^ Florence Nightingale had that " excellent thing in woman " — a gentle voice. Lady Lovelace in her poem spoke of her friend's
266 STRENGTH AND BEAUTY
" soft, silvery voice " ; but it could command, as well as charm, unless indeed it were the charm that commanded. " She scolds sergeants and orderlies all day long," wrote Mr. Bracebridge to her parents (Nov. 20) ; " you would be astonished to see how fierce she is grown." That was written, of course, in fun; but there was always a note of calm authority in her voice. A Crimean veteran recalled her passing his bed with some doctors, who were saying, " It can't be done," and her replying quietly, " It must be done." " I seem to hear her saying it," writes one who knew her well ; " there seemed to be no appeal from her quiet, conclusive manner." ^
3. In Jesus Christ strength and beauty appear as nowhere else among men. He is the ideal man. His character contains every element of strength — profound knowledge, constant faith, ability to suffer for the truth, composure in the face of an assailing world. Yet His character contains also every element of beauty. He is tender as a woman, devoted in His love of man, humble and meek, gentle and patient too. Each quality exists in accurate proportion in Him; so that we may say, without hesitation and after the closest examination, that the architecture of Christ's character is absolutely perfect.
■ff Tlie mediseval conception of our Saviour, as meek, and suffering, and patient, and gentle above all others, is true though incomplete. He was "strong Son of God" also. It was the boldness of Peter and John that reminded men of their courageous Master. How constantly in His life do we see strength and beauty, in perfect balance and poise, shining forth from His acts and words ! In the garden of agony, faced by cruel and murderous men, He stands erect, calmly repeating to His enemies, " I have told you that I am he " — there is strength ; but mark the tender beauty of what follows : " If ye seek me, let these go their way " — solicitude for His faint-hearted followers mingling with His fortitude. As one has truly said : " The eyes that wept beside the grave of Lazarus were eyes that were like a flame of fire." By His stroigth and beauty, combined with perfect symmetry in one holy character, Jesus endlessly attracts. His charm is not like that of any other. " Thou hast conquered, 0 Galilean," for Thou art strong and Thou art fair, Thou art chiefest among ten thousand. Captain of the Lord's hosts, and Thou art altogether lovely, beautiful beyond compare.^
* Sir Edward Cook, The Lift of Florence Nightingale, i. 186. » J. WaddoU.
PSALM xcvi. 6 26;
A rose, a lily, and the Face of Christ
Have all our hearts sufiBced : For He is Kose of Sharon nobly born,
Our Kose without a thorn ; And He is Lily of the Valley, He
Most sweet in purity. But when we come to name Him as He is,
Godhead, Perfection, Bliss, All tongues fall silent, while pure hearts alone
Complete their orison.^
* Christina G. Rossetti, Christ our All in All,
Light and Gladness.
C69
Literature.
Carroll (B. H.), Sermons, 340.
Christopterson (H.), SermonSy 30.
Halsey (J.), in Jesus in the Cornfield, 143.
Jerdan (C), Gospel Milk and Honey, 311.
Landels (W.), Until the Day Break, 125.
Learmount (J.), Fifty-two Sundays with the Children, 92.
Miller (J. R.), A Help for Common Days, 91.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xiv. (1868), No. 836.
Stubbs (W.), in Oxford University Sermons, 318.
Voysey (C), Sermons, x. (1887), No. 20 ; xii. (1889), No. 22.
Wilson (S. L.), Helpful Words for Daily Life, 384.
Christian World Pulpit, lixviii. 33 (R. J. Campbell).
Light and Gladness.
Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.— Ps. xcvii. ix.
The peculiar metaphor employed in this passage is somewhat arrestive because of the form in which it is expressed. This way of putting things is quite different from ordinary language ; we do not commonly speak of sowing light and gladness in the same fashion as we sow grain in the spring-time with the expectation of an autumn harvest. The figure is so striking that we are at once compelled to pause and ask what this writer has in mind. To say the least of it, the suggestion is very beautiful. Imagine a husbandman sowing rays of light in the ploughed fields instead of the ordinary corn and flower seed ! Why, the very idea is full of spiritual suggestion, and sets us on the track of high and holy things. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Eevisers have allowed it to stand, although, as has frequently been pointed out, the translation is not literally correct. If we have a mind to be pedantically accurate we might render the text thus : " Light has arisen — or, is scattered — for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." It is almost identical in form with Ps. cxii. 4, "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." This reduces the sentiment to a much more commonplace category, for, of course, it means no more than an allusion to the phenomenon of sunrise, a figure in which there is nothing so very remarkable or out of the common. But somehow one thinks the Authorized translators have got nearer the original meaning of this utterance than a mere prosaic literalism could have done. It is true poetry to say that light is sown for the righteous, and there is nothing fantastic about it.