2 TIMOTHY IV. 6-8 243
and I hope I shall not give Him much trouble." Long had been a shepherd on the South Downs all his life ; and had had trouble enough in seeking the sheep that wandered and were lost. He then took up the print and said, " I shall be glad to see that Man." That night he died.i
2. Now, the crown being itself righteousness, how striking is the Apostle's assurance ! " Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness." St. Paul did not always write thus. In earlier years he felt and expressed anxiety lest by any means, when he had preached unto others, he himself should be a castaway. And long after he "counted not himself to have apprehended " ; he could only forget those things that were be- hind, and reach forward unto those things that were before ; he was still pressing forward to the mark of the prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. But now he has no misgivings ; now all is clear ; " henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteous- ness." And why ? Is it not because, in the solitariness of his last trial, he has an assurance from on high which was withheld before; which was vouchsafed only when all human aid and human sympathy had failed him, and when he was thrown, with- out any reserve whatever, upon his hope in the Unseen and the Future ? And even now, not seldom, they who fashion their lives as did St. Paul, by faith in an Unseen Saviour, do learn to know that there is for them a morally assured future of happiness in the World of Light. It is not an arrogant confidence, it is a humble yet well-grounded hope ; it is a hope which grows in strength as the solitudes of the advancing years press with more and more gloom upon the natural spirits, and when, in the absence of departed or of alienated friends, the majesty and consolation of one sacred, overpowering Presence makes itself increasingly felt.
"K On the subject of religion George made no sign, as the years went by, resembling his brother Phillips in the reserve with which he guarded himself. After his enlistment, and just before he joined his regiment, he was confirmed at Trinity Church, September 28, 1862. That event counted with his mother for more than the victories or defeats of armies. After his confirma- tion, liie veil of reserve removed, George spoke freely of his
* lAfe of Cardinal Manntng, i. 291.
244 THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
religious experience. The change to him had been momentous and thorough. His religious life was deepened by the events of the Civil War. In his company, a prayer-meeting was held daily morning and evening, conducted by the captain. " He told me," said the chaplain of his company, " that he had never had full assurance of his pardon and acceptance till he became a soldier ; that in the battle of Kingston, under the terrible fire of the enemy, his Saviour came to him as never before, declared His presence, revealed His love, and held his soul in His hands." ^
3. And observe who bestows the crown — "which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day." It is only right that a princely hand should bestow princely gifts, and that a Divine hand should bestow immortal gifts. It is a righteous Judge that bestows a righteous crown. He will distribute the rewards of eternity justly. The rewards of heaven will not be distributed as the rewards of earth too often are. The highest I rewards of earth are at times given to the undeserving and worth- ' less. It will not be so in that day. No one undeserving will obtain a prize, and no one deserving will be without one. The judge who awarded the prize to the victor at the Grecian games might decide unjustly, whether through culpable partiality or from involuntary error ; but " the Lord, the righteous judge," is no respecter of persons, and His perfect knowledge and infallible wisdom render mistakes with Him impossible. St. Paul's im- perial judge was the very incarnation of iniquity; but Christ " shall judge the world in righteousness," and " reward every man according to his works."
^ The heathen knew that life brought its contest, but they expected from it also the crown of all contest : No proud one ! no jewelled circlet flaming through Heaven above the height of the unmerited throne ; only some few leaves of wild olive, cool to the tired brow, through a few years of peace. The wreath was to be of wild olive, mark you; — the tree that grows carelessly, tufting the rocks with no vivid bloom, no verdure of branch; only with soft snow of blossom, and scarcely fulfilled fruit, mixed with grey leaf and thorn-set stem ; no fastening of diadem for you but with such sharp embroidery! But this, such as it is, you may win while yet you live; type of grey honour and sweet rest. Free-heartedness, and graciousness, and undisturbed ^ Phillips Brooks : Memories of His Life, 140.
2 TIMOTHY IV. 6-8 245
trust, and requited love, and the sight of the peace of others, and the ministry to their pain ; these, — and the blue sky above you and the sweet waters and flowers of the earth beneath ; and mysteries and presences, innumerable, of living things, — may yet be here your riches ; untormenting and divine : serviceable for the life that now is; nor, it may be, without promise of that which is to come.^