79 Sermon Illustrations on Character Of God

It is remembered as one of the liberal axioms of George III. that "no British subject is by necessity excluded from the Peerage." Consistently with this sentiment, he once checked a man of high rank, who lamented that a very good speaker in the court of aldermen was of a mean trade, by saying, with his characteristic quickness, "What signifies a man's trade? A man of any honest trade may make himself respectable if he will."

This Roman orator was one day sneered at by one of his opponents, a mean man of noble lineage, on account of his low parentage. "You are the first of your line," said the railer; "and you," rejoined Cicero, "are the last of yours."

Nothing can be more contrary to nature, to reason, to religion, than cruelty. Hence an inhuman man is generally considered as a monster. Such monsters, however, have existed; and the heart almost bleeds at the recital of the cruel acts such have been guilty of. It teaches us, however, what human nature is when left to itself; not only treacherous above all things, but desperately wicked.

Commodus, the Roman emperor, when but twelve years old, gave a shocking instance of his cruelty, when, finding the water in which he bathed too warm, he commanded the person who attended the bath to be thrown into the furnace, nor was he satisfied till those who were about him pretended to put his order in execution. After his succession to the empire, he equalled, if he did not exceed in cruelty, Caligula, Domitian, and even Nero himself; playing, we may say, with the blood of his subjects and fellow-creatures, of whom he caused great numbers to be racked and butchered in his presence merely for his diversion. Historians relate many instances of his cruelty. He caused one to be thrown to wild beasts for reading the life of Caligula written by Suetonius; because the tyrant and he had been born on the same day of the month, and in many bad qualities resembled each other. Seeing one day a corpulent man pass by, he immediately cut him asunder, partly to try his strength, in which he excelled all men, and partly out of curiosity, as he himself owned, to see his entrails drop out at once. He took pleasure in cutting off the feet and putting out the eyes of such as he met in his rambles through the city. Some he murdered because they were negligently dressed; others because they seemed trimmed with too much nicety. He assumed the name and habit of Hercules, appearing publicly in a lion's skin, with a huge club in his hand, and ordering several persons, though not guilty of any crimes, to be disguised like monsters, that by knocking out their brains, he might have a better claim to the title, the great destroyer of monsters. He, however, was destroyed in his turn: one of his concubines, whose death he had purposed, poisoned him; but, as the poison did not quickly operate, he was strangled by a wrestler in the thirty-first year of his age.

In the days of John, King of Atri, (an ancient city of Abruzzo,) there was a bell put up, which any one that had received any injury went and rang, and the king assembled the wise men chosen for the purpose, that justice might be done. It happened that, after the bell had been up a long time, the rope was worn out, and a piece of wild vine was made use of to lengthen it. Now there was a knight of Atri who had a noble charger, which had become unserviceable through age, so that, to avoid the expense of feeding him, he turned him loose upon the common. The horse, driven by hunger, raised his mouth to the vine to munch it, and, pulling it, the bell rang. The judges assembled to consider the petition of the horse, which appeared to demand justice. They decreed that the knight whom he had served in his youth should feed him in his old age; a sentence which the king confirmed under a heavy penalty.

### 116. Cruelty Punished.

Who has not heard of the Emperor Trajan, of his moderation, his clemency, his gushing sympathies, his forgiveness of injuries and forgetfulness ago, at the termination of a fair, annually held at Rochdale, in Lancashire, it was determined to bait a bull for the gratification of a great number of persons, whose tastes are as savage as their amusements are cruel, and, accordingly, the poor beast was tied to a stake at the edge of the river, near the bridge. The radius of the cord was about six yards, and the animal, in making the circle, was frequently three feet deep in water. The crowd collected to witness this sight was great, and the number of people on and near the bridge made it difficult to pass; the sides of the river were also thronged with spectators of every age and sex, and many were seen near the bull up to their middle in water, jumping with ecstasy at the sport. At every revolution the animal made to disengage himself from the dogs, people were seen tumbling over each other in the mud and water up to the knees, and the shouts of joy occasionally expressed, could only have been equalled by the yell of savages. This sport continued for about three hours, when a considerable portion of the parapet wall leading to the bridge gave way, from the extreme pressure of the crowd, and five persons were killed on the spot. Four other persons died shortly afterwards of the wounds they received, making nine in the whole who lost their lives, besides a considerable number who were severely wounded. The stones being large they fell with overwhelming weight; and from the pressure of the crowd near the wall, numbers of the spectators were precipitated along with the stones on the people below. One woman had her thighs broken, and a young man had his arm completely cut from his body, besides others who were severely bruised.

## BEVOLENCE COMBINED.

of self, his tearing in pieces his own robe, to furnish bandages for the wounded—called by the whole world, in his day, "the best Emperor of Rome;" and so affectionately regarded by his subjects, that, ever afterwards, in blessing his successors upon their accession to power, they always said, "May you have the virtue and goodness of Trajan!" yet the deadly conflicts of gladiators who were trained to kill each other, to make sport for the spectators, furnished his chief pastime. At one time he kept up those spectacles for 123 days in succession. In the tortures which he inflicted on Christians, fire and poison, daggers and dungeons, wild beasts and serpents, and the rack, did their worst. He threw into the sea, Clemens, the venerable bishop of Rome, with an anchor about his neck; and tossed to the famishing lions in the amphitheatre the aged Ignatius.

Pliny the younger, who was proconsul under Trajan, may well be mentioned in connection with the emperor, as a striking illustration of the truth, that goodness and amiableness towards one class of men is often turned into cruelty towards another. History an hardly show a more gentle and lovely character than Pliny. While pleading at the bar, he always sought out the grievances of the poorest and most despised persons, entered into their wrongs with his whole soul, and never took a fee. Who can read his admirable letters without being touched by their tenderness and warmed by their benignity and philanthropy? And yet, this tender-hearted Pliny coolly plied with excruciating torture two spotless females, who had served as deaconesses in the Christian church, hoping to extort from them matter of accusation against the Christians. He commanded Christians to abjure their faith, invoke the gods, pour out libations to the statues of the emperor, burn incense to idols, and curse Christ. If they refused, he ordered them to execution.

TITUS IN JUDEA.—Who has not heard of the Emperor Titus—so beloved for his mild virtues and compassionate regard for the suffering, that he was named "The Delight of Mankind;" so tender of the lives of his subjects that he took the office of high priest that his hands might never be defiled with blood; and was heard to declare, with tears, that he had rather die than put another to death. So intent upon making others happy, that when once about to retire to sleep, and not being able to recall any particular act of beneficence performed during the day, he cried out in anguish, "Alas! I have lost a day!" And, finally, whom the learned Kennet, in his Roman Antiquities, characterizes as "the only prince in the world that has the character of never doing an ill action." Yet, witnessing the mortal combats of the captives taken in war, killing each other in the amphitheatre, amidst the acclamations of the populace, was a favorite amusement with Titus. At one time he exhibited shows of gladiators, which lasted one hundred days, during which the amphitheatre

# DEA

# 118. Readiness for Death.

Mutius, a citizen of Rome, was noted to be of so envious and malevolent a disposition, that Publius one day observing him to be very sad, said, “Either some great evil is happened to Mutius, or some great good to another.” the third century, when he was cruelly persecuted by Demetrius, and through his efforts excommunicated by the Synod, beautifully exhibited the same mild and forgiving spirit. Speaking, in his defence against the Synod, he mentions wicked priests and rulers thus: "We must pity them rather than hate them, pray for them rather than curse them, for we are created for blessing rather than cursing."

If we look at the writings and conduct of the principal adversaries of Christianity, we shall form no very favorable opinion of their system, as to its moral effects. The morals of Rochester and Wharton need no comment. Woolston was a gross blasphemer. Blount solicited his sister-in-law to marry him; and, being refused, shot himself. Tindal was originally a Protestant, then turned Papist, then Protestant again, merely to suit the times; and was, at the same period, infamous for vice in general, and the total want of principle. He is said to have died with this prayer in his mouth, "If there be a God, I desire that he may have mercy upon me." Hobbes wrote his "Leviathan" to serve the cause of Charles I; but finding him fail of success, he turned it to the defence of Cromwell, and made a merit of this fact to the usurper, as Hobbes himself unblushingly declared to Lord Clarendon. Morgan had no regard for truth, as is evident from his numerous falsifications of Scripture, as well as from the vile hypocrisy of professing himself a Christian in those very writings in which he labors to destroy Christianity. Voltaire, in a letter now in existence, requested his friend, D'Alembert, to tell for him a direct and palpable lie, by denying that he was the author of the Philosophical Dictionary. D'Alembert, in his answer, informed him that he had told the lie. Voltaire has, indeed, expressed his own moral character perfectly in the following words: "Monsieur Abbe, I must be read; no matter whether I am believed or not." He also solemnly professed to believe the Roman Catholic religion, although, at the same time, he elsewhere professed to doubt the existence of God.

The beginning of Nero's reign was marked by acts of the greatest kindness and condescension; by afability, complaisance, and popularity. The object of his administration seemed to be the good of his people; and, when he was desired to sign his name to a list of malefactors that were to be executed, he exclaimed, "I wish to heaven I could not write!" He was an enemy to flattery; and when the Senate had liberally commended the wisdom of his government, Nero desired them to keep their praises till he deserved them. But mark the corresponding tendency of arbitrary power! This was the wretch who afterwards assassinated his mother, who set fire to Rome, and destroyed multitudes of men, women, and children, and threw the odium of my consultations, and I feel that I have at least two every Sabbath in the house of God, and God who loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob, has for more than thirty years enabled me, with very few exceptions, to meet them.

Dr. L. thanked Dr. B. and thought he should profit by the hint, and in the hope that others may likewise, this paragraph is given to the Messenger.

## CORRUPTING INFLUENCE OF.

that dreadful action on the Christians. The cruelties he exercised towards them were beyond description, while he seemed to be the only one who enjoyed the tragical spectacle. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Arbitrary power is dangerous, and who shall be trusted with it?

See GREATNESS; PERSONALITY, INFLUENCE OF.

VALUE OF.

CONDITIONS SUGGEST COURSES

During the last years of his life a brain disease, of which he had shown frequent symptoms, fastened its terrible hold upon Swift, and he became by turns an idiot and a madman. He died in 1745, and when his will was opened it was found that he had left all his property to found St. Patrick’s asylum for lunatics and incurables. It stands to-day as the most suggestive monument of his peculiar genius.--WILLIAM J. LONG, “English Literature.”

The Pharos of Alexandria was built by Sostratus, a Greek architect, in the reign of Ptolmey Philadelphus. Ptolemy ordered that a marble tablet be built into the wall with his name conspicuously inscribed upon it as the builder of the famous edifice. Instead, Sostratus cut in Greek characters his own name deep upon the face of the tablet, then covered the whole with an artificial composition, made of lime, to imitate the natural surface of the stone, and cut a new inscription in which he inserted the name of the king. In due time the lime moldered away, name and all, leaving his own name to come out to view and to remain as long as the lighthouse stood.

There are names that wear away, while others are made to endure. (Text.)

I have seen bullets made out of cold lead, crusht into shape in the steel grip of a machine; and I have heard that gold and silver, tho cold, are stamped into money by a powerful steel die; but when God would mold a man to His will He warms the wax before He presses His seal upon it.--FRANKLIN NOBLE, “Sermons in Illustration.”

Faith that pleases God is not judged by its measure but by its focus.

1. The exalted order of [grunting faith].

2. The question of quantity.

3. Focusing on the unseen.

4. The Lord of Creation.

5. The Lord of Justice.

6. The Lord of Faithfulness.

7. The Lord of Salvation.

8. The Lord of Stability.

9. The Lord of Resurrection.

10. The thrill of victory, the victory of defeat.

[see #3845 for first portion, word-for-word]

Leroy T. Weeks somewhat enlarges upon the saying of Kepler in the following verses:

We think Thy thoughts, O mighty God! Thy thoughts, that thrill through space afar, That hold in place each twinkling star, And permeate the teeming sod.

We think Thy thoughts, and live thy life; Our souls are fathered by Thine own, And high as is Thy holy throne, So high we mount from sin and strife.

We live Thy life, and love Thy love; The tendrils of our souls entwine, Entwines and draws us all above, Our fellow men, as love divine.

We think and live and love and grow Like Thee, in ever-bright’ning ways; We are God-kind, and all our days Are in His hands who made us so. (Text.)