If you knock at the door of my heart and ask, ' Who lives here ? ' a voice would reply, ' Not Martin Luther, but Jesus 22 THE PRECEDING GOD Christ/ " Long before the great Reformer the inspired apostle exclaimed, " Christ liveth in me," and again, " Christ in you the hope of glory," and again, " that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." These ecstatic thoughts of St. Paul concerning the spiritual fulness of life and the companionship of Jesus, these inspiring conceptions of great poets and thinkers concerning the nearness of God we may claim for our- selves because of the Divine Spirit's presence with and in our spirits. The Holy Spirit's supreme work is to bring God, to bring Jesus Christ into the center of our souls. That seems to be the teaching of Christ's great discourse in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters of John's Gospel. All the results of the Holy Spirit's work — conviction of sin, vision of righteousness, growth in knowledge of truth, new peace and love and power — flow from the rich and full nearness and fel- lowship of God and of Jesus Christ through the Spirit. So then we love to think of the Holy Spirit as the God close at hand, as the medium through whom Jesus Christ comes with saving, comforting, illuminating grace into the very heart of our lives. As St. Paul joyfully said, " In him we live and move and have our being." Ask the flower how close is the warmth of the sunlight, or the bird how near is the air, or the child if the tender mother really loves. Ask the Christian if God is far away or near at hand. He replies, " He is here, he is in me and around me, the Life of my life, the Soul of my soul." Of course in a noble and real sense God has always been near to us from the very dawn of creation when the Divine Spirit brooded over " the face of the waters," but during the Old Testament times God seems to have been thought of chiefly as One far away in infinite space, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 23 "the high and lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity." In the New Testament dispensation we have the glory and wonder of God's identification of himself with us in the incarnation of his Son. When the Saviour returned to his heavenly majesty another and more glorious dispensa- tion began with the coming in fulness of the Holy Spirit to continue the saving ministry of Christ and to bring the riches of the life and love and power of God into human hearts. The Scriptures teach that while Christ continues his redeeming work for us in heaven by his ministry of intercession, the Holy Spirit pleads on earth for God with men, convicting us of sin, leading us into truth, presenting to our hearts the divine grace, strengthening us to take Christ as our Saviour, and then transforming us into the likeness of Christ. Dr. Augustus H. Strong has with impressive brevity brought out in one sentence majestic truths concerning the divine manifestations to humanity : " Christ is the organ of external revelation ; the Holy Spirit the organ of internal revelation." Ah, here is the secret! The inner life must be made over, " born again," " renewed," and this can be accomplished only through this " internal revelation " of the Spirit which Doctor Strong speaks of. Worldliness in a man does not mean certain words and deeds of evil, but an inward state of mind and heart which estimates every- thing from a selfish, material standpoint, which finds its joys and treasures and hopes in the fleeting diversions and excitements of earth. Spirituality, on the other hand, is an inward state where God and Christ and heavenly standards are supreme because the Holy Spirit has re- vealed them with transfiguring power to the soul. We know that by the coming of Jesus the world was made over into something nobler and more divine in its ideals, laws, customs, ways of thinking, and almost everything. 24 THE PRECEDING GOD What wrought this moral and spiritual transformation? It was the Holy Spirit poured out into men's lives when Christ ascended to glory. The Spirit brought illimitable spiritual treasures of God into men's souls, thus achieving moral and spiritual wonders. The converting, transfiguring power manifested in the first and other early Christian centuries is still possible to us. God is still here. The Holy Spirit still yearns after the human race and every individual. "More fire, more fire ! " cried the great French artist and scientist, " and I will make china of such beauty as the world has never seen." More of the Divine Spirit, more of the God close at hand in the very core and center of our being, and a new day of love and righteousness and spiritual power and peace will dawn for us and the whole world. II. " All " is the second great expression of our text. This is in a peculiar and sublime sense a Christian word. Take the Bible and a concordance and study the Scrip- ture uses and applications of this little yet large, brief but broad, world-embracing, divine word. Meditate with especial care upon St. Paul's exultant uses of this word in its relationships to the heights and depths and breadths of God's grace and his gifts of spiritual treasures to human souls. God loves all. Christ died for all. A new life of nobility and service and peace and joy is possible for all. Now we are told that all were filled with the Holy Spirit. Here is a difference from the Old Testa- ment dispensation and a great advance. In the Old Testament only a very few seem to have been conscious of the Spirit's presence. In the former ages he seems to have been given in abundance only to great leaders or to officials — kings, judges, priests, prophets, and other out- standing personalities — but the people longed for the FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 25 time when the prophecy would be fulfilled that " it shall come to pass in the last days, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. ,, Even during our Lord's public, earthly ministry the Spirit does not seem to have been fully poured out upon all believers. But now with this significant word " all, a///' a new epoch begins. Young and old, rich and poor, high and low, learned and ignorant, sad and glad, male and female, bond and free — all believers are lifted to the high place held in the old days by a very few. This universal outpouring of the Spirit in the hearts of believers is emphasized throughout the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit being referred to more than seventy times. He is spoken of both as moving the multitude and, also, as controlling great leaders and obscure individuals. Thus the apostle Peter can speak of all believers in Christ as " a royal, a holy priesthood." Here in this gracious, epoch-making descent of the Holy Spirit upon all, into the heart of every humble, trusting follower of Jesus, we have the glory of Christianity. Here also is the glory of the individual, that, no matter how insignificant he may be, it is possible for him to become an abiding-place of the Divine Spirit. Because of this Mrs. Browning's words are true as applied to human lives : Nothing small; No lily-muffled hum of a summer bee But hath some coupling with the spinning stars ; No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere ; No chaffinch but implies the cherubim. In the " all " of our text we have the real warrant for true democracy. Here is the rational and Scriptural basis for prayer-meeting services in which all believers have the privilege to take part in prayer and testimony. Here is the secret of power for a church. Here is the 26 THE PRECEDING GOD true basis for lay evangelism and for every saved soul to become a witnessing, soul-saving worker. Think of William Carey, the poor cobbler, in his little shoe shop at Kettering, England, so filled with the Spirit that he gives every spare moment to presenting Christ to individuals and to little groups wherever he finds them. The same Spirit led him to India and made him the founder in modern times of the foreign missionary enterprise. Think of that humble, godly, tender man known as 11 Uncle John Vassar," the rule of whose life was never to meet anybody without in some tactful, gracious way presenting the claims of Jesus on the soul. Think of the multitudes of men and women and boys and girls of whom the world never knows who, inspired by the Spirit of God, work faithfully and bravely, suffer patiently, live purely and nobly, minister helpfully to everybody they meet, and cleave always to the vision of God and Christ and heaven. These Spirit-filled souls are the saving salt of society and make possible whatever is good and sweet and heroic in life. We do not know their names, but God knows them. The Spirit in all, all. That means each of us, every follower of Christ who will humbly, earnestly claim his rich heritage. III. The third word of our text, " filled/' is so great and striking that at first it discourages us. We feel that we are too weak and sinful, or, that the circumstances of our lives are too difficult and engrossing for this mighty word ever to be realized with us. But let us con- sider the meaning of the word. It does not necessarily involve great genius, or moral perfection, or emotional ardor, or the doing away with the distinctive characteris- tics of the individual. The filling of the soul by the Divine Spirit does not involve a great inrush of new FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 27 intellectual life but the lighting up of all we have and are by new love for Jesus and for humanity and new devotion to unselfish service. Here are several cups and glasses and pitchers of vary- ing sizes. You fill each one of them to the brim with water. The smallest cup is as truly filled as is the largest pitcher. So in the lighting up and filling of the soul by the Spirit, God does not destroy our inherited and acquired intellectual characteristics. Each individual has powers possessed by none other. Lord Macaulay tells of how he stood at a busy corner of a London street and watched for an hour the men and women passing, and of his deep interest in the fact that, while there was a general likeness between them all, every face was different in some respects from every other face. The Almighty seems to have respect for the individual personality. The Spirit's presence does not blot out our distinctive talents. The filling of the Spirit does not imply the adding of new intellectual powers but the penetration and diffusion through those powers of a new spirit of tenderness, gentleness, purity, and love, the very mind of Jesus. I have seen small and large glass containers filled with water. They were filled so full that apparently no more water could be poured into them. Then a tiny drop — scarcely larger than a pin's head — of a powerful chemical, was put in each receptacle and in a moment all the vessels and all the contents of each were transformed into golden beauty. Somehow so is it when the Spirit of God takes possession of us. Take another illustration which was suggested to me by a friend from an incident some years ago in the life of Frank Beard, the famous lecturer and illustrator. Mr. Beard, while speaking, drew pictures on an old* fashioned blackboard with crayons to illustrate his 28 THE PRECEDING GOD thoughts. On this occasion he endeavored to bring be- fore his audience vividly a bitterly cold winter evening. With a few rapid strokes he drew a picture on the black- board of a country house, surrounded by snow and ice. There was snow on the ground, snow on the roof, snow covering the walks, icicles hanging from the shutters. It was such a perfect illustration of mid-winter that the audience almost shivered. Then the lecturer with a yel- low crayon and a few bold strokes depicted a warm light shining from two windows of the house. The whole scene and its suggestions were thus immediately changed ! Now the dominating thoughts were those of warmth, a fire on the hearth, comfort, home, cheer. Somehow so, the filling of the Spirit means that the general tendency, suggestion, control of our lives is transfigured from cold- ness to warmth, from selfishness to love, from sinfulness to goodness, from worldliness to heavenliness, from the spirit of the times to the mind of Christ. Not entirely perfect, sometimes blundering and falling, but the trend of life, on the whole, becomes ever upward, onward, Christward. How may we be filled with the Holy Spirit? The circumstances connected with our text are very sug- gestive. Just before this blessing came the people in their affliction and in the imprisonment of the apostles had a deep longing for God and for the eternal, heavenly trea- sures, there was strong, united prayer, there seems to have been definite effort to remove obstacles to conse- crated living. Spiritual aspiration, definite united prayer, removal of obstacles — here are three steps toward the filling of the Spirit. Every day, a season, even though brief, for seclusion and silence and supplication. Every day, association with kindred souls longing for the deep things of life. Every day, conscious effort to remove FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 29 some obstacle and greater effort to conquer some weak- ness or folly. At anchor laid, remote from home, Toiling, I cry, sweet Spirit, come! Celestial breeze, no longer stay But swell my sails, and speed my way. Fain would I mount, fain would I glow, And loose my cable from below; But I can only spread my sail, Thou, thou must breathe the auspicious gale. Many years ago in a church where I preached I was told of how a noble pipe-organ for a long time responded poorly or not at all to the skill of the organist. Repeated efforts to find the cause of the trouble were made, but all were in vain. At last, the builders of the organ made careful investigation and found that a little mouse, dead for a long time, had been caught in a vital, delicate place in the machinery, and had caused all the trouble. A little, dried-up mouse defeating all the power of a great pipe-organ and making all the music mute! OK, we must humbly and contritely seek with God's help to remove the besetting sins and cherished weaknesses of our lives before we can have the filling of the Spirit's power and peace. The blessed results of the Holy Spirit's filling of the soul are brought out immediately after our text and throughout the book of Acts and throughout all the ages since. What were some of them ? Joy and peace, fellow- ship and love, courage and hope, power in witnessing for Jesus, human souls lifted up above the trials and incidents of life, the divine guidance and initiative for great and holy achievements. Filled with the Spirit these humble, heroic followers of Jesus go on from victory to victory, 30 THE PRECEDING GOD from glory to glory. The book of Acts begins at Jeru- salem and ends in Rome, the center of the human race, begins with a little handful of disciples and ends with believers over a great part of the known world. These results have been multiplying and spreading and intensi- fying through the ages. Just now the world seems on the threshold of some wonderful change which may usher in a new and great day for Jesus Christ and his Spirit. Man's extremity has often been God's opportunity. Quickly can the Spirit of God change all the sad and sinful and tragic conditions of the present into holiness and joy and love and life for the world and for each of us. Many times in our summer days on the New England coast we have watched the coming of the tide into the old inner harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts. There it lay, the ancient inner harbor, its dirt and foulness exposed by the ebbing of the waters at low tide. Many little boats are held fast in the mud, disagreeable sights and smells are on every side. An atmosphere of depression broods over everything. But after a while a gentle breeze from the ocean begins to blow, sweet odors and the breath of the salt sea delight our senses, the water begins to rise with rippling murmurs, there is new life in the very air. Now the full tide from out the boundless deep comes pouring in. All the ugli- ness of the exposed places is covered up with beauty, the boats that were held prisoners in the mud are set free and made ready for service. A sense of freedom and life and exhilaration thrills in the air. A new chapter for noble adventure and achievement seems at hand. So shall it be for us and for all the disciples of Christ when the Divine Spirit fills our souls. Then shall a radiant and holy day dawn, then shall the world be made new. Ill ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH *■ According to your faith be it unto you." — Matthew 9 : 29. THIS rich chapter of the Gospel contains a picture, or rather a series of pictures, of the world of sin and sorrow through which Christ passed, of the world as it has been through the ages. We have portrayed a man sick with the palsy, a politician with a bad reputation, a group of publicans and sinners, a company of critical, proud Pharisees, a ruler mourning because his little daughter is dying, a woman sick for twelve years, a home where death is, and then, two blind men. What scenes of tragedy are here ! On that dark background we have presented the fact that faith is one of the supreme gifts of Christ to the world. None of these tragedies was too great for Christ to meet it and solve it. He has words of cheer and mir- acles of healing for them all, but faith seems to be the condition always for the transformation, and to the blind men he says explicity, M According to your faith be it unto you." Thus we are reminded that faith in the noblest sense had its birth with the coming of Christ and his redemptive work. In the ancient world there was everywhere doubt and fear. There was distrust of nature, fear of rivers, mountains, valleys, the forest, the ocean. Men had distrust of themselves and of other men. 1 Notes of sermon preached on the first Sunday of the Author's Ministry at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N. Y, 31 32 THE PRECEDING GOD The root of it all was doubt of God or terror at the thought of him. Now comes Jesus the Saviour with his revelation of God as infinitely loving and tender and re- demptive, yearning after all sad and sinful men and women, and thus Jesus changes fear to faith, terror to trust. The world had thought of God as cold or cruel Fate, Christ taught that he was a gracious Father — " Our Father who art in heaven/' " Your Father careth for you." Out of this new faith in God came new trust in the friendliness of nature, in one's own possibilities, in the brotherhood of humanity, in the final outcome of life. None too sick or too sad or too bad for Jesus ! Mark his gracious words to the tragic cases just before our text. To the tax-collector, " Follow me " ; to the outcasts, " I will have mercy " ; to the woman sick twelve years and only able to touch the hem of his garment, " Be of good comfort, thy faith hath saved thee " ; to those weeping for the dead, " She is not dead but sleepeth " ; to the blind men, " According to your faith be it unto you." Christ has been saying these words and working these miracles of grace by his loving Spirit throughout the cen- turies. Oh, the inexhaustible, infinite richness of this gift of faith to the world, flowing from Christ's revelation of God's redemptive love! God has faith in us, we may humbly say, and, therefore, we may have faith in our own possibilities and in all men and in the destiny of the world. " According to your faith be it unto you " — here is a motto, a rule of life, which is one of the chief secrets of power, not simply for every church and minister, but also for every business and every institution of learning and every home and every individual. In all the relation- ships and all the struggles of life the measure, or amount, ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH 33 of our faith is the measure of our success. This is especially true in the realm of spiritual achievement, of religious peace and power. A familiar and helpful way to think of faith is to consider it as the action or attitude of the soul by which we appropriate the power of another. As through the little canal the life-giving waters of the river change the desert into a garden, so through faith comes pouring into the soul life and redemption from a greater, grander source than our own strength. This is true everywhere and reminds us of the deep, essential reasonableness of the Christian faith, when we ponder long and humbly over the facts of humanity's great need and of God's gracious supply for that need. Speaking of the importance of prolonged meditation and study con- cerning the call of Christ to the soul, Hare well writes in his " Guesses at Truth " : " Man's first word is, Yes; his second, No; his third and last, Yes, Most stop short at the first ; very few get to the last." In striking illustra- tion of these words of Hare is the fact that the famous English scientist, Michael Faraday, told the church of which he was a member that his studies had so weakened his faith that he desired to have his name removed from its roll. At his insistence this was done. Several years later, we are told, he came before the church and re- quested that he be restored to its membership, stating that " while a little study had led him astray, more study had led him back." He had learned that faith was necessary in every realm of life for man's nourishment and noblest development. When we walk, we do so by instinctive, unconscious faith in the ground beneath our feet. When we travel, by faith in the engineer, all his skill and experience become ours. When we eat, we do so by trust in the one who has prepared the food, and then the nour- ishing elements support our physical life. When we read. 34 THE PRECEDING GOD we believe the immortal thinkers of the past and their thoughts inspire and broaden our characters. There must be faith in every step of one's education from the mastery of the multiplication-table to the loftiest heights of scientific explanation and experiment. Well did the late President Gilman of Johns Hopkins University say in one of his last baccalaureate addresses, " Back of all our studies and investigations and forward movements in search of knowledge and truth and higher living is one word, Credo!* It is absolutely true everywhere: Little faith, little life and achievement; large faith, large life and achievement. Faith writes poems, paints pictures, builds homes, rears colleges and hospitals, crosses oceans, founds new commonwealths of liberty and blessing, binds men together in a great brotherhood of love, leads all the great forward movements of humanity, bows in humble surrender to Jesus Christ, looks up in adoration and hope to the all-wise, all-loving God. Our text is especially true in the religious life and in meeting the great problems and perplexities of the present time. It is a trite thing to say that there never were such problems and difficulties for religious life and work as today. That may or may not be true. But it is true that the obstacles are very great. Our knowledge of the physi- cal universe has been so greatly enlarged as necessarily to change much of our thinking concerning the meaning of life and of our planet. The great World War has pre- cipitated a multitude of problems and difficulties. What shall we do? What is our chief need? The answer is, more faith, more confidence in the living God revealed in Jesus Christ and in all the spiritual powers and truths of Christ's great gospel. Some years ago one of my friends was troubled because the light supplied by the gas-jets in the different rooms of her beautiful home ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH 35 became insufficient and dim. The cause of the diminution of brightness could not be found until an expert was sent for, who said the explanation was simple. He said that various rooms had been added to the house until the demand on the supply-pipe was too great for its capacity. " Put in a new and larger supply-pipe from the house to the gas-main in the street," said he, " and then your trouble will be removed." So with us in these days, the one solution for all our problems is found in an enlarged faith, linking us to the great spiritual reservoir of divine power and redemption. As the heavenly resources pour through it into our lives we shall be sufficient for great tasks and great triumphs. " According to your faith be it unto you." This is true as to the possibilities of goodness for one's own character and life. Let one have faith in the highest, noblest vir- tues, that they do exist in human characters and that through the Divine Spirit they are close at hand, eager to enter every earnest, receptive life. Christ's entrance into human conditions and all his incarnation help us to a new faith in the closeness of God to man and the nobility of all human relationships. Let one have faith in himself as planned by God to be a dwelling-place of all beautiful and heroic and Christly qualities, a very temple of the Holy Spirit. What then ? Then will come to one an over- whelming sense of neglected opportunities, of having turned away from the holiest ideals and possibilities and his highest nature. There will come profound sorrow for all this, deep penitence for sin, strong yearning for the true and good, and thus, the beginning of a new life! This is the way of salvation, — repent, believe, confess, arise to newness of life through the power of the living, forgiving Christ. But we must have some knowledge of Christ before 36 THE PRECEDING GOD we can have this knowledge of the hidden possibilities of our own lives. Thus we are reminded of how true our text is in our relationship to Christ as our Saviour and present Helper. When on earth, Jesus was ever seeking faith and encouraging it and making it a test. With love and longing, with pathos and pleading, He, the very Son of God, sought for faith in the hearts of sinful men and women. He taught that it was the first requisite for pardon and peace and spiritual power. Faith and faith and still again faith — this was the demand of Jesus. " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever helieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life" — this was one of the first mes- sages of our Lord, and one of his very last was, " He that helieveth and is baptized shall be saved," Make a study in the Gospels of Christ's appeals for faith from this early message to this closing one. All this loving anxiety for faith was not something arbitrary, but was based on the deepest foundations of life. We ourselves cannot help others unless they believe in us. Without trust, or con- fidence, there is an insurmountable barrier between us and them. It is so in our relationship to Christ. Just in proportion to our trust in him as the Son of God and the all-sufficient Saviour shall we have peace and joy and power and all the blessed fruits of the Spirit. The supreme message of the gospel is that God's love has placed Christ and his atoning work between us and all our sins and follies and shameful defeats. Where we trust him, all is forgiven, his divine life pours into our souls, and we start into a new and blessed future. That great and learned Scotch preacher, Thomas Chalmers, wrote in the latter part of his life : " I must say that I never had so close and satisfactory a view of the gospel salvation as when I have been led to contemplate it in the light ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH 37 of a simple offer on the one side and a simple acceptance on the other. " Our text is true, also, in our relationship to God as the great Divine Spirit present in the world and willing to enter and bless every human spirit. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the unique glories of the Chris- tian religion, differentiating it from all other religions and systems of thought. It is a great mystery but at the heart of it is the inspiring truth that God and the living Jesus are through the Holy Spirit close at hand, ready to bless each one of us. But we must have faith in this glorious reality and ever-present nearness of the Holy Spirit ere we can receive his power, and the measure of our faith will be the measure of our spiritual infilling. Take men's concep- tion of electricity. For many decades, even before the time of Benjamin Franklin, it was thought that there was a mighty, mysterious electric power, or fluid, round about us in the air and earth ; but only in our own generation did men have confidence in it sufficientlv to seize hold of it and utilize its wonderful strength. Yet it was always in the world waiting for faith. Somehow so is it with the Holy Spirit's nearness and willingness. Several years ago at a social gathering some one asked the great practi- cal scientist, Thomas A. Edison, " Mr. Edison, are we near to the end of our utilization of the powers of elec- tricity ?'' Mr. Edison answered, "No sir, there is no end to the uses of the electric current." Then, after a moment's pause, he added, " There is no end to anything." Whether this be true or not, we know there is no end to the Holy Spirit's help and transfiguring power. Here he is close at hand waiting for our faith, yearning after us, eager to bless us beyond all our thought. The men of great epoch-makng influence have been men of great faith in a God ever-present through the Spirit — missionaries 38 THE PRECEDING GOD like Judson of Burma, and Mackay of Uganda, states- men like Cromwell, who felt sure that he was an instru- ment of the Almighty, and Lincoln, who all his life had a deep conviction that God was leading him on and on. So, likewise, in our efforts to help and bless and redeem humanity, we must have faith in the rich possibilities of ^ the human soul, the faith in something good and great in every individual, no matter how poor or sinful. Here is often the secret of the power of a good woman. It is said that Rudyard Kipling in a moment of deep depression threw away his immortal " Recessional Hymn " after he had just completed it, but his wife, with her great con- fidence in his genius and in whatever he wrote, rescued it from destruction. The undying faith of the mother has been the mainspring of the achievements of many men and women. " She believed in me, she still believes in me " — this dear memory goes with them through the bat- tles of life. There were many heart-moving circum- stances connected with the funeral, in London, of General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, but the most thrilling of all was the presence of the multi- tude of those who had been considered the outcasts of the great city. He, the modern apostle of the most sinful and desperate classes, believed that in the most wicked men and women were endless possibilities of goodness by Christ's redeeming grace. This was the chief secret of his wonderful life. The cynical, sarcastic, pessimistic attitude never reaches the human heart, never can lead forward great and helpful movements. But faith can and does. Faith brings pity, sympathy, love, and hope for every- body. Faith sees flowers in snow-banks, jewels in ash- heaps, fertile fields in the desert, glorious possibilities in the humblest and most defeated men and women. That was the attitude of the Saviour toward humanity and ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH 39 every individual. He saw in the prodigal son and in the dying thief and in the outcasts from society and in all the sinning, suffering sons and daughters of humanity immeasurable possibilities of good. So he came to earth, loved us, gave his great gospel, died for us, rose tri- umphant over death, and keeps on now and through the centuries redeeming humanity. Our text is true as to our expectation of the final triumph of good over evil in human history. If we are to work with joyful expectancy the fire of faith must be back of the bright light of hope. We are living in days of wide-spread religious depression now. There are many words of fear and foreboding. But the immediate present does not prophesy the far future. Robert Brown- ing gazing at the bodies of the suicides in the morgue at Paris could yet hope that a sun would " pierce the thick- est cloud earth ever stretched," because he had great faith in God and in man. The Bible with its majestic teach- ings of God's love and Providence, of Christ's redemptive power, of the Holy Spirit's continued presence and gui- dance, is the great book of hope. The last chapters of this book give the brightest pictures ever painted of a redeemed humanity, of truth and goodness triumphant, of sin and suffering banished forever, of joy beyond all joy, of eternal blessedness for all who have been re- deemed. Then when doubt and fear ask in perplexity, " What shall the harvest be? " let faith answer, " If God be for us, who can be against us ? " This faith in the final triumph of goodness and of Christ's love will bring joy to our hearts, gracious influence to all our words and deeds, and spiritual charm and beauty to our faces, and a spirit which none can resist. Thus the holy, hopeful, tranquil atmosphere of our lives may carry the gospel to some who otherwise would not receive a message of 40 THE PRECEDING GOD God's grace. The great scholar and philosopher, Baron Bunsen, when dying, said to his wife, " My dear, in thy face I have seen the eternal." The world is waiting for characters so full of faith and all the heavenly graces that in them it may catch visions of the eternal Life and Love. IV " WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN ? " " The hope which is laid up for you in heaven." — Colossians 1 : 5. MEN may be estimated by their hopes. What one is today is largely the fruit of his hopes in bygone days. What we shall be in the future will be determined by the hopes we are cherishing now. All of our best hopes are forerunners and prophets of the supreme hope of an Immortal, heavenly life. As the brooks and rivers hasten to the ocean and the hills and loftier elevations journey upward^ toward the Adirondacks or the Rocky Mountains, so the loftiest hopes we cherish point on- ward to the supreme hope, that of heaven, mentioned in our text. Man has never been able to escape this hope and in his best moments it shines most brightly. More than ten thousand books have been written concerning the state of the soul after death. The great World War, with its millions of dead and w r ith its innumerable deso- lations of every kind, has aroused keener and wider dis- cussion than ever before concerning the survival of the human personality after the death of the body and con- cerning the nature of the life beyond the grave. What shall we think of heaven ? This is one of the most inter- esting and important of themes. But before considering this question, let us think for a few moments of the other closely related question, Why 41 42 THE PRECEDING GOD do we believe in another life after this one we are now living? Glance at some of the reasons for our assurance, our sense of moral certainty. There is within us what might be called the instinct of immortality, — A solemn murmur in the soul Tells of the world to be, As travelers hear the billows roll Before they reach the sea. Our sense of justice and our reason cry out for another life. Science, with its teachings concerning the conservation of energy and concerning evolution, strengthens the faith of some. The fact that the best and saintliest and most helpful lives have been those of men and women who have believed most firmly in im- mortality is a weighty argument. The inextinguishable- ness of love by death is an eloquent appeal to the heart. We may not accept the views recently propounded by Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir Conan Doyle concerning the world of spirits, but we cannot treat lightly the fact that these world-famous thinkers have in recent years been converted from a materialistic conception of life to a view which asserts that the soul passes through death triumphantly and begins quickly a new life on the other side. There is the grandeur of the human personality com- pelling us to believe in another life for the exercise and development of its manifested and its latent, or sub- conscious, faculties and powers. The mighty steamer which we see in New York harbor is too big and swift for the harbor, — it is made for the vast ocean. The human personality with all its treasures of mind and will and emotion and holiness and service and tender- ness and longing after God, is the crown and consunuma- WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN? 43 tion of the universe, and is too great to be snuffed out after a few short years. The Bible and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, give the supreme and most glorious assurances concerning the life to come. David was sure that he would " walk through the valley of the shadow of death " onward and upward to the Celestial Mountains of eternal life. The background of all the New Testa- ment is the eternal world. Spiritual messages from that world are continually pouring into the life of Christ and the very air is pulsing with heavenly energies. Jesus Christ himself in his life and character and gospel and resurrection from the grave is the supreme proof of another life. " Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Christ was so completely divine, so transcendent in power over sin and disease and all evil of body and soul, so unique and glorious in his character and his gospel and in every- thing, that it was impossible for death to hold him. He broke through death and rose triumphant. Believing in him as our Saviour and Lord and perfect Teacher, our souls rejoice in his sublime declaration: " I am the resur- rection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and be- lieveth in me shall never die." But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is far more than a proof of human immor- tality — it is a prophecy of the participation of the be- liever in the blessed life of Jesus beyond the grave. It points not simply to another life but to another life of goodness and joy and glory in fellowship with Jesus. As our Lord said, " Today thou shalt be with me in Para- dise." Likewise he prayed, " Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." 44 THE PRECEDING GOD So we joyfully accept the lines of an American poet concerning death as a gentle angel to lead us out to larger life: What if some morning when the stars were paling, And the dawn whitened and the East was clear, Strange peace and rest fell on me from the presence Of a benignant Spirit standing near; And I should tell him as he stood beside me, " This is our earth — most friendly earth and fair ; Daily its sea and shore through sun and shadow Faithful it turns, robed in its azure air: There is blest living here, loving and serving, And quest of truth and serene friendships dear : But stay not, Spirit! Earth has one destroyer — His name is Death : flee, lest he find thee here ! " And what if then, while still the morning brightened, And freshened in the elm the summer's breath, Should gravely smile on me the gentle angel, And take my hand, and say, " My name is Death." But now we come to the great question over which earnest souls so often ponder, What shall we think of heaven ? On such a lofty and mysterious theme one must speak with utmost humility and reverence and guided by Scripture teachings and the conclusions of the wisest and best who have ever lived. We believe that heaven is both a place and a character, a prepared, spiritual environment for prepared, redeemed, spiritual people. It does not seem in accord with Scripture teach- ings or with reason to think that all believers — young and old, ripe saints and immature beginners are immediately at death led into the same glory and ecstasy. Doubtless there are degrees of knowledge and joy in the other life, although of course for the Christian death is at once a gain and an entrance into Paradise WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN? 45 and into a better knowledge of Christ. Then comes, we believe, ever-increasing knowledge and growth as the soul progresses in its communion with God and its vision of his holiness and love. The Bible seems to teach that all the best and most beautiful elements of this life we shall have in the heavenly life, only they will be spiritualized, transfigured, and glorified. In the marvelous description of the heav- enly city in the twenty-first chapter of the book of Revelation, we read that " the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it ! ,5 More than that, we read a little further that not only the kings — we are not caring so much for earthly kings and potentates in these days ! — but that " they," the people generally, poor and lowly as well as rich and mighty, " shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it." Thus the hard- won treasures and triumphs of this life we shall have over there. The wonderful symbols and pictures in the book of Revelation are depicted in the colors and forms of this life to make heaven seem real to us and, also, we can but believe, because over there we shall have all the beautiful things of this life raised to loftier beauty and spiritualized. Some of the wisest and most Christian thinkers have long taught that the heavenly, the spirit world is a replica of this present world, although, of course, infinitely grander and holier. The greatest and most spiritual thinkers through the ages have taught that the real world is the invisible, heavenly one of which our world is a little, shadowy, broken miniature. The best things here are faint reflections and prophecies of the glory yonder. This Jesus seems to teach when he speaks to his disciples of heaven as a perfect home with many mansions. We may be sure that the heaven-life is im- measurably more glorious than this life. St. Paul taught 46 THE PRECEDING GOD that it is " far better." He speaks of a wonderful ex- perience in his life when he was caught into the " third " heaven " or " paradise " and heard unspeakable words. He seems to teach that Christians when they die enter into Paradise, where Christ is in the third heaven. If the trea- sures of this life— "the glory and honor of the nations " — are to be brought over into the other life, surely then our mental and spiritual characteristics, our noblest personal faculties and idiosyncrasies we shall still have in heaven. In the biography of a famous Englishman we find a letter to another literary worker in which he writes, " I believe that heaven will be heaven for all our faculties and powers." In other words, it was this great thinker's conviction that our personalities would be carried over beyond the grave and the faculties and powers of our personalities would be raised to a heavenly height. How reasonable and comforting and inspiring such a faith ! There are four great general conceptions of heaven given in the Bible. Heaven is spoken of as a glorified city. Abraham the " Father of the Faithful," in some respects the great- est figure of remote antiquity, " looked for a city which hath foundations, whose maker and builder is God." John the beloved Apostle, a lonely exile on the isle of Patmos, was given for his comfort the visions which we have in the book of Revelation, and heaven was to him a wonderful, holy, happy city with streets of gold and walls of jasper and gates of pearls, and there was no sorrow and no sin in the city! To Abraham in his sad, wandering life, not permitted to have a permanent home, to John a prisoner on a lonely island, we can readily understand how beautiful and comforting must have been the thoughts linked with a settled home in the midst of congenial friends in a beautiful and holy city. WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN? 47 There are many consoling and inspiring thoughts of heaven suggested to us by this symbol of a holy, happy, glorious, healthy, radiant city with a population innum- erable; but the one I would especially emphasize is that of new and enlarged opportunity. We urge the young people of our land to stay in the country sections, but they come in great numbers constantly to the cities largely because of the great opportunities there. The cities and towns with their easy access to humanity, their great business undertakings, their deep, intense life, their schools and colleges, their concerts and lecture-courses, stand for new and rich and broad opportunities for employ- ment, for enjoyment, and for education. I love to think of heaven as affording the pilgrims from earth a fresh opportunity. After a season of rest, think of the wonder of a fresh start by God's grace and the power of Christ in the heavenly city! We who have sinned and blundered and failed to carry out our noblest plans on earth may yonder by God's infinite mercy have new doors opened to us for illimitable growth in knowledge and goodness and holy joy and unceasing usefulness. The immensity and innumerableness of the population is emphasized. " The love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind." Glowing description is given of the music of heaven. Some have thoughtlessly jested concerning the harpers harping and the singers pouring forth their praise, failing to remfember that music is one of the noblest utterances of the soul, symbolizing spiritual peace, triumph, and ecstasy. In our highest moments our souls and lips burst forth, both consciously and unconsciously, into music. We read that when Blake the famous En- glish painter was dying, he was in a kind of spiritual ecstasy and said he was going to that country he had all his life wished to see, and said that he had a happy hope 48 THE PRECEDING GOD of salvation through Jesus Christ. " Just before he died his countenance became fair, his eyes brightened, and he burst out into singing of the things he saw in heaven/' If here on earth the visions of joy we occasionally have bring songs to our lips, with what greater rapture shall we sing amidst the glories of heaven! Radiant gems and precious metals and nature's most wonderful gifts are used to symbolize the variety and richness and glory of the heavenly city. Remember that the symbol can at best only faintly prophesy and approximate the glorious reality. The reality is like the symbol, only greater. And no suffering bodies, no sorrowing, defeated souls, no sin in that city of God ! Another symbol of heaven which the Scriptures give and which is very dear to our hearts, is that of a great home. Christ himself gives this thought when he says: In my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am ye may be also." St. Paul suggests the same thought in his letter to the Ephesians when speaking of prayer to the heavenly Father he says, " of whom the whole (or every) family in heaven and earth is named." Some are on earth and some in heaven ; but it is one family in Christ. The Father's house, or home, shall be our house, or home, and in it Christ is preparing an environment, or place, appropriate to our characters. The two sweetest thoughts of a happy home here are rest and love. The weary laborer, the business man, the child think of home with joy and longing because it means peace, repose, freedom from harassing cares. So shall it be over there, only unspeakably more perfect. " There remaineth there- fore a rest for the people of God." WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN? 49 Love, delightful fellowship with congenial friends and kinsfolks, is the very heart of our best home-life here. Wealth, culture, artistic taste can help but cannot make a home. Love only can make a real home. Love can transfigure a house into a home. Love can make one bare room a home, if only dear ones are there. Over there we shall have a perfect reunion of all the broken ties of life here. How strange that any should have doubted that we shall know each other in the higher life. Heaven cannot be inferior to this earth, and we know each other here. The incident is related of the great Scotch preacher, Doctor Guthrie, that a woman expressed her doubts as to whether she would recognize her husband in the other world, and he immediately replied, " Do you really think we will be greater fools in heaven than we are here? " How can we fail to know our loved ones if personality and character and works go with us? The Bible not only takes this for granted but teaches it in every passage where the perpetuity and nobility of human character and the joy and glory of heaven are emphasized. In the early dawn of Scripture revelation we are told that the patriarchs at death were " gathered unto their fathers." Christ declared that many would come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the great gathering of redeemed souls in the kingdom of God. On the transfiguration mount not simply Jesus knew Moses and Elijah who had been dead so many hundreds of years, but Peter recognized them also. Doubtless the redeemed in heaven take a keen interest in their loved ones on earth, praying for them, watching over them, and probably being the agents of God to minister to their spiritual life. Christ himself said, " Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. ,, We 50 THE PRECEDING GOD believe that they wait and watch for our departure from earth and welcome us on our entrance into the higher spirit-life of heaven. Surely we shall know each other in heaven even better than we do here. The clouds and mists of sin and sorrow and doubt and weakness will have passed away. Friendship and love will be more satisfy- ing and comforting and complete. Doubtless one of the joys of heaven will be the ever-widening circle of our fellowships and friendships. A beautiful and suggestive remark was made by a little girl five years old who had loved Bishop Phillips Brooks. When her mother told her that Bishop Brooks had passed away, that he had gone to heaven, she remarked, " Oh, Mother, how happy the angels will be ! " Another great conception of heaven which the Bible gives us is that of a state of delightful activity and service. The message in Revelation 14 : 13 is very ex- plicit and full of consolation : " I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours [that is, literally, grievous toils or troubles] ; and their works [that is, their activities] do follow with them." Again we read that in heaven " his servants shall serve him." The pictures of heaven presented in the book of Revelation are of a place and state of intense, diversified, and continuous activity. Some years ago a woman in New England who had led a long life of wearing toil and service, was asked what was her sweetest thought of heaven. She replied, " A whole eternity with nothing to do ! " Probably this poor toiling woman had an excuse in her previous life of unending labor for such a low conception, but " a whole eternity with nothing to do " would mean a very dull and stupid existence. Besides, that is not the Scriptural WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN? 51 teaching. Doubtless we shall need on the other shore, after the toils and buffetings of this life are over, a season of perfect repose and refreshment, but after that, the Scriptures teach, shall come a fresh start in holy, raptur- ous service. Just what the nature of that activity will be we cannot know now but, carrying with us the fac- ulties and qualities of mind and heart that have been developed here, we may expect occupation and service over yonder similar to our work on earth, but free from all weariness and drudgery and guided by the Spirit of God. The great preacher Charles H. Spurgeon used to say that he hoped that in the spirit-life God would send him to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the in- habitants of some far distant planet who had never heard it. A famous English scientist expressed his desire to study higher mathematics in heaven. The unfinished works of earth we may have opportunity to complete, the noble ideals which beckoned us on but which we were not able to translate into accomplishments we may be permitted to fulfill. Or, it is quite possible that our char- acters may need to be developed in entirely different directions and so may be assigned new activities, unlike any attempted before. But whatever our work may be, it will be full of holy love and redemptive service and free from the weakness of the flesh and the folly of our earthly blunders. What spiritual joy and grandeur in such a prospect! The happiest moment in any of our lives has been when, most conscious of the Divine Spirit's guidance, we have given ourselves most fully in loving redemptive ministration to others. The supreme thought of heaven given in the Bible is that of communion with God and victory over moral evil. The Psalmist, catching a glimpse of the soul's high destiny, wrote : " As for me, I will behold thy face in 52 THE PRECEDING GOD righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness/' In Revelation we read of the redeemed: " They shall see his face ; and his name shall be on their foreheads. ,, The forehead symbolizes man's higher, intel- lectual, spiritual life. This life shall be in perfect harmony with God, his name or nature or will being regnant in man. To be like God, to know God, to enjoy communion with God — this is the goal of all our highest ideals and efforts. All life is but a training-school for this. Home life, the filial and the parental relationships, victories and defeats, joys and sorrows, the worship and work of God's house, the redemptive work of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul — all these are consummated in the beatific vision of God in heaven. The crowning teaching of the last book of the Bible is that, after the ages of struggle between the forces of evil and the hosts of righteousness, goodness and truth and love and Christ will be victorious. We are told that the Lamb, symboliz- ing all the pure and gentle and sacrificial elements in life, will overcome the beast, symbolizing all the destructive elements. Throughout the wonderful pictures and sym- bols of this Book we have the vision of victory and the praises and adorations offered by the countless redeemed ones to the Lord God and to Christ, the redeeming Lamb. Oh, let us not fail of entering heaven. Miss anything and everything if we must, but let none of us fail of heaven. Jesus is the all-sufficient Saviour. He only is the Door to the eternal life of blessedness. He says, " Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out." Come to him now by simple faith and unreserved sur- render. Put yourself fully on his side. Let us by faith in Christ and by noble devotion begin the practise of immortality and the heaven-life here and now. The future life then will continually call to all our noblest WHAT SHALL WE THINK OF HEAVEN? 53 possibilities and ideals : " Awake, Awake." Let us live beneath the power of the unseen world. May the words written of one of the noble Puritans be true of us : Of this blest man let this high praise be given : Heaven was in him before he was in heaven. So shall we have power and joy and hope in our present task. So, looking out on the immensities and glories of the future, life here will never become dull and prosaic, but each new day, bringing us nearer the wonders of heaven, will have a halo of holy faith and expectancy. " THIS SAME JESUS " x * This same Jesus."— Acts 1 : 11. THE study of beginnings is always of interest and value. The tiny plant, the spring of water on the hillside, the little child, the heroic company of Pilgrim Fathers on the " Mayflower " — these appeal to our thought and emotion. Our text is from words spoken to a little group of men starting on the most glorious career with new and lofty ideals. The Book of Acts is a record of wonderful beginnings. In it we have the beginnings of the universal outpouring and reception of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the Christian church, the beginning of great revivals, the beginning of the mis- sionary enterprise, the beginning of the sublime spiritual development of humanity whose fruitage we enjoy today. In our text we have a rich source of inspiration for all these beginnings and for fresh starts today in our own lives. "This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." This was what the angels said to the waiting disciples overwhelmed by the thought that Christ was taken from them. This is a message we need in these days of perplexity and spiritual depression. There are many voices of doubt and despair, but over against them all as our keynote, as our shining star 1 Notes of first sermon as pastor of the First Baptist Church, Rochester, N. Y. 54 " THIS SAME JESUS " 55 amidst dark clouds, we put the words, " This same Jesus." Think first of the value and blessedness of that which continues the same in its helpful, redemptive power through all circumstances. Wherever a force or a person has the element of faithfulness, of abidingness, our hearts instantly respond with joy and trust. This is recognized as the supreme test. Does it last? Does it endure? This gives confidence and tranquillity. This completes the task begun. An Alpine guide in Switzerland showed his staff for mountain climbing to several tourists and said, " This staff has never failed me, even on the steepest and most slippery mountain sides." A fearful drought parched up the streams and wells and all the springs of water near Rochester a few summers ago ex- cept one spring, whose sweet, refreshing waters flowed throughout the long, dry summer. It was an unfailing fountain. So is it with a true friend. In a competition in London several years ago for the best definition of a friend in a single sentence the following won the prize, " A friend is that one who comes in when all the others go out." So it is with a true and axiomatic principle of life — it must be universally applicable, not failing in any emergency. For instance, " It is better to be than to seem," or, " No matter what happens, it is better to be true than to be false." But sameness and unchange- ableness in these illustrative cases does not mean that they are colorless, monotonous, and without variety of manifestation. They are the same in dependableness and helpfulness, but, with our varying needs and growing knowledge and different crises, they minister to us in accord with each special occasion. For instance, the sturdy staff may be used for the dangerous ascent of the ice-clad mountainside or for defense in struggle with 56 THE PRECEDING GOD the wild beast or for pleasure in the Swiss games. The fountain has a great variety of service. It quenches our thirst, its waters cleanse the body, its loveliness ministers to our sense of beauty. The friend, the true friend, meets our varying moods of joy and of sorrow, of memory and of hope, of appreciation of the past and of progress onward to greater achievements. He grows with our growth and fails us not in helpful praise or in timely warning. These analogies suggest — yet how faintly and dimly !— the glorious sameness and unchangeableness of Christ. He never fails in his redemptive, saving power either the individual or the human race. Throughout the hours and the years and the centuries he meets with healing, conquering grace and power all the new crises and diffi- culties. While his supreme work of redeeming us and bringing us to God and God to us is ever the same, yet the manifestations of this work are as new and various as human needs are different and strange. He meets all the new problems. From him comes to us new spiritual beauty and help in every period of our lives. The stars are full of beauty and wonder to the child but far more beautiful to the same child grown up to educated man- hood. Upon all the changes and upheavals of the centuries shines the light of Christ's redeeming power. Never have we realized the instability of all earthly things so vividly as during the recent years. Philosophies, theologies, governments, civilizations have changed, are changing. The Creator seems to have planned change and movement as fundamental facts and forces of life. Often we long for permanency in our own individual experiences. To some blessed fellowship, to some gra- cious vision of natural beauty, to some deep spiritual experience, we cry, " Haste not away ; abide with us ! n " THIS SAME JESUS " 57 In vain. We are flung into a swift current of events, sweeping us on and ever on with resistless change. Now on this shifting panorama of life we behold the unchang- ing Christ. The angels in our text say, " This same Jesus." The inspired writer of the letter to the Hebrews (13 : 8) gives the same thrilling message, " Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." What do we mean by the eternal unchangeableness of Christ? Ah, here are depths and heights beyond our poor thought and expression ! However, we may say, in brief, that the glorious redemptive qualities manifested by Christ during his short earthly ministry are continued through all the ages by the work of the Divine Spirit, that Christ, as he promised, is continually coming back to us through the Holy Spirit. We do not worship a dead Christ, but one who is alive forevermore and up- lifting society and the individual by his grace and holi- ness and power. The eternal unchangeableness of Christ . is emphasized to us by the fact that he is the objective manifestation of the invisible Creator and Sustainer of the universe. God, the Creator, no man hath seen or can see, but Christ is the uttered thought, the Word of God. All the divine appearances in the Old Testament were revelations through Christ. Since God is the abso- lute, perfect Being, he cannot change in his holy, re- demptive love. Hence Christ, his supreme Word, must partake of the same element of changelessness. This unchangeableness is seen from the character of the divine appearances in the Old Testament. These are marked by the same characteristics as those of Jesus, the Son of Mary, by mingled love and holiness. The New Testa- ment presents Christ as the One who, from the founda- tion of the world, has guided and inspired all seekers after truth. " That was the true Light, which lighteth every ^ 58 THE PRECEDING GOD man who cometh into the world" (John 1:9). What- ever was good in the teachings of Confucius or Buddha or Socrates came from the living Christ. The Scriptures teach that during Christ's ministry in Palestine he only began his work, that his redeeming intercession abidetfi forever. Far down the ages, in the consummation of history, St. John the seer catches the vision of Jesus in heaven like unto a " Lamb as it had been slain," infinite love forevermore longing and yearning after humanity. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit brings strongly to our hearts the fact of Christ's unchangeableness. Said Bengel, the great German theologian, " Ubi Spiritus, ibi Christus " — " Where the Spirit is, there Christ is." After promising the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave his great assur- ance, " Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Thus through the Spirit Christ ever goes on before us beckoning onward and upward the march of humanity, guiding and blessing each individual soul, the Captain of salvation to each man no less than to the multitude. How wonderful are the verifications and illustrations of our theme in the experiences of Christian people through the ages. During the recent World War and in these days of spiritual reaction and depression many have been saying, " There never was such a crisis in human history, — what will become of our richest spiritual experi- ences and achievements ? " But we may answer that history is always moving from one crisis to another crisis and that there have been again and again periods of black and heart-rending retrogression when it seemed as if civilization would perish and the light of the gospel would be extinguished. In the early years of his world-moving work Martin Luther said : " Everything is so dark that I think the world will soon come to an end. The Christian " THIS SAME JESUS " 59 Church today is like a timid woman surrounded by lions about to destroy her." But a few years later a mighty spiritual revival came to refresh the world. The truth is that the cause of Jesus Christ on earth is always threat- ened with destruction but ever rises triumphant over all foes within and without. This is true because of the constant spiritual presence of Christ with his humble, praying, working disciples. Multitudes of Christ's fol- lowers have been as conscious of his nearness and blessing as were the apostles when the Saviour was here in a human body. In recent years some Armenian sufferers, tormented unto death by Turkish murderers, were heard to call again and again upon " General Jesus/' as if he were close at hand. As they did so, such strength and spiritual beauty came to their faces as to overcome the men who were putting them to death. " This same Jesus/' In the glorious unchangeableness of Christ is involved the comforting assurance that he bears this earth, this life, the people living here upon his heart. He lived here, he loved the homes and streets and men and women and children of our world. Now in glory, being the same Jesus, he still cares for us. This is the chief glory of our little planet as it floats through space, that Christ once lived here and that he still cares for this world. In this fact is our supreme consolation and inspiration. I heard recently of a tender, heart-moving picture suggested by the war. A young widow in her mourning dress is portrayed seated and holding a little child in her arms. She is gazing on the picture hanging on the wall of the soldier fallen in battle. But that was not all of the picture. By a bold stroke of a spiritual imagination the artist depicted above the widow and child and above the portrait of the young officer the face of Jesus looking down upon it all with ineffable 60 THE PRECEDING GOD love and compassion! So doubtless he gazes upon us now. " This same Jesus " died for us upon the cross. This supreme, mysterious culmination of Christ's redemptive work, " the suffering of his soul being the soul of his suffering," our Lord carries with him into the other life. The Cross was the supreme outpouring of the divine love for our salvation. In the heavenly life Christ is described in the book of Revelation as " the Lamb that was slain/' Still does he bear the marks of his supreme love and labor and anguish. Still is the divine love and sacrifice being poured out for our salvation. Most of us have read accounts of reported incidents of supernatural visitations to the soldiers in France during the battles of the great war. The ones reported concerning the appear- ances of Christ as " The White Comrade " will live long. The little book entitled, " The White Comrade," tells of a rough soldier who derided the idea of any spiritual or supernatural visitation. He was badly wounded in battle. Several nights after tossing in fever in the hospital, the dressings on his wound became dis- arranged. The White Comrade stood by him and gently bound up the wound. Awe-struck, the soldier saw some- thing unusual about the hands of him who bound up his wounds and asked, " What is that on your hand ? " " Oh," said the White Comrade, "that is an old wound that has been reopened of late." Ah, we may be sure that Christ's wounds have bled afresh in these recent years for the sin and woe of humanity. No matter how we may interpret these incidents of supernatural visitations reported as visible to the eyes, we know that spiritual comings of the living Christ are the most real facts of countless human lives. Multitudes of men and women today can say with humble, joyful assurance: "Jesus 11 THIS SAME JESUS " 61 Christ is the most certain reality of my life. He has saved my soul." They can say as the great hymn-writer wrote : Love I much? I've much forgiven, I'm a miracle of grace. " This same Jesus " is now clothed with heavenly glory. He is exalted in heaven to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All power is his. But being the same forever- more all his infinite resources are pledged in our behalf. St. Paul seems to have taken peculiar and ecstatic joy and hope in this thought. Hence he cries, " We are more than conquerors through him who loved us." " This same Jesus " will come again. This is the explicit declaration of the angels. We do not know just when he is coming; that is a secret hidden in the bosom of the Eternal God. We cannot dogmatize con- cerning times and seasons and details. The Scriptures seem to teach that there are several comings of Christ. At the Christian's death we believe that Jesus takes the redeemed soul to Paradise. In the great spiritual forward movements of Christ's kingdom through the centuries we behold new comings of Jesus. But crown- ing and consummating all these we look forward to the final glorious, personal appearing of Jesus to reign on earth. It is this final, glorious coming of our unchange- able Saviour that Robert Browning seems to have in mind in his thrilling lines: Earth breaks up, time drops awa3% In flows Heaven, with its new day Of endless life, when He who trod, Very Man and very God, This earth in weakness, shame, and pain, Dying the death whose signs remain, Up yonder on the accursed tree — 62 THE PRECEDING GOD Shall come again, no more to be Of captivity the thrall, But the one God, All in all; King of kings, Lord of lords, As His servant John received the words, " I died, and live f orevermore ! " It is a great mystery. But this is our faith and hope which looms up over all the landscape of future human history like a majestic mountain peak beckoning us on and ever on. " This same Jesus." Let us be loyal in our faith and influence to the teachings of our heavenly, unchanging Saviour, Helper, Lord. Let us not be carried about, tossed to and fro, by every new cult and doubt and philosophy of life. Let us be hospitable to new truth (if it be real truth), welcoming it from every quarter, but let us test it always with un- flinching fidelity by Jesus Christ and his great Gospel. The light and shadows come and go over the mountain, the rains fall, the winds beat upon its head, but the moun- tain remains. Human speculations never cease, creeds change, theories multiply, forms perish, but the Rock of Ages abides ; and he who clings to that Rock shall abide forever. As the Scotch scholar, Principal J. C. Shairp, has written: Subtlest thought shall fail and learning falter, Churches change, forms perish, systems go, But our human needs, they will not alter, Christ no after age shall e'er outgrow. Yea, Amen! O changeless One, Thou only, Art life's guide and spiritual goal, Thou the Light across the dark vale lonely — Thou the eternal haven of the soul. Let us pour out our best energies with glad hearts in the service of our changeless Christ. Poor and utterly t( THIS SAME JESUS " 63 futile seem many of our efforts. Cecil Rhodes, who wrought so masterfully for South Africa and for En- gland and for the world, compressing such vast labors into a brief career, closed his life with the words : " So little done ; so much to do ! " But all service for the eternal Christ, be it little or great, will abide, linked with the changelessness of our celestial Master, safely guarded in the care of the Divine administration. VI THE LOVE OF GOD SHED ABROAD " Not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." — Romans 5: 5. ARTISTS find themselves sometimes in danger of losing their quick and delicate sense of color. Hence they find it necessary again and again to refresh their eyes with the primary colors in full radiance. It was the habit of a somewhat famous painter in this country to carry with him always precious jewels so that he could frequently gaze upon the green of the emerald, the blue of the sapphire, the red of the ruby, the flashing splendor of the diamond. In the moral and spiritual world, we are constantly in danger of being so injured by the sophistry and wickedness of men as to lose our recognition and appreciation of the highest and most spiritual truths. This danger has been especially great in the recent years of the great war whose horrors have threatened the most precious things in life. Hence we need to turn constantly to the great first principles and facts of our holy Christian religion for the refresh- ment and correction of our souls. The supreme principle of that religion is the holy, redemptive love of God and the supreme fact, or manifestation, of that love is Jesus Christ, his incarnation, character, gospel, death, lesur- rection, and present life in the world through the Holy Spirit. Our text brings before us that love and that 64 THE LOVE OF GOD SHED ABROAD 65 manifestation. The inspired writer has been setting forth the blessed results of salvation and justification through faith in Christ when he says : " And hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly/' Consider the text phrase by phrase. First, " the love of God." Here we have the fountain and foundation of our salvation and sanctification and of all the joy and beauty of life. The expression is very strong in the original. There are two Greek words in the New Testament for love. There is the word phileo, which refers to transient, emotional, sometimes sensual love, and is the word which the erring disciple Peter used before he had been fully reclaimed to express his affection for Christ. Then there is the word agapao, which expresses a love that is divine, eternal, unchang- ing, spiritual, holy, redemptive. This is the sublime word used in our text. The phrase refers primarily to God's love for us rather than our love for him. How wonder- ful is the fact that so much more is said in the Bible about God's love for us than about our love for God! A careful Bible student has said that the phrase " the love of God," used so often, refers in all cases except three to God's love for us rather than to our love for God. There is something very comforting and inspir- ing about this, and the fact kindles our own feeble love to new fervor. As we meditate over the blessed fact that God loves us, even us in all our folly and sin, then love for God rises in our hearts and takes possession of our lives. A son, whose father died in his early years, and whose face he cannot remember, receives on reaching manhood innumerable proofs of that father's care and 66 THE PRECEDING GOD generous provision and tender devotion, and his heart is melted by tokens of such a love. Miss Frances E. Willard, one of the most useful and eloquent and con- secrated women who ever lived, used to love to repeat for her own comfort and cheer the chorus, or refrain, of an old Southern plantation melody, Maybe the Lord will be glad of me, Maybe the Lord will be glad of me, In heaven he'll rejoice. She said that the words and the music touched a chord very far down in her heart and in moments of weariness and discouragement brought love and glad- ness into her heart by the message of God's gladness and love for us. So the way to learn to love God is to keep on thinking of God's love for us. As Horace Bushnell wrote two generations ago, " Loving God is letting God love us." Three characteristics, or manifestations, of the love of God are brought out in the verse closely linked to our text by the little but very important word " for." It is a suffering love. " For Christ died for the ungod- ly." God's deepest love and life were poured out in the sufferings and death of Christ. The great English poet Cowper gazing on his mother's portrait is stirred to the depths of his soul by his thoughts of her goodness and sweetness and cries, " Oh that those lips had language! " So to us the cross is in a real sense the face, the heart, the voice of God revealing his boundless, redemp- tive love. The sacrificial, suffering element wins and overwhelms us. It is so with love for country. The true patriot is the one who is willing to sacrifice for his coun- try. It is so with the love of a friend. The true friend is the one who stays closest to us when our need is THE LOVE OF GOD SHED ABROAD 67 greatest. It is true with a mother's love that its deepest secret of power is the element of sacrifice ever throbbing at its heart. Above all, in Christ's suffering and death — " the suffering of his soul being the soul of his suffer- ing " — God's love meets us and holds us and in life or at death we cry, " Simply to thy Cross I cling." God's love is for the unlovely : " When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." " But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." This is the glory of our Christian religion that God's love reaches down to the lowest depths and lifts us to the highest heights. As the prophet Isaiah cried, " Thou hast loved my soul out of the pit." So the very nature of God is holy love. He sees bright possibilities in the vilest and most degraded. He loves the unlovely and redeems the foulest. A wealthy society woman of Chicago sang at a religious service in the penitentiary at Joliet, Illinois, and the sight of the criminals so moved her that she burst into tears and sat down. Her emotion and weeping had a tremendous effect on the hardened men, and many of them wept because, as they said, " Such a lovely lady really cared for such rascals as we are." When we begin to realize that God's heart keeps on following us in our wicked ways then we too weep for shame and for spiritual longing and for hope for a new life. God's love comes to us at the critical moment, in the time of greatest need, " In due time Christ died for the ungodly." In the time of greatest need in history when civilizations were going to pieces and nations were plung- ing to destruction, Christ came and taught and died and rose again and saved the world and the individual. Thus always God's love comes to the world and to each of us at the supreme crises, when everything seems lost, and 68 THE PRECEDING GOD changes the worst to the best. Not from nature or from conscience or from human fellowships do we learn God's love until first we have found it at the Cross of Christ, where we behold the mystery of God's redeeming love and grace. Then everywhere we see him and his bound- less, transfiguring love. What could St. Paul say or do in Rome to win and save men? He had no money, no worldly influence. His source of power, through the Holy Spirit, was in his message to Rome, to the world, to himself. This is the one message and dynamic for us. Everything is to be judged by the standard, Is it like God's love? Then we shall learn how to pray, how to forgive, how to bless others, and thus how to rejoice at all times. The second phrase of the text — "the shedding abroad in the heart " of God's love — is a remarkable one. It means literally to be freely, abundantly, copiously poured out. An old farmer, speaking about the crops during an unusually dry summer, said, " We need a long and heavy rainfall, not a rain of a few moments or hours, but one of several days, so that the ground may be soaked and all the roots of vegetation drenched and revived." That is the thought here. The love of God so shed abroad in us that the very roots of our character may be changed— emotions kindled, imagination purified, will-power strengthened, love chastened, the whole personality trans- figured. David speaks of the abundance of the precious perfume bestowed upon the Aaronic priest in his prepara- tion for his sacred office. It was poured upon his head, it ran down over his long beard, it went down over the skirts of his garments so that his whole body was covered with consecrated and consecrating symbolic perfume. In our Lord's life we are told of how when Mary anointed THE LOVE OF GOD SHED ABROAD 69 his weary feet with very costly spikenard that she poured out the perfume so freely that the house was filled with the exquisite odor. Thus, our text teaches that our whole character is to be penetrated and controlled by God's love. A significant expression of the late Prof. William James of Harvard University is that of " the unexplored remainders " in human personality. I sup- pose one of the thoughts connected with the phrase is that in most of us — perhaps all of us — there are un- aroused, untouched possibilities waiting to be awakened. Now when the love of God floods the soul all these hidden powers leap up into joy and service. Then we know God and all Godlike things by personal experience, then we know that we know so that the love of God becomes the fountain light and spring of all our being. This is the real turning-point and redemption and glorification of life. It was so with St. Paul, who, when the light of God's love in Christ was revealed to him, became the greatest and most influential character in human history, because he could humbly yet joyously say, " I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." It was so with St. Francis of Assisi whose home in the hill-town country of Italy we visited several years ago. Born in Assisi in 1182, he became a careless, wicked young man until through many sufferings he was brought to repentance and to humble faith in Jesus Christ. Then the great love of God took possession of his soul as it has of few in the world's history, and in the darkest and most terrible time in the Middle Ages he became God's agent to bring back, through the Spirit, love and kindness and trust and a new start for humanity. His love seemed invincible and went out to all created things and to the wickedest outcasts. The fishes he called " little brothers," the birds " little sisters," the bear " brother bear," the 70 THE PRECEDING GOD fugitive criminal he followed with a message of Christ's all-sufficient grace and hope. Thus has it been through the ages; when the love of God becomes regnant in human souls, then miracles of transfiguration of char- acter are wrought and the wildernesses of life blossom into beauty and fragrance. You have witnessed the heav- enly transformation in some quiet lives in the circle of your acquaintance. Oh that this abundant shedding abroad of God's love may take place in our own char- acters! Then shall we find it easy to love, to serve, to suffer, to conquer. Deeper, deeper, ever deeper, may the divine love sink into our souls ! But how may this miracle of Divine Grace be wrought in us ? — The fourth phrase of the text reveals the secret — " through the Holy Spirit who was given unto us." Here is the first allusion to the Holy Spirit in this greatest letter of the inspired apostle. This is a remarkable fact as if to teach that the one supreme work of the Holy Spirit is to fill the soul with the holy love of God and in doing that to give all spiritual power and peace and joy. This is in accord with St. Paul's teaching in his letter to the Galatians where he says, " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5 : 22, 23). As the sunbeams reach us through the agency of the air, and the electric currents over the wires, and the water through the pipes, and the assurance of a friend's devotion by his tender, loyal spirit, somehow so, but far more gloriously and mysteriously, the assurance of the eternal love is given unto us when we open our hearts in humble, yearn- ing, continued prayer. When " the heavenly air is breath- ing round " then the heavenly love is shed abroad in our hearts. But we must long for the Divine Spirit. A great English painter depicts man with his hands uplifted THE LOVE OF GOD SHED ABROAD 71 toward the stars and crying out, " I want, I want." The shining stars, with their glorious mystery, can never satisfy man's immortal spirit, but God's Spirit bringing the fulness of God's love can and will. " Not ashamed " — this is the blessed result of the love of God shed abroad in the heart. Some translate the expression " not overwhelmed " or " not disgraced " or " not panic-stricken." How we draw back with fear and horror from thoughts of failure or dishonor or death. But our real selves, our spiritual personalities cannot be hurt or even touched by any calamity or foe if we are filled and kept by the holy, redemptive love of God. St. Paul never was ashamed or panic-stricken even in the sufferings and tragedies of his last months in Rome. Midst gathering clouds and lightning flashes and agonies of soul and body before being led out to be put to death by Nero's executioners, he could write, w I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. . . The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom." " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit " — this is the heavenly gateway to salvation, sanctification, peace, joy, power. This is for the whole world now and will bring in a new era of justice and peace and brotherhood. This is for every church of Jesus Christ now and will lead the way to new spiritual victories. This is for each individual now and will solve every problem and make life beautiful and strong with uplifting, healing influence. It was said of Fenelon that he had such communion with God that his face shone. On one occasion a worldly and sceptical English noble- man was compelled to spend the night with him at a little French inn. In the early morning he hastened away, 72 THE PRECEDING GOD saying, " If I stay another night with that man, I shall be a Christian in spite of myself." Oh wonderful love of God which gives us Christ and all spiritual treasures and which can make our poor lives rich with blessing for all with whom we come in contact ! VII MAKING A FEfESH START IN PRAYER "Verily I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."— Matthew 18 : 19, 20. OUR Saviour during his earthly life was ever anx- ious to encourage and lift up even the weakest struggler. When he utters great truths or enjoins difficult tasks, he follows them usually with bright promises and rewards. So it is here. He urges two most difficult duties — the giving up of cherished earthly instruments that we may not lose God's favor and heaven, and the making of reconciliation and peace with one who has wronged us. Then, to give us strength for these hard tasks, he gives us the rich, invigorating words of our text : " If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them/' When we make a fresh start in prayer, we make a fresh start in everything good. If we pray well, we shall do everything well. Prayer links us anew to God. Prayer opens up a channel through which treasures from infinite resources come into the soul. We are longing for a great spiritual movement, a revival of religion, to heal the wounds of the war, to bring in a new era for 73 74 THE PRECEDING GOD every individual, for all churches and nations, for the whole world. We must first of all make a fresh start in prayer. Individuals and nations differ in many things, but they all pray. In the recent great war nearly all the dying soldiers — Americans, English, French, Italian, Russian, Polish, German— with their last words prayed. People differ in an extraordinary way as to their theories of prayer and of religion, but they all pray. Prayer is ever with us. There is the extreme ritualist bowing before shrines which seem to somje vain memorials. There is the Quaker, at the other extreme, sitting still in a bare room waiting for an inward spiritual movement. There are the followers of recent strange cults and theories who say there is no pain and no sin, but, nevertheless, they have their prayers. Agnostics and even so-called in- fidels in great emergencies pray. It is said that Voltaire in a terrific storm in the Alps fell upon his knees and prayed. In recent years an English sceptic in great anguish, cried out, " O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul." Prayer is ever with us. This fact that we cannot escape it just as a living man can- not escape breathing, is one of the proofs of the deep, inherent reasonableness of prayer. Of course there is mystery in prayer and its answer, but it is a blessed mystery of life and light. There is always mystery in life. We cannot explain just how the seed becomes the plant or how the tree absorbs the nourishment of soil and dew and sunshine and produces the crimson- hued apples. Prayer is inescapable because of the pathos and tragedy of life, because of man's weakness and dependence. None of us can escape the tragic element in life, seasons of overwhelming disappointment and per- sonal insufficiency, when our souls turn to God in- MAKING A FRESH START IN PRAYER 75 stinctively as our only refuge. Mrs. Browning's lines are absolutely true to the facts of human experience: Eyes, which the preacher could not school, By wayside graves are raised, And lips say, " God be pitiful," Who ne'er said, " God be praised." But prayer is with us always, likewise, because of the very grandeur of man's spiritual nature. Man's life is many-sided. Through the senses he has relationships with the physical world, through love and thought he has beautiful fellowships with humanity, and through his spiritual endowments and attainments he has communion with God. This is his supreme, most glorious life, the life of the soul, made in the likeness of God and made for God. An American poet has written as truly as the English poet just quoted: In the great primeval morn My immortal will was born, Part of that stupendous Cause Which conceived the solar laws, Lit the suns and filled the seas, Realists of pedigrees. These lines of the poet are simply an echo of Scripture affirmations : " God created man in his own image " ; " Also He hath set eternity in their heart." Thus, man is always seeking after God in prayer because of the very nature of his soul which is ever consciously, or uncon- sciously, reaching out after the great Father of spirits in whose likeness he was made. Surely we may say then that prayer is the most reason- able act of the human soul, in accord with the highest thought and noblest instincts, and founded upon the deep- est realities of life. From the facts of the world about 76 THE PRECEDING GOD us and of human nature and the teachings of history and of the greatest thinkers and saintliest souls and of the Bible we believe in prayer. From the fact of God we deduce the reasonableness and the inescap- ableness of prayer. If there be a God, then is it not in accord with the highest reason that he communicate himself, that he answer prayers? Power and goodness in nature and in humanity find their glory in responding, in giving. Think of how man's will and skill can alter the aspect of nature, changing the wilder- ness into the garden, developing the Japanese daisy into the splendid chrysanthemum. Why should it be thought strange that the great and good God should work changes in response to the cry of his trustful, obedient children? Jesus Christ, the holiest, wisest, best, most Divine One, was ever praying and ever urging us to pray and giving promises, encouragements, rewards for prayer. So in our text Jesus gives comforting and inspiring assurances to help us to fresh faith in prayer. Let us notice the elements and conditions of the prayer he em- phasizes. The promise is for persons on earth. Sometimes we feel that if we were lifted up above the earth, or if we knew more, we could pray better. At night, gazing sky- ward, we have thought that the inhabitants of the shining stars (if there be inhabitants yonder) doubtless prayed more acceptably than we poor dwellers upon this little planet. But this promise is for those struggling here upon the earth. It is not for the angels or for the re- deemed spirits. Perhaps in heaven all petition is trans- figured into praise, but here on earth our souls must con- stantly cry out in strong desire and supplication. This gracious promise is for those on the earth. What con- solation and inspiration! A state of dependence may MAKING A FRESH START IN PRAYER 77 mean a state of especial privilege. The youngest child, most feeble in strength, wins the tenderest care and solici- tude of the entire household. I saw a strong, loving father in a field covered with snow break a pathway for his children, but he stooped down and lifted the smallest child to his bosom and carried him high above all the obstacles in the way. It is said that, while John Bunyan loved all his family, he had a peculiar devotion for a little blind daughter. Jesus teaches that on the throne of the universe a Father sits, and here he tells us that petition to God is one of our peculiar privileges while on this earth, with all its toils and sorrows. God pities this earth with its sins and sufferings, broods over it with infinite love and compassion, and will answer in the wisest way every cry that goes up from even the lowest place. Oh, then let us while here on the earth realize anew that prayer, both petition and adoring communion, is our chief privilege and duty. Our Lord next tells us that this promise is for more than one, it is for two, it is for " two or three/' for united, associated, common prayer rather than individual, private devotion. There are blessings for private prayer, when we " shut the door " and in secret pour out our souls to God. But there is great stimulus to our faith and spiritual joy when united with others in our worship and petition. Coleridge in his most famous poem depicts the loneliness of " The Ancient Mariner " : Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. His loneliness was brought on him because he had sinned against love and, hence, he was unable to pray. 78 THE PRECEDING GOD But when he was restored to love he was able to pour out his soul to God. Jesus here emphasizes the value of human love and friendship as related to our fellowship with God. Here we have the basis for prayer-meetings, for family worship. How greatly the world needs as- sociated, united prayer today ! Think of the triumphs of such prayer with Elijah and Elisha, with Peter and John, with Paul and Silas, with Augustine and Monica, with Chrysostom and Anthusa, with Luther and Melancthon, with the two Wesleys, with Moody and Stanley, with the long list of prayer-meetings that have glorified church history and transfigured human lives and sent mission- aries of the Cross to the ends of the world. Our greatest need now is more unceasing prayer from hearts bound together in the fellowship of Jesus. More prayer-meet- ings, more family worship, more friendships and mar- riages inspired and glorified by prayer ! " Two or three/' " two or three ! " Jesus teaches here that prayer should be as broad as is human life, that it is applicable to every need and aspiration of the soul, for he says, " As touching anything that they shall ask." How wide and many-sided and rich! Nothing is too great and nothing too small for prayer. It is like the wide harbor, bearing on its bosom the great ocean steamships and also the little row- boats, it is like the majestic mountain with sufficient room for an army of men, with a shelter likewise for the little child. We should link prayer with everything — work, play, joy, sorrow, friends, foes, life, sickness, death, but above all with our spiritual growth. Prayer is intended chiefly for the seeking for the conscious presence of God in our souls, for the fellowship of the Divine with the human. God may often see that it would not be best for us to have the things which we seek, but he will give MAKING A FRESH START IN PRAYER 79 us always spiritual treasures better than all earthly things. He will give himself, thus giving everything really de- sirable and good. As the plant through its roots and leaves takes hold of the life-giving, nourishing forces of nature, as the machines in the factory are linked to the central power-plant, as the trusting, searching, toiling minds of students come in contact with the great treasures of human thought, somehow so in prayer we lay hold of God for anything and everything good for our highest life. He loves us so much and is so desirous of helping us that we do not have to overcome any willingness on his part. He is more willing to give than we are to ask — anything, everything that will be truly a blessing to us. But Jesus gives another striking word here which throws a bright light on prayer — the word " agree. " This supplication from two or three must come from hearts that are in loving harmony. The word agree is a remarkably rich and suggestive one in the original Greek, smnphoneo, from which we have our word symphony. We all know that a symphony is a concert, or musical entertainment in which a great variety of voices or of musical instruments, each preserving its dis- tinctive charm, blend in perfect, exquisite harmony. Per- haps here is suggested a reason why some of our prayers have not been answered. Hearts and voices have not symphonized in loving harmony. So the real spiritual beauty of the music of love has fled, so our prayers have not had power. A critical or unforgiving spirit cuts us off from God. As Coleridge wrote, "He prayeth best who loveth best." How may we have this symphony of love, this blend- ing of different personalities into sympathetic fellowship in prayer ? Christ gives here the sublime method, " For 80 THE PRECEDING GOD where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The actual presence through the Holy Spirit of the living Christ! Here is the secret and the source of the loving fellowship. Take the illustration borrowed from music again. In the con- cert, or symphony, there is the greatest variety of singers and of players upon different musical instruments. Each one has its distinctive note, its peculiar glory, but all are merged and glorified into a great river of rapturous song or a thrilling current of orchestral melody. But how? Through the musical genius of the leader or con- ductor of the orchestra. The eyes of all the singers and of all the players upon musical instruments must be fastened upon him and his waving baton and his gestures of direction and all must be in complete, instinctive accord. So, when our eyes are fixed upon Christ, when our longings and yearnings are toward him, when our wills are seeking conformity to his blessed will, then shall we have deep, loving fellowship with men and women, and then shall our prayers bring rich blessings. Jesus Christ is the great spiritual center of all the waves of human thought and emotion. He binds together in him- self all the joys, sorrows, hopes, aspirations of humanity, and as we abide in him we shall be in fellowship with our human friends near at hand and far away. Then shall our prayers have rich reward. For Christ gives us his promises, " It shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven." With what regal power, with what majesty, sweetness, and calmness Jesus speaks! No doubts, no fears, but the quiet, royal assurance, " It shall be done." This assurance is based on God's nature. He is the great spiritual reservoir of all love and wisdom and holiness, and it is his very nature to give out streams of blessing to all who yearn after him. He is the Life of MAKING A FRESH START IN PRAYER 81 our lives, the Soul of our souls. As the ocean continually presses its waters into all the little inlets and bays of the shore, so God is forevermore pouring out his spiritual treasures into human lives seeking him. Prayer is a part of God's law wrought into the life of things. Just as there is beauty where there is an eye to see and melody where there is an ear to hear, so God's most glorious gifts can only come into the souls that pray. The brightest pages in human history and biography have constantly illustrated and confirmed Christ's promise here. Reread- ing the biography of George Muller of Bristol, England, recently some of us have been impressed anew with the extraordinary accomplishments of this humble man, poor in almost everything that the world usually prizes. He becomes one of the greatest spiritual leaders and philan- thropists of modern times because of God's answers to his prayers. Muller said that the only explanation of his life was God's goodness in answering unceasing prayers concerning everything. The " London Telegraph " said at the time of Muller's death, " He robbed the crue'l streets of thousands of victims, the gaols of thousands of felons, and the workhouse of thousands of helpless and hopeless waifs." Muller's one solution for every trial and problem was, Prayer and still more Prayer. He prayed for more than fifty years for the conversion of five friends. In the highest and best sense every prayer is always answered. Poets like Shakespeare and Tennyson, phi- losophers like Coleridge and Sir William Hamilton, statesmen like Lincoln and Lloyd George, soldiers like Robert E. Lee and Sir Douglas Haig and a vast number of others have rejoiced in prayer. Jesus Christ himself was the supreme example of unceasing prayer fulness. The praying nations have been the most influential ones. 82 THE PRECEDING GOD The supreme moments and movements of history have been born in prayer. We are thinking now of the three- hundredth anniversary of the coming of our praying Pilgrim Fathers to this Western world to found a new commonwealth here. Well did Daniel Webster say of the " Mayflower," " Her deck was the altar of the living God." The greatest need of America, of each individual is more prayer. Prayer will bring in a new season of religious revival which will heal the wounds of the recent war. Prayer will be for us the channel through which the unspeakable spiritual treasures of God will pour in upon us. Then let us make a fresh start in prayer. Try it anew for yourself, morning, noon, and evening. Here is the safest refuge, the best inspiration, the secret of peace and joy and power. Let our watchword be, More prayer. Let us build anew the family altars in our homes. Let us give new devotion to the prayer-meeting services in our churches. Let us, as in other years of great religious interest, seek to have numerous small praying circles throughout the city. Let us build our friendships and all our human relationships around the thought of prayer, of communion with God. Then shall we have peace and joy in our own hearts, power over other lives, and the deep assurance of God's nearness. Prayerfulness is the secret of everything good and great. And the secret of prayer is in coming to Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. He says, " Come unto Me." He says again, " Him that cometh unto Me I will in nowise cast out." Come. Try him. Trust him. Then shall prayer become the habit of your life, the refuge of your soul. VIII CHRISTMAS AND HUMAN JOY A MEDITATION FOR CHRISTMAS MORNING " And the angel said unto them, Fear not : for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." — Luke 2 : 10. THAT is a pleasant little incident, touched both with humor and spiritual suggestiveness, in Lord Tenny- son's Memoir, of how the great poet visiting some humble friends of earlier years in the country, asked an old woman concerning the news. Her answer was, " Why, Mr. Tennyson, there's only one piece of news that I know, that Christ died for all men." Tennyson answered, " That is old news and good news and new news." So now, as the calm, bright light of the Christmastime shines into our lives, we are reminded that the supreme messages of the Christian facts and the Christian faith are old, yet ever to be translated into new experiences of the soul, and thus to become the best tidings possible for an immortal spirit. One old yet ever new and blessed truth is the ministry of Christmas to the joy of humanity. The intuition of little children and of the average normal man seizes hold of the truth in the greeting, " Merry Christmas." This is a thought which colors with beauty the memories of childhood which come to the aged. This is the ground of hope for the race in the sober thinking of philosopher and philanthropist — the historic fact that in most real and glorious sense God has through the 83 84 THE PRECEDING GOD Incarnation identified himself with humanity. The dom- inant note in the Scripture records of the birth of Christ and the dominant note of our wisest meditation and best faith concerning that event are the same. That note is joy, spiritual exhilaration, boundless hope. The birth of Jesus, the Divine Saviour, is, above all else, the source of humanity's richest, purest, most widely diffused happiness. " Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people," said the angel in announcing the birth of Christ, and each hastening year is a witness to the message. Let us think first of how deep is earth's need of joy. There is a natural craving in every heart for happiness. As the eye seeks the blue sky and the ear sweet music, so the soul instinctively reaches out after joy. From God and heaven, the home of bliss, came the soul, and it ever longs for its native element. The very follies and sins of man, as well as his goodness and high aspirations, testify to this deep yearning. But earth cannot give real, satisfying joy to an immortal spirit. Earth does give sorrow — sorrow from sin, from mistaken judgment, from loneliness, from toil, from sense of mystery, from death. Just in proportion as a soul is noble and finely strung can it suffer. Earth's need of peace and gladness was never greater than when this message of the angels came. Everywhere were moral corruption, intellectual unrest, spiritual gloom, heart-anguish. The quiet heavens seemed in their silent unresponsiveness to mock the prayers of the pious, faithful few. Injustice and savagery and lust were en- throned in the high places. There was Herod with his bloody sword. There was the Governor of Judaea, to whom the holiest memories and hopes of God's chosen people were but idle tales. There was the Imperial City CHRISTMAS AND HUMAN JOY 85 on the Tiber, where religion, home life, the worth of the individual, had gone down to seemingly irrevocable shame and ruin. Palestine, for many generations the theater of desola- ing wars, was a land of widows and orphans, of pauper- ism and disease, lying in the shadow of death and despair. After the passage of the centuries, humanity's need is just as great — even greater, for intellectual and spiritual progress only deepen and intensify yearnings and aspir- ations that reach beyond earth. Here still are the count- less petty annoyances that chafe the soul. Here still are the deeper sorrows that neither the lofty nor the lowly can escape. Here still are questionings Of sense and outward things, Fallings from us, vanishings; Blank misgivings of a creature Moving about in worlds not realized. And with us still is the problem of sin. How awful the problem and how dark, both for the individual and the race! It flings a black shadow over the past, it em- bitters the sweet waters of the present, it hangs lower- ingly over the future. In the ultimate analysis, the throb- bing heart of all the pathos and the tragedy in literature and in life, from David to Tennyson, from Paul to Browning, will be found to be sin, moral and spiritual dereliction. But on this shadowed background of earth's need, how brightly gleams the Christmas joy ! Read again, this very day, the Gospel narratives of the birth of Jesus, and see how a light that never was on land or sea transfigures the mother mild, the little Babe, the patient Joseph, the wor- shiping shepherds, and the poor Bethlehem manger. Count 86 THE PRECEDING GOD the times the angels say to anxious hearts, " Fear not." Let the two great words linked with this Saviour's work sink into your troubled heart — peace and joy. He, the divine Redeemer, came to bring us into peace and joy, here and now, and to bring peace and joy into us, into the central forces of our lives. As a historical fact, the Advent of Christ was an incoming of such joy to the world as earth had never known. So familiar are we with the blessings which he brought that we seldom pause to think that they are the direct sequences of his birth and life and great gospel of salvation. What are some of the streams of human joy that flow from this heavenly fountain whose crystal waters broke forth in little Bethlehem? In general, it is a sublime fact, which all historical in- vestigation corroborates, that with the coming of Christ into the world came also a new and majestic invigoration of all that was noblest in life, and the addition of heavenly truths and forces never before known among men. Hos- pitals, asylum,s for the distressed, schools, sprang up in the wake of the gospel. Singing and music, which had sunk to low and mournful measures, rose to high, exul- tant strains, so that one of the most striking characteristics of the early Christians to the heathen world was their songfulness. Eusebius, the ancient church historian, writes of how " from the beginning " the persecuted dis- ciples poured out their souls in hymns of praise to Christ, " calling him God." Tertullian, writing about the year 200, tells of how family life, formerly anguish-smitten, is now songful with gladness, between husband and wife " psalms and hymns resounding, as they mutually strive who shall best praise their God." New value to the individual was brought by Christ, so that all glorious possibilities were opened up to the hum- CHRISTMAS AND HUMAN JOY 87 blest men and women and little children, and they could not but rejoice. A new meaning was given to love. Motherhood, and childhood, and home life, and friend- ship, and the brotherhood of humanity — all received a fresh and heavenly interpretation, from which flowed sweet and solemn joy. This great and glad transfigura- tion of human love came as the sequence of the new revelation Christ gave of God's love. No rich joy is pos- sible for the heart unless there be a rich and joyful con- ception of God. Our souls are made for God, " incurably religious/' as Sabatier says, and cannot be normal or noble or glad until they rest in faith and hope upon the Almighty Father. Hence the ever-present sadness and gloom and terror of heathen lands. Not from nature and not from conscience comes a knowledge of divine com- passion and forgiveness. Till God in human flesh I see My thoughts no comfort find ; The holy, just, and sacred Three Are terrors to my mind. But the birth of Jesus tells forevermore of the yearning of God after the children of men, reveals a Father's heart on the throne of eternity, interprets creation, and sus- taining power, and law, and providence, and even retribu- tion, in terms of measureless love. Here, indeed, is a fulness of joy which ravishes the souls of those to whom it comes with newness of delight. The Bethlehem birth tells us that the divine thought touches every phase of human life and holds it precious. The divine Son became a man, entered into human toil and joy and sorrow. What Christ felt and did in his brief earthly ministry, in his relationship to man, that we are sure is God's attitude to the race always, and as the 88 THE PRECEDING GOD divine Son entered into human conditions for a season, forevermore are those conditions lifted up into all noble possibilities. The ever-present Christ, that glorious One who became a man and dwelt among us, still is present, still dwells where men preach and pray- — yes, and where- ever honest work is done and true hearts follow duty's star or bravely meet a thicket of difficulties. The divine immanence — this is one truth of recent emphasis fitted to enkindle perpetual cheer which the incarnation long ago taught. " Lo, I am with you alway " — beneath the rapture of the assurance men have sung at the stake, plunged into heathen darkness and death, been faithful in the least and most obscure places. He who in any true sense comprehends the meaning of the birth of our Lord never thinks of it as " a past, a dead relation " to humanity, but as a present force, a dynamic power, an abundant life spreading, multiplying, intensifying, and giving of its gracious peace and power to every receptive soul in every phase of life. But the highest height of the joy to which humanity is lifted through the birth in Bethlehem the angelic message makes emphatic — " a Saviour, for he shall save his people from their sins." Solve the problem of sin, and other prob- lems will vanish. Man is more than body, more than intellect; man is conscious, willing, and usually, alas! self-willing, sinning spirit. The question of the centuries with every thoughtful soul has been to banish the hob- goblin of one's erring past, to energize the present with purity and truth, to keep the future from being a copy of the past. But how? Said the greatest phi- losopher of ancient Greece, " Perhaps God can forgive sin, but I do not see how." Now comes the message of the angels — divine pardon, strength, power for all through the life and death and ever-present life of the Son CHRISTMAS AND HUMAN JOY 89 of Mary, the Son of God. Then comes man's best joy and exhilaration. Out from the prison-house of remorse and evil habit and weakened will, he is led to fair fields and blue skies and singing birds, but the brightness and song within his heart are greater far than any glory without. Well might a famous and once savage Indian chieftain say, in describing the rapturous gladness that filled his heart after accepting Christ's salvation : " On that day the world seemed all new and fresh to me. It seemed like a new creation. I looked around, and the trees and fields were so green, the lake was so blue, the sunshine so bright, the sky so glad! Oh, that was a handsome day on which God for Christ's sake forgave my sins ! " Well might the great scientist who discovered chloro- form reply as he did to one who inquired, " What was your greatest discovery, Sir James?" He responded, " That I am a sinner, and that Jesus Christ is my Saviour." Well may the poet write of the dimming of the soul's vision to all beauty by sin, and of the unveiling of all forms of delight to him who knows Christ's peace: If sin be in the heart The fairest sky is foul, and sad the summer weather, The eye no longer sees the lambs at play together, The dull ear cannot hear the birds that sing so sweetly, And all the joy of God's good earth is gone completely, If sin be in the heart. If peace be in the heart The wildest winter storm is full of beauty, The midnight lightning flash but shows the path of duty, Each living creature tells some new and joyous story, The very trees and stones all cast a ray of glory, If peace be in thy heart 90 THE PRECEDING GOD Well may that heart which, by true, adoring faith, has kid hold upon the strong Son of God, rejoice on Christ- mas Day and on all the days. Let us kindle anew, then, the fires of love and faith and hope in our hearts. Rather let us, in fresh and humble consecration, bring our hearts to the divine Lover of the soul, and he will rekindle the fires. True, we have not much to bring him. We are not wise men, as were they who of old from the East fol- lowed the star and presented rich offerings to the Saviour. All we have to give him, some of us may think, is frank- incense, the sweet-bitter tribute of repentant faith. But he will gladly receive whatever comes from sincere hearts, and will plant the flower of peace in our troubled lives, will put songs on our lips, will give contentment and courage and glad exhilaration. Let us carry the Bethlehem joy to others. Heaven give the true Christmas spirit, and then shall we give of it to the waiting world. So the Christmas anniversary tells each man and woman and little child of redemption from sin, of hope for the future, of a joy beyond all joy, be- cause of the measureless love and wisdom of Almighty God. It tells us to love and forgive, to trust and be calm, to see the golden thread of God's purpose in all the warp and woof of life, to be quite sure that this is God's world, to face each day with steady courage, to open the heart to all high and beautiful thoughts, and so to perpetuate within our souls the heavenly joy that throbbed in all the incidents of the Saviour's birth. IX GREATNESS OUT OF GENTLENESS " Thy gentleness hath made me great." — 2 Samuel 22 : 36. THESE words linger long in the memory, like a strain of music, sublime yet subtle ; like a picture, precious yet perplexing. Striking paradoxes are here: Greatness springing from gentleness, a warrior praising that which is most peaceable, the King of kings using the humblest spiritual force. So remarkable are the words and their setting that we find them twice recorded in the Bible, here and in the Eighteenth Psalm. It is David's autobi- ography. The kingly poet recites the record of his life, more romantic than any romance, more dramatic than any drama. Through it all runs the shining thread of divine deliverances. David tells of the august, high- sounding forces in his career — storm, fire, earthquake, war — but reaches the climax when he exclaims, " Thy gentleness hath made me great ! " We cannot unveil all the rich suggestiveness of the text, any more than we can describe the blush of the rose or imprison the perfume of the violet. Let us consider the gentleness of God with David. What do we mean, in general, by gentleness ? The word has no exact equivalent or synonym. Etymologically it refers to noble, honorable birth. Shakespeare often uses it in this sense, speaking of men of " gentle blood." Hence, gentleness refers to that which is refined, con- siderate, gracious, as distinguished from the rude and 91 92 THE PRECEDING GOD fierce and harsh. We speak of a hand with the subtle power of gentle touch, of a voice soft, gentle, and low, of a soul gentle because strong and broad and sympa- thetic. To understand the heart of gentleness, we must study the heart of Christ as revealed in the Gospels. St. Paul begins an ardent appeal to the Corinthians by say- ing, " I beseech you by the mildness and gentleness of Christ." The apostle himself in his life and words helps us to an understanding of the word, for, though like a great ball of fire in his impetuous courage and enthusi- asm, though a seer and philosopher in the majestic sweep of his thoughts, he was one of the gentlest of souls. Hear him tell of his ministry among the Thessalonians : " We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children; so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. . . Ye know how we dealt with each one of you, as a father with his ow w n children." But the gentleness of God with David has a wonderful meaning in the Hebrew word used. That word means in the original meekness, condescension, humbleness, or, more exactly, a stooping down, a bending low. How wonderful, how seemingly impossible, the humbleness of God ! The mighty oak bending to kiss the violet at its feet, the great thinker coming down in compassionate speech to the level of the half-witted child, the most high and holy Jehovah stooping in pity and love to lift up David. Out of the dark gulf of a seeming impossibility shines the glory of life's one great reality — the stoop of divine condescension and grace. The gentleness of God in bending down to bless and uplift David is seen in every stage of the inspired poet's career. Let us notice several aspects of it, GREATNESS OUT OF GENTLENESS 93 The gentleness of God was seen in the choice of David for his great work. You remember the coming of the great prophet Samuel to Bethlehem with his horn of anointing oil to call the future king. Man after man is brought before him, of the sons of Jesse, but God will not suffer him to anoint any of the tall, strong, handsome ones. Not until the youngest, the smallest in stature, the shepherd lad, David, comes forth, is the prophet allowed to choose the future king. In David's deliverances from his enemies we see the condescension and love of God. Goliath's sword, and Saul's javelin, and the hired murder- ers, and all the thickening troubles could not destroy or hurt him, because God's gentleness was enveloping him and keeping him. Especially in the treatment of David's sin shines forth the gentleness of God. How horrible was that many-sided sin, with its deceit, and lust, and murder ! We must not, however, judge it by the ethical standards of today; it is bad enough even on the dark background of those times. See the gentleness of God in that David was punished, and yet not overpunished. God treated his sin as something to be ever loathed and hated, but bent over the weeping sinner, as one to be ever forgiven and loved. So above, in the pathway of the penitent man, mercy and truth met together; righteousness and peace kissed each other. Ah ! in the gentleness of God with David, in this bend- ing low of the Eternal Soul, we have a great prophecy of that One who, being in the form of God, stooped to the form of a servant, and humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. When did the incarnation begin ? In the literal sense, with the beginning of our Christian era, with the birth of the Babe at Bethlehem. In a high spiritual sense, from the begin- ning of human history God has been pouring himself into 94 THE PRECEDING GOD men's souls and bodies. Well has the incarnation been called " the always intended culmination of the entrance of God into human history. ,, Let us see now how David's greatness sprang from God's gentleness. In studying the development of any life, we must consider both the external forces that touched and transformed it, and the inner spirit of the soul responding to the outside influences. David's soul was one quickly responsive to the gracious influences of God. Doubtless other lads had been called of God to great enterprises in David's time, but none was so respon- sive to divine condescension. To the touch of a great musician, one instrument will give forth only harsh dis- cord, while another will interpret the deepest thought of the artist with its rich melody. So we can see in the Scripture narrative how, after God had stooped to call David to future greatness through the prophet, his life broadened and deepened. The old world of humble duties with the sheep becomes a new world to his soul. A new vision of God, a new sense of the overbrooding, spiritual world, a new understanding of the essential truth beneath the shadows and circumstances of life — these come to David. This spiritual sense, this faith in God, must have grown greatly as he beheld the gentleness of God preserving him amidst all the strange dangers of his strange career. Robert Browning has suggested this growth of David in real greatness in his poem " Saul." David, with his harp and song, strives to quell the agony and madness of King Saul's brain. He plays the tune the quails love, then the song of the reapers, then the hymn for the dead, then the glad chant of the wed- ding. But no power to soothe or bless has the singer until, at last, a vision of divine grace rises before him, and far down the ages he beholds God's Son, and cries: GREATNESS OUT OF GENTLENESS 95 'Tis the weakness in strength that I cry for ! my flesh that I seek In the Godhead ! I seek and I find it. O Saul, it shall be A face like my face that receives thee ; a man like to me Thou shalt love, and be loved by, forever; a hand like this hand Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee ! See the Christ stand ! As the converging forces of God's providence lead David upward to the throne, we can mark his growth in spiritual qualities, prudence, courage, and breadth of vision. But most of all do we see the source of David's greatness in God's treatment of David's great sin, in connection with Bathsheba. The English prayer-book translates the " gentleness " of our text " loving correc- tion," and this well describes the words of Nathan to David revealing to him first the awfulness of his sin, and then opening a door of hope through the mercy of God. From this experience David goes on to his real greatness". What was the greatness ? Not that he was a brave war- rior, a wise king, a true poet. Many others have been as brave, as kingly, as full of the poet's rapture as he, and the swift years have blotted out their names and influ- ence. David's greatness is in the fact that he was great in his knowledge of God, rich in his spiritual life, mighty in his communion with the merciful Father in heaven. God's gentleness led him to this comprehension of the divine pity and grace, and the Eternal Love enthroned in David's heart poured itself forth in the rich, rapturous music of David's psalms. Men, ever seeking after God, are ever finding in David's words rich and comforting answers to their quest. Here, here is the unique great- ness of David. He sat at the feet of God and heard his message to his broken heart ; and so men are ever sitting at his feet and listening to his message. Some years ago a heathen was translating for a mis- 96 THE PRECEDING GOD sionary a little book on the way of salvation, and it is said that when he came to that part where it was told that Christ's disciples are allowed to call God Father, he was filled with greatest wonder. Could it be true? Could it be that the awful Being whom he had thought of as hav- ing a thousand hands, and in every hand a knife dripping with human/ blood, was indeed a loving parent? Filled with delight, he cried, " Let me write, they will be per- mitted to kiss the feet of God." Somehow so is our ecstatic wonder as we meditate on the greatness of David's revelation of God through God's gentleness with David. Whatever greatness we have is due to God's gentle- ness. Whatever it may be, it consists not in material, external things, but in the spiritual and the inward wealth. In your quick and broad thought, in high ethical purposes, in apprehension of the spiritual forces of life, in courage, patience, meekness, above all, in love for God and man — in these may be found your greatness, and these all come to us from the gentleness of God. More than that, all the love and tenderness of mother, wife, sister, husband, friend, come to us only as the reflections of the great sun of divine love. Our opportunities are from God's condescension, and so are our escapes from perils to body and soul. Looking back, how plainly we see that a force not our own directed us in some great crisis, how a small event was made the turning-point in our careers, just as a pebble will turn the path of a little stream either to go on in triumph to the bosom of the mighty river, or to be lost in the hot embrace of the sandy desert. F. W. Robertson had planned to enter the British army, but the barking of a dog one night started a most curious train of circumstances which GREATNESS OUT OF GENTLENESS 97 ended in his entering the ministry and becoming one of the most remarkable preachers of modern times. Especially do we see how God's gentleness with our sins has given us whatever greatness we may possess. Two things we thank him for as we look back, that he did not let them go unpunished, and that afterwards he revealed his pardoning grace, and held before our tear- ful vision the hope of high achievement still. You re- member Nathan's words to David, piercing his heart and convicting him of dreadful sin, " Thou art the man " ; but remember, also, Nathan's words immediately after, as he saw the penitent's tears, " The Lord also hath put away thy sin." So the Saviour told Peter that he would fall, but immediately after told him that he would rise again and a great work be committed to him. So has God dealt with us, and so have we come to praise him for his dealings, and to see that all we are is from the stoop of his loving correction. The character of an eminent English lord was summed up a few years ago at a London club by a well-known writer, who, on the nobleman's leaving somewhat early, remarked to a friend, " I have many friends who would be kind to me in dis- tress, but only one who would be equally kind to me in disgrace, and he has just left the room." Seldom, indeed, is such a friend found, and when found evermore must we love and serve him. So the gentleness of God subdues, inspires, finds, saves us. Then is our love and devotion forever God's, and God becomes supreme in the heart. That is the highest height of human great- ness. And what follows from all this? Let us be gentle. To be a Christian means more than to receive the divine grace and tenderness. Every true Christian passes from the stage of discipleship into that of apostleship ; he can- 98 THE PRECEDING GOD not rest until the message he has received from God is given forth to others. If we ourselves are to be great, are to make others great, it must be through the magic hand of gentleness. Let us be gentle with our fellows— in the home, in business relations, and especially with those who seem to have wronged us. Seamen pour oil on the stormy waves about their vessels when all other ways of riding the tempest seem in vain. The wisest of the ancients used in statuary and paintings to portray Persuasion with a crown upon her head. It is very easy to be gentle with our own faults, and very difficult to be gentle with the faults of others. Well said Mr. Beecher, u Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of friends." Let us be gentle in our work. The greatest workers are the ones who have the power of gentleness. The great artist is the one who can evoke from marble or from music the subtle elusive qualities of expression. The great thinker is he who can seize and express the delicate, exact phases of thought. The great soul helper is he whose touch is tactful and sympathetic, whose spirit is calm and soothing, and whose eye can ever see a rift in the clouds of sin and bitterness, revealing divine grace and hope for the most despairing soul. And let us evermore be praising and loving the great God, and be saying as a tender, yet triumphant, accompaniment to every experience of life, " Thy gentleness hath made me great." X CHRIST THE DOOR AN EXPOSITORY ADDRESS FOR THE MID-WEEK SERVICE " Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers : but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pleasure. ,, — John 10 : 7-9. OUR Saviour seems to have been partial toward the familiar, commonplace things of every-day life. Nearly all of his figures are drawn from sights observed by everybody. He does not change this style of speech in his discourse recorded in the tenth chapter of John, although his hearers are doubtless chiefly the scholarly Pharisees. The Model Teacher knew that these long- headed, long-bearded men would be more stirred by familiar illustration than by any learned, labored sen- tences. So he said, " I am the door." Immediately after- ward, Jesus refers to himself as the Shepherd. Let us not be surprised at the seeming mixture of metaphors. This is often the case where strong emotion and mighty truth struggle for utterance. Shakespeare makes the Prince of Denmark speak of " taking up arms against a sea of troubles." When great thoughts are throbbing in the soul, and the heart is at white heat, the lips hasten from one strong figure to another. Now, with the false teachers before him, and with the familiar 99 100 THE PRECEDING GOD picture in his mind of the sheepfold, the wall-enclosed place into which the flocks were gathered at night, Jesus says, " I am the door/' What associations must have gathered about the word " door " for our Saviour ! Fa- miliar with all the Old Testament, the sight of Noah's ark with its chosen household and its great door, closed by the mighty, merciful hand of God, would no doubt come be- fore him. (Gen. 6 : 16; 7 : 16.) Then there were the doors of the Temple, covered with gold by Solomon. Could our Lord ever forget that door of the humble home in Nazareth where most of his earthly life was spent? Laboring with Joseph the carpenter, he had doubtless m^ny times with saw and chisel and hammer made the door — so essential to human habitations. Now he says, " I am the door." The meaning of the words is as simple as it is sublime. As both the sheep and the shepherd must pass through the door of the fold in order to enter the place of safety, so only through Christ, as the entering-way, can men, — sheep and shep- herd, pupils and teachers— -enter into salvation and eternal security. When we were in Palestine we saw many little flocks and visited several sheepfolds. We were told that in that land it was the custom for the shepherd sometimes at night to lie down to sleep right across the entrance to the fold and thus to become literally the door. So our Saviour speaks of himself as the Door because he leads into refuge and protects us from danger. No doubt is left by our Saviour as to where he leads as the Door. He is the door to safety. " By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved." Does any one doubt our need of salvation? Why, all history is but a record of man's sin and consequent suffering, shame, remorse, death. No nation has yet been found without a deep and CHRIST THE DOOR 10. * terrible consciousness of sin. Witness the sacrifice and bloody rites to put away sin that exist today among heathen tribes. Study the four great periods of dra- matic poetry and find, as the central theme of them all, the presence of moral evil in the walk. Listen to Soph- ocles, and Dante, and Shakespeare, and Browning, and hear, in the midst of groans and tears and all terrible tragedies, of sin and its awful fruitage. Listen to the throbbing of your own beating heart as you sit alone with your conscience and your God, and review the record of your life. We need salvation ; we need a place that will cut us off from our sinful, woful past. Now Jesus is the door to just that place, a door shutting out the past. He blots out the past. He forgives the past. He asks not con- cerning the past if the heart be contrite and the repentance sincere. He shuts the door on the past and leads us into a broad place of peace and power for the present, of hope for the future. This is what Paul meant when he spoke of " the remission of sins that are past" (Rom. 3 : 25). This is what David meant when joyfully he cried, " As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us " (Ps. 103 : 12). This is the way our Saviour treated some of the unhappiest sinners whom he met. Hear him speaking to a poor, shipwrecked soul, despoiled of all its purity and beauty : " Hath no man condemned thee ? " " No man, Lord.'' " Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more " (John 8 : 11). Christ is the door leading to a place of large and delightful liberty. " He shall go in and out/' Here is a striking Eastern phrase, which in a vivid way brings before us the happy, free use of a dwelling by one who is entirely at home. (Compare Deut. 28 : 6; 31 : 2.) The 102 THE PRECEDING GOD phrase does not mean that the saved one leaves the fold of God's protection, but that he enjoys the most unre- strained service in the world, and the fullest repose in the home. As Westcott says, " he claims his share in the inheritance of the world, secure of his home." He is not held fast and fixed by petty, narrow, mechanical rules, but has written within him a great and safe govern- ing principle. He is the prisoner of Jesus Christ, but such bondage means wings for the feet and largest liberty for the soul. Christ is the door to a place of spiritual nourishment, for the saved one shall " find pasture." Christ not simply gives life, but he preserves it, and imparts it more and more. He says, " I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Salvation is the process of a lifetime. Entrance through the door into the fold is one act, but growth, nourishment, prog- ress in knowledge and holiness are for all the years here and for all eternity. Once in the fold, we find pastur- age in new conceptions of God, of man, of ourselves, and so, with an enlarging experience and a fuller enduement of the Holy Spirit, we move ever onward and upward in divine knowledge and fellowship. How our souls yearn after God! Robert Browning, in some of his ecstatic lines, endeavors to bring out this thirst of the soul for its Creator and Saviour : There's heaven above, and night by night I look right through its gorgeous roof ; No suns nor moons though e'er so bright Avail to stop me; splendor-proof I keep the broods of stars aloof; For I intend to get to God, For 'tis to God I speed so fast, For in God's breast, my own abode, Those shoals of dazzling glory, passed, CHRIST THE DOOR 103 I lay my spirit down at last. I lie where I have always lain, God smiles as he has always smiled; Ere suns and moons could wax and wane, Ere stars were thundergirt, or piled The heavens, God thought on me his child. But Browning and all the other great poets and preach- ers and gracious, saintly spirits who have brought God near to us, have themselves first been brought near to God by Jesus the great Saviour and Teacher and Master of our souls. Christ is the only door to the place of safety, freedom, and nourishment. He says, " By me," " I," H All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers/' We understand " before " here to refer to place, and not to time. So Christ means, All that have put themselves be- fore me, or between me and humanity, are thieves and robbers. Paul spoke of various doors, but he never re- ferred to himself as " the door." Other great teachers interest us. Aristotle moves us to think; Shakespeare and Milton please ; but Jesus finds us, lifts us, reveals to us life, and our own hearts, and God. We cannot save ourselves. When Richard Baxter lay on his death-bed, some one alluded to his great labors for Christianity. " Ah," cried the dying man, about to enter the saints' Rest of which he had written, " don't talk to me about works. Alas ! I have dealt in them too much already." This door may be entered by " any man." It is not a golden, shining gate for the rich only. It is not a way for the poor only. It is not for a single class, or condi- tion, or nation. It is for any and for all. There is not a teacher nor a scholar so good as not to need admittance through it. Through this door have passed patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, some of whom had 104 THE PRECEDING GOD been wrecked and ruined by sin, but saved by mighty grace. Thank God for the little word " any." It fs elastic, and stretches the great world around. The door must be entered by us. "If any man enter in." A door may require only the touch of a child's finger to open it, but it will stay closed until the needed pressure is upon it. Or, the door may be opened, and yet action must be taken by man if he would escape the out- side danger. We ourselves must enter the door for our- selves. It is not thought, nor doctrine, nor weighing the difficulties, that we need, but action — action immediate, simple, direct. Straight to the door! Enter now! The Greek word for door meant originally a way through which one rushes, hastens. That is what we need to do. To Christ the door — hasten, hasten! And the place of safety to which the door leads is the porch, the antechamber to the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. John Bunyan, looking through Jesus our door, had a vision of this place when he wrote : " Just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in after them, and behold, the city shone like the sun ; the streets were also paved with gold, and in them walked many men with crowns on their heads, and golden harps to sing praises withal. And after that they shut up the gates, which, when I had seen, I wished myself among them." PART II ADDRESSES A KNIGHT OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY * TENDER and strong are the words with which Thomas Hughes describes the return of Tom Brown, the man, to Rugby, the scene of school days. Late in the evening he stands in one of the lecture-rooms, and as the shadows fill the room, a swift procession of familiar figures from by-gone days passes before him — his com- rades in sports and study, his professors, and towering above them all, the strong, tender, serene face of the head- master, Thomas Arnold. Tom Brown, on bended knee, and with fast-flowing tears, yearns for the privilege of living over his schoolboy days, thanks God for the lessons learned then and since, and prays God to make his life worthy of the teachers he has had. Somehow so must be the feeling of the alumni of this institution, gathered here this evening. Mingled regret and rejoicing, tender- ness and thankfulness fill our hearts. Here is the same old chapel, above us the same lecture-rooms and society- halls — places of many keen mental struggles — and higher still the same bell whose messages were more varied to us than even Schiller's Bell to the German heart. Here some of the wise, faithful teachers at whose feet we sat and, alas, only the memory of some others who have gone before the Divine Teacher. Here the same grand old man — no, grand young man — at the head of the faculty, 1 Address before the alumni of Richmond College, at the public com- mencement exercises of the college, Richmond, Va. 107 108 THE PRECEDING GOD only more eloquent, more beloved than ever. Here our same alma mater — her face somewhat worn and weary perhaps, with the passing* years, but all the more our mother, our dear mother, serene with a " light that never was on land or sea/' The speaker of the evening is painfully aware that the past has anticipated us in all possible themes for such an occasion as this. A well-known anecdotist was placed by the side of an eminent Chinese official at a banquet in San Francisco with the request that he relate his best stories. At the close of the banquet, the distinguished Chinaman turned to him and said : " Belly good lies- come all the way from China." This evening I invite your consideration of a theme coming to us from a distant land and somewhat distant time, " John Knox, a Knight of the Sixteenth Century." None who cross the Atlantic can forget the first sight of old Scotia's hills as they lift themselves out of the water, shaggy, solemn, bold. Yonder is the island where in an old castle, Robert Bruce beheld the spider whose perseverance kindled fresh courage in his soul. That long peninsula is Cantyre, immortalized by Sir Walter Scott in M The Heart of Midlothian." Hastening up the Clyde our souls are at a white heat of enthusiasm, stirred by the human interest, the wealth of historic, poetic, ro- mantic associations. For these associations Scotland is chiefly indebted to our Knight of the Sixteenth Century — the preacher, the statesman, the warrior, the flaming patriot, the God-filled man — John Knox. Consider what was going on in the world when John Knox was born in 1505. In praise of our own century we constantly take for granted that no other period in history has been so full of great mental and spiritual forces. I make bold to assert that there have been at A SIXTEENTH CENTURY KNIGHT 109 least two centuries more agitated and more marvelous with new life and new spiritual forces than ours. One of these was the sixteenth century — an age of blood and blessing, of darkness and light, of hoary superstition and iconoclastic progress, a time of the discovery of a new world, of a rich outburst of learning, of the utilizing of the mariner's compass, gunpowder, and the printing- press — most of all, a time when the people began to think for themselves, and when God's word fell into the hands and hearts of those who for hundreds of years had been kept from it by civil and ecclesiastical tyranny. Spain and Portugal have covered the seas with their ships, and a stream of gold is pouring into their coffers from India, Guinea, Mexico, Peru, yet in the midst of indescribable opulence Spain and Portugal are on the brink of ruin. All through Northern Europe there is an unspeakable weariness of the forms and falseness of the Roman Church, and a passionate yearning for a higher, better life. All this latent spiritual hunger and thirst is brought to sudden conspicuity by Luther's denunciation of In- dulgences, nailed to the gate of the Castle church in Wittenburg, October 31, 1517. Nowhere did Luther's voice awaken such a response as in England. There the clergy had sunk into unspeakable immoralities and abom- inations. Henry VII had been compelled to pass an act to regulate their " adultery, fornication, incest, or other fleshly incontinency by committing them to ward and prison, there to remain for such time as shall be thought convenient for the quality of their trespasses." (These are the words of the law.) During the reign of Henry VIII, of Edward VI, and of Bloody Mary, England is a great battle-ground of virtue, aspiration, growing knowl- edge, God's Spirit struggling with intrenched wickedness, ecclesiastical blindness, and the spirit of the devil. The 110 THE PRECEDING GOD yoke of the Pope is thrown off, only to be laid on more heavily for a few years. Tyndale's New Testament is scat- tered broadcast among the people, and then the bishops gather up all the copies of it they can find and make a great bonfire with them in St. Paul's churchyard. Catho- lics burn and torture and hang and quarter Protestants, and Protestants quarter and hang and torture and burn Catholics. Tell me not of the good old times! Oh the bad old times when Smithfield was lurid with flames, when the streets of Paris were red with Huguenot blood, when John Calvin killed Servetus, when the bodies of the martyrs fed the flames'. In the midst of these times Elizabeth begins her great reign in England, and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, begins her public career in Scotland. Upon this stormy period, and in the stormiest of lands appears John Knox. Born near Haddington, Scotland, in 1505, the details concerning the first half of his life are meager. His parents were exceedingly poor. At sixteen he came under the influence of Dr. John Major at the University of Glasgow, and that influence changed all his life. What cheer for the faithful teacher ! Knox left the University without taking any degree. Degrees are good, but there are those who take degrees and never take anything else. For eighteen years Knox was a Roman Catholic priest, but the influence of the life and death of George Wishart, a popular preacher who was burned at the stake by Cardinal Beaton, snapped the ecclesiastical chains that prisoned him, and led him into the ranks of the Reformers. He preaches and teaches for more than a year with such power against Romanism that one of his old friends said, " Others lopped off the branches of papistry, but he strikes at the root to destroy the whole/' This was characteristic of Knox. He is A SIXTEENTH CENTURY KNIGHT 111 arrested and spends about two years in great suffering as a galley-slave in France. Escaped from imprisonment, he is for ten years an exile from Scotland. He adopts John Calvin's views, avoids the Book of Common Prayer, preaches in England and on the Continent, and shows himself to be the first great Puritan and Non-conformist. On the second of May, 1559, Knox returns to Edin- burgh, and the great period in his life begins. For twenty-five years Scotland had been the theater of the most desperate political and ecclesiastical struggles. France, England, and two great home factions were contending for supremacy. The Roman Church had descended to even deeper depths than in England. But a mighty spiritual movement was at work among the masses. Tyndale's New Testament and the works of Luther and Calvin were bringing light and hope to many weary hearts. Long time the only answer to their yearnings had been the prison, the gallows, the hissing flames. They were waiting for some man big enough, brave enough, Godlike enough to lead them over the ruins of a false church into light and liberty. Just as Knox reached Scotland public proclamation had been issued against all Reformers, four of their preachers were im- prisoned, and Walter Mill, a godly man, eighty-two years of age, was burned at the stake. About the ashes of this holy man gathered the people under the lead of Knox for the first time, who made open profession of their devotion to the Reformation, called upon their ministers to preach and administer the ordinances in public, and denied the right of government and prelate to interfere with their worship. The critical hour had struck, the battle had begun. On the one side the government, the arrogant church, untold wealth, on the other side a handful of obscure people and God. The Reformers resolve to set 112 THE PRECEDING GOD up public worship, and Knox announces that he will preach on the ninth of July at St. Andrews. The Arch- bishop sends him this message : " In case John Knox presented himself at the preaching place, he should make him to be saluted with a dozen culverins whereof the most part would light upon his nose." Notice Knox's answer to his friends, who would have dissuaded him, and to the Archbishop: "As for the fear of danger that may come to me, let no man be solicitous, for my life is in the custody of Him whose glory I seek, and therefore I can- not so fear their boast or tyranny that I will cease from doing my duty." The Protestants choose him as their minister for St. Giles Cathedral, and from now on he is the moving spirit, the protagonist of the Scottish Refor- mation. His illustrious career is brought before us in three buildings — still standing in Edinburgh. The first is St. Giles Cathedral. Here was his throne. Here he preached sermons that changed the thought, emotion, the life of Scotland. He denounced Queen Mary, her life, her morals, her political schemes, her opposition to truth. A great burning torchlight he was in his preaching, whose light flashed all over Scotland — a political, sensational preacher ! Another of the buildings linked with his fame, Holy- rood Palace. Were there ever more dramatic scenes than those meetings of the Reformer and Mary Queen of Scots ? Mary's political sagacity was scarcely inferior to Elizabeth's, and the testimony of Froude is that Knox alone penetrated her traitorous designs. His interviews there were marked by wonderful diplomacy and courage. One of them was especially notable in which, unable to silence him, she cries, " Who are you in this common- wealth ? " His answer is the very essence of the demo- A SIXTEENTH CENTURY KNIGHT 113 cratic spirit: " A subject born within the same, madame, and, albeit I be neither earl, lord, nor baron in it, yet has God made me a profitable member within the same. Yea, madame, to me it appertains no less to forewarn of such things as may hurt it, if I foresee them, than it doth to any of the nobility." The third edifice is the old stone building on the Canon- gate, opposite St. Giles. Here Knox lived. Here shone delightful domestic virtues. No Calvinistic gloom was his. His love for wife and pathetic devotion to child were touching. In his cellar was the cask of wine. He was a granite mountain, but sweet flowers grew on the mountain. He was in power like a great ocean wave, but on that wave there were sunbeams. Most of all, here John Knox prayed. From yonder upper room was heard at midnight the thrice-repeated cry, " O God, give me Scotland or I die. ,, Well might Queen Mary say, " I fear the prayers of John Knox more than an army of twenty thousand men/* Over his dead body lowered to the grave, the Earl of Morton said : u Here lieth a man who in his life never feared the face of man ; who hath been often threatened with dagge and dagger, but yet hath ended his days in peace and honour. n Yet John Knox did fear — and this was the root of his whole life — he feared God, He feared God so much that he feared man not at all. Glance at some of the fruits of Knox's career. He brought to powerful and practical dimensions the new spiritual life that had been long at work among the people. He banished Romanism from Scotland, and helped to save and purify whatever good was in Romanism in other places. He lifted the standard of morals in his country higher than it had ever been before, and gave a new spiritual fiber to Scotch character which has ever 114 THE PRECEDING GOD marked it since. To him more than to any other man is it due that England and Scotland were united. Henry VIII and Edward VI and other kings and statesmen had attempted this, but John Knox alone accomplished this most signal triumph. He did it by making the* spiritual life of the Scottish people at one with one spiritual life of the English, and so under James I the two nations, for centuries plunged in fierce warfare, became one. To John Knox the United States owes an unspeakable debt of gratitude, because he plead for separation of Church and State, he asserted the right of the individual to wor- ship God in accord with the promptings of his own conscience. It was the spirit of John Knox that sustained the hearts of the Independents in England when James I said, " I will harrow you out of the land or worse," and enabled them to say: O King, your face we fear not; And for your threats we fear not ; And come to your liturgy we dare not. The spirit of John Knox animated the men who sailed on the Mayflower, guided the hand of the Monticello sage as he wrote the Declaration of Independence, in- flamed the soul of the peerless man, who in St. John f s Church in this city, sounded the keynote of the struggle for American liberty. Shall we not say that the noblest achievement of John Knox was this? He gave a new value and glory to the individual man. He wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth, in which he taught the right of the humblest subject to think, to judge, to speak. To Queen Mary, the representative of feudalism and absolutism, he dared assert that the common people were of more value than all the lords and earls and princes in the kingdom. He asserted the inherent nobility of man, no A SIXTEENTH CENTURY KNIGHT 115 matter where he is found, and democracy owes him an incalculable debt. There could have been no Robert Burns but for John Knox. Touch the hand, feel the throbbing heart, behold the stern yet heavenly face of John Knox in the most immortal lines of Robert Burns : What though on homely fare we dine, Wear hoddin* gray and a* that ; Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine — A man's a man for a' that, For a 1 that and a 1 that, Their tinsel show, and a' that; The honest man, though e'er sae poor, Is king o' men for a* that. There are three practical suggestions, lessons that come to us from this knight of the sixteenth century. First, we have here a man's noblest education — contention with difficulties. John Knox's life was one fierce, prolonged struggle against tremendous odds and obstacles. Poverty, failure to take his college degree, spiritual and intellectual doubt in the Roman Church, and at last severance from that Church, exile, the pain and weariness, of a galley- slave, years of unremitting conflict with prelates, states- men, imperial sovereigns — these were some of the diffi- culties our hero met. But it was this very school of conflict that made him such an alpine height in the moral and intellectual landscape. Mind was made penetrating, powerful, will changed to iron, courage became granite- like, his peculiar, individual gifts brought forth faith in the reign of righteousness and truth, and God was made supreme. What a lesson this is for us all! These are the days for making things easy. We hear of quick, easy methods in education. We are told of mastering German in six weeks, and French in four weeks, of " Logic for the Little Ones," of " Botany for Babes." Away with 116 THE PRECEDING GOD such conceptions of culture. There can be no education without sweat; — sweat of body, or sweat of brain, or sweat of soul. The noblest factor in education is struggle with difficulty/ Thus come power of patient concentrat- ing thought, a keen penetration, breadth of vision. More still — a daring determination to do great things. There is inspiration to a man in the expectation of others that he will do great things; but there is also mighty inspi- ration in that haggard-faced difficulty, the absence of such expectation. Most of all, difficulties develop a man's peculiar powers and gifts and assign him to his right sphere. All hail to the ones who are confronted with the stern schoolmaster difficulty. The great Adam Clark was called " a grievous dunce " ; Walter Scott was labeled by a professor at Edinburgh University, " Dunce he is and dunce he will remain " ; Thomas Chalmers was expelled from the School of St. Andrews as an incorrigible dunce ; Wellington was very dull as a schoolboy. Think of Galileo tortured, Columbus in chains, Dante an exile, Wagner ridiculed, George Whitefield blacking the boots of Oxford students, William Cullen Bryant all his life con- tending with painful nervousness and remarkable infirm- ities. But it w&s just these hard struggles that educated, educed, made these men so illustrious. Songs out of the darkened cage, perfume from the bruised flower, flashing jewel leaping from the riven rock. Make way then for the discouraged, the defeated youth, the poor boy, the struggling soul. Sursum corda. Lift up your hearts, all you who are passing through the school of difficulty. Another lesson is that we have suggested here an educated man's noblest duty — hospitality to new ideas, pursuit after truth. John Knox, in his friendship to fresh thought, in his search after truth, was willing to leave the A SIXTEENTH CENTURY KNIGHT 117 church of his childhood, all his friends, everything that made life precious, was willing to brave exile, prison, and death. And this was a great characteristic of the Scotch people who followed him. There was a deep longing for real, vital, fresh truth. They wanted reality, truth in preachers, in worship, in life. Well might each one of those souls, longing for essential truth, have cried out : 'Tis life, not death, for which I pant, 'Tis life, whereof my nerves are scant, More life and fuller that I want. Now, the noblest duty of a man who thinks, is to seek after truth in practical life, in science, in politics, in philosophy, in theology. The old is good, past concep- tions are glorious. You say, Give me the old sun and stars, the old mountain, the old ocean. Yes. But remem- ber how men's views have changed concerning the sun and stars and solar system, and what was astronomical truth hundreds of years ago is no longer astronomical truth. Think of how our knowledge of the structure of the mountains and the nature of the ocean have changed with investigation. Let us remember how slow men have been to receive anything new. The world's wisest proph- ets have always been treated at first as fools and fanatics. When coal was first brought to London a law was enacted to make the use of it a capital crime. The first shipload of ice brought to New Orleans was driven away by an armed mob. Remember that truth does not lie at either extreme or between the extremes, but in the combination of the extremes. Oh, the breadth and greatness of truth, larger than any mind or any Christian communion, or any system of philosophy! It is like the massive moun- tains, like the great lakes, like the immeasurable ocean, like the blue sky, like God, And who are you who 118 THE PRECEDING GOD thinkest to possess completely the ocean of truth in your thimble-soul ? Mr. Chauncey Depew is reported to have said that there were not four hundred men in New York who did any political thinking. How many of us do any real thinking in any domain of thought? How many are open to the fresh thought with which science, theology, and soci- ology are throbbing today? How many who say, Let in the light? How many who rejoice in the new light being brought for the illumination of God's Holy Word from archaeologist, ethnologist, and higher critics ? Great Socrates and Plato in their quest after truth put to shame some of us who profess to follow Him who promised that we should, if receptive in heart, be led into all truth! Michael Angelo in his extreme old age invented a device which represented an old man in a moving cart, holding an hour-glass, with the inscription, " Ancora imparo " — " Still I am learning." Oh that all the students and alumni of this College may ever be hos- pitable to truth, be still learning while life lasts. Thirdly, we have suggested a nation's noblest prod- uct — great souls, men and women devoted to lofty, spiritual forces. Scotland has never given to the world much material wealth. Her fields have always been sterile and barren, her commerce limited, her manufactories, until recently, few. Her territory is so small that the end of your little finger will hide it on the map of the world. But she has been the nursing mother of great souls — men wedded to lofty spiritual ideals, and of world-conquering genius : a Bruce and a Wallace, a Sir William Hamilton and an Adam Smith, a Walter Scott and a Robert Burns, a John Knox and a Thomas Chalmers and a Thomas Carlyle. Thus, Old Scotia, small, barren, bleak, rugged, through the lofty genius of her sons lords it over the uni- A SIXTEENTH CENTURY KNIGHT 119 versal human heart. Shall we not take the lesson to ourselves in these days when we are in danger of measur- ing men and morals and all things by the money standard? Bigness is not greatness. It was said at the Paris Exposition that the exhibition from the United States was a marked success in material inventions, but that there was " absolutely no evidence of a high artistic and literary life " among us. Years ago Thomas Carlyle said that America simply meant roast turkey every day for everybody. In this old commonwealth, the mother ol so many illustrious souls in the past, let us always remem- ber that one true faithful man devoted to high thinking and high living is a nobler product than all the coal and iron of our mines, all the wheat and corn of the fields. The lowliest day laborer, the humblest child, is worth more than all the bright procession of the stars because that child, that man can think, can choose, can be made a partaker of the divine image. Oh the gift of thoughtful, spiritual men and women to the world! Cadmus never dug a mine or opened a ledger, but he introduced the sixteen letters into Greece and so did more for her than all her warriors. Athens never had a telephone or a tele- graph instrument, yet Athens is still girdling the world with electric messages. Socrates and Plato never traveled on a railroad train, but their great messages will never cease to travel among the nations. Martin Luther and John Knox gave to their countries no commercial meth- ods, but they did give to the world the right of private judgment. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson built no railroads, organized no oleomargarine factories, developed no mammoth business trusts, but they did lay the foundations of a new empire, and hew out the way for a mighty nation. It is hardly possible to exaggerate the perils confronting 120 THE PRECEDING GOD our nation. The rapid increase of wealth and of poverty, the massing of population in a few great centers, the misgovernment of our cities, the abuse of the franchise, the millions of foreigners of the worst type that are being brought to our shores — who can forecast the outcome of it all ? Our only hope lies in the develop- ment of a high mental and spiritual life among rich and poor. Devotion to high spiritual ideals, to duty and to God — this will save us and only this. How great then is the work of all educators, how supremely important to recognize and to seek the divine leadership. Victor Hugo, describing the battle of Waterloo, makes this com- ment on Wellington's victory : " Was it possible that Na- poleon should win this battle? We answer, no. Why? Because of Wellington? Because of Blucher? No. Be- cause of God. * * * *. Napoleon had been impeached by the Infinite, and his fall was decreed. He vexed God. ,, What a work awaits each of us. There is an old game that for centuries the boys of Scotland have played. At night a company of them go out with lighted lanterns fastened at their waists but securely covered with cloaks. When they and their friends have reached some dark lane or thick forest or dangerous marsh, and there is fear of accident, their cloaks are thrown back, and, lo, from every one a light flashes forth. So, O men and brothers, may we be torch-bearers through all the years to come, sending out from mind and heart a clear, pure light. II POETRY AND LIFE x EDUCATION means the broadest, richest life of the soul. It is not simply the drawing out of what is within a man, but also the bringing of great life-giving, spiritual forces into contact with the soul. There have always been those who scoffed at poetry, or considered it as good only for the embellishment of life, or thought it of value only for literary people. Men forget that what- ever ministers to the highest beauty must minister to the highest and best life. Many of the great poets have been men of affairs, intensely practical in their comprehension of every-day life. What is the meaning or nature of poetry ? Among the elements usually thought to be fundamental to it are im- passioned feeling, lofty imagination, and the artistic use of language. The most philosophic, brief definition is found in one word — the poet is a seer. He is the one who beholds true and essential life, and then makes others see it. By aid of the divine gift of the imagination and the spiritual quality of his powers, he sees all of the phe- nomena of life in their true and lofty and eternal rela- tionships. In nature, history, and the individual man, everything is significant, everything related, everything working toward a divine end. Further, the poet has the power of putting his vision into such vivid, thrilling, artistic, rhythmical language that we behold with ecstatic 1 Notes of address before the Literary Societies of Richmond College, at commencement exercises. 121 122 THE PRECEDING GOD hearts what he has seen. So Robert Browning sympa- thetically writes : What does it all mean, poet? Well, Your brains beat into rhythm. You tell What we felt only. Wordsworth, Burns, Tennyson, Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Dante, and Milton give thrilling messages concerning God and man, duty and beauty, nature and immortality. Milton and Tennyson are two of the poets to be especially studied (not merely to be glanced at hur- riedly) by young people. Milton was one of the grandest of the Puritans and by his intellectual weapons did as much for the cause of liberty as Cromwell did with his " Ironsides." Milton is one of the greatest leaders of humanity that the Baptist denomination has given to the world. He wrote one of the first books explaining and defending the scriptural- ness of the Baptist position. He believed that the Bible was the all-sufficient rule in matters of religious faith and practise, that the members of a church should be spirit- ually regenerated and that there should be absolute free- dom for every individual to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. We usually think of Milton as the immortal poet and the author of some of the most beautiful and sonorous prose in the English language, but he was also a great republican leader, fighting for religious and civil liberty and making possible such a republic as the American commonwealth. His character was of crystalline purity, beauty, and winsomeness. It is a mistake to think of him or of other great Puritan leaders as narrow, or melancholy in spirit. A broad sympathy for goodness wherever found and an unfailing optimism characterized POETRY AND LIFE 123 Milton. His joyousness of soul sprang from his sublime faith in God. All his writings are full of the Bible, its great truths and its literary style. We may truly say that but for the Bible there would have been no " Para- dise Lost " and " Paradise Regained," and no Milton. There are two characteristics of the real poet. He sees into the heart of life, beholding its rich and subtle and spiritual meanings and suggestions. Then he expresses his vision in exquisite, powerful, well-nigh perfect lan- guage which haunts the memory. Judged by these two standards, Tennyson was the master singer of the last generation. The son of an English clergyman, Alfred Tennyson, while a man of the world, was deeply religious and struck a lofty spiritual note in all his poems. Although very human and possessing not a little shrewd- ness and fun, he was always a seeker after truth and God, loving the Bible, reverencing Christ, meditating pro- foundly on the great problems of life. He was indeed a most Christian poet, although it should be quickly added that no other poet of our times so struggled with modern doubts and intellectual per- plexities as did Tennyson. His supreme work, " In Me- moriam," is a record of those struggles. All life to him was religious, and the background of his poems was God and eternity. His chief themes are the natural world, the human soul, loving service, God's goodness, Jesus Christ, death, the future of the human race. In moments of defeat or sorrow or intellectual perplexity, Tennyson's lines come to the soul like a heaven-sent message bidding us to follow the gleams of duty and love and God's provi- dence, to press ever forward and upward. The mighty influence of poetry on life may be seen from the very nature of the poet as a seer, from the fact that the earliest literature of all nations 124 THE PRECEDING GOD ** has been poetry, from the related fact that the supreme teachers of the supreme nations have been the poets — Homer and Greece, the Niebelungen Lied and Ger- many, Dante and Italy, Shakespeare and England— and from the fact that poetry gives an impulse to the individual life. Poetry is the literature of power, of inspiration, and so is to the soul what the steam-engine is to the vessel, what the wind is to the sails, what the fire is to the candle, what the sun is to the flower. The poet reveals everything in its noblest essence, invests the com- monplace with majesty and beauty, preserves the dewy freshness of the morning to the midday and evening of life. The great poets are ever full of a glad enthusiasm, a serene optimism. To them all service is done beneath the great Taskmaster's eye, and all drudgery is divine. Hence every high and spiritual thought or word or deed is a response to the poetic impulse. The wonder of the child at sun and moon, the patience of the mother, the rejection of the demagogue by the voter, the devotion of the patriot in bloody battle, the vigilance of the re- former, the rapture of the saint in meditation on heavenly things — these all are witnesses to the influence of poetry on life. Cultivate a taste for poetry. Those who do not care for it are the ones who especially need it. Business men, and those who have much to do with the material aspects of life, should particularly cultivate a taste for poetry. Thus will come a widening of our horizons, new circles of sympathy and vision, refreshment and exhilaration to the soul, and a glorious background to our daily struggles. Cultivate a fondness for some of the difficult poets, such as Browning. Make a few of the great poets beloved companions by familiarity with their lives and their writ- ings. Reproduce the truth and the picture in memory, in POETRY AND LIFE 125 our own imagination, and in character and deeds. Fol- low the upward flight of the poet. The thought, the emotion, the aspiration of all true poetry is upward, on an ascending scale. Of our labors, pleasures, conceptions of duty, plans of life, interpretations of truth, thoughts of God, the poet is ever saying, " Higher, higher, higher." Let us hear his voice and obey his call, and translate poetry into life and incarnate spiritual visions in daily needs. Ill LINCOLN AND WASHINGTON * IT is a remarkable fact that the anniversaries of the birth of both Washington and Lincoln occur in the same month. It is also remarkable that these two greatest leaders of our nation were gifts of the South. As a native of the South, I count it a rich privilege to pay here my tribute of love and reverence to Lincoln. I cannot forget that he and his ancestors were natives of the South. Lincoln was in a peculiar sense a gift of the South to our nation and to the whole human race. He had certain characteristics that belong to the best men and women of that section — humor and pathos, tremen- dous earnestness, fondness for public life, breadth of sym- pathy, faith in God. Living in Virginia until manhood, I never heard anything but praise and admiration for the martyred president. The most eloquent tribute I ever heard paid to Lincoln was made by the late J. L. M. Curry, of Richmond, a member of the Confederate Con- gress, a colonel in the Confederate army, and in recent years United States ambassador to Spain. When one attempts to eulogize Lincoln he is at once bewildered, his theme is so great and many-sided. A whole literature has sprung up concerning Lincoln. It seems to me there is one word which holds all the attri- butes of Lincoln together — faith. He had faith in him- self, faith in his mission, faith in his country, faith in 1 Address before Patriotic Societies at the First Baptist Church, Rochester, N. Y., February 7, 1909. 126 LINCOLN AND WASHINGTON 127 God and in the final triumph of righteousness. Young men, emphasize this in your study of Lincoln. As presi- dent, as emancipator, as a man, he had faith in himself and in his mission and in God. Lincoln's father was not only poor, but he had no am- bition. He was a man with low aspirations. Lincoln's mother was of the same type. His father and mother were of the earth, earthy. The stepmother who came into the home later was the one who sowed the first seeds in Lincoln's heart, which later blossomed. I wish I might impress the picture of Lincoln in his boyhood lying by the fire, with no paper, no ink, no pen, trying to learn to write. He would take a piece of wood from the fire and with the charcoal trace his name. By the light of the same fire he read the biography of George Washington, and the sleeping aspirations of his heart awoke to life. Nothing is more beautiful than Lincoln's great tender- ness of heart. His stooping down to pick up a young bird that had fallen, to put it back in the nest, is a par- able of his whole life. He was always stooping down to lift up some one who had fallen. In early boyhood when he saw a young mulatto girl put up for auction, saw the men walk around her, pinch her flesh, look into her face, and saw in the future that girl's moral degradation, he said, " If the time ever comes when I can hit slavery I'll hit it hard." He had faith in that girl. He believed that truth might be carried again and again to the scaf- fold, yet finally be set on the throne. If ever there was a Christian, Lincoln was one. I used to hear people ask in my early days, c Was Lincoln a Christian ? ' A Christian is one who loves God and humanity. Lincoln was a follower of the loving, redeem- ing Christ 128 THE PRECEDING GOD No other man of modern times has received such eulogies as Washington. An English historian has said that he was the greatest ruler who ever governed any nation. His fame is ever on the increase, especially in recent years when we are learning that he was very human and by no means an impassive, marble-like demigod. Washington was great in his physical strength, in his unfailing courage, in his wisdom, in the harmonious com- bination in his character of various forces, but he was chiefly great in the purity and grandeur of his moral and spiritual life. He was a good man, of simple heart- felt faith in God and in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was more infidelity and scepticism in America and in England then than now. Those were the days of Voltaire and Hume and Thomas Paine. Washington seems to have been utterly unaffected by their writings. The beginnings of Washington's religious life were in the gracious, uplifting influences of his early home on the Rappahannock River, near Fredericksburg, Va. It was a home of courtesy, simplicity, and true piety. His father, who died when he was eleven years old, was a good man, and his mother was one of those rare women who are God's best gifts to the world. She was gentle and loving, but wise and strict in her discipline. Wash- ington never forgot how after his father's death, his mother gathered the children about her and conducted family prayers in his place. We have one hundred and ten rules of conduct which Washington as a boy copied and kept before him. One of them contained these significant words, " Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience." Many years later his mother, in reply to General Lafayette's observations concerning LINCOLN AND WASHINGTON 129 Washington's greatness said, " George was always a good boy." Some of the elements of Washington's religious life were these: He loved the Bible and read it carefully all his life, and also the English prayer-book. He always strictly observed the Sabbath as a day of rest and wor- ship. He was a man of prayer and several times was overheard beseeching the blessing and guidance of God. He was a regular attendant at church services all his life. In youth he attended Pope's Creek Church, near Fred- ericksburg, Va., and later helped to build two historic churches in the northern part of the State, and then furnished a parsonage for the minister. He was made a vestryman and warden of these churches and afterward of Christ's Church, Alexandria, where his pew is still pre- served. While thus an officer in the Episcopal Church, he was on warm and friendly terms with the Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist denominations, and wrote a num- ber of letters to ministers of these churches, expressing his gratitude for their support. By a fortunate circum- stance we have preserved a summary of Washington's creed in his own words, as follows : " Being heartily sorry for my past sins, and earnestly desiring forgiveness of the same from Almighty God through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour and Redeemer, I trust to have full forgiveness of all my sins and be assuredly saved, and at the general resurrection my soul and body rise with joy," The fruits of Washington's religious life we see in the sublime traits of his character and the colossal achievements with which all the world is familiar. His calmness and self-mastery in trying times, his self- sacrificing patriotism, his absolute truthfulness and un- stained integrity, his sublime energy and power which went right on against overwhelming obstacles — these 130 THE PRECEDING GOD were some of the manifestations of Washington's religious life. We may truly say that, so far as man can see, there would have been no American republic but for George Washington, and there would have been no George Washington but for the Christian religion. English, French, and German historians, as well as American thinkers such as James Russell Lowell and Woodrow Wilson, agree that but for Washington, so far as we can see, there might have been no American repub- lic. Our nation is, humanly speaking, the outgrowth of his colossal personality. In the W^r of the Revolution again and again the whole struggle depended upon his iron will, undaunted courage, and unequaled military genius. As a statesman, he reconciled divergent elements, overcame the forces of anarchy and demagogism, and laid the foundations of the republic. The years immedi- ately following the War of the Revolution formed the critical period in American history, and but for Washing- ton the victories of the war might have resulted in no lasting blessing, no enduring republic. As a patriot Washington stands in the little group of earth's grandest spirits. He gave up everything that men count dear for his country. He loved the nation and all the people, rich and poor, high and low. IV THE RELIGIOUSNESS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT » TODAY all over our land tributes are being paid to the character and work of former President Theodore Roosevelt. He was such a many-sided man, his achieve- ments were so brilliant in diverse realms of thought and action, that it is not easy to sum up adequately the fruits of his strenuous career. Remarkable contrasts and para- doxes were blended in his life. An invalid originally, he became a rugged athlete; of aristocratic birth, he was a lover of the plain people; the author of many books, he was also a man of business and of practical affairs; poetic and romantic in spirit, he became a scientist and naturalist; devoted to his own home, he was likewise an adventurer and explorer of distant realms; a shrewd politician, he was, in addition, a far-seeing statesman; interested in international affairs, he was above all an American, his soul aflame with unselfish patriotism; en- joying the good things of this life, he was controlled and guided by faith in God and in the other life. The spirit of boldness, of noble adventure, so promi- nent in his character, is well illustrated by the incident related by a friend* that when all of his four sons had enlisted in the World War, Mr. Roosevelt was a little depressed at first, but Mrs. Roosevelt reminded him of his own teachings and example, by saying, " You must not 1 Address at Roosevelt Memorial Service at Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, Rochester, N. Y., Feb. 9, 191 9. 131 132 THE PRECEDING GOD bring up your children like eagles and expect them to act like sparrows/' A striking side-light on his character was his affection- ate interest in the colored people. His mother was a member of a distinguished Southern family and, true to the instincts of the best Southern people, Theodore Roose- velt was fond of the negro race and appreciated their many fine qualities, especially their sturdy Americanism and patriotism. He took pride in the regiment of colored soldiers with which he was associated in the Spanish- American war. His trusted body-servant was a colored man, and it was this faithful helper who watched by him in his last sickness and first discovered that his spirit had passed away. One characteristic of Mr. Roosevelt should receive right emphasis, namely, his deep religiousness. If religion means reverent fear of God and humble trust in his Son Jesus Christ, if it means love for humanity, sympathy for suffering, hatred of oppression and wickedness, and sacri- ficial service for the human race, then religion was the mainspring of this heroic life. Of course this great man was a genius, but the more of a genius a man is, the more he needs personal goodness and the Spirit of God lest his brilliant gifts prove a tragical and destructive endowment. Roosevelt was a keen and successful politician, but he was far more. He was a statesman, a seer, a prophet, a passionate lover of the holy ideals of liberty and brother- hood and righteousness which the founders of the Ameri- can commonwealth cherished. While a progressive in his political views he was a conservative in his theology and in his personal religious faith and practise. He believed that back of all schemes for social betterment there must be the dynamic of a spiritual church, made up of individuals who have had RELIGIOUSNESS OF ROOSEVELT 133 personal experience of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ. During my recent pastorate in Brooklyn I heard through various trustworthy sources of Mr. Roosevelt's regular attendance at church, of his evident joy in the service of worship, of his love for children, of his calls upon the poor and the sick and the aged. He had delight in the great hymns, his favorite being " How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord." The most eloquent address I ever heard Mr. Roosevelt make was a good many years ago at the great World Conference on Foreign Missions at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Besides him Presi- dent William McKinley and other famous men were among the speakers that evening. Mr. Roosevelt, allud- ing to David Livingstone, the African explorer and mis- sionary, exalted the glory of sacrificial service. With im- pressive gesture he cried out : " Do not pity those who toil and sacrifice for the salvation of men and the glory of God. They have rich rewards here and hereafter. ,, V TWO HANDS OF APPEAL IN FOREIGN MISSIONS * THESE are the days of experiments. When a few brave men, thirty years ago, pitched their tents on this spot and said that here should rise a magnificent city, their action seemed a daring experiment. When, last spring, by the sea-coast, it was determined to hold our Anniversary Meetings in the distant West, far from the land where wise men are presumed to dwell, that deci- sion was regarded as an experiment. (May every other decision turn out as happily as this!) But tonight, recalling the noble traditions and nobler deeds of this Missionary Union, especially does it appear an extreme experiment, a reckless risk, to summon to this platform a pastor whose weapons of warfare are yet untempered by long experience, untried by successive struggles. There is a famous story which James Russell Lowell tells of his barber, who had a theory that there was no difference between a canvasback duck and a black duck ; and if you could only make black ducks eat celery, they would turn out in all essential features equal to canvasback ducks. But " a thousand pities on them," said the barber, " they won't eat celery." So, if we younger pastors had only the wisdom and consecration of our fathers in the work, we might be like them, but not yet have we their wisdom, their consecration. A few evenings ago, in the library 1 Notes of address at missionary mass-meeting at the Baptist Anniver- saries in Minneapolis, May 27, 1887. 134 THE APPEAL IN FOREIGN MISSIONS 135 of the president of our Home Mission Society, in the midst of rare old books of Baptist history, I came upon the report of the first meeting of this Union, and as, with reverent hand and stirred heart, I held the old yellow- leafed volume, I thought of the different methods of appeal for missions which have been made since 1814. At first, the romantic, heroic features of missions were largely presented. The toils and tears of the Judsons and the Newells and of others Whose names are writ Where stars are lit, were dwelt upon with thrilling power. Then came the opening of China and Africa and the isles of the sea, and this, along with the progress of commerce and civilization, was urged as the finger of God pointing us onward and outward. Then the marvelous success of the work seemed an argument irresistible for enlarge- ment. Now, systematic benevolence is the battle-cry, method for missions, system for success. All these appeals are good, but, I take it, we need to emphasize something deeper, something more tremendous still. Suppose people speak of missionaries as dreamers and fanatics, as the Edinburgh Review did years ago, and as some do now — what then? Suppose the opening of the ports of the world be regarded as only the means for enlarged commerce, and we continue to deluge Africa with our liquor, so that for every man made a Christian a thousand are made drunkards. What then? Suppose that popular interest in missions has dwindled and di- minished until it has become as small as the individual whom the simple cobbler of Agawam described as " The very gizzard of a trifle, the product of a quarter of a cipher, the epitome of nothing." What good will organ- 136 THE PRECEDING GOD ization do? If a man is sick and his tongue coated, it will do little good to apply a medicine to the tongue to remove its coating. Back of that you must go to the source of the disease. Tonight I plead as the great mis- sionary motive a vision of the two hands of which we have a vivid picture in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. Our Saviour looked at the helpless hand of the swooning lad, and he beheld his own hand full of power, and then he healed the disease. We need a clear vision of the helpless hand. Be very sure that it is a helpless hand. From the one our Saviour touched warmth had gone, strength had gone, life had almost gone. So, today, there is in the hand of the heathen no power for their redemption. We do not like to recognize their helplessness. Colossal is our charity, tremendous our tolerance. " If man fell at all, he fell upwards," says the most brilliant preacher of our day. Judas was a poor, unfortunate gentleman. The soul of good is in things evil. Speak gently of the devil, he at least is very industrious. But, nevertheless, it is a helpless hand if Scripture teaching be true, if the Bible does still possess paramount and permanent authority. The Bible is a sad book, and why? Because it is full of humanity's ruin. John Henry Newman has a suggestive sermon, entitled " The Bible a Record of Human Sor- row." With the doctrine that the world is lost in sin agrees our clearest thinking, our deepest consciousness. Plato preached it; Socrates soliloquized over it; Dante divined it; Shakespeare stamped it on his immortal drama. Look at the present condition of the heathen world bearing testimony to this. In the land recently made so attractive by " The Light of Asia," there are today twenty millions of widows in darkness and despair. The country of whose mighty, masterful civilization we THE APPEAL IN FOREIGN MISSIONS 137 hear so much extravagant eulogy, seems to students of history to be about to plunge to deeper depths of social shame. On the great continent, upon whose marvels of gold and silver and precious merchandise the keen eye of avarice is now fixed — in the Dark Continent — there are two hundred and ten millions of our brothers and sisters sitting in the region and shadow of death. Let us not speculate as to how these children of God lost their religious light. We need to behold not ideas but indi- viduals; not fancies, but facts; not speculation, but the species. Look at the heathen world as it is. See hunger, nakedness, brutality, despair incarnate. Behold a sky without a star, a night without a moon, a day without a sun. Beneath and in and through the deepening dark, the gathering gloom, see millions of our kinsmen in a common humanity sinking to physical and moral death. It was the vision of all this need in which modern mis- sions was nursed. Call up the names of pioneers in the work. Hear their prayers, their appeals. Hear them speak of the perishing millions ; behold them bewildered, agonized under the thought of humanity's helplessness. Let us then look at the helpless hand, the sin and suffering of the heathen. Then will the pulpit be aglow with zeal. Then will the ministry need no second probation to prove its earnestness. Then will our voices be as sweet and tender as silver trumpets, as far-reaching as heaven's thunders. Then shall we catch some of the enthusiasm of Chalmers and understand what he meant when, stand- ing on the old bridge at Edinburgh, he looked down upon the steaming caldron of human life beneath — the vile, the vagabond, the outcast element, and said it was the most beautiful prospect he ever gazed upon. But upon the helpless hand was laid a helping hand. Never seemed the hand of Jesus so strong, so gracious as 138 THE PRECEDING GOD when it rested upon the hand of suffering. Never are we so fitted and filled for foreign missions as when we gaze upon that hand of help. People differ in nothing more than in their power of vision. One man looks at the primrose by the river's brim, and to him it is nothing more than a yellow primrose. Another man looks through the primrose up to the hand of God, up to the heart of God. One man looked at the river here and saw only a vast volume of water. Another looked and beheld power to turn wheels innumerable, power to drive forward colossal machinery, power to revolutionize one great branch of industry, power to make the empire city of the Northeast. So, it is possible to look at the hand of Christ, the blessed hand that broke the bread of life and then itself was broken, the hand that now is held before the throne in loving intercession. It is possible to behold it only as the hand of a good man or of a great ethical teacher, whereas we may, we must, we will see it as the hand that can and shall lift this orphaned, widowed world up to glory, up to God. We need a clear vision of the Helping Hand for the enlargement of our own souls. A heart without Christ has not room for a single individual ; a heart with Christ has room for the universe. The great question is not whether we live in the midst of Christ's mind, but whether Christ's mind lives in the midst of us. So, just as the gospel has been mighty in our redemption, in that same proportion shall we be mighty in the world's redemption. And a sight of the hand of Christ will reassure us as to the possibility, the certainty of the conversion of the heathen. There come sometimes sad, disheartening accounts of the fragile, fictitious nature of the work done in some of the mission fields. Sadly we ask, Is our struggle to any purpose? Can we save them? Listen to the words of the Al- THE APPEAL IN FOREIGN MISSIONS 139 mighty Redeemer : " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." He is drawing all men. Henry Martyn said not very many years ago that if he could see one converted Hindoo it would be more of a miracle to him than the resurrection of a dead body. Now there are five hundred thousand native Christians in India. And this helping hand is behind our plans, behind our labors. Christ is helping, holding, guiding. Be- lieve it ; believe it. This conviction was the motive power of that starlike, Godlike young missionary, James Han- nington, who was recently murdered in Africa. With fever in his veins, and ulcers on his limbs, and death staring him in the face, he began each day with the jubilant cry, " I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my strength." Beaten to the ground and dragged for miles by twenty ruffians, the bleeding mis- sionary sang with ecstatic voice, " Safe in the arms of Jesus." Let me read you an extract from a letter of another missionary. Old and feeble, he is telling his experience : " At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me." There is the discouraging side, was that all ? Nay, listen : " Notwithstanding, the Lord stood by me and strengthened me." There was the bright, the radiant side. Roll back, clouds ; come out, stars ; burst forth, sun. " The Lord stood by me." By the side of every workman stand forces invisible, forces invincible. The wind lends its speed to the mariner and carries him whither he will. The force of gravitation assists the laborer as he presses his spade into the ground. The dark earth beneath us is traversed by electric currents, so says my neighbor at Orange, Mr. Edison, and soon we may use them as obedient messengers. Right above us are divine influences, in us are divine impulsions, all about us are divine energies. Behold the helping hand ! 140 THE PRECEDING GOD I plead tonight for a vision of the helpless hand and the helping hand. Better is it to see clearly a few things than to see dimly many things. Better to believe with fire and fervor these two than to believe weakly two hundred other things. " Honest doubt " may be a very good thing, but our Saviour never strove to awaken doubt in the minds of his disciples. He seems to have tried to make their faith intensive rather than extensive, their vision convergent rather than divergent. You have noticed how often he limited his disciples' thoughts to two objects. He pictured two sons of one loving father. He described two men entering the temple, two souls entering eternity, two steps in the way of salvation, two commands for the world's conversion, two paradises by which we are hemmed in, the one back of us from which man fell, the one in front of us to which man is being lifted. It is easy to sneer at narrowness, but you notice that the great mills here are not built where the Missis- sippi spreads out in wide and peaceful beauty, but where the water is shut in, and the stream swift, and the cur- rent strong, and they make thirty thousand barrels of flour a day. Narrowness means concentration, means in- tensity, means power, success, means eternal life. " Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which lead- eth unto life. ,, Mr. President, etymologists tell us that the word hope is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon root which means to open the eyes, to gaze. From looking, beholding, came radiant hope, joyous assurance. Consider the words how they grow. From a vision of the helpless hand and the helping hand will come not only fresh faith, new fervor, but hope, a jubilant belief that success will soon crown our efforts for the world's conversion. Not soon shall I forget a familiar, oft-described experiment in physics of THE APPEAL IN FOREIGN MISSIONS 141 my college days. A great mass of iron, weighing about a hundred pounds, is hung from a high ceiling, and in front of it, by a tiny thread, is suspended a little ball of wool or cotton. Now the ball is swung against the iron. No more impression seems to be made than the steps of a fly upon the stone walls of the building. Again it is swung against the great mineral mass and still no impres- sion, and again, and again. But look, after repeated im- pacts, a little thrill seems to pass through the heavy weight. Still the ball smites it and it trembles and it shivers. Again and again it is smitten, and at last it moves, it moves ; under repeated strokes it moves faster and faster until it is sent whirling through the air. Breth- ren of the Missionary Union, the mass of heathenism, heavy as iron, black as night, cold as death, begins to tremble, begins to quiver. It moves, it moves, and after a while it shall be lifted up to God, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. 'v VI MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS * OCTOBER I, I903 JANUARY 7, igi2 ROCHESTER, more than most American cities, pos- sesses a delightful individuality, with certain well- marked characteristics. Founded by a little group of travelers from Maryland and Virginia, the well-known Southern warmth and hospitality have always had a large place in the life of the city. Later a company of emi- grants from New England made their homes in the little town on the banks of the Genesee, and they brought to the community a new intellectual alertness and business aggressiveness. Ever since the fine, ennobling strains of both Southern and New England life have been present in Rochester, — courtesy and culture, sweetness and light, heart-power plus head-power. Beginning my pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Rochester October 1, 1903, we did not come to a strange place, inasmuch as we had spent many summers in the ancestral home of Mrs. Dickinson near the city, and had many friends in the congregation with which we were uniting. One of our first impressions was that of the warm- hearted courtesy and hospitality of the city and of the brotherly spirit among the pastors of the various religious bodies. Within two months ministers of nearly all de- 1 An address at the Centennial Celebration of the First Baptist Church, Rochester, N. Y., December 15, 1918. 142 MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS 143 nominations, including Unitarian and the Hebrew, called to give words of welcome. Before considering some characteristics of the First Church, Rochester, it is well to remind ourselves of the inestimable spiritual worth and influence of the Christian church in general. Many thoughtful Christians have in recent months sung with more fervor than ever before one of our great hymns: Oh, where are kings and empires now Of old that went and came? But, Lord, thy church is praying yet, A thousand years the same. We mark her goodly battlements, And her foundations strong; We hear within the solemn voice Of her unending song. For not like kingdoms of the world Thy holy church, O God ! Though earthquake shocks are threatening her, And tempests are abroad; Unshaken as eternal hills, Immovable she stands, A mountain that shall fill the earth, A house not made by hands. All true Christian churches, whether they be large or small in numbers, rich or poor in material resources, con- spicuous or lowly in the world's thought, are dear to God and full of glorious possibilities, for " Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." A true church, even the smallest and feeblest, in worldly goods, is nobler 144 THE PRECEDING GOD in its possible influence than any secular or human organ- ization, because it is the abiding-place of the Holy Spirit and can claim the promise of Jesus, " Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the king- dom." The church evokes and perpetuates with peculiar ten- derness and helpfulness the fellowships and friendships of human hearts. Hence John Bunyan wrote, " Chris- tians are like the several flowers in a garden that have each of them the dew of heaven, which being shaken with the wind, they fall at each other's roots, whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of each other." The church, likewise, calls out the heroic and redemptive forces in our characters and puts us in the midst of the life-giving stream of Christ's work. Thomas Arnold well said, " The true and grand idea of a church is a society for the purpose of making men like Christ, earth like heaven, the kingdom of the world the kingdom of Christ." The smallest church may, by close union with its Divine Head, gain and give vast and world-wide spiritual power and blessing. The First Baptist Church of Rochester, now one of the most influential churches of our denomination in America, was organized by a few faithful men and women in the face of many trials and discouragements in June, 1818, and has had a notable and blessed career because its founders and their successors were in vital fellowship with mighty spiritual forces, exalting God's word, proclaiming Christ's gospel, seeking the Holy Spirit's power, and claiming God's promises. Multi- tudes of souls during the past one hundred years have confessed Christ in its services. The many other Bap- tist churches in Rochester have been either children or MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS 145 grandchildren of this old " Mother Church." The Rochester Theological Seminary and the University of Rochester have always had a large place in the thought of its members. The missionary enterprise, both in our own country and in foreign lands, has evoked the gen- erous devotion of its attendants. Among the " impressions " of the First Church that come to us now as we recall the eight years and three months of our work and worship there, the following may be mentioned : There was a fine commingling in the church (as there should be in every church) of dignity and cordiality, the stately edifice and the hearty congregational fellowship well symbolizing these qualities. A striking characteristic of the congregation was the unusually large number of eminent men — some of world-wide distinction — who were its loyal members. Among these were the presi- dents of the Rochester Theological Seminary, the Uni- versity of Rochester, the Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, and the Mechanics , Institute, about fifty professors and teachers, several distinguished ministers and lawyers and physicians, and a large number of the most prominent business men in the city. There was, likewise, a large company of men and women and young people not so well known as the ones just mentioned, who seemed always loyal, loving, and prayerful, and who were an unceasing joy and blessing to the church and the pastor. From the first to the last the famous Hubbell Class for Men was a great inspiration and more than ninety of the men from this class were received into the member- ship of our church. The " elect ladies " of the church were a mighty power in everything good, and there was a remarkable increase in the gifts of their Societies to 146 THE PRECEDING GOD foreign and home missions. Among the other features of these years in the First Church the following might be mentioned : " The Friendship Meetings " held by the Young People's Society in many homes, the " Pastor's Class " for boys and girls on Saturday afternoons, the " Forward Movement " for the erection of new edifices for several Baptist churches in Rochester, the awakening of fresh interest in work among the foreigners in the city, and the building of places of worship for the Italians, the Poles, and the colored people. Through the good- ness of God and the noble work of the congregation dur- ing these eight years and three months five hundred and eighty new members united with the church, and there was a net increase of two hundred and fifty, the church edifice was improved by the expenditure of more than thirty thousand dollars, there was a great increase in all gifts for missionary benevolences, the enrolment of the entire Sunday school (including the Hubbell Class) grew from 1038 to 2055, and the average attendance from 481 to 655, and the beginnings were made of a perma- nent endowment fund for the church. No words can describe the exquisite joys of Christian friendship, of laboring for souls, of trying to do anything, even most feebly, in the name of Jesus. Oh the sacred joy of the pastorate ! Oh the sacred mysterious gladness of the fellowship of Christ's redeemed on earth and in heaven! Here is a wonder of love and service and worship Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. The secret is in the holy, sacrificial, redeeming love of Jesus of which Bernard of Clairvaux sung so many centuries ago: MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS 147 Jesus, the very thought of thee With sweetness fills my breast ; But sweeter far thy face to see, And in thy presence rest. Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame Nor can the memory find A sweeter sound than thy blest name, O Saviour of mankind. O hope of every contrite heart, O joy of all the meek! To those who fall, how kind thou art, How good to those who seek ! But what to those who find? Ah! this, Nor tongue nor pen can show, The love of Jesus, what it is, None but his loved ones know. Jesus, our only joy be thou, As thou our prize wilt be; Jesus, be thou our glory now, And through eternity. PART III TRIBUTES AND APPRECIATIONS REV. ALFRED E. DICKINSON, D. D. THE Dickinson family has for several centuries given to England and America many distinguished and useful men and women. The founder of the family is believed by careful students to have been Walter of Caen, whose name appears with those who came over to England from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066, and whose name also is found upon the battle- roll of Hastings. " According to an English record, in order to anglicize his name, he received a grant of land in the old Saxon manor of Kenson near the city of Leeds, Yorkshire. ,, Walter de Kenson easily was changed to Walter Dickenson or Dickinson. Henry Dickinson emigrated from London to America in 1654, settled in Virginia, and was the direct ancestor of the subject of this sketch. Among the many famous men bearing the name in our Colonial and Revolutionary period were Jonathan Dickinson, first President of Princeton College, and John Dickinson, member of the Colonial and of the Continental Congresses, President of Pennsylvania, and one of the greatest political writers of his time. In quite recent years two bearing the name have been members of the Cabinet at Washington. However, it may be justly said that few if any individuals of this family have been so widely known or so genuinely useful to humanity as Alfred Elijah Dickinson, who was born December 3, 1830, in Orange County, Virginia. His 151 152 THE PRECEDING GOD father, Ralph Dickinson, was a successful farmer and a quiet, devoted Christian. His mother, whose maiden name was Frances A. S. Quisenberry, was of a well- known family and a woman of great vigor of body and mind and of a warm, impulsive heart. While the subject of this sketch was an infant the family moved to Louisa County, where his father purchased a large plantation in sight of the lower Blue Ridge mountains and about two miles from Trevilian's Station on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. This locality and county were always very dear to Alfred E. Dickinson, and throughout his life he revisited these scenes many timfes each year. The old home was full of happy children, always open for visitors, and permeated with a strong Christian spirit. The parents were members of Foster Creek (now Berea) Baptist Church, and here Alfred was baptized when about seventeen years of age, by Rev. E. G. Shipp. He felt an overwhelming desire to preach, and being urged to aid in a new and struggling church, recently organized, a few miles away at Forest Hill, he took his church letter to that body. After several months he was both licensed to preach and ordained there. At this time he was teaching a small school near his father's home. One day in the spring the famous and devoted Dr. Robert Ryland, President of Richmond College, appeared at the home, spent the afternoon and night there, talked with the young teacher about his life purposes, and, before he left, had made him promise to enter college. The next fall (1849) Alfred entered Richmond College, where he studied until his graduation in 1852. During his three vacation summers he worked as a missionary colporter in the Goshen Association, going on horseback from house to house and from church to church with Bibles and good books, and preaching as opportunity offered. This was a REV. ALFRED E. DICKINSON 153 very helpful experience and often in later years he urged a similar work upon young men thinking of entering the ministry. It was while at Richmond College that he formed the acquaintance of Miss Frances E. Taylor, daughter of the eminent and godly Rev. Dr. James B. Taylor. This acquaintance a few years later ripened into a happy marriage. After graduating at Richmond College, Doctor Dickinson taught school for a session in Louisa County (one of his pupils became the honored Greek teacher, Herbert H. Harris) and preached for a year at the Lower and Upper Gold Mine Churches in the vicinity. He then studied at the University of Vir- ginia two sessions, where he formed many happy and life-long friendships. While there he was asked to be- come pastor of the Baptist Church at Charlottesville to succeed the famous John A. Broadus, who was about to begin a term of service as Chaplain of the University of Virginia. Doctor Dickinson's two years' pastorate at the Charlottesville Church was marked by several great revivals and he baptized hundreds of converts. In his diary of that period we have this entry for one Sunday, " I baptized this day four times. " After two years he removed to Richmond, where he had been invited to come as Superintendent of Baptist Colportage and Sunday School work of the State, which then meant all of Vir- ginia from the Ohio River to the ocean. For nine years he held this important and laborious position, and it was one of the most fruitful and thrilling periods of his life. Thousands of ministers and Sunday school missionaries and colporters were employed, hundreds of Sunday schools and churches were organized, thousands of per- sons were converted, and large sums of money were secured. The guiding, energizing human agent behind all this was Alfred E. Dickinson. During this period 154 THE PRECEDING GOD raged the terrible Civil War, the chief theater of which was the State of Virginia. For four years Doctor Dick- inson pushed his work among the soldiers, and in one year raised one hundred and eighty thousand dollars for the distribution of Bibles and religious books and for other work in the Army of Northern Virginia. He traveled widely, toiled unceasingly, preached continually, made warm friendships with many famous military and political leaders, including Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and held a number of great revival meetings among the soldiers. At the close of the Civil War he became pastor of the Leigh Street Baptist Church, then and now one of the largest churches in Richmond. This was a very happy pastorate and lasted for five years and was marked by several great revivals. One of these came as a great surprise, when apparently few were pray- ing for it. This revival lasted with great spiritual power for several months and about two hundred were baptized as the fruit, in part, of the meetings. Doctor Dick- inson afterwards rejoiced to trace this spiritual quick- ening to the prayers of one quiet and aged woman. While he was pastor of Leigh Street Church, the honored Rev. Dr. J. B. Jeter called on him one morning to invite him to join with him in the editorship and publication of the " Religious Herald," whose office had been burned at the close of the war. The paper, itself one of the oldest and most influential journals in the United States, had sus- pended publication for some time. In the fall of 1865 the firm of Jeter & Dickinson was formed for control and editorship of this paper. One of the keynotes of both editors was peace, the healing of the wounds of the Civil War. Probably no man did more than Doctor Dickinson by pen and voice and his spirit of conciliation to bring together North and South in a new fellowship of Chris- REV. ALFRED E. DICKINSON 155 tian love and service. He was a brilliant writer of edi- torial paragraphs and the success of the paper for sev- eral decades was largely due to the fertility of his resources. He traveled widely and continually, attending religious gatherings all over the country; he gave his aid to every worthy cause, helping scores of struggling churches and young men studying for the ministry. He preached more frequently than many settled pastors do. Several times he undertook the work of a financial agent for Richmond College, and the present endowment of that institution is in a good measure due to him. He held temporary pastorates in the Pine Street and Fulton churches, Richmond, and the First Church, Manchester, and in a number of country churches, and in several cases was the leader in the erection of new church buildings. It is estimated that more than fifty young men were aided by him in preparing for the ministry. It was his delight to aid pastors in evangelistic meetings, and he had re- markable gifts of pathos and persuasion in this work. Doctor Dickinson always cherished a warm and affec- tionate interest in the colored people, frequently preach- ing in their churches, counseling with their ministry, and trying in every way to uplift them religiously and educa- tionally. When, a few years after the Civil War, the American Baptist Home Mission Society started a theo- logical school for colored preachers in Richmond, he was one of the chief helpers. Dr. S. F. Smith, the famous author of " My Country, ' Tis of Thee/' came to Rich- mond for some days to study the field and was the guest while there at Doctor Dickinson's home and wrote later of the invaluable aid received from him. Between him and Dr. Charles H. Corey, the President of that school for many years, there was a warm and intimate friend- ship until death camt. 156 THE PRECEDING GOD He was married to Miss Frances E. Taylor in 1857, to Miss M. Lou Barksdale in 1879, and to Miss Bessie Bagby in 1899. There were four surviving children by his first marriage and one by his second marriage. His only surviving son has been for many years a Baptist pastor in the North. Among the characteristics of Doctor Dickinson, those who knew him before his last sickness would always think of his exuberant vitality. Six feet in height, well- rounded in figure, his face ruddy with health, his step quick and elastic, his eyes sparkling with happiness and humor, his bodily presence arrested attention in any assembly, and his simple geniality, kindly wit, and unos- tentatious piety won friends in any household. By intu- ition and experience he possessed a shrewd knowledge of human nature which served him well in many a difficult situation. He was a wide and rapid reader of books, with a special fondness for biography. For many years he always kept close at hand the life of some religious leader into which he would dip after his morn- ing Scripture meditation. He was especially fond of the biographies of those saintly men Edward Payson and Robert Murray McCheyne and read and reread them many times. He had a deep and unspeakable love and reverence for the Bible, and the first hour of each day, following the morning meal, he gave to loving reading and study of it. Familiar with much of modern thought, the New Testament in its divine power and inspiration lifted itself in his thought and reverence high above all the dust of human controversy to the heights of heaven. In its revelation of Christ and God and duty and immor- tality it met his own sense of need. Doctor Dickinson had great gifts as a popular speaker and preacher. Humor and pathos, a rare fund of illustra- REV. ALFRED E. DICKINSON 157 tions, sympathy with humanity and the individual, and a power of ad hominem appeal — these were some of the sources of his influence as a speaker. As an illustration of some of his bright experiences as a traveler and of some of his genial and effective char- acteristics as a speaker and a man, it will be of interest to introduce here Doctor Dickinson's own account in the Religious Herald, written several years before his death, of one of his visits to the North to secure funds for Richmond College. The " 'possum story " alluded to he told with inimitable humor and charm at many gather- ings in the North, and after the passage of about twenty years it is still vividly remembered by those who heard it from his lips. The account is as follows : Some twelve years ago I visited Boston in the interest of Baptist educational work in Virginia and the South, and obtained permission to deliver an address on a Sunday afternoon in Tremont Temple, on " The Truth About the South." The sub- ject was well advertised, and I had a large congregation. The next morning I found that my remarks were reproduced almost verbatim in the most widely circulated Republican paper of the city. I called to thank the editor of that paper for the kindness he had done me ; but he said : " You owe me no thanks. Your people at the South do not believe it, but the truth about the South is just what many of us up here most desire to know, and hence, as soon as I ascertained that that would be the subject of your address, I determined to print a full report of it." That great daily was then, and is now, the leading Republican paper in New England. For much of the success I had in Boston I am indebted to that Republican editor. The same little talk on " The Truth About the South" I repeated in many places, and with good results. I sought the president of the Baptist Social Union of Boston and asked to be permitted to speak at the meeting of that body, which was to be held at Tremont Temple the same day on which I made the request. He replied that the arrangements were all made, and no change could now be made in the program; but he 158 THE PRECEDING GOD gave me a ticket which entitled me to a seat on the platform and said : " You cannot speak on this occasion. At some future time we may hear you, provided you make no appeal for money. The Social Union has very strict rules on that subject, and nothing is allowed looking to raising money at these monthly gatherings, unless the circumstances are very peculiar and very urgent." I took the hint and the ticket, and heard a very fine address from Governor Long, now a member of Mr. McKinley's cabinet, then Governor of the State of Massachusetts, and one from Bishop Brooks, now deceased, but then the great Episcopal preacher of New England, and one from a certain distinguished Congrega- tionalism whose name I cannot now recall. No one of the speak- ers was a Baptist, but all three of them said handsome things about the Baptists. Just as the last speaker closed, the president stepped over to me and whispered thus, " I will call on you for a three-minute talk, if you will not speak longer than that, and if you will not say anything about the object of your visit to Boston — not a word about money." Then he said to the audience : " We have heard from these distinguished brethren of other denominations, and here is a Baptist brother from old Virginia, an ex-rebel, who wishes to say a word. Shall we give him just three minutes — that much and no more?" I began by saying that I had often heard of "Free Speech Boston" and that no man could be gagged in Boston; but that limiting me to three minutes reminded me of an old colored man down in Virginia, who went 'possum hunting. He came back about midnight, tired and hungry and sleepy, but he had his 'possum. He dressed it and put it in a skillet, and placed it on a few hot embers, and said, " Now, old 'Pos, you cook here while I get a little nap." Then he threw himself down on his cot, and was in a moment sound asleep. But while he was asleep another colored brother came in and found the 'possum all right, and ate it. He then pushed the table, on which was the plate, with knife and fork and bones, up against the sleeper; and, that there might be no doubt as to who ate the 'possum, he rubbed some of the gravy upon the sleeper's lips, and then slipped out. After a while the sleeper awoke, and, before his eyes were well open, he began saying to himself: "This is the hungriest nigger God ever made; but I have a good 'possum, and it's all right now." Then, looking around and failing to see the skillet, he said : " How is this ? There was no one here but the 'possum and me, and now the REV. ALFRED E. DICKINSON 159 'possum is not here." And then, seeing the plate and the bones lying by him, he said: H Well, I must have eaten that 'possum, for here's the plate and the bones and the gravy upon my lips. Of course I must have eaten that 'possum ; but never have I had a 'possum to lie so light upon my stomach, and to give me so little consolation as that 'possum." " Brethren," said I, " it's that way with me tonight. To come so far and to be dealt with this way gives me no consolation at all." From every part of the room came cries, " Tell what you came to Boston for " ; and the presiding officer said : " Brethren, you have taken the responsibility off of me. Now the brother can tell it, if you insist upon his doing so." They did insist, and I told it as well as I could, under the circumstances. "Now, concerning the collection" Well, there was none taken — none at all; but they gathered around me and took me by the hand and said pleasant things. A dear old brother of more than fourscore years said : " Meet me at my office on Devonshire street at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. Sharp," said he, "at ten." Of course, I was there on time, although a great snow- storm was sweeping over Boston that morning. The first thing the old gentleman said to me, as he came into his office and threw off his overcoat, was, " You have gotten me into trouble." And then he explained : " My wife asked me at breakfast this morning what it was that I was laughing about in my sleep last night, and I told her it was your 'possum story ; and I under- took to tell the story to her, but failed in the attempt, and I left my family laughing at the idea that I should enjoy a thing so much as to laugh about it in my sleep, and yet be unable to ex- plain it in my waking hours. I wish you to tell it over to me, that I may tell it to my family when I go home to dinner." Then, pausing a moment, he said, " Wait until I can go out and bring my brother and my nephew in that they may hear it too." In a few minutes he returned, with his brother and his nephew and, locking the door, he said : " We are all ready now. Let us have the 'possum story." Then he said : " Stop ; tell us what a 'possum is. Is it a thing that flies or something that crawls ? " I answered his question, and then repeated the story, and — then wrote the old man's name in my book for $1,000 for Richmond College, and his brother's name for $250; but the nephew said: " Please excuse me. I think my father and uncle have paid enough on that 'possum for the whole family." 160 THE PRECEDING GOD As a writer Doctor Dickinson not only had remarkable gifts as a racy paragraphist and as a reporter of religious assemblies and as a writer of editorials, but he also was the author of a number of religious and denominational booklets and pamphlets which have had a very wide influ- ence. One of these has been translated into several European languages. Doctor Dickinson was by nature warm-hearted and im- pulsive. This natural impulsiveness, while often a source of power, sometimes brought him into trying situations. Those who knew him longest and most intimately be- lieved that the two mighty forces back of his life of unceasing activity and world-wide helpfulness were per- sonal devotion to Christ and ever-growing love for hu- manity. He had a deep personal experience of God's redeeming grace in Christ, and he adored the Saviour as the only Refuge of the soul. From early years to the end of his long life he had a yearning love and sympathy for men and women and children, for the common people. He could always see in the humblest types — and especially in young people — great treasures of spiritual possibility. So, as sorrow and disappointment and death came again and again and as the swift years bore him on and as, at last, after long sickness, he came, at the age of seventy- six, to face the end of all things earthly, he was not cynical or bitter or lonely. The love and prayers of a great multitude of friends in heaven and on earth seemed to bear up his heart. The Saviour was very vivid to his faith and consciousness. Despite the long sickness and the weary body and the failing mind, it was light in the evening when his spirit passed away, November 20, 1906. II SAMUEL COLGATE 1 "For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord." — Acts 11 : 24. BIOGRAPHY is one of the most fascinating depart- ments of literature. But it is more than interesting, it is of measureless instruction and inspiration. Through the ages veneration for heroes has been a potent factor in the uplifting of humanity. We are told that the late Professor Jowett, of Oxford, used to teach that " in the future ethical education will be taught largely through biography, by familiarizing the student with the careers and characters of those whose lives have illustrated the moral quality in a high degree." In the Bible strong emphasis is placed upon the witnessing power of the holy men and women who are alive forevermore in the joy of heaven and in their influence upon earth. The words of our text concerning Barnabas are a fitting summary of the character and life of the beloved man whom God has recently called into the true life. The preceding verse likewise suggests well-known char- acteristics of Mr. Samuel Colgate's career. " He came " to Antioch at the bidding of the church. So our friend, during all his long life, actively participated in the affairs of church, denomination, countless phases of missionary and philanthropic endeavor. When he " had seen the 1 Memorial sermon in the North Orange Baptist Church, Orange, N. J., May 2, 1897. 161 162 THE PRECEDING GOD grace of God [he] was glad." Was there ever a life more full of serene joy, sober hope, and deep-seated tranquillity than the one of which we are thinking? He "exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." How many times we have listened to his tender, thoughtful exhortations in the prayer-meeting, the Sunday school, and in the more formal services of the church, and the one message of all his appeals was to cleave unto the Lord, to live near to Christ. But the fundamental facts of his life are in our text, and remind us of the fourfold strength of which Tennyson sings : O good gray head, which all men knew, O voice, from which their omens all men drew, O iron nerve to true occasion true, O fall'n at length, that tower of strength Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew. 1. Consider the fact of his goodness. " He was a good man." This is given as the first element of the power of Barnabas. How different is the point of vision of Holy Scripture from that of the world ! Ask the spirit of the world the sources of a man's power, and the answer will be genius, training, might of body, friends, wealth, learning. Goodness is usually left out or mentioned in a minor key. Not so is it from the standpoint of God. The supreme glory of the Saviour is that he plants the flower of goodness in men's lives, he changes character, he trans- mutes the common dross of human life into the gold of heavenly life. The power of Jesus was not in his words or deeds, but in himself, in the unique, divine commin- gling of holiness and love in his character. " In him was life, and the life was the light of men." So with every leader in righteousness and truth: back of genius or wealth or flaming eloquence or treasured learning, has SAMUEL COLGATE 163 been the power of a holy character. It was so with Mr. Samuel Colgate. The first thought, and, after all our meditation concerning him, the last thought would be how good he was ! In him we see a disposition by nature beautiful and gentle and strong, early touched by Christ, and ever afterwards stedfastly withdrawn from worldly standards and stedfastly imitative of the Divine Ex- ample. His character was of remarkable symmetry, its sterling qualities being so intermingled and adjusted that contrasting elements were held together in beautiful equipoise. He was conservative, yet truly progressive; tender and pitiful, yet unerring in loyalty to principle; prudent and cautious, yet full of courage and holy aggressiveness. In his rare and beautiful goodness do we find that secret of his great influence in every walk in life. In the business world, where men disagreed widely as to mo- mentous questions, he was called in many times as the arbitrator, representatives of conflicting interests saying, " We trust Mr. Colgate fully, and we will abide by his decision." So everywhere men felt intuitively, This is a true, a good, a holy man. In our Sunday school, a few years ago, a teacher was explaining the character of God, and as she tried to make real and vivid the divine attri- butes a little boy said : " Oh, I know who God is like ; he is like Mr. Colgate." Wise little heart! Our superin- tendent was like God, for he loved God, he hungered and thirsted after righteousness, and, gazing upon the face of Jesus, was transformed " into the same image from glory to glory." 2. Associated with his goodness, we think at once of his spirituality. He was " full of the Holy Ghost." In general, we may say that a spiritual man looks at all life under its eternal, its divine relationships. More specifi- 164 THE PRECEDING G6D cally, he is, as it is expressed here, full of the Holy Ghost. In the trinity of his nature God is revealed as the great Spirit who touches all human spirits, and who fills with grace and truth those hearts yearning for his presence. Before Jesus ascended up on high he promised all glori- ous and comforting blessings through the Holy Spirit — peace, illumination, power, and the very life of Christ himself in the believer's heart. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit's presence and work Mr. Colgate cherished with peculiar adoration and love. In his prayers, in his talks to the church, in his inquiries about churches that sought his aid, he exalted the work of the Spirit. Over and over would he say that all is well for a church or for an indi- vidual if the spiritual life be fervent, but that nothing can be truly well and prosperous without the Spirit. How his noble face would beam with joy and his voice break with tenderness as he spoke of these great truths ! A few days before his death, gazing on the beauty of the springtime — grass, flowers, trees, birds, his pastor spoke to him of the mystery and comfort of the divine power in the material universe. " Yes," said Mr. Colgate, " but not so wonder- ful as the sanctifying and comforting life of the Spirit in the soul." Then, with tears on his face, he spoke at length of what a comfort the Scripture doctrine of the Holy Spirit had been to him, with its revelation of the nearness, the closeness, of the great God to human life and trust. In St. Paul's words we have the secret and the summary of the life we are considering : " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, good- ness, faith, meekness, temperance." Out of Mr. Colgate's spirituality came his freshness of heart, his buoyancy, his peace. Life was good and worth the living, and each day brought its gladness, because all life with him was fed by heavenly grace. SAMUEL COLGATE 165 3. The fact of faith, however, antedates the other two characteristics. Barnabas was a man of faith, and so believed in the conversion of the Gentiles at Antioch, and believed in Saul, and went to Tarsus to seek him out. Faith is the foundation ; so Peter says, " Add to your faith." Faith is the channel through which the divine grace and life flow into human life. i\s the root appropri- ates for the plant nourishment from the earth, so faith is the appropriating, formative principle in our lives. In early life Mr. Colgate trusted in the Saviour, and that trust grew with all the years. So it might have been said of him, as of the Thessalonians, that his was a faith that had grown exceedingly. He had a supreme confidence in God's goodness, wisdom, strength. He believed that this was God's world, and not the devil's, and that above all the mysteries of life God was reigning. Hence his hope and cheerfulness never flagged. He believed in Christ as his all-sufficient Saviour. How often in our prayer-meet- ings have we heard him exalt Christ as our only hope in life and in death. When as senior deacon he gave your pastor the hand of fellowship more than eleven years ago he said, with moving tenderness and grace, " All that we shall ever ask of you is to give us always the message you have preached today of Jesus Christ and him cruci- fied." Full of gentleness and sweet reasonableness, he could not be patient for a moment with a preacher or religious teacher who failed to exalt the divine and glori- ous sufficiency of Christ. Mr. Colgate had faith in humanity — in little children, young converts, students for the ministry, and in the future of the race. From this faith in God and man and Holy Scripture sprang his gen- erosity. Much of that liberal heart and hand we know; but how largely he gave God only knows. He gave from principle and systematically. He believed in the steward- 166 THE PRECEDING GOD ship of wealth, and constantly urged that it was as much the duty of every Christian to give as to pray. All his benevolence was enveloped with a secretive modesty and suffused by a charming grace and willingness. 4. The last thought suggested in our text comes by blessed necessity from the truths we have already con- sidered, the fact of wide-reaching redemptive influence: " Much people was added unto the Lord." Mr. Colgate was the founder of our Sunday school and for forty years its superintendent, and during the entire history of our church a deacon, a trustee, a leader to whom all looked for counsel and for courage. Consider his work in con- nection with the American Tract Society, the Society for the Suppression of Vice, the American Baptist Mis- sionary Union, the American Baptist Home Mission So- ciety, the Education Society of New York, Colgate Uni- versity, the Orange Orphans' Home, and in countless other directions, and then ponder on the far-reaching in- fluence for blessing upon the world of! one consecrated Christian life. We are told that David Hume said he could not doubt immortality when he thought of his mother. How many lives have been redeemed from sad- ness, doubt, sin, despair by such a character as the one which so long has blessed this church. God be praised for him ! Because of his influence evermore for us shall life be nobler, religion more beautiful, the Christ spirit more possible, the world better, heaven nearer. Our sad yet thankful hearts find the utterance for which they hunger in the lines of an American poet, changing only the personal pronoun: His heart was like a generous fire, Round which a hundred souls could sit And warm them in the unstinted blaze. These who held nearest place to it SAMUEL COLGATE 167 Had cheer and comfort all their days ; Those who, perforce, were further still Yet felt his radiance melt their chill, Their darkness lightened by his rays. His heart was like a generous fire ! How changed the summer scenes, how chill, How coldly do the mornings break, Since that great heart is quenched and still, Which kept so many hearts awake! O Lord, the Light! shine thou instead, Quicken and trim the fires he fed, And make them burn for his dear sake. Ill HOWARD OSGOOD, THE MAN AND THE TEACHER WHEN Dr. Howard Osgood passed away, Novem- ber 27, 1911, it was difficult to realize the sad fact. He was so buoyant and beautiful in spirit that one seldom thought of him as old. Only a few days before, in a visit of two hours' duration with him in his home, he talked with all his accustomed intellectual keenness and delightful repartee and affectionate suggestion. Despite the weight of more than eighty years and increasing bodily infirmities, he was so penetrating in thought, so buoyant in faith, so hopeful in outlook upon the future, so firm in loyalty to the Bible and fundamental truth, so fervent in adoring love for Christ, so overflowing in spiritual power, that we cannot think of him as dead. That noble, generous, Christly personality cannot be effaced or blotted out forevermore. We think of him as Matthew Arnold thought of his great father: O strong soul, by what shore Tarriest thou now? For that force, Surely, has not been left vain ! Somewhere, surely, afar, In the sounding labor-house vast Of being, is practised that strength, Zealous, beneficent, firm ! Yes, in some far-shining sphere, Conscious or not of the past, Still thou performest the word Of the Spirit in whom thou dost live, Prompt, unwearied as here. 168 HOWARD OSGOOD 169 Born January 4, 1831, on a famous old magnolia plan- tation in Plaquemine parish, Louisiana, there were un- usual elements of charm and picturesqueness in Dr. Osgood's career and personality. The chivalric courtesy and generous hospitality and warm impulsiveness of the old-time South were ever characteristic of him, although after his boyhood he lived in the northern part of our country. Educated at Harvard University, from which institution he received his A. B. degree, he later spent two years in study in Germany. His marriage in 1853 was a union of rare and exquisite happiness. Mrs. Osgood was a lady of great loveliness and spiritual beauty, and the union was in tenderness and strength like that of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett. Those who have enjoyed the hospitality of the stately home in Liv- ingston Park, Rochester, can not forget its charm. Mrs. Osgood died in 1898, and her husband never wholly ral- lied from the shock of her departure. Her picture was ever before him, and to his intimate friends he often said that for him heaven meant to be with her and with the Saviour. Doctor Osgood was ordained to the Baptist ministry in 1856, and for two years was pastor of our church in Flushing, Long Island. From 1860 to 1866 he was pastor of the North Baptist church, New York City. But by natural gifts and scholarly attainments he was especially fitted for educational w r ork, and in 1868 he became profes- sor of the Old Testament and Hebrew T in Crozer Theologi- cal Seminary, where he remained five years. In 1873 he entered upon what was to be his great life-work, the pro- fessorship of the Old Testament and Hebrew in Rochester Theological Seminary. For twenty-five years he held this chair, exercising a great influence both in Seminary and in the city. In 1898 he resigned this position that he might 170 THE PRECEDING GOD enjoy a season of well-earned rest and quiet and literary research. He wrote many articles for current religious journals, published a number of pamphlets on various lines of Biblical research, and was a member of the American Committee for the Revision of the Old Testa- ment. Doctor Osgood was a great teacher. He was a man of opulent and many-sided learning. He seemed to have read everything bearing upon the Bible. He was strong in linguistics, having an easy mastery of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, French, and other languages. Like Glad- stone, it was a recreation to him to translate a favorite English hymn into Latin or Greek. To his pastor he would occasionally send a note or a postal card in Greek or Hebrew. As is well known, Doctor Osgood was very con- servative, both as a theologian and as a student of Biblical questions. He had little sympathy with some of the views of some of the advocates of the higher criticism of the Old Testament. Nevertheless, he was a generous adver- sary in his arguments, disliked personalities, and sought to bring every theory to the tribunal of Christ's teach- ing and character. Doctor Osgood's influence as a teacher was great chiefly because of what he himself was. Young men instinctively recognized him as a man of power, rich in his fellowship with humanity, and rich in his fellowship with God. He was a many-sided personality tender and brave, a man of the people and yet princely in his bearing, with a sense of humor, yet quickly responsive to life's pathos and tragedy. Gener- ous and kind to all people in need, he could blaze forth in indignation against deceivers and imposters. He loved little children, and had an old-fashioned courtesy and chivalry for good women. His hospitality was great, HOWARD OSGOOD 171 and many preachers and missionaries in all parts of the world, as they read these lines, will once more behold in the n mind's eye " his beautiful home and hear his words of hearty greeting. All the varying elements in his character were unified and glorified by his fervid, rever- ential love for Christ. He had a deep and overwhelming and transfiguring experience of Christ's grace. We are told that the poet Tennyson had builded on the top of his home at Farringford a little platform, where he used to love to sit and observe the stars and all the glory of the heavens on clear nights. Somehow, so Doctor Osgood has seemed to those who have been intimate with him in recent years, to be sitting on a lofty emi- nence of thought and faith and hope, meditating on the wonder of God's grace and power and wisdom. From that eminence, despite all the tumult of the present, his outlook was ever optimistic. He believed the world was slowly but surely growing better; he doubted not that clouds would break and that Christ would reign victori- ous. Just before he died the words were read to him, " Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," and a smile illumined his face, and with his last strength he waved his hand with a gesture of triumph. Rochester, N. Y., December 2, 1911. IV A TRIBUTE TO TWO LEADERS IN THE NORTH ORANGE CHURCH, NEW JERSEY IN recent days I have been called twice to Orange, New Jersey, to conduct the funeral of two of the officers of the North Baptist Church of that city. This noble church has been greatly blessed in the devoted men and women of its membership who have been and are well known to the general public, and who have held prominent official positions in our denomination. But there have been many others who, comparatively unknown to our general de- nomination, have lived beautiful lives, done generous things, and contributed largely to the far-reaching influ- ence of the North Orange Church. Among these were Isaac Newton Burdick and Mrs. Sarah R. Hardwick, both of whom united with the Orange church in the early part of my pastorate there, and have been cherished friends ever since. They were both exceedingly modest, and shrank from publicity, but for that very reason it is well now to record their names and to quicken our hearts by the memory of their simple, unaffected goodness. All visitors to London go to Westminster Abbey and gaze upon the memorials of England's world-famed heroes, but a cloister has been recently built in Aldersgate street of the great city where memorials will be placed to those who were unselfish and heroic in the home and the fac- tory, and in daily toil elsewhere. Happy the nation that cherishes the memory of the heroes and heroines of the 172 A TRIBUTE TO TWO LEADERS 173 church, and the home, and the business life, as well as the fame of statesman and warrior. Mr. Burdick came from Central New York to the me- tropolis as a young man, and before coming to Orange attended the Sixteenth Street Church. For about twenty years he was a deacon in the Orange church, and for many years taught a class in the Bible school. His face, handsome and often illumined with a radiant smile, ex- pressed well his youthfulness of spirit. He loved all the beautiful things of nature and of life — trees, flowers, books, pictures, music, travel. I was with him several summers ago for a day or two in London, and he entered with exuberant delight into the wonder of the great city. L T p to his last illness he kept the heart of boyhood in his buoyancy and gladness. The words of Robert Louis Stevenson would interpret his attitude of lively interest in the world of beauty : The world is so full of a number of things. I am sure we all should be happy as kings. He had a fine genius for friendship, holding fast to com- rades of the past, and welcoming new and happy associ- ations. His helpfulness was manifest in his generous gifts to missions and education, in his faithfulness to his church, in his tenderness and love in the home, in his beautiful hospitality, and in his personal interest in the poor and the unhappy. Back of all his life was a deep religiousness, a fervent reverence for Christ, of whose redeeming grace he had a rich experience. Intensely fond of the bright sunshine, it seemed the benediction of God upon him when, after months of sickness, he passed away on the morning of December 12, just as the sun first flooded the earth with light. "When the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. " 174 THE PRECEDING GOD Mrs. Sarah R. Hardwick, who passed away suddenly, December 26, was a strong and gentle personality. She was born of vigorous and distinguished Puritan stock. Her first American ancestor was Captain Joseph Hills, who emigrated to New England in colonial days, became speaker of the Massachusetts House of Delegates, and named the town of Maiden. Her father was the late Samuel Hills, after whom the library of Newton Theo- logical Seminary was named. Her husband died many years ago, leaving her with a group of young children whom she trained to love Christ and the church. She pos- sessed strong convictions, loyalty to duty, shrewdness of judgment, persistency of purpose. Withal she was gra- cious, loving, and sweet-spirited. After her death it was said by one who knew her well, " She always said good and kind things about others." She loved to entertain, and many now will recall happy seasons in her hospitable home. She had an eager zest and happiness in all the good and lovely things of life, esteeming them as gifts of God to be enjoyed and to be shared with others. Under affliction she was very patient and rarely spoke of her own sorrows. For twenty-two years she was president of the Woman's Benevolent Society of the North Orange church, and for about fifteen years treasurer of the Women's Mis- sionary Society. She never missed a meeting of these societies when she was in Orange. It was her peculiar joy to minister to the poor. At her funeral, as with Dorcas, " the widows stood by weeping." Her religious experience was deep and satisfying to her soul. She had an inward assurance of God and of Christ and of heaven. The end came unexpectedly, but her last words and acts were expressive of her devotion to the Saviour. As one gazed upon the remarkable expression of peace which remained as an afterglow of her spirit upon A TRIBUTE TO TWO LEADERS 175 her face after death, the lines of the poet Keble were recalled : No smile is like the smile of death, When, all good musings past, Rise, wafted with the parting breath, The sweetest thoughts the last. Rochester, N. Y., January 9, 1913. V DR. THOMAS O. CONANT 1 EVER since the translation of Thomas O. Conant from earth to heaven, it has been in my heart to send to the journal he edited so long my affectionate tribute to his memory, but the very intimacy of a friend- ship makes one hesitate to put into cold type experiences of the soul. From the beginning of my ministry in Orange, New Jersey, he was in his warm friendship, his wise counsel, and his unceasing helpfulness almost as a father. For several years in Orange, New Jersey, our homes immediately adjoined each other, and we ex- changed greetings every day. Many were the seasons then of communion on all the deep problems of life, and, also, on the lighter, gentler elements that give sweetness and charm to human existence. In later years during his visits to Rochester our home was his home, and we stood by his side when the mortal remains of his wife, whom he cherished with such exquisite, chivalrous devotion were placed in the Mount Hope Cemetery in that city. Only a few days ago he said, " I am planning to cross the East River soon and spend a night in your home. ,, Little did we think that he was near the river beyond which lies the radiant home of the soul. Doctor Conant's editorial associates on the staff of The Watchman-Examiner have written of the outstanding characteristics of his life — his ripe culture, his unwearied industry, his devotion to duty, 1 From The Watchman-Examiner of Feb. 26, 1914- 176 DR. THOMAS O. CONANT 177 his loyalty to our own denomination, his reverence for the Bible. In addition to these, we may well remember some other of his gracious qualities. He had remark- able serenity and quietness of spirit. Few men have labored so incessantly throughout a long life. As was said of a famous Englishman, " He could toil terribly. " His work was keyed to the highest ideals. Much of it was sacrificial. He gave his best to God and humanity. For many years his labors were in the editorial office, a place of highest honor and noblest influence and service, but not a place, according to general opinion, helpful to tranquillity and sweetness of spirit. But our friend never seemed excited or feverish or desirous of the world's applause or panic-stricken by the criticism of man. He beautifully exemplified Matthew Arnold's lines on r Quiet Work " : Of toil unsevered from tranquillity; Of labor, that in lasting fruit outgrows Far noisier schemes, accomplished in repose, Too great for haste, too high for rivalry. We think of his refinement and delicacy of spirit. He set himself squarely against the slang and coarseness which pass for wit and humor in many circles today. His conversation was on the higher levels. He was a Chris- tian gentleman in all that the phrase implies. Doctor Conant was a true nature lover. One perfect day in last August, gazing upon the trees and flowers of beautiful Oxford Street in Rochester, he said, " How I love all the wonderful sights and scents and sounds of the natural world ! " Then he added, " I have been writ- ing about country life and nature's wonders these many years, and yet I have been most of the time a dweller in cities/' Nature was to him a window through which 178 THE PRECEDING GOD one might gaze and behold heavenly answers to human problems. Associated with this love for natural beauty and mystery was a spirit of romance and poetry that kept his heart young to the very end. No estimate of Doctor Conant's character would be true unless especial mention were made of his genius for friendship. He took delight in people, in men and women and children, if they were reasonably responsive and congenial. His near and dear friends of many years he clung to with an almost pathetic loyalty. The passage of time did not seem to cool his affection, and one could begin afresh with him after long separation just where the fellowship had been broken off months or years be- fore. One never had occasion to doubt his fidelity and dependableness. He was true. The chief thing about our friend who has vanished from our sight was his deep and tender and strong religious life. In his early life there came to him a vivid and dreadful sense of sin and sin's devastation of the soul. Then came the beatific vision of the glory of God's grace in Christ. He had a rich and mighty per- sonal experience of the Saviour's forgiveness. This ex- perience transfigured his life. He was a lover of the Lord Jesus and out of that fount of love flowed all the refreshing streams of his life's influence. He delighted to write of the Easter miracle, of the abolition of death by the Saviour, of the joy and love and knowledge and service of the heavenly life, and God gave him a gracious and wonderful entrance into that life of which he had so often thought and written. The weary child, the long play done, Goes slow to bed at set of sun, Sees mother leave, fears night begun, But by remembered kisses made DR. THOMAS O. CONANT 179 To feel, though lonely, undismayed, Glides into dreamland unafraid. The weary man, life's long day done, Looks lovingly at his last sun, Sees all friends fade, fears night begun, But by remembered mercies made To feel, though dying, undismayed, Glides into glory unafraid. VI WILLIAM J. WRIGHT 1 WHEN William Carey, the founder of modern mis- sions and one of the greatest of men, lay dying, he whispered to one of his friends, " When I am gone, say nothing about William Carey, but speak only of Carey's Saviour." This would have been the wish of our dear friend whose spirit has gone from us, if he could have given directions concerning this occasion, for he was one of the most modest of men and he exalted Christ as his All in All. This solemn occasion and this large audience, with representatives from so many spheres of life, remind us afresh of the greatness of our loss. The sense of bereavement is so deep with me that it would be far easier for me to join with you in mourning than to speak in any formal address. While my acquaintance with Mr. Wright had existed for only a little more than two years, I had learned to admire and to love him as one of the noblest, kindest, and most Christly of men. The memory of his character and life will abide with me as a precious treasure. However, such an occasion as this may well afford lessons of wisdom and inspiration and consolation to all thoughtful souls. Once more we stand face to face with that great mystery which men call death, but which the holy angels know to be only the entrance into larger, diviner life. As we sit here a voice is speaking to us through the ancient prophet, " Comfort ye, comfort ye 1 Address at the funeral services of Mr. Wright at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., April 23, 1915. 180 WILLIAM J. WRIGHT 181 my people, saith your God." And another Voice, full of majestic sweetness, says to us : " Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." What are some of the consolations that come to us at this time? There is great comfort in the fact that we have known such a noble, Christlike character as William J. Wright. Born in Northern Ireland about sixty-seven years ago, he possessed the sense of humor and of pathos, the winsome- ness and charm of the romantic, attractive people of his birthplace. There was a beautiful commingling of graces and virtues in him which gave a noble symmetry to his character and influence to his words. He was strong, yet very tender, dignified, yet easy of approach, progressive, yet wise and well-balanced. He loved all the beautiful things of this life — flowers, music, good books, travel, human companionship — but saw them all as prophecies and foregleams of the richer, more wonderful life of heaven. He was a remarkably generous man, giving quickly, lovingly, cheerfully, widely, and for the sake of Christ. No worthy person or enterprise ever appealed to him in vain. He was given to hospitality, rejoicing to have in his home continually guests from all sections of our country and other lands. The sad and the glad, the poor and the prosperous, the humble preacher and the prominent business man, the stranger and the well-known — all found warm welcome and bountiful entertainment in his home. His spirit was marked by an exquisite gentleness and patience. While so strong and forceful — a natural leader — he knew how to heal impa- 182 THE PRECEDING GOD tient souls by the gracious word and how to hold his peace when silence seemed to be golden. He was a lover of the Bible and had for many years made constant, careful study of its great truths. He believed in memorizing Scripture and used to urge this practise upon children and young people. He loved hymnology and was unusually well-informed concerning the great hymns and hymn-writers of the Christian Church. Linked with his love for the Bible was Mr. Wright's prayer fulness. He rejoiced in the thought of the near- ness of God, the proximity of heaven to earth, and the possibility of lifting up the soul to the heavenly Father at any time and all times. Prayer was to him the constant attitude of the soul, of trust, love, adoration, dependence, and obedience towards God. His spoken prayers were marked by simplicity, tenderness, fervor, childlike faith. Mr. Wright had great sympathy with people in trouble. His heart went out in yearning, pitying love for the sick, the poor, the lonely, the erring, and he constantly visited the distressed, ministering to body and to soul. He had a deep devotion to this church of which for thirty years he was a member and which he served with loving fidelity as deacon and as trustee, and in various other offices. He believed in the Christian church as the mighty spiritual force back of all other forces for human betterment. The secret and source of all the beauty and strength of this noble man's character we know was in his adoring love for Jesus Christ as the " Strong Son of God, Immortal Love " and as his own personal Saviour. Christ was the joy of his joy, the life of his life, the soul of his soul. Bereaved as we are today, we thank God and take courage because we have known and loved such a man as WILLIAM J. WRIGHT 183 William J. Wright, and Longfellow's words come to us afresh : Thus, though oft depressed and lonely, All my fears are laid aside, If I but remember only Such as these have lived and died. We have comfort today in the thought of the quietness of our friend's death. His departure was sudden, gentle, and apparently, without pain. It was like a peaceful falling into the sleep from which one rises in the morn- ing refreshed for new activities and joys. It was a trans- lation. Sudden death was for him, we feel sure, sudden entrance into the Paradise of God. George Frederick Watts, the great English painter, depicted upon the canvas a strong and gentle angel, arrayed in garments of shining white, as his idea of death. A few years ago when Watts himself was dying he said, in happy faith and hope, " I am so glad that I painted the Angel of Death in garments of gleaming white." Then he added, " Besides, his face is toward the sun." It was thus with the departure of our friend. Dying, he faced the sunrise, as while he had lived. We take great consolation at this time in the thought of God's wise and loving Providence. This thought Mr. Wright loved and occasionally, to intimate friends, he would speak of how God had guided him when a youth across the ocean to this land and wonderfully led him through many glad and sad experiences. Today we fall back in simple faith upon the fact of the Divine Sover- eignty and Leadership in our lives. " We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." " Of him, and through him, and to him are all things." For the servant of God all things, small and great, sad and glad, death as truly as life, are being wrought 184 THE PRECEDING GOD together into blessed perfection by Infinite Love and Wisdom. Once more, we take strong comfort and inspiration to our hearts when we think of the blessed life of heaven into which we believe our dear friend has already entered by God's grace. On the night before his death our Saviour prayed for his disciples : " Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." As he hung upon the cross, Jesus said to the dying and forgiven penitent by his side, " Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise." So, we have strong as- surance that our loved ones who die in Christ enter im- mediately into the joy of Paradise. Oh the radiant wonder and the rapturous mystery of that new life! While we cannot know its details, we feel sure from the teaching of Holy Scriptures that the life of Paradise means larger knowledge, nobler service, deeper love, richer joy, ever-growing holiness, ever-advancing activ- ities of the spiritual life, and best of all, the presence and fresh blessing of the Saviour. Likewise, we think of the holy saints and the redeemed friends who await to welcome the pilgrims of Jesus as they pass from earth to heaven. TKere entertain him all the saints above, In solemn troops and sweet societies That sing and singing in their glory move. VII ISAAC EDWIN GATES WHEN the tidings came that Isaac E. Gates had passed away on February 24, 1916, a large circle of friends and acquaintances felt a profound sense of loss and loneliness. Some of them knew that one of their best and most helpful friends had gone. Having reached the ripe age of eighty-four years, death came to him gently and softly, and his spirit slipped away in great peace to the realm of light and love of which he had so long thought. Born in Connecticut, certain well-known New England characteristics were always manifest in Mr. Gates — sim- plicity of tastes, painstaking thoroughness, fondness for the best literature, devotion to lofty moral principles, and deep religiousness. Added to these there was a rare sweetness and gentleness of spirit, a sense of quiet humor, and a refinement which made him keenly sensitive to the rough and coarse things of life. While a stanch New En- glander and proud of his native State, he took a great interest in the South, was fond of Southern people, and enjoyed the biographies of Lee and Jackson. His large business interests in the South brought him in contact with many interesting individuals and causes in that sec- tion. It was through his generous kindness that the now large and flourishing First Church, Newport News, Vir- ginia, obtained its fine lot in its early days of struggle. Mr. Gates was educated at Colgate University and planned to give his life to the ministry, but, after a brief 185 186 THE PRECEDING GOD service in Wisconsin, he was compelled to give up the pastorate on account of failing health. Returning to New York City he became associated with his brother-in-law, the late Collis P. Huntington, who was beginning his distinguished career as builder of a great transcontinental railway system. Until Mr. Huntington's death, a few years ago, Mr. Gates was closely identified with his rail- ways, and his great shipbuilding company, at Newport News. For some years he lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was a tower of strength in the Central Church of that city. In 1887 he made his home in East Orange, New Jersey, and united with the North Orange Church, which hp served as trustee and as teacher of a large class of young women in the Bible school. One of these young women, now the wife of a prominent New York lawyer, said a few weeks ago that the members of this Bible class always thought of Mr. Gates as the most beautiful Christian character they had ever known. After living in East Orange about fifteen years, Mr. Gates made his home in New York, where he resided until his death. Despite his prominence as a business man and the heavy burdens of responsibility he carried, the most marked characteristic of Mr. Gates was his spirituality. The windows of his soul were ever open towards the heavenly city. He rarely missed a prayer-meeting in his church during his residence in East Orange, and his prayers and brief addresses were uplifting and comfort- ing. He was fond of listening to earnest preaching, he had a wide circle of acquaintances among ministers, and he loved the immortal hymns of the church. He took great joy and pride in the well-known hymns and poems written by his wife, whom he cherished with exquisite devotion. While enjoying all beautiful things, it was his matured conviction that one of the greatest needs of our ISAAC EDWIN GATES 187 times is a return to greater simplicity in all our ways, to magnify afresh Wordsworth's " plain living and high thinking." His generosity was great but always modest and unobtrusive. He shrank from anything and every- thing that savored of display. He gave to churches and schools and various forms of missionary enterprise. He had a deep sympathy with struggling, suffering humanity. Mr. Gates thought much concerning the problems of death and the life beyond, and to intimate friends would express his views concerning these great mysteries. Familiar with ancient and modern arguments for the sur- vival of the human personality beyond the grave, he be- lieved that the supreme argument was in Jesus Christ — his character, message, and redemptive work. He adored the Saviour with ever-growing faith through a long life of mingled joy and sorrow. A few hours before his death, when precious promises from God's Word were repeated to him, this divine assurance seemed of especial comfort to him — " He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. ,, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever/' A smile illumined his face and the light of eager expectation shone from his eyes. He was a lover of the Lord, and we are sure that the strong Son of God was with him. March, 1916. VIII GARDNER COLBY AND HAYWARD SMITH 1 DEATH takes us by surprise." These words from one of Longfellow's poems have received fresh emphasis recently in the sudden translations from earth to heaven of Hayward Smith, of the Borough of Brooklyn, New York, and Gardner Colby, of East Orange, New Jersey. It has been my privilege to know them both intimately and to love them warmly. Hayward Smith in physical pro- portions, mental vigor, emotional warmth, kindling en- thusiasm, and religious devotion was an inspiring person- ality. Born in the Borough of Manhattan seventy years ago, he was by reason of his fervor and faithfulness one of the elect few who never grow old. He lived in Brook- lyn sixty-eight years and since his conversion, when about eighteen years of age, has been connected in one way or another with a multitude of good works in this great city. With a broad sympathy for all Christian churches, he was a stanch Baptist and in recent years the clerk of our Long Island Association. He had been actively interested in the Samaritan Hospital, the Baptist Home for the Aged, the Laymen's Missionary Movement, and many other noble enterprises. But next to his family, his chief love was for the Sixth Avenue Church, of which forty-five years ago he was one of the founders and which he served with a chivalric fidelity. Of this church at 1 From The Watchman-Examiner, Nov. 15, 191 7. 188 G. COLBY AND H. SMITH 189 the time of his death he was deacon, clerk, treasurer of the fellowship fund, usher, and leader of the singing in the Bible school and in the prayer-meeting. Nothing was too great and nothing was too small for him to do for the church he had loved so long. Back of the church and in it and before it he saw by faith Jesus Christ its Head and his adorable Saviour. No preaching ap- proached its true purpose, in his thought, unless it was tender and compelling with the redemptive love of Christ. He took a keen interest in little children, in the dis- tressed, and in those seeking the way of salvation. He loved the great hymns and was an inspiring leader of congregational singing. Now his spirit, with the multi- tude of the redeemed in heaven, has joined in the New Song. Gardner Colby passed away suddenly on November 4, four days after Mr. Smith died. So long and intimate had been my friendship with Gardner Colby that the pen falters in attempting to write even a few sentences con- cerning him. Fifty-three years of age, he vanished from our earthly vision in the prime of his usefulness. His name was a distinguished one for several generations. His father was one of the foremost citizens of New 7 Jersey. His grandfather, Gardner Colby, of Newton Center, Massachusetts, was probably the most widely known Baptist layman in America in his time. My friend who has just left us exemplified well many of the traits of his noble ancestry. Broad culture and deep religious- ness were beautifully mingled in his character. He was a wide reader, a public-spirited citizen, and an ardent patriot. He loved to entertain congenial spirits in his hospitable home. A winsome affectionateness gave a rare charm to his character. He was a trustee both of Colgate University and of Brown University and took a 190 THE PRECEDING GOD keen interest in educational problems. For about twelve years he had been secretary and chief examiner of the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. He was devoted to the North Orange Church, and for about twenty-nine years served it as deacon and in many other capacities. For about twenty-five years he was superintendent of the Sunday school of the Emmanuel mission. Despite his many outside and public engagements, he visited the poor and the sick and the perplexed, and cherished a warm interest in individuals. He loved the children. He was a faithful attendant at prayer-meetings and took part in them with exceeding helpfulness. He was a Christian man, tender and strong. Familiar with much of modern doubt, Christ was to him the final authority on all the problems of life. As we think of the sudden and unexpected passing of two such men as the ones mentioned in this brief tribute, life seems at first increasingly lonely and difficult. But we hear Jesus saying : " I am the Light of the world ; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." In humble faith we make the lines of the English poet our prayer: O blithe breeze, and O great seas, Though ne'er, the present parting o'er, On this wide world we meet again, Oh, lead us to yon heavenly shore. One port, methinks, alike we seek, One purpose hold where'er we fare. O bounding breeze, O rushing seas, At last, at last, unite us there. PART IV LETTERS FROM ABROAD A VISIT TO BETHLEHEM BRIGHTEST of all earth's days is one day ; beloved all over the world, among all sorts and conditions of mankind. Of the gladness of Christmas little children speak among their first uttered sentences, and old men become young again at the return of this holy, happy season. It is the day for gifts and kisses and laughter and love and family reunions, the day for joy and peace and adoration of Almighty God. In the glory of the day ever shines one place preeminent, Bethlehem, where was born the infant Saviour. Most natural was it that our hearts were beating high Saturday afternoon, March 15, 1902, when we started in our carriage from the Hotel du Pare, Jerusalem, for Bethlehem, six miles away. Occasional gusts of fine rain swept over the hills and the air was cold, but a light that never was on land or sea exalted our hearts. Besides the four tourists who had experienced much happiness in studying together Jerusalem's sacred sites, we had in our large carriage the excellent guide, Elias. Out by the Jaffa Gate we leave Jerusalem, passing the ancient Tower of David, going down close to the Valley of Hinnom, fateful locality dreaded by the ancient Jews and symbolizing to the modern world the pangs of future punishment, then, ascending the hill, we look back and have a view of Jerusalem perhaps only second in excellence to that from the Mount of Olives. The macadamized road is admir- ably smooth and broad, and as the good horses trot 193 194 THE PRECEDING GOD swiftly southward, the fields become more inviting with growing grass and grain and vineyards and orchards of olive trees. We pass many places of traditional and present-day interest — "the country house of Caiaphas," the ancient tree from which Judas Iscariot is said to have hanged himself, the seat where Mary rested on her weary journey to Bethlehem, and several churches and con- vents. Of all these traditional spots, of the greatest and most tender interest is the small edifice known as Rachel's Tomb. It is asserted that ever since Christ's time this very locality has been considered the place where Jacob buried Rachel, the love of his heart, and that for many centuries earlier either this spot, or one close by, has been believed to be the place of the tomb of the fair, true wife of the patriarch. Four miles is this sacred memorial from Jerusalem, and yonder, two miles away, nestles Bethlehem among the hills. Back through the centuries our hearts go, and the old, ever young experiences of love and death, of joy and anguish, seem to pulse and throb in the green leaves of the ven- erable olive tree near Rachel's Tomb. Soon upon our vision comes a remarkably fine view of Bethlehem and the surrounding country. In the far distance is the edge of the wilderness of Judea, nearer are the high, mountainous hills, nearer still green fields, and still nearer Bethlehem with its stone houses, curious towers and balconies, narrow, winding streets, and about six thousand inhabitants. The adjacent country seems more prosperous and better tilled than anywhere else in Judea save the plain of Sharon. Vineyards, meadows, olive orchards, terraced hills, tell of patient husbandry and remind of the origin of the name of the ancient town, Bethlehem, " place of bread." We thought of Bethlehem's wonderful history, of how it had existed for thousands of A VISIT TO BETHLEHEM 195 years, of lovely Ruth, of David's romantic career, of Con- stantine and the Crusaders, above all, of our blessed Lord. Entering the narrow streets of the town, we drive at once to the large open space in front of St. Mary's church (better known as the Church of the Nativity). This large, rambling edifice has been rebuilt, renovated, added to many times through the centuries and is said to be the most ancient church building in the world. Since 1852 the Greek, the Latin, and the Armenian churches have each had possession of a part of it, the Greek having the largest, most imposing section, and the Armenian a little corner which is pitiful in its almost ridiculous insignificance. In the Greek church, as we entered, a notable service of worship was being cele- brated, and for half an hour we listened and watched with growing interest. There were the men in the choir singing antiphonally with loud fervor, there the clergy and incense-bearers coming and going before the altar, there the patriarch and other dignitaries in striking vest- ments, and presently a boy about twelve or fourteen years of age comes forward, and in a clear, ringing voice, reads the Scripture lesson. A large audience, including more than a hundred children, listens and beholds with apparent solemnity and interest. The whole service seems full of reality and reverence, and one cannot but feel, means much to the people. As we look into the eager, wistful faces of these Bethlehem children worship- ing in this holy shrine, our longing hearts rise upward to One who understands childhood and manhood and all of life. O, holy Child of Bethlehem ! Descend to us, we pray ; Cast out our sin, and enter in ; Be born in us today. 196 THE PRECEDING GOD We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell ; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel. Down the dark, winding stairs we go to the cave where the sacred spot is marked by a silver star and under the star the words, Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est. There are many strong reasons for believing that this natural grotto was the very place where Christ was born. It is one of the best authenti- cated of the sacred sites in Palestine. Above the silver star shine fifteen lamps, which are divided among the three churches sharing the building. A few steps away stands a Turkish soldier, gun in hand, to protect the sacred spot and, alas for poor human nature, to prevent ecclesiastical quarrels which, even here, have in the recent past sometimes resulted in bloodshed. Ascending the stairs and passing various other places of traditional interest, we leave the church and go out by a narrow lane to the hillside, whence we behold a splendid land- scape of mountains and valleys and plains. In yonder fields gentle Ruth gleaned, on those hillsides David be- gan his immortal work, and on that plain were the shep- herds with their flocks, when came the heavenly vision and the angelic message of the new-born Messiah. As we walk back to our carriage our hearts are asking : " Is it all a dream ? Are we really here in Palestine, in Judea, in Bethlehem, at the birthplace of the Saviour?" Then, strong and tender and charged with heavenly authority come to us again some of Bethlehem's messages. God's great love is ever seeking humanity. Christ comes to reign in our lives in strange, unexpected ways. In most lowly, difficult places of earth the kingdom of heaven will surely shine forth. Love, heavenly love, for- A VISIT TO BETHLEHEM 197 evermore, seeks not to receive, but to give out of its blessed fulness. It was so at the birth of Christ, it is so with God's unceasing bounty and with the daily, hourly reenforcement of our spiritual life from the living Christ. Then, touched by this celestial love, our hearts should be ever pouring out spiritual inspiration and blessing to the world. Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine; Love was born at Christmas, Stars and angels gave the sign. Love shall be our token, Love be yours and love be mine, Love to God and all men, Love for gift and plea and sign. II A WINTER JOURNEY TO ITALIAN SHORES SAID Dr. Samuel Johnson : " No one would go to sea unless he was a fool or a madman; for to be on a ship is to be in a prison, with the added chance of being drowned." But the gruff old English philosopher was wrong in this, as he was in some of his other utterances. To be on the sea is for some temperaments freedom and joy. The soul seems to catch some of the exuberant life and liberty of the sea-gulls that follow almost across the ocean. We learn to let go and to forget, and to launch out toward something nobler in the future. When we sailed the last of January, we left New York enfolded in ice and snow, but a day's journey carried us into pleasant sunlight and temperate atmosphere. A little more than a week of sailing brought us to the coast of Portugal and up the Tagus River to Lisbon. Those green fields and those fair towns on the steep hill- sides make a pleasant panorama for the eyes of the traveler. We thought of Christopher Columbus and of the many romantic sailors and explorers who had gone faring forth from those shores. To our ship had come wireless messages saying that another revolution had broken out in Lisbon, and that the youngest European republic was in grave peril. So we eagerly disembarked to see the city. All seemed quiet and peaceful, although soldiers were everywhere. The uprising had been put 198 A JOURNEY TO ITALIAN SHORES 199 down. Citizens assured us that the republic was firmly established. Lisbon is remarkable for the magnificence of her ap- pearance from the river, her streets rising one above the other on precipitous heights. While we saw some win- dows in the heart of the city that had recently been broken by the bullets of the revolutionists, there was a general air of contentment, despite the evidences of picturesque poverty. The visitor cannot forget the terrible earth- quake of 1755, which destroyed sixty thousand people in Lisbon. This was, in some respects, the greatest catas- trophe in human history, and it profoundly influenced the greatest thinkers of that time, making some of them skeptics and others atheists. But there stands Lisbon today, smiling and gay, and in one of her crowded streets we were glad to find a depositary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Bible has a message for times of earthquakes and of revolutions as well as for times of peace, and Portugal seems right now to be a promising field for Protestant Christian work. We were detained three days at Lisbon by a fierce wind-storm which made it impossible for our steamer to cross the " bar " dividing the river from the ocean. Our captain, making the attempt to put out to sea, struck the sand, and was compelled to go back up the river a short dis- tance. Other vessels were delayed near us, while a few miles away, beyond the bar, other ships were waiting, anxious to come into the harbor. We received a new illustration of Tennyson's well-known poem, " Crossing the Bar." A day at Algiers was happily spent visiting the curious streets of the older part of the city and watching the Arabians, Turks, and Bedouins, the snake-charmers and other strange characters. From one of the splendid hotels 200 THE PRECEDING GOD on the heights, where we took tea, we gazed upon one of the loveliest panoramas of land and sea in the world. The French have made Algiers the capital of the fertile province they have taken in Northern Africa, and they may in a few decades convert the city into a little Paris. Already it is an important port of commerce and a city of pleasure, and it ought to be made a strategic center for the evangelization of a part of Northern Africa. For most travelers Naples is chiefly the place of hurried entrance to Italy's glories in her northern cities. They hasten through its wonders to other places not so beauti- ful or great. But Naples is one of the world's greatest cities in historical interest, in the tumultuousness of her life today, and in the unrivaled beauty and grandeur of her location. Ten years ago we spent a day at Pompeii ; yesterday we saw this uncovered city of ancient times through the eyes of our little girl, and compared a child's impressions with those of a mature mind. The almond trees were resplendent in pink blossoms, the flowers were everywhere, the birds were singing joyfully, and there were the unchanging memorials of sudden and horrible death. Field excavations are continually being made and new revelations concerning the pleasure-loving life of Pompeii eighteen hundred years ago are being brought to light. Naples was described by a visitor fifty years ago as " a paradise inhabited by devils." This is a far more inac- curate description now than it was then. Doubtless there is much ignorance, superstition, cheating, thieving, and uncleanliness here today. Still we see the unaccountable cruelty of the Neapolitans to dumb animals. Twice yes- terday we saw donkeys knocked to the ground and trampled upon. Oh that this patient, suffering burden- bearer of so many nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa A JOURNEY TO ITALIAN SHORES 201 could speak! He would bring an arraignment against the human race more terrible far than the rebuke of Balaam's ass to his master. But Naples is improving. There is less harshness here to beasts of burden than formerly, and there is a vigorous society for the preven- tion of cruelty to animals. The streets are cleaner and the water supply is good. Educational opportunities have been enlarged. Superstition is waning, though slowly. There are fewer beggars and there is much material pros- perity. More than half a million people crowd the pictur- esque streets. There are not a few churches here where Christ is truly preached as the world's Saviour. Toward the light Naples is turning her face. Yonder on the side of Mount Vesuvius are the memorials of unspeakable sin, but the almond trees are in blossom and the birds are singing a song of hope. Naples, February 16, 1912. Ill HAPPY DAYS IN SUNNY SICILY IT was eight o'clock in the evening when we left Naples for Sicily. The steamer was delayed a little by reason of the departure of soldiers on another boat for the scene of the war in Tripoli. This war seems popular with the people, and has aroused new patriotism and national en- thusiasm throughout Italy. Our room on the steamer was large and comfortable, and the sea was smooth, but I lay awake nearly all the night thinking of the Mediter- ranean and of the great nations, mighty personalities, and tremendous events linked with this wonderful ocean. This body of water was to prehistoric people the center of the universe ; to David and the Hebrews it was " the great deep," whose waves told of the judgments of God. On its shores the supreme makers of ancient history dwelt. Across its waters sailed the apostle Paul — greatest of all travelers — to carry the gospel to Rome and to the Western world. And yonder, southward, Sicily was beckoning to us. Until recent weeks Sicily had been to us little more than a name, suggesting vaguely the Mafia and brigandage, lemons, and oranges. But travel is a great incentive to the study of geography and of history, and after a sojourn of more than two weeks here we have learned that few countries in the world are so rich in historical interest, natural beauty, and present-day prob- lems as Sicily. Long ago Goethe wrote : " Italy without Sicily leaves no image in the soul : Sicily is the key to all." A later poet has said, " Sicily is the smile of God." More 202 HAPPY DAYS IN SUNNY SICILY 203 recently still an English writer has declared that " Sicily is the Ireland of Italy." There is much truth and sug- gestiveness in each of these sayings. Though only about ten thousand square miles in area — about one-fifth the size of New York State — Sicily, by reason of the fertility of her soil, the charm of her climate, and her strategic location in the center of the Mediterranean, was for many centuries the theater of the struggles and activities of the great nations of ancient history. Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Saracens, Spaniards, Normans, held dominion here in turn, and left memorials of their genius. To study Sicily is to study the architecture, the art, the philosophy, the wars, the poetry, the religion of the ages. Here we listen to the words of Theocritus and Virgil, of Empedocles and Cicero, and of many others who contributed to " the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome." We can never forget our first sight of Palermo in the early morning. Bathed in the morning light, the city fronts the violet-colored sea and is guarded on either side by Monte Pelegrino and Monte Catalfano. A rich meadow country, with orchards of golden oranges and lemons, with fields of green, and with countless almond trees in blossom, surrounds this city of three hundred thousand people. No detailed account of the chief objects of interest to the visitor in Palermo will be given here. Rich memorials, in cathedrals and other public buildings, of the Saracens and the Normans are in this city, and the mosaic decorations in two of the churches are among the finest and most brilliant of the kind in the world. In this city Crispi, one of the chief statesmen of modern Italy, was born, and here is his tomb. Garibaldi's memory is proudly cherished here, and several splendid monuments and new streets commemorate his valor. It will be remembered that in May, 1860, Gari- 204 THE PRECEDING GOD baldi, with his immortal one thousand soldiers attacked Palermo and captured it, the masses of the populace rejoicing to receive him. A few months later Sicily be- came a part of the new kingdom of Italy. The people of Palermo today are an interesting study. They are fond of stylish clothing and extravagant in their habits. We saw no drunkenness. The people are very fond of driving on the Via della Liberta in fine carriages, drawn by high-stepping horses, and on this handsome, broad street we saw every afternoon a crowded proces- sion of equipages, as handsome as could be seen on Fifth Avenue in New York. Automobiles are not popular and very few are seen here. The cinematograph, or moving- picture, shows are numerous, and, we were informed, are of a distinctly educational and helpful character. On the Sunday we were in Palermo we visited the Waldensian church, which has an excellent building, and spoke a few words of cheer and greeting. The pastor, Rev. D. Bosio, speaks hopefully of the religious situation, but says that Protestant work in Sicily is more difficult than in other parts of Italy. The American consul, Mr. Hernando de Soto, called upon us, and we spent a pleas- ant evening together. He says that away from several of the cities Sicily has not prospered greatly in recent years, but he is hopeful for the future. He is an optimist as to Italy, and is a warm admirer of the King and Queen. Mr. De Soto is a native of Danville, Kentucky, and has been in our Consular Service twenty years. The country sections of Sicily, as viewed from the win- dows of the railway trains, while picturesque and beau- tiful, seem generally infertile and rocky. The rich sur- face soil has usually been washed away, and the hillsides in their stony desolation remind one of Palestine. Upon the faces of the people at the railroad stations is a hungry, HAPPY DAYS IN SUNNY SICILY 205 pathetic look. Multitudes have emigrated to the United States and to South America, and many more are fixing a longing look upon the Western world. When Tripoli becomes a colony of Italy it is hoped that a new outlet for the people of Sicily will be found, and that thus Italy will not lose so many of her vigorous children. Girgenti, where we spent a memorable day, is a thrill- ing place for all whose souls are moved by the wonders of Greek civilization and art, for here are the remains of six remarkable temples erected about five hundred years before Christ. Despite the ravages of the centuries and the desolations wrought by human hands, these temples in their ruins fill the soul with reverent admiration. Their location on a series of lofty hills, commanding glori- ous views of fertile valley, olive and orange orchards, and the smiling blue sea, shimmering in the brilliant sunlight, affords a noble background and a marvelous perspective for their majestic Doric columns. Around these temples, in the golden days of Greek dominion, was gathered a city of nearly half a million people. Today the town num- bers a population of only about thirty thousand, and its boundaries are nearly a mile from the temples. The trip from Girgenti to Syracuse requires a day of rather hard traveling, but the sights of Syracuse amply re- pay a visit. Here was for many decades one of the great- est cities of the world, the home of the greatest living poets, scientists, statesmen, and warriors. Here the ban- ner of European civilization was proudly held high against the hordes of Africa. Here a million people lived in prosperity. Here to-day is a wretched, fever-smitten town of about twenty-five thousand inhabitants dwelling on the island a few yards from the mainland. We spent two days in a beautiful hotel, surrounded by the most wonderful gardens we have ever seen, about a mile from 206 THE PRECEDING GOD the city, and gave nearly every hour to the marvelous antiquities near by. Here are extensive catacombs, a Roman amphitheater, a Greek theater, the Fountain of Arethusa, the vast caverns hewn in the limestone rock where political prisoners were kept, and the traditional place where Paul preached when he spent three days at Syracuse. Taormina, where we are spending a week in the famous Timeo Hotel, is considered by some travelers the loveliest spot in all the world. There are interesting antiquities here. The remains of the majestic, rock-hewn theater on the top of the mountain fill the beholder with astonish- ment. But nature's mingled grandeur and gentleness so fill the soul here that man's handiwork is almost forgotten. Here are stupendous mountains lifting their leonine heads to the sky, and at their feet is the gentle curve of the coast- line and the blue sea. Near by is snow-covered Mount Etna, keeping watch over all the landscape with serene and indescribable grandeur. We are told that in answer to a searching question from an old friend as to what he most desired to know, the late Frederic W. H. Meyers said: "If I could ask the Sphinx one question, and one only, and hope for an answer, I think it would be this: ' Is the universe friendly ? ' " On this radiant spot, and in these golden days, and interpreting all the glory of the earth and sky and sea by the fuller revelation in Christ our Lord, it is not difficult to give a glad affirmative reply to the question of the English thinker. Taormina, Sicily, March 2, 1912. IV LETTER FROM ROME IT is related that the predecessor of the present Pope, receiving a company of visitors to Rome, said humorously to one who had been in the city a single week, " Doubtless you feel that you know Rome !" To another, who had been here a month, he said, " You are beginning to know Rome." To a third, who had lived in the city a whole year, he declared, " You feel that you will never understand Rome." This incident reminds us of the advice of a famous teacher to his students that they endeavor by a ten-years' residence here to acquire " a superficial knowledge " of Rome. Nevertheless, a visit of six weeks in Rome is sufficient to give very vivid impressions. At the very outset we were reminded of the great changes and material improvements which had been made since we were here ten years ago. Magnificent modern buildings, new, broad streets, improved methods of sani- tation, a fine system of electric tramcars, beautiful parks, new hotels of every variety — these and other signs of recent progress meet the eye in every direction. Malaria and fever have disappeared, and the mosquito, in itself an annoyance and the bearer of the germs of disease, has been banished. The most splendid of all the recent buildings is the great monument to Victor Emmanuel II, which over- looks all the edifices of Rome's ancient glories, and may be seen from every direction. This immense structure of 207 208 THE PRECEDING GOD white marble and limestone, costing about ten million dollars and with beautiful and elaborate sculptures and decorations, commemorates the founding and establish- ment of the new united Italian kingdom. Notable ar- tistic, literary, and political characteristics of the chief sections of Italy are illustrated on it. Part of the interior will be used for a National Political Museum, and another part will be used for the tombs of the future kings of Italy. This stupendous monument to new and united Italy symbolizes the material progress, the intellectual activity, the spiritual longing, and the religious oppor- tunity of the nation today. Despite the enormous ex- penditure of money and human life and energy in the war with Turkey, great public works of improvement are being steadily carried forward by the government. Trade is expanding, and it is officially stated that in the last twenty years the progress of Italy in the development of international commerce has been the greatest of any of the nations of Europe. Remarkable advance has been made in Italy in educational matters in the last twenty- five years. The schools were formerly proverbially poor, and there were comparatively few of them. Ignorance and superstition were everywhere. Such rapid progress has been made in recent years that it is believed that be- fore very long there will be few children in all Italy unable to read. Today, it is asserted, the school system of Northern Italy compares favorably with that of Switzerland or France. A new era of religious toleration and freedom has come. A Hebrew is mayor of Rome. Multitudes here are ready for a simple, evangelical, Scrip- tural message. Rome, the capital city, and all Italy seem to be on the threshold of a new era of material and intel- lectual progress. It is a strategic time for wise and aggressive Christian effort. LETTER FROM ROME 209 Despite the activities of the present and the possibilities of the future, the past with its thrilling messages is ever speaking to the soul of the visitor in Rome. Here are the mighty, undying memorials of a stupendous past — ma- jestic churches, frowning fortresses, lovely statues, im- mortal pictures, colossal ruins. With what mingled pathos and power do these speak to the soul ! " Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter." These old ruins, these wonderful churches, these shining marbles and gleaming canvases — all seem to witness to man's spiritual longing, his struggles Godward and eternity- ward. We have thought of Sabatier's words, " Man is incurably religious." So I cannot but believe that the present religious and intellectual unrest and doubt in Italy, and in other parts of the world, will lead to a truer faith, a nobler reverence, and a more Christlike service. The social life in Rome is interesting. Many leaders of thought live here, and many visit here. There is a de- lightful hospitality. We have enjoyed meeting Elihu Ved- der, the famous artist ; Hon T. G. O'Brien, our American Ambassador; Dr. Jesse B. Carter, the director of the American Classical School ; Doctor Gray, for thirty years pastor of the Scotch Presbyterian church ; Doctor Tipple, of the American Methodist church. The palace of the Dow- ager Queen Margherita is immediately opposite our hotel, and we have gazed more than once upon her handsome, sad face. In our hotel we have seen the widow and daughter of the distinguished novelist, F. Marion Craw- ford. It has been a pleasure to meet Mrs. William Buck- nell, of Philadelphia, who has been spending the winter in Rome with her son-in-law and daughter, the Count and Countess Pecorini-Manzoni. Mrs. Bucknell is much interested in foreign missions, and is now having built in 210 THE PRECEDING GOD Gauhati, Assam, a church edifice in memory of her father, Rev. Dr. William Ward, who was one of the early American Baptist missionaries to Assam. It has been a great privilege to speak in the Baptist church, to address the students in our theological sem- inary, and to preach in the American Methodist church. Rev. Dr. D. G. Whittinghill, Dr. Everett Gill, Rev. Mr. Stuart, and Professor Paschetto are the leaders in our Baptist work. There are between thirty-five and forty churches or chapels in Italy under their supervision. The work of the theological seminary is very encouraging. A religious magazine, appealing to the more thoughtful among the Italians, has recently been started. A small religious paper published every two weeks by our Baptist ministers, entitled The Sower, has a circulation of 11,000 copies, and wields a great and growing influence for evan- gelical Christianity. The great need of our Baptist work in Rome, as it seems to a visitor, is a new church edifice in a commanding strategic center of the city, with services both in English and Italian. Such a bold forward move- ment would inspire and strengthen our work (and all evangelical Christian work) throughout Italy. The founder of our American Baptist mission work in this country was Rev. Dr. George B. Taylor, who came here as a missionary of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1873. He was a beautiful, heroic soul. Learned, keenly intellectual, persuasive in eloquence, he loved the Saviour with a reverent devotion, and for thirty-four years labored for his glory here in Italy. He did a wonderful work, and laid deep and broad the foundations in times of extraordinary difficulty and danger. More than once in the early days he risked his life. Recently we visited his grave in the beautiful Protestant Cemetery near the old wall of the city. Near by were the graves of Keats and LETTER FROM ROME 211 Shelley, the famous English poets. The sun was shining with unusual radiance, the flowers were in bloom, and the thrushes were singing in such a flood of liquid melody that it seemed as if their hearts were overflowing with joy. Rome, Italy, April 25, 1912. ROME— THE HILL-TOWNS— FLORENCE i WHEN we left Rome by the fast train for the hill- towns of Umbria a strange sadness filled our hearts. It seemed as if we were leaving a home of the soul. The six weeks spent in the Eternal City had gently and strongly bound our spirits to her. Some travelers find Florence more charming ; others, like ourselves, are much happier in Rome than in the bright and cheerful city on the banks of the Arno. As with the choice of friends, so is it with one's affection for localities, largely a matter of individual sentiment and also a kind of mysterious, predestined affinity of soul. Rome with her wide spaces, lofty hills, exquisite gardens, palaces of art, massive ruins, majestic churches, with her messages concerning the supreme turning-points in human history, her pathos and tragedy and glory, her buoyant hopes for Italy, and with the deep, reverberating call of the eternal and the divine throbbing through everything — Rome will not cease to beckon to our souls while life lasts. J. A. Symonds in one of his poems well brings out the power of this great mother of cities and of nations to teach and chasten the soul: Yea, from the very soil of silent Rome You shall grow wise ; and walking, live again The lives of buried peoples, and become A child by right of that eternal home, Cradle and grave of empires, on whose walls The sun himself subdued to reverence falls. 212 ROME— FLORENCE 213 In a previous letter about our experiences in Rome no mention was made of the Campagna and, inasmuch as the majority of visitors to Rome fail to give any time to this remarkable district, it seems well to say a few words about its importance and interest. As is well known, the Campagna is the wild and uncultivated plain which sur- rounds Rome for about fifteen or twenty miles in every direction. In the midst of this awe-inspiring wilderness sits Rome like an island in a sea. No one who spends even a week in Rome should fail to give at least a day to the Campagna in a carriage drive or a trip by train or electric tramway to Frascati or Tivoli or to some other point of interest. This mighty plain was the " Latium " of antiquity and from it sprang the world-conquering Latin race. Here was developed a rich and complex civilization, here were crowded villages and cities and a teeming population. Beneath these untilled fields rich treasures await the archaeologist. Now for many miles comparative silence and desolation reign here. The soil is rich, the tall grass grows luxuriantly, and almost the entire region is given over to cattle-raising. The herds- men and shepherds live on the Alban Hills and the other mountain ranges. The whole wilderness is said to be dangerous for human habitation because of malaria and fever. For some centuries efforts have been made to banish the malaria, but with little success. Meanwhile in the springtime the Campagna is radiant with flowers and vocal with singing birds. One day we rode for two hours on the top of a tramway car to Frascati and, from the side of the Alban Mountains, rejoiced in glorious views of the open country with Rome in the center and the snow-capped mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on either side. From Frascati we climbed, panting yet ex- ultant, up the steep mountain to the site of ancient Tus- 214 THE PRECEDING GOD culum. Here we saw the ruins of the house where Cicero lived and where he wrote some of his immortal orations and letters. Another day was given to the Campagna in a trip to Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa. The ride of eighteen miles each way continually impressed one with the mingled richness and poverty, magnificence and melancholy of this great plain of fertile yet desolate country. Tivoli itself is a city of about fifteen thousand people, with a unique location on the mountainside, and it has been a popular summer resort for Roman nobles since the time of the Emperor Augustus. Of the many villas there, the " Villa D'Este " is the most splendid in its wealth of gardens, terraces, fountains, and cypress. It is worth a trip from Rochester to Tivoli to listen to the music of the falling water of these fountains, to stroll beneath the cypress trees, to gaze from the terrace across the Campagna to distant Rome, whose church spires are catching the light of the midday sun. Hadrian's Villa, a few miles away, is the ruins of the buildings erected by the Roman Emperor in his last years to represent the artistic and architectural glories of the world which had interested him in his travels. These ruins cover nearly two hundred acres, they have given to the museums in Rome many of their finest treasures, and by their im- mensity and grandeur they stagger the imagination of the visitor today. Departing from Rome for Perugia, we left the train at Assisi and gave four hours to some of the scenes linked with St. Francis, whose life is so appealing in its loving helpfulness and simple faith to good people of all creeds and churches. The record of his career by Sabatier has in recent years given him a fresh hold upon human hearts. Born in 1182, after a reckless and sinful boyhood he gave ROME— FLORENCE 215 up everything for the glory of Christ and the service of the destitute and sick and sinning. He took vows of absolute surrender to poverty, chastity, loving service for humanity, and devotion to the will of Christ, and he seems to have kept these vows as few have done since the times of the apostles. Withal he had a gracious humor and a keen sense of the beauty and charm of this present world. He loved the trees and flowers and birds, but chiefly loved Christ and Christ's little ones. His life was a sweet and heroic poem, and its melody seems still to vibrate in the streets of Assisi and over the green fields and through the olive orchards surrounding the town. A few steps from the railway station is the ma- jestic Church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli, erected in 1575, over the cell in which St. Francis used to pray and where he died. Two miles away, up the mountainside, is Assisi, a town of about six thousand people. Its chief glory is, of course, the famous double church adorned by Giotto's frescoes and containing the tomb of St. Francis. The wonderful views of the country around, however, the observation of the people, who are exceedingly poor and primitive and simple-hearted, and the memory of St. Francis engrossed our thoughts more than the churches and the monastery. Somehow Francis seems to encour- age us by his spirit and personality more than any others of the " saints." He was so human and gentle and kind and loved all the lovable things of earth and was not embittered by the unlovely people he met. His spirit seemed to come very close to us during those four hours spent at Assisi. It was good to be there. Perugia is only about twenty miles away, and its lofty towers may be seen from Assisi on a clear day. We spent five never-to-be-forgotten days in this city, which is builded like an eagle's nest on the top of one of the highest 216 THE PRECEDING GOD hills in the heart of ancient Umbria. Perugia is re- markable for three things — its marvelous location, com- manding the most glorious views of the Apennine Moun- tains and valleys ; its carefully preserved walls and towers and other antiquities, affording rare treasures for his- torical and archaeological study, and its rich collection of the paintings of Perugino and Pinturicchio. We have spent three happy weeks in Florence. This city does not thrill us as did Rome, but who can visit here without feeling a new warmth in the heart, a fresh kindling of the intellectual life? Florence is dignified, serene, and happy in her consciousness of past achieve- ments. Whatever may have been her fierce struggles in the times of the Medici and of Dante and of Savonarola, there is the atmosphere of tranquillity and complacent attainment here today. Even the " burning problems " in the business, social, and religious life of most of the other large cities of the world today seem to awaken little interest in Florence. It seems to be chiefly a city proud and happy in its glorious achievements in the past in literature, politics, and, most of all, art. It loves to be called "The Athens of' Italy." Perhaps the world greatly needs at least one such city, with its ample leisure and rich serenity and inspiring memories and unrivaled treasure- houses of art. While here we have thought much of the Brownings, and three days ago was the centenary of the birth of Robert Browning. Everybody knows of the great poet's love for this land suffusing so many of his writings in a golden light. Did he not write Open my heart and you will see Graved inside of it " Italy"? He and Mrs. Browning especially loved Florence and long lived here, and here Mrs. Browning was buried. ROME— FLORENCE 217 On the anniversary of Browning's birth we visited Mrs. Browning's grave in the English Cemetery and plucked from the grave a red rose and a white rose, and thanked God for the two immortal singers who, believing in love and duty and God and heaven, Never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph, Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake. Florence, May 10, 1912. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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