men; and not stand up and gulp down a bare drink like a savage. Above all, let them agree, and let them publish this agreement to the world, that for men to drink intoxicants during business hours is a sin, not only against nature and morality, but against common sense and business character.

One last word in conclusion, and I shall finish. Let me say that no laws, no regulations, will do anything of permanence in eradicating evils—the social evil, the low saloon, or any other; such laws and such regulations will serve only to control and restrict them, and they will do this if they are wise and do not run counter to the great rule of common consent. The primary appeal must be made to the heart of every man and woman in the land that they each shall resolve to live the higher and not the lower life; that they each shall endeavor to be brave and true and noble, and not cowardly and false and mean. And the secondary appeal must be made to the masses of men and women collectively that they all shall resolve to live for the social order as well as for themselves; that they all shall determine to give somewhat of their time

and efforts for the common good of humanity, at no matter what sacrifice of self.

And these appeals, need I point out to you, must be based on the one great example of perfect manhood known to men-on the example of Jesus Christ, who partook of the pleasures of life that were innocent, and who denounced those that were wrong; who feasted in the company of His friends, and who fasted alone with His God; who was temperate in all things, and whose temperance did not degenerate into weakness; who did not sacrifice Himself in giving up the things that were right, but in never yielding to the things that were wrong.

XI.

THE CROSS THE RESOLVENT OF DIFFICULTIES.

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."-GAL. vi. 14.

As we go about from place to place, consorting with one or another person, as we pick up here and there a book and read what this or that author has written, we are struck by the fact that a man's opinions depend, as a rule, upon his standpoint, and that this is his point of view of life. These points are: the old Epicurean, that which simply looks upon life as a something that affords so many opportunities for pleasure; the old Stoical, that which regards existence as a dreadful task, and the accidents and incidents of life as so many burdens to be borne; the new utilitarian, that which looks upon life as a something to be used, and all things that come into it as so many ways of getting on; and the religious, that which looks upon life as the gift of God, and all the things of it as so

many means for the development of character. Yes, right here in this congregation, I am sure that I that any one-could, after a short acquaintance with the people composing it, divide them into the several classes I have named. There would, to be sure, be some that could not be classified-those who are the mere flotsam and jetsam upon the ocean of society; but for the most part, the men and the women who sit before me look either for the pleasures to be had, the burdens to be borne, the things to be utilized, or the ideas and ideals that are God's.

You may read a thousand books, you may converse with a thousand persons, and you will perceive that all sorts of questions are asked as to life, its meaning, its value, its aim, its end; and to these questions all sorts of answers will be given. But all these questions and all the answers thereto, I am sure, will be found to have relation to one or the other of the points of view of life of which I have spoken. And how confusing they are, these questions and answers the interminable discussions in regard to life and its issues, great and small! How weary we become of them! how helpless in face of them all! The money question, the tariff

say,

question, the tenement question, the labor question, the immigrant question, the agricultural question, the tramp question, the war question, the Afro-American question, the Roman Catholic question, the educational question, the municipal question, the woman question, the geological question, the descent-of-man question, the inspiration-of-Scripture question, the immortality question, and a host of others that need not be named-these and such as these confront us on every side, and they not only ask, but they command, that we shall consider them. We may laugh them in the face and "What do I care for you? You are only so many spectres that men have drawn up by the enchantment of their intellects from a limbo as imaginary as that which Shakespeare places behind the scenes of 'Macbeth.' I shall enjoy my life in spite of you, and drink of all its pleasures!" Or we may shake our heads and say, "I see you, I cannot help but see you, but, as I cannot solve you, I will bear the burdens you cast upon me as uncomplainingly as I can." Or we may shut our eyes and ignore them and say, "I do not want to see you, I will not be bothered with you; what I want is to make the best I can out of my