Biography of Rev. Hosea Ballou Part 12

Or, as the editor of the Christian Freeman says, relative to this trait of his character:--"It was not so much his concern to be a man-pleaser, as to be a teacher and benefactor of men. Hence he would grapple with the errors of men, and take them out of the way; he would explain and elucidate the Scriptures; he would appeal to the reason and the moral sense of the people; and all in the most kind and magnanimous spirit.

Thus he excited the active opposition of the conservative and creed-bound, elicited the earnest inquiry of mult.i.tudes of the people, and 'filled the world with his doctrine.'"

"He lived faithful to his own convictions of truth," says Rev. W. A.

Drew, of the Gospel Banner, "never sacrificed a principle to the love of popularity, stood by his integrity as resolutely as ever martyr stood at the stake, brought no reproach upon his cause, but lived in the adornment of his profession, and died consistently with his life."

We have felt disposed to dwell somewhat upon this point, and to speak the more feelingly upon it, for the reason that this was one of the most frequent objections brought against Mr. Ballou's style of preaching, by those who found fault at all; and here we are fortunate in being able to give his own words and views upon the subject. It is true, the extract which we give does not contemplate the subject in precisely the same phase as that in which we have considered it, yet it has its bearing.

The objection was brought, of course, mainly by those who, although they believed, or partially believed, the doctrine of universal salvation, were yet too timid to acknowledge it. The argument is brought home at once to our understanding and earnest conviction by the simplicity and force of the ill.u.s.tration.

"We have often been asked why we preach the doctrine we profess, as this doctrine maintains that our Creator has made the eternal state secure to all men, and that the happiness of that state rests on the divine favor, and not on any influence which we may exercise in this life. No doubt it seems unaccountable to our opposers that we should argue so much, preach so much, and write and publish so much, when, after all, we do not pretend that our eternal state of happiness depends on these exertions.

They do not see why, allowing our doctrine true, it would not be good policy to say nothing about it. Then we might enjoy the esteem of the pious of all denominations, and be regarded by the religious community, avoid all the censure that is now put upon us, and still enjoy our opinion in silence. Now that our conduct in this respect is not so unaccountable as our opposers seem to think, a few remarks will serve to show.

"Suppose my acquaintance with my earthly father to be such as to give me the most favorable opinion of his whole character, so that I view him as one of the best husbands, one of the most provident and kind fathers, and a man of uprightness in all his conduct, against whom nothing in truth can be spoken. Suppose, under these circ.u.mstances, being full of love and reverence for my father, I hear him evilly spoken of, and that too by those who profess to be acquainted with him,--yea, by those to whom people in general look for information, and in whose testimony the most of people are disposed to place confidence. They go so far in this evil speaking as to represent the parent, whom I love, as guilty of acts of injustice and cruelty which deny him the smallest share of humanity.

"What am I to do in this case? I have proof in my hands to stop the mouths of these evil reporters, and I can do it effectually. To be sure, I must exert myself in the use of the means which are at my disposal, and I shall no doubt incur the displeasure of my father's traducers. All this is, of course, to be expected. But here I am told that almost all the people composing the community at large, are really of the opinion of those who thus speak evil of my father; and that, even if I knew these reports to be false, I had better say nothing about the matter, as it will only bring me into discredit. Suppose I should be weak enough to hesitate, and even shrink from the defence of my venerable father's character, should I not feel justly ashamed of myself? What could be more base in me than silence and inaction?

"Look again, and see how such a case would be aggravated by circ.u.mstances. My father told me that these traducers would speak evil of him, and on this very account put into my possession every kind of evidence which is necessary to refute all these evil reports, and charged me, by the dear relation in which we stood to each other, and the love which we have reciprocated, to be faithful in the defence of his character. Shall I be silent? Shall I be afraid that those who despise my father will also despise me? Shall I purchase their smiles at the expense of a character which is dearer to me than my life? What would it avail to urge in this case, that almost every one in the community would be against me? Is not this circ.u.mstance my justification? Surely; for, if people did not believe the false reports before mentioned, there would be no use of disproving them.

"But the subject admits of argument still more forcible. Suppose those who speak evil of my father are my brethren, and his own beloved children; and suppose, furthermore, that all who are deceived by this evil speaking are so likewise. We now have the whole difficulty in our family. My brethren are deceived concerning my father's character and conduct; he has never done those base things which they think he has.

But they really believe these errors, and are tormented day and night with fear that they and their children will fall under the dreadful scourge of our father's wrath! Now, as I know that all their notions are false, and that it is a fact that the whole family are abundantly provided for, day by day, by the kindness and love of our father, can I, under these circ.u.mstances, be justified in not making even an effort to convince them of their errors? Here we see the honor of our father, the cause of truth and justice, all unite in calling upon me to open the evidence which our father has put within my hands for this purpose,--to give the knowledge of the truth to those who need it. With all these matters forcibly impressed upon my heart, which I have given to you in this simple form, how can I justify myself in doing otherwise than I do, humbly endeavoring at all times to dispel the cloud of error that partialists have contrived to throw about the received idea of our Father in heaven,--how can I reconcile it to my own heart to avoid doctrine, and preach aught else to the people while they starve for truth?"

Mr. Ballou was declared to be aggressive, in his spiritual warfare, as well as defensive; and so he was. Every great reformer must be so; every one that has left a worthy t.i.tle to that name has done likewise. With a great truth to promulgate, with new light to diffuse, with a subtle enemy to encounter, it would not have been enough for him to take a position and hold it; the war must be carried into the enemy's country, and the white cross of truth must be made to surmount the loftiest points in the castles of error, and to float over the banners of infidelity and partialism. And this was his mode of warfare against bigotry. He spared neither himself nor the common enemy; his standard was reared everywhere, even in the very citadel of his religious opponents; and, strong in the gospel truths he advocated and trusted in, their arrows of wrath, steeped in the poison of superst.i.tion, found no unguarded point in his armor of gospel mail, but fell harmless to the earth, or more frequently rebounded to the harm of those who had sent them. His warfare against error was indeed aggressive; he seized upon every weak point, and never failed to thrust home. "I call G.o.d to witness," he says, "I feel no enmity towards any name, denomination or sect, under heaven; but I have a certain object in view which comes in contact with their errors."

Again he says:--

"In all the statements which I have made of the doctrinal ideas of others, I have been careful to state no more than what I have read in authors, or heard contended for in preaching and conversation; and if I have, in any instance, done those ideas any injustice, it was not intended.

"The reason," he continues, "why I have not quoted any author, or spoken of any denomination, is, I have not felt it to be my duty nor inclination to write against any name or denomination in the world; but my object has been, what I pray it ever may be, to contend against error, wherever I find it, and to receive truth and support it, let it come from what quarter it may. For the sake of ease, however, in writing, I have reasoned with my _opponent_, _opposer_ or _objector_, meaning no one in particular, but any one who uses the arguments and states the objections which I have endeavored to answer.

"It is very probable that some may think me too ironical, and in many instances too severe on what I call error. But I find it very difficult to expose error, so as to be understood by all, without carrying, in many instances, my arguments in such a form as may not be agreeable to those who believe in what I wish to correct. I confess I should have been glad to have written, on all my inquiries, so as not to have displeased any, but to have pleased all, could I have done it and accomplished my main design; but this, I was persuaded, would be difficult. I have, therefore, paid particular attention to nothing but my main object, depending on the goodness of my reader to pardon what may be disagreeable, in manner or form, as inadvertencies." But all he did and said was in the spirit of the true Christian. He fought against error,--not against those who walked in the ways of error; it was a creed he decried, not his fellow-men;--and the battles he won were far more glorious than the blood-stained fields that follow in the train of mortal warfare.

Let us add that the triumphs of truth are the more glorious for being bloodless, deriving their brightest l.u.s.tre from the number of the saved, instead of the slain. Personally he could have no enemy,--he would not have recognized any human being as such; but against error he waged a most open and resolute warfare, throughout the entire course of his life.

In May, 1841, the society over which Mr. Ballou had so long held sole ministration voted to engage a colleague to a.s.sist him in the duties of pastor, and the Rev. T. C. Adam was engaged by them in this capacity. It was understood between Mr. Ballou and his a.s.sistant that each should preach on certain Sabbaths; so that when Mr. Ballou did not preach in his own desk, he might be able to answer some of the constant and increasing demands upon his services from the neighboring towns.

Although at this time seventy-three years of age, he preached every Sabbath, frequently delivering three discourses during the day and evening. Mr. Adam was not long attached to the society; but other ministering brethren, at the desire of the society, a.s.sisted from time to time in the pulpit. From May, 1842, to May, 1844, Rev. H. B. Soule, a pure-minded and eloquent brother in the ministry, was the junior pastor, exercising a most G.o.dly influence by his teachings, and making in this period a host of sincere friends. In January, 1846, Rev. E. H. Chapin was installed as junior pastor, which situation he filled to universal satisfaction and continued usefulness for some two years; when, having resigned his connection with the society, Rev. A. A. Miner was unanimously invited to become the colleague of Mr. Ballou, and was duly installed May 31, 1848; retaining his situation until the decease of the pastor, Mr. Ballou, whose desk he now fills.

The connection of these several brethren with Mr. Ballou personally was of the most agreeable character, friendly, and profitable to their mutual spiritual interests. But, without appearing to reflect in the least upon the other a.s.sociates in this connection, concerning this latter brother's union with the subject of this biography, we should be unfaithful did we not refer to it in the terms it merits, and should fail to do that which Mr. Ballou himself would have desired. For more than four years the most uninterrupted and delightful intercourse continued between them. No son could have been more considerate, kind, and a.s.siduous, no father more affectionate and grateful, than in this case. Mr. Ballou has often declared, in our hearing and in his family circle, the earnest friends.h.i.+p he realized,--nay, the affection which entirely filled his heart towards one in whom he found no guile, and who seemed sent by a kind Providence to smooth the declining steps of his professional career. It is hardly necessary to add here, that this feeling was shared in by every member of Mr. Ballou's extensive family.

Rev. Henry Bacon says, relative to the period when a.s.sociate pastors were connected with him:--"Mr. Ballou was out of his element in inactivity, and therefore he travelled extensively in many of the states, especially the New England, 'preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of G.o.d.' Many feared that he was thus perilling his fame, going forth after the threescore years and ten were pa.s.sed; but he wisely used the labors of his years of full strength, and seemed to renew his youth as he entered into the expositions of the Divine Word. I never heard more enthusiastic encomiums on his preaching than within the few last years; and there was power in the very aspect of the old man's form, as he stood in the sacred desk, in an old age that was indeed 'frosty but kindly,'--with a winning and impressive venerableness, full of the raptures of early years, and casting a beautiful shadow in the way of those who needed such a guidance to the realms of immortality and glory."

Not unfrequently, when some of his old friends were called home to their G.o.d in advance of him,--men who had perhaps been converted in their youth by his teachings, and felt thus strongly endeared to him by the ties of friends.h.i.+p and spiritual interest,--they would in their last moments express an earnest desire to have him perform the last ceremony over their mortal remains. When this was the case, notwithstanding his advanced age, and even at times in the depth of winter, he always complied with their desires.

When he had finally made up his mind to the performance of anything, and was satisfied that it was his duty to do it, nothing in the shape of ordinary impediments could possibly prevent him from carrying out his purpose. A case of this kind occurred, for instance, in the winter of 1845, during one of the most severe storms that had been experienced in this region for years. Mr. Ballou, with the snow of seventy-six winters upon his head, persevered in accomplis.h.i.+ng and performing one of these Christian deeds of kindness on the occasion of the death of Col. Pierce, of Gloucester, Ma.s.s., a man widely known for his goodness of heart, and as a warm believer and advocate of universal salvation.

He seemed to have no dread or fear of the elements at all, or of personal exposure to them; and let the storm rage as severely as it might, he always kept his appointment, and to the very last was never in the habit of riding to the place of wors.h.i.+p, but walked, in all weather, in suns.h.i.+ne or in rain. He retained his physical faculties in the same remarkable degree of preservation as was the case with his mental endowments. His hearing, up to the last week of his life, never perceptibly declined; and in his funeral discourse Mr. Miner says:--"Though the weight of more than fourscore years was upon him, his vigor was scarcely abated, and his una.s.sisted sight enabled him to read a Bible of fine print with ease." His step was firm, and his strength permitted him to walk from one extreme of the city to another, even to the last time he left his house. The simple deduction from these facts is, that he was never guilty of excess, or of the abuse of those faculties which a kind Providence had bestowed upon him in such perfection.

It was his practice to pray most earnestly with the sick, to whose bedside he was constantly being called. We would that every reader of these pages might once have seen him on such a mission of holy consolation. His step was so quiet and noiseless in the sick room, his expression of countenance so peaceful and hope-inspiring, his words so gentle and so redolent of heavenly a.s.surance, that a spell of silence and peace seemed to surround all things. In prayer with him, "that key which opes the gates of heaven," did the sick and dying seek for confidence and consolation in their trying moments.

"----In his duty prompt at every call, He watched and wept, he prayed and felt, for all."

We have been present when, "beside the bed where parting life was laid,"

with his voice pitched to a low, soft cadence, and the sick one's hand held gently within his own, he has breathed such heaven-inspired language of peace, held forth the cherished promises of Christ, and shown the divine character of our Heavenly Father in its true light so clearly, yet so mildly and persuasively, that a smile of contentment would light up the pallid features of the sufferer, giving token of the same light of hope s.h.i.+ning within his soul, and leaving an impression on the hearts of those who knelt with him in that presence never to be effaced. O! it is a glorious mission thus to be the herald of peace and good will to the struggling soul at its last moments,--thus to pa.s.s it over, as it were, in confidence to G.o.d who gave it!

Often have we heard it said, "I had rather hear Father Ballou pray than any other person; it seems almost impossible not to follow him in every thought and expression." The truth is, his whole heart was in the prayer; he felt what he said; he humbled himself in sincerity before the throne of Jehovah; while the easy and spontaneous flow of devotional language that fell from his lips was calculated to charm the ear of the listener, and lead him to nearer communion with the omnipotent Being whom he heard so sincerely addressed. His prayers were void of that unpleasant hesitancy of speech which unfortunately too often characterizes the delivery of ministers in this exercise. His effort proved one smooth and liquid flow of devotional thoughts, from a soul fully baptized in the love of G.o.d. On such occasions, the altar of his heart seemed lighted, and it burned pure and bright before the throne of his Father in heaven. The immense power of prayer can hardly be overrated, or its real influence upon our minds properly conceived of, when uttered in such a manner as we have described. It then becomes the peace of our struggling spirit, the rest of our care, the calm of our tempest.

It was thus with all his religious exercises. He never failed to impress the hearer with his own sincerity, and to imbue his spirit with a devotional feeling that brought with it refres.h.i.+ng influence and vivifying hope.

His devotedness to his profession, his untiring zeal in the cause which he advocated, his frequent self-sacrificing exertions in its behalf, were the constant theme of his brethren in the ministry. His never-varying and earnest pursuit of his grand object,--that of convincing the world of G.o.d's impartial love to all mankind,--his perfect reliance on an overruling Providence, his perfect faith in the omnipotence of truth and virtue, were all so ardently realized and manifested in his heart and dealings with his fellow-men, as to be the remark of all who knew him. His own experience had taught him to place the fullest reliance upon the Divine goodness, for it had strangely supported him through adversity, and had carried him through many dark trials, triumphantly supporting him amidst discouragements which must otherwise have inevitably overwhelmed a less confiding spirit.

It was a most extraordinary circ.u.mstance for him to miss a single Sabbath from church; and we do not think this occurred a score of times up to his seventy-ninth year. The weather, however violent, either in town or country, as we have before remarked, never prevented him from attending to his professional appointments. Even in physical illness he never faltered, and has more than once fainted in the desk from bodily weakness, caused by attending to his services at church when physically unable to do so. We are forcibly reminded here of a portion of a letter from Rev. H. B. Soule, then colleague with Mr. Ballou, to Rev. Stephen R. Smith. Both of these brethren, whose light burned so bright and lovely at that time, were called home by their Maker before this elder servant in their Master's vineyard.

"You will want to hear a word of our Father in Israel. He continues in good health for a man seventy-three years old; he preaches yet as strong as most men at forty. Nothing but death will ever bring rest to his labors. Most men, at his age, would sit down, and in dreamy idleness or mere social converse wait their call. Not so with him; his G.o.d-given mission will not be finished till his lips are sealed forever. He will preach as long as he can stand; and as long as he does preach his preaching will be reverenced. Preach as long as he can stand! yes, and longer! When that aged frame, pangless and cold, sleeps in the grave; when that voice, eloquent so long with 'good tidings of great joy,'

shall be hushed on earth, then will Father Ballou preach as he never did before. His life, with its sainted virtues, its n.o.ble toil, its Christian zeal, will be a sermon,--how thrilling, how divine, they will know who read it. May it be long ere it is written! G.o.d bless him in his old days, and sanctify his example to the young servant who stands beside him!"

The young brother who thus wrote spoke most truly. He studied well the character of him with whom he was a.s.sociated; he realized the present effect of his words, and the future influence they must inevitably exercise. "His life," says the junior pastor, "when that voice shall be hushed upon earth, will preach as he never did before." That time has now come; we now realize this period referred to. "Though dead, he yet speaketh." Full of honors and of years, he has lain him down to sleep his last sleep; but he will still preach to us as eloquently as ever, perhaps with increased influence, through the memory of his pure and G.o.dly life, and the power of the works he has left behind. "By the world he will be remembered as the apostle of Universalism," says T. A.

G.o.ddard, the superintendent of his Sabbath-school, in his address to the school, "the advocate of the paternal character of G.o.d; and he will speak to men as of old, when he charged them to cast away their creeds and superst.i.tions, and to search the Scriptures for themselves. To his people he will speak whenever they enter this temple, reminding them of the many years he dwelt with them in peace, and of the glorious truths that have dropped from his lips. To _us_ he will speak, with his benignant eye, as often as we enter this room, telling us, in the language of the apostle, 'Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of G.o.d.' This theme--the love of G.o.d--was, indeed, one which he delighted to dwell upon; and with what unction would he treat it in all its length and breadth!" Yea, though his personal work be ended, yet the influence of his life-long labors will be perpetuated for centuries.

Mr. Ballou was particularly remarkable for his punctuality, and always took precaution that no matter, of whatever description, should be delayed by him. This was a point upon which he was always exceedingly tenacious. Often have we heard him say that punctuality is not merely a duty that we owe to others, but absolutely a duty to ourselves, and one of the most important principles that can be adopted and observed in every and all relations of life; and upon this belief he ever acted. If he had an engagement to proceed to any of the neighboring towns to preach, or was about to commence a journey of any considerable length, which was very often the case, he always allowed a reasonable period of time to _spare_ at the place of starting, and took good precaution that he should never find it necessary to hurry in any emergency. In short, he made it a strict and abiding principle to be _punctual_ in every case, important or comparatively otherwise. This was one reason why he was enabled to accomplish so much,--the proper division of time, and adherence to the appointed period for each specific purpose, giving him great command of his resources. Thus it has been said of him that he seemed completely independent of time and place, and so it would almost appear.

Burning with a constant desire to be about his Master's business, he could not remain idle for a moment when he realized that he might be profitably employed to the end of promulgating and enforcing the religion he taught. As we have before said, personal convenience or comfort were not taken into consideration at all; he was ever ready, ever willing, to respond promptly at each call; but so numerous were these, that he was obliged to adopt the principle of supplying the society first who came to him first, and those persons who read our denominational papers will have noticed that his appointments were frequently announced, up to the very last, for weeks in advance. The good that he undoubtedly accomplished in these itinerant missions must have been incalculable. Realizing that he could occupy but an hour or so in a place, he usually took up some prominent point of theology, and, by his masterly handling of the subject, cleared its questionable character entirely from the hearer's mind; and thus having gained one step before them which would impart a degree of confidence in his faith and general mode of explanation, he would then go over a most extensive field of faith, pointing out features here and there, and the props that should be raised to sustain this portion and that, and leaving the minds of the people, at last, strongly impressed with a system of theology that they might themselves understandingly pursue and reason upon, taking for a groundwork or platform that which he had clearly elucidated to their minds as the true fundamental basis of the gospel of Christ.

In reference to his frequent travels about the country, we would that it were possible to obtain more of the numerous incidents, so ill.u.s.trative and characteristic, that used so constantly to occur to him. One anecdote strikes us at this moment, which is not without its bearing, as it relates to his power for repartee, or rather, we should say, his ability to turn the most familiar subjects into argumentative use and advantage.

When it is remembered that Mr. Ballou's belief was that salvation is _the process_ of making people happy, the point of the following anecdote will be appreciated. It happened, on one of his short excursions in the neighboring country, that he stopped at a public house, where he had occasion to pa.s.s through a room which a woman was about to engage in cleaning. She had heard that he was at the house, and, being of a different faith, she determined to ask him, if an opportunity offered, just one single question, which, in her simplicity, she conceived to be perfectly unanswerable by those who believed in the doctrine Mr. Ballou advocated. As he came in, she began:--"Your name is Ballou, I believe, sir?"--"Yes, madam," said he, "my name is Ballou."--"I'm told that you preach," said the woman, "that all mankind are going to be saved."--"Yes," replied he, "I do."--"Well, Mr. Ballou,"

continued she, "do you believe they will be saved without first becoming perfectly holy? Do you believe they will be saved _just as they are_?"

He looked at her mop. "What are you going to do with that mop?" he asked.--"Why, sir," replied she, "I'm going to mop up the floor."--"Are you going to mop up the floor," he asked, "before it becomes perfectly clean? Are you going to mop it up _just as it is_?"

Could a more happily conceived answer have been given to the woman, if hours had been consumed in its preparation? We opine not; and herein the reader will observe the instantaneous and lightning-like operation of Mr. Ballou's mind.

His conversational powers were most remarkable,--remarkable because ever tempered with such a fund of logical clear-sightedness, such profound ac.u.men, and such convincing argument upon the topic under discussion; then we have to add to this the effect of his speech, so distinct and impressive. Hazlitt's remark of Coleridge, that he was an "excellent talker,--very,--if you let him start from no premises and come to no conclusion," would in no way apply to the subject of these memoirs; for, at the outset of Mr. Ballou's conversation, you would at once divine the end he aimed at, and would only be surprised at the velocity with which you found him leading you to the desired result, always established in his own mind, though he addressed you with the calm and collected expression that was a second nature to him. No mountain of error seemed too lofty for him to surmount, with giant strides and unbroken strength; and you would find his white flag of truth waving from its summit, and yourself breathing freer and deeper at the consummation of the rough ascent, before you had fairly found time to realize the power of reason necessary to surmount the rugged obstacles of the path. And once elevated above the murky haze of error, his descent with you again to the lowlands and plains of every-day life was as easy and graceful as his ascent had been majestic and lofty.

Often, in private conversation with those who had come to his own fireside to meet him, he was most efficacious. In the grandeur of his conception, the glory of his theme, and the unequalled sincerity with which he advocated it, his soul would seem to expand, his eyes to kindle in the expression to a surprising brilliancy, his lips and countenance seemed like those of one inspired, while you would have been almost awed at the man, had not his theme so much more power over your heart. But, having uttered such language as few could frame, having challenged your admiration and wonder by the adaptedness of every word, and the conviction that he forced upon you, he relapsed again into the quiet, peaceable, domestic soul that he was, and you would seem to look around instinctively to behold the spirit which had so entranced your faculties but a moment before, it seeming impossible that it was he who sat so quietly beside you.

Mr. Ballou's reading was confined almost entirely to sacred history, and, comparatively speaking, he consulted little else, though he was well versed on all general subjects, and he carefully perused at least one daily newspaper regularly. We remember to have asked him, at a late period of his life, why he did not vary his reading somewhat from the great theme of divinity, arguing that it might afford some relief to his mind, and be of both mental and physical benefit to him, by somewhat relaxing the constant exercise of his brain. He answered us in the words of Milton,--"The end of learning is to know G.o.d, and out of that knowledge to love him, and to venerate him;" adding, that this was the great actuating purpose of his labors and study; in short, the being, end and aim, of his existence. "That which seems to you to be labor,"

said he, "is to me as refres.h.i.+ng recreation. No course of reading could afford me the pleasure and delight that I find in that which has engaged me, heart and soul, for more than half a century."

His whole library did not exceed three hundred volumes, but these were of a character that particularly indicated the nature of his mind and pursuits, being well worn by constant use, and relating to such subjects as might be supposed to occupy and interest him. His thorough acquaintance with the Scriptures was almost unprecedented, and he was never at fault as to any pa.s.sage or quotation from its wealth of knowledge. It was the book he had studied more than all others put together; nor was there any pa.s.sage, in the whole of the sacred record, which had been made the theme of controversy or misunderstanding, that he had not also made the subject of careful study and exposition.

Every unoccupied moment was given to mental exercise upon the subject nearest to his heart. We have seen him thus occupied often in the street, when all the turmoil and bustle of life pa.s.sed him by unheeded.

On this peculiarity, Mr. Bacon says, in the eulogy before referred to:--"He wasted no power in frivolity, but as he walked the streets he seemed to be unaffected by the crowd about him, meditating some new utterance of the truth. I remember being amused, and yet impressed, by beholding him, in my youth, walking along with his head bent, and his lips moving as in speech, heeding not the pa.s.sers-by or the shows in the street, appearing as quiet amid the noise and bustle as in the solitude of his own study. Yet should any one greet him by name, he would instantly pause, fix his sharp, keen eye upon the face before him, and, as he recognized the friend, one of the sweetest smiles that ever illumined a human face would spread over his countenance, deepening till that countenance was youthful indeed; then, with ready utterance of kind feeling and warm interest in the happiness of others, he made his affectionate regards known."

CHAPTER XIII.

SPIRIT OF HIS DOCTRINE.