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WChristiarHndex
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For the Index.
Lessons on Prayer. Sunday Schoo 1
Lesson for May 10 Luke 18:9
17.
BY S. G. HILLYER.
‘■Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed."
This definition of prayer is
given by an English poet. The
couplet is beautiful, but the defi
nition is not accurate; and to that
extent it is misleading. Mere
desire, howeyer strong or sin
cere. does not const!‘ute prayer.
There are many persons who re
ally think that they do desire to
be saved when they die; but they
live for years—perhaps till death
—without ever making a single
prayer for salvation. Desire
may lead on to prayer; but it is
not prayer until it is expressed
in the terms of human speech,
either in thought, or in audible
words, or in significant g* stures.
as in the case of /irr, who bathed
the Savior's feet with her tears
and wiped them with the hairs of
her head. And even she, no
doubt, expressed, in thought,
words, which if audible, would
have been a cry for mercy and
forgiveness. She framed it in
thought; but expressed it in si
lent, pathetic actions. Prayer
may therefore be defined as an
earnest petition offered unto God
for his mercy, and for h's grace
to help us, as individuals, or as
churches, in all our times of
need.
The condition for such a pray
er as the one just described, is
faith in God. “He that cometh
unto God must believe that he is,
and that he is the re warder of
them that diligently seek him.”
Thiscondition is absolute. There
fore the atheist, if there be such
a man, cannot pray. But it is
not enough to believe that God
is. There are some who profess
to believe this, but their concep
tion of God is such that they do
not believe that he can be moved
by the supplications of his crea
tures. With this belief they are
just as effectually excluded from
prayer as the atheist himself.
Hence our faith in God must
include, not only his existence,
but also his ability and his willing
ness to hear us. Else we are
barred forever from the throne
of grace.
Another condition of prayer is
aright knowledge of ourselvts
and of our wants. This brings
us to the lesson before us. Je
sus, as he looked upon the peo
ple around him, found among
them many who “trusted in
themselves that they were right
eous and despised others.” For
their benefit he gave them the
parable of the
PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.
It will require some care to
unfold correctly the lesson which
this parable teaches. To do this,
we must avoid side issues, and
keep distinctly in view the avow
ed purpose of the parable. It
was to meet the care of those who
were self-righteous. The Phaii
see stands for this self-righteous
class. The Publican stands for
those who know and confess
their sins. It is not necessary to
suppose that the Pharisee was a
very bad man practically,because
his prayer was not effective. He
may have been, and I think the
text implies as much, what the
world would call a good, moral
man. Nor is it needful to con
demn him because he thanked
God that he was not as bad as
extortioners and unjust swindlers
and adulterers. If he was indeed
free from such vices, and there
is no hint that he lied, was it not
a legitimate ground for gratitude
and thanksgiving?
What then was the matter with
the Pharisee’s prayer? I think
I can point out its defect, in part
at least, better by an example
than in any other way.
A man pays you a morning
visit. Well, his call is in perfect
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
harmony with the conventional:*,
ties of social life. You accept it
as a courtesy to yourself, and ypu
give your friend a cordial wel
come to your parlor, and words
of mutual greeting are exchang
ed. And perhaps you are hop
ing ft r an hour of pleasant con
versa ion in which you expect to
bear an appropriate part. But
very soon jour friend takes the
lead in the conversation, and en
tertains you, for the entire hour,
with a recital of his own ex
ploit-jitmay be, in his business,or
in his pleasures, or perhaps in
some of his love affairs; but no
matter in which of these scenes
he may appear, he is all the time
his own hero, and the important
vowel “I* is the frequent refrain
of the rolling sentences. Is not
such a visitor a “bore?” And
will you not be glad when he
takes his leave? Such scenes as
this are not uncommon in social
life; and we may smile at the
conceit and vanity which they re
veal.
But can it be that such a scene
finds its’ analogue sometimes in
the temple of the living God?
For an answer, consider the case
of the Pharisee. It was right for
him t > visit the temple. And it
was right for him to seek com
munion with its high and holy
occupant. And his salutation,
“God, I thank thee,” was a good
beginning, had it only been fol
lowed with words equally appro
priate But his words quickly
showed that he htd come, not to
honor God, but to magnify him
self, and in his bloated vanity,to
trust in himself that he was
righteous and to despise others.
As to supplication, he felt no
want—he had nothing to ask—
and so not one trace of a petition
is found in the -words that he ut
tered. Hence the words which
he used were not words of pray
er, but of vain glory and of self
appreciation. In all which he
betrayed the most intense igno
raiceof himself. He knew the
law only in its letter; and. be
cause he had complied outwardly
Aith some of its precepts, he
trusted not in God, but in himself
that he was righteous. How ex
actly this man’s condition illus
trates what Paul, years later,
said of himself, “1 was alive,
once, without the law,” i. e., with
out perceiving its searching de
mands upon his soul. He was a
Pharisee, and in his blind state,
he too trusted in himself that he
was righteous, and despised pth
ers. ‘ But when the command
ment came (in its sj iritual mean
ing) sin revived and I died, ’ i. e.,
he felt himself without righteous
ness and dependent upon sover
eign grace for redemption.
The case of the Publican is in
bold contrast with the case ol the
Pharisee. The Publican belong
ed to the hated class of tax-gath
erers. But he was a Jew, and as
such had access to the holy tem
pie. He, tco, went up to pray.
And “standing afar off, would not
lift so much as his eyes towards
Heaven; but smote upon his
breast, saying: God be merciful
unto me a sinner.” Inthiscasewe
find all the elements of a genuine
prayer. We see in the Publican
a broken spirit and a contrite
heart, we hear his full confes
sion of his sin, and his plaintive
cry for mercy. No doubt he was
(litre Paul) once alive, but when
the law came in all its condemn
ing power, his heart sank within
him. Then he sought the tem
ple, and trusting in the living
God, cried aloud for mercy. No
wonder he went down to his house
justified.
Thus it seems to be no strain
ing of the parable to say that it
does foreshadow the experience
of Paul as given by himself. The
Pharisee represents Paul before
his conversion; while the Publi
can represents him in his convic
tion of sin and in his justification
by faith. Nay, the two charac
ters in the parable represent two
periods in every Christian’s ex
perience; the first, a period of
self-complacency and of content
ment with the world; the other,
a period of conviction, of repent
ance, and of faith leading on to
justification, and to peace with
God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Thus this parable sheds a beam
of light down the centuries to the
present hour, still rebuking the
self righteous and comforting ev
ery weeping penitent.
The Baptist: For reasons un
known to us, The Baptist was
passed by when the proposition
of the American Baptist Publica
tion Society and the reply of the
Southern Sunday School Board
were sent out. We this week
print them together so our dear
people can see what is in ’the air.
And in this connection we ex
press the conviction that as long
as there is demand for a South
ern Baptist Convention, there is
necessity for the publication of
the Convention Series by the
Southern Baptist Sunday School
Board.
{SUBSCRIPTION, «,...:52.00. |
Ito MINISTERS. 1.00.1
••■•ir the Index by Special Permission.
' A WORD TO BAPTISTS.
BY SENATOR MILLS, OE TEXAS.
United States Senate, 1
Washington, I). C.
April 23, 1H96. I
/. T. Tichenor, I>. 8., Atlanta,
Ga:
Dear Sir:—l have your letter
of the2oth. inst., and the resolu
tions of the Home Mission Board
of the Southern Baptist Convdn
tion. 1 feel as keenly as you do
for Mr. Diaz and the oppressed
people he is try ing to help. I
hope he will soon be restored to
liberty. Our State Department
has been doing all it could do for
his release, and the indications
now are that he will be released
from impiisonim nt Upon condi
tion that he leaves the Island
and the doomed people to their
fate. I wish I could say to you
that I hoped for the early re
lease of the people of Cuba from
the power of the despot, but you
know hope is made up of expeeta
tion as well as desire. I desire
it wiih all my heart, and 1 be
lieve v ith all my heart that Cuba
will eventually come out of the
dungeon and take her place
among the governments that
stand for personal, political and
religious liberty. I rejoice to
see the Baptist people speaking
out on the subject. I remember
the history of the struggle for
religious liberty in our own
country and recall the steadfast
support the Baptists gave to Jef
ferson and Madison while they
were leading the people against
intolerance and bigotry. It was
greatly through their united and
active support that the church
was divorced from the power of
the state and freedom of thought,’
speech, and conscience was made
the inheritance of the American
people. I hope the Baptist peo
pie will see that despotism in all
its despicable features in Cuba
is supported by the power of the
United States, and when they do
see it, that they will speak out
as their fathers did and demand
of their government either that
it shall cease its guardianship
over the Island of Cuba, or com
pel the tyrant to cease his butch
eries of the helpless people whom
we hold in subjection to his
powei. With kind regards,
Yours truly,
R. Q. Mills.
For the Index.
Books In Boots.
BY WALTER M GILMORE.
It is well to study men in
books, but better to study books
in men, or human nature in liv
ing characters Each one has a
walking library about him, great
or small, according to the ability
and disposition to extend the
circle of his acquaintance. The
value of one of these living li
braries, however, consists in the
quality of the volumes rather
than in the number. And the
quality is to be determined by
the contents rather than by the
title and binding.
This is an age of cheap books.
The very best literature the
world has ever produced can
now be bought for a mere song.
The book in my library that I
prize more highly than any
other except my Bible is a twen
ty-five cent copy of Bunyan’s
“Pilgrim’s Progress,” and theone
that is of least value to me is a
five dollar book bought from an
agent
Books written in men are not
unlike those written on paper.
The man, like “Pilgrim’s Prog
ress,” who has been most widely
read, and whose life has been
such a great benediction to the
human family, was bound up in
a small unprepossessing body
—Paul, the Jewish tent-maker
and an apostle of the despised
Nazarene. What an humble title
in his day! Yet the second vol
ume of his life (after conversion)
has been worth vastly more to
the world than all the volumes
written out in the lives of all
his heathen contemporaries com
bined.
On the other hand, many of
these “books in boots” tnat have
the least real value are those
that have elegant bindings—
broadcloths and satins, embossed
with gold, silver, and precious
stones —and high sounding titles
—the son or the daughter of
Honorable So and so. But like
the books the agent often im
poses on us—they were made to
'‘sell." These characters are
similar in nature to the “Ten-
Cent-Yellow-Back” which forms
their standard of morality—not
only useless but positively injuri
ous to those who read them.
They hang around saloons, pool
rooms and other places of vice
until they are so begrimed with
dirt from smutty jokes and filthy
conversation and so saturated
with whisky and beer that one
of a refined taste shuns them. Is
it not strange so many have a
fondness for that class of living
literature?
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1896.
“I am a part of all I have ever
met,” said Tennyson. If that be
true, better be very careful in
the selection of the “books in
boots” you read. Would you be
bad? Choose bid companions.
Would you be good? Associate
with the good. Now consider
the question from the stand
point of your associates. Will
you make them better from hav
ing read your life? Is there any
thing in it to inspire faith and
courage? When you have writ
ten the last page, and your hand
becomes cold and motionless in
death, will posterity rise up and
call you blessed for having left
such a legacy, or like the cheap,
trashy literature, will you soon
be forgotten?
The words of James Russell
Lowell are worth remembering
in this connection;
Life is a leaf of paper white
Whereon each on# of us may write
His word or two, and then conies night.
Greatly begin! though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime—
Not failure, but low aim is crime.
The Anointings by Women An In
teresting Question.
BY P. S. WHITMAN, D.D.
The question in last week’s In’
dex, “How many times was Je
sus anointed by women?” is very
appropriate, for it calls our atten
tion to one of the numerous in
stances in which our own ap
proved commentators, in their
attempts at harmony, do a great
deal more hurt than good. The
question appears to be answered
as if no one could think of there
being, more than two instances,
one in Galilee, thq other in Beth
any of Judea. The answer is an
argument to show that the differ
ent accounts of these two could
not possibly refer to only one oc
casion—that, there were really
two different occasions on which
our Lord received this attention
one in Galilee, the other in Beth
any Thus the subject is treated
as if no one had ever r oticedthat
there were two occasions of the
kind in Bethany alone, whilst
the fact in the case is, it is no
more certain that there was one
instance of the kind in Bethany
than it is that there were two.
Notice the account of the first:
“Jesus therefore six days be
fore the passover, came to Beth
any, where Lazarus whom
Jesus raised Irc-vi Sei
they made him a there,
and Martha served (dAi doubt at
her house, for she had a house)
Lazarus was one of those who re
clined at lable with hies. Mary,
therefore, took a pound of oint
ment of pure spikenard, and very
costly, and anointed the feet of
Jesus.” Jno. 12:1-3. After de
scribing events in connection
with this suppir, the wiiter
proceeds: “On the morrow 7 ,’’and
here follows the aocount of the
triumphal entrance into Jerusa
lem. Mark these points in this
occasion.
1. The supper was a kind of
ovation to Christ —no other can
bespoken of as “the supper” at
Bethany.
2. Mary anointed our Lord’s
feet—this gives us no chance to
say or infer that she poured a
box of ointment on his head.
3 It was six days before the
passover, and what makes the
time more definite, it was before
the triumphal entrance.
We pass on now 7 to the second
occasion of anointing at Bethany.
It is when Jesus, having left the
temple for the last time and fin
ished his sayings on Olivet, said
to his disciples, “Ye know that
after two days the passover
comes and the Son of man is de
livered up to be crucified.” Here
it is Matthew writing, and, after
bringing in what was going on in
Jerusalem at this hour, he pro
ceeds with his narrative of Chi ist
and his disciples. “Now, .Jesus
being in Bethany in the house of
Simeon, the leper, there came to
him a woman having an alabas
ter box of very precious oint
ment, and poured it on his head
as he reclined at table.” (Mark
says crushed the box.)
Now when a commentator tells
us that in the above accounts
there is only one case of anoint
ing, and then proceeds to har
monize the two accounts, he un
dertakes a big job—a very un
necessary job. He undertakes
to make harmony where the only
lack of harmony is created by his
own misconceptions. For there
is no utterance more disturbing
to the harmony of the gospel
writers than that Matthew and
Mark are treating of the same
anointing that John describes.
How can there be but one trans
action, when John is telling what
happened six days before the
passover and the others what
happened only two days
before? One, w 7 hat happen
ed before the triumphal en
try; the others what happened
three days after? One, what
happened,as no one has reason to
doubt, at the house of Martha;
the other, at the house of Simon,
the leper? One, what happened
at an ovation, and the only ova
tion ever made to our Lord; the
other,a private occasion on which
it is incidentally remarked that
Jesus was reclining at table? The
very resemblance in the sev« ral
accounts point to two different
occasions. In the first, where
the anointing is only of the feet
and Judas interferes, it is as if
only a part of the “pound” had
been used, and he piopcses that
there be no further waste and
that the ointment be kept for the
poor. Note the answer: “Then
said Jesus, suffer her to keep it
against the day of my burial.”
Now notice the other accounts.
When there came a woman and,
crushing the box, poured the
ointment over the Savior’s head,
and the disciples, seeing it, were
much displeased, what did Christ
here say? Did he say, “Let her
keep the ointment for his bur
ial?” No; his answer is not the
same as before, but in perfect
agreement with it, supposing it a
different occasion. Hear the an
swer: “Why trouble ye the wo
man? for she has wrought a good
work on me; for in pouring this
ointment on my body, she did it
to prepare me for my burial ”
Here, plainly a work is done for
which Christ had said on the other
occasion the ointment should be
spared. Now what wesay is, that
for a commentator to take upon
himself to maintain that these
accounts present only one occa
sion of anointing—one place, one
time, one act, is fairly shocking
to common sense. . It is an in
stance of the Christian taking
upon himself the infidel’s task of
destroying divine harmony.
Now we have the record that
Jesus, during passion week,
went every night to Beth iny
(Mt. of Olives). Considering the
character of the L iztrus family
and.the relations Jesus sustained
thereto, it is no wild conjee ure
to suppose that he lodged every
night at Martha’s house Here
we have sympathy with a writer
who expresses some wonder that
having finished his work in the
temple, he should be found on
this fifth night of passion week
at the house of Simon, the leper.
The surprise is increased wnen
we think there should have been
all this going out to Bethany,the
final arrest and trial, the cruii
tixion, entombment,resurrection,
and ascension, and yet never
more a word said of the Lazarus
family. Women in connection
with these last s-cenes are repeat
edly spoken of and mentioned by
name. It is singular that whilst
Jesus, after his first night in
Bethany, should continue to make
his home there, and yet, with no
fuither mention of Mary or Mar
tha, we hear of Jesus at the end
of his stay there being at the
house of a party heretofore un
named, Simon, the leper.
Hera we must give due weight
to what is last said of the Laza
rus family. The ovation to Je
sus at Bethany, six days before
the passover, disclosed to the
chief priests what a power Laza
rus was to be in increasing the
general belief in Christ. Accord
ingly it is said they consulted to
putLazirus to death. We know
how they were resolved on the
death of Jesus, but feared to do
it on the feast days, but the idea
seemed to be that they could
put Lazarus out of the way at
once.
Here it is easy to suppose that
Martha would be one oi the first
to become aware of their pur
pose, and what would follow ?
Lazarus would be hurried into
some place of concealment, nor
would the sisters stay behind.
They would go too. Moreover,
it would not be safe for any of
them to be seen in Bethany.
Now, the question is, what be
come of Mary’s “pound” of
ointment, the unused part of
which Jesus had said, “ Let her
keep it against the day of my
burial?” If any one douo’s that
Mary, tho' fleeing into obscurity,
made sure that the ointment was
used according to what Jesus
had suggested,w 7 e do not. Here
open two lines of conjecture,
Doth of them delightful to think
of, neither too wild to receive
our favor. One is that Mary, in
her hasty Hight with her brother,
leaves the box of precic us oint
ment a trusty sympathizer
with her in her love for Jesus;
and she is the woman who came
to him as he reclined at the
table in the house of Simon the
leper. The other conjecture is
that Mary herself did the second
anointing If so she must have
done it incognito and could not
be spoken of as Mary, but as “ a
W’oman ” (no mortal knew who).
We see that Mark’s expression
“crushed the box and poured
the ointment on his head”denotes
determination, sure work and
haste, giving little time for any
one, friend or foe, to inspect her
person. This all, whether it
was Mary or her confederate,
was just like that true friend of
Jesus, certainly a woman, who
received the commendation of
the Lord “ Wheresoever this gos
pel shall be preached in the
world, that also which this wo
man did shall be told for a memo
rial of her.”
The Appointed Task
BY KLIZA HTRANG HAIR •.
If I could do h little work—my work !
Not mlNtdng what whs meant
As speeliil task for me, nor scum to shirk
The duties by the Flit hereout—
I should be glad to-day,
For this I pray.
If I could find a little place—my place!
.lust here beneath II is feet;
Looking up trustingly nto His face,
Hearing His voice so sweet-
II ow blest, to-day, were 1!
For this I sigh.
If 1 could sing a lit th 1 song-my song!
Whos < every tender note
Should by the heavenly breezes borne along,
I’p to llis presence float;
Il would mean Joy to me,
If this could be.
—New York observer.
Wanted—a Man.
“In a thousand cups of life,”
says Emerson, “only one is the
right, mixture. The tine adjust
ment of the existing elements,
where the well mixed-man is born
with eyes not too dull, nor too
good, with fire enough and earth
enough, capable of receiving im
pressions from all things,and not
too susceptible, then no gift need
be bestowed on him. He brings
his fortune with him.”
Diogems sought wiih a lan
tern at noontide in ancient Ath
ens for a perfectly honest man,
and sought in vain. In the mar
ket place he once cried aloud,
“Hear me, O men; ’ and, when a
crowd collected around him, he
said scornfully; “I called for
men, not pygmies.”
The world has a standing ad
vertisement over the door of ev
ery profession, every occupation,
every calling: “Wanted—a man.”
Wanted, a man who will not lose
his individuality in a crowd, a
man who has the courage of his
convic’ions, who is not afraid to
say “No,’ though all the world
say “Yes.”
Wanted, a man who, though he
is dominated by a mighty pur
pose. will not permit one great
faculty to dwarf, cripple, warp,
or mutilate his manhood; who
will not allow the over-develop
ment of one faculty to stunt or
para \ ze his other faculties.
Wanted, a man who is larger
than bis calling, who considers
it a low estimate of his occupa
tion to value it merely as a means
of ge ting a living. Wanted, a
man who sees self-development,
education and culture, discipline
ar <1 drill.chara>
in his occupation.
A thousand pulpits vacant in a
single religious denomination, a
thousand preachers standing idle
in the market place, while a
thousand church committees
scour the lane for men to till
those same vacant pulpits, and
scour in vain, is a sufficient indi
cation, in one direction at least,
of the largeness of the opportu
nities of the age, and also of the
crying need of good men.
Wanted, a man who is well
balanced, who is not cursed with
some little defect or weakness
which cripples his usefulness
ar d neutralizes his powers.
Wanted, a man of courage, who
is not a coward in any pai t of his
nature.
Wanted, a man who is symme
trical, and not one sided in his
development, who has not sent
all the energies of his being into
one narrow specialty, and allow
ed the other branches of bis life
to wither and die. Wanted, a
man who is broad, who does' not
take half views of things. Want
ed, a man who mixes common
sense with his theories, who does
not let a college education spoil
him for practical, every-day
life; a man who prefers sub
stance to show, who regards his
good name as a priceless treas
ure.
Wanted, a man “who,no stunt
ed ascetic, is full of life and fire,
but whose passions are trained to
heed a strong will, the servant of
a tender conscience; who has
learned to love all beauty,wheth
er of nature or of art, to hate all
vilenes% and to respect others as
himself.”
God calls a man to be upright
and pure and generous, but he
also calls him to be intelligent
and skillful and strong and brave.
The world wants a man who is
educated all over; whose nerves
are brought to their acutest sensi
bility; whose brain is cultured,
keen,incisive,penetrating, broad,
liberal, deep; whose hands are
deft; whose eyes are alert, sensi
tive, microscopic; whose heart
is tender, broad, magnanimous,
true.
The whole world is looking for
such a man. Although there are
millions out of employment, yet
it is almost impossible to find
just the right man in almost any
department in life. Every pro
fession and .every occupation has
a standing advertisement all
over the world: “Wanted—a
Man.”
Rousseau, in his celebrated es
say on education, says: “Ac
cording to the order of nature,
VOL. 76--NO. 19
men being equal, their common
vocation is the profession of hu
manity; and whoever is well edj
ucated to discharge the duty or
a man cannot be iiadly prepared
to till any of those offices that
have a relation to him. It mat
ters little to me whether my pu
pil be designed for the army, the
pulpit or the bar. Nature has
destined us to the offices <>f hu
man life antecedent to our desti
nation concerning society. To
live is the profession I would
teach him. When I have done
with him, it is true he will be
neither a soldier, a lawyer, nor a
divine. Let him first be a man I
Fortune may remove him from
one rank to another as she pleas
es, he will be always found in his
place.”
A little, short doctor of divin
ity in a large Baptist convention
stood on a step and said he
thanked God he was a Baptist.
The audience could not hear and
called “Louder.” “Get up high
er,” some one said. “I can’t,” he
replied. “To be a Baptist is as
high as one can get.” But there
is something higher than being
a Baptist, and that is being a
num.
As Emerson says, Talleyrand’s
question is ever the main one;
not, is he rich? is he committed?
is he well-meaning ? has he this
or that faculty? is be of the move
ment? is he of the establishment?
but is he anybody? does he stand
for something? He must be good
of his kind. Th it is all that Tai
leyrand, all that State Street, all
that the common sense of man
kind asks.
When Garfield was asked as a
young boy, “what he meant to
be,” he answered: “First of all,
I must make myself a man; if I
do not succeed in that, I can suc
ceed in nothing.”
Montaigne says our work is
not to train a soul by itself alone,
nor a body by itself alone, but to
train a man.
One great need of the world
to-day is for men and women who
are good animals. To endure the
strain of our concentrated civili
zation, the coming man and wo
man must have an excess of ani
mal spirits. They must have a
robustness of health. Mere ab
sence of disease is not health. It
is the overflowing fountain, not
the one half full, that gives life
ahd beauty to the valley below.
Only he is healthy who exults in
mere animal existence; whose
very life is a luxury; who feels a
bounding pulse throughout his
body.- who feels life in every
limb, as dogs do when scouring
over the fields, or as boys do
when gliding over fields of ice.
Pope, the poet, was with Sir
Godfrey Kneller, the artist, one
day, when the latter’s nephew, a
Guinea slave trader, came into
into the room. “Nephew,” said
Sir Godfrey, “you have the honor
of seeing the two greatest men
in the world.” “I don’t know
how great men you may be,” said
the Guinea man, “but I don’t like
your looks. I have often bought
a much better man than either of
you, all muscles and bones, for
ten guineas.”
Sydney Smith said, “I am con
vinced that digestion is the great
secret of life, and that charac
ter, virtue and talents, and
qualities are powerfully affected
oy beef, mutton, pie crust,
and rich soups. I have often
thought I cculd feed or starve
men into virtues or vices, and af
fect them more powerfully with
my instruments of torture than
Timotheus cculd do formerly
with his lyre.”
What more glorious than a
magnificent manhood, animated
with the bounding spirits of
overflowing health?
It is a sad sight to see thou
sands of students graduated ev
ery year from our grand institu
tions, whose object is to make
stalwart, independent, self sup
porting men, turned out into the
world saplings instead of stal
wart oaks, “memory-glands” in
stead of brainy men, helpless in
stead of self-supporting, sickly
instead of robust, weak instead
of strong, leaning instead of
erect. “So many promising
youths, and never a finished
man!”
The character sympathizes
with and unconsciously takes on
the rature of the body. A peev
ish, snarling, ailing man cannot
develop the vigor and strength of
character which is possible to a
healthy, robust, jolly man. There
is an inherent love in the human
mind for wholeness, a demand that
man shall come up to the highest
standard; and there is an inhe
rent protest of contempt for pre
ventable deficiency. Nature too
demands that man be ever at the
top of his condition. The giant’s
strength with the imbecile’s brain
will not be characteristic of the
coming man.
Man has been a dwarf of him
self, but a higher type of man
hood stands at the door of this
age knocking for admission.—
Architects of Fate—Harden..