^ Almost twenty years ago, while living in America, I went ■ to reside in a little town called Delaware, in Ohio ; and the first Saturday evening of my residence I went as a young man to the Y.M.C.A. prayer-meeting. There were about one hundred young men present, and the meeting was of a most hearty type. The last hymn sung was —
Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love.
And during the singing of that hymn there was a general hand- 1 H. H. Henson, Qodly Union and Concord, 161. ^ Ibid. 162.
ST. JOHN XIII. 34 37
shaking going on, and I, as a stranger, was specially singled out for attention. The result, so far as I was concerned, was that I attended that prayer-meeting regularly for more than five years. That may be a trifle too unconventional for our Churches, but we want more, much more, of the spirit that prompted that exhibition of sympathetic Christian friendliness and love.^
^ " What is love, Mary ? " said Seventeen to Thirteen, who was busy with her English lessons.
" I think it is a verb," said John, " and I think it must have been originally the perfect of live, like thrive, throve, strive, strove."
" Capital, John," suddenly growled uncle Oldbuck, " it was that originally, and it will be our own faults, children, if it is not that at last, as well as, ay, and more than at first." ^
^ If we really and lovingly studied the characters of others we should often end by being interested and even fascinated where at first we were only repelled. A portrait-painter must often feel this. Some of us may be reminded of the lines of Browning. " Beside the Drawing-board " : —
Little girl with the poor coarse hand I turned from to a cold clay cast —
I have my lesson, understand
The worth of flesh and blood at last.
Nothing but beauty in a Hand?
Because he could not change the hue, Mend the lines and make them true
To this which met his soul's demand — "Would Da Vinci turn from you ?
And, more than that, if we love and care for others we shall often find that the very fact of our loving them helps them to make themselves more love-worthy, just as a carefully tended plant responds to the gardener's care.^
^ " As every lord giveth a certain livery to his servants," says Latimer, " Love is the Livery of Christ."
• W. Lee, From Dust to Jewels, 96.
• John Brown, Horx Subsecivx, 2nd Ser., 299.
• E. Wordsworth, Onward Steps, 129.
The Secret of the Untroubled Heart.
39
Literature.
Ainsworth (P. C), A Thornless World, 84.
Alexander (S. A.), The Mind of Christ, 28.
Allon (H.), The Indwelling Christ, 321.
Archer-Hind (T. H.), Some Scriptiire Problems, 1.
Banks (L. A.), Christ and His Friends, 334.
Benson (R. M.), The Final Passover, ii. (pt. i.), 235.
Bernard (T. D.), The Central Teaching of Jesus Christ, 123.
Crauf urd (A. H.), The Religion of E. G. Wells, 133.
Dowen (L. T.), Christus Consolator, 1.
Fotheringham (D. R.), The Writing on the Sky, 51.
Harris (J. R.), Aaron's Breastplate, 25.
Hanson (H. H.), The Value of the Bible, 130.
Holland (H. S.), Pleas and Claims, 18.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions : Jolin ix.-xiv., 253.
Matheson (Q.), Times of Retirement, 114.
Muir (P. M.), Modern Substitutes for Christianity, 127.
Owen (J. W.), Some Australian Sermons, 2.
Pierson (A. T.), The Hopes of the Gospel, 121.
Purves (P. C), The Divine Cure for Heart Trouble, 1.
Robertson (J.), Sermons and Expositions, 275.
Smith (D.), The Pilgrim's Hospice, 97.
„ (H. A.), Things New and Old, 91. Telford (J.), TJie Story of the Upper Room, 77. Thomas (J.), Sermons : Myrtle Street Pulpit, ii. 61. Tipple (S. A.), Days of Old, 123. Wilberforce (B.), The Hope that is in Me, 65. Wilson (J. M.), The Origins and Aims of the Four Gospels, 130. Cambridge Review, vii., Supplement No. 155 (Billing). Christian Age, xlv. 146 (Abbott). Christian World Pulpit, ix. 40 (Roberts) ; xii. 200 (Beedier) ; xxix. 10
(Davies) ; Ixi. 348 (Hall) ; Ixvi. 310 (Johnson) ; Ixvii. 380 (Scholes) ;
Ixxix. 406 (Henson). Churchman's Pulpit : Trinity Sunday : ix, 400 (Mulchahey).
40
The Secret of the Untroubled Heart.
Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe also in me. — John xiv. I.
1. Theke is one chapter in the biography of distinguished persons — in the biography of great geniuses, or of eminent saints or seers — which has for us special interest, the chapter entitled "Closing Days." We are curious to learn how the great man bore himself, or what fell from his lips, during those days, in the shadow of the approaching end ; to see something of the thoughts which then occupied his mind, or to hear something of his latest words. What of his behaviour, his expression, we ask, in his latest hours ? The favourite pursuit — was its influence upon him then exemplified ? The ruHng passion — was it strong with him in death? Geoffrey Chaucer died making a ballad; Waller, reciting verses from his beloved Virgil; Haller, the famous physician, fingering his pulse and murmuring, when he found it almost gone, " Yes, the artery ceases to beat " ; John Keats, whispering low in reply to a friend who inquired how he felt, " Better, better. I feel the daisies growing over me." " Let me hear once more," sighed Mozart, " those notes, so long my solace and delight." Eousseau, when dying, bade his attendants place him before the open window, that he might take a final look at his garden, and bid adieu to Nature.