tntI)e(£itpaf3^eujgork 
 
 THE LIBRARIES 
 
 Bequest of 
 
 Frederic Bancroft 
 
 1860-1945 
 
'GRAVED BYdAtA^^ 
 
 
S ©USY I^IFE 
 
 A TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY 
 
 R1:V. DAVID A.WALLACE, D.D., LL D., 
 
 First President of Monmouth College. 
 
 REY. H. F. WALLACE. 
 
 "I have fougfht a good light, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but 
 unto all them also that love His appearing."— II Tim. 4 : 7, 8. 
 
 GREELEY, COLORADO 
 
Copyrighted, 1885, by 
 H. F. WALLACE. 
 
 S^ 
 
5*; 
 
 ax 
 
 ALUMHI OF MONMOUTH COLLEGE, 
 
 WHO REPRESENT 
 
 THE CAUSE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, 
 
 FOR WHICH MONMOUTH COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED, 
 
 AND TO WHICH THE SUBJECT OF THESE 
 
 MEMOIRS HAD CONSECRATED HIS 
 
 LIFE. THIS VOLUME IS 
 
 DEDICATED. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I — IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Early Woek -^ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 College Work - - 17 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 Monmouth Pastorates 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Leaving the College 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Last Days - fi2 
 
 PART II — DEAD. YET SPEAKING. 
 
 SERMONS AND ADDRESSES: 
 
 1 — Claims of the Bible - . . . 81 
 
 2— Walking in the Truth -------- 124 
 
 3—" What Must I Do to be Saved V "' - - - - 146 
 
 (V) 
 
vi Conients. 
 
 4— Assurance or Salvation 154 
 
 5— The Holy Spirit 168 
 
 6— The State and Temperance 181 
 
 LETTERS: 
 
 1— To His Children 204 
 
 2 — To A College Student . . . 209 
 
 3 — To A Theological Student 213 
 
 4 — To a Young Minister 225 
 
f 
 
 p(Z\Qia^. 
 
 IT is with feelings of diffidence that I present this 
 volume to the i)nblic. Few will, perhaps, see 
 more defects than myself. Yet I feel that it is going 
 among friends — among those who knew Dr. Wallace, 
 and who desire some memoriarof him. This, how- 
 ever, can be but a feeble one. His lasting memorial 
 is written upon the hearts of the sons and daughters 
 of Monmouth College. I therefore send this volume, 
 not into the cold, cynical world, to be judged b}^ 
 merciless critics, but I send it especially to those 
 who knew him, and had learned to love him, and 
 who will refrain from passing a critical judgment. 
 
 The difficulty of gathering material for such a work 
 as this can only be known. by those who have them- 
 selves undertaken a similar task. His busy life left 
 him no time for writing long letters, only short busi- 
 ness ones, and very little in the form of a diary. In 
 1873 his residence was destroyed by fire, and most 
 of his manuscript sermons and lectures were burned. 
 Very few of his sermons, in later years, were written 
 in full. The matter from which choice was made for 
 Part II. was consequently limited. 
 
 To the many friends to whom I am indebted for 
 ( vii ) 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 valuable materials, acknowledgment lias been made 
 in the course of the work where their communica- 
 tions have been used; but I would especially men- 
 tion the names of Prof. J. C. Hutchison, Ph. D., a 
 professor in Monmouth College almost from the be- 
 ginning, who contributed the second chapter; the 
 Rev. Marion Morrison, D. D. ,a classmate and life- 
 long friend; the Rev. Alex. Young, D. D., LL. D., a 
 colleague in two pastorates; the Rev. Hugh Forsythp, 
 the Rev. J. T. Cooper, D. D., and the Rev. J. A., 
 Grier. I would also acknowledge the many en- 
 couraging words thai: have come to me especially 
 from the early alumni of Monmouth College. 
 
 My aim has been to present as truly as possible 
 the inner life of the man; with the material at hand 
 this could only be imperfectly done. There was 
 much in the home life, and in the private communi- 
 cations with those with whom he had to deal, that can 
 not be brought to the view of the public. 
 
 My prayer is that this little volume may be the 
 means of magnifying the grace of God, that so 
 cheered and sustained the heart of our departed 
 brother, and of which he loved so much to speak to 
 others. 
 
 Greeley, Colo., 
 August 1, 1885. 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 N MEMORIAM 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY WORK. 
 
 David Alexander Wallace was born near Fairview, 
 Guernsey County, Ohio, June 16, 1826. His ances- 
 tors belonged to that sturdy race — the Scotch-Irish 
 — who left Scotland and settled in the district in 
 Ireland called Ulster. They inherited largely the 
 peculiar characteristics of the two countries. They 
 carried with them wherever they went, a love of 
 liberty — religious and secular ; and were strong advo- 
 cates of education. They figured largely in the 
 American struggle for independence; and ''the com- 
 mon schools of America, and the colleges were in a 
 great measure inaugurated by them." The thought 
 of separating religion from secular education never 
 entered their minds. The Shorter Catechism, as 
 well as the Bible, occupied a prominent place in 
 their schools. They were educators in the highest 
 sense of the word. They believed that secular edu- 
 cation should be sanctified and directed by a knowl- 
 edge of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God. They held that Christian statesmen were the 
 safest and best to control the affairs of state, and 
 
 (3) 
 
A JJiisij Life. 
 
 that men trained in the fear of the Lord made the 
 best and most patriotic citizens. 
 
 David Wallace and John McClenahan were the 
 grandfathers of David Alexander. It is not known 
 when David Wallace came to this country; John 
 McClenahan came in the year 1812, just before the 
 declaration of war between the United States and 
 England. The vessel in which he and his family 
 came, Avas the last to enter an American port until 
 after the cessation of hostilities. DaA'id Wallace is 
 said to have been a man of sterling integrity, great 
 equanimity of temper, and strong mental powers. 
 He held the office of Justice of the Peace for about 
 thirty years, or as long as he could be induced to 
 accept it. He was a ruling elder in the Associate 
 Reformed Church, first at St. Clairsville. Ohio, and 
 afterwards at Fairview, Ohio. 
 
 John McClenahan was a ruling elder in the Fair- 
 view congregation for about thirty years. He pos- 
 sessed strong mental powers, a good memory and a 
 great taste for reading, and thus secured a vast fund 
 of information upon the history of the church. He 
 wrote a number of articles for the press, some of 
 which appeared in "The Preacher," now ''The 
 United Presbyterian." 
 
 John Wallace, the father of David Alexander, was 
 born in Belmont county, Ohio. His mother, Jane 
 McClenahan, was born in county Down, Ireland. 
 
Karlji Work. 
 
 She was eight years of a'<j^e when her parents came 
 to America. They were married, June 14, 1825, 
 when they settled on a farm near Fairview. John 
 WaUace was a ruling elder in the Fairview congre- 
 gation of the Associate Reformed (Miurcli for over 
 twenty years: first under the pastoral care of the 
 Rev. Samuel Findley, D. D., afterward under that 
 of the Rev. Hugh Forsythe. He died April 20, 1850. 
 His pastor, the Rev. Hugh Forsythe, writes: "He 
 was a man of good sense, sound judgment, very 
 judicious and very prudent. He was kind hearted. 
 lu cases of discipline, if he erred at all. it was on 
 the side of mercy. I suppose he had more influence 
 over me than any other member of session. He had 
 great influence in the congregation. Two things 
 gave him influence in congregational meetings, good 
 sense and a perfect willingness to do his part. He 
 befriended a great many poor people, without respect 
 to race or color. When he was buried, some colored 
 people, whom he had befriended, were standing near 
 the ori'ave lookino^ into it while tears were rolling: 
 down their cheeks. John AVallace was emphatically 
 the poor man's friend.'' 
 
 His grandmother McClenahan, and mother, were 
 women greatly beloved by all who knew them. They 
 were resjjected and loved by their children and 
 grandchildren. Their influence over their children 
 was great. His mother, left a widow with a number 
 
6 A Busy Life. 
 
 of children, who were unable to do much for their" 
 own support, and with limited means, was (Compelled 
 to plan and work for their support and education. 
 But her cheerful spirit and energy carried her over 
 all the difficulties in her way. The writer, though 
 young during those trying years, can never forget 
 the anxiety she manifested for the welfare of her 
 children; and the thoughts that passed through his 
 mind, when, morning and evening, we were gathered 
 together, a chapter was read, and prayer was offered 
 by her. This was in the days when women were 
 unaccustomed to take any part in public religious 
 exercises. She still lives, having attained her four- 
 score years. 
 
 At an early age David Alexander manifested an 
 aptness for learning, which led his parents to deter- 
 mine to give him an education. He started to 
 school at the age of four years. It was in the winter 
 of 1830. He spent that winter with his grandfather, 
 Wallace. Although too young to walk to school 
 through the snow, yet so desirous was he to attend 
 that his uncles carried him there and back. At the 
 age of twelve years he entered Madison College, 
 located at Antrim, Ohio. He remained but a short 
 time. His parents were unable to keep him at col- 
 lege continuously; hence he was under the necessity 
 of teaching. He taught his first school at Green- 
 wood, near his home, when he was about fifteen 
 
Early Work 
 
 years of age. A debating club was organized in 
 the neighborliood. wliicli he attended, and in whose 
 exercises he took part. Here was manifested tliat 
 ability in debnte wliich ('liaracterized liini in after 
 years. 
 
 During 1842-18-1-^: he was assistant in an academy 
 in AVest Virginia. His uncle, the Eev. William 
 Wallace, D. D., was nominally the principal, but 
 the work was mainly performed by his Mssistant. In 
 the autumn of 184:-l:, he entered the junior class in 
 Miami I^niversity. The Rev. Marion Morrison. 
 D. D.. who was a class-mate, and much of the tijue 
 room-mate, thus Avrites concerning his college days: 
 '' He made many warm friends while in college. 
 He was the kind of student who Avill always com- 
 mand the respect of his professors. Very diligent 
 and intensely devoted to his studies, he never went 
 into the recitation room without having made 
 thorough preparation, unless something very unusual 
 occurred. Then he plainly told the professor he 
 was not prepared, and gave the reason. He was not 
 satisfied with a recitation unless he had thoroughly 
 mastered the subject. He was ambitious, but his 
 ambition was of that kind which led him to make 
 thorough work of whatever he undertc^ok. His 
 temperament was such that sometimes he Avas the 
 most jubilant: then again he would be much cast 
 down, almost despondent. Yet when in his most 
 
A Busy Life 
 
 despondent mood lie was able to work on with such 
 energy, that no one, not on intimate terms with him, 
 wonld ever suspect his discouragements. This 
 remained with him during life."' 
 
 He graduated in August, 1840, at the age of 
 twenty, with the honors of his class. While in the 
 last session of the senior year, he was elected presi- 
 dent of Muskingum College, at New Concord, Ohio. 
 This position he held until 1849, when he resigned 
 the presidency of the college, and accepted the pc-si- 
 tion of principal of the North AVard Public School 
 of AVheeling, AVest Virginia, which position he held 
 about two years. 
 
 In these positions he was fitting himself for his 
 life work, that of an educator. But his desire was 
 to secure a theological education, and to this end 
 his heart was turned, and his energies were bent. 
 While at Wheeling, he pursued a course of private 
 study in theology, under the direction of his uncle, 
 Dr. William Wallace. He spent two sessions at the 
 Theological Seminary. The first at Oxford, Ohio, 
 then under the direction of the Eev. Joseph Clay- 
 baugh, D. D. ; and the second at Allegheny, under 
 the direction of the Eev. John T. Pressly, D. D. 
 He was licensed by the Second Associate Reformed 
 presbytery of Ohio, April 10, 1849. He attended 
 the seminary at Allegheny after his licensure. About 
 this time he received a call from Canonsburfi^, Pa. : 
 
Effi'l// I To /-A", 
 
 also one horn tlie congregation of Fall River, Mass. ; 
 but he felt it his duty to accept the latter, although 
 the more needy and less inviting field. He was 
 ordained l)y the Associate Reformed presbytery of 
 New York, ami installed pastor of tlie Fall River 
 congregation, June 8, 1851. 
 
 He spent the summer previous to his ordination 
 in this conorrejj^ation. In a letter to his friend, 
 Marion Morrison, he gives expression to his feelings 
 in reference to the work in which he was engaged, 
 in these words: "It has been my lot heretofore to 
 be compelled to work. I have got into the way of 
 it — I can't keep from it — work I must. How do you 
 find it? Is not preaching to souls a very serious 
 business, far different than seminary preaching? 
 Oli, how awful a business! . What earnest minister 
 would think of decking his sermons with garlands, 
 made of the flowers of rhetoric? For my part, I 
 feel that the work is too awful for any such trilling. 
 I talk right on the plainest truths of the word — 
 naked though they be. I would not polish a truth, 
 gloss it up, until it slips down like an oyster or a 
 sugar coated pill; the rough corners sometimes 
 make the impression." In this connection we will 
 insert an extract from an article of the Rev. James 
 A. Grier, which shows that his early ideas of preach- 
 ing clung to him through life. "His presentation 
 of truth was so exceedingly clear and simple that 
 
10 A Busy Lifr. 
 
 often it did not look well iu print. In the pulpit, 
 from his lips, it was the great power of God. In 
 all the branches of illustration, he was a master. 
 Especially was he at home in analogies drawn from 
 ordinary life, travel, business transactions and such 
 like matter of fact affairs. What clear, pungent 
 illustration of expiation and substitution and the 
 duty of complete repentance he used to draw from 
 the ordinary occurrences of human life, and all pre- 
 sented in the most idiomatic English. He never 
 lacked a word or apt phrase, but it was always clean 
 and chaste. He was deficient in the mental quali- 
 ties which produce flqridity in eloquence, and which 
 takes deliofht in elaborate ornamentation. Yet he 
 had a sublimity about him, which lifted him into 
 lofty heights at times ; and at such times the thought 
 and speech of the man did not alone seem to rise 
 but the man himself. Such occurrences were some- 
 what rare, and the flights short, but his strokes were 
 those of the eagle. He had large power of pathos, 
 although he rarely showed it. I remember a chapel 
 sermon on 'Looking to Jesus." when almost every 
 face was wet with weeping, and another on the 
 ' Solace there is in Jesus at the time of death,' when 
 some of the audience broke out in sobs. At such 
 times his soul seemed in flame Avith a divine fervor.'' 
 In reference to his work in Fall River, previous 
 to his installation, he said: "I liave to work verv 
 
Early Work. 11 
 
 hard here. I am as emphatically a missionary as 
 though I were in Damascus. I go from house to 
 house preaching; prayer meeting and lecture on 
 Wednesday evening, two sermons on Sabbath, a 
 lecture on the Shorter Catechism on Sabbath even- 
 ing, complete the round of my parochial labors. It 
 keeps me busy — busy, but that I like." Concerning 
 his work in Fall Eiver while pastor, we have been 
 furnished the following: "In addition to his abund- 
 ant services on the Sabbath, he conducted a Bible 
 class on Tuesday evening, which was open to all 
 who desired to attend. Thursday evening was 
 devoted to the weekly prayer meeting. He always 
 gave a lecture, taking as a basis one of the questions 
 in the Shorter Catechism. When he came, he found 
 a congregation discouraged and downcast, by means 
 of disappointment and debt. The congregation was 
 divided into districts. An elder was assigned to 
 take charge of a district and be a leader in it. They 
 met once a week to talk over the sermon of the pre- 
 vious Sabbath, and for prayer and praise. The 
 pastor met with one of these divisions each week. 
 There was also a plan for work among those who did 
 not attend any church. Those who were at work 
 under this plan reported once a month, at his study, 
 their progress and any work of interest." 
 
 We here give an incident which illustrates his 
 work and the character of his preaching. It is one 
 
12 A Busy Life. 
 
 of those experiences which the Master gives to his 
 faithful servants to encourage them in their work. 
 While he was living at Wooster, he received a letter 
 from a man whom he had never seen, nor did he 
 knoAV anything concerning him. The writer stated 
 that, years before, he had been in Fall Eiver, had 
 been living a very careless life. Being in the park, 
 in the suburbs, one Sabbath evening, where a young 
 man was preaching in the open air, he was attracted 
 by the '' handsome boyish face of the preacher,-' 
 who was presenting the free offer of salvation, which 
 he was enabled to accept. He ascertained the name 
 of the young man, but lost sight of him, yet he 
 never forgot that face. He had at that late date 
 learned where he was, and had been constrained to 
 write and tell him he had been instrumental in sav- 
 ing his soul. "In the morning sow thy seed, and 
 in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou 
 knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or 
 that, or whether they both shall be alike good." 
 
 In 1853 he was elected to succeed the Rev. Dr. 
 Claybaugh, as Professor of Theology, in the Associ- 
 ate Reformed Theological Seminary at Oxford, Ohio; 
 he had also been chosen to fill the chair of mathe- 
 matics in the Miami University, located at the same 
 place. Upon the advice of his presbytery, these 
 offers were declined, as was also a call from one of 
 the churches at Pittsburgh. 
 
h:,irhl Work. 18 
 
 Previous to this time, August 21, 1851, he Lad 
 been united in marriage t;) Miss Martha J. Findley, 
 daughter of Mr. James Findley, of New Concord, 
 Ohio, who prt)ved a faitliful companion and helper 
 through all the trying scenes of his life. 
 
 A mission station had been started in East Boston, 
 and at the request of his presbytery, he resigned 
 his charge at Fall River, to engage in the work at 
 that place. He commenced labor in this field on 
 the last Sabbath of January, 1854. The congrega- 
 tion was regularly organized August 10, 1854, and 
 he was installed pastor November 15th of the same 
 year. The work at East Boston was much of the 
 same character as that at Fall River. Many of the 
 members were young men, who worked in the ship- 
 yards. The work among these was much enjoyed. 
 Nevertheless the work of building up a congrega- 
 tion was arduous and slow. 
 
 He enjoyed a great advantage in having access to 
 the public libraries of Boston, and by hard and 
 systematic study he was enabled to prepare himself 
 for work in after years. In addition to his regular 
 pastoral duties, he prepared and published a pamph- 
 let, entitled -'The Theology of New England; An 
 attempt to exhibit the doctrine now prevalent in the 
 Orthodox Church of New England." Dr. Daniel 
 Dana, of Newburyport, Mass., in an introduction to 
 this pamphlet, says: "The worjhy and respected 
 
14 . A Busy Life. 
 
 author of this pamphlet has executed a task of no 
 common importance. He has presented to the 
 churches a view of the theology of New England, as 
 it now exists, together with the means and steps by 
 which it has arrived at its present position. The 
 whole work is marked with great care and accuracy 
 of investigation, with great cler.rness of statement, 
 and with a candor which is mingled with a decided 
 and warm attachment to the pure principles of gospel 
 truth. In a work involving such extensiveness of 
 general survey, and such minute statement of par- 
 ticulars, it would be strange indeed, were there to 
 be found no mistakes. In the present case, it is 
 believed, there are few, and these of small im- 
 portance.'' 
 
 This pamphlet shows the influence which sur- 
 rounded orthodox ministers of the Calvinistic school, 
 and exhibits the difficulties they had to encounter 
 in building up a congregation of the Calvinistic 
 faith. These doctrines he firmly believed. He 
 believed them, not because they were the doctrines 
 of his church, or of his fathers, but believed them 
 because, upon thorough investigation, he found them 
 to be in harmony with the Word of God. Before 
 this, while a student, he went over this system in 
 comparison with Arminianism. He had found him- 
 self inclined to Arminianism and wrote to his uncle, 
 the Eev. James M* Henderson, pastor of an Asso- 
 
Early Work. 15 
 
 ciate congregation in Indiana, stating his difficulties. 
 Perhaps he had known that his uncle had, when a 
 young man, stumbled for years on the same ground, 
 and could therefore help him in his difficulty. He 
 replied in a series of twelve letters, which led him 
 to embrace the Calvinistic system of doctrine. It 
 was his design to have these letters published, but 
 before it Avas accomplished, these with other valu- 
 able papers, were destroyed ])y fire. He did not 
 want to .believe and profess simply what his parents 
 professed, without examining for himself and know- 
 ing why he thus believed. He, however, did not 
 lightly esteem the opinions of his fathers. In later 
 years he endeavored to impress upon the minds of 
 his students the importance of adhering to the faith 
 of their fathers until, after a thorough personal 
 examination, they were satisfied they were mistaken. 
 It was well that he had the opportunity to go over 
 and settle thoroughly in his own mind these impor- 
 tant fundamental truths; for afterwards his time was 
 so much occupied with pressing college duties that he 
 would scarcely have had the opportunity. He after- 
 wards frequently remarked, that he could not have 
 sustained himself in Monmouth during these active, 
 busy years, if it had not been for what he had garn- 
 ered in Boston. 
 
 He had been laboring in East Boston nearly two 
 years, when he received an invitation from the Board 
 
1(5 A Busy Life. 
 
 of Trustees of Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illi- 
 nois, to become the president of that newly founded 
 institution. So reluctant was he to leave his pres- 
 ent field, that he at first declined the invitation. 
 However, the health of Mrs. Wallace had been fail- 
 inof; the climate of New Eno^land was too severe for 
 her. In the winter and spring of 1856, her lungs 
 fifave her much trouble. Under these circumstances 
 an invitation came the second time to become presi- 
 dent of Monmouth College. He consulted .with a 
 noted physician, a specialist in lung disease, who 
 was very emphatic in his opinion that she could 
 not live in that climate. This decided him to accept 
 the position tendered him in Monmouth College. 
 His resignation of the pastoral charge of the East 
 Boston congregation was accepted by the presbytery, 
 September 10, 1856, and soon after he went to 
 Monmouth to commence what proved to be the great 
 work of his life. 
 
CHAPTEK II. 
 
 COLLEGE WOKK. 
 
 The history of David Alexander WaUace would 
 be but half told if it did not include in its tell in tr 
 his relations with Monmouth College. Indeed, we, 
 who were the most intimately acquainted with the 
 college and her president, had begun to think that 
 they were inseparable — ^tlie one could not exist with- 
 out the other — and, when compelled to consent to a 
 separation, we yielded to the will of a Divine Power 
 that knew best. - And this relation was formed at 
 such an early day in the history of the college, that 
 a brief account of its origin will be necessary to 
 complete the story. 
 
 The thought of establishing Monmouth College 
 originated in the minds of men who felt the need of 
 a Christian school of learning. The first public 
 step taken for the establishment of such a school 
 was in the action of the Second Associate Eeformed 
 presbytery of Illinois, in 1853, by which the follow- 
 ing persons were ajDpointed trustees of the "Acad- 
 emy," or High School, to be established at Mon- 
 mouth under the direction of said presbytery, viz: 
 Revs. .1. C. Porter, W. E. Erskine and P. "^Poss, 
 2 (17) 
 
18 ^4 Buiiij Life. 
 
 Messrs. J. C. McCreary, W. K. Jamison, N. A. Ran- 
 kin, E. C. Babcock, J. G. Madden, Dr. J. A. Young, 
 Hon. A. C. Harding and Judge James Thompson. 
 
 The Board of Trustees of Monmouth Academy was 
 organized May 9, 1853, by electing Eev. J. C. Por- 
 ter president and Hon. James Thompson secretary 
 and treasurer. A building committee was appointed 
 and immediate steps taken to procure a suitable 
 building; but no permanent one Avas secured until 
 1856, until which time the academy was conducted, 
 first in the Christian church, then in the basement 
 of the Presbyterian church, and afterwards in a dis- 
 trict school-house. 
 
 Monmouth Academy was opened on the first Mon- 
 day in November, A. D. 1853, with the reading of 
 the Scriptures and prayer, with Rev. James R. 
 Brown as principal, and Miss M. S, Madden, first 
 assistant teacher. Rev. Brown continued in charge 
 of the school as its efficient principal until January 
 1, 1850, at which time a full faculty was elected, and 
 Monmouth College inaugurated. 
 
 The organization of a complete college faculty 
 was effected by the election of Rev. D. A. Wallace, 
 President ; Rev. J. R. Brown, Professor of Languages, 
 and Rev. Marion Morrison, Professor of Mathemat- 
 ics. The school as an academy and college was un- 
 der the care of the Second Associate Reformed 
 presbytery of Illinois, until October, 1856, when, at 
 
College Work. 19 
 
 the meeting of the Associate Reformed Synod of 
 Illinois, it was, at the request of the })resbytery, 
 taken under the care of the synod and entrusted, in 
 its government, to fi Board of Trustees, consisting of 
 twenty-four members, eighteen to be elected by the 
 synod — including those already in olHce elected by 
 the Second Associate Reformed presbytery — and six 
 to be elected by the Board of Trustees itself. Thus 
 Monmouth College organized first as an academy, 
 then changed into a college, was ready for faculty 
 and students. 
 
 The Rev. David A. AVallace, at this time pastor of 
 the East Boston Associate Reformed Mission Church, 
 having been chosen President, with Rev. Marion 
 Morrison, an esteemed classmate at Miami Univer- 
 sity, Professor of Mathematics, and Rev. J. R. Brown, 
 the former principal. Professor of Latin, came to 
 Monmouth in February, 1856, to visit the field with 
 a view of considering the question of accepting or 
 declining the offer of president of the incipient col- 
 lege. 
 
 He returned to his home in East Boston, and, after 
 consulting his wife — a thing he always did before 
 deciding an important question of life — -he decided 
 to accept. He was led to this conclusion largely by 
 the health of his wife, who could not stand the stormy 
 sea-breezes, and her physician advised a change of 
 climate. Demitting his charge in East Boston, he 
 
20 A Busy Life 
 
 left for the AVest in September, and reached Mon- 
 mouth in October, 1856. 
 
 The college opened in September, as announced, 
 with Professor Morrison acting president until the 
 arrival of Dr. Wallace. He came in October, as we 
 have said, and at once entered upon the work of his 
 life — the establishment of a Christian college in the 
 West. Filled with this purpose, he left his home in 
 in the East and came West, and entered on the work 
 with an energy and zeal that knew no abatement 
 until compelled to seek a rest from his labors, first, 
 in a short vacation granted him in 1868, which he 
 spent in Europe; then in a brief visit to the sea- 
 shore in 1876, and finally in an entire separation 
 from the child of his heart — Monmouth College. 
 The faculty carried on their work with Dr. Wallace 
 added to their number; and though the students 
 were not up to the standard of advancement for col- 
 lege classes, with God's blessing on their efforts, they 
 hoped soon to rise to the stature of a full-grown col- 
 lege. 
 
 The first year closed and the first annual catalogue 
 was issued. It contained the names of ninety-nine 
 students as having been in attendance, four of whom 
 were ready for the junior class, four for the sopho- 
 more, and seven for the freshman. To give some 
 conception of the thought that was in the mind and 
 heart of this good man and his fellow laborers, 
 
CoUccic Work. 21 
 
 concerning their work, we quote from the pages of 
 this catalogue the article on the "Religious Instruc- 
 tion'' of the students: — 
 
 All the students are required to attend the wor- 
 ship of God daily in the College chapel, and to re- 
 cite a Bible lesson once a week. All are likewise 
 required to attend public worship and Bible class in 
 some church on the Sabbath. Those who take a full 
 course will read, exegetically, the greater part of the 
 New Testament in Greek, and select portions of the 
 Old Testament in Hebrew. In addition to studying 
 the usual text-books on Natural Theology, Evidences 
 of Christianity, and Moral Philosophy, they will take 
 a brief course in the principles of the Gospel, as set 
 forth in Hodge's " Way of Life." This course of 
 religious instruction will be especially valuable to 
 those whose professional studies will not lead them 
 to a careful examination of the facts and principles 
 of the Word of God. A students* prayer-meeting 
 has been organized. It is well attended. The Fac- 
 ulty regard it as an important part of their work to 
 labor for the moral and spiritual welfare of the stu- 
 dents. 
 
 A charter was obtained in February, 1857, and Dr. 
 Wallace was inaugurated president September 1, 
 1857. President Jonathan Blanchard, of Knox Col- 
 lege, gave an introductory address on "The Course 
 of Study in American Colleges;" Rev. J. C. Porter, 
 president of the Board of Trustees, gave a brief his- 
 tory of the rise and progress of the college; Rev. A. 
 Nesbit gave the charge to the new president, and Di\ 
 
22 A Busy Life. 
 
 Wallace delivered an inaugural address on " The 
 Claims of the Bible as a Text-Book in the College 
 Curriculum." 
 
 We have thus seen Monmouth College organized, 
 the first year of its existence as a college finished, 
 its first president inaugurated, and the subject of our 
 memoir engaged in his chosen field of labor. His 
 thoughts were first immediately directed to the wel- 
 fare of the student. His moral interests were con- 
 sidered in the religious instruction provided in the 
 curriculum of the college, as quoted above; in a 
 weekly Bible lesson, and prayer-meeting, and preach- 
 ing in the college chapel on the Sabbath; and in 
 personal attention given the religious training of 
 every student. Next, he applied himself to the 
 course of instruction, which he aimed to make as 
 complete as the standard of scholarship attainable 
 by the students of that day would admit, and by ad- 
 vancing, year by year, to a still higher standard, 
 finally to gain the excellence of scholarship given in 
 the best colleges of the land. 
 
 Equally important with the work of instruction 
 were the financial interests of the college, and to 
 these he early and diligently applied himself, that 
 they might be improved and enlarged. Feeling the 
 necessity of changing the basis of scholarships. Pro- 
 fessor Morrison was sent into the field, and accom- 
 plished, after faithful labors, a change of " Perpet- 
 
Collcfjc Work: 23 
 
 ual Six-per-cent Scholarships '' to '" Twenty-five-year 
 Ten-per-cent Schohirships/' And, again, to tlie 
 same end, Professor Ross was sent out, and succeeded 
 in increasing the college endowment fund ten thou- 
 sand dollars by issuing college " script '' for interest 
 on capital given. 
 
 Through the early days of his college life, the 
 subject of this memoir was father, instructor, pastor, 
 and friend of every student; and while he arranged 
 for the general charge of the literary work of the 
 college and its students, and controlled the financial 
 department of the institution, he neglected not the 
 personal welfare of every student. Each and all of 
 these felt that the president was his personal friend. 
 In the chapel on the Sabbath, he unfolded in plain, 
 practical serrac^ns, the great principles of the Gospel 
 for the encouragement and building up in knowledge, 
 faith and righteousness the characters of the (Uirist- 
 ian students; while by the same means and by ear- 
 nest personal appeal, he sought to lead the unwary 
 to Christ. 
 
 Again, we early find him mastering the details of 
 his college work in the "Class-books," "Monthly 
 Reports," and "Annual Record.'' AYhen the writer 
 of this came into his connection with the college in 
 1858, he found the president himself keeping all the 
 records: audit required a year's apprenticesliip of 
 good behavior to persuade to the transfer of the bui'- 
 
'24 A Busij Life. 
 
 dens of this clerical work, so jealous was Dr. AYall- 
 ace of all the interests of the college, and so thought- 
 ful of the minutest details of its management. Thus, 
 in the earlier years of the college, our friend was 
 president, professor, financial agent, pastor, preacher, 
 tutor, and registrar. 
 
 While giving himself to the work in this wliole- 
 hearted manner, the war came upon us, and, while 
 yielding to the inevitable, he carried out his oft-enun- 
 ciated motto: "We must educate in war as well as 
 in peace.'' He was ready for war or for peace. To 
 those who were prepared and willing to go to battle, 
 he said, "Go, and God bless you and keep you;" to 
 those whose plain duty it was to remain at home, he 
 said, "Stay and work, and gain higher planes of 
 knowledge, and enter upon that conflict whose wea- 
 pons are not carnal, but spiritual.'' During the dark 
 days of the war he was truly the soldier's friend, 
 encouraging liim in preparations for the battle-field, 
 bidding him good-bye, and visiting him in camp. 
 Many of our students, having gone to Fort Donelson, 
 he went there to see them, taking with him many a 
 father's and mother's blessing for their boys. Well 
 do we remember the hearty applause given in the 
 college chapel, when, on his return, he related hoAv 
 he was received by the boys in blue and by the com- 
 mander at Fort Henry, to whom he went, on his way 
 South, and told him he Avas Dr. Wallace, on his way 
 
CoUcf/c W'orL'. 
 
 to Fort Donelson to ''see liis boys." This com- 
 mander ordered out a four-horse team and guard of 
 cavah'y to escort the Doctor across the country to 
 Donelson . 
 
 With all this work resting upon him, he enters a 
 new enterprise. The college was increasing in the 
 number of students and in means to carry on its 
 work of instruction to such an extent that the col- 
 lege building was not large enough, and so it was 
 determined to erect a new one. The liberality of 
 two of his firmest friends greatly encouraged them 
 at the beofinninor of this work: A. Y. and David 
 Graham purchased a quarter-section of land imme- 
 diately east of the old town plot. This they laid out 
 in lots, and offered as a donation to the college fund 
 one-sixth of these lots. This liberal gift was ac- 
 cepted, and the lots were afterwards, by agreement 
 with the donors, sold, and the proceeds transferred 
 to the building fund. In this work Dr. Wallace was 
 chairman of the building committee, collector and 
 treasurer of the fund, and superintendent of the 
 work of building. To complex and further increase 
 his individual labors, the first contractors gave up 
 their contract; the building committee then under- 
 took to complete the work themselves, and did so at 
 a saving of one thousand dollars on the original 
 contract. 
 
 Dr. Wallace had the great burden of the oversight 
 
2f) A Busij Life 
 
 of this building work. He solicited the subscrip- 
 tions, collected the funds, kept the accounts, super- 
 intended the work, and even attended to the payment 
 of the workmen. Humanly speaking, he could 
 never have succeeded in this enterprise, had not God 
 in His providence given him such men as Judge 
 Qiiinby, C. Hardin, A. Y. Graham, J. G. Madden, 
 and Judge Thompson, to counsel, encourage, and fill 
 his coffers, so that every Saturday night he was able 
 to pay his workmen for the week's labor. And thus 
 we entered our new building May 3, 1863. 
 
 The building committee gave the president, for 
 his valuable services in superintending the erection 
 (^f the building, a lot on East Broadway street, which 
 was exchanged for one donated to the college by A. 
 Y. Graham, northeast of the college. On this lot 
 Dr. Wallace built a dwelling, and occupied it iintil 
 it was destroyed, accidentally, by fire in 1875. 
 
 Having finished the work of the college building, 
 13r. Wallace gave himself to the work of the college 
 instruction and improving the college finances. In 
 1805 he undertook the task of raising ^45,000, in 
 order to secure an offered donation of $5,000 by 
 Judge Quinby. This work was entered into with the 
 determination of success, and success crowned his 
 efforts. He traveled through Illinois, and eastward 
 to and through New York, visiting congregations, 
 individuals, preaching the Gospel, and pleading for 
 
Colleije Work. 27 
 
 the Lord's money to carry on the Lord's work, and, 
 with happy heart, though wearied body, he rested 
 from his hibors, and reported 850,000 increase to the 
 College Endowment Fund. 
 
 Witli his manifold labors in class-room and chapel, 
 pulpit and field, country house and farm and treas- 
 urer's office and students' study, he gave way under 
 the pressure and broke down in health. A vacation 
 was granted him. The faculty provided for his 
 classes, and in 1868 he sailed for the old country, 
 where amid new scenes he rested a while from his 
 college work and regained some of his wonted fire 
 and vigor. He came back to us renewed in health 
 and spirits, and entered with new hopes on his life- 
 work. He had gone to rest from his labors in that 
 land of history and song and college culture, and 
 yet, as ever, his vacation was a season of study and 
 investioration. For he returned Avith new ideas of 
 college life which he incorporated into the curric- 
 ulum and general management of the institution. 
 Among these, were the "Honor Course," and change 
 of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee 
 into the "College Senate," composed of Directors 
 and Trustees, with the president of the college ex- 
 officio president of the Senate. 
 
 Thus entering anew on the work, he continued it 
 with unabated zeal for eight years more, until in 
 1870 his powers of endurance gave way under the 
 
28 A Busy Life 
 
 stress of the T)nr(Ieiis which his broad and willing 
 shouhlers carried. He sought to be relieved entirely 
 from his work, and offered his resignation of college 
 president to the Board ; but it heeded not his cry of 
 an over- taxed life, and granted him another rest. 
 He went to Fall River, Massachusetts, where in the 
 old field of his early ministerial labors, and con- 
 tiguous to the soothing air of the sea, he sought 
 relief, and gained health and strength. 
 
 Again he returned to the college and took up the 
 burdens he had laid aside for a time. These he 
 bore for one year, and had entered upon a second, 
 which he was not able to complete. He offered his 
 resignation a second time in December, 1877; and 
 though we plead with him to withdraw it, offering 
 to lighten his labors and increase his remuneration, 
 we were compelled by him to accept it. And, thus, 
 a wise president, a faithful preceptor, a kind father, 
 a loving brother and a devoted friend, severed his 
 connection with us. Still, thouo^h orone from us in 
 the body, we ever felt that he was Avith us in spirit 
 on the college rostrum, in the Monday evening 
 prayer-meeting, in the chapel services and in the 
 studies of professors and students. How many a 
 wliite-winged messenger of love and friendship 
 found its way to his home in Wooster, Ohio, whither 
 he had removed, and many a heart-felt "God bless 
 you,'- and wise counsel, when sought, came back on 
 swift wings to gladden and rejoice the heart! 
 
Collctir \V(n-h: 21) 
 
 We ever felt that we had in our former president 
 and co-laborer M'liile he was alive, though absent 
 from the council room and social circle, a faithful 
 and loving fi'iend. But, alas! His life-work was 
 done. His Master claimed him and he left us sor- 
 rowing and sad for his untimely death, for the 
 resignaticai of his stewardship on earth speedily fo. 
 lowed his demission of the stewardship of Mon- 
 mouth College. 
 
 As a college president, we regard Dr. AVallace as 
 having few equals or superiors. This proposition 
 leads to a consideration of what constitutes a college 
 president, especially of a college constituted as is 
 Monmouth, an institution consecrated to Christian 
 education. For such a school, there is needed the 
 faithful gospel preacher, the earnest Christian 
 worker, the zealous pastor, the wise disciplinarian, 
 the successful teacher, the skillful manager of 
 affairs, the safe financier, the accurate scholar, the 
 students' friend, the godly man. All these excel- 
 lencies Dr. Wallace combined in his personal char- 
 acter in an eminent degree. That he was a faithful 
 preacher, pastor and earnest Christian worker in the 
 class-room and pulpit. Dr. Alexander Young thus 
 testifies : 
 
 But the college and its means of training young 
 men and women were dear to him only as the 
 students were brought under influences which should 
 
30 A Busij Life. 
 
 make them Christian men and women, and formers 
 of the characters and lives of others. His preach- 
 ing and his teaching were always directed to that 
 end. He never sought the reputation of a great 
 theologian or a great orator. His pulpit teaching 
 was singularly free from metaphysical and theo- 
 logical subtleties. The conversion, the instruction 
 and the encouragement and strengthening of the 
 faith and the increasing of the joy of the believer, 
 were the great objects which he kept in view. 
 Christ in his power and willingness to save, were 
 the great themes in the pulpit, in the prayer-meet- 
 ings, in the class-room and in dealing personally 
 with students and inquirers. 
 
 In an article published in the Evangelical Reposi- 
 iory for December, 1883, the Kev. James A. Grier, 
 a pupil of Dr. Wallace, speaks Avith admiral clear- 
 ness and force of the "Man and His Work." We 
 make a brief extract from the portion bearing on the 
 point in hand: 
 
 Barely a Sabbath passed in Avhich he did not 
 address his classes upon some pertinent scriptural 
 theme, and it was very likely to be some phase of 
 repentance, faith, holiness, union with Christ, or 
 some kindred topic. The sermons Avere not care- 
 fully prepared, but they were often exhaustive of 
 the topic, and were delivered with great unction and 
 power. It was partly in order to have an oppor- 
 tunity of preaching to the assembled college that he 
 so long held the co-pastorate of the Second ( United 
 Presbyterian) Church. His preaching was the 
 
ColUujr Work. ;U 
 
 channel of his greatest spiritual power over the 
 college. It dealt in the saving fundamentals of the 
 gospel of free grace. It had no discussion of 
 science or other problems, and was adapted to all 
 hearts. * * * * His endeavor was to 
 bring every student into the enjoyment of personal 
 salvation. Who of us does not remember his 
 appeals to hearts to yield themselves to the Saviour? 
 AVho does not call to mind the Sabbath evening 
 appointments in some recitation room to meet with 
 any who had the slightest concern respecting their 
 own personal safety, and his plain unfolding, upon 
 such occasions, of the doctrine of trust in the Lord 
 Jesus? How many of us can recall appointments 
 with Christian students to meet for a quarter or a 
 half-hour before the Monday eA^ening prayer-meet- 
 ing, to beseech the throne of grace for the outpour- 
 ing of the Spirit upon the college? How often he 
 directed the attention of some one who professed 
 Christ to a fellow-student whom he wished to bring 
 into the family of God ? As one thinks these old times 
 over, the memories of his concern for the salvation 
 of souls and his honest and wise endeaA^ors therefor, 
 sweep him on the most profound conviction that here 
 was a man who loved the souls of his fellow-men as 
 made in the image of the Creator, and who loved 
 the kingdom of his Lord as it is established in 
 human spirits. 
 
 Few men in the United Presbyterian Church are 
 better qualified for speaking with authority regard- 
 ing the fitness of other men for teachers and edu- 
 cators than Dr. J. R. Johnson. Long and famil- 
 
A Busij Lifi 
 
 iarly acquainted Avitli Dr. Wallace, Dr. Johnson 
 thns speaks of liim in these regards: 
 
 In the death of Dr. Wallace, the cause of educa- 
 tion has lost one of its best friends. There are men 
 as deeply interested in the work as he. but only a 
 few combine so great practical efficiency and 
 enthusiasm Avith the power of passionately showing 
 it forth. Some of his best years were given to col- 
 lege work. They were given, too, as not many 
 knew how to give them. He was not only interested 
 in his pupils, but he loved them. They were on 
 his heart day and night. What he felt, he was able 
 to impart and thus make others feel. No student 
 went from him without carrying away more or less 
 of his personality, and even the least credulous of 
 them all could speak only of his goodness and power, 
 in affectionate forgetfulness of anything like faults, 
 and in generous praise of his virtues. The sorrow 
 they feel and express, now that he is gone, is a 
 tribute that death only now and then calls forth. 
 In this way, so in many others, "he, being dead, 
 yet sj)eaketh." 
 
 Not the least among the many faculties possessed 
 by Dr. Wallace in an eminent degree, and one which 
 contributed no little to his remarkable success in 
 college work, was his administrative abilities so far 
 as the exercise of necessary discipline in college 
 work is concerned. He held the secret of successful 
 disciplinary regulation known to so few. On this 
 matter, we can do no better than to allow Professor 
 J. H. Wilson, the life-long friend and long co- 
 laborer of Dr. Wallace, speak: 
 
Collcijc Work. 33 
 
 One striking characteristic of Dr. Wallace as a 
 disciplinarian was in the large proportion of disci- 
 plinary work done outside and indirectly. For the 
 maintenance of good conduct, the prevention of 
 disorder, he depended largely upon the power of 
 religious principle and the force of public example. 
 Hence, in his class-room lectures, his chapel talks, 
 in Christian Union, in Monday evening prayer- 
 meeting, in Sabbath services — everywhere, he strove 
 to enlighten the judgment and quicken the con- 
 science of the pupil. And his knowledge of the 
 human heart was so complete, his delineation so 
 accurate, and his presentation so vivid, that the 
 student would often feel as if his own individual 
 case was under discussion. The earnest piety and 
 sound public sentiment thus developed and cherished 
 was a grand power in the work of government, 
 checking many an outbreak and bringing back to 
 honor and duty many a student inclined to break 
 away from wholesome restraint. Another charac- 
 teristic was the amount of private and individual 
 work done. With the great mass of the students, 
 the public and general work secured the desired end. 
 But, as was to be expected, among so many young 
 men and women there were always a few, sometimes 
 a greater number, sometimes a less, who could not 
 be reached and controlled by this general work. 
 Indolence or perversity or vice had too strong a 
 hold to yield readily to good influences. With 
 wondei-ful quickness the characters of these were 
 read and their proj)ensities understood, and before 
 they had time to form cliques and companies, they 
 were made the objects of special care. In private 
 3 
 
34 A Busy Life. 
 
 they were reasoned with, stimulated, encouraged, 
 warned, admonished, as each special case seemed to 
 need. Many an invitation was given to come to 
 office or home where his influence was exerted. 
 
 These witnesses all testify to the exalted charac- 
 ter of the man about whom we write, as a moral 
 teacher. In the class-room, we regarded him as 
 especially felicitous; his explanations were so plain 
 and simple that the student readily and easily 
 grasped the truth, and his analyses of the whole 
 subject w^ere so clear and accurate that only the most 
 obdurate failed to learn. In the pulpit his method 
 of instruction was the same; his propositions were 
 clearly stated and the argument plain and pointed. 
 
 That he was a skillful financier of the college 
 funds, the present sound financial system of the 
 college plainly testifies. He inaugurated this sys- 
 tem. The monthly statement of the treasurer to 
 the Board of Trustees with the monthly supervision 
 of his accounts and no bank system, is better adapted 
 to protect the funds, and in all Dr. Wallace's per- 
 sonal care of any public funds in his hands an accur- 
 ate account was always rendered. 
 
 The great power of President Wallace lay in his 
 personal magnetism. Full of his work, he possessed 
 the power of imparting the same enthusiasm in 
 others; full of Christ, he was able by God's grace 
 to bestow in a large degree, the same fullness to his 
 
College Work. 85 
 
 co-laborers and pupils. It was this spirit which 
 inclined the student to look on the president as his 
 personal friend, and to see in that friend, the godly 
 man, the Christian gentleman. 
 
 But his work in Monmouth College as its honoied 
 president, needs no eulogy from us to impress upon 
 the church its influence and importance, and rank 
 him who did it among the first college presidents of 
 the land. It speaks for itself in its grand results. 
 It is seen in the character of the school he founded, 
 its liberal curriculum, in the thorough training it 
 furnished the intellectual powers, in the minute 
 details arranged by his acute mind for the conduct 
 of its affairs in all its departments — instruction, exe- 
 cution, finance, from the care of the building to the 
 supervision of the Senate — but above all, in the 
 moral character of the instruction given, the training 
 furnished for the development of the moral qualities 
 of its students — in short, for the thorough training 
 of every pupil of the college in the precepts of the 
 Bible. He instituted a system in his Bible classes 
 that if carried out by the students in after life, 
 would give them a knowledge of the Bible scarcely 
 less than that gained in a theological seminary. At 
 the same time, he trained them to work for others 
 as he worked for them. Instilling into them the 
 spirit of enthusiasm which possessed his own soul, 
 he cheered them on in their life-work. 
 
86 A Busy Life. 
 
 The college founded in prayer as a Christian col- 
 lege for imparting Christian education and culture, 
 was carried out by Dr. Wallace to the fullest extent 
 of his abilities, consecrating his heart, mind and 
 body to the great work of his life. The theme of 
 his inaugural address in his induction to the office 
 of president, was the "Claims of the Bible as a Text 
 Book in the College Curriculum," and the noble 
 utterances in that address but foreshadowed the 
 wT^rk of his life. He defined education to be to fit 
 man for accomplishing to some degree the end of 
 his being, which end was to " glorify God and enjoy 
 Him forever." Said he, "Shall the professor spend 
 six days in the week in drilling the student in the 
 principles of general literature and science and never 
 once open the Bible to teach therefrom an infinitely 
 higher knowledge than that to be found in any book 
 of science and literature, a knoAvledge necessary to 
 develop that moral excellence we have seen to be of 
 such pre-eminent worth ? No, no : a thousand times, 
 NO! If they cannot do this without becoming sec- 
 tarian, what then ? Unhesitatingly and emphatically 
 I answer, Let them be sectarian; sectarian a thousand 
 times over rather than unchristian." He concluded 
 this address in these words: "From out of one 
 thousand of earnest hearts let daily petitions rise to 
 our Father in Heaven that we all, Board of Trustees, 
 faculty, students, may be blessed and made a bless- 
 
College Work. 37 
 
 ing. That those who go forth from among us may 
 be richly furnished with the most important wisdom 
 and knowledge ; that their powers may be developed 
 by the highest culture; that above all they may be 
 adorned with the beauty of holiness, eminently good 
 and mighty to do good; that Monmouth College, b(^ 
 its students few or many, may be truly a Christian 
 colleire." And to the close of his work in Mon- 
 mouth College he labored faithfully and earnestly 
 for that great end. 
 
 The fruits of his labors are to be seen in the 
 character of the men and women who occupy im- 
 portant stations in life to-day and who owe much of 
 their power to the wise, careful and patient training 
 of the prime spirit of their alma mater. 
 
 One of these sons, Major R. AV. McClaughry, at 
 the memorial service in Monmouth, said, " Not only 
 in our own land but in Egypt, India, Syria and the 
 islands of the sea, are more than a hundred of these 
 sons of Monmouth College making proof of their 
 ministry, and of his faithfulness in their Christian 
 education, besides the hundreds of men and Avomen 
 in other relations of life who by labors abundant 
 and wider reaching iiiHuence for good, are showing 
 forth his teaching in their lives." 
 
 In concluding this memoir as it relates to Mon- 
 mouth College, we would only add that this devo- 
 tion was so absorbing that under it he consecrated 
 
38 A Busy Life. 
 
 body, mind and heart to the work of his life. He 
 had but one object in accepting the place of presi- 
 dent and that was to glorify God in establishing a 
 Christian college. To the accomplishment of this 
 end, he put forth every exertion, laboring day and 
 night with little or no cessation by way of vacation, 
 till nature gave way under the protracted strain, and 
 he was compelled to give the work to other hands. 
 He was unselfish to a marked degree, as the Avriter 
 saw him through twenty years of associated work. 
 He possessed a strong mind and a large heart, a 
 mind that looked after every detail and could reach 
 forward ' and grasp results, and a heart that was 
 generous, sympathetic, kind, tender and loving. It 
 was a heart that sought to embrace in its strong 
 affections every student of the college. And thus 
 all were bound to him by the cords of an abiding 
 love Avhose silken ties were never severed. And so 
 it was that, when over the wires was flashed the 
 intelligence that he was dead, the hearts of more 
 than five hundred sons and daughters of Monmouth 
 College mourned as for the loss of a beloved father. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MONMOUTH PASTORATES. 
 
 Monmouth College did not start with a full endow- 
 ment bringing an income sufficient to pay a full corps 
 of professors. The most rigid economy must be 
 practiced, both in the number of professors employed 
 and in the salaries paid. They must do extra work, 
 and supplement their salaries from work outside. 
 But such was their self-denying spirit, that this ex- 
 tra labor was cheerfully performed. The sons and 
 daughters of to-day, as they are enjoying the com- 
 forts of their homes, do not, nor can they, value the 
 self-denying toil of those who provided these homes 
 for them. Neither can the sons and daughters of 
 Monmouth College fully value the self-denying toil 
 of those who labored to establish this institution. 
 The question with them was not how large a salary 
 they could obtain, but upon how little they could 
 support their families in order that the college might 
 live. 
 
 The Associate Reformed Church of Monmouth — 
 now the First United Presbyterian — was organized 
 May 9, 1853, and as yet they had not secured the 
 services of a pastor. This position was offered to 
 
 (39; 
 
40 A Busy Life. 
 
 David A. Wallace, when he signified his intention of 
 accepting the presidency of the college, and was by 
 him accepted. The work in this congregation com- 
 prised the nsual work of a pastor. Indeed, the work 
 of Dr. Wallace in Monmouth as a pastor may be 
 briefly told. Concerning the work of an eminent 
 minister of Scotland it was said, " When there are 
 no battles the history of a country is brief and dull; 
 but great is the happiness of the people. It is the 
 same with the work and sphere of a Christian min- 
 ister where he is faithful and the flock affectionate. 
 The minister, loving and beloved, is felt everywhere 
 as a rallying point and center of attraction. The 
 beneficent machinery goes smoothly around, Christ- 
 ian charity lubricating every wheel; and, precisely, 
 because everything is going on Avell, there is not 
 much for the historian to tell." This was true in 
 the pastorates of Dr. Wallace in Monmouth. The 
 work of the college w^as the principal work. To 
 this he bent all his energies ; yet the work of the 
 pastorate was conscientiously performed. 
 
 When the Theological Seminary at Oxford, Ohio, 
 was removed to Monmouth, in 1858, Prof. Alexander 
 Young, D. D., became associate pastor in the congre- 
 gation. This arrangement continued until August, 
 23, 1860, when the Board of Trustees of the college de- 
 sired the whole time of the president to be given to 
 the colleo^e, both in teachinor and in the interest of 
 
Monmouth Pastorates. 41 
 
 the finances; consequently lie was released. Con- 
 cerning this period Dr. Young testifies thus: "Al- 
 though he was released from all responsibility in the 
 congregation, yet he continued to exercise a constant 
 interest in its welfare, occasionally supplying its pul- 
 pit, and regularly attending its prayer-meetings and 
 the meetings of session, and in every practicable 
 way helping to promote its welfare ; and as a mem- 
 ber of the congregation his advice in business meet- 
 ings and in other connections, was greatly to its ad- 
 vantage." 
 
 In December, 18G3, the presbytery oE Monmouth 
 granted the organization of the Second United Pres- 
 byterian Congregation of Monmouth. Services were 
 commenced in July, 1863, with Drs. Young and 
 Wallace as co-pastors . Arrangements were made to 
 combine the college service with the second service 
 of the congregation, which, in some measure light- 
 ened the labors of Dr. Wallace. " However, as re- 
 sponsibilities increased with the growth of the col- 
 lege, he felt that his sphere of labor needed concen- 
 tration. Monmouth College was founded with the 
 design of being, in an eminent degree, a Christian 
 college. The agencies for securing this end were 
 wisely arranged, president, professors and students 
 having definite and well-understood lines of effort 
 and influence. All had opportunities of influence on 
 all the students, and as oflicially their spiritual, as 
 
42 A Busy Life. 
 
 well as their mental and moral instructor, his sphere 
 was more extended and more comprehensive than 
 that of any professor. Clearly seeing and valuing 
 his Avork in this line, in order that all interested 
 might receive the attention they required, and which 
 he felt was his duty to give, shortly after his return 
 from Europe, he requested to be released from all 
 pastoral care in the affairs of the Second Church. 
 The congregation consented to this request, and he 
 was formally released by the presbytery December 
 29, 1868. However, the relations between the pastors, 
 respecting their work and the college services in the 
 afternoons of the Sabbaths, were continued as before. 
 This co-pastorate, as co-equals in labor, duties and 
 responsibilities, continued throughout six years, and 
 in the modified form for two years longer ; the pastor, 
 the session and the people enjoying the co-operation 
 and advice of Dr. Wallace in all ways which he could 
 devise for their interest." 
 
 An impression being abroad in the church, that, 
 on account of failing health. Dr. Wallace would be 
 compelled to retire altogether from college work, 
 efforts were made by different congregations to se- 
 cure his services as pastor. In September, 1872, a 
 unanimous call came to him from the Second United 
 Presbyterian Congregation of Allegheny, Pa. There 
 was also a movement started to elect him Professor 
 of Pastoral Theology in the Theological Seminary 
 
Monmoidh Pastorates. 43 
 
 at Allegheny. In reference to this call he says: "I 
 have been weighing the question of acceptance. 
 This morning I have set apart for the more careful 
 consideration of it, and prayer for God's guidance. 
 I have no desire but to know the mind of Christ. I 
 am ready to submit to His will, and do His bidding, 
 let it be what it may.'' After careful consideration, 
 the call was declined. There were reasons which 
 inclined him to accept. The call was made without 
 any encouragement from him. He had absolutely 
 declined to permit his name to be used. The move- 
 ment to give him a position in the seminary was 
 spontaneous, the money for the salary pledged, all 
 without his knowledge. The work at Allegheny 
 would have been all spiritual, a kind the most agree- 
 able to him; while at Monmouth much would be 
 mere secular work, a kind that was becoming more 
 and more distasteful. In Allegheny there would be 
 opened a very wide field of usefulness, the pastor- 
 ate of a large congregation, and a professorship in 
 the seminary. But, in addition to this, he would 
 have a much larger income, which, in his peculiar 
 circumstances, was of no little weight. But, over 
 against all these was the conviction that the work to 
 which he had been called in Monmouth, and to which 
 he had consecrated himself, was not completed, and 
 he must therefore remain. 
 
 Another call came to him in November, 1874, from 
 
44 A Busy Life. 
 
 the United Presbyterian Congregation of St. Louis, 
 Mo. Concerning this call we give an extract from a 
 Monmouth paper, which shows the estimation from 
 a secular stand-point of his work in Monmouth: 
 
 It will be startling news to many of our citizens 
 that President Wallace contemplates leaving our city, 
 of which he has been an honored resident for so 
 many years. It seems almost incredible, since the 
 President has grown to be considered a permanent 
 and essential feature of the city, and whose depart- 
 ure has been an undreamed-of bereavement. It is 
 impossible, however, to conceal from our senses the 
 present prohahiliiies that he will be induced to leave 
 us. He has received from the United Presbyterian 
 Congregation of St. Louis a call to become their 
 pastor, with an offer of a salary of §3,000 and a 
 parsonage. The congregation have just built a new 
 church and parsonage, and paid for them, and have 
 §20,000 in the treasury. So the call may be consid- 
 ered an inducement pecuniarily. 
 
 President Wallace will doubtless be inclined to 
 accept the call on several considerations. The labors, 
 cares, and responsibilities of his present position 
 are too onerous, and are weighing him down. The 
 worry and mental strain are becoming too much, even 
 for him. Under the change he would be relieved of 
 the great burden of this, and it is not strange that 
 he regards the proposition favorably. For eighteen 
 years he has been laboring ceaselessly and success- 
 fully in our midst, enduring much that was unpleas- 
 ant, vexatious, and trying, and receiving for his un- 
 tiring efforts a paltry consideration. He owes a duty 
 
Monmouth Pastorates. 45 
 
 to himself and family as well as to others, and as he 
 is becoming advanced in years, the necessity of pro- 
 viding for the future forces itself upon him. His 
 present salary is $1,800 and a residence, barely suffi- 
 cient for economical support. When we reflect that 
 he has been struggling here for a score of years, 
 and has not even secured a home, we may reasonably 
 be surprised that he has not accepted a position from 
 among the frequent and generous offers that he has 
 hitherto received. He has too often, unselfishly, 
 drowned his own good in a regard for that of others. 
 When an Allegheny pastorate was tendered him some 
 time ago, the college Board offered to raise his salary 
 $700, but he refused it, not, however, because he did 
 not need it, but because the Board blindly offered 
 that which they did not have. Still he remained, 
 although a regard for his own comfort and welfare 
 would have prompted him to go to Allegheny. 
 
 This call was declined; the main reason which in- 
 fluenced him in his decision w^as the same that in- 
 duced him to decline the call from Allegheny two 
 years before. He always loved the pastorate. It 
 was a great source of trial that he was compelled to 
 do so much secular work — work not intimately con- 
 nected with the spiritual interests of Christ's king- 
 dom. For this reason he was always ready to preach 
 wherever desired, and the vacant neighboring con- 
 gregations frequently called upon him to supply their 
 pulpits. In 1872 the congregation of Henderson, 
 six miles from Monmouth, became vacant. After a 
 
46 A Busy Life. 
 
 year of supplies they became discouraged, and fears 
 of disorganization were felt. They desired Dr. 
 AVallace to preach for them for a few months. This 
 he consented to do, hoping that the salary he would 
 thus receive would be a benefit to him, and he would 
 thereby be enabled to release the college from paying 
 the full amount promised him as president. He also 
 entertained the hope that a change of labor, and the 
 exercise it Avould require of him in the open air 
 Avould be of advantage. From this arrangement the 
 college was benefited financially, bat whether he 
 himself derived " any personal benefit is doubtful. 
 The extra expense that this arrangement required 
 about consumed the additional income, and the ex- 
 posure in inclement weather perhaps counteracted 
 the benefits derived . Nevertheless, he willingly un- 
 dertook the work and uncomplainingly did what he 
 could fc-r the people who called him to service, and 
 rejoiced with them in their returning prosperity. 
 After laboring with them for about a year, a call was 
 presented to him, asking him to become their regu- 
 lar pastor, which was accepted December 22, 1874. 
 
 The following is a history of his work in this con- 
 gregation, as is told by Miss Belle Kodgers, in a 
 paper read at the memorial services held after his 
 death : 
 
 Eleven years ago, during a vacancy of the pas- 
 torate of Henderson congregation, Doctor Wallace 
 
Monmouth Postonifcs. 47 
 
 consented to preach there for a few months. Hen- 
 derson Lad not prospered for some time. The con- 
 gregation was not very harmonious, and though once 
 a strong and flourishing (diurch, it had been crippled 
 by a series of adverse influences until it was feared 
 disorganization would become a necessity. But in 
 the hour of its extremity, Dr. Wallace expressed a 
 readiness to accept its pastorate. All were pleased, 
 yet surprised at his willingness, with so many dis- 
 couragements before him. The congregation was 
 small and divided, and the church building old-fash- 
 ioned and quite uncomfortable in winter. Yet none 
 nor all of these considerations discouraged him, as 
 he felt a strong desire that this mother church should 
 be revived and flourish, and still, by its ministry, 
 gladden many hearts with words of comfort, joy and 
 peace. Another consideration lent additional weight 
 in favor of his acceptance of the pastorate : impaired 
 health made it necessary to devise some plan to aid 
 in its recovery. He thought by a change of labor, 
 even if something additional w^ere imposed, it might 
 afford such relaxation as would prove beneficial. 
 Thus viewing all things, he had a hopeful conviction 
 that this was a work the Lord had given him to do. 
 After accepting the pastorate in 1873, he was not 
 installed for more than a year — hoping he might the 
 more certainly test his ability to make the relaiion 
 permanent. After installment, however, he only re- 
 mained one year before failing health made it impos- 
 sible for him to do both pastoral and college work. 
 He, therefore, resigned his charge in January, 1870, 
 after having given two and one half years of pas- 
 toral labor to the Henderson congregation. As pas- 
 
48 A Busij Life. 
 
 tor he entered so enthusiastically into the work of the 
 congregation, when among us, that he and we seemed 
 to forget he had college duties claiming his attention. 
 It was his habit, when coming to us. to throw off all 
 thought of college duties, and enter fully into the work 
 and spirit of pastoral life ; and this, he claimed, was a 
 relaxation, and constantly asserted its remedial influ- 
 ence, by giving him greater energy and vigor for 
 college duty. As soon as he accepted the charge of 
 the congregation he felt himself the under-shepherd, 
 and tender, wise oversight was given to all the little 
 details of pastoral duty, and yet, in each insignifi- 
 cant place, he dignified his office by evident loyalty 
 to his Master, the great Teacher. He was often 
 seen in the homes of his parishioners, the sick, the 
 aged, the poor, the irreligious — all received his help- 
 ful attention. This was not spasmodic, but was a 
 constant feature of his work, and many are the ten- 
 der recollections treasured in the hearts of his par- 
 ishioners in Henderson for his kind ministrations to 
 their sick or dying friends. 
 
 He soon knew the faces, and learned the names of 
 each man, woman and child in the congregation, and 
 as he went among them, on the Sabbath or week day, 
 greeted each with a smile and word, and vigilantly 
 noted the absent from church service, and always 
 made kind inquiries for their welfare. We soon 
 felt he was interested in our church not only in its 
 members, but the youth, the children, the poor, and 
 all the community shared his thoughtful attention. 
 
 By his efforts, and at his suggestion, the Sabbath- 
 school was re-organized, prayer-meetings had greater 
 interest, while teachers' meetings, woman's mission- 
 
j\I()iu}i()iilli Pdsloi'dlc^^. 49 
 
 ary society, young peoples' prayer-meeting and 
 church socials had their beginning there during his 
 ministry. In his preaching, prayers, and plans of 
 \vork in the congregation, the young people had a 
 large share of his attention. He sought in many 
 ways to advance their highest interests and best wel- 
 fare, always devising plans for their religious, moral 
 and social improvement ; at one time giving a course 
 of lectures calculated to promote this object. 
 
 In his preaching, the gospel claims were urgently 
 pressed, and doctjinal discourse was frequent; and 
 while popular difficulties were sometimes presented 
 and answered, yet always remembering the imme- 
 diate wants of his hearers, presented such truths as 
 he knew by intercourse with them, might be most 
 helpful to them. 
 
 His pastorate at Henderson might be called emi- 
 nently successful — not so much in the accessions it 
 gave to the membership, as by the ability shown in 
 bringing out latent power. Not that any rare gifts 
 had lain concealed tbere more than exists in every 
 other congregation, but that his tact and enthusiasm 
 were so infused into the membership, that difficul- 
 ties there were easily overcome, obstacles were 
 removed, and mountains made to seem as mole-hills. 
 And thus it was through these aofencies he secured a 
 friendly, harmonious feeling among the members, 
 and interested and engaged them in religious work. 
 
 While the congregation, being nestled in among 
 contiguous congregations, increase could only be ex- 
 pected in the ordinary way, and this may doubtless 
 account for want of larger accessions to the church. 
 
 But the time came, all too soon, that his minis- 
 
50 A Busy Life. 
 
 trations to us should cease, and with sadness we 
 regretted the necessity for his departure, but still 
 were hopeful that many years might possibly be 
 given him — years of usefulness to the church and the 
 world; but this has been denied us. And now we 
 mourn the loss of a prince in the church; for one 
 has fallen, and, though crowned with many honors, 
 the church had yet another in store for him, to which 
 they were bidding him occupy. The whole church 
 was gladdened at the honors awaiting him, still ex- 
 pecting much golden grain to be reaped by his labors. 
 But at the threshold of the reaping time he is gath- 
 ered to the harvest home — to the house of his Father. 
 The mourners go about the streets with the windows 
 of the soul darkened, for the golden bowl has been 
 broken, and the spirit has returned to God who 
 gave it. 
 
CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 LEAVING THE COLLEGE. 
 
 The work of Dr. AVallace in Moninoiitli was draw- 
 ing to a close. He had given to the college his best 
 days. His strength, his energy, his very life was 
 spent in this work. He felt that he was fast break- 
 ing down; yet his heart was with the cojlege. It was 
 his Master's work, to which he had consecrated his 
 life ; therefore, he could not give it up until he Avas 
 convinced that he was no longer able to bear the 
 burden. His work, however, as a pastor in Mon- 
 mouth, was ended. His remaining strength must 
 be devoted to the college. The spiritual interest of 
 the students was upon his heart. He labored with 
 them, and prayed for them, and rejoiced when any 
 gave evidence of the new birth. It was not mere 
 reformation of life, nor only a cultivated and refined 
 scholarship that he sought; but that Christ should 
 be f()rmed in them "the hope of glory." 
 
 In his chapel sermons, designed especially for the 
 students, he sought not to display his ability as a 
 metaphysician, or as a mere theologian, nor to ex- 
 hibit specimens of rhetoric; but he sought to bring 
 what power he possessed to expound and illustrate 
 
 ^51) 
 
52 A Busy Life. 
 
 tlie grand truths of the gospel of the grace of God, 
 and to bring these truths to bear upon the heart and 
 conscience of his hearers, that they might be 
 brought into the full enjoyment of that peace which 
 comes from believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 While he preached doctrine, and advocated the 
 reforms of the times, both from the pulpit and plat- 
 form, yet the theme he most delighted to dwell upon 
 was Christ and him crucified. He seemed to enter 
 into these subjects with an earnestness that made 
 his soul glow with divine fervor. When he was 
 called to preach away from home, he generally chose 
 such themes as most fully brought forward "the 
 fulness of the gospel." He seemed to be imbued 
 with the spirit of the words of the Master concern- 
 ing the Apostle to the Gentiles: "He is a chosen 
 vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gen- 
 tiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." There 
 was no name so precious to him as the name of 
 Jesus, and his desire was to bear this name on every 
 suitable occasion. One who had been a student, 
 and who was intimate with him in later years, says: 
 " His topics away from home were always neai the 
 heart of the great idea of human redemption. I re- 
 member some years ago when preaching for him, 
 that he took the opportunity to preach at some half- 
 deserted church, near Wooster. I asked him what 
 he would preach about. ' O,' said he, ' my best 
 
Leaving the College. 53 
 
 sermon: "Blessed is lie whose transgression is for- 
 ffiA^en, whose sin is covered." I have no doubt it 
 was his 'best sermon,' for he was 'best' on such a 
 subject. ' Sermons,' he said, "are with me the sur- 
 vival of the fittest,' but we have all noticed that they 
 were the ' fittest ' from having the most spiritual 
 life." 
 
 The doctrines commonly called " the doctrines of 
 grace" were peculiarly dear to him. On all suitable 
 occasions, he sought to expound them. An old 
 acquaintance. Dr. J. T. Cooper, thus writes: 
 
 One thing which increased my interest in Dr. 
 Wallace, was the clearness with which he perceived, 
 and the tenacity with which he clung to the doc- 
 trines of grace, as they are set forth in the famous 
 work entitled, " The Marrow of Modern Divinity," 
 and in the writings of Thomas Boston, and the 
 Erskines, and the late Dr. John Anderson, particu- 
 larly in his work entitled "Saving Faith." As is 
 well known to his immediate friends, he was brought 
 to embrace these views as the only views 
 which are strictly deserving the name of gos- 
 pel truth, and as the only views that can 
 bring a true and settled peace to the conscience. 
 I was but a short time acquainted with this brother, 
 before I was brought to a discovery of his mind in 
 relation to these matters, and I need not conceal the 
 fact that it formed a sacred bond of friendship and 
 fellowship between him and the writer. I may also 
 be permitted to remark that, in my judgment, the 
 strong sympathy which the Doctor cherished for 
 
54 A Busy Life, 
 
 these "Marrow Doctrines," and the great importance 
 which he attached to them, imparted to his sermons 
 a richness and unction, which the spiritually minded 
 could hardly fail to appreciate. 
 
 His decision to leave the college was reached by 
 a slow and painful process. Years before he had 
 solemnly consecrated himself to the cause of Christ- 
 ian education in Monmouth College. For this he 
 labored, sacrificing both comfort . and pecuniary 
 profits. But he could not leave this work until it 
 was plain that his Master so decreed. The manner 
 in which he came to this conclusion will be best seen 
 from extracts from his diary; these will show the 
 care that was taken as well as the mental process 
 passed through in coming to this conclusion : 
 
 On Monday, February 7, 1876, I placed my res- 
 ignation as President of Monmouth College in the 
 hands of the Trustees, because I was no longer com- 
 petent to perform the duties of the office. The 
 Trustees tendered me six months' vacation, in case I 
 should withdraw my resignation. I did so on con- 
 dition that I should be at liberty to renew it at Com- 
 mencement. This was accepted. 
 
 The greater part of this vacation was spent at Fall 
 River, Mass., in order to get the benefit of the sea 
 air. Concerning the time spent there, he thus 
 writes : 
 
 I selected the following subjects for prayer: 1. 
 Restoration to health. 2. Guidance. 3. Abiding 
 
Leaving ihc CoUcgr, 55 
 
 peace. 4. Holiness. 5. Spirit of power. 0. Sup- 
 ply of my need. 7. Family. 8. College. 9. 
 Cause of Christ. For these things I have been 
 daily praying, and now on this, the sixteenth day of 
 June, 1870 — my fifty-first birthday — I am able to 
 record: 1. That my health has greatly improved, 
 so that I feel competent once more for duty. 2. I 
 think I have been guided by God; to-day the way 
 seems clear. God placed me at Monmouth; the 
 reasons that have led me to resign have been re- 
 moved ; there is no cause why I should not return ; 
 as far as I can see, my mind is clear. 3. I have en- 
 joyed abiding peace. 4. My wants have been sup- 
 plied; when I have had little, there has been no 
 lack; much, there has been nothing over. 5. I have 
 been enabled, as far as I can see, to walk worthy in 
 some good degree of my profession. 0. My family 
 give me no trouble and but little anxiety. 7. The 
 college has been conducted prosperously during my 
 absence. It now seems to me to be my duty to do 
 all I can, while here, to improve my health; at the 
 appointed time to return to Monmouth and devote 
 myself to the promotion of the cause of Christ in 
 connection with the college. The time now is short, 
 and it becomes me to mass my forces and seek to do 
 effectually the work that has been assigned me — fJic 
 n'ork of Chrisfian Educafion in Monmoiiili College; 
 and my prayer is that my latter days may be blessed 
 more, much more, than my beginning. 
 
 He returned to the duties of his office at the be- 
 ginning of the college year in 1870, and continued 
 M'ithout any serious interruption until the Com- 
 
56- A Bnsu Life 
 
 mencement of the college year in 1877. His diary 
 continues : 
 
 A week after, my power of work and endurance 
 gave way. Quit preaching in Chapel and every- 
 thing I could. Had a couple of weeks' vacation. In 
 November came a unanimous call from Wooster, 
 Ohio, and, soon after, notice of election to Chicago. 
 College Trustees raised my salary §700 to enable 
 me to take my vacation and rest. And now, what 
 shall I do ? I have been trusting and praying for 
 guidance. To-day, December 8, seeking it formally 
 and specially. 
 
 Shall I leave the college or remain? I. The facts 
 in favor of remaining: 1. I am in the college ; -pre- 
 sumption is in favor of remaining. 2. My salary 
 has been made abundant. 3. Faculty, students, 
 trustees, everybody seems to favor my remaining. 
 4. I understand college work and have been pros- 
 pered in it. 5. There is here a wide and very im- 
 portant field of usefulness, never more important. 6. 
 There is danger, that in case I leave, the college will 
 suffer serious hurt. 7. I am here among my family 
 and my friends, who have tried and trusted me. 8. 
 Almost all my reputation, knowledge and skill, ac- 
 quired here as President of the College, would be 
 lost capital. 
 
 II. Facts adverse. 1. My health is such as to 
 disqualify me for duty. I have not been able for 
 anything like full work, for three months; and that, 
 too, while my duty is not heavy ; or nearly as heavy 
 as it once was. No heavier than the President of 
 the college ought to perform. 2. During last year, 
 
Leaving iJte College. 57 
 
 after the rest of four months, I couhl hardly perforin 
 duty, and broke down under vacation and opening 
 work. 3. This is the third time I have given out: 
 First, in February, 1875, continued until Commence- 
 ment, when I was prevented from resigning by 
 physicians and faculty. Second, in January, 1876, 
 or rather early in previous term. Resigned in Feb- 
 ruary, and withdrew on promise of rest. 4. For nearly 
 three years, except last year, I have been unable to 
 push college work as it demands. 5. If I remain here 
 I shall be unable to do anything but the most neces- 
 sary college w^ork — oversee, teach and preach — ut 
 little lecturing abroad, but little writing. 6. I shall 
 be constantly subject to ill turns, and in danger of 
 finally and completely breaking down. 7. Called 
 to the pastorate in 1872, in Allegheny; declined. 
 To the pastorate in 1874, in St. Louis; declined. 
 Since that time, excepting last year, been disabled. 
 Called again; does it not look as if it was the Lord's 
 mind that I should return to it? 8. Eemaining in 
 the college, I am in imminent danger of disappoint- 
 ing its friends, and being unable to do what is 
 expected of me, and becoming a burden to it, rather 
 than being a help. 0. The college is not able to 
 increase my salary — danger of mischief from it. 
 1-0. Fields of great usefulness, with much less 
 work and less responsibilities are open for me, in 
 which I shall have a much better opportunity of 
 doing much needed work, which I can not do here. 
 11. The faculty can run the college until a new 
 president is found. 12. I have reason to believe 
 that my health would be better in another climate, 
 or from a change. 
 
58 A Busy Life. 
 
 Continued calling and crying for light until the 
 18th. It now appears thus: 1. No man ought to 
 accept or continue to hold a place, the duties of 
 which he is not able to discharge. Eeliable health 
 needed in president. I have not been able to per- 
 form the duties of my office for two years out of the 
 last three. I see no prospect of being able in the 
 future, judging from the past. Very heavy work is 
 now demanded of the president. 2. I have opened 
 to me now a position of great usefulness, the duties 
 of which I can adequately discharge. 3. The risks 
 from remaining seem to me much greater than from , 
 my going: (1). The less I am in college and the 
 less fully I perform the duties of my position, the 
 less my influence and the lower my standing; 
 the less my value to the college : the more difficult 
 to raise my salary. (2). The danger of completely 
 breaking down, and becoming a burden to the col- 
 lege and my friends. (3). The danger of discontent 
 and dissatisfaction from my salary being made so 
 high. (4) . The risks to the college from my 
 leaving slight. 4. If I remain, the strength of my 
 declining years will be given to more secular work ; 
 if I go, to more spiritual. 5. I have no reason 
 to believe that my health can be depended upon to 
 be adequate to enable me to perform the duties of 
 the college, as I think they ought to be performed, 
 as I would feel in conscience bound to perform 
 them. It is not reliahlc. 6. The prompt, decided, 
 spontaneous judgments of several men, my friends 
 and intimate acquaintances, are, that I ought to 
 leave the college; among them Drs. Mathews, J. 
 Brown, and Hamilton. 7. My leaving will facili- 
 
Leaving the College. 59 
 
 tate the only correct policy for college: economize, 
 collect, pay debts, and elect a president after first 
 six months. 
 
 Mij lieaWi is not reliable enough to justify me 
 continui}ig in the eollege. I love it too icell and judge 
 its interests too important to remain toith it 
 
 On Monday evening, December 17, I went into 
 my room in college, intending to remain until light 
 came. I fell on my knees in prayer. Then came 
 to my mind these words: "Not to-night, but in the 
 morning. " I accepted it as from God. I at once 
 went home, and the next morning went to my study 
 and sought to know the Lord's mind. While in 
 prayer, my mind settled down in this conviction, 
 that I ought not to hold a position of Avhicli I could 
 not perform the duties. I arose and went over the 
 considerations pro and con. Again I sought light; 
 again my mind settled down in the same conviction. 
 I then went over and talked with Bro. Ure. I asked 
 him if he had any thing additional to say. He said 
 not; but remarked, that I ought not to remain, if I 
 felt my health was too unreliable to perform college 
 work. I went home again and again threw myself on 
 my knees, and besought the Lord to show me His will, 
 let it be what it might. Again my mind settled 
 down in the conviction that my health was too unre- 
 liable to justify me in continuing in the presidency. 
 I sought the Lord for some token from Him that 
 this was His mind — that I was right and not deceived. 
 I then went up to my room, when there came on a 
 feeling of faintness, which I accepted as a ^^ sign 
 from God " that I was too nearly worn out to continue 
 in such an important position. 
 
60 A Busy Life. 
 
 That evening I called the faculty and announced 
 my decision. The next morning I sent in my resig- 
 nation to the trustees — there was a full meeting. 
 J. G. Madden moved that my resignation be accepted, 
 Dr. Matthews seconded the motion, remarking that 
 I could do nothing else. It was accepted to take 
 effect, January 1, 1878, and my salary continued 
 until June. That day I announced the result to the 
 students. I was much prostrated the rest of the 
 week. 
 
 In 1856, Dr. Wallace came to Monmouth to take 
 charge of the young college. January 1, 1878, 
 after twenty-one years, he laid down the work, with 
 what measure of success has been told in a previous 
 chapter. He came to Monmouth strong and robust ; 
 he left it a wreck. It may be truly said, that he 
 sacrificed himself for the cause of Christian educa- 
 tion in Monmouth College. He ceased from this 
 work only because he was unable to prosecute it 
 further. Other positions, far easier, and much more 
 lucrative, were tendered to him but he could not 
 accept them ; for he had consecrated himself to this 
 work and he dare not lay it aside. He had put his 
 hand to the plow, as he felt, at the call of the 
 Master, and without that Master's command he 
 could not let go. The days following the commence- 
 ment of the work at Monmouth were dark. The 
 political horizon was dark; the financial condition 
 of the country was deplorable. To start, equip and 
 
Leaving the College. 61 
 
 endow a college, required herculean efforts, and 
 great self-denial. Wliile others stood by to aid, yet 
 the burden fell upon his shoulders. He faltered 
 not, but stood under the burden until it was mani- 
 festly impossible for him to longer endure the 
 strain. 
 
 Another has said: "It was his one remark to me, 
 in speaking of his leaving the college, that it did 
 not seem to be the Master's will that any one person 
 should begin and carry on to completion any great 
 ^\T)rk. The law of the kingdom has always been, 
 'one soweth and the other reapeth. ' To Dr. Wallace, 
 it seemed to be given in many things to preside over 
 beginnings. His hands laid the foundation; others 
 reared the superstructure. He sowed the seed and 
 others reaped the harvest of his toil, as coming 
 generations will reap the fruit of their labor." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 LAST DAYS. 
 
 The different positions held by Dr. Wallace, or 
 tendered him, came unsought, very frequently in the 
 face of decided protest. Yet, when a position Avas 
 offered to him, he always gave it a careful consideraton. 
 His one desire seemed to be to know the mind of the 
 Lord in the matter. He was very slow in conclud- 
 ing to leave one place of labor for another. He felt 
 that if the Master gave him a field to occupy, he 
 must remain until his work was completed. The ad- 
 vice he gave to others — and it was the one he him- 
 self always followed — was, "The Master has placed 
 you where you now are, and the presumption is in 
 favor of your remaining. If you change, there must 
 be good and sufficient reasons for so doing." The 
 consciousness of doing his Master's will became a 
 force which carried him over very many difficulties. 
 
 In October of 1877, being in Ohio, he was con- 
 strained to visit Wooster, and preach one Sabbath. 
 This was before he had decided that he must give up 
 college work. He consented to go to "Wooster only 
 with the express understanding that he was not to 
 be considered in any sense a candidate. However, 
 
 (62) 
 
Last DuD^. 63 
 
 the result was a unanimous call to him to become 
 pastor of that congregation. About the same time 
 another call was extended to him by the United 
 Presbyterian Congregation of Chicago. His decis- 
 ion in reference to these is thus told in his diary, the 
 entry being dated at Wooster: 
 
 I decided not to go to Chicago, because it appeared 
 to me that the work and responsibility there would 
 be so heavy as to give me but little relief. All my 
 physicians and friends united in the conviction that 
 it would be folly for me to go to a place wliere the 
 life would be so intense as there. My mind was in- 
 clined to Wooster, because: (1.) It seemed to me 
 quite an easy place, comparatively, and not beyond 
 my strength. (2.) The call from there was unex- 
 pected, unsought and spontaneous, hearty, unani- 
 mous, and what might be called providential. (3.) 
 Seeking constantly to know my Master's mind, it 
 seemed to me His wdll that I should come here. 
 
 He left Monmouth December 27, and reached 
 Wooster the next evening. His convictions after 
 arriving in Wooster are thus given: '• I am at rest. 
 A clear inspection of the field satisfies me that it 
 will suit me well. I can rest and study as I could 
 not have done elsewhere. I thank God for doing so 
 much for me. I have enjoyed great peace since I 
 decided the question. The experiment I have made 
 of my God, as a covenant-keeping God, has strength- 
 ened my faith and filled me with unutterable glad- 
 
64 A Busy Life. 
 
 ness. The fortieth Psahii, first verses, have expressed 
 my feelings." 
 
 The following, as subjects of daily prayer, are 
 taken from entries made while engaged in the pas- 
 toral work at Wooster: 
 
 1 . That the Lord would show me day by day what 
 I ought to do. 2. That He would strengthen me for 
 all duty. 3. That He would show me a suitable 
 house. 4. That He would bless the congregation 
 in all things, and my work in it. 5. That He would 
 bless my wife and children. 6. That He would bless 
 Monmouth College, and give it a President. 7. That 
 He would make it apparent to my friends and the 
 church that He had guidecj me in iDringing me here ; 
 that I had not done wrong, but right in coming. 
 
 Following this table of prayer topics in this line of 
 comment and date: " All the above answered to the 
 letter. Jan. 8, 1880." 
 
 For the first six months after he began his labors 
 in AVooster, he was able to do but very little severe 
 mental work. He spent his time in visiting the 
 members of the congregation and re-organizing the 
 congregation for Christian work. Difficulties that 
 had arisen previous to his settlement there were to 
 be settled — members were to be reconciled; all this 
 was happily effected. During his college jears his 
 preaching had often, on account of other pressing 
 duties, to be done without adequate preparation. 
 This he greatly regretted, but, in AVooster, after his 
 
Last Daijs. 65 
 
 health began to improve, he was able to give much 
 more time to pulpit preparation. The labor he was 
 able to perform here was by carefully systematizing 
 his work. He endeavored always to have a subject 
 for the coming Sabbath, selected the week previous, 
 never later than Monday. Thus he was able to 
 commence the study of his subject the first thing on 
 Tuesday morning, if desired. 
 
 He frequently preached series of discourses. He 
 lectured upon the book of Revelation throughout. 
 He gave a course of Sabbath evening lectures upon 
 the commandments. These were listened to by full 
 houses. He also gave a course of lectures upon the 
 "Distinctive Principles" of his church. The dis- 
 course upon "secret societies" was listened to by 
 many who were themselves members of these socie- 
 ties. While he endeavored to present his objections 
 to such societies in a clear and forcible manner, yet 
 he did so in such a way as not to antagonize individ- 
 uals. He was respected and listened to by those 
 who differed from him upon these things. About 
 once a month he gave a lecture designed especially 
 for the young people. About once every quarter he 
 preached a sermon for the children. 
 
 Although his health improved after coming to 
 
 Wooster, yet he never was well. Dr. Taggart, who 
 
 was his physician there, says: "It is well known 
 
 that Dr. Wallace came to Wooster an invalid — a 
 
 5 
 
66 A Busy Life. 
 
 wreck. His nervous system was much exhausted 
 from over work. There were times when he felt his 
 old ability to work for the Master; yet there were 
 many times, and some of them protracted, in which 
 he was not able to do much work. The great secret 
 lay in the exhaustion of the nerve center. He would 
 have a sense of constriction, and an apparent diffi- 
 culty in breathing, so that in walking he would have 
 to stop and stand still a feAV minutes to rest. I 
 could find no organic disease of the heart, and no 
 disease of the lungs — nothing of that kind that 
 would account for the trouble, and I referred the 
 matter to nervous exhaustion — exhaustion of the 
 nerve center that presided over respiration and 
 breathing. " Thus all the labor he performed was 
 under great bodily affliction. In August, 1881, 
 after a year of hard Avork he was prostrated with 
 gastralgia, or neuralgia of the stomach. He was 
 unable to do any work until about the first of Octo- 
 ber. In January, he was again prostrated. He 
 was unable to return to his work until March, and 
 then able only to do a limited amount. About the 
 last of May, he had another severe attack. The 
 congregation gave him a vacation for four months. 
 This he spent at Clifton Springs, N. Y., and Ocean 
 Grove, N. J. 
 
 During his stay at these places he had much 
 time at his disposal. This time was not spent in 
 
La^l Daijs. 67 
 
 idleness. It was not in his nature to be idle. He 
 always felt that the Master had a work for him to 
 do, and it was his object to be prepared for doing 
 that work. He felt the time for work was very- 
 uncertain, and this led him to a renewed act of con- 
 secration. This "act "we find in his diary, and we 
 here give it : 
 
 Before I return to my work, I do to-day, solemnly, 
 and in the presence of God, give myself to Him, 
 body and soul, wholly and without reserve: I give 
 myself up to Him to make of me what He would 
 have me to be; to put me in the position He would 
 have me occupy; to bear whatever burdens He 
 would lay upon me; to do the work He may aj^point 
 me; and to enjoy whatever measure of blessings He 
 may grant me. My heart's desire is that God would 
 accept this gift and seal me as His own, fill me with 
 His spirit, make me holy, fit me for His service, lead 
 and guide me. stren^rthen and sustain me. I do 
 take God in Christ to be my God and Father : Jesus 
 to be my Saviour, my Prophet, my Priest, my King ; 
 the Holy Spirit to be my Comforter and Sanctifier ; 
 I trust and look to God to treat me as a child, grant- 
 ing me all the rights and privileges of a child: and 
 submit to Him as a child to a father. I trust and 
 look to Jesus as my Prophet, to teach me all that I 
 need to know, and submit to Him as my Prophet; I 
 look to, trust in, and submit to Him as my Priest, to 
 obtain for me all the blessings I need: I look to 
 Him and trust in Him as my King, to subdue me to 
 Himself, to reign in me, to rule over me, and to 
 restrain and conquer His and my enemies. I trust 
 
A Busy Life. 
 
 in, look too, and submit to the Holy Spirit as my 
 helper in all things. "I believe; Lord help my 
 unbelief. ■' 
 
 From his diary we find that he spent much of his 
 time in the study of the Word of God, and in read- 
 ing devotional books ; in meditation and in prayer ; 
 prayer that he might be " filled with the Spirit; that 
 all that is meant by the baptism of the Spirit, the 
 leading of the Spirit, the witness of the Spirit might 
 be his;" that he "might be led by the Spirit, guided 
 by the Spirit, and live in the Spirit;"" and 
 "that he might be kept from grieving Him."' 
 But his prayer was not for himself alone ; 
 others were remembered — his family, his con- 
 gregation and the church at large, that God 
 would pour out his Spirit upon the church. He re- 
 turned to his home Sept. 10 much improved, both 
 in body and in spirit. 
 
 The Board of Managers of Xenia Theological 
 Seminary at their meeting in the spring of 1882, 
 selected Drs. French and Wallace " to deliver a 
 series of seven lectures each on Apologetics, and 
 more particularly on the Evidences of Christianity." 
 The main design was to supplement the work of the 
 corps of teachers, which by the death of Dr. Bruce 
 had been reduced to three. "Their work was divided 
 between them thus: Dr. French lectured on the 
 external evidences of Christianity, Dr. Wallace on 
 
Last Days. 69 
 
 the internal. The latter's work lay chiefly, if not 
 entirely, in directing the attention of the class to the 
 proofs of the Divine origin and authority of the 
 Bible as found in the sacred volume itself. Never- 
 theless he took a somewhat wider survey of the sub- 
 ject, and introduced much of his own experience, the 
 results of a long and very active life, as a teacher 
 and minister of the Word, thus giving the students 
 the benefit of a large acquaintance with men and 
 books." '' I heard portions of several of his lectures, 
 and more than once he would start from his chair in 
 the delivery, get to his feet and pour out a stream 
 of impassioned eloquence, which one does not hear 
 often in the class room? He created much enthusi- 
 asm in the seminary by these lectures, he was very 
 stimulating in all his work, and the benefits result- 
 ing therefrom lasted through the rest of the session." 
 
 At the meeting of the Board of Managers in 
 March, 1883, he was nominated to the synods hav- 
 ing control of the seminary, for a professorship. The 
 synods at their meetings in the fall elected him to 
 this position. After careful consideration he had 
 decided to accept and was preparing to move to 
 Xenia, to enter upon this work ; but his Master called 
 him home. 
 
 In June of 1883, the Board of Trustees of West- 
 minster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, 
 elected him to the office of president. This position, 
 
70 A Busy Life. 
 
 after careful consideration, he felt it his duty to 
 decline. He felt that the work which would be 
 required of the president of that institution, would 
 be entirely beyond what his failing health would 
 warrant him in undertaking. 
 
 He was appointed by the presbytery of Mansfield, 
 a delegate to the General Assembly which met in 
 Pittsburgh, May 23, 1883. The question of the use 
 of '-Instruments in the worship of God" came before 
 this Assembly. It had been decided by the previous 
 Assembly, that the law forbidding the use of instru- 
 ments had been repealed. Those opposed to the use 
 of instruments felt themselves aggrieved, and asked 
 that this Assembly "declare 'explicitly that in none 
 of the congregations under the care of the Assembly 
 can instrumental music be lawfully used in worship 
 until the church shall have decided by constitutional 
 enactment that such music in worship is divinely 
 authorized and prescribed." It is not our intention 
 to speak of this discussion, only to state the position 
 of Dr. Wallace upon this question. When the rule 
 was adopted in 1867, he, with one other member of 
 the presbytery, neither voted for nor against it, 
 "believing that the use of instruments was inexpedi- 
 ent, but not forbidden by the Word of God." When 
 the subject came up in overture in 1881, he, with 
 others voted to repeal the rule. There was no change 
 in his convictions, only he deemed it inexpedient to 
 
Lux! /)(ii/s. 71 
 
 have any rule upon the subject. The Assembly of 
 1<S<S3 passed the following resolution: ''That Drs. 
 Joseph T. Cooper, David A. Wallace and James P. 
 Lytle be appointed a committee to address a pas- 
 toral letter to our people, setting forth the true state 
 of the question as settled by the church, and urging 
 upon them the respect due the authority of the 
 church and to each other as Christian brethren." 
 
 Dr. Cooper, as chairman of the committee, pre- 
 pared the '"letter," and submitted it to Dr. Wallace, 
 who with but few suggestions approved as prepared, 
 and this, together with one from Dr. Lytle, was sent 
 forth to the church on its errand of peace. Dr. 
 Cooper thus whites: "We had much conversation in 
 relation to this controversy that has to such a degree 
 so painfully agitated our beloved church. We both 
 deplored the introduction of the question in view of 
 the sad separations Avhich it had made among breth- 
 ren. We were both, however, fully agreed that it 
 was one of those things which in the light of Scrip- 
 ture and reason may be regarded as legitimate sub- 
 jects of forbearance and that the controversy never 
 could be settled on any other basis." 
 
 The twelve months intervening between the 
 adjournment of the Assembly of 1882, and the con- 
 vening of the Assembly of 1883, were months of 
 painful anxiety to many who loved the church of 
 their choice. The question that Avas frequently 
 
12 A Busy Life 
 
 asked was, "What will be the result? will there be a 
 division?'' Dr. Wallace was no idle spectator of 
 what was passing. He loved the United Presby- 
 terian Church ; it was the church of his birth, and of 
 his choice. He could not be unconcerned, when her 
 unity, if not her very existence, was threatened. 
 
 One Avho was with him that summer at Clifton 
 Springs and Ocean Grove gives the following: 
 
 We were intimate companions boarding in the 
 same house, occupying adjoining rooms, and hence 
 were much in conversation, and always enjoyed our 
 morning and evening devotions together. The bur- 
 den of his plans and prayers was an amicable adjust- 
 ment of the difficulties which threatened to disrupt 
 the church, and alienate brethren who had hitherto 
 "taken sweet counsel together" in the work of the 
 Lord. I could not fail to mark the tenderness and 
 earnestness of his petitions for "the peace of our 
 beloved Zion." Dr. Wallace had his own well-defined 
 opinions as to the merits of the question in dispute, 
 as also of the decisions of the Assembly of 1882. 
 It was not because he did not have clearly defined 
 convictions of his own, but because his ardent love 
 for his church was supreme, that he Avas able to 
 suppress his own personal preferences, and plead 
 with God and his brethren for such a compromise of 
 their opinions as would be at once consistent, and 
 reconcile differences, restore confidence, and secure 
 harmony in faith, work and worship. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival at Clifton Springs, he 
 opened a correspondence with leading brethren on 
 the opposite sides. My knowledge of that corres- 
 
Last Days. 73 
 
 pondence warrants me in stating that it was prompt- 
 ed by the hope of securing such a reconciliation as 
 would secure the perpetuity of the United Presby- 
 terian Church in her organic unity ; and it was in- 
 spired by pure and unselfish love for the denom- 
 ination whose banner he had so long supported. 
 Those to whom he addressed his communications 
 failed, in part, to drink in his spirit of reconciliation, 
 or consent to the measures he proposed. Disap- 
 pointed, discouraged, yet hopeful, he remarked to 
 me one day: ''I will try once more." He went to 
 his room wearing a look of deep solicitude, and, after 
 hours of painful thought — and, may we not conjec- 
 ture, earnest prayer? — he came to my room to read 
 to me the message he had indited. His very soul 
 seemed on fire as he began to read. As he pro- 
 ceeded, the emotions that struggled in his bosom 
 were with difficulty suppressed. At first, his great 
 heart seemed to burst as he read in broken, choking 
 accents: "Can't something be done to save the 
 United Presbyterian church; the church of my birth 
 and love; the church to which I have given the 
 energies of my life; the church by which I have 
 stood when greater emoluments than she could give 
 were offering; the church in which I shall live and 
 die?" Having reached this point, his pent-up tears, 
 the indices of a struggling soul within, burst forth, 
 and his very frame shook Avith emotions, as that 
 grand hero of many a well-fought battle sat and 
 sobbed and wept copious, scalding tears over the 
 church of his love and choice. Whatever the effect 
 of these communications may have been, it was writ- 
 ten by an honest hand, indited by a master mind, 
 
74 A Busy Life. 
 
 and inspired by a love of liis denomination, which 
 challenofes the emulation of those whom he has left 
 behind. 
 
 In the fall of the year 1883, having decided to 
 accept the position to which he had been elected in 
 the Theological Seminary, he was preparing to re- 
 move to Xenia, in order to engage in this work. In 
 the meantime, however, in the State election that 
 was to occur on October 9, an important question 
 was before the people — one that enlisted the sym- 
 pathies and aroused the energies of Dr. Wallace. 
 The question of amendins;: the constitution of the 
 State, so as to prohibit the manufacture and sale of 
 intoxicating liquors was to be voted at that election. 
 The friends of the measure were doing all in .their 
 power to arose public sentiment upon the question. 
 Dr. Wallace was invited to deliver a lecture on the 
 subject at a place twelve miles from Wooster. He 
 spoke to a large audience with his usual force and 
 earnestness. He returned home with the symptoms 
 of having contracted a severe cold. This continued 
 for a few days, but had measurably abated. On the 
 following Sabbath communion services were held in 
 the congregation . He was able to address only a few 
 remarks to the people on Sabbath. All the other 
 services were conducted by Eev. J. M. Farrar, who 
 was assisting him on that occasion. This was the 
 last time he was permitted to be present in the pub- 
 lic worship of God. 
 
Last Days. 75 
 
 An account of the closing days of his life, we con- 
 dense fi'om remarks made by Dr. Taggart, at the 
 funeral services held in Monmouth: 
 
 In a day or two there was developed the charac- 
 teristic symptoms of spasmodic asthma, which grew 
 worse. He did not suffer excruciating pain, but 
 suffered the agony of a man who was struggling to 
 obtain breath, or to get air into his lungs. He had 
 to sit in his chair for over a week without going to 
 bed, as immediately after he would lie down this 
 difficult spasmodic respiration would commence. 
 Other physicians were called, who concurred in the 
 diagnoses which had been made. This difficulty 
 continued in spite of all remedies until the Friday 
 before his death. On Saturday he seemed very 
 much better. He remained in bed all Saturday 
 night and obtained considerable rest. I went to see 
 him on Sabbath morning, and asked him whether 
 preaching should be announced for next Sabbath. 
 " Yes," said he. '' announce preaching, and if I am 
 not able to preach, I will make arrangements." In 
 the evening I went to see him again. I found him 
 lying in bed ; he was able to lie without any difficulty 
 in breathing. I gave the necessary directions, bade 
 him good evening, and he bade me good evening. 
 He spoke in an ordinary tone of voice, without ap- 
 parent difficulty. About ten o'clock that night I 
 was called up to go and see him. I learned on my 
 arrival that about half-past nine o'clock, he thought 
 he could go to sleep, and asked for a few drops of 
 chloroform, and thought if he had this he could go 
 asleep. After some hesitation on the part of his 
 wife, it was given to him from a handkerchief. He 
 
76 A Busy Life. 
 
 turned over as if going asleep, and his wife passed 
 into another room. He was alone, the rest of the 
 family having retired. After remaining in an ad- 
 joining room for a few minutes, she heard a cough- 
 ing or sneezing. She went to him ; he had turned 
 over on his back, and immediately gave one or two 
 short gasps, and all was over. He slept well that 
 night — he slept in peace. He fell asleep on Sab- 
 bath, October 21, 1883, at ten o'clock P. M. 
 
 He was well aware of his uncertain condition ; he 
 had given directions in reference to certain things 
 in case of his death, but no special preparation was 
 necessary. His work on earth was completed; the 
 Master, whose he was and whom he served, called 
 him home to himself. 
 
 Funeral services were held at Wooster. By his 
 request his former colleague, Dr. Alexander Young, 
 preached the sermon. His remains were taken to 
 Monmouth, and, after suitable services in the Col- 
 lege Chapel, they were borne to their last resting- 
 place. On Sabbath afternoon, October 28, "Memor- 
 ial Services" were held in the Opera House, at- 
 tended by a large concourse of people. 
 
 Of his immediate family, a wife, who had been his 
 faithful companion and helper during his busy life; 
 one who had counseled him in times of difficulty, 
 and rejoiced with him in times of prosperity, and 
 cared and watched over him in times of sickness, 
 lives to mourn her loss. Four sons and one daughter 
 remain deprived of a father's counsel. 
 
Ldst Da/js. 77 
 
 We close this imperfect sketch of a busy life ; a 
 
 life consecrated to the Lord Jesus; a life of 
 
 self-denying labor on behalf of others. These labors 
 
 cannot be told by any pen ; these tears which were 
 
 shed; the anxious hours that were spent, have a 
 
 voice, but they speak not a language that can be 
 
 written. 
 
 " Faithful to death. O man of God, well done ! 
 Thy fight is ended; thy crown is won !" 
 
PART SECOND 
 
 DEAD. YET SPEAKING, 
 
 (79) 
 
CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 Inaugural Address delivered at Monmoidh, III., Sept. 1, 1857. 
 
 Education is the subject of almost universal at- 
 tention. But few themes are, at the present time, 
 more generally or earnestly discussed. The popular 
 mind is awake to its importance, deeply interested 
 in promoting it. To secure general and thorough 
 mental culture, much money is expended, great efforts 
 are put forth. This is true in the West as well as 
 in the East; in Illinois no less than in Massachu- 
 setts. 
 
 We are here founding an institution for the pro- 
 motion of education in its higher departments. And 
 now, at the outset, when our measures are receiving 
 shape and character, it is all-important that the ends 
 proposed, and methods to be employed in such an 
 institution should be well understood. This whole 
 subject we should all carefully consider. 
 
 This theme, appropriate as it is to the occasion, I 
 cannot now fully discuss. I must very much narrow 
 my range of thought, or very much transgress the 
 limits assigned me. 
 
 In unfolding " The Claims of the Bible to a place 
 as a text book in the College Curriculum," I shall 
 6 (81) 
 
82 A Bnsjj Life. 
 
 bring to view the great principles which most press- 
 ingly demand attention. 
 
 Elsewhere, and at another time, it might have 
 been necessary, at the outset, to have introduced such 
 considerations as would ward off prejudice and se- 
 cure an unimpassioned hearing. Surely, however, 
 it is not necessary here or at this time of day that a 
 moment should be thus occupied. My aim is to 
 show that the Bible ought to liave a place in the 
 course of study of every Collegiate Institution — 
 that the Bible in its original languages, its history, 
 its philosophy, its theology, ought to be studied as 
 carefully and thoroughly, and recited as regularly 
 and faithfully as any text-book in any department of 
 Literature or Science. 
 
 With the view of illustrating and confirming this 
 position, I invite your attention to the ends of edu- 
 cation and the methods by which they are secured. 
 
 And what is the end of education? To qualify 
 for the more successful acquisition of material wealth ? 
 Of a widely extended and brilliant reputation? for 
 grasping and wielding successfully the sceptre of 
 power? for deriving rpore exquisite enjoyment from 
 sensual pleasures? surely none of these things. 
 Surely no material good constitutes the great end of 
 education. 
 
 What then is it? I answer without hesitation: 
 The great ultimate end of education is to fit man 
 
Claims of the Bible. 83 
 
 for accomplishing, to some good degree, the end of 
 his being. 
 
 Again the inquiry arises, " What is the chief end 
 of man ? ' ' The answer to this question has been 
 settled for at least two hundred years: "Man's 
 chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. " 
 I shall attempt no elaborate exposition of this defi- 
 nition. All, however, will at once acknowledge that 
 man most effectually accomplishes the gj-eat end of 
 his being, most fully glorifies God and enjoys him, 
 when he is most completely obedient in heart and 
 life to that law which enjoins love to God and love 
 to man, when he is most nearly conformed to God in 
 his moral cliara(?ter, and when being qualified there- 
 for, he accomplishes the most in advancing the 
 highest well-being of his fellow-men. In just so far 
 as a man is eminently good and mighty in doing 
 good, in so far does he accomplish the chief end of 
 his being. 
 
 All true education contemplates these ultimate 
 ends and is adapted to secure them. 
 
 Its special objects subordinate to this great end 
 are — 
 
 1. The communication of useful knowledge. 
 
 2. The culture of the intellectual powers. 
 
 3. The formation of an elevated moral character. 
 Any process of education that gains these ends to 
 
 any good degree, so far qualifies its subject for ac- 
 complishing the great end of his being. 
 
84 A Busy Life. 
 
 Let us now examine these special ends that we may 
 ascertain how far the use of the Bible, as a text- 
 book, will contribute, or is necessary to secure them. 
 
 The first is: The communication of knowledge. 
 The great design of the knowledge communicated 
 in a course of academic instruction is to prepare for 
 the study of a profession, and to qualify for a proper 
 discharge of the ordinary duties of life. No pro- 
 fession can be successfully studied without at least 
 some previous knowledge of the great principles of 
 literature and science. Hence, those who aim at a 
 full and complete equipment for entering on this 
 department of intellectual effort are led through a 
 course of instruction in Latin, Greek, the various 
 subjects of mathematics, and of natural, moral and 
 mental philosophy. Thus furnished, progress in 
 professional study, otherwise slow and toilsome, be- 
 comes easy and rapid. 
 
 Knowledge is necessary to the most successful 
 discharge of the duties of life. A man entirely 
 ignorant of the subjects of the college course may 
 live a happy and useful life; certainly, however, 
 such an increase of knowledge as the study of these 
 subjects secures, would render that life much more 
 useful. And it must be conceded on all hands that 
 ignorance here is absolutely incompatible with any 
 very successful discharge of the ordinary duties of 
 life. 
 
Claims of the Bible. 85 
 
 A knowledge of the principles of literature and 
 science is then important. There is, however, a 
 knowledge much more important — a knowledge es- 
 sential to an upright, happy and useful life. He that 
 lives such a life, be it professional or non -profes- 
 sional, public or private, must know what is right 
 and what is wrong, and how to distinguish the one 
 from the other; he must know how he may be recon- 
 ciled to an offended God, and live at j^eace with him ; 
 and how he may be freed from every unholy affection 
 and come to cherish those elevated sentiments that 
 assimilate the human to the divine ; he must know 
 those magnificent truths, from whose unfathomable 
 depths alone can be drawn motives adequate to raise 
 men from the dust, and constrain them to enter the 
 elevated walks of true obedience to the great law- 
 giver ; and, if in his whole career, he does aught for 
 his fellow man, he must understand well those eter- 
 nal principles in accordance with whi(;h alone man's 
 most momentous interests can be successfully pro- 
 moted. He that lives a life worthy of a man — a life 
 that will at all answer the demands of the end of his 
 being — must know all this. It is absolutely indis- 
 pensible. 
 
 Now, where shall this knowledge be found? Cer- 
 tainly not in the speculations of Plato or Aristotle; 
 certainly not in the ethics of Cicero or Seneca. The 
 brightest genius that ever soared through the bound- 
 
A Busy Life. 
 
 less fields of immensity, baffled, disappointed, hum- 
 bled in his vain attempts to find ont this wisdom, is 
 compelled to confess: ''Such knowledge is too won- 
 derful for me; it is high; I can not attain unto it." 
 We must go and sit at the feet of him who spake as 
 never man spake, and learn from the simple, yet 
 sublime words that fell from his lips. We must find 
 this knoAvledge, so necessary, in the "Word of 
 Christ." If, then, that instruction, essential to 
 qualify man for accomplishing, to any good degree, 
 the end of his being, is given at all our colleges, the 
 Bible must be our text book. 
 
 I have said that the knowledge derived from the 
 study of the Word of God is more important than 
 that derived from the study of all the other subjects 
 granted a place in the College course. Contrast the 
 two. From the one the student becomes familiar 
 with the grand old tongues of the Greeks and Rom- 
 ans, incorporated so intimately with our own manly, 
 vigorous Anglo-Saxon, the depositories of inexhaust- 
 ible stores of valuable knowledge, of the antiquities, 
 the history, the poetry, the philosophy of those re- 
 nowned peoples; he becomes familiar with the prin- 
 ciples of mathematical science, so important in act- 
 ual life; with the art of vigorous, impressive, ele- 
 gant utterance; with the elements of science, natu- 
 ral, mental, political, and moral; nor is his work 
 complete until he has surveyed the Evidences of 
 
Claims of ilic Bible. 87 
 
 Christianity, learned what of religion he may from 
 nature, and examined the analogies of the natural to 
 the revealed. The faithful student, in the usual 
 course of study, becomes familiar with this varied 
 and confessedly important knowledge. Here, how- 
 ever, he ordinarily stops. Bible truth is rarely 
 granted a place among these subjects. But, let us 
 view for a moment, the knowledge that may be de- 
 rived from this study. Here, at the outset, he learns 
 a language surely not less Avorlhy of being known 
 than any other — the depository of learning — of an- 
 tiquities, history, poetry, philosophy — surely not 
 less interesting and important than those of Greece 
 and Kome. As he proceeds he learns certain knowl- 
 edge of truth, in relation to which "he might dig 
 with toilsome and painful efforts, in the mines of 
 Pagan literature for many long years, without one 
 ray of light shining upon him in these dreary cav- 
 erns." He learns the being and attributes of the 
 Supreme Jehovah, the Creator and Governor of all; 
 the origin of sin — the disease that infects us all — 
 its nature, its infinite baseness, its eternally ruinous 
 consequences ; the way of deliverance from its power 
 and penalty ; a pure and heavenly morality, the real- 
 ization of which, in heart and life, assimilates man 
 to his God. And all through its sacred pages are 
 scattered motives to the noblest life man can live, 
 drawn from the depths of hell, the heights of heaven, 
 
88 A Busy Life. 
 
 the remotest eternity. In the former, the student 
 is led up the gorgeous avenues that lead to the tem- 
 ple of Divine truth; he is bidden walk round about 
 it; he is shown its foundations, deep and solid, of 
 massive granite; its pillars of polished marble; its 
 beautiful proportions and lofty turrets. Perhaps he 
 is permitted to stop a moment at the threshold, glance 
 Avithin, and catch a glimpse of the magnificence 
 treasured there. In the latter he is led through its 
 halls, along its corridors, bidden repose in its alcoves, 
 at every step shown the beauty and glory that adorn 
 it, and taught to bow in homage before the God who 
 manifests his presence there. Is not this much the 
 more desirable? I submit it to the calm judgment 
 of any clear-headed and honest-hearted man, does 
 not this knowledge excel in importance the knowledge 
 of the whole range of literature and science found in 
 the most extended College curriculum, by a measure 
 whose length from first to last is infinity ? A man may 
 dispense with the former, but it is only at a price no 
 man can afford to pay that he neglects the latter. 
 Are the claims of the subjects usually granted a 
 place in the course of study strong? Then I ask, 
 are not the claims of Biblical literature and science 
 a thousand-fold stronger? 
 
 2. Another special end of education is the cul- 
 ture of the intellectual powers. 
 
 This end is altogether distinct from the communi- 
 
Clahiis of the JJiblc. 89 
 
 cation of knowledge. It is also, altogether more 
 important. And here multitudes are radically mis- 
 taken. According to a view by far too common, 
 education is simply teaching. The mind is a huge 
 storehouse; the filling up thereof with various 
 knowledge is the great business of education. He 
 who in the shortest period, deposits here the largest 
 mass of facts is the best educator. He who gathers 
 knowledge most rapidly is the best student. On 
 this theory much of the popular education is con- 
 ducted. Such a process, however, scarce deserves 
 the name of education. The most successful teacher 
 in a common sense of the term, is often a most con- 
 temptible charlatan. Under such a process, a stu- 
 dent can very speedily be crammed with what is called 
 learning, and at the same time be totally destitute 
 of power to use his acquisitions to any important 
 purpose. The reason is found in the simple fact, 
 that notwithstanding all his acquisitions, his higher 
 faculties remain undeveloped. He has gained no 
 power. 
 
 That education wdiich is successful only in com- 
 municating knowledge, accomplishes only a second- 
 ary and comparatively unimportant work. A higher 
 and much more important end is intellectual cul- 
 ture. 
 
 The human intellect is a unit possessed o{ vari- 
 ous powers. These as arranged and classified by 
 
90 A Busy Life. 
 
 President Wayland, are Perception, Consciousness, 
 Original Suggestion, Abstraction, Memory, Peason, 
 Imagination and Taste. To develop these faculties 
 is the great object of education, so far as it is merely 
 intellectual. To cultivate these faculties, to train 
 the mind to perceive accurately and promptly the 
 qualities of things around, to discern accurately and 
 promptly its own varying state; to follow out suc- 
 cessfully those endless chains of thought bound 
 together by the laws of association, to concentrate 
 itself on a single subject or a single quality until 
 fully examined and thoroughly understood, to trace 
 resemblances, to detect diversities, to group individ- 
 uals into species, species into genera, to rise from 
 particulars to generals, until the great principles of 
 truth are fully eliminated and firmly grasped ; to treas- 
 ure facts rapidly, retain them firmly, end recall them 
 promptly and correctly; to form right judgments, to 
 draw sound conclusions, to rise from the known to 
 the unknown, and thus starting with the facts of 
 perception and consciousness to advance onward 
 boldly and confidently into the realms of the unex- 
 plored and determine what there is true, to group 
 into one image conceptions widely diverse, and thus 
 form pictures of utility, beauty, grandeur, and sub- 
 limity before unknown, to delight in the truly 
 beautiful, in the natural, moral and spiritual worlds, 
 and turn displeased from the opposite; to subordi- 
 
Claims of ihe Bible. 91 
 
 nate all the faculties to the stern - authority of the 
 will, to express accurately, earnestly, impressively 
 its varied thoughts and feelings, as to enable the 
 man to instruct, to convince, to persuade, to arouse 
 his fellows — in a word, to control them at his pleas- 
 ure — these are the ends legitimately contemplated in 
 intellectual training; — Accomplishing these, it ac- 
 complishes its proper object. 
 
 With the man trained thus, it is easy work to 
 acquire knowledge. Master of his own powers, able 
 to use them at his pleasure, he grasps without diffi- 
 culty the facts and principles of every department 
 of learning; with giant strides, he stalks through 
 the fields of professional study, outstripping every 
 untrained competitor; at a sitting, he masters the 
 most abstruse discussions; a few hours suffice to 
 put him in possession of the most intricate science; 
 the facts of history he makes his own, one would 
 think by intuition. No subject is hidden from him; 
 in his hand is the key that unlocks the storehouse 
 of knowledge. In the process of training, he 
 acquires knowledge of vast service in his future 
 career; yet, until the disciplinary process has done 
 its work, until he is master of his powers, and has 
 learned to subordinate them to his purpose, he is not 
 prepared for the proper work of acquisition, no more 
 than the mechanic is prepared to execute the deli- 
 cate process of his art, until he has been trained to 
 
92 A Busy Life. 
 
 the skillful use of liis instruments. Education pre- 
 cedes learning. 
 
 To all it must be apparent that the man thus edu- 
 cated is mighty — a giant among men. With his 
 tongue or with his pen, he wields a controlling in- 
 fluence. Men bow before him and do him homage. 
 As he narrates his facts, deduces his principles, por- 
 trays the creations of his imagination, exhibits his 
 pictures, men yield themselves to his control, glow 
 with admiration, tremble with passion, burn with 
 indignation, melt with sympathy, rush to action, at his 
 pleasure. 
 
 This education is not the work of a day. It is no- 
 child's play. When years of patient, severe, weari- 
 some toil have been expended, the work, in many in- 
 stances, is still very inadequately accomplished. 
 Yet he who would grasp the sceptre and wield it, 
 who would be a king among men, must submit to 
 just this long, toilsome process. It is the great busi- 
 ness of education, so far as it is intellectual, to 
 secure this culture. It fails essentially, if it fails here ; 
 if successful here, it does not come far short any- 
 where. 
 
 AYith a view of affording this culture, every intel- 
 ligent system of education is arranged. The ancient 
 languages, the various subjects of pure mathematics, 
 philosophy, natural, mental, political," and moral, 
 occupy a place in every College course, because the 
 
Claims of the. Bible. 93 
 
 almost universal testimony of educators, for centuries, 
 witnesses that the study of these subjects is emi- 
 nently adapted to furnish this culture. Now, I claim 
 for the literature and science of the Bible, a place in 
 this curriculum. I am bound to point out their 
 qualifications for this position. 
 
 Will the student find any higher culture in the 
 study of Latin, than in the study of Hebrew? In 
 tlie study of the annals of our world as recorded by 
 the historians of Greece and Rome, of Europe and 
 America, than in the study of those annals recorded 
 by the historians of Israel and Judah ? In the study 
 of the Greek and Roman, of the Italian, German and 
 English poets, than in the study of the more path- 
 etic, more stirring, more sublime and infinitely purer 
 poetry of Judea? Is the science of nature, the 
 science of mind, the science of government, the 
 science of morals, so eminently disciplinary, that 
 they all must be carefully explored, that the student 
 must be trained to a careful analysis of their prin- 
 ciples, to an accurate discernment of their varied dis- 
 tinctions ; and is the infinitely more sublime, the all 
 comprehensive, the momentous science of God, so 
 destitute of this quality that it must be ostracised 
 from this brotherhood ? Must the Professor, stand- 
 ing at the portals of this magnificent temple, bid the 
 student pass by, telling him that in all its gorgeous 
 halls, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that will 
 
94 A Busy Life. 
 
 repay even a cursory glance? Surely not. For 
 certainly no study is better suited to promote thor- 
 ough mental discipline, than the philosophy of phil- 
 osophies. Can the science of nature, of mind, of 
 government, of morals, present grander themes than 
 the science of God, himself the author of nature, the 
 Father of spirits, the source of authority, the found- 
 ation and rule of right ? What study demands more 
 rapt attention, more profound thought, closer rea- 
 soning? What better calculated to expand and 
 ennoble the powers of mind than familiarity with him 
 who fills immensity? What better suited to mortify 
 pride of intellect and teach the most lovely humil- 
 ity, than the study of the being, perfections and 
 Works of the infinite One ? — at every step the might- 
 iest intellect discerning that he is pressing hard on 
 the unsearchable — is in the immediate presence of 
 him Avhose ways are past finding out? What better 
 suited to stimulate and at the same time chasten the 
 imagination and refine the taste, than familiarity 
 with the gorgeous imagery of the prophets — than 
 dwelling in the very Holy of Holies of the true, the 
 beautiful, the sublime? 
 
 But facts confirm this conclusion. Take a survey 
 of the cultivated intellect of the last eighteen hun- 
 dred years. Mark the minds that stand pre-eminent 
 above all others for their strength and vigor — the 
 very few giant intellects who have wielded only little 
 
Claims of i/tc Bible. 95 
 
 less tlian despotic povrer. Inquire whence the 
 culture. You find that they derived it mainly from 
 the study of the Bible and its truth. In the school 
 of the Bible were trained Paul, Augustine, Luther, 
 Calvin, Cromwell, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, 
 Hall, Chalmers, and hundreds of others, before whom 
 the cultivated mind of the world loves to homage. 
 
 But go to the humble walks of life in the lands 
 of the Bible, where it is revered and studied. How 
 often do you find unlettered men and women, ignor- 
 ant of general literature, ignorant of any science, 
 but such as they have learned from the book of 
 nature, exhibiting a strength of intellect sufficient 
 to grapple with the most abstruse themes ; how often 
 do you see them boldly entering realms of thought 
 and discussion, where many a mind boasting its 
 culture, would hesitate to follow? Ask them where 
 they have been trained, what text books they have 
 used, what master has guided them? The Bible 
 has been our school; the Bible our text book; the 
 "spirit of all truth " our teacher, they answer. 
 
 I argue no further. The study of the Bible is 
 eminently disciplinary. It does produce the most 
 noble and vigorous intellects, the loftiest culture. 
 
 3. Another special end of education is the forma- 
 tion of an elevated moral character. 
 
 Man possesses intellectual faculties. Their devel- 
 opment and culture is one end of education. Man 
 
96 A Busy Life. 
 
 also possesses moral faculties. The deyelopment 
 and culture of these is another end of education of 
 transcendent importance. The proper culture of 
 man's moral faculties produces the elevated moral 
 character I have affirmed to be a special end of 
 education. 
 
 This moral character consists in conformity to 
 God's law. Of this law as expounded by the great 
 teacher, the precept, ''Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with 
 all thy mind" is the first and great commandment; 
 and the second is like unto it: "Thou shalt love 
 thy neigh b)r as thyself." This love, permeating a 
 man's entire being, controlling the exercises of the 
 heart, the words of the lips, and the conduct of the 
 life, produces the moral character of which I am 
 speaking. It is the same that adorned our Saviour 
 — simply a Christian character. 
 
 The soul pervaded by this principle, shrinks with 
 deep loathing from every base, sinful thing. It 
 seeks with unutterable yearning, after complete and 
 eternal separation from it. It is the determined foe 
 of all wrong, all vice, all crime, all oppression, all 
 misrule. It fights against them even unto death. 
 It cleaves to God and the God-like. It presses on 
 through all difficulties, in the face of all opposition, 
 impelled by an earnest longing after the pure and 
 holy. It is the determined friend of the true and 
 
Cl((i)ns of f/ic Bible. 97 
 
 the riglit. It kindles with unwonted enthusiasm as 
 it looks forward to the day when 
 
 "A.11 crimes shall cease and aucient frauds shall fail; 
 Returniiif,' Justice lift aloft her scale: 
 Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, 
 And white-robed Innocence from Heaven descend." 
 
 And withal, around it floats the atmosphere of meek- 
 ness, gentleness and humility. 
 
 Such a character, earnest, bold and uncompromis- 
 ing in the right, is the moral character produced by 
 the operation of the law of love in the heart; and 
 such is the moral character to be contemplated in 
 every educational process. 
 
 The importance of such a character is obvious. 
 It is at this present time the grand desideratum of 
 every community, of every profession, of all orders 
 and conditions of men. And here at the outset, I 
 would afhrm as fundamental the great principle that 
 morality founded on religion, rooted in and growing 
 out of the gospel of the Grace of God, is necessary 
 to the well-being of every community — the founda- 
 tion of free institutions — essential to their safety and 
 prosperity. 
 
 There is a necessity, absolute and uncompromis- 
 ing, that such morality should pervade the body 
 politic. So thought George Washington. In his 
 farewell address he uses the following emphatic 
 Avords: " Of all the dispositions and habits which 
 7 
 
98 A Busy Life. 
 
 lead to political prosperity, religion and morality 
 are indispensible supports. In vain would that 
 great man claim the tribute of patriotism, who 
 shoukl labor to subvert these great pillars of human 
 happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men 
 and citizens. The mere politician equally with the 
 pious man ought to respect and cherish them." So 
 thought Daniel Webster. In his argument before 
 the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case 
 growing out of the late Stephen Girard's will, he 
 affirms that " the only conservative principle by 
 which society can be kept together, when crowns 
 and mitres shall have no more influence, is Religion! 
 the authority of God! His revealed wdll and the 
 influence of the teaching of the ministers of Christ- 
 ianity." 
 
 Time will not permit any further illustration of 
 this position. 
 
 If this be true, then the well-being of society, the 
 permanence and prosperity of our free institutions, 
 demand that all who occupy positions of responsi- 
 bility and influence, should possess just this elevated 
 moral character. 
 
 The physician occupies a position of responsi- 
 bility and influence. He is the guardian of the pub- 
 lic health. His influence, too, is extensive and pow- 
 erful. The position he occupies, and the oppor- 
 tunities he enjoys, give him in many instances the 
 
Claims of the Bible. 99 
 
 control of the opinions and conduct of men. His 
 influence ought to be in favor of sound morality, as 
 well as pure and undefiled religion. Surely, then, 
 he ought to maintain a character of spotless purity. 
 His integrity ought to be above suspicion. Men 
 ought to be able to repose in him absolute and un- 
 limited confidence. 
 
 The lawyer also occupies a position of responsi- 
 bility and influence. To him men entrust the care 
 of their property, the vindication of their rights. 
 He often exercises a power little less than absolute 
 over the posessions of others. His influence is well 
 known. No intelligent observer need be told that 
 multitudes bow before it. It is often overpowering. 
 Ought he not, then, to be a man of the purest and 
 loftiest integrity ? Ought not his entire conduct to 
 be governed by moral principles that cannot be 
 bought? Is any man, whatever his learning, what- 
 ever his talents, whatever his legal ability, fit to be, 
 for an hour, granted a place at the bar, whose maxim 
 is not " Fiat Justitia, si mat caelum?" 
 
 The Statesman, too, occupies a position of great 
 responsibility and commanding influence. The 
 peace and prosperity of the nation are in his hands. 
 Millions of money are at his disposal. Thousands 
 court his favor, cringe and crawl at his feet — happy 
 if he smiles — wretched if he frowns. His words 
 are carried on the wings of the lightning to the 
 
100 A Busy Life. 
 
 remotest corners of the land — multitudes weigh them 
 as the utterance of an oracle, and learn from them 
 what to believe and how to think and act. He has 
 access to springs of influence that ©ontrol the mill- 
 ions. Surely here, if anywhere, the highest results 
 of the purest morality ought to be found. The 
 Statesman should be planted so firmly in the right, 
 that the combined influence of Gold. Power and 
 Fame could not swerve him a hair's breadth to the 
 right or to the left. There is no place for a corrupt 
 Statesman in a republican government, though, it is 
 to be feared, he is in fact too often found in high 
 places. And his influence, so extensive and so pow- 
 erful — in what direction should it be exerted? 
 Surely in favor of the true and the right. Shall the 
 Statesman — the man who proposes to conduct the 
 affairs of this mighty nation — exert his influence in 
 any other direction than in behalf of what the 
 " Father of his Country " declared to be indispensi- 
 ble to political prosperity ? God forbid. 
 
 The teacher, too, occupies a position of responsi- 
 bility and influence scarce inferior to any other. To 
 him is entrusted the training of the mind, and to a 
 great extent the formation of the character and 
 principles of our people. The masses in every com- 
 munity are very much what the Teacher makes 
 them. What, then, ought to be the character and 
 influence of the teacher ? Shall it tend to make men 
 
Claims of ihc Bihh. 101 
 
 reject religion, disregard its teachings, scorn its 
 solemn sanctions, and trample its obligations under 
 foot? God forbid that any such influence should 
 ever go out from the school. On the contrary, the 
 Teacher, whether his position be in the humblest 
 school or in the proudest university, ought to wear 
 a character of the most elevated morality, and his 
 whole influence, be it as great as it may, should 
 operate to give this same morality the pre-eminence 
 in every heart. 
 
 There is still another class of men, whose responsi- 
 bility and influence are surpassed by few. The 
 author, from the writer of the brief local in the 
 obscurest country weekly, up to the senior editor of 
 the most widely circulated daily; from the writer of 
 a fugitive tale, up to the author of the ponderous 
 tomes that cost years of severe thought and self- 
 denying toil— the man that wields the pen, writes 
 for the million to read, occupies a position of 
 immense responsibility and influence. In many res- 
 pects, and to a great extent, he forms the principles 
 and directs the conduct of individuals and nations. 
 He, too, should be pure, honest, upright — faithful 
 to the trust committed to him — ever careful to exert 
 his energies in the cause of religion and morality. 
 
 Other classes of men might be specified. What 
 has been said, however, is true of all to whom is 
 committed any trust, who wield any influence. The 
 
102 A Busy Life. 
 
 well-being of society, the permanence and pros- 
 perity of our free institutions, demand that they all 
 should maintain an elevated morality. Men of wide 
 and powerful influence are usually educated in the 
 college. Here, to a great extent, are formed their 
 principles. Here they are usually made what they 
 are found to be through life. The system of educa- 
 tion arranged for the college ought, then to con- 
 template as an end of pre-eminent importance the 
 formation of an elevated moral character. Any edu- 
 cation that secures not this end, however varied and 
 accurate the knowledge it communicates, however 
 complete the intellectual training it affords, is indeed 
 a very doubtful good. There are few present, I 
 venture, who would not rather a thousand fold have 
 their sons and daughters grow up ignorant of the 
 knowledge, and untrained by the discipline of the 
 schools, than that they should enter on life's busy 
 scenes, in the possession of the most magnificent 
 results of the most complete intellectual culture, yet 
 destitute of moral principle — the slaves of wills 
 untaught to bow in homage before the supreme 
 Lord. Men of commanding intellect, in positions 
 of responsibility and influence, without moral princi- 
 ple, are no blessing to any land ; a curse, a tremend- 
 ous curse, rather. It was no canting bigot who 
 said: "The intellectual power, refined to the utmost, 
 and wholly destitute of benevolence, resembles but 
 
Claims of ihc Bible. 103 
 
 one being, the principle of evil." Such education 
 makes its subject only a more polished and efticient 
 instrument of Satan. In the language of Everett: 
 "Other objects, important as they are, and tilling in 
 their attainment, too often, the highest ambition of 
 parents and children, are in reality but little worth, 
 if unaccompanied by the most precious endowment 
 of our fallen nature, a pure and generous spirit, 
 warmed by kind affection, governed by moral princi- 
 ple, and habitually influenced by motives and hopes 
 that look forward into eternity. It is the first duty 
 and highest merit of a place of education, of what- 
 ever name or character — school or college, acade- 
 mical or professional— to unite with all its other 
 working an effort towards the formation of such a 
 character." 
 
 But how shall this moral excellence be secured? 
 Instruction in literature and science will not suffice. 
 No man under such regimen has ever attained this 
 elevated moral character. I affirm this as a fact 
 without the slightest fear of successful contradiction. 
 No more will instruction in practical ethics accom- 
 plish this end. All experience confirms the princi- 
 ple taught by sound philosophy: "To teach a man 
 his duty is not enough to make him dutiful." 
 
 How, then, by what process of culture shall this 
 moral excellence be secured? To answer this ques- 
 tion aright we must recur to fii'st principles. It 
 
104 A Busy Life. 
 
 must be remembered as fundamental : 1. That man 
 by nature is depraved, at enmity with God. 2. That 
 his moral character is changed only by the renew- 
 ing of the Holy Ghost. 3. That this renewal is 
 effected only through the principles of the Gospel as 
 the means. 
 
 These facts at this time of day ought to be re- 
 garded as axioms by every moral educator. Hence 
 our conclusion is easy. No moral excellence is ever 
 produced, except through the principles of the Gos- 
 pel as the means, and the Holy Spirit the efficient 
 agent. But the Bible is the only original deposi- 
 tory of these principles. If, then, ''it is the first 
 duty and highest merit of every place of education, 
 of whatever name or character, to unite with all its 
 other workings an effort towards the formation of 
 such a character," it is the first duty and highest 
 merit of every place of education, especially of every 
 college, to make the principles of the Gospel as set 
 forth in the Bible the subject of regular systematic 
 study. And inasmuch as it is true in the college, as 
 well as in the church, that " neither is he that plant- 
 eth anything, neither is he that watereth, but God 
 that giveth the increase," the college ought to unite 
 with all its other workings, daily, earnest prayer for 
 the gift of the Spirit, to open the eyes of every 
 understanding, to renew and sanctify every heart. 
 
 But it is said by way of objection: "The 
 
ClaifHs of ihc nihir. 105 
 
 necessity of morality is conceded. Yet morality is 
 distinct from religion. A man may be a moral man, 
 and not religious. Your argument feu* religious 
 instruction therefore fails."' I will here stand aside 
 and permit Daniel Webster to reply to this objection 
 in his own burning words: "The ground taken is, 
 that religion is not necessary to morality: that 
 benevolence may be insured by habit, and that all 
 the virtues may flourish and may be safely left to 
 the chance of flourishing, Avithout touching the 
 waters of the living spring of religious responsibil- 
 ity. So the Christian world has not thought ; for by 
 that Christian world, throughout its broadest extent, 
 it has been and is held as a fundamental truth that 
 religion is the only solid basis of morals, and that 
 moral instruction not resting on this basis is only 
 building on the sand.'' "It is all idle, and it is a 
 mockery and an insult to common sense, to maintain 
 that a school for the instruction of youth, from which 
 Christian instruction is sedulously and rigorously 
 shut out, is not deistical and infidel both in its pur- 
 pose and in its tendency." 
 
 I have thus examined the special ends of educa- 
 tion. The conclusion we have reached is this : 
 Whether we aim at communicafcinof knoAvledo^e, train- 
 ing the intellect, or forming an elevated moral char- 
 acter, we must use the Bible as a text book. 
 
 I shall further confirm this principle by reference 
 
106 A Busy Life. 
 
 to systems of education and the matured judgments 
 of the best educators. 
 
 The oldest system of education is the Jewish. It 
 was ordained by God himself. Its character is suffi- 
 ciently indicated by the following extract from the 
 statute. In regard to the great fundamental prin- 
 ciples of religion — Christian as well as Jewish — the 
 Supreme Law-giver thus ordains: ''And thou shalt 
 teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt 
 talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, when 
 thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down 
 and when thou risest up." (Deut. 6:7.) From 
 no part of the system of which this is the fundamen- 
 tal law, was religious instruction excluded. The 
 Father of Spirits, who knows the human mind, its 
 condition and necessities, formed this ordinance. It 
 is therefore an authority, that cannot be safely dis- 
 regarded: an example that ought at all times to be 
 closely followed. 
 
 It would be interesting to trace the course of things 
 in this regard from the days of Moses to the present 
 time. We must, however, confine ourselves to the 
 more modern systems. 
 
 According to the best systems of education in 
 Europe religious instruction is a part of the course 
 of training in every school. 
 
 This is true of England. 
 
 After the Reformation, grammar schools were 
 
Claims of ihc Bible. 107 
 
 established all over the kingdom and supported by- 
 public- funds. Lord Eldon says that ''in these 
 schools care is taken to educate youth in the Christ- 
 ian Religion, and in all of them the New Testament 
 is taught both in Latin and Greek."* 
 
 And in 1842, Yice Chancellor Bruce affirms in an 
 important decision the following position: "Courts 
 of equity in this countr}^ will not sanction any system 
 of education in which religion is not included.''* 
 
 To the Scotch system it is only necessary to refer. 
 The very prominent place it has given religious 
 instruction is well known. The experience of cen- 
 turies has proven the wisdom of the arrangement* 
 
 " The instruction of youth in the principles of 
 religion, was made a primary object of the paroch- 
 ial schools, "'f 
 
 The defense and confirmation of the catholic 
 faith that the religion Christian might flourish was 
 a prominent end "with which the colleges at St 
 Andrews were founded. § 
 
 At the Reformation the theology of these colleges 
 became protestant; yet religious instruction occupied 
 no lower position after, than before that era. In 
 the act of Parliament establishing the university of 
 Edinburgh, it is declared to be "one colledge of 
 humane letteris and toungis, of philosophie, theolo- 
 
 ♦Quoted in Webster's works, vol. 1, pp. 170, 171. 
 tMcCrie's Life of Knox, p. «7. 
 gMcCrie's Life of A. Melville, p. :^r»H, 
 
108 A Busy Life. 
 
 gie, medicine, the lawis, and all other liberal 
 sciences, "J 
 
 The Prussian system of education, judged by the 
 principles on which it is founded and the effects it 
 produces, is one of the best in the world. This plan 
 lays down on the foreground of every scheme of 
 studies, as the leading object of every school: "First 
 religious instruction as a means of forming the 
 moral character according to the positive truths of 
 Christianity. '* | 
 
 Such too, was the basis of the system of education 
 established by the early fathers of our own country . 
 President Quincy, in his elaborate history of the 
 University at Cambridge — the most ancient college 
 in the United S':ates — tells us, that the "exercises of 
 the students had the aspect of a theological rather 
 than a literary institution. They were practiced 
 twice a day in reading scriptures, giving an account 
 of their experience and proficiency in practical and 
 spiritual truths, accompanied by theoretical observa- 
 tion on the language and logic of the sacred writings. 
 They were carefully to attend public worship, and 
 be examined on their profiting; commonplacing the 
 sermons and repeating them publicly in the hall. " 
 "The studies of the third year included exercises in 
 Hebiew and Syriac. " "In every year and every 
 week of the college course, every class was practised 
 
 iMcCrie's life of A. Melville, p. 369, N. 
 
 liQuoted by McMaster in his Inaug. at M. U. p. 38. 
 
Chtim,^ of the Bible. 109 
 
 in the Bible and catechetical Divinity. Such were 
 the principles of education established in the college 
 under Dunster. Nor does it appear that they were 
 materially changed during the whole of the seven- 
 teenth century *'* " Every morning a portion of 
 the Old Testament was read out of Hebrew into 
 Greek, and every afternoon a portion of the New 
 Testament out of English into Greek. " To obtain 
 the degree of A. B., a student was required to give 
 proof of his ability " to read the original of the Old 
 and New Testament into the Latin tongues, and 
 resolve them logically, ''f In 1721 a Professorship 
 of Divinity was endowed by Thomas Hollis, of 
 London. Its design was stated in the folloAving 
 language: ''I order and appoint a professor of 
 Divinity to read lectures in the hall of the college 
 unto the students," The ordinances assented to and 
 established by the corporation and Hollis, provide 
 that the Professor shall give a course of lectures on 
 systematic and controversial theology, every year — 
 giving so many lectures weekly as may be neces- 
 sary to complete the course in that time. In 
 addition to this he was required to ' 'lecture twice 
 a week in the hall, on Church History, Jewish 
 Antiquities, Cases of Conscience, or critical exposi- 
 tion of the Scripture, as he shall judge proper. "J 
 
 *Vol. 1, pp. 190, 192. 
 
 tDo. p. 571. 
 
 iVoJ, 1, pp. .i;H5, 53(5. 
 
110 A Busy Life. 
 
 All were required to attend these lectures. From 
 the report of a committee of investigation made in 
 1723, it appears, " that the Greek Catechism was at 
 that time recited by the freshmen without exposi- 
 tion; Wollebius' and Ames' systems of Divinity, by 
 the other classes, with expositions on Saturday, and 
 repetititions of the sermons of the foregoing Sabbath, 
 by the students on Saturday evenings, when the 
 President was present." In 1776, the plan 
 of study still required '-the Divinity Profes- 
 sors to instruct all the scholars in Divinity.";}; 
 
 " In 1780 the system of the Professor of Divinity 
 included; 1. A dissertation read by the Professor, 
 on some topic of positive or controversial divinity; 
 2. A catechetical exercise on the preceding lecture 
 accompanied by instructions and remarks." The 
 resident graduates and all the members of the jun- 
 ior or senior classes were required to attend both 
 these exercises. In 1784 it was arranged that none 
 should be required to attend the second exercise but 
 Divinity students. All were required to attend the 
 public lectures.§ Such was the system followed 
 out at Cambridge for nearly two centuries. The 
 same course was pursued, it is believed, without a 
 single exception, in all the colleges in the United 
 States until the opening of the present century. 
 Every college graduate was well trained in theology. 
 
 tDo. p. 133. 
 11. p 319, 
 SDo. 274. 
 
Claims of ihe Bible. Ill 
 
 Even as late as 1809 the legislature of Ohio, in the 
 "act to establish Miami University, declared the 
 promotion of religion and morality to be among the 
 objects contemplated in founding that Institution." 
 
 Such was the system of education under which 
 the men of position and influence in the early his- 
 tory of our country were trained. We know their 
 character. Their history is safe. We revere their 
 memories. In " times that tried men's souls " they 
 were not found wanting. We sigh as we remember 
 that the race of giants is well nigh extinct, 
 
 A new order of things began to be introduced 
 about half a century ago. Religious instruction was 
 felt to be out of place in the college curriculum. 
 Little by little it was eliminated, until it came to be 
 a fact, melancholy yet true, that few of our colleges 
 deserved the name of Christian. And even at this 
 day, in many institutions in our land, the student 
 may comply with every requisition necessary to ob- 
 tain his degree, and receive no regular instruction 
 in Bible truth. Such a course cannot but be most 
 disastrous in its consequences. Are we not now 
 reaping the bitter fruits of this policy? To what 
 are the troubles that have shaken our political fabric 
 to its very centre, due, more than to the complete 
 destitution of moral principle among many of our 
 public men? and to what is this fact owing but to 
 the godless system of education that has prevailed in 
 
112 A Busy Life. 
 
 time past? The experiment has been tried in India, 
 under circumstances of peculiar interest. Let Dr. 
 Duff tell the story. The following statement was 
 made in 1835: "About eighteen years ago there 
 was founded in Calcutta a college for educating 
 Hindoo youth in the literature and science of 
 Europe, apart from religion. The seminary has 
 been attended by persons of rank, wealth and influ- 
 ence in society." The intellectual training was 
 thorough, but no instruction in morals or religion 
 was allowed a place in the institution. And what 
 were the graduates? Dr. Duff tells us, "They 
 were infideis or sceptics of the most perfect kind, 
 believino: in nothino:, and believino: not even in the 
 existence of a Deity, and glorying in their unbe- 
 lief, "f And may we not now see, in the insurrec- 
 tion and wholesale butchery of which we hear such 
 fearful accounts from British India, the legitimate 
 results of this system? The Government in India, 
 in mistaken kindness, has warmed into life in her 
 bosom the viper that is now stinging her to death . 
 
 From these records we learn the views of those 
 mighty minds, who formed the systems of educa- 
 tion followed for centuries in our own and other 
 lands. 
 
 Hear now the deliberate judgments of some of the 
 first minds of our own day, in this regard. 
 
 fDufE's speech in the Gen. Ass. of the ch. of 8, for 1835. 
 
Claims of ihc Bihlc. 113 
 
 Says Dr. McMaster, in an address delivered at his 
 inauguration as President of Miami University: 
 " We will not allow ourselves to doubt, that amid a 
 good deal of a jargon of a contrary tenor, the voice 
 of the true people of our land is still, that the 
 system of education in our schools, superior and 
 subordinate, ought to be based on religious instruc- 
 tion.''* 
 
 The Hon. Edward Everett, in an address deliv- 
 ered on the occasion of his inauguration as President 
 of the University at Cambridge, thus forcibly utters 
 his sentiments: "Moral education is much too 
 important an object to be left to follow as an inci- 
 dental efiPect from mere literary culture. It should 
 be deemed the distinct duty of a place of education 
 to form the young to those habits and qualities 
 which Avin regard and command respect." He then 
 specifies the moral virtues, and adds: ''And of 
 those traits of character, I know of no reliable found- 
 ation but sincere and fervent religious faith, 
 founded on conviction, enlightened by reason, and 
 nourished by the devout observance of those means 
 of spiritual improvement which Christianity pro- 
 vides. In the faithful performance of this duty, I 
 believe that a place of education in Europe or 
 America renders a higher and more seasonable 
 service to society, at the present day, than by 
 
 *P 38. 
 
114 A Busy Life. 
 
 anything that ends in mere scientific and literary 
 culture."* 
 
 Daniel Webster, in the argument from which I 
 have already quoted, uses the following language: 
 " In what age, by what sect, where, when, by whom, 
 has religious truth been excluded from the educa- 
 tion of youth? Nowhere; never. Everywhere 
 and at all times it has been and is regarded as essen- 
 
 tiai.":}: 
 
 The late Thomas Grimke, of South Carolina, in 
 his celebrated discourse on "American Education," 
 after characterizing the system prevalent in time 
 past as unchristian, if not anti-christian, and 
 speaking of the importance of religion and morality 
 in a country governed like ours, thus forcibly ex- 
 pounds his views: "It is impossible that Christ- 
 ianity can ever accomplish its object, unless it be 
 made an element of all general education and enter 
 into the daily administration of the whole system. 
 The first great reform is to introduce religion into 
 the every-day instruction of school, academy and 
 college. The Bible should become a text-book from 
 the infant school to the university, "f 
 
 Prof. Turner, late of Illinois College, in an address 
 before the American Association for the advance- 
 ment of Science, delivered a year ago at Detroit, 
 reasons thus earnestly: "And when, hj force of 
 
 *Works, vol. 2, M2. 
 JWorks, -^ p. 152. 
 tTeachers' ftliscellany, p. 37^ 
 
Cldims of ihc Bible. 115 
 
 educailou, the great practical truths of the Gospel 
 are made to seize hold of all culture, all learning, 
 all science, all skill, all art, and all work of whatever 
 sort, then, and not till then, shall the glory of the 
 Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea; 
 and all forms of Cossack tyranny, and mammon 
 worship, and man worship, and caste worship, and 
 clan worship, and ]3riest worship, and sect worship, 
 and church worship, and the worship of the 
 great Anglo-Saxon God. respectahUiiy, . shall 
 be utterly abolished in these free States, 
 and Jehovah and his Son served and wor- 
 shiped in spirit and in truth.'';}; " AVe have in our 
 catalogues long lists of authors (mostly heathen, of 
 course), and exercises designed for the culture of 
 the intellectual faculties, followed up by some gen- 
 eral stereotyped or clap-trap promise of ' Christ- 
 ianity ' and ' paternity ' for the discipline of the 
 conscience and will. And where the text-books? 
 Where the daily drill, the apparatus, and the 
 efficient exercises for this greatest of all uses and 
 results? * * * There is an old and ven- 
 erable book still extant, called the New Testament. 
 Among other things, it contains the sayings and 
 doings of an Ancient One, who once walked on the 
 plains of Jewry, taught on Mt. Olivet, and who said 
 some very good things about this matter of the con- 
 science and will — so good, that I have sometimes 
 
 ICollepre Review, vol. III, p. 56. 
 
116 A Busy Life. 
 
 thought it a great pity that the old book should not 
 in some Avay steal out of the cloisters of the church, 
 and try to take a respectable standing in our college 
 catalogues, alongside of Horace, and Juvenal, and 
 Cicero, and even of good pious ^neas himself. But 
 Avise men say it is nc^t classical authority in a Christ- 
 ian land, and I suppose it cannot be done."§ 
 
 . A few words from the Hon. E. C. Winthrop's ad- 
 dress before the Association of Alumni of the Uni- 
 versity at Cambridge, will close these extracts. 
 Speaking of that institution, he says: 'Mnd could 
 we but see something of a higher moral discipline, 
 something of a deeper religious sentiment, some- 
 thing of a stronger spiritual influence mingling with 
 the sound scholarship which pervades her halls, and 
 giving something of a fuller and fresher significance 
 to her ancient motto, 'Christo et Ecclesiiv — could we 
 but see a little more of that state of things here 
 which Thomas Arnold contemplated, when he nobly 
 declared at Rugby : ' It is not necessary that this 
 should be a school of 200, or of 100, or of 50, but 
 it is necessary that it should be a school of Christian 
 gentlemen ;' there would be little or nothing more to 
 be desired in her condition." Page 9. 
 
 Hence we see the principle I am advocating has 
 not only been recognized by the most approved sys- 
 tems of education; it has also been emphatically 
 
 §College Review, III, pp. 55, 56. 
 
Claims of ihc Bible. 117 
 
 affirmed by the great leading minds of the country. 
 
 There are, however, objections to my position, 
 which demand at least a passing notice. 
 
 One objector reasons thus: " I concede the neces- 
 sity of the religious instruction of the young. Yet 
 the family, the Sabbath-school and the church are 
 sufficient to secure this end. The methods you 
 recommend are unnecessary." The college is de- 
 signed for the training of those who propose operat- 
 ing on the minds of others. The farmer, the 
 mechanic, the merchant, the man of business, ordin- 
 arily obtains an adequate education in the public 
 school and academy. The professional man, of what- 
 ever name, requires a higher education. To supply 
 this the college is organized. Now if, for this class 
 of men a more complete and thorough training is re- 
 quired in other departments, is not the same, at 
 least, as necessary in the department of religious 
 instruction? Does he not need more extensive 
 knowledge in this department, as well as in any other 
 — a more elevated morality as well as more thorough 
 discipline — and for all these ends is not more ihor- 
 ough discipline — and for all these ends is not more 
 thorough drill in the study of the Bible as necessary 
 as in the study of languages, mathematics and phil- 
 osophy ? 
 
 Besides, if religious instruction be at all of the 
 importance it appears to be, it will not do to dispose 
 of it thus summarily. 
 
118 A Busij Life, 
 
 Shall the Professor spend six clays in the week 
 drilling the student in the principles of general 
 literatyj'e and science, deeming all this necessary to 
 secure the knowledge and discipline the student 
 needs, and never once open the Bible to teach there- 
 from an infinitely higher knowledge than that to be 
 found in any book of science or literature — a knowl- 
 edge absolutely necessary to develop that moral ex- 
 cellence we have seen to be of such pre-eminent 
 worth, deeming the instruction of the family, the 
 Sabbath-school and the church, on a portion of one 
 day in the seven, enough for all this? No, no — a 
 thousand times, no. 
 
 Another objects: " Colleges will then be sectar- 
 ian." If by this it is meant that every college will 
 advance the interests of some one denomination of 
 Christians more than another, I grant it. Still 
 more, I claim that in this sense all colleges, be they 
 nominally what they may, are, and of necessity must 
 be, sectarian. If, however, it is meant that the impart- 
 ing of religious instruction is impossible without 
 making the college an instrument for proselyting 
 the student, I deny it. It is certainly a possible 
 thing for a college faculty to teach Bible truth, fully 
 and clearly, and at the same time give reasonable 
 offense to none. I think I may safely appeal to the 
 students of Monmouth College, to testify, if here in 
 the Bible recitation the whole counsel of God has 
 
Claims of ihc Bible. 119 
 
 not been faithfully declared; and I feel sure not a 
 student will complain tliat in any particular there 
 has been any interference with his denominational 
 preferences. And here let me again quote from the 
 earnest words of Professor Turner: " Christianity is 
 no more sectarianism than the law of gravitation is, 
 and it is equally demonstrable that the world is in- 
 evitably Cossack without the one as it is chaos Avith- 
 out the other. The world has long enough left this 
 Christianity to swing and dangle in mid-air, among 
 mere probable truths, or buried it a thousand fath- 
 oms deep under the accumulated mud and slime of 
 skeptic, priest and sect." 
 
 Suppose, however, it is true that colleges can not 
 impart the needed religious instruction without 
 becoming sectarian ; what then ? Unhesitatingly and 
 emphatically I answer, let them be sectarian; sec- 
 tarian a thousand times over, rather than unchris- 
 tian. I do believe the importance of a complete 
 and thorouo^h course of reliofious instruction to be 
 so great, that it ought to be secured at all haz- 
 ard, even though every college in the land should 
 be baptized with the most intense sectarianism. — 
 And here I again invite you to listen to the eloquent 
 words of Mr. Winthrop. Speaking of the university 
 at Cambridge, he says: "Better, a thousand fold 
 better, that a seminary like this should be under 
 the steady, effective — aye, or even exclusive — influ- 
 
120 A Busy Life. 
 
 ence of any one religious sect, than that it should 
 be without the influence of some sort of vital Chris- 
 tianity. * * * g^^^ \qI ^^g i3e cautious, 
 that in attempting to shut out any one particular 
 ray which may be imagined to predominate in our 
 academic atmosphere, we take no risk of shutting 
 out the glorious sunshine of the Gospel, and leaving 
 the institution in this day of its highest intellectual 
 advantages in a condition of spiritual darkness; 
 
 Dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon." 
 
 Again it is objected: ''There is not time for so 
 much religious instruction during the college course.'' 
 Not time! So much time is needed for the study of 
 Virgil, Horace, and Cicero; of Xenophon, Homer 
 and Plato, that there is no time for the Bible! So 
 much time is needed for the study of lines and 
 angles — of quantities, negative and positive, known 
 and unknown, variable and constant, that there is no 
 time for the study of man's relations to his fellow 
 man, to his God, to eternity! So much time is 
 needed for the philosophy of things created, that 
 there is no time for the philosophy of the Creator! 
 Away with such absurdity ! Let tlie mighty themes 
 of God's own book have their due place in the col- 
 lege curriculum, crowd out thence what it may. Can 
 it for a moment be supposed that the student would 
 sustain any loss who would read a little less of Livy 
 
Claims of the Bible. 121 
 
 and Herodotus, and a little more of Gospels ; a little 
 less of Horace and Homer, and a little more of 
 David and Isaiah; a little less of Cicero and Plato, 
 and a little more of Paul and John ; study a little 
 less the relations of time, and a little more the rela- 
 tions of eternity; a little less the philosophy of man, 
 and a little more the philosophy of God; spend a 
 little less time in the cultivation of the intellect, and 
 a little more on the cultivation of the heart ? Would 
 not such a change, on the contrary, be eminently 
 favorable to the student's best interests? If there 
 is no room for the Bible in the college curriculum, 
 make room. Such is the verdict of common sense. 
 At the meeting of the Synod of Illinois, of the 
 A. Er. P. Church, at which Monmouth College was 
 taken under its care, the Board of Trust then 
 appointed was instructed: "While it is careful to 
 prevent interference with the denominational pre- 
 ferences of the students, to take order that such 
 instruction in the Word of God may be given as may 
 be necessary to secure the ends of a thorough edu- 
 cation.*' At the next meeting of the Board, a course 
 of study and code of hiAvs was adopted. In these 
 the principles I have advocated to-day were fully 
 recognized and formally approved. The Bible has 
 been made a text book in the college. According 
 to the ordinances then adopted, the students, in 
 addition to the usual Sabbath exercises, in whatever 
 
122 A Busy Life. 
 
 church they themselves or those acting for them 
 may choose, all, from the first to the last of their 
 connection with the college, must attend a regular 
 Bible recitation. Every student that completes the 
 full course will be drilled in the great principles of 
 religion and morals, as regularly and as faithfully 
 as in any subject of literature and science. These 
 ordinances have already been put into execution. 
 And now, formally entering on the office to which 
 you, gentlemen of the Board, have called me, I do 
 engage, before God and this witnessing assembly, 
 to continue to faithfully execute the same. No 
 effort shall be spared to communicate to the students 
 as extensive and valuable learning as is compatible 
 with more important ends; to secure to the students, 
 by the use of the long-tried methods, the most 
 complete and thorough intellectual culture; and 
 while due care is taken not to interfere with the 
 denominational preferences of any, at least equal 
 care shall be taken to give such instruction in the 
 Word of God as may be necessary to secure the 
 highest moral excellence. And believing that 
 a prosperous institution, faithfully conducted on 
 these principles, cannot fail to be a fountain whence 
 shall gush forth streams of living waters, for which 
 ''the wilderness and solitary place shall be glad and 
 the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose," I 
 to-day call upon you all to lend a helping hand to 
 
Claims of the Bible. 123 
 
 plant our college on a firm foundation, and furnish 
 it with all the instrumentalities necessary to qualify 
 it for the most extensive usefulness. The intellec- 
 tual and moral wants of our sons and daugfhters — 
 of the teeming millions that shall one day throng 
 these broad prairies — forbid us to hesitate. A 
 solemn trust has been committed to us; God grant 
 that we may be found faithful. Believing, too, that 
 the excellency of the power is of God, that we need 
 his spiritual presence in the chapel and the class- 
 room, no less than in the church, that we may to 
 any good degree gain the high ends we contemplate, 
 I call upon you, Christian men and women, to pray 
 for our college. From out thousands of earnest, 
 devoted hearts, let daily petitions rise to our Father 
 in Heaven, that we all, Board of Trust, Faculty and 
 Students, may be blessed and made a blessing — 
 that those who go forth from among us may be 
 richly furnished with the most important wisdom 
 and knowledge — that their powers may be developed 
 by the highest culture — that, above all, they may be 
 adorned with the beauties of holiness, eminently 
 good and mighty to do good; that Monmouth 
 College, be its students few or many, may be truly 
 a Christian College. 
 
WALKING IN THE TKUTH. 
 
 The Baccalaureate Sermon, delivered before the graduating class of 1877. 
 
 " For I rejoice greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth 
 that is in thee, even as thou walk est in the truth. I have no greater joy 
 than to hear that my children walk in trutli."— Ill John, 3, 4. 
 
 When years ago you entered college and com- 
 menced your course, you hardly dared look forward 
 to its completion. The years, however, have come 
 and gone; years of Avork and warfare, defeat and 
 triumph, joy and sorrow. You have at last finished 
 the studies required here, and passed your examina- 
 tion; and, now, it only remains tliat we should 
 address you a few parting words, place in your 
 hands the parchment which you have fairly won, 
 and give you our blessing. 
 
 The Avords which I have chosen as the theme of 
 discourse to-day, have been taken from a brief note 
 addressed by the Apostle John to the well beloved 
 Gains. In it he speaks of his joy when he heard 
 that Gains had received the truth and was walking 
 in it; and declared that he had no greater joy than 
 that which came from knowing that his children 
 were walking in the truth. John but expresses the 
 common sentiment of the followers of Christ. 
 Wherever you find a Christian man or woman, you 
 
 (124) 
 
IWilL'iiKj ni f/ic Tnifh. 125 
 
 find one wlio rejoices greatly when tidings come, 
 that tlieir well beloved, have received the truth into 
 their hearts and are practicing it in their lives. 
 
 In addressing you to-day, I desire to remind you 
 that Monmouth College has no greater joy than to 
 hear that her children are walking in the truth, and 
 to press on you its claims. I have nothing new to 
 say. My discourse will be but little more than a 
 resume of the instructions of the class room, and of 
 the chapel to which you have been listening all these 
 years. 
 
 I. But what truth is that of which John speaks? 
 I answer, it is called, " the truth, " '• the doctrine of 
 Christ,'" " the truth as it is in Jesus,"' the system 
 known as " Christianity." Again, it may be asked, 
 What is Christianity? This question is pertinent; 
 I shall attempt to answer it briefly. 
 
 1. Christianity is a Doctrine. It is a doctrine 
 concerning God. It teaches that the Father, Son 
 and Holy Ghost — three persons — constitute one 
 God, " infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his 
 being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness 
 and truth;" and emphasizing two great facts: First, 
 "that justice and judgment are the habitation of 
 his throne," and, second, '* that the Lord God is 
 merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant 
 in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, 
 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." It 
 
126 A Busy Life. 
 
 is a doctrine concerning man : teaching that he is a 
 creature of God, and subject to his authority, as 
 supreme and absolute, and emphasizing the great 
 facts, that God made man upright, but that he had 
 fallen, and was by nature a sinner, lost and ruined, 
 condemned and helpless. It is pre-eminently a 
 doctrine concerning salvation; teaching that the 
 Father manifests his love for man by giving his Son 
 to be the propitiation for sin ; that the Son loved us 
 and gave himself for an offering and a sacrifice to 
 Gpd, and thus purchased full and complete redemp- 
 tion for us, so that God may still be just and the 
 sinner saved; and that all this magnificent inheri- 
 tance, is imparted to the people of God by the office 
 and work of his Holy Spirit; thus laying the 
 foundation for the glorious Gospel of the grace of 
 God, which proclaims the gift to the world of a 
 present, and all-sufficient Saviour, and authorizes 
 every sinner who hears, to receive him as his own, 
 and iii him a salvation fully commensurate with the 
 Avants of the most needy. Such is the doctrine of 
 Christianity. 
 
 2. Christianity is a Law. Its fundamental stat- 
 ute has been stated thus by its great law-giver: 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
 This is the first and great commandment; and the 
 second is like unto it: thou shalt love thy neighbor 
 
Walking hi the TvhI/l 127 
 
 as thyself." It is a law requiring faiih and love, 
 reverence and devotion, submission and obedience 
 God-ward. It is a law requiring purity in all our 
 thoughts, words, and actions; holiness in all manner 
 of conversation. ' It is a law requiring diligent and 
 earnest use of all the ordinances chosen and 
 appointed of God as means to holiness, righteous- 
 ness and purity. It is a law demanding watchfulness 
 against the devil, the world and the flesh, and every 
 influence tliat tends to draw men down from holy 
 living, apd away from the paths of righteousness. 
 Such is the law of Christianity. 
 
 Christianity is a Life. It is a life begun in the 
 new creation: a life of faith in God manifest in 
 the flesh; a life of love to God manifest in the flesh, 
 the perfection of all beauty and goodness; a life 
 regulated by a law which is holy ; a commandment 
 which is holy, just and good; a life of self-denial, 
 " teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly 
 in this present world;'' a life whose end is the glory 
 of God in the w^elfare of men; a life of peace, joy 
 and happiness as far as attainable in a world of sin 
 and sorrow; a life of service in the cause of the 
 King of kings and Lord of lords; a life of glory, 
 honor and immortality, begun in time and perpetu- 
 ated throughout eternity. Such is the Christian 
 Life, defined by the Master, and more or less per- 
 fectly exhibited by his followers. 
 
128 A Busy Life. 
 
 4. Christianity is an Inspiration. It finds man of 
 the earth, earthy, dead in sin. It breathes into 
 him the breath oi life and he becomes a living soul. 
 The Holy Spirit takes up his abode in him and he 
 becomes a temple of the living God.* It puts within 
 him the same mind which was also in Christ Jesus. 
 It fills him with the purest sentiment and loftiest 
 aspirations. It inspires him with a holy ambition 
 after personal excellence; "whatsoever things are 
 true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things 
 are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 
 things are of^good report; if there be any virtue, if 
 there be any praise," he thinks of these things. All 
 knowledge, all skill, all power, all " best gifts," such 
 as qualify man for royal work in the service of God 
 and man, he covets earnestly. It often inspires him 
 with yearnings, unutterable, and nerves him to 
 efforts, herculean — perfect godlikeness. Such is the 
 spirit Avhich Christianity breathes into men. In so 
 far as man takes it into his heart, in so far he is 
 animated, nerved, and controlled by this spirit. 
 
 5. Christianity is a Hope. It finds man in des- 
 pair; in so far as he receives, trusts, loves and 
 serves the Christ of Christianity, it fills him with 
 hope. It fills him with hope for himself; hope 
 of an abiding peace with God ; of a useful and honor- 
 able life; of a happy death; and of a glorious 
 immortality. It fills him with hope for his fellow 
 
Walking in t/tc Truth. 129 
 
 men; hope for the overthrow of the kingdom of 
 darkness, of iniquity, transgression and sin, and for 
 the establishment of the kingdom of light, of peace, 
 of purity and of righteousness ; hope for the speedy 
 coming of the day, when 
 
 '* All crimes shall cease 
 And ancient frauds shall fail; 
 Returning justice lift aloft her scale, 
 And white-robed innocence descend." 
 
 Hope for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness ; the coming of the time when 
 the air of heaven, as men breathe it, shall not pass 
 through bodies that have been polluted by sin ; when 
 the food which the earth furnishes shall not be used 
 to pamper the bodies of those who give no thanks 
 to God, and to nourish and strengthen that which 
 shall be expended in breaking his laws, and in dis- 
 honoring his name; when the sun shall light man- 
 kind on errands of love, and no more shed its beams 
 on the evil and unjust as they prosecute their 
 schemes of aggrandizement; and the moon and the 
 stars shall not look down on deeds of criminality 
 which dare not face the light of day. Such are the 
 glorious hopes with which the Christ of Christianity 
 fills its disciples. 
 
 It is a life moulded by these doctrines, regulated 
 by this law, inspired by these sentiments and aspira- 
 tions, and animated by these hopes, that Monmouth 
 9 
 
130 A Busy Life. 
 
 College desires her children to live; when they 
 walk in this truth, she rejoices. 
 
 II. But is this system — this Christianity — true ? 
 Is it only a myth, a creation of the imagination, a 
 fond delusion, the product of human longings, the 
 baseless fabric of a dream, and no more. Or, is it a 
 a simple fact — one of the eternal verities of things 
 in which man may s af ely trust ? This is the ques- 
 tion before which all others drop into insignificance. 
 Over it have been fought the battles of the ages. 
 Around it rage the fiercest struggles of the pres- 
 ent. Let us look and see what the truth is. Lies 
 cause men to err. Monmouth College rejoices when 
 her children walk in the truth. The question is 
 simply this: Does this system, which we call Christ- 
 ianity, stand the test of truth? Let us apply them 
 and see: 
 
 1. The first of these tests is Intuition. Does 
 Christianity commend itself to pure reason? Some 
 principles we see to be false ; we do not need any proof 
 to satisfy us that they are untrue. As soon as they 
 are understood, all men everywhere pronounce them 
 false. For example, the half is greater than the 
 whole. " A proposition can be both true and false." 
 "Injustice is right.*' No man needs proof to con- 
 vince him that such principles are false. Now. any 
 system based upon principles, which all men intui- 
 tively discern to be false, is ilself false and must be 
 
Walkinij in the Truth. 131 
 
 rejected. All systems of truth are built on axioms, 
 true in the last analysis. Every one of them com- 
 mends itself to our i-eason as not false, but true. 
 Now, test the fundamental principles, the axioms of 
 Christianity, bring them out in the broad daylight; 
 let there be no perversions, no exaggerations, no 
 distortions; let them be stated clearly and correctly 
 and then test them. Time would fail me to enum- 
 erate these axioms, but make the trial for 
 yourselves. Be as critical, as acute, as impartial as 
 the love of truth can make you. Go through the 
 doctrines, the law, the life, the inspiration, the 
 hope of Christianity, with your measuring reed. Dp 
 perfect work. Christianity fears nothing from care- 
 ful investigation and thorough scrutiny. It is only 
 the partial observer, the hasty generalizer that 
 excites her apprehension. He who makes such an 
 investigation can make but one report: " The law 
 is holy and the commandments holy and just and 
 good." Not one of the fundamental principles of 
 Christianity will be rejected; every one of them 
 will be approved. 
 
 2. The second of these tests is Consistency. Is 
 Christianity consistent? Consistent with its claims 
 as a divine system with; itself; with all known 
 truth? (1). Christianity challenges belief as a 
 divine system. Its great teacher claimed to be 
 divine, and to have come forth from the Father. 
 
132 . A Busy Life. 
 
 He taught as one having authority. His Apostles 
 claimed to speak in the name of God. Christianity 
 is either divine, or a base imposture from God, or 
 it is a lie. Now, is it worthy of God? Many 
 object to salvation by grace. They affirm that it is 
 unfriendly to godliness and righteousness. They 
 reason on this wise: A holy God cannot save men 
 in a way that will encourage sin. The salvation of 
 a wicked, rebellious and undeserving sinner wholly 
 by grace, tends to encourage sin and is, therefore, 
 unworthy of God. But is it so? Salvation 
 deserved, salvation as the reward of merit, is 
 impossible. Can any man tell what penalty a single 
 sin against a God, to whom we are all under infinite 
 obligation, mei'its? Can any man figure up the 
 punishment merited by a life of rebellion and sin? 
 Can a sinner then merit anything ? Who is he with 
 intellect so blinded and conscience so hardened 
 as to appear before God, claiming a salvation he has 
 merited? Where is the mortal so presumptuous! 
 Even the cherubim veil their faces with their wings 
 in presence of a God of spotless holiness ; and shall 
 man, with his little, venture into his presence 
 chamber, claiming glory, honor and immortality as 
 the pay for a holy life ? Away with such a prepos- 
 terous thought. Sound philosopliey scorns such 
 absurdities. Salvation cannot be by the deeds of 
 the law. 
 
Walking in the Truth. 133 
 
 Grace, however, becomes a king. Never does 
 royalty appear more truly royal, than when dispens- 
 ing favor. When you appeal to the deepest and 
 truest convictions of the human heart, you receive the 
 response: Grace, free grace, abounding grace, is 
 worthy of the God of heaven and of earth. God 
 gives with an open hand in nature ;. all his laws are 
 freighted with unmerited blessings for man. His 
 administration is gracious. When, then, Christ- 
 ianity comes and testifies, " By grace are ye saved, 
 through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the 
 gift of God,'' does it prove Christianity unworthy of 
 God? 
 
 But more: A system of grace most powerfully 
 appeals to the human heart, and most surely awakens 
 and stimulates right affections toward God. How 
 often has the culprit, hardened by punishment, been 
 reformed by grace? Salvation by grace secures 
 holiness as no other scheme can. God pardons that 
 he may deliver and sanctify. 
 
 Again, many object to salvation by blood. They 
 do not like the scarlet thread running through Christ- 
 ianity. They find symbols of blood in the law; 
 songs of blood in the psalms; predictions of blood 
 in the prophets; the story of blood in the gospels; 
 the philosophy of blood in the epistles; and the tri- 
 umph of blood in the apocalypse. It offends them. 
 They sneer at it as a bloody religion. They turn 
 
134 A Busy Life. 
 
 from it in disgust. But why? The blood of Christ 
 is the symbol of his obedience unto death. His 
 death was not for himself. Upon him with the con- 
 sent of the Father, and with his own consent, were 
 laid the iniquities of us all. " He bare our sins in 
 his own body on the tree." He took our place, and 
 suffered " the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God." Now what is there in this unwor- 
 thy of God? He will save none at the expense of 
 justice. The Judge of all the earth must do right. 
 But in the Son we find a willing substitute for his 
 people, bearing their sins and redeeming them. 
 Men are familiar with the idea of substitution. It 
 is everywhere seen in the arrangements of society. 
 One man doefe for his friend, what that friend cannot 
 do for himself. The security pays the debt of the 
 principal. Everywhere blessings come to the un- 
 worthy through the mediation of the worthy. God 
 has imbedded this principle in the constitution of 
 man and of society. We find it fundamental in 
 Christianity. Is it therefore not of God? Is it 
 unworthy of him to provide and accept a substitute 
 for man? 
 
 But men complain of it as unintelligible. True ; 
 there are many things in it too high for human intel- 
 lect, while these principles and precepts which man 
 must understand that he may be saved, are so simple 
 and plain that a child can grasp them. Even these 
 
WalkiiKj in the TrufJi. 135 
 
 are running out into incomprehensible mysteries. 
 Is Christianity unworthy of God because it soars to 
 immeasurable heights? We are finite; can we grasp 
 the infinite? Look around; you are moving in mys- 
 tery. The human you cannot grasp; the divine you 
 cannot. You can know of it; but to comprehend it 
 is impossible. Mystery is a mark of the divine. 
 Christianity comes to us with its fathomless depths 
 and cloud-capped heights; shall we pronounce it 
 unworthy of God because we cannot understand its 
 immensities? Nay; can I comprehend Christianity 
 as I can a human philosophy ? I would reject it as 
 an imposture. The infinite must be incomprehen- 
 sible by the finite; the divine by the human. 
 
 (2.) But if Christianity is true it is self-consist- 
 ent. Is it? 
 
 This is a hard test. Many writers, in many lands, 
 in distant ages have set forth this system. In calm 
 history; in the flights of sublime poetry ; in the bold 
 symbols of prophecy; in the similitude of parables 
 and allegory; in the profound discussion of phil- 
 osophy, its principles have been exhibited; one 
 here, another there; one phase of this, another of 
 that. When of all these diverse utterances we de- 
 mand that they shall be self-consistent, as the expres- 
 sion of the thoughts of a single mind, we apply a 
 test which no false system can stand. The question 
 is, Does Christianity stand this test? 1 answer: It 
 
136 A Busy Life. 
 
 must stand it or be condemned. To be proved self- 
 contradictory is to be proved false. To make out 
 this charge against Christianity, it is not sufficient 
 to show that some things in it are incomprehensible 
 and their consistency unintelligible. No man may 
 be able to comprehend how three consist in one God- 
 head, and yet, they may thus co-exist. This state- 
 ment accords with all analogy. Co-existence is to 
 be found everywhere, the mode of which no man 
 professes to explain. To prove Christianity self -con- 
 tradictory, it must be shown that it affirms facts and 
 principles both of which cannot possibly he true. 
 
 Now man has been trying to prove Christianity 
 contradictory for more than two thousand years. 
 Have they succeeded? By misrepresentation and 
 distortion, by exaggeration and equivocation, they 
 have made it appear as if they had found the much 
 sought contradictions. But millions of the clearest, 
 of the most acute, and most logical minds that have 
 adorned our race, have declared and most firmly be- 
 lieved, that no such contradictions have been proved ; 
 more, that no such contradictions exist. Christi- 
 anity is self-consistent. 
 
 (3.) But is Christianity consistent with other 
 truth? This is a still harder test. If our religion 
 is false, it certainly cannot pass this ordeal. But 
 what are the facts? Men have exhausted their 
 energies to find facts inconsistent with the facts of 
 
Walking in the Truth. 137 
 
 Christianity, and with what result? They have 
 diligently searched the heavens; bored deep down 
 into the strata of the earth and questioned these 
 fossils; they have dredged the bottom of the ocean; 
 they have placed the microscope animalculae on the 
 witness stand; they have talked with atoms and 
 protoplasm ; they have raked up the debris of kitchen 
 heaps, and of like dwellings; they have figured on 
 the ages of stone, and of bronze, of bone and of iron ; 
 they have measured the mud of the Nile, and care- 
 fully analyzed its contents; they have deciphered 
 the inscriptions on old monuments; examined the 
 most ancient records of all religions from the Vedas 
 to the Book of Mormon ; they have sought to unlock 
 the hidden mysteries of all languages and speech, 
 in the hope of finding somewhere, a fact of some 
 sort, that would give the lie to the teachings of 
 Christianity, and with what result? Many deduc- 
 tions that men have drawn from Bible facts, have 
 been proven false ; many theories woven together to 
 explain Bible mysteries have been exploded; many 
 human speculations have been proved worthless, 
 but, after all this very costly and laborious work, 
 still not one fact has been established, that gives 
 the lie to the Christian system. It stands to-day a 
 consistent portion of eternal truth. 
 
 3. The third test is Adaptation. Is Christianity 
 suitable to man ? Is it adapted to the ends which 
 
138 A Busy Life. 
 
 it is intended to accomplish? Every system of 
 truth must stand this test. Does Christianity ? I 
 answer: It professes to supply man's spiritual needs 
 and to be adapted to this end. Now what are these 
 needs, and what are the adaptations of Christianity 
 to them? 
 
 (1.) Man needs the knowledge of certain truths, 
 and deep convictions in respect to them. Christi- 
 anity embodies these and challenges human belief 
 on the authority of God. The man Avho believes in 
 Christ as a Saviour, and accepts his teachings is at 
 rest in respect to that immense mass of truth, as he 
 can never be from the mere inductions of reason. 
 
 (2.) Man needs reconciliation to God. In Chris- 
 tianity the way of peace is opened up through the 
 blood of the cross. From the very nature of the 
 case, he who trusts in that blood, as he is warranted 
 to do, must be at peace. 
 
 (3.) Man needs forgiveness. Christianity opens 
 the w^ay by which God can be just and the justifier 
 of him which believeth in Jesus. He who believes 
 the record and accepts and trusts the Saviour as 
 offered in the gospel, must know the blessedness of 
 him whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin 
 is covered. 
 
 (4.) Man needs holiness. Christianity was meant 
 to save men from their sins. To this end Christ him- 
 self came, suffered and died, and now administers 
 
Walking in ihe Truth. 189 
 
 the government entrusted to lirm. "Christ also 
 loved the church, and gave himself for it; that He 
 might sanctify and cleanse it Avith the washing of 
 water by the w^ord, that he might present to himself 
 a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or 
 any such thing; but that it might be holy and with- 
 out blemish." Christi^iity gives men a perfect law; 
 there is no defect, to be found in it. It presses upon 
 him the strongest motives. Pleading with him to 
 depart from all iniquity, it appeals to the strongest 
 fears, the brightest hopes, the loftiest aspirations, 
 the most potent sentiments that can exist in the 
 human heart, or operate on the human life. It is 
 impossible to place man under stronger motives to 
 holiness than those which Christianity furnishes. 
 And in addition to all this, it reveals an omnipo- 
 tent helper ; one able to save to the very uttermost. 
 He who imbibes the spirit of Christianity, adopts 
 its principles, and walks by its law, is holy. 
 
 (5.) Man needs support, comfort and encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 All this Christianity furnishes. In Christ " all 
 fulness dwells." In him we may find the supply of 
 all our needs. Trusting in Christ according ^o the 
 word of promise, we receive grace for grace. 
 
 Christianity is suited to man. As a system of 
 means, it is adapted to the ends it was intended to 
 accomplish. 
 
140 A Busy Life. 
 
 4. My fourth test is Comparison. Is there any- 
 thing better — any system of religion that teaches 
 better doctrines, a holier law, a purer or more 
 exalted life, that breathes a more God-like spirit, or 
 opens up to its believers more glorious prospects ? If 
 so, what is it? Is there any system of religion 
 known to man for which we would, for a moment, 
 think of bartering away the religion of Christ? 
 Shall we give up and accept in its stead Mormon - 
 ism? Or, shall we adopt Mohammedanism as our 
 religion? Or, shall we go to Confucius and learn 
 of him, the faith, the law, the life, the inspiration 
 and the hope that has made China what it is? Or, 
 shall we enter the school of Brahma, and become 
 disciples of the idolatry, the polytheism, and the 
 pantheism of the Hindoos? Or, shall we say 
 Gotama is our master and Buddhism our faith ? Or, 
 shall we resurrect some one of the religions buried 
 in the ruins of the past? Which one of all the 
 religions that exist, or ever have existed, shall we 
 accept as superior to Christianity? Take their 
 several books and study them well; go into their 
 temples and study well the worship conducted 
 there; go out among the people, and examine care- 
 fully the principles which govern them, the lives 
 they are living, the spirit that animates them, and the 
 hopes that cheer them ; make up your verdict care- 
 fully, thoughtfully, patiently; render it, candidly, 
 
Walking in the Tndh. 141 
 
 what shall it be? Ah, there can be no question. 
 Christianity, a thousand times over, rather than any 
 of them. 
 
 But there is a religion called " Deism." It 
 contains two articles of faith : First, there is a God ; 
 second, Christianity is untrue. Its simplicity 
 commends it. One of its greatest lights, Thomas 
 Paine, affirms '' that it teaches without the possibility 
 of being mistaken, all that is necessary or proper to 
 be known." Certainly a religion of which this is 
 true is what we need, and all we need. But is this 
 true of Deism? It has no great Prophet to outline 
 its principles, and its disciples are agreed in abso- 
 lutely nothing, except in the dogmas already stated. 
 
 Bead over the pages of history and see what sort 
 of results have been produced by this faith. Shall 
 we give up Christianity and accept Deism? What 
 then? It comes to this: Christianity or nothing. 
 The rejection of Christianity ends practically in 
 Atheism. AVe may begin with " Not this man, but 
 Barabbas," but we will end with the dogma, "There 
 is no God." The alternative is Christianity or xVthe- 
 ism, and it is between these two systems that the con- 
 flict rages to-day. 
 
 (5.) I come now to my last test — Experiment. 
 Christianity challenges its application The Great 
 Teacher declared, " If any man will do his will, he 
 shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." 
 
142 A Busy Life. 
 
 Everywhere the unbeliever is called upon to test and 
 see. More still ; it is capable of trial at every point. 
 If it were mere speculation, pure dogma and nothing 
 more, it would be utterly incapable of being put on 
 trial. But it is eminently practical, making the 
 broadest declarations and holding out magnificent 
 promises, so that its disciples are constantly testing 
 it. It is always and everywhere on trial ; and with 
 what results. Let us see. 
 
 (1). Apply the national test. " Eighteousness 
 exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people." 
 Now what are the facts ? The purer, the more truly 
 Biblical the Christianity of any people, the more 
 generally it is accepted ; the more thoroughly they 
 are imbued with it; the more completely they live it 
 out; the happier and more prosperous they are; the 
 higher and more nearly perfect their civilization. 
 
 (2). Apply individual tests, (a). " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest.'' Now what is the fact? Simply 
 this: Multitudes have come to Christ and found 
 rest; multitudes are coming to Christ and finding 
 rest; every soul of man, no matter where he lives, 
 or who, or what he is, that does come to Christ, does 
 find rest, in so far as they trust him. (6). It aims 
 and promises to make those who receive and trust 
 in Christ, holy. He is called Jesus, because he saves 
 his people from their sins. Now what are the facts ? 
 
WalLiiuj in the Triillt. 143 
 
 Faith in Christ does work by love; it does purify 
 the lieart; it does overcome the workl Multitudes 
 testify that through faith in Christ they have been 
 saved from sins. During the last few months, a 
 great cloud of witnesses have arisen, nnd in the most 
 public manner, the most decided and outspoken man- 
 ner, have testified that by the power of the Christ 
 of Christianity they have been saved from besetting 
 sins that had brought them to the brink of perdition. 
 And, let men say what they please of the inconsist- 
 encies of Christians and churches, every godly man 
 and woman in the land, every Christian church, walk- 
 ing in the truth, in the midst of a wicked and per- 
 verse generation, a generation abounding in corrup- 
 tion, is a standing testimony to the purifying power 
 of Christianity. It makes good all its promises. 
 (c). But there is also the promise of answers to 
 prayer. Search and find out the kind of prayer to 
 which an answer is promised. Mark well each char- 
 acteristic. Search and find out the promises. See 
 just Avhat they are, and mark them well. Now look 
 through the record and you will find that God 
 answered such prayers, before the coming of Christ; 
 that God answered such prayers in apostolic, times; 
 that God has answered such prayers ever since, and 
 that he is answering such prayers now. More, a single 
 case cannot be made out in which a true prayer has 
 ever failed to be answered. Men have had faith in 
 
144 A Busy Life. 
 
 prayer in all ages; they have faith still; never was 
 this faith more general or stronger than it is to-day. 
 What means the crowded meetings for prayer all 
 over the land ? Thronged not with the ignorant, the 
 superstitious, the fanatical, but with the intelligent, 
 the thoughtful and the practical — men and women 
 who waste no time on that which does not pay. The 
 increasing millions of praying Christians are gather- 
 ing hosts of witnesses to the power of prayer. 
 Prayer is answered. 
 
 Let these examples suffice. Christianity stands 
 the test of experiment. What then is the conclu- 
 sion of the whole matter? Pure reason finds no 
 fundamental principle false; every axiom involved 
 in it, it pronounces true. It is consistent with its 
 claims as a Divine religion; with itself; with all 
 known truth. It is suited to man and to the ends 
 which it was intended to accomplish. It is superior 
 to all competing systems. There is nothing better. 
 It is this or nothing. It stands the test of experi- 
 ment. On trial, it proves itself all that it claims to 
 be. Is it any wonder that John wrote to the well 
 beloved Gains in the terms of my text '? Is it any 
 wonder that Monmouth College should have no 
 greater joy than to hear that her children are walk- 
 ing in the truth? 
 
 And now my dear Seniors, suffer a word of 
 exhortation: Study this heaven-born system of 
 
Walking in f/tc Tnif/i. 145 
 
 religion ; master it thoroughly ; aim at a full under- 
 standing of its doctrines, its laws, its life, its spirit 
 and its hopes. Believe in it more firmly; seek for 
 deeper and deeper convictions of its truth ; obey its 
 law more faithfully; live its life more perfectly; be 
 filled with its spirit and its hopes. Hold it fast, 
 never give it up; give up all else first; die first. 
 Many will stand up against you, still stand fast in 
 the Lord. Speak out for it. Let neitlier man nor 
 devil frighten you into cowardly silence, when faith- 
 fulness to truth and righteousness require you to 
 speak out. Don't be cowards. Work hard for it. 
 You expect hard work; but work for what you may, 
 let it be in Christ's service and in Christ's cause. 
 
 I am done; craving your pardon for my mistakes 
 and shortcomings as your friend, guardian and 
 instructor; thanking you for all the joy I have had 
 with you, and help I have received from you in 
 advancing the Master's cause here; remembering 
 that your Senior year has been a year of the right 
 hand of the Son of Man, in our beloved college, and 
 that the class of '77 has indeed been a blessing to 
 it, and praying for you, grace, mercy and peace, I 
 bid you go, gathering assuredly that a covenant 
 keeping God will be with you still, and bless you 
 abundantly. 
 
 10 
 
WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? 
 
 The answer to this question is of vital importance 
 to two classes; to sinners enquiring after salvation 
 and to the teacher instructing the ignorant. Desir- 
 ing to help both, I write this article. 
 
 I. We all need salvation because we are sinners, 
 and being sinners, we are by nature, under wrath. 
 We need salvation from wrath, from sin, from 
 trouble, from ignorance, from Aveakness, from many 
 evils. 
 
 II. The salvation we need has been purchased by 
 Christ, is in him and must be obtained from him: 
 "neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by 
 his own blood, he entered in once into the holy 
 place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." 
 ''Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar 
 people zealous of good works." "Forasmuch as ye 
 know that ye were * * * redeemed * * * with 
 the precious blood of Christ." "For it pleased the 
 Father that in him sliotdd all fulness dwell.*' 'Tn 
 whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and 
 knowledge.*" "In whom we have redemption 
 through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." 
 
 •'And this is the record, that God hath given us 
 (146) 
 
What iniisi I do to he Saved? 147 
 
 eternal life, and this life is in his Son." "He hath 
 made us accepted in the beloved." ''Who hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 places in Christ Jesus."' ''But my God shall supply 
 all your need according to his riches in glory by 
 Christ Jesus." Our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 has purchased and holds in trust for them who 
 believe, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, 
 forgiveness, acceptance, life, and the supply of all 
 our need, all spiritual blessings. The question next 
 arises. How are we to obtain and enjoy this great 
 salvation? I answer: 
 
 III. Not by works of righteousness which we 
 may do, or can do. Salvation is expressly denied to 
 all on such grounds. By the deeds of the law there 
 shall be no flesh justified in his sight. "A man is 
 not justified by the works of the law." "Not by 
 works of righteousness which we have done, but 
 according to his mercy he saved us." Nowhere is 
 obedience to the law made the condition on which 
 the impartation to man of the blessings in Christ 
 depends. It is not, therefore, correct to bid the 
 sinner — 
 
 1. Reform his life as the condition of salvation. 
 It is not offered on this condition. Men may reform 
 in the common acceptation of the term, and perish. 
 Outward conformity to the precepts of the second 
 table of the law, may consist with ungodlin^s in 
 the heart. 
 
148 A Busy Life. 
 
 2. It is not correct to bid the sinner live a relig- 
 ious life, read his Bible, say prayers, go to religious 
 meetings, unite with the church, go to the sacra- 
 ment, or do any thing of the kind as the condition 
 of acceptance with God. Salvation is not promised 
 on any such conditions. Men may do all these 
 things and perish. "Not every one that saith unto 
 me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." "Many will say unto me in that day, 
 Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? 
 and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy 
 name done many wonderful works ? And then will 
 I confess unto them, I never knew you; depart from 
 me, ye that work iniquity." 
 
 3. It is not correct to bid the sinner give large 
 money to supply the wants of the needy, or perform 
 great works, or make great sacrifices in the services 
 of Christ the condition of acceptance. Salvation is 
 not offered on such terms. Men may comply with 
 them and perish. "Though I bestow all my goods 
 to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be 
 burned and have not charity it profiteth me noth- 
 ing." 
 
 4. It is not correct to bid the sinner get knowl- 
 edge and understanding as a condition of acceptance 
 with God. Salvation is nowhere offered on such 
 terms. A man may be very familiar with the Bible, 
 und^'stand well its doctrines and its precepts, be 
 
Whaf musf I do to be Saved 9 149 
 
 orthodox in his belief, a giant in defense of the 
 truth, and very zealous in propagating it, and still 
 perish. ''Though I have the gift of prophecy and 
 understand all mysteries and all knowledge * * * * 
 and have not charity 1 am nothing." To this line 
 of reasoning it may be objected that in Micah vi: 8, 
 a different doctrine is taught. ''He hath showed 
 thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord 
 require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy 
 and to walk humbly with thy God.'' I answer: It 
 is evident from the context that these words are the 
 answer of Balaam to the inquiries of Balak recorded 
 in the sixth and seventh verses, and are to be 
 regarded as the gospel according to Balaam, the 
 best answer that he could give to the questions of 
 the king ; and not a statement of the very gospel of 
 the grace of God. But if we do regard these words 
 as the words of Micah, still we cannot obtain an 
 interest in the blessings in Christ in this way. For 
 who of all the children of men can come before the 
 Lord, and plead that they have complied with these 
 conditions, and are, therefore, entitled to the bless- 
 ings of salvation? If there is, therefore, no other 
 way, none can be saved. The Lord be praised, 
 however, "there is a more excellent way.'' 
 
 Again it may be said, that our Lord declares that 
 " he that doetli the will of my Father which is in 
 heaven,'* shall enter into the kingdom of God. But 
 
150 A Busy Life. 
 
 the question is, What is the will of our Father in 
 heaven, in relation to the matter of obtaining salva- 
 tion? He expressly declares that it is not by works 
 of righteousness. It remains to be seen what it is. 
 HoAvever, let me not be misunderstood. The Lord 
 requires of us holy living, religious service, work in 
 his vineyard, knowledge and understanding, but not 
 as conditions of salvation. Godly living and a holy 
 service are the results and evidences of acceptance, 
 and not the grounds or reasons of it. 
 
 IV. The true answer was given by Paul and Silas 
 to the jailer, " Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ 
 and thou shalt be saved." The following scriptures 
 clearly teach it: "And this is the record, that God 
 hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son." 
 " But to as many as received him, to them gave he 
 the power to become the sons of God, even to them 
 that believe upon his name." " Ho, every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath 
 no money ; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy 
 wine and milk, without money and without price." 
 " Whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
 freely." " For God so loved the ^orld that he gave 
 his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him 
 should not perish but have everlasting life." Now 
 what do these scriptures mean ? 
 
 1. God hath given or gi anted to sinners, Christ 
 to be their Saviour and in him a full, free, present 
 
What must I do to he Saved / 151 
 
 salvation. This is the record God hath given us 
 concerning his son. It is the grand fact of the 
 gospel. 
 
 2. This record we are required to believe — believe 
 that it is indeed true, that this grant has been made 
 to us ; and that there is for us in Christ all the sal- 
 vation we need. 
 
 3. The most important act on our part, corres- 
 ponding to this grant, is receiving Christ as he is 
 offered to us in the gospel. Receiving Christ he 
 and all the"* salvation that is in him becomes ours. 
 At once he is made unto us " wisdom and righteous- 
 ness, and sanctification and redemption;" "we are 
 complete in him.'' We have in him, not in our own 
 fruition, but in him, forgiveness, holiness, consola- 
 tion, wisdom, strength, the supply of all our need. 
 Let it be carefully noticed that the moment we 
 receive Christ he becomes ours, and with him the 
 redemption that is in him. 
 
 4. These scriptures also teach that we are required 
 to trust in him for the salvation which he has pur- 
 chased for his people. It is our duty to trust him 
 for forgiveness, sanctification. consolation, wisdom, 
 strength, grace to help in time of need. 
 
 The child to whom his father has willed $100,000, 
 possesses the inheritance; it is his; he is really and 
 truly said to be rich; but his wealth is in the hands 
 of his guardian who holds it in trust for him. His 
 
152 A Busy Life. 
 
 guardian imparts to liim as he needs during his 
 minority. It is only when he reaches full manhood 
 that he enters on the enjoyment of his estate. Dur- 
 ing the years of his non-age, he trusts his guardian 
 for the supply of his daily wants, and applies to him 
 for it. So the believer already possesses the inherit- 
 ance in Christ; complete salvation is already his; 
 while in this w^orld he trusts in him for the supply 
 of his continually returning wants, and applies to 
 him for it, but when the appointed time arrives, he 
 enters on the full enjoyment of the inheritance. 
 
 Receiving and resting in Christ for salvation, as 
 he is offered in the gospel, w^e begin to live holy 
 lives, seeking to walk in all the commandments and 
 ordinances of the Lord blameless. Let it be noted, 
 that repentance, wdth all the graces of the Spirit 
 f ollow" from union to Christ . Believers are married 
 to Christ that they may bring forth fruit unto God. 
 '' As the branch can not bear fruit of itself except 
 it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye 
 abide in me. '' First one wdth Christ by faith and 
 the indwelling of his Spirit, and then holy living. 
 
 A w^ord to those w-ho are guiding inquirers. The 
 first thing required of the sinner is to go to Christ 
 and believe in him. Beware how you put anything 
 between the sinner and Christ. You may point him 
 to Christ and put tlie Bible in his hands; you may 
 take him to the Bible-class, the Sabbath-school, the 
 
What must I do to he Saved f 153 
 
 prayer-meeting and the church, to help him to 
 Christ, but beware that you do not ] ead him to trust 
 Bible, or church, or prayer-meeting, or Sabbath- 
 school, or teacher, or minister, instead of Christ. 
 Remove every obstacle out of his way; help him to 
 Christ at once ; seek to make him intimate with him. 
 •Salvation is in Christ; a full, a free, a present salva- 
 tion, for every soul of man that believeth; and the 
 sinner will find it nowhere else in all the universe of 
 God. Let your cry constantly be, " Behold the 
 Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the 
 world." 
 
ASSUEANCE OF SALVATION. 
 
 Dear Friend. — In your letter of the 11th inst., 
 yon refer to mine of the 17th of September, in which 
 I pressed on young ministers the importance of 
 being assured of their interests in Christ and final 
 salvation that they might successfully guide others. 
 You say " I do not possess the assurance," and you 
 ask me to explain more particularly how it may be 
 obtained. With this request I cheerfully comply. 
 It is a terrible thing to live in constant fear of 
 wrath, never to taste the blessedness of sins forgiven 
 and to know nothing of peace with God. In this 
 state one can make but little growth in grace, and 
 render but unsatisfactory service to his Master. 
 Certainly this "confidence hath great recompense of 
 reward," and'should be sought with all diligence. 
 There is, however, a preliminary question which 
 demands attention: " Is this assurance attainable?" 
 I believe that it is, not only as an occasional enjoy- 
 ment, but also as a habitual state. I believe that 
 it is oar privilege to live in the fruition of the peace 
 that passeth all understanding. However, before 
 pointing out what I believe to be " God's way of 
 peace," I desire to call your attention to some con- 
 siderations in confirmation of this position: 
 
 (154) 
 
Assurance of Salrdfion. 155 
 
 The Scriptures seem to me to proceed on the sup- 
 position that the believers of the primitive church 
 did maintain this assurance; not merely eminent 
 saints such as Job, David, Isaiah and the Apostles, 
 but the men and women generally of the churches 
 to which the epistles were directed. First, I ask 
 you to notice some oreneral declarations of the Word 
 of God. 
 
 In the epistle to the Romans i: 6, 7, Paul uses the 
 following language: "Among whom are ye also 
 the called of Jesus Christ, beloved of God, called to 
 be saints." He speaks as though there was no doubt 
 about this calling and saintship. In chap, v: 1-5, 
 he addresses the Romans as persons being 
 justified, having peace with God, access, rejoicing 
 in hope of the glory of God, and as glorying in 
 tribulations also. Their assurance seems to be 
 implied in every line of these verses. In the eighth 
 chapter, 15-18, the same fact is implied, " For ye 
 have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; 
 but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby 
 we cry, Abba, Father, The Spirit also beareth wit- 
 ness with our spirit that we are the chihlren of 
 God. * * For I reckon that the sutferings 
 of this present time are not worthy to be compared 
 with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'' The 
 whole of this chapter, you will observe, is in the 
 same strain. In addition to these scriptures, 
 
156 A Busy Life. 
 
 examine II Cor. v: 1-21; Col. i: 12, 13; I Peter i: 
 8, 9; I John, iii: 2; Eev. i: 5, 6. I refer to these 
 texts simply as specimens. To quote all that imply 
 the assurance of believers would be to quote whole 
 chapters and epistles. Indeed every word addressed 
 to those called ''saints" seems to imply this great 
 fact. 
 
 I ask your attention also to the fact that many 
 of the richest and most precious promises are 
 addressed to the assured. Take for example, 
 Eomans viii: 28, "And we know that all things 
 work together for good to them that love God, to 
 them who are the called according to his purpose." 
 You must know that you love God and that you are 
 called according to His purpose before you can say, 
 "All things shall work toge' ''<^r for my good." 
 Again, tarn to the epistle to v.^^ .tc^hesians; read 
 over the first three chapters careiully. How exalted 
 the positions in which the " saints and the faithful " 
 are there represented as standing ! How bright and 
 glorious the future opening before them! and yet, 
 before you can comfort yourself with these words, 
 you must know yourself to be a saint and to be 
 faithful in Christ Jesus. Of the same tenor are the 
 two epistles that follow, and many of the Psalms. 
 As a specimen of the latter, study carefully the 4th 
 and 91st. Before we can feed on these rich and 
 precious promises, we must know ourselves to be 
 among those to whom they are addressed. 
 
Assuraucc of Salnffion. 157 
 
 There is another fact worthy of special attention 
 in this connection: the strongest motives which the 
 apostles addressed to believers, when exhorting them 
 to lives of holiness, are applicable only to the assured. 
 Notice the following: I Cor. vi: 20, "For ye are 
 bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your 
 body and in your spirit, which are God's." I Cor. 
 xv: 58, ''Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
 steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work 
 of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor 
 is not in vain in the Lord." Ephesians iv: 32, " And 
 be ye kind to one another, tend er-he'^r ted, forgiving 
 one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for- 
 given you." I John ii: 12. 13, 14:, 15, " I write 
 unto you, little children, because your sins are for- 
 given you for his n me's sake. * * * Love not 
 the world, neijp. e things that are in the world." 
 
 In addition to "Jl this, we have many earnest 
 exhortations to maintain this assurance. See I 
 Peter, i: 10; Heb. vi: 10, 11; x: 22, 34. 
 
 These considerations, I think, show that an assur- 
 ance of salvation is attainable; that it should be 
 habitually maintained; that in it we may find un- 
 speakable happiness, and that it is necessary in order 
 that we may go up to the highest plane of Christian 
 standing, attain to the holiest living, and to the most 
 devoted service. 
 
 The question now arises, How is this peace or 
 
158 A Busy Life. 
 
 assurance* wliicli we have seen to have been the com- 
 mon possession of primitive Cliristians to be attained ? 
 To the answer to this question I now ask your atten- 
 tion. It is a fact that the Scriptures connect peace 
 or assurance with faith or trust, intimately and 
 immediately. John xiv: 1, *• Let not your heart be 
 troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me/' 
 Our Lord here prescribes for a troubled heart. His 
 direction is, '' Believe in me.*' We are, hence, 
 certainly warranted in believing that faith in Christ 
 will remove trouble from the heart and bring peace. 
 Romans v: 1. '• Therefore being justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.'' Peace follows immediately on being justi- 
 fied by faith. The verses that follow imply the 
 attainment of assurance at the very beginning of the 
 Christian course. Romans xv: 13, ''Now the God 
 of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing." 
 Here you will observe it is peace in believing. I 
 Peter i: 8, 9, "Whom having not seen ye love; in 
 whom, though noAV ye see him not, yet believing, ye 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; re- 
 ceiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of 
 your souls." Here joy and rejoicing, which certainly 
 imply a peaceful assurance, are represented as grow- 
 ing immediately out of faith. In Acts xvi: 34, it is 
 said that the jailer "rejoiced, believing in God with 
 all his house." Isaiah xxvii: 3, " Thou wilt keep 
 
Assiifdiicc of S((h'(ilioft. 159 
 
 him in perfect peace, whose mind is. stayed on thee, 
 because he trusteth in thee/' Here peace fs con- 
 nected intimately with trust. These scriptures are 
 but specimens. They teach fully and clearly an 
 Assurance of Faiili. 
 
 The question now arises, How does faith or trust 
 bring peace? There are three difficulties in the way 
 of peace, any one or all of which may keep the mind 
 in a state of unrest, and prevent that calm assur- 
 ance which we desire, all of which are removed by 
 faith. 
 
 1. "Is God disposed to love? Is he merciful? '"' 
 I answer, the Scriptures testify abundantly on this 
 subject. "God is love." "His mercies are great; 
 his tender mercies are over all his works. He is 
 good and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy 
 unto all that call upon him.'" "Herein is love, not 
 that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave 
 his son to be tbe propitiation of our sins." Acquaint 
 thyself with God and have peace. Now, if you 
 believe these things concerning God, you can have 
 no trouble because God is not merciful. Faith 
 removes out of the way all obstacles to peace coming 
 from this source. 
 
 2. "But God is just as well as merciful. He 
 must save men justly or not at all. Can he justly 
 save a sinner?'' I answer. Consider Christ's finished 
 
 k. He uiidprtook for us. upon bim were laid the 
 
 won 
 
160 A Busy Life. 
 
 iniquities of us all, he was obedient unto death, he 
 bare otir sins in his own body on the tree. The 
 Son has thus satisfied the demands of law and 
 justice, so that now God can be just and justify him 
 which believeth in Jesus. God can righteously 
 pardon; more, he cannot righteously condemn a 
 single believer. Now, if you believe this great 
 truth, another obstacle in the way of peace is 
 removed. There is no reason whatever, why trouble 
 should come from this source. Faith in Christ's 
 finished work removes it all . 
 
 3. But a third difficulty still remains: ''What 
 right have I to believe that God is willing to save 
 me? What is my warrant for believing in his Son 
 for salvation? I answer, God has given, granted, 
 tendered to you a full and free salvation in Christ, 
 and expressly warranted you to trust in him for it. 
 John iii: 16, "God so loved the world that he gave 
 his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 I John v: 11, "And this is the record, that God 
 hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his 
 Son." Eev. xxii: 17, "And whosoever will, let him 
 take the water of life freely." 2d Cor. ix: 15, 
 "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." 
 
 The Scriptures are full of similar statements. 
 God has granted, given, tendered Christ to sinners, 
 to you and me as a Saviour, and in him a complete 
 
Assurance of Salvation. 101 
 
 salvation. Now what is to be done about it? I 
 answer, (1.) Believe this glorious record of the 
 mercy of God, of the work of Christ and the free 
 grant of salvation in him. (2). Take the gift thus 
 freely given, and remember the moment you receive 
 Christ as your Saviour, your Prophet, Priest and 
 King, his salvation in all its fulness becdmes yours, 
 you are complete in him. (3.) Trust in Christ, 
 according to the warrant so plainly given, to impart 
 to you this salvation as you need it. Nov/, if you 
 thus believe the record, thus accept the gift, and 
 thus rest in Christ for salvation as he is offered in 
 the gospel, where will your trouble be? Will it 
 not have vanished? Will you not be at peace, 
 resting in the Lord for salvation? And will not 
 this peace come from looking unto Jesus, and not 
 to yourself? Analyze "trust." It involves three 
 elements — (1.) A person trusting. (2.) A person 
 trusted. ( 3. ) A thing trusted for. But trust for a 
 thing means expectation of that thing. You have 
 money in the bank; you trust in the bank to pay 
 you that money on demand; you expect it and are at 
 rest about it because you have faith in the bank. 
 You have salvation in Christ. God has given you 
 Christ, and assured you that there is a life in him 
 for you. You trust in him for it, and expect it 
 through him, why not be at rest about it? Apply 
 to him and you will receive according to your need, 
 11 
 
162 A Busy Life. 
 
 for it is written, Phil, iv: 19, "But my God shall 
 supply all your need according to his riches in glory 
 by Christ Jesus." In 1856, I received a document 
 signed by James Thompson, Secretary of the Board 
 of Trustees of Monmouth College, tendering me the 
 Presidency of that institution and promising me on 
 condition of acceptance, a specific salary. I believed 
 that document to be genuine, I accepted the tender 
 therein made. Though still in Boston, I believed 
 that I had been called to become President of that 
 College; I trusted in the Trustees to put me in 
 possession of all the rights and privileges pertaining 
 to that office, and pay me the promised salary. I 
 was at peace about these matters. I had full assur- 
 ance on the subject, and all because I had faith in 
 certain men, and that, too, before I had exercised a 
 single prerogative of the office, or touched a dollar. 
 That faith brought me to Monmouth, and the con- 
 stant verification of my expectations but strengthened 
 the faith which I had at the beginning. So God 
 has tendered you in Christ forgiveness, acceptance, 
 life, saintship, sonship and kingship. You believe 
 that the tender has been made ; you accept the gift 
 offered, and now believing the truth of what God 
 has told you, you believe yourself to be forgiven, 
 accepted, to have eternal life, to be a saint, a son, 
 a king, and all this before you begin to enjoy the 
 rights and privileges of your neAV relationship. 
 
Assurance of Salvaiion, 103 
 
 Moreover, you trust in Christ to do for you accord- 
 ing to the promise. Thus you may be at peace, 
 and rest in the Lord in full confidence of salvation 
 before you even raise the question of your interest 
 in Christ, or begin to inquire as to your state. This 
 assurance we call assurance of faith. It is attained 
 simply by believing in him. It comes at the begin- 
 ning of our course. It enables one to rejoice in the 
 Lord at once, and to enter on holy living and. loving 
 service in the full enjoyment of the liberty of the 
 sons of God before we begin to inquire after 
 evidences that we are children of God at all. 
 Assurance of faith precedes assurance of sense. In 
 my next, I shall have something to say about this 
 latter kind of assurance. In the meantime permit 
 me to recommend to your careful study, "Erskine 
 on Faith and Assurance of Faith," "Anderson on 
 Faith," and "God's Avay of Peace" — a most valuable 
 little book from the pen of Dr. Bonar, of Edinburgh. 
 The first named, you may find in E. Erskine's 
 sermons. His sermons on this subject have been 
 published by the A. T. S. in a separate volume. 
 I am sorry to say that "Anderson" is out of print. 
 It is to be hoped that our Board of Publication will 
 soon issue a new edition of it. We ought not to 
 permit such valuable works to remain inaccessible 
 to our people. 
 
 I have called your attention to the " assurance uf 
 
164 A Busy Life. 
 
 faitli;" I have now a few things to say abont "assur- 
 ance of sense," as it is commonly called. 
 
 The great principles on which this kind of 
 assurance is based are the following: 1. The Spirit 
 of God dwells in every believer, and is working in 
 him to will and to do according to his good pleasure, 
 so that he brings forth the fruits of the Spirit. 2. 
 By our own consciousness, by looking into our own 
 hearts, we may discern the results of this work — 
 results whicli, in the Word of God, we have a war- 
 rant to expect. These are commonly called the 
 marks of a child of God, evidences of saving faith. 
 3. Thus we know that we are in Christ by the Spirit 
 which he has given us. Thes3 evidences are fully 
 delineated in the first epistle of John. A careful 
 study of that epistle will, I am persuaded, bring 
 one to a fall knowledge of the distinguishing char- 
 acteristics of the sons of God. 4. From Phil, i: G, 
 Ave are assured that "he which hath begun a good 
 work in you will perform it." Here we find the 
 grand old doctrine of the perseverance of the saints 
 to be one of the main pillars of this assurance. 5. 
 From these premises we may be assured of our 
 final salvation. The method is simply this : He that 
 believeth shall be saved; I believe, therefore I shall 
 be saved. As numerous and various as are the 
 marks by which the sons of God are distinguished, 
 so numerous and various are the minor premises of 
 
Assurance of Salvation. 105 
 
 this syllogism. The difficulty consists in determin- 
 ing whether or no we possess these marks. Because 
 of the remains within us of indwelling sin, and of 
 its continuous activity, lusting against the Spirit, in 
 some cases it becomes so difficult to settle this great 
 question that, were there no other method of assur- 
 ance, we might, as many do, live in doubt all our 
 days. 
 
 Comparing and contrasting assurance of faith and 
 assurance of sense, we shall better understand the 
 nature of both. The first comes with the first 
 exercise of faith, and may be very strong at the 
 beginning; the other comes after the fulfillment of 
 the promise as realized in our own experience, and 
 becomes fuller and clearer as the fruits of the Spirit 
 are produced in us more abundantly. The one is 
 direct; the other reflex. The one has its object 
 without, we find it in the Word; the other within, we 
 find it in our own experience. Faith looks to the 
 veracity of the promise r; sense to the fulfillment of 
 the promise. Noah, trusting in the declaration of 
 God, was assured of his safety before the flood came. 
 This was assurance of faith. When the Ark rested 
 securely on Ararat he had assurance of sense. Faith 
 looks to the future good promised; sense, to the 
 present good received. 
 
 These two kinds of assurance mutually strengthen 
 and help each other. You examine the grant made 
 
166 A Busy Life. 
 
 of Christ to sinners as recorded in the gospel. You 
 inspect carefully the warrant which the sinner had 
 to believe. You perceive that you have a full and 
 complete warrant to receive Christ as your Saviour, 
 and trust in him to impart to you out of his fulness 
 grace for grace. You do thus receive and rest in 
 him, and exclaim, " Jesus is mine and I am his." 
 You now begin to note the "my's" of the Psalms, 
 and rejoice in their wonderful richness. You trust in 
 him according to the word of promise which he has 
 given you. You rejoice and are exceeding glad. 
 You walk at liberty. In time you find the promises 
 are being fulfilled in your own experience. Thus 
 your faith is strengthened, and the assurance which 
 it brings made, if possible, doubly sure. The surer 
 you are of your interest in Christ, the fuller will be 
 your love, the deeper your penitence, and more 
 earnest your devotion. Thus you will go on from 
 strength to strength unweariedly. You will live a 
 holy life; you will render a free, happy, joyous ser- 
 vice. Your service will be neither that of hireling 
 nor that of a slave, but that of a son conscious of 
 his son-ship. But in all this, other foundation 
 must no man lay than that which is laid — Jesus 
 Christ the righteous. We must beware how we put 
 fi-ames, feelings, experiences in place of Christ. If 
 we do, our confidence will be as fitful as the wind. 
 That it may be abiding, it must rest in that which 
 abides. 
 
Assurance of Scdvaiion. 167 
 
 At first I had no adequate understanding of the 
 assurance of faith. I was constantly looking for 
 assurance of sense. Sometimes I was elevated, 
 sometimes depressed. I lived and ministered in a 
 sadly troubled state. At length I made known my 
 state of mind to Dr. McCarrol — an eminent saint — 
 and to another distinguished servant of God still 
 living. They led me into a department of thought 
 at that time almost entirely new to me. I read and 
 studied Anderson, Erskine, Marshall, and Hervey. 
 My eyes were opened. I began to see light clearly. 
 I became a free man. x\nd since that time, I thank 
 God, I have been kept in the enjoyment of singu- 
 larly uniform peace, trusting in the Lord. In 
 avowing this I do not exalt myself, but the faithful- 
 ness of a covenant keeping God and Saviour. The 
 same way is open to you; and my heart's desire and • 
 prayer to God is, that you and all the brethren may 
 possess the peace that passeth understanding, and 
 may run with patience the race that is set before us, 
 looking into Jesus the author and finisher of our 
 faith. 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 I. The indwelling of the Spirit. " What, know ye 
 not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
 which is in you which ye have of God?" " Know 
 ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the 
 Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" " For ye are the 
 temple of the living God; as God hath said. I will 
 dwell in them and walk in them." " In whom all 
 the building, fitly framed together, groweth into a 
 holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded 
 together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 " The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the 
 dead shall dwell in you." " And hereby we know 
 that he abideth in us by the Spirit wdiich he hath 
 given to us." The great truth here taught is obvi- 
 ous: The Holy Spirit dwelleth in every believer, 
 whether young or old, of strong or weak faith, of 
 large attainments or small, the believer is a temple 
 of the Holy Ghost. The indwelling of the Spirit 
 is not a promised blessing; it is the present posses- 
 sion of all those who believe. 
 
 The " indwelling spirit " is the " comforter " 
 promised by our Lord. The term *' comforter," or 
 " paraclete," denotes one who lays hold with us to 
 help us in bearing a heavy burden, in performing a 
 
 (168) 
 
The Holij Spirit. 169 
 
 difficult task. I will pray the Father, and he will 
 give you another comforter, that he may abide with 
 you forever ; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world 
 cannot receive, because it seetli him not, neither 
 knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth in 
 you, and shall be in you.' " But the comforter, 
 which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
 in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring 
 all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have 
 said unto you." " But when the comforter is come, 
 whom I will send unto you from the Father, even 
 the spirit of truth, * * * he shalllestify of me." 
 " It is expedient for you that I go away ; for, if I go 
 not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but 
 if I depart I will send him unto you. And when he 
 is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of 
 righteousness and of judgment." '' Howbeit when 
 he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you 
 into all truth ; for he will not speak of himself, but 
 whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, and he 
 will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, 
 for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you." 
 To what dignity has he advanced us in making us 
 temples of his Spirit ! What a glorious privilege to 
 be blessed and honored by such a guest dwelling in 
 us! 
 
 II. What evidence may any one have that the 
 Holy Spirit dwells in him. The following is to me 
 satisfactory : 
 
170 A Busy Life. 
 
 The Holy Spirit is given to every believer. "This 
 spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on 
 him should receive." 
 
 The Holy Spirit is given to them who truly repent. 
 " Kepent and be baptized every one of you in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and 
 ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 The Holy Spirit is given to all the children of 
 God: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God 
 they are the sons of God. For ye have not received 
 the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have 
 received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry 
 Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness 
 with our spirit, that we are the children of God." 
 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
 Spirit of his Son into your hearts." 
 
 The Holy Spirit is given to all the people of God: 
 " Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he 
 is none of his." 
 
 The Holy Spirit is given to all those Avho are in 
 Christ, and who have received Christ into their 
 hearts: "He that keepeth his commandments 
 dwelleth in him and he in him. And hereby we 
 know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he 
 hath given us." 
 
 Now, whatever evidence any one has that he 
 believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, has repented and 
 turned unto the Lord, is a child of God, is one of 
 
The Holij Spirit. 171 
 
 God's people, or tliat he is in Christ, or Christ is in 
 him, is also evidence that he is a temple of tlie Holy 
 Spirit. Tiie whole range of evidence of our interest 
 in Christ, is evidence that the Holy Ghost dwell etli 
 in us. Have you received the Lord Jesus? Do 
 you believe on his name ? Have you repented of 
 your sins? Are you Christ's and is he your Sav- 
 iour? Are you one of his children? Then the 
 Holy Ghost dwelleth in you. 
 
 But " the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, 
 long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
 ness, temperance." The Holy Ghost that dwelleth 
 in us is bringing forth these fruits. As by examin- 
 ing the fruit that grows on a tree you determine its 
 character, so by examining the fruits, which you 
 are bringing forth, you may learn whether or no the 
 heavenly guest is abiding in you. In applying this 
 test, two things should, however, be kept in mind. 
 First, The question is not, are these fruits being 
 produced in great abundance and perfection, but do 
 they exist at all in any quantity or of any quality ? 
 It is not, do you love God with your whole heart, 
 soul, mind and strength, but do you love him at all ? 
 It is not, is your soul filled with joy in the Lord; 
 but does this grace exist at all ? It is not, have you 
 a triumphant Paith, without a shadow of doubt or 
 misgiving; but do you believe at all? The same 
 principle applies to the other fruits enumerated. If 
 
172 A Basjj Life. 
 
 they have been produced to any degree, then the 
 Spirit is in you, for these are the fruits of the Spirit. 
 Another fact should never be forgotten. Indwell- 
 ing sin is not completely extirpated from the hearts 
 of the children of God during their wanderings and 
 warfare in the Avilderness. A new man has been 
 created in every one of them, but the old man 
 remains and acts. The house of David has been 
 set up, but the house of Saul has not been utterly 
 destroyed, it still claims authority and seeks to 
 establish it. The child of God "delights in his law 
 after the inward man, but he sees another law in his 
 members warring against the law of his mind, and 
 bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which 
 is in his members. The flesh lusteth against the 
 spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are 
 contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do 
 the things that ye would." You go into your 
 orchard; you find there we ids, thorns and briers; 
 but you do not conclude that there can therefore be 
 no apple, or pear, or peach trees in it. You often 
 find very excellent fruit in great abundance, in a 
 very poorly kept orchard. You examine your heart ; 
 you ought not to conclude that there can be no love, 
 or joy, or faith in it, nor any of the fruits of the 
 Spirit, because you find that the lusts of the flesh 
 have not all been rooted out. It is the office and 
 work of the Spirit to mortify these lusts, and one day 
 
The Holy Spirit 173 
 
 they shall disappear and not one be left remaining. 
 Over the body of this death you shall gain the 
 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Of his full- 
 ness, shall all we receive, even grace for grace, until 
 we are made perfect in holiness. 
 
 Bearing these two facts in mind, you may, from 
 the fruits which you bear, know assuredly that the 
 Holy Ghost dwelleth in you. 
 
 But you answer, " I don't know, I am not sure, I 
 am still in doubt." If this is so, then, "Behold the 
 Lamb of God, that taketli away the sin of the world." 
 Remember his finished work, the infinite worth of 
 his atonement, and the wonderous love from which 
 it proceeded. Receive Christ as yours. Trust in 
 him according to the promise. Repent of your sins 
 and turn unto the Lord with all your heart, and you 
 have the guarantee of a covenant keeping God that, 
 at once the Spirit shall be given you, and you will 
 become a "habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 
 IIL How may the believer distinguish the lead- 
 ings and teachings of the Spirit, from other thoughts 
 and feelings? The writer does not profess to be 
 able to answer this question fully and satisfactorily ; 
 his aim is only to help inquirers in their investiga- 
 tions. The attention of students of the Word of 
 God is respectfully invited to the following princi- 
 ciples : 
 
 1. The Holy Spirit never leads the believer to 
 
174 A Busy Life. 
 
 accept as true or right anything contrary to the 
 Word of God. His teachings are not self-contra- 
 dictory. What he speaks in the heart always 
 agrees with the written word. Whatever, therefore, 
 is clearly inconsistent T^fith that word is not of the 
 Spirit. But the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer 
 as a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowl- 
 edge of Christ, and we have a clear w^arrant to trust 
 in him to enlighten the eyes of our understanding, 
 that we may know what is the hope of his calling 
 and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance 
 in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness 
 of his power to usward who believe. While 
 therefore his teachings always accord with 
 the written word, he helps us to understand better 
 its meaning, and to feel more fully its power. 
 
 2. The Holy Spirit never leads the believer to 
 exercise, or excites within him, the lusts of the flesh 
 enumerated in Galatians v: 19, 21. He does how- 
 ever excite and strengthen the graces named in the 
 following verses. Anything, therefore, that tends to 
 " idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, 
 wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, 
 drunkenness, revellings and such like," are not of 
 the Spirit. But " love, joy, peace, long suffering, 
 gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temper- 
 ance," in the sense of the apostle always are. 
 
 3. The Holy Spirit never leads us to believe any- 
 
The Holy Spirit. 175 
 
 thing which sound reason legitimately exercised con- 
 demns as untrue ; or to crush out natural affections 
 when exercised within just limits, or to do anything 
 condemned by an enlightened conscience. He does 
 not lead men to believe that two and two are ten, or 
 that parallel lines meet, or that a circle is a square; 
 he does not teach us that love of children, or of par- 
 ents, or of brothers and sisters, or of friends, or of 
 country is wrong; he does not teach that falsehood, 
 or theft, or murder is right. But at the same time 
 the Spirit strengthens the understanding so that it 
 may perceive the truth more clearly, and be kept 
 from error; represses natural affection when exer- 
 cised beyond just limits, and rectifies and enlightens 
 the conscience, so that it may not approve and move 
 men to do that which is wrong. 
 
 4. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ because he 
 takes the things of Christ and shows them unto tlie 
 believer. He exhibits the Saviour as pre-eminently 
 trustworthy, setting forth the wondrous love mani- 
 fested in him, his finished work and willingness to 
 save to the very uttermost, and thus strengthens the 
 faith of tlie believer. He infiames his love by ex- 
 hibiting him as the chief among ten thousand and 
 altogether lovely, and as full of loving kindness and 
 tender mercy. He also sets forth our Saviour as 
 rightful King and Lord, and thus leads us to sub- 
 mission and obedience. By manifold exhibitions of 
 
176 A Busy Life. 
 
 Christ he strengthens many graces, and brings forth 
 these graces in his people more abundantly. Low 
 thoughts of Christ are not of the Spirit; high, com- 
 monly are. 
 
 5. When we feel the need of help and look to God 
 for Christ's sake by his Spirit to minister to us as 
 we need, and with absolute submission to his teach- 
 ings and leadings wait on him, Ave have a good and 
 sufficient warrant to trust in him that in the time of 
 need he will help us as we need, making plain to us 
 the truth, showing us what is right and pointing out 
 the way that is wisest and best. David prays: 
 " Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 
 Lead me in thy truth and teach me ; for thou art the 
 God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day." 
 He assigns as a reason for praying thus: " Good 
 and upright is the Lord ; therefore will he teach sin - 
 ners in the way. The meek will he guide in judg- 
 ment, the meek will he teach his way." Again he 
 exhorts: " Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also 
 in him, and he shall bring it to pass:" " E-est in 
 the Lord and wait patiently for him." For all this 
 he assigns as a reason: " The steps of a good man 
 are ordered by the Lord." According to John's 
 testimony, the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
 whom the Father sends in the name of Christ, is 
 commissioned expressly "to teach us all things." 
 Surely, then, there is no presumption in looking to 
 
The Holy Spirit. 177 
 
 and trusting in the Spirit to show us the mind of 
 Christ. Certainly, when we yield to his teachings 
 and leadings Avith absolute submission, we may de- 
 pend on him to guide us in judgment and teach us 
 his way. Those who have tried this way have no 
 reason to repent of their conduct. On the contrary, 
 they accept it as one of the highest privileges of 
 God's people thus to be guided by him. But we 
 must beware that we do not condition the Spirit by 
 consenting to accept his teachings only when they 
 agree with our prejudices, and to follow his leadings 
 only when they accord with our wishes. AVe must 
 also remember that he does not lead us to ignore or 
 reject the written word, or to accept absurdities. 
 We must also remember that he shows us only what 
 is present duty, and not duty at some future time. 
 
 In what has been written above, all questions 
 may not have been answered or all difficulties re- 
 moved. Hints, however, I trust have been given 
 which they will find helpful who desire to live in the 
 Spirit. Those who long to know the mind of Christ, 
 desire it above all other knowledge, and are accus- 
 tomed to listen for the voice of his Spirit and wait 
 to be taught by hira, will not find it difficult to dis- 
 tinguish his voice and his teachings. We soon learn 
 to know the voice and the sentiments of those witli 
 whom we dwell. We do not find it difficult to tell 
 the footfall of an intimate acquaintance, even at a 
 12 
 
178 A Busy Life. 
 
 distance. Surely, surely, then, God's people, with 
 whom and in whom the Holy Ghost constantly dwells, 
 may learn without difficulty to distinguish his voice, 
 and need never mistake it for that of a stranger. 
 
 IV. "I am a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 According to the testimony of God, the Holy Ghost 
 dwelleth in me. What then?" 
 
 - 1. Be thankful for this great gift, When your 
 Saviour left this world he could not make up the loss 
 to his disciples in any way more effectually than by 
 sending his Spirit to abide with them and to be in 
 each of them. That Spirit is in you, as a Spirit 
 of grace and supplication, as a Spirit of wisdom and 
 revelation in the knowledge of Christ, as a Spirit 
 of holiness, as a Spirit of adoption, and as a Spirit 
 of promise. It is leading and guiding you, and 
 is bringing forth in you the most precious fruits. 
 Your Lord by his Spirit is doing great things for 
 you. Eejoice therefore and be glad, and give vent 
 to your joy in words of praise and thanksgiving. 
 
 2. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye 
 are sealed unto the day of redemption. Remember 
 that he has taken up his abode with you and will 
 remain with you a permanent guest, than whom you 
 can have none of greater dignity. Now if you 
 permit your heart to be filled Avitli thoughts and 
 aspirations with which the Spirit of God can have 
 no sympathy; if you disregard his teachings and 
 
The Holy Spirit. 179 
 
 refuse to follow his leadings; if your whole life, 
 internal and external, is of the earth, earthy, you 
 will grieve him and he will cease to a great extent 
 to do his work within you, and your soul will be 
 filled with darkness and doubt, and your life will be 
 without peace or joy, and you will bring forth the 
 fruits of righteousness to a very limited degree 
 indeed. It is a great sin to grieve the Holy Spirit, 
 and you should guard against it with the most 
 watchful care. 
 
 3. Study the last eleven verses of the fifth chapter 
 of the epistle to the Galatians. Here believers are 
 represented as being led by the Spirit, and are 
 exhorted to walk in the Spirit and live in the Spirit. 
 To this end we must accept the truths which our- 
 Lord teaches by his word and Spirit ; we must not 
 do the works of the flesh but bring forth the fruits 
 of the Spirit, we must follow the leadings of the 
 Spirit in all holy living and devoted service. Living 
 thus, we walk in the light and are at liberty. The 
 life which we live will be a holy life, a life of faith, 
 of peace and joy, we go on rejoicing in the Lord. 
 This is the only life which as Christian men and 
 women we should be content to live. 
 
 4. Pray for the Spirit. "If ye then being evil 
 know how to give good gifts to your children, how 
 much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy 
 Spirit to them that ask him." True you may not 
 
180 A Busy Life. 
 
 pray for the Spirit in the same sense, that those to 
 whom these words were originally addressed could; 
 for the Holy Ghost was not then given, because the 
 Son was not yet glorified, while the Spirit already 
 dwelleth in you. Still you can pray God for Christ's 
 sake that the Spirit that dwelleth in you may 
 manifest himself by bringing forth in you much 
 fruit; you can pray that the Holy Spirit may come 
 in power on the world that lietli in sin, rendering 
 the word effectual and reproving the world of sin, 
 of righteousness and of judgment, and you can also 
 pray that the Spirit may come and dwell in the 
 hearts of those who have him not and who are 
 strangers to his presence and power. Fail not to 
 honor the Spirit by duly appreciating his work and 
 seeking his precious influences. 
 
 5. To the end that you may discharge fully the 
 obligations resting on you towards the Spirit, study 
 the doctrine of the Spirit carefully and do what in 
 you lies to comprehend it fully. 
 
THE STATE AND TEMPERANCE. 
 
 A lecture delivered in the United Presbyterian Church, at Wooster, Ohio, 
 in the winter of 1882-3. 
 
 The question coming to the front just now is not, 
 Is intemperance an evil, and should men be temper- 
 ate? Not, Is it our duty to persuade men from 
 drinking and to become abstainers? But, Has the 
 State anything to do with it as to the manufacture 
 and sale of alcohol ? As a drug for use in medicine 
 and the arts, there is no question. The difference 
 relates altogether to the manufacture and sale of 
 intoxicating liquors as a beverage. The question 
 is not. What is the platform of this party or that? 
 The question is not, What does the constitution of 
 the country say? The question is not, What is pub- 
 lic opinion on the subject? But, What does God's 
 law of righteousness demand of the nation and 
 Government in relation to this evil, acknowledged 
 to be very great? Some maintain that the State can 
 do nothing. 
 
 They say every man has a right to make money 
 in this way if he choose; every man has a right to 
 drink or get drunk if he choose, and it is nobody's 
 business but his own. Liberty is the individual 
 right of every man, and the State has no right to 
 (181) 
 
182 A Busy Life. 
 
 interfere with a man, no right to tell him that he 
 shall not follow this or that business. The State 
 has no right to meddle with what people eat or 
 drink. Its duty is to let this matter alone. Liberty 
 is the inalienable right of every man. But liberty 
 has its limitations. No mm has a right to do 
 wrong. No man has a right to steal. No man has 
 a right to adulterate his goods and sell them as 
 pure. No man has a right to establish a slaughter- 
 house or a glue factory in the center of AVooster. 
 No man has a right to buy a lot down town and then 
 plant on it a powder factory. Why is this? you 
 ask. If he sees fit to invest his money in such a 
 business and carry it on in that place, who has a 
 right to interfere? The answer is, by establishing 
 any such business he interferes with the rights of 
 his neighbors. That is the simple principle. Now, 
 no man has a right to do anything that interferes 
 with the rights of others. All have equal rights 
 before God and before just government. No man 
 has a right, therefore, to lift up his little finger in 
 performing an act that will be a trespass upon the 
 rights of others. In the broad domain which lies 
 outside of the rights of others, as far as they are 
 concerned, he has perfect liberty ; but across it he 
 may not go . This is fundamental. This is recog- 
 nized in all books on government, by all writers on 
 this great subject of natural rights. You and I and 
 
The Sfaic and Temper (ince. 183 
 
 every mau, therefore, must use our liberty so as not 
 to trespass. Remember that. 
 
 And this brings up my first principal point: Does 
 the trafiic in intoxicating drinks trespass on any 
 man's rights? This is the great fundamental 
 question. Is this a business in which men may 
 engage and meddle with no right which another 
 man or woman possesses? If it is, then Govern- 
 ment may say to him no word of prohibition. If it 
 is not, then Government has the same right to 
 interfere that it has to interfere in another business, 
 which in itself or in the method of its management, 
 trespasses upon the rights of others. 
 
 And, first, every man has a right to as pure and 
 lofty moral character as he can attain and maintain 
 — to be as pure, sober and honest as possible. Is- 
 not that so? Have you not a right to become as 
 virtuous as you can? Nobody will deny that. And 
 no one has a right to interfere with you, to hinder 
 you in getting up to higher attainments in virtue. 
 No man has a right to place a straw in your way as 
 a stumbling block when you are endeavoring to 
 become purer and better. And much more, no man 
 has a right to lay a hand on you and pull you down. 
 If a man goes into a farmer's field and takes away a 
 lamb or pig, not worth a dollar, he trespasses upon 
 that man's rights, and the law will summon its 
 officers, and will send them forth to hunt, far and 
 
184 A Biis7j Life. 
 
 near, until that piece of property is found and 
 restored, though the cost of the work be ten times 
 the value of the property taken away. It was the 
 duty of the State to protect that man in his right 
 to that piece of property. Here is the right to char- 
 acter. Is any man at liberty to trespass there? Is 
 it a trifling thing, demanding no attention from the 
 State, if the other is sufficient to warrant its inter- 
 ference? Look at the intemperate man. You go 
 to him and tell him of his sin and danger. His eyes 
 are opened. He sees it and determines to reform. 
 He will promise you he will never drink again. Yes, 
 he will lift up his right hand and swear before 
 Almighty God that he will never drink again. 
 Yes, he will puncture his veins, dip his pen into the 
 blood, and write down the oath that he will never 
 drink again. He goes forth in the strength of his 
 solemn purpose. Now, has any man a right to 
 tempt that man to drink? Has he not the right to 
 walk the streets in safety? Is not that so? But at 
 every corner he meets the tempter. The open 
 saloon, the significant signs, and the suggestive 
 odor, all tempt him. He hesitates, he yields, he 
 enters, he drinks, he falls. Is there not a trespass 
 in such a case ? I ask, is that man who goes forth 
 from his home in all the strenofth of a hio^li and 
 holy purpose to endeavor to walk in the ways of 
 righteousness to be protected ? Has he no rights ? 
 
The Sfafe and Tonperance. 185 
 
 Do the men who tempt him not commit a trespass? 
 What is the stealing of a bit of property, worth a 
 dollar or two, as a trespass compared with that by 
 which temptation has been put in his path that has 
 led him to fall ? 
 
 In the second place, the wife and mother and 
 children have rights that need protection. They are 
 dependent upon the husband and father for support, 
 for clothing, for shelter and education . Their all is 
 invested in the father. Their all depends upon his 
 sobriety, his diligence, his honesty. The intemper- 
 ate man can support and take care of his children 
 but imperfectly. Every glass he drinks diminishes 
 his ability to support them, secure them education, 
 and give them proper care. He becomes a drunk- 
 ard, and his ability to care for his wife and children 
 is absolutely destroyed. But for the men who sell 
 he might have been sober. He resolves, he prom- 
 ises, he is tempted, and falls. If the tempter did 
 not meet him on every corner he might stand. Has 
 there been no trespass upon the rights of that wife 
 and mother and of those ^^^hildren? Have they no 
 right to protection? Suppose a man breaks into 
 the yard and leads away the cow upon which these 
 children depend for their daily subsistence. Infor- 
 mation is given to the officers, and they go forth and 
 hunt him down, and spend large money in doing it. 
 Why such trouble and cost? Ah, there has been a 
 
186 A Busy Life, 
 
 trespass upon the rights of that mother and children. 
 And they talk about the little ones starving at home. 
 But has there been no trespass when that man was 
 tempted and fell, and their resources utterly dried 
 up? 
 
 In the third place, it is the duty of parents to train 
 up their children in the nurture and admonition of 
 the Lord: so to train them that they may be sober, 
 upright, honest men and women, and good citizens. 
 It is their daty, and if they do not do it we are swift 
 in finding fault with them. And they have a right 
 to do this. They have a right to be left free to do 
 it without let or hindrance. No man has a right 
 to interfere with those parents or make their duty 
 difficult. But the seller of intoxicating drink tempts 
 the boys, suggests the gratification of appetite, and 
 makes it easy, Because of the open saloon the boys 
 of the land learn to drink, become drunkards and 
 are ruined. AVithout them they might have been 
 sober, honest, upright children ; boys that would do 
 honor to a father and mother; men that would have 
 been a blessing to the Clmirch and the world. But 
 now what are they? Eotten carcasses. You as a 
 father may lavish tender care ; you may lavish days 
 and nights of toil upon your children; you may 
 spend and are spent for their welfare. You do the 
 best you can to train them. You instill into them 
 lessons of truth, righteousness and temperance. 
 
The Sldte and Temperance. 187 
 
 They grow up. They go out. They see the open 
 saloons. They ask what is inside of those blinds. 
 They go at first from curiosity. They see the shin- 
 ing bottles. They smell the drink. They are 
 tempted to taste. They learn to love it, and in spite 
 of all the care of home down they go to ruin. Many, 
 many a family has been draped in mourning through 
 this process. But for the open saloon this might 
 not have occurred. Now, my friends, is it the duty 
 of parents to bring up their children to be sober 
 men? Have they not the right to be permitted to 
 doit? Has any man on earth a right to interfere, 
 to make it difficult or impossible for them to do it? 
 And wlienever there is such interference is there not 
 a trespass? Better a thousand times sweep away a 
 man's estate and leave him penniless than sweep 
 away the character of his sons and leave them des- 
 pised drunkards. Welcome a thousand times a home 
 in yonder infirmary than come to such an end. 
 
 In the fourth place, the State has a right to tax 
 citizens so as to raise the money needful for the 
 work of government. But it may not rightfully add 
 one cent more. It is usurpation. The State has a 
 right to demand a moderate tax as the needs of the 
 government may require. No man has a right to 
 pursue any vocation that will needlessly increase 
 the expense of the government and cause higher 
 taxes. 
 
188 A Busy Life. 
 
 Now, concerning the liquor traffic this is true. I 
 cannot amplify these points, I simply state them, 
 after careful investigation, believing that they are 
 within the truth. It is true, first, that it causes an 
 annual waste of about $600,000,000. As a conse- 
 quence there is that much less taxable property, and 
 of course the remainder must pay higher taxes. 
 
 Again, it causes a diminution of production. 
 Di inking men and drunkards produce less than 
 sober men; hence there is less taxable property, less 
 property on which to raise taxes, because of non- 
 production, and because of the waste of drinking. 
 
 Not only this, but it is the cause of at least three- 
 fourths of the pauperism. Statistics which I have 
 place it at eighty or ninety per cent. And, since it 
 is the cause of three-fourths of the pauperism, there- 
 fore the taxes necessary to support three-fourths of 
 the paupers must be added to the cost of the 
 traffic. 
 
 It is also the cause of at least three -fourths of the 
 crime. Some statistics make it as high as ninety- 
 nine per cent. I have made a moderate estimate of 
 it. Now, the expense of this must be added to the 
 taxation. No man has a right to pursue any busi- 
 ness which thus diminishes the taxable property and 
 adds to the taxes which must be annually levied. 
 Citizens may lawfully complain of all the taxes they 
 are compelled to pay because of the manufacture and 
 
Tlie Sfatc and Tcmpcrdncc. 189 
 
 sale of intoxicating drinks. They may complain of 
 it as a grievance demanding redress and protection. 
 
 The public has a right to health. No man has a 
 right to pursue any business that will unnecessarily 
 injure the healthfulness of any community and pro- 
 duce disease. The government acts constantly upon 
 this principle. No man would be permitted to engage 
 in any business in any community which would be 
 prejudicial to life or health in that community. 
 But drinking and drunkenness are prejudicial to 
 the public health. Now I desire to give you some 
 evidence on that point, for it is one to which atten- 
 tion is not usually called. This is from a statement 
 recently published, of a distinguished jurist, an 
 Associate Justice of the Superior Court of Massa- 
 chusetts. This is not from a clergyman. 
 
 "In considering the relation of alcohol to the pub- 
 lic health, we are not to confine ourselves to its 
 effects upon its immediate victims, but to look at its 
 effects upon the sanitary condition of the community 
 and its tendency to produce a propagating nidus of 
 disease. And here, first, we notice that poverty, of 
 which drink is the principal cause, especially in our 
 large cities, is one of the prime factors of all disease. 
 It is this poverty, hopeless and degrading, which 
 compels its victims to huddle together in tenement 
 houses, where'the decencies of life are not possible, 
 and where the malignant influences of the external 
 
190 A Busy Life. 
 
 situation are reinforced by the pestiferous influences 
 within. When to all these is added the lack of 
 clothing for the changes of our climate, the insuffi- 
 cient and unhealthy food, the overwork of mothers, 
 the premature work of children, we can see at once 
 that in such homes as these is the origin and nutri- 
 ment of malaria and fever; and then it finds for its 
 ready victims the inmates with systems enfeebled 
 and corrupted by debauch and vitiated by heredi- 
 tary alcoholism. 
 
 In New Castle, within a period of two months of 
 the ravages of cholera it struck down one drinker 
 out of fifty-six, of course a far greater proportion 
 of drunkards; only one in 625 of the teetotalers. 
 Throughout the country it always broke out afresh 
 after a festival occasion, and increased after the 
 Sabbath, when the people consumed a little more 
 drink than usual. Dr. Cartwright, of New Orleans, 
 writes, in 1853, to the Boston Medical Journal'. 
 "The yellow feVer came down like a storm upon this 
 devoted city with 1,127 dram-shops in one of the four 
 parts into which it has been divided. It is not the 
 citizens proper, but the foreigners, with mistaken 
 notions about the climate and country, wdio are the 
 chief supporters of these haunts of intemperance. 
 About 5,000 of them died before the epidemic touched 
 a single citizen or sober man, so far as I can get at 
 the facts." 
 
TJic Siuic and Temperance. 191 
 
 It is upon the last clause we would pause a mo- 
 ment. Five thousand drunkards first — and then? 
 Why, then, the disease, acquiring virulence by feed- 
 ing upon such material, spreads like a conflagration 
 far and wide, and spares not the noblest and best. 
 It is the cause of introducing disease of the most de- 
 structive character, and thus spreading its devasta- 
 tions throughout the community. Novr, is not the 
 creation of such hot-beds of disease a trespass ? May 
 not the individual claim protection? 
 
 Now, my friends, the conclusion that I come to 
 from an examination of these cases, is that the traffic 
 does trespass upon the rights of the man seeking to 
 reform; it does trespass upon the rights of wives of 
 drunkards and drunken men and of their children ; 
 it does trespass upon the rights of parents endeavor- 
 ing to bring up their children in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord ; it does trespass upon the 
 financial rights of every taxpayer; it does trespass 
 upon the rights of the community to health. The 
 rights of the whole community are invaded in these 
 respects. There is a trespass here. Those men 
 seeking to reform, those wives and mothers, those 
 parents, those taxpayers, the whole people seeking 
 to be free from the contagion of disease, have a 
 right to go before the government, not asking it as 
 a favor merely, but demanding protection. Can 
 there be any question about this? As certainly as 
 
192 A Busy Life. 
 
 any man has a right to go before the government 
 and demand protection against any infringement 
 upon his rights, so certainly has he a right to de- 
 mand this. And instead, therefore, my friends, of 
 those who are engaged in this business being at 
 liberty to do as they please, and no man meddling 
 with them, the people have a right to demand of 
 them that, as trespassing upon the rights of their 
 neighbors, they shall stop their iniquitous business. 
 The question comes, then, may the government 
 protect? That is not enough. The government 
 must protect, or it will neglect a most important 
 duty. It is the duty of the government to protect 
 my right to property. It is the duty of the govern- 
 ment to protect my liberty, and, in protecting my 
 life, my liberty and property, it does Avell. But, 
 my friends, what is a man's right to a piece of 
 property compared with a man's right to be sober? 
 AYhat is a woman's right to property compared to 
 her right to have a sober husband? What is the 
 children's right to anything as compared with their 
 right to be free from the curse of a drunken father ? 
 What are parents' rights in other respects to compare 
 with their right not to be molested in bringing up 
 their children? What are all the other interferences 
 with the rights of property compared with the 
 enormous taxation to which we are subjected by 
 this traffic? My friends, if it is right to protect 
 
TJic Siaic and TctujH'Vdnce. 193 
 
 the lesser rights, is it not right to protect the 
 greater? Is it not the duty of the government to 
 protect ? 
 
 But this suggests the third question: Is there 
 any other method than by absolute and complete 
 prohibition? License is wrong in principle and 
 utterly fails to protect the individual. There is no 
 protection in it. There is some regulation and 
 restriction of the traffic and some money made, 
 which goes a little way to meet the expenses which 
 the traffic causes, but as to its protection in other 
 respects there is nothing in it. Taxation protects 
 only in part. But prohibition strikes at the root of 
 the evil. It does protect. But, so far as I can 
 make out, no other method of dealing with it on the 
 part of the State protects at all, except in the case of 
 license taxation. 
 
 But here some persons raise an objection. 
 Prohibition, they say, does not prohibit. Men still 
 drink in spite of prohibitory laws. It is ineffective. 
 Well, now, to this I answer, laws against murder, 
 theft and robbery do not suppress these or other 
 crimes. We are constantly reading in the daily 
 papers of murders, and of trespass upon the rights 
 of property, notwithstanding the laws. They do 
 not absolutely abolish the evil, they only diminish 
 trespass upon these rights. Men do not demand 
 the repeal of these laws on the ground that they are 
 13 
 
194 A Busy Life. 
 
 inefficient and only diminish the evil instead of 
 abolishing it. And so in respect to the evil under 
 consideration. If the laws diminish the evil it is 
 all that can fairly be demanded of them. It is 
 certainly outrageous to demand that laws prohibi- 
 tory of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating 
 drinks shall abolish the evil when we do not expect 
 laws against any other evil to do anything more 
 than to diminish it, approximate its abolition. Now 
 the question comes, "Do these laws diminish the 
 evil?" I answer. Yes. The facts prove this beyond 
 controversy. 
 
 In 1874, the laws of the State of Illinois rendered 
 it possible for the little city of which I was then a 
 resident [Monmouth] to establish absolute prohibi- 
 tion, and, through the energetic action of half a 
 dozen earnest Avomen, it did it. Every saloon was 
 closed. There was no open saloon in that commu- 
 nity. And what was the result ? We were told that 
 capital would leave our city; we were told that busi- 
 ness would leave us ; that the people would not come 
 there to buy or sell ; that houses would be hauled off 
 to the prairies for farm dwellings; that grass would 
 grow in the middle of the streets ; and then we were 
 told in the same breath, men not noticing the con- 
 tradiction, that it would do no good, for there would 
 be as much drinking as ever. 
 
 Well, what was the result? From that time dated 
 
The State and Temperance. 195 
 
 the prosperity of that city. Business did not leave 
 it. It came to it. The city did not diminish. It 
 increased. Being at the head of a college, I had 
 reason to know something of the difficulties of disci- 
 pline. Before the close of the saloons one difficulty 
 was from intemperance, from drinking and drunken- 
 ness. But after the saloons were closed the difficulty 
 absolutely ceased. It caused us scarce a thought 
 until I left the place. The change from my point 
 of view was most marked. It was said there was as 
 much drinking as ever privately. We went to the 
 agent at the depot, through whose hands every bale 
 of goods must pass, and he testified that the dimin- 
 ution of imports was as great as could be expected. 
 
 If any one has doubts on this subject, let him go 
 to our friend Yocum, and hear from the city of 
 Topeka, Kan., a city of 30,000 population, and a large 
 proportion of that class who are most naturally dis- 
 posed to drink; and yet in that city not an open 
 saloon ; not a drunken man to be seen ; not a sign of 
 intoxicating drinks anywhere; but all around marks 
 of the greatest prosperity. 
 
 Now let me give you the testimony of a disting- 
 uished member of the British Parliament, Lord 
 Claude Hamilton, one of the large landed proprie- 
 tors of Ireland. Now, what can be done in Ireland 
 can be done anywhere: "I am here, as represent- 
 ing the country, to assure you that the facts stated 
 
196 A Busy Life. 
 
 regarding the success of prohibition there are per- 
 fectly accurate. There is a district in that coiintry 
 of sixty-one square miles, inhabited by nearly 10.000 
 people, having three great roads communicating 
 with market towns, in which there are no public 
 houses, entirely owing to the self-action of the in- 
 habitants. The result has been that whereas those 
 high-roads were in former times constant scenes of 
 strife and drunkenness, necessitating the presence of 
 a very considerable number of police to be located 
 in the district, at present there is not a single police- 
 man in that district, the poor-rates are half what 
 they were before, and all the police magistrates tes- 
 tify to the great absence of crime.'- This is in Ire- 
 land, in county Tyrone. Prohibition did diminish 
 crime and pauperism and their evil effects. 
 
 Now, another example. It is that of a town in 
 New Jersey, called Vineland. Concerning this 
 town, Pitman, in his "Alcohol and the State," says: 
 
 "The settlement, from its commencement in 1691, 
 was under the voluntary regime of prohibition, al- 
 though the law empowering the people to vote on the 
 question of license was not passed till 1863. The 
 vote has always been against license by such over- 
 whelming majorities as to amount to practical unanim- 
 ity. This^ city of 10,000 inhabitants, manufactur- 
 ers, traders, fruit-growers and farmers, spent in 1S73 
 $50 for police, and for the support of the poor only 
 
Tlie State and Temperance. 11)7 
 
 $400. It would seem from the report of Mr. Curtis, 
 the constable and overseer of the poor for 1874, that 
 tliere is a slight increase in police expenses, for he 
 says: ' The police expenses of Vineland amount to 
 $75 a year, the sum paid to me.' But a community 
 which has practically no debt, and taxes only 1 per 
 cent, on valuation [Wooster 2 per cent.] can stand 
 this increase well, especially when the constable also 
 reports: 'Though w^e have a population of 10,000 
 people, for the period of six mouths no settler or citi- 
 zen of Yineland has received relief at my hands as 
 overseer of the poor. Within seventy days there 
 has been only one case, among what we call the float- 
 ing population, at the expense of §4. During the 
 entire year there has been only one indictment, and 
 that a trifling case of battery among our colored 
 population.'" A poor place for criminal lawyers! 
 
 Then the author continues: " This is wdiat prohi- 
 bition does, be it observed, not for a picked band of 
 religious emigrants, or a community of scholars, but 
 for a miscellaneous company of laborers from all 
 parts of this country, and from Germany, France, 
 England, Ireland and Scotland." Therefore it pro- 
 hibits effectually in Yineland. 
 
 Now, for the very much talked of State of Maine, 
 a State that has tried this as no other State has tried 
 it. Here is the testimony of one of her Governors, 
 who says that: 
 
198 A Busy Life. 
 
 "The declaration made by many persons that the 
 Maine Law is inoperative, and that liquors are sold 
 freely and in large quantities in this State, is not 
 true. The liquor traffic has been greatly repressed 
 and diminished here and throughout the State, and 
 in many places has been entirely swept away. The 
 law is as well executed generally in this State as 
 other criminal laws are." 
 
 Then we have the statement of another Governor, 
 made in 1876: 
 
 " Maine has a fixed conclusion on this subject. It 
 is that the sale of intoxicating liquors is an evil of 
 such magnitude that the well-being of the State de- 
 mands, and the conditions of the social compact war- 
 rant, its suppression." 
 
 My friends, prohibitory laws may be enforced as 
 well as other criminal laws, and they do protect as 
 well as other laws for the preservation of the rights 
 of the individual. 
 
 There is one other objection. They say, " Use 
 moral suasion. You cannot make men virtuous by 
 law; you must use moral suasion." No man thinks 
 of discarding the use of moral suasion, and all the 
 means that can be employed by the Church of the 
 living God to persuade men to be temperate and quit 
 drinking. No man thinks of that. But, my friends, 
 we do not rely exclusively on moral suasion in the 
 case of murder, theft and robbery. There are men 
 
The Siate and Temperance. 199 
 
 who, notwithstanding all you can say, will murder, 
 and we want law to interfere for their punishment, 
 for the punishment of individuals who cannot be 
 reached by moral suasion. True, you cannot make 
 men virtuous by law, but you can do something to 
 compel them to respect the rights of their fellow- 
 men. If they will not love virtue, they may be made 
 to fear the punishment of crime. The duty of gov- 
 ernment is to protect the welfare of the greatest num- 
 ber. Time will not permit me to go into detail on 
 this point, but you can see at a glance that prohibi- 
 tion, enforced as it is in Topeka, enforced as it is in 
 the little city which I left to come to Wooster, en- 
 forced as it is in Vineland, enforced as it is in Maine, 
 enforced as it is even in county Tyrone, Ireland, is 
 a wonderful means of promoting the general wel- 
 fare. Of this there can be no question. 
 
 I might ask your attention to certain minor duties 
 of the State in regard to this subject. 
 
 First, as to the drunkard. We have got into the 
 habit of treating him as the poor, unfortunate victim 
 of an evil appetite, and we sympathize with him and 
 coddle him, and make him believe that he is a 
 much-wronged individual. Now, while I believe 
 that the traffic itself is wrong and ought to be dealt 
 with as a trespass upon the rights of men, are we 
 to look upon the individual who drinks and becomes 
 a drunkard, and thus trespasses upon the rights of 
 
200 A Busy Life. 
 
 his wife and children, as innocent? No, my friends; 
 a little law enforced against him might be effective 
 in helping him to stand in his integrity. 
 
 In the second place, the officers of the Govern- 
 ment should be required to abstain. I say they 
 should be required to abstain. Shall the officers of 
 this great nation be drinking men and drunkards? 
 " It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings 
 to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink." The 
 habit of using intoxicating drinks should be an abso- 
 lute disqualification for holding any office, from the 
 lowest to the highest. And instead of the President's 
 being at liberty to load his tables with wines, it 
 should be an impeachable offense. 
 
 In the third place, the Government should pay no 
 liquor bills. At least, if our officers and public 
 servants wish to drink, and we choose to allow them, 
 let them pay for it. It is a public disgrace that the 
 Congress of the United States should be called upon 
 to pass appropriations for the liquor bills of men 
 appointed to do honor to the memory of the 
 lamented Garfield. It is enough to make an Amer- 
 ic in citizen blush to think of it. A few years ago I 
 was a member of a committee appointed to visit the 
 Naval Academy at Annapolis. We were accom- 
 modated in a government building and supplied with 
 rations by the Government. When I entered that 
 house and was introduced to one of my fellow vis- 
 
The Siaie and Tempcrcmce. 201 
 
 itors, his first statement was that in a certain pLace 
 I shouhi find free access to all kinds of liquors. 
 Morning, noon and night there were liquors on the 
 table, furnished by the Government of the United 
 States, and paid for out of the revenues of the Gov- 
 ernment, and the people were taxed to pay for the 
 liquor used by eleven men out of the twelve w^ho 
 made up that committee. I say that it is time that 
 Government liquor bills should be stopped. 
 
 Now, what is our duty as men and women? In 
 the first place, it is our duty to speak out, stand up 
 and work for temperance. Let us keep men familiar 
 with the evils of intemperance. Let us keep them 
 familiar with the dangers of intemperance, the rights 
 of the people, and tlie duty of the Government. 
 
 Li the second place it is our duty to cast our votes 
 in such a manner as will tell most powerfully in 
 favor of protection. I do not say that it is our duty 
 to enter into this organization or that. This is a 
 question that those who are opposed to the traffic 
 must settle among themselves; and my counsel to 
 them would be, "Brethren, see that ye fall not out 
 by the way." The curse of the cause in many lo- 
 calities is that temperance men are divided, and 
 their votes have been comparatively powerless. 
 Whatever may be the policy adopted, it should be 
 one upon which all can unite. Those who believe 
 that the rights of the people demand protection 
 should be united in their vote. 
 
202 A Busy Life. 
 
 In the next place, it is our duty to do all that we 
 can to enforce existing laws. A distinguished jurist 
 of this city has said that with $1,000 he could close 
 every saloon in the place. Men say the laws cannot 
 be enforced. I know they can be, if the officers of 
 the government and the citizens of the community 
 say they shall be enforced. I have heard that thing 
 said before, but I have seen it proven false. It is 
 only for the people to do their duty, and see to it 
 that the officers do their duty, and the work shall be 
 done. And my word for it, friends, this is the 
 special duty of Christian men. AVho shall secure 
 those in their rights, against whom the trespass has 
 been committed, and is being committed, if not God's 
 people? Shall we, servants of Christ, under obligr- 
 tions to stand up and speak out for right everywhere, 
 under obligation everywhere to relieve the distressed, 
 shall we keep silence and leave these men of the 
 world to speak out? No, my friends, it is for us to 
 speak out iii clear, unequivocal, unmistakable tone.-. 
 It is for us to lead the van, calling upon all good 
 men and true to come to our help against the migh'y. 
 
 For the sake of the drunkards seeking to reform; 
 for the sake of the wives and children crushed under 
 the curse of a drunken husband and father; for the 
 sake of the parents lying down with aching heads 
 and rising with hearts well-nigh broken, because of 
 sons hastening down to drunkards' graves; for the 
 
The State and Temperance. 203 
 
 sake of the young men of our country, so many of 
 whom are being dragged down into the vortex of 
 perdition; for the sake of the nation we love so well, 
 and for which, in the past, many have done so much ; 
 and for the sake of Him, the habitation of whose 
 throne is judgment and justice; for the sake of Him 
 who has loved us and given Himself for us, let us do 
 all that we can, that Christ's law of righteousness 
 may be established in this land, the righteousness 
 that exalteth a nation; and that the sin which is a 
 reproach to any people may be wiped oat. 
 
TO HIS CHILDEEN. 
 I. 
 
 My Dear Son: — Twenty-one years ago to-day you 
 were born into this world. It was a day of great 
 gladness to your mother and me. During all the 
 long years that have elapsed, you have been the 
 object of our fondest love, and most anxious care. 
 Your shortcomings have caused us the most pro- 
 found grief; your success and Christian character 
 and conduct, the deepest gratitude and joy. To-day 
 you cease to be a boy, and become a man. Not 
 only really but legally. Deeply interested as I am 
 in you, I felt that I could not let the day pass 
 without marking it by some special communication. 
 Had I money to give, gladly would I endow you 
 with wealth. But "silver and gold have I none, yet 
 such as I have" I freely give. 
 
 You are a professed Christian, and I hope a real 
 one. It would hurt me more than I can tell, to 
 think you were not. Now, 
 
 1. Keep close to Jesus; trust him; follow him; 
 obey him; come what may, be loyal to him. 
 
 2. Never omit prayer, morning and evening, on 
 any account. Be afraid of no one. You come of a 
 
 (204) 
 
To His Children. 205 
 
 praying family, on both sides, for generations. 
 Your heritage is many prayers. When you have a 
 home, keep up the honored customs of family 
 worship. Let no company or crowd of business 
 prevent it. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
 holy. Go to church regularly; wet or dry, cold or 
 hot, be in your place. Make the very most of the 
 services. At home, give the day to the Bible and 
 religious reading, such as will make you better. 
 Put out of the way everything secular. 
 
 3. Aim to be an active, useful Christian. Do your 
 part in the prayer-meeting, Sabbath-school, and the 
 business of the church. Never let it be said that 
 
 is of no account. Be sure that you always 
 
 count one. 
 
 4. Always, everywhere, at all times, be on the 
 side of truth and righteousness. Never permit 
 yourself to be in an equivocal position. Never 
 permit yourself to be on the wrong side of any 
 question. 
 
 5. Keep clear of all use of intoxicating drinks. 
 Never taste them, not even wine or beer. Keep 
 clear of all games of chance. Have nothing to do, 
 that you can possibly help, with men that drink or 
 gamble. All companionship with them will corrupt 
 you and damage your reputation. 
 
 6. You liave chosen your profession; stick to it, 
 determined to fight it out on that line. Keep yonr 
 
206 A Biisij Life. 
 
 eye on the top; if you are a diligent student and 
 improve your opportunities, you will in time plant 
 your feet there. This is the way to win, but 
 remember you must know before you can do; there- 
 fore, study, study, study. 
 
 7. Manage your finances wisely. Keep out of 
 debt. Pay as you go. Let no man tempt you to 
 run into debt, then year by year be hand-cuffed and 
 shackled. But I cannot add more. I might write 
 
 a volume, but why ? We are well and happy. 
 
 came last night with her boy. We have a merry 
 time. Baby voices are heard constantly. The 
 children are wonderfully pleased. Come when you 
 can. You are always welcome to your father's 
 house. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 David A. Wallace. 
 II. 
 
 My Deak Son. — Although I have not heard from 
 you since I last wrote, I feel like writing to you 
 again this morning. I am very busy; still I feel 
 that I must take time to write to you. Your welfare is 
 very dear to me. I exceedingly rejoice in it. Mis- 
 fortune to you I feel as keenly as to myself. I want 
 to say something to you about your religious inter- 
 ests to-day. You have made a profession of faith 
 in Christ. I trust your profession was genuine, and 
 
To His Children. 207 
 
 that you are a child of God. Be faithful in reading 
 the Bible, and in private prayer. Let your room be 
 a Bethel. Wherever you are, select a church. 
 Make it for the time your own. Attend its prayer- 
 meetings. Help in its Sabbath-school. Go to all 
 its public Sabbath services. A poor church and 
 preacher is better than none. You will get good by 
 going, and you will suffer loss by staying at home. 
 I very much desire that you remain a member of 
 the United Presbyterian Church. My first reason 
 is, that I believe before God it to be more nearly 
 right than any other ; and it will be very gratifying 
 to both mother and me. Fix a certain percentage 
 of your income and pay it out for the Lord's cause. 
 Be faithful to your convictions of truth and duty. 
 Stand up for your principles. A reputation as a 
 man of principle is of incalculable value in this 
 world. Always keep a clear conscience. There is 
 more happiness in that than you can tell. " Be 
 faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life," Yours affectionately, 
 
 David A. AYallace. 
 
 III. 
 
 My Dear Son. — You are now in a fair way to get 
 along. I trust the Lord will bless you and prosper 
 you. I do not want to annoy you by a lecture ; but 
 I will put down a few things which you will notice : 
 
208 A Busy Life. 
 
 1. Never, at any time, do anything your con- 
 science condemns. Keep a clear conscience. It will 
 never pay to defile it. 
 
 2. Be faithful to your God and Saviour. Come 
 what may, neglect no religious duty. Always be on 
 the Lord's side. 
 
 3. Study economy, yet be generous in giving. 
 
 4. Be faithful to the interests of your employers. 
 Never neglect or slight any work committed to you. 
 When men trust you, be sure and prove worthy of 
 the trust. 
 
 5. Learn all you can. Study to do your best to 
 get on. 
 
 Now, my dear boy, think on these things. I will 
 trouble you no more with admonitions. You have 
 been told enough. Now, my heart's desire and 
 prayer to God is, that you may develop into an 
 intelligent, able, successful Christian. You cannot 
 tell how near you are to our hearts. Any mishap 
 befalling you would break them. Come and see us 
 when you can, but business first. 
 Your father, 
 
 David A. Wallace. 
 
TO A COLLEGE STUDENT. * 
 
 My Dear Friend: — Understanding that you are 
 about to leave home for college, I have decided to 
 write you this letter, for the purpose of making a 
 few suggestions which you may find valuable. The 
 world which you are about to enter, is in many 
 respects different from that in which you have 
 moved. College will be to you a blessing or a curse. 
 You may make it the one or the other. Earnestly 
 desiring your welfare I drop you these lines. 
 
 The aim of the college is the physical, mental and 
 moral improvement of the student. Its course of 
 study, means and methods are all arranged with the 
 view of securing these ends. Just in proportion as 
 you become a healthier, stronger, more intelligent, 
 sharper, wiser, better man will you attain the ends 
 of the college. The course of study is arranged 
 with the view of securing mental and moral culture. 
 Pursue it carefully, make thorough work of it, mas- 
 ter it. Do not make study secondary and some- 
 thing else primary. Do not study for a degree 
 merely, nor for the reputation of scholarship, but 
 for excellence. All the regulations of the college 
 have been arranged with the view of securing its 
 ends most effectually in the improvement of the 
 14 (209) 
 
210 A Busy Life. 
 
 student. They liave been adopted, only after the 
 most careful consideration. They are commonly 
 the result of a very large experience. Observe them 
 carefully. Do not despise them. You cannot dis- 
 regard them without hurt. Students suffer great 
 loss when they trample college rules under foot. 
 Remember also that physical excellence and moral 
 excellence are ends as valuable to you as mental 
 excellence. Be careful not to prosecute your studies 
 so as to ruin your health ; be careful not to neglect 
 moral and spiritual culture. You will have made 
 poor use of the opportunities of the college if you 
 graduate wdth a body made worthless by disease or 
 with a moral character w^recked by vice. Aim at all 
 excellence, and work for it as wisely and earnestly 
 as you can. 
 
 In your intercourse with the professors, treat them 
 as gentlemen. Act yourself as a gentleman. There 
 is nothing much more contemptible in a student 
 than insolence to a professor or instructor. Submit 
 implicitly to their authority. Never resist it. Never 
 conspire with other students to overthrow it. It is 
 wrong. In the end, whatever success may attend 
 your plans for a time, you will be defeated, and 
 suffer more than you at the time may think proba- 
 ble. When you cannot be an obedient, orderly 
 student, leave. You are not under obligations to 
 remain a day in the college; but you are under 
 
To a College Studeni. 211 
 
 obligations to be studious, orderly, gentlemanly 
 while you do remain. Treat the professors as your 
 friends. If you need advice, go to one of them. If 
 you are in trouble, select a professor, tell him all 
 about it, and he will be able and willing t«)help you 
 much. 
 
 Be courteous and gentlemanly in all your inter- 
 course with your fellow students. Be more ready 
 to give than ask a favor. Avoid tale-bearing. Never 
 circulate an evil report. AVhen asked to join in 
 anything you believe to be wrong, refuse promptly 
 and decidedly. Let no sophistry entice you to do 
 wrong. Be swift to hear, but slow to speak. Be 
 courfigeous in standing up for your own convictions. 
 Beware of all entanglements of every kind that 
 might interfere with your standing up for the truth 
 and the right. Don't permit any son of mischief to 
 wheedle you into saying or doing anything wrong or 
 ridiculous. If you do permit yourself to be fooled, 
 keep it to yourself. Beware of proclaiming your 
 own stupidity to the public. Let conscience and 
 good common sense be your guide, and you will not 
 o;o far wrou"^. 
 
 Remember that your money is given you by your 
 father to meet your necessary expenses. You have 
 no right to waste it. Send him a complete and 
 exact account of your expenses every month. 
 It is his right. If you make a foolish 
 
212 A Busy Life. 
 
 expenditure, tell him all about it. He 
 knows a boy's wants and dangers, and will be 
 ready to overlook the blunder. Cover up nothing 
 from him. No matter what happens, let him know 
 everything. It will give him unspeakable pleasure 
 to knoAV that you trust him and tell him all. In 
 general, remember that you will never have any 
 better friends than your father and mother. Honor 
 them, trust them, do all you can to make them 
 happy; they will do more for you than any other 
 friends you will ever find. 
 
 I need not tell you to attend your own church 
 regularly. Be a consistent Christian, an earnest 
 Christian, an active Christian. Take your place in 
 the Sabbath-school at once. If you are not needed 
 as a teacher, enter the Bible class, and make all you 
 can out of it. You will find many earnest Christian 
 men at college. Become intimate with them. You 
 may get much good from them. In all respects, 
 study to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of 
 Christ. 
 
 But my sheet is full and I must close. May the 
 Lord bless you and make you a blessing. 
 
 Yours affectionately, D. A. W. 
 
TO A THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 
 L 
 
 Dear Friend: — The time is drawing near when 
 you will enter formally on the study of theology, as 
 preparatory for the office and work of a minister of 
 the gospel. This is a very important era in your 
 life. It is hardly possible for you to pass through 
 it without more than ordinary though tfulness. My 
 object is to suggest to you a few things worthy of 
 your attention just now^: 
 
 Be sure you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Without this assurance you will have but 
 little enjoyment in your work either as a student or 
 a minister. But fully persuaded that you have been 
 born again; that you are in Christ; that you are a 
 saint of the Most High; that you have been called 
 and justified; that you are a child of God and an 
 heir of heaven, you will find the work of preparation 
 full of pleasure. And when you entei* on the active 
 duties of the ministry, it will be with unspeakable 
 satisfaction. Settle this question once for all. Take 
 your place as a son in the family of God, beside your 
 elder brother, and then press forward towards the 
 most complete preparation and the highest service. 
 (213) 
 
214 A Busy Life. 
 
 In settling this question, you Avill find Erskine's 
 "sermons on " Faith and Assurance " and Bonar's 
 " God's Way of Peace " very valuable. 
 
 Be sure that you have been called of God to serve 
 him in the gospel of his Son. You know that it is 
 the prerogative of the Lord Jesus to call into his 
 service whom he will. You may be a Christian and 
 yet never have been called to the ministry. With- 
 out evidence of such a call, you can never have any 
 assurance of God's presence with you or blessing 
 upon you. Assured that you have been separated 
 unto the gospel of God, you can confidently claim 
 the promises made to his servants. Resting on 
 these you will go forward confident of his presence 
 with you wherever he may send you, and confident 
 too that his own word preached by you will not return 
 unto him void. Settle this question also, so completely 
 that it will need be raised no more. If you do not 
 fully understand the subject talk it over with your 
 pastor, and with your professor of theology after you 
 reach the seminary. Make thorough work of it. 
 Undecided as to your call to the ministry, you will 
 have but little comfort in it. 
 
 The great work of the theological student is to 
 make himself fully acquainted with the mind of God 
 as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. To this end 
 you must study the Bible with special care. Master 
 the Greek and Hebrew originals. Whatever effort 
 
To a Theological Sfinlmf. 215 
 
 it may cost you to read your Hebrew Bible and 
 Greek Testament with ease put it forth. Let this be 
 your chief work until completed. Aim by careful 
 and patient study fully to master the written word; 
 seek the presence and gracious influences of God's 
 spirit while you study. Drawing your theology di- 
 rectly from the Bible it Avill have a freshness, clear- 
 ness, and fulness, otherwise unattainable. However 
 carefully you study systems and treatises, let the 
 word of God hfive your chief attention. 
 
 As yet you have done but little at investigation. 
 Your principles have been adopted for the most part 
 with but little study. Aiming to become a teacher 
 of others, to answer inquiries that may be put to you, 
 and solve difhculties that will be pressed on your 
 attention, you must now, while a student of theology, 
 subject your principles to the most rigid scrutiny. 
 Take up each subject separately, examine it carefully 
 and patiently. Consider the evidences on which each 
 principle rests, and the objections that may be made 
 to it; the evidence on which the opposite principle 
 rests and its difficulties. Examine the subject as a 
 whole, and in all its parts. Do not rest satisfied 
 until you have explored every inch of the ground. I 
 have found the following plan of study very satisfac- 
 tory: Take a particular doctrine, "Justification" 
 for example. First collect and write down all the 
 Scriptures that bear upon it. Examine each text 
 
216 A Busy Life. 
 
 and ascertain its exact meaning. Then draw out 
 from all these a statement of the doctrine as you have 
 found it, as logically as you can. Next examine the 
 declarations of the Confession and Testimony on the 
 sabject and compare them with your own conclu- 
 sions. Then select the best treatise you can find, 
 defending each of the great positions taken on the 
 subject. Read these" works with the greatest care. 
 After you have mastered them, then look up the his- 
 tory of the doctrine. At every step you will become 
 more familiar with the subject, and finally you may 
 expect to be fully persuaded as to the truth. Such 
 an investigation will so root, ground, settle and estab- 
 lish you, that you will not be shaken and tossed by 
 every wind of doctrine. It will give you confidence, 
 decision, earnestness. I know of but few more piti- 
 able sights than a professed minister of the gospel, 
 who has never investigated the principles which he 
 teaches, afraid to aflirm anything, trembling when 
 the gainsayer opens his lips. But, how grand the 
 man who knows whereof he speaks; who, confident 
 in the positions which he has taken, is prepared to 
 defend them successfully, assail them who may. At 
 every step in such investigations you will find your 
 professors invaluable helps. They have gone over 
 the ground before you and can give you the most 
 valuable aid. Don't despise it. You will find this 
 hard work indeed, but exceedingly profitable. I 
 
To a Theological Student. 217 
 
 have no fears of this thorough research making you 
 dissatisfied with the principles of our churcli ; it will 
 establish you rather. But your time must not-all be 
 spent in study. You must give special attention to 
 the state of your own heart, and hence you must 
 spend much time in reading, prayer and meditation, 
 with special reference to your spiritual nourishment. 
 You must remember, too, that you will learn best 
 how to do the Lord's work by doing it. Hence in 
 the Sabbath-school, the prayer-meeting, and in more 
 public places, as opportunity offers, speak out for 
 Christ, and do the best work in his service you can. 
 Go among the sick and troubled, and learn the work 
 of a son of consolation. Go among men and women, 
 living in sin, and learn how to win such to Christ. 
 Thus exercising your gifts you will fast become a 
 workman that needeth not to be ashamed. 
 
 But I must stop. Think on the things I have 
 written. Go to work determined to succeed. My 
 heart's desire and prayer to God is that he may be 
 with you and bless you, and that you may be made 
 a blessing to the church and the world. 
 
 Your friend, D. A. W. 
 
 II. 
 
 Dear Friend: — Yours of the 2J:th ult., asking me 
 to "tell what constitutes a call to the gospel minis- 
 try, or what are the evidences of it,'' has been 
 received. I cheerfully comply with your request. 
 
218 A Busy Life. 
 
 There is an external and an internal call to the 
 ministry. The former is given by the church. It 
 does not give fitness for the work. The church 
 examines those who profess to have been called of 
 God, and in ordination, orders and ackn(Avledges 
 them as duly authorized to do the work of the 
 ministry. The external call proceeds upon and pre- 
 supposes tlie^ internal, which is of God. To this I 
 ask sj)ecial attention: 
 
 I. The Lord calls into the ministry only the godly. 
 He selects those whom he would have serve him in 
 the gospel from among the converted, the believing 
 loving and obedient. He does not send the uncon- 
 verted, the unbelieving and the disobedient. Those 
 whom he calls to his service have strong faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. The love 
 of Christ constrains them to do what they can for 
 the promotion of his cause ; the love of souls impels 
 them to do what they can to win sinners from sin 
 and hell back to Christ, to holiness, to heaven. But 
 all the godly are not called to the ministry, not even 
 all in whom these graces of the Spirit may be in 
 vigorous and lively exercise. There is a special 
 call. 
 
 II. The elements of this call are, I think, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 1. A desire to be engaged in the work of the min- 
 istry, a liking for it. Not a liking for public 
 
To a T/i('oh)(/ir(il Sfiulotf. 219 
 
 speaking merely, nor a liking for the consideration 
 that attaches to the ministerial office ; nor for the 
 positions and emoluments that may be won in its 
 exercise, nor for any of its accessories merely, but 
 for the work itself. This desire should be a con- 
 straining desire, such as will move one towards it; 
 a considerate desire that remains after counting the 
 cost fully; a disinterested desire for the service and 
 not for the honors and rewards that attend it in this 
 world ; an earnest desire, and not a mere feeble, indefi- 
 nite liking ; an abiding desire, and not a desire that 
 will pass away like the morning dew. Such a 
 desire exists in no heart in which it has not been 
 wrought by the Holy Spirit. It is not of man, but 
 of God. When a young man finds such a desire 
 rising in his heart, remaining and strengthening, he 
 has, I think, evidence that God is calling him to this 
 service. 
 
 2. But when the Lord calls he also qualifies, and 
 hence I believe that fitness for the ministry is a 
 second element in a call. Paul, in his first Epistle 
 to Timothy, 3: 2-7, gives the necessary qualifica- 
 tions at length. Until a man finds himself to be in 
 some good degree in possession of these attainments, 
 his call is not complete. He is not yet authorized 
 to apply for admission to the ministerial office. The 
 church is not yet warranted in recognizing him as 
 called of God, and in ordaining him by the laying 
 on the hands of the presbytery. 
 
220 A Busy Life. 
 
 The call is in progress, but not complete. And 
 here I desire yon to give special attention to " apt- 
 ness to teach." This, I think, implies two things — 
 ( 1. ) Native talent, natural ability ; such as with due 
 culture will enable one to comprehend and expound 
 gospel mysteries. (2.) Learning, acquaintance with 
 these truths; so that he can explain them to those 
 who desire to hear them. One who finds himself in 
 possession of sufficient natural ability, in addition 
 to the desire described above, is warranted in seek- 
 ing that intellectual culture, that knowledge and 
 understanding of things, secular and sacred, that 
 will enable him to help men and Avomen to a better 
 understanding of the things concerning the king- 
 dom of God. Before, however, anyone can decide 
 the question of his " aptness to teach," he must 
 have, by actual trial, determined whether or no he 
 possesses this qualification. A man may be a 
 genius of the highest order, be distinguished for 
 the extent and accuracy of his theological scholar- 
 ship, and still be far from " apt to teach." This I 
 regard as a special attainment made by compara- 
 tively few. It should not, therefore, be taken for 
 granted, but its existence should be demonstrated 
 by careful experiment in teaching. 
 
 1 have, you will perceive, given you but two ele- 
 ments of a call to the ministry, but my sheet is full. 
 Next week I shall direct your attention to a third. 
 Yours affectionately, D. A. W. 
 
To a Thcoloyical SUidciit. 221 
 
 III. 
 
 Dear Friend: — In my last I mentioned two 
 elements of a call to the ministry — a desire for the 
 work, and the necessary qualifications for it. 
 
 3. There is, however, a third which should not be 
 overlooked. I mean opportunity. There may be 
 this desire, there may also be native talent and no 
 insuperable mental or moral disqualifications but 
 opportunity may be lacking, and, as long as this is 
 the case, a call cannot be regarded as complete. 
 
 The opportunity may be lacking to acquire the 
 necessary culture. The money needful may not be 
 attainable, or the inquirer may be under such 
 obligations to others that he cannot give himself to 
 the work of preparation. God does not require a 
 man to enter the ministry until he first gives him 
 opportunity to prepare for it. If a young man is 
 conscious of the desire which constitutes the first 
 element of a call, conscious of possessing native 
 talent sufficient, conscious of no insuperable dis- 
 qualification, and still lacks the opportunity referred 
 to above, let him wait patiently. If God desires 
 his service in the ministry, he will open up the way. 
 
 But the needed learning may have been acquired, 
 and opportunity still be lacking to enter on the 
 work of the ministry. Existing obligations may 
 keep the inquirer in other work, or the door may be 
 
222 A Busy Life, 
 
 shut so that he cannot enter in. God does not call 
 on men to break, disregard, or be unfaithful to 
 existing obligations. When it is his pleasure that 
 they should enter into a new branch of his service, 
 he sets before them on open door, which no man 
 can shut. 
 
 When these three things exist in the case of any 
 man of God, I think he may regard his call as 
 complete. If he desires to be engaged in the work, 
 with a constraining, considerate, disinterested^ 
 earnest, abiding desire: if he possesses the qualifi- 
 cations described by the apostle ; if full opportunity 
 has been afforded him, then he may regard himself 
 as not only really and truly, but fully and completely, 
 called of God to the ministry of the word. He not 
 only may go forward, but it is at his peril that he 
 holds back. Let him submit the evidences of his 
 call to the elders of the church; it then becomes 
 their duty, being satisfied of its validity, to ordain 
 him to the work of the ministry, and to certify him 
 to the church and to the world as one called of God. 
 He can go forth claiming the promises and rejoicing 
 in his work. • 
 
 And here I ask your attention to the following 
 earnest words from an "Address to Students of 
 Divinity," by the famous John Brown, of Hadding- 
 ton. I find it prefixed to his "System of Theology," 
 a work which ought to be in the library of every 
 
To a Theologirdl ShidruL 228 
 
 minister and student of theology, but of wliicli i 
 have never seen but a single copy. He says: "Take 
 heed that your call from Christ and his Spirit to 
 your ministerial work be not only real, but evident. 
 Without this you can neither be duly excited ov 
 encouraged to your work; nor hope, nor pray for 
 divine success in it; nor bear up aright under the 
 difficulties you must encounter, if you attempt to be 
 faithful. If you run unsont by Jesus Christ and 
 his Spirit, in the whole of your ministrations you 
 must act the part of a thief and a robber, a 
 pretended and treacherous ambassador of Christ 
 and his Father, and a murderer of men's souls, not 
 profiting them at all. What direction, what support, 
 what assistance, what encouragement, what reward, 
 can you then expect? Ponder, therefore, before 
 God. Have you taken this honor to yourselves? or 
 were you called of God as was Aaron? Has Jesus 
 Christ sent you to preach the gospel, and laid upon 
 you a delightful and awful necessity to preach it?" 
 These are weighty words, and demand your serious 
 consideration. One thing more: Do not be in haste 
 to complete your theological studies. Take plenty 
 of time. Make thorough work. Be sure you are 
 familiar with your Hebrew Bible and Greek testa- 
 ment. Go to the bottom of the great questions 
 that will often rise and demand an answer. See 
 that you are well established in Ihe faith, that you 
 
224 A Bus7j Life. 
 
 fully understand it, and can make its principles 
 plain. By work in the prayer meeting Sabbath- 
 school and elsewhere acquire all possible "aptness 
 to teach," so that when you enter on official duty 
 you may be a workman that needeth not to be* 
 ashamed. 
 
 Praying that the richest blessings of a covenant- 
 keeping God may descend and rest upon - you, I 
 remain, Yours affectionately, 
 
 D. A. W. 
 
TO A YOUNG MINISTER 
 I. 
 
 Dear Brother: — I see in the papers that you 
 have been ordained to the office of a minister of the 
 gospel and installed as pastor of a congregation of 
 Christian people. I have thought that I could give 
 you some hints in respect to your work which would 
 be valuable to you, and hence I Avrite you at this 
 time. 
 
 Your work as a preacher is to teach men the gos- 
 pel of the grace of God. You may, on different 
 occasions, give men instruction on other subjects, 
 but this does not belong to your ministerial work. 
 I have no hesitation in saying that you should con- 
 fine yourself to this grand old subject. In illus- 
 trating and expounding the way of salvation through 
 Jesus Christ you will find ample scope for all 
 your powers, and enough to do to occupy all your 
 time. 
 
 In respect to the gospel, I desire to impress upon 
 your attention the importance of ascertaining pre- 
 cisely what it is, and of placing it before the people 
 with the utmost fulness and clearness. One would 
 think that the most careless reader of the Bible 
 16 (225) 
 
226 A Busy Life. 
 
 could not fail to know the gospel exactly. Yet, if 
 you will talk a little with Christian people of aver- 
 age intelligence, and note carefully statements which 
 you will see in print and hear from the pulpit, yon 
 will find prevalent very indistinct and inadequate 
 views of the subject. The preacher undertakes to 
 prescribe for the spiritual diseases of his people, and 
 he ous^ht to make his prescription correct in every 
 particular. Study the subject carefully. Go to 
 your Bible. Examine every scripture that bears on 
 the gospel, every illustration of it, every allusion to 
 it. Be sure that you have the full Bible doctrine. 
 Beware of taking a part for the whole ; of confound- 
 infif thinofs that differ, and of makino^ distinctions 
 where there is no difference. Study carefully the 
 expositions which the great lights of the Christian 
 church have given of it. Best content only when 
 you are assured that you have found the truth, and 
 the whole truth on the subject. Having found it, 
 use all diligence to teach it clearly to your people. 
 If you adopt the methods of statement and illustra- 
 tion employed by any one writer, your preaching 
 will become tame and uninteresting from sameness. 
 If, however, you vary your modes of presentation 
 to set forth the gospel in all the forms, under all the 
 aspects, and with all the variety of the Scriptures 
 themselves, your preaching will constantly be new 
 and interesting. The more closely you follow the 
 Bible, the more varied will your preaching be. 
 
To a Young Minister. 227 
 
 There are certain questions connected with the 
 gospel whicli trouble many serious people. Among 
 them one of the most prominent is, assurance of sal- 
 vation. AYe do not desire to live in doubt, we desire 
 peace, confidence, hope. We all shrink from living 
 a life of anxiety in respect to our interest in Christ. 
 As soon as you gain the confidence of your people, 
 and they begin to speak freely to you, you will find 
 that this question gives many much trouble. In or- 
 der to be prepared to help inquirers, you must mas- 
 ter the subject thoroughly. You must not only learn 
 the truth as it is presented in the word of God, but 
 you must yoiu-self live in the enjoyment of that 
 peace that passeth all understanding. If you have 
 not attained it, you will be but a poor guide to 
 others. Being justified by faith, having peace wdth 
 God, and rejoicing in the hope of glory of God, you 
 will be able to lead others successfully into the same 
 land of light and joy. Early in my ministry I was 
 much troubled with this question. Through the in- 
 structions of the fathers of our church (some of 
 whom have fallen asleep), and the writings of Er- 
 skine and Anderson, I was led to a full comprehen- 
 sion of the truth, and I feel sure that afterwards my 
 preaching and intercourse with inquirers was much 
 more effective for good. You may rest assured, my 
 dear brother, that you will be far from doing the 
 work which you may and ought to do, if you do liot 
 
228 A Busy Life. 
 
 attain to clear and correct views of this subject, and 
 to that habitua,! peace with God which ruled in the 
 hearts and minds of primitive Christians. But I 
 must close. Yours fraternally, 
 
 D. A. AV. 
 
 II. 
 
 Dear Brother: — A few things of great impor- 
 tance additional to what I wrote the other day have 
 suggested themselves to me. 
 
 " Tire law is our school-master to brinor us unto 
 
 o 
 
 Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Men 
 do not apply to a physician until they feel themselves 
 to be sick. The more deeply they are impressed 
 with the dangerous character of their disease, the 
 more promptly and earnestly do they seek some one 
 who can cure them. Men do not seek Christ, they 
 do not feel any personal interest in the gospel until 
 they feel that they need a Saviour. They do not feel 
 that they need a Saviour until they feel themselves 
 to be sinners, guilty, condemned, helpless; children 
 of wrath and heirs of hell. They do not feel them- 
 selves to be sinners until they understand something 
 of the high claims of the law under which they live, 
 and God's infinite holiness and justice. In God's 
 perfect law, in the light of that commandment which 
 is exceeding broad, men may see themselves as God 
 sees them — dead in trespasses and in sins. Hence, 
 
To a Young Minister. 229 
 
 iu bringing men to Clirist we must preach the L'lw. 
 We must unfokl it in all its grandeur, authority, 
 purity and spirituality; we must exhibit God as 
 holy and just; we must help men to see that sin is 
 an abominable thing in God's sight; and that be- 
 cause of the sin that is in them the wrath of God 
 abideth on them. We mitst, however, be careful not 
 to preach the law as a way of life, or as a covenant 
 of works. Men are prone to seek life by obedience 
 to the law. One of the first movements of the con- 
 victed sinner is to reform his life, mend his ways, 
 become a better man, and thus secure God's favor. 
 AVe must, however, press on them the utter hopeless- 
 ness of obtaining salvation in this way; they cannot 
 come up to the requirements of his most holy law, 
 and if they could, there is no satisfaction which they 
 can possibly make for the sins of the past. We must 
 so preach the law as to drive men from it as a way 
 of salvation, and bring them to Christ, who is the 
 end of the law for righteousness to every one that 
 believeth. If Ave lead men to rest in the law, we 
 deceive them; if they are not driven from it to Christ 
 they perish. 
 
 The first and great work of the gospel minister is 
 to bring souls to Christ. The inquiring sinner, 
 crushed under a load of guilt, needs Christ at once. 
 We should point him to the Lamb of God, and exhort 
 him to flee to him without a moment's delay. We 
 
230 A Busy Life. 
 
 should put nothing between the inquirer and Christ. 
 We should put every obstacle out of his way. We 
 should by all means help him to the only Saviour. 
 He may reform his life, he may make a personal 
 profession of faith, he may take his place with the 
 people of God in all Avorship and all service, and 
 still, if he is not in Christ, he is a child of wrath 
 still under the curse. Hence, in this way do all you 
 can to bring sinners to the Saviour. 
 
 The believer is one with Christ, he is justified, a 
 saint, a child of God, an heir of heaven, a king and 
 a priest unto God, a temple of the Holy Ghost. Once 
 in Christ he is with Christ in heavenly places. In 
 preaching godly living to a Christian people, I think 
 it is a matter of great importance to lead them to 
 look upon themselves as justified, as children, saints, 
 kings and priests. This done, with what tremen- 
 dous power comes the apostolic exhortation to walk 
 worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. If 
 we are saints, certainly it is fitting that we should 
 live as becometh saints, and this certainly includes 
 holiness in all manner of conversation. If he has 
 done so much for us, redeemed us with his own 
 blood, raised us up together with himself, and made 
 us sit together wdth him in heavenly places, surely it 
 is fitting that we trust him implicitly, love him 
 supremely, and serve him devotedly, walking in all 
 his commandments and ordinances blameless. In 
 
To a Young Minister. 231 
 
 developing these grand themes intended for the 
 perfecting of the saints, your preaching will be in 
 no danger of becoming tame and uninteresting. 
 There will be no sameness about it if only you ex- 
 hibit the truth in all the varied forms and relations, 
 and with all the varied illustrations which we find in 
 the Bible. Yours fraternally, 
 
 D. A. W. 
 III. 
 
 Dear Brother: — In addition to your duties as 
 pastor and teacher you also sustain the relations of 
 an elder, and hence have work to do in the manage- 
 ment of the affairs of the church. As an elder you 
 are on a footing of perfect equality with the other 
 members of the session. You are officially neither 
 the inferior nor the superior of any one of them, 
 except in this, that, according to the provisions of 
 our Book of Discipline, you are the permanent moder- 
 ator of your session, and hence enjoy the peculiar 
 rights which belong to this office. In the Presby- 
 tery, the Synod, and the Assembly, the ruling elder, 
 as we call him, is your official equal. His rights 
 and privileges in all matters of government are 
 identical with your own. In the church courts you 
 are an elder and nothinsf more. 
 
 This being the case, it is evident that you have 
 no right to control your session, unless you can do 
 it by virtue of superior wisdom and intelligence. 
 
232 A Busy Life. 
 
 It is not for you any more than for another ekler to 
 force your views on the session, and crowd them 
 through whatever the other members may think. 
 You are quite a young man ; you have liad absolutely 
 no experience in the performance of the duties of 
 an elder; you have formed certain notions as to 
 what ought to be and what ought not to be in a 
 congregation. Some of these notions are doubtless 
 very good, but some of them are likely to be very 
 crude. In five years from now they wall be very 
 much modified, and you wdll be disposed to smile at 
 many things which you may now think are very 
 wise. Still more, plans and methods which worked 
 admirably in another congregation, with different 
 elders, and among a people in many respects very 
 different from yours, might be very unsuitable in 
 your church. Besides, your session contains some 
 men of great piety, wisdom and intelligence, who 
 have long and large experience as elders, and who 
 understand the peculiarities of the people perfectly. 
 It would, it seems to me, be but little short of 
 impertinence in you to go before that session with 
 new plans and methods, determined to force them 
 through. You may succeed. Many of them will 
 be loth to offend you or unwilling to oppose a 
 measure on which you seem to be set, and acquiesce, 
 yet their judgments not be convinced. Y^ou cannot 
 expect such men to co-operate very heartily in 
 
To a Young Minisier. 233 
 
 carrying out measures of Avliose wisdom they are in 
 doubt. Without their co-operation you will be in 
 danorer of failure. Failure would brinor mortifica- 
 tion to yourself and destroy your influence with 
 your people; crimination and recrimination would 
 inevitably follow, and Avhen such a state of things 
 exists the pastoral relation is not likely to be very 
 permanent. I. am fully persuaded that young 
 ministers leave the congregations in which they 
 first settle, at so early a day, chiefly for this reason. 
 It is your duty to study carefully the circum- 
 stances and wants of your people, and to devise 
 ways and means for the promotion of their spiritual 
 welfare. Whatever your plans may be, bring them 
 before your elders as suggestions. If you bring 
 them forward as measures in relation to which your 
 own mind is fully settled, and take the place of an 
 advocate, you forestall free discussion. Opposition 
 to them will look like opposition to you. You w^ll 
 not be likely to learn all the facts bearing on the 
 case. If, however, your views are submitted as 
 queries or suggestions, the way is open for full and 
 free discussion; if time is taken to deliberate, you 
 will come to see that your views are not wise, or ill- 
 timed, and the way will be open for you to drop the 
 matter altogether, or postpone it to a more conven- 
 ient time. Or, your elders Avill be fully persuaded 
 of the soundness of your opinions, cordially adopt 
 
234 A Busy Life. 
 
 them and do their utmost to cany them out. If 
 they succeed, your policy becomes permanent; if 
 they fail, the elders, all together, bear the respon- 
 sibility. I have found, in many localities, men of 
 wonderful wisdom among the eldership. They are 
 commonly modest men, and yet men of unbounded 
 influence in the neighborhood. If you study care- 
 fully the character and standing of the membeis of 
 your session, you will likely find one or more from 
 whom you may learn much, and who, if cordially 
 sustaining you, will be to you a tower of strength ; 
 if against you, you will remain where yoa are but a 
 short time. Look out such men . Become familiar 
 with them. Draw them out. Learn their views 
 and feelings. Talk over with them your plans and 
 schemes. Find out their opinions about them. 
 Be very sure you are right ; be very sure of the sup- 
 port of the other elders and of the people; if you 
 decide to act contrary to the convictions of such 
 men, carefully reconsider the whole matter, and 
 take plenty of time for it before you come to such a 
 conclusion. Wishing you a successful pastorate, I 
 remain, Yours fraternally, 
 
 D. A. W. 
 IV. 
 
 Deae Brother: — There is a prevailing feeling 
 that the whole work of the preacher must be per- 
 formed in the pulpit. Hence, many, to a great 
 
To a Young Minister. 235 
 
 extent, excuse themselves from the more private 
 preaching. This, however, is not according to apos- 
 tolic practice. Paul in his address to tlie Ephesian 
 elders speaks of having taught "publicly and from 
 house to house," and of "warning every one, night 
 and day, with tears. "Thus he labored in the gospel 
 of God. The most successful ministers in all ages 
 have followed his example in this thing. My own 
 observation has satisfied me that no part of one's 
 ministry is so effective as the personal dealing of 
 man with man. He who neglects it, fails to use 
 one of the most important elements of power. Let 
 me, therefore, press on you the importance of doing 
 your utmost to attain excellence in this department 
 of your work. Study it. Pray for wisdom, strength 
 and grace to help you in it. Talk with old ministers 
 about it, and avail yourself of the lessons of their 
 experience. At first you may fail ; but do not be 
 discouraged; try again and again, with the fixed de- 
 termination not to fail, and at last success will crown 
 your efforts. Guard against frivolity when among 
 your people. Do not fall into the habit of making 
 all your visits merely social. In this way we are 
 in danger of wasting many hours and days of pre- 
 cious time. Aim to know the views and feelings of 
 every one of your people. Be specially attentive to 
 the young. You may set it down as a fact, that 
 every young man and woman, yes, every boy and 
 
236 A Busy Life 
 
 girl old enougli to think in your charge, who has 
 not been brought to Christ, is interested in spiritual 
 things. Young people are commonly timid. They 
 shrink from speaking of these things and yet long, 
 many times with an unutterable longing, to unbosom 
 themselves to some one in whom they can trust and 
 who can help them. Culti^Tlte their confidence. 
 Talk kindly to them. Beware of repelling them 
 with coldness or severity. It is your business to 
 take them by the hand and lead them to Jesus. Do 
 not neglect the sick; study how to cheer, comfort 
 and encourage them. Aim so to conduct your visits 
 that your words may do them good. To talk and 
 pray with the sick profitably is a very high attain- 
 ment. Do not rest content until you have made it. 
 If you fail in this part of your Avork, you can hardly 
 be a success as a pastor, and you Avill have no very 
 strong hold on the affections of your people. 
 
 Be careful, however, that you do not fall into the 
 opposite and equally dangerous extreme of under- 
 valuing your pulpit Avork, and of giving almost ex- 
 clusive attention to pastoral duties. It has been 
 said that feebleness in the pulpit is, in the estima- 
 tion of his people, the unpardonable sin in a 
 preacher. However this may be, it exerts a tre- 
 mendous influence in in j iiring his reputation and in- 
 fluence. On the contrary, a man who habitually 
 preaches ably, is all th e more welcome in the homes 
 
To ((, Young 3Iinisfcr. 237 
 
 of his people, and at the bedside of the sick, and his 
 words have all the greater weigiit when he talks in 
 private to one whom he wishes to impress with the 
 truth. Not unfrequently the remark may be heard, 
 " Our minister is a good man, but ." His peo- 
 ple love him and^ — pity him, not love him and honor 
 him. Such a man's influence will not be very ex- 
 tensive. Be sure, therefore, that you take all neces- 
 sary time to prepare for the pulpit. Keep up your 
 habits of study. Give your forenoons to this work, 
 unless unavoidably hindered. Let your people 
 know that you desire the first half of every day to be 
 uninterrupted, and they will respect your wishes. 
 The afternoons will ordinarily be sufficient for pas- 
 toral work. Your congregation must be widely 
 scattered indeed, if it is often necessary for you to 
 leave home in the forenoon. Do not confine your 
 reading to the subjects on which you are preparing 
 a sermon. Your reading should take a much wider 
 range and be much in advance of the subject to be 
 discussed the next Sabbath. Never preach on a sub- 
 ject you do not fully understand. Never commence 
 to write a sermon on a subject until you have care- 
 fully studied it and mastered it. I have found it 
 work well to select my subjects weeks in advance, 
 and to keep working them up ahead, so that when 
 I come to prepare a sermon for the next Sabbatli the 
 work of investigation and arrangement has already 
 
238 A Busy Life. 
 
 been completed, and nothing remains but to write 
 out or make an extended brief of matter already col- 
 lected and arranged. But I must stop. Hoping 
 that these hints may be profitable to you, I remain, 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 D. A. W. 
 
938.21 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 0035520272 
 
 vass 
 
 BRiniE DO NOT 
 PHOTOCOPY