Bright shadows of true Eest! Some shoots of blisse;
Heaven once a week ; The next world's gladness prepossest in this;
A day to seek Eternity in time; the steps by which We climb above all ages ; Lamps that light Man through his heap of dark days ; and the rich, And full redemption of the whole week's flight.2
ii. Temperance.
1. TJie largeness of the word. The second topic on which St. Paul reasoned was temperance (RV. margin " self-control "). The presence of Drusilla by the side of Felix was in itself a proof of how he had failed in this virtue, for the Greek word is specially applicable to continence from sensual pleasures. Our modern use of the word temperance falls far below the meaning of the word employed by St. Paul. That of which St. Paul reasoned with Felix was the larger virtue of self-restraint, of self-command,
1 George Herbert. 2 Henry Vaughan.
ACTS xxiv. 25 195
generally. He taught him — still occupying the ground rather of nature and reason than of Eevelation and the Gospel — that every man ought to be able to command himself ; to say " No " to appetite when it passes its just limit; to bridle inclination; to coerce lust ; to say to himself, This I will do, because it is right, and, This will I not do, because it is wrong. Temperance is the holding of the reins of conduct in the hand of the will, and the regulating of that will itself by the ordinances of reason and of God. The absence of this power, or the loss of it, is the cause of all the sins and of all the miseries which have made this world a scene of suffering and of desolation.
2. There are certain well-defined stages in the development of temperance. For let no one believe for one moment that a virtue like this grows up in us without effort, or is inherited with trans- mitted qualities.
(1) Know Thyself. To him who would possess the virtue of temperance there comes first of all this message to the soul, " Know Thyself." It is a great moral help to know ourselves, to know our history, to know our constituent elements, to know the ills to which we are exposed, and the Divine help which it is ours to welcome. It is being freely discussed now whether or not it is desirable to warn young people beforehand in a definite way of the dangers that must inevitably cross their path. It is a question beset with difficulties, and, in view of the priceless and irreparable value of innocence where it can be maintained, a question which can be entertained only as the lesser of two evils ; but at the same time there is no doubt that a wise estimate of his own peculiar dangers, a prudent calculation of his force, and a just appreciation of the enemy's real strength would help a man.
(2) Control Thyself. A man once asked his spiritual adviser what was the meaning of " dying unto sin," and he was told in a symbolical manner that it was to behave like a dead man in the presence of that which moves or excites to sin. This state of deadness to desire is temperance, but it can only be attained through the constant application of self-control all through life. Does anything pass within the portals of our heart of which the will has no cognizance, or is powerless to resist ? You remember
196 THE LASH OF THE LAW
how the Apostle spoke of a self-control which brings every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ ?
I do not ask for any crown
But that which all may win, Nor try to conquer any world
Except the one within. Be Thou my Guide until I find,
Led by a tender hand, The happy kingdom in myself,
And dare to take command.
(3) Deny Thyself. " Know thyself," " Control thyself "—these are good and essential ; but further, from her throne of excellence, Temperance cries, " Deny thyself." The will must not wait to be attacked, the will must not wait to show that it is master in days of turbulence, and in the fierce blasts of passion. Before the attack comes, while all is peaceful, when no tempter is in sight, while all is calm, the will must exercise herself in her discipline by self-denial. The way to resist indulgence in things unlawful is to accustom the powers and faculties to obedience in giving up even things lawful.
3. Christian Temperance. When, through the cross of Christ, we get the right attitude towards God, when our life fronts God, all is changed, and temperance becomes not a negative virtue, but a positive one. Then everything is beautiful, pure, every wish, every motive, every purpose, every imagination, every fancy clothed in a white robe.
Tf But as I sat scrawling these silly figures on brown paper, it began to dawn on me, to my great disgust, that I had left one chalk, and that a most exquisite and essential one, behind. I searched all my pockets, but I could not find any white chalk. Now, those who are acquainted with all the philosophy (nay, religion), which is typified in the art of drawing on brown paper, know that white is positive and essential. I cannot avoid remarking here upon a moral significance. One of the wise and awful truths which this brown-paper art reveals is this: that white is a colour. It is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing : as fierce as red, as definite as black. When (so to speak) your pencil grows red hot, it draws roses ;