The influence of character in Christian preaching highlights how a person's moral and spiritual conduct profoundly affects others, either drawing them toward or away from faith (1 Timothy 4:12). Illustrations often use the metaphor of example—both good and bad—to show how consistent godly behavior can inspire conversion and growth, while inconsistency or sin can hinder evangelism and lead others astray (Matthew 5:16).
Evil companionship spreads sin, corrupting even those initially innocent or reluctant.
"Two dry sticks will set a green one on fire. Can you blame the children of God, then, if they mourn and enter their protest against the iniquity of the times?" They see how the prevalence of sin affects those who would fain be innocent, and how the fashion of evil sweeps along with it those who at first had better manners; and this frets them sorely. We tremble at the mischief which can be done by men who are hardened in iniquity; those dry sticks, so eager for the flame, are our terror; when such are laid together we know how fierce will be the burning. Companionship in evil leads to a high pitch of sin. Hands joined in hand draw on with great force those who seemed reluctant to go in the way of evil. O that our young people would be warned of the danger of bad example! If we could keep the green sticks out of the way of the dry we should have little to fear for our sons and daughters; but, alas, the wicked are often more attractive than the righteous, and fair speech and gay habits fascinate the inexperienced. The amiable but undecided of our youth are beguiled by the pleasant manners of worldly people, and before they are aware they become like their betrayers. Lord, save us from evil men, and when we are called in the order of providence to be in their presence, let us remember that we are also in Thy presence, and so let us escape the contagion of their company.
Bad associations can change a person's convictions and lead them into sin.
St. Augustine, in his Confessions, maketh mention of his friend Alipius, who, having resolved with himself never to look upon the fencers' prizes, was, upon a time, through the importunity of his friends, drawn along to the theatre where these bloody sports were performed, protesting that he would keep his eyes shut all the while, and not so much as once open them; yet it so fell out, that, upon a sudden great shout of the people, he looked about to see what the matter was, whereupon he became another man, and altered his former course, so that his hatred to the sport was turned into love and liking of it.
— Spencer
Each Christian is a light influencing the whole world, forming one vast field of light.
Every Christian is placed in a centre, of which the globe is the circumference; and each must fill that circumference, as every star forms a centre, and shines through the whole sphere; and yet all meet and mingle, forming one vast field of light. Spencer.
A Christian's bad example can lead others into sin and eternal ruin.
A man who bore the reputation of a Christian at home, being in the city, went to the theatre, thinking the act would never be known. Some years after, he was sent for to visit a dying man. This man charged him with the ruin of his soul. While young, he had seen the professed Christian enter the theatre, and followed his example; saying to himself, that, if a church-member and Sunday-school superintendent could do this, he could. He had become hardened in sin, and now lay hopeless in death, but felt that the crisis of his life was that fatal example.
A father's consistent godly conduct was a powerful argument for Christianity.
A young minister, when about to be ordained, stated, that, at one period of his life, he was nearly an infidel. "But," said he, "there was one argument in favor of Christianity which I could never refute,—the consistent conduct of my father."
Worthy people should follow good examples to inspire others to imitate them.
As they who duck themselves have the looking-glass before their eyes; so they who go about any worthy thing must have the example of worthy men in mind, and do it in that manner that others may not scorn to make them their example. Cawdray.
Socrates' conduct taught more effectively than his words, showing the power of example over precept.
It was Xenophon's observation, grounded upon his own experience, that the memory of Socrates' conversation did greatly profit his acquaintance. And Seneca saith, that the crowd of philosophers which followed the same wise man derived more of their ethics from his manners than his words. And he that shall reflect upon the story concerning his behavior, when he was by malicious envy persecuted to death, may, perhaps, be more edified thereby than by all his subtle discourses about death and the soul's state after it. Dr. Barrow.
The eye powerfully influences and reflects the character of a person.
A beautiful eye makes silence eloquent; a kind eye makes contradiction an assent; an enraged eye makes beauty deformed. This little member gives life to every other part about us: and I believe that the story of Argus implies no more than that the eye is in every part; that is to say, every other part would be mutilated, were not its force represented more by the eye than by itself. Addison.
Poor Christian conduct hinders evangelism by discouraging others from becoming believers.
When Brainerd was among the American Indians, he stopped at a place where he offered to instruct them in Christianity. He was met by the retort, "Why should you desire the Indians to become Christians, seeing that the Christians are so much worse than the Indians? The Christians lie, steal, and drink worse than the Indians. They first taught the Indians to be drunk. They steal to so great a degree, that their rulers are obliged to hang them for it; and even that is not enough to deter others from the practice. We will not consent, therefore, to become Christians, lest we should be as bad as they. We will live as our fathers lived, and go where our fathers are, when we die." By no influence could he change their decision.
John Newton’s early bad influence led a young man to ruin and death without repentance.
Irresolable. When John Newton was on board "The Harwich," he corrupted a young man, previously free from open vice, who soon arrived at maturity in guilt. Years after, they met. Newton was changed, and desired to rescue his former companion from the effects of which he had himself been the guilty cause. As he no longer felt infidelity to be tenable, he strove to undeceive his victim. His usual reply, however, was, that Newton was the first to give him an idea of his liberty, which he would not now forego. His efforts were vain: he got worse, spurned all restraints, gave loose to every passion. His excesses threw him into a malignant fever, of which he died; but not till he had appalled all those about him, and pronounced his own sad doom, without showing any symptom that he hoped or asked for mercy. Tweedie.
A pure life of sixty years commanded respect and attention from a riotous crowd.
In 1848, Lamartine introduced De la Eure to the riotous populace, saying, "Listen, citizens! It is sixty years of a pure life that is about to address you." The multitude all became attentive to his words. It was the power of integrity and purity.
Moral power arises from a godly character that influences others profoundly.
Moral power, — by this we mean the power of a life and a character; the power of good and great purposes; that power which comes at length to reside in a man distinguished in some course of estimable or great conduct. It is often this which dignifies the great senator, so as to make even his common words words of grave wisdom, or, perchance, of high eloquence. It is this which gives a power so mysterious, often, to the preacher of Christ, — such a power that even his presence in any place will begin to disturb the conscience of many even before they have heard him. No other power of man compares with this; and there is no individual who may not be measurably invested with it. Bushnell.
One woman's influence can equal that of many men, showing her significant impact.
Influence of Dr. Adam Clarke long ago set down one woman as equal to seven men and a half. A later estimate, on more dubious authority, accounts one woman as equal to fifteen men.
Women are likened to poetry, bringing harmony and light to the world.
Poetry. Women are the poetry of the world in the same sense as the stars are the poetry of heaven. Clear, light-giving, harmonious, they are the terrestrial planets that rule the destinies of mankind.
— Hargrave
A woman's influence shapes family character and can impact generations profoundly.
You are a sister, and may mould a brother's mind to virtue and to usefulness. You are a daughter; and, for your sake, your father may put forth efforts of unbounded might. You may hereafter bear the honored name of wife, and the more sacred one of mother. Your influence may then determine the character of your husband, and fix the destiny of your children. It may make your son an Augustine, an Oberlin, a Wesley; or it may leave him to curse his race with pestiferous teachings, like Socinus or Murray, with wars of ambition, like Napoleon, or with a baleful legacy of infidelity and vice, like Hume or Carlyle. Say not, that, because you are a woman, your influence must be limited, but remember that your sex places you at the head-waters of the great river of humanity, where a pebble may change the direction of the streamlet. Dr. Wise.
Past influence is unchangeable and cannot be recalled after death.
YOUTH, Influence of "Gather up my influence, and bury it with me," exclaimed a youth, whose unforgiven spirit was sinking into the invisible world. Idle request! Had he begged his friends to bind the free winds, to chain the wild waves, to grasp the fierce lightning, or make a path for the sand-blast, his wish would have been more possible; for past influence is unchangeable, and can never be recalled. Dr. Wise.
Even skeptics can teach gospel truths to their children, showing the Bible's moral power.
It is related, that one day Mr. Beauzet, a member of the French Academy, went to see Diderot, one of the champions of infidelity; he found him explaining a chapter of the gospel to his daughter, as seriously, and with the concern of a most Christian parent. Mr.
Beauzet expressed his surprise. "I understand you," said Diderot, "but in truth what better lesson could I give her?"
# HAPPY EFFECTS OF THE BIBLE.
# 57. Morality Promoted.
Bad company can ruin a person's future despite good intentions.
Judge Buller, when in the company of a young gentleman of sixteen, cautioned him against being led astray, by the example or persuasion of others, and said, "If I had listened to the advice of some of those who called themselves my friends when I was young, instead of being a Judge of the King's Bench, I should have died long ago a prisoner in the King's Bench."
A godly example can cause others to become Christians despite themselves.
When Lord Peterborough lodged for a season with Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, he was so delighted with his piety and virtue, that he exclaimed at parting, "If I stay here any longer, I shall become a Christian in spite of myself."
Glorifying wicked heroes in literature can inspire destructive ambition and cruelty.
A most pernicious influence is exerted by those writers who array in false and glowing colors the wicked actions of real or imaginary persons.
It was the perusal of Homer's Iliad, which celebrates in such moving strains the deeds of bloody and brutal heroes, that helped to make Alexander the wholesale robber and murderer of mankind.
Alexander had a perfect passion for Homer. He used to say that Homer's works were the most perfect production of the human mind and the best medicine of the warrior. He always carried with him Aristotle's edition of
Homer. He kept it in a golden casket enriched with jewels, and laid it every night, with his sword, under his pillow.
Again, reading the Life of Alexander was the means, in part, of making two other bloody heroes, scarce less noted than himself. One was Caesar, whose highest ambition, we are told, was to walk in the steps of Alexander. Another was Charles XII of Sweden, who longed from his earliest years to imitate the Macedonian conqueror, and who, like him, converted firmness into obstinacy, courage into rashness, and severity into cruelty. Caesar, again, was the ideal of human greatness that fanned the fire of martial zeal in the bosom of the
Turkish Emperor Selymus, who, after defeating and poisoning his father, carried his merciless victories over Egypt and Persia. The highest ambition of
Selymus was to imitate Caesar. These four great conquerors convulsed the world with their crimes, and as they strode on to fame and power, they crushed millions of human hearts in the giant footsteps of their ambition. And how pernicious has been their influence on the world, since their day up to the present time, who can tell? Such have been some of the ruinous results, (whatever the good results may be) of Homer's writings on mankind since his death;
results which the infinite mind can best compute.
I can best compare
# 226. INGRA
Our daily work and life influence others for life or condemnation.
Lad who ran after arrows was unconsciously bearing tidings of great import. As we work, our lives may speak for life or for condemnation
A beard symbolizes manliness and reminds of Apostle Paul's departure from Ephesians.
Mr. Spurgeon was an admirer of a good full beard as a manly appendage. Meeting a brother minister one day who had grown a fine beard since they last met, he said to him, "Well, brother—, I am glad to see your face, so much of it as I can see. You remind me of the Apostle Paul, who told the Ephesians that 'they should see his face no more.'" 26. Black from the Soul to the Skin A man in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the son of Kaffir parents, wrote an interesting letter to Mr. Spurgeon, telling him of the good his sermons had done him. He says that, one day as he was going to his daily work, he met a friend in the street. They spoke together of the Word of God, and his friend asked him whether he had ever seen one of Mr. Spurgeon's books. "What Mr. Spurgeon is that?" he asked. "One of the ministers in London," he was told. "No, I never saw such a book in my life." The other said he bought it from the bookseller. He asked the name of the book, and was told it was the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, and he went straight to the shop and bought one. "On my reading it," says he, "I arrived at a place where Job said, 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.' I am sure I can't tell how to describe the goodness you have done to us, we black people of South Africa. We are black, not only outside, even inside; I wouldn't mind to be a black man only in colour. It is a terrible thing to be black from the soul to the skin, but still I am very glad to say your sermons have done something good to me. May the Lord bless your efforts and prosper your work. May it please Him to gain many sons into His glory through you as His instrument, not only in London but also in Africa!" To all of which we say, "Amen." 27. College or no College The disappointment caused to Mr. Spurgeon through the careless omission of the servant (see No. 20) did not altogether repress in him the desire for a collegiate education, but he was brought to a decision in a remarkable way. He says: "Still holding the idea of entering the collegiate institution, I thought of writing and making an immediate application, but this was not to be. That afternoon, having to preach at a village station, I walked slowly, in a meditative frame of mind over Midsummer Common to the little wooden bridge which leads to Chesterton, and in the midst of the common I was startled by what seemed to me a loud voice, but which may have been a singular illusion; whichever it was, the impression on my mind was most vivid; I seemed very distinctly to hear the words, 'Seekest thou great things for thy- self? Seek them not.' This led me to look at my position from a different point of view, and to challenge my motives and intentions. I remembered my poor but loving people to whom I ministered, and the souls which had been given me in my humble charge; and although at that time I anticipated obscurity and poverty as the result of the resolve, yet I did there and then renounce the offer of collegiate instruction, determining to abide, for a season, at least, with my people; and to remain preaching the Word as long as I had strength to do it. Had it not been for these words I had not been where I am now. The Lord guides His people by His wisdom, and orders their paths in love; and in times of perplexity, by ways mysterious and remarkable, He says to them, 'This is the way, walk ye in it.'"
Some lead others into sin by example, then avoid consequences themselves.
I want to tell you to-day about a tricky ox I once read about. I suppose you will at once think that this ox was in a circus. But he wasn't. Far from it! It would have been better for some other cattle if he had been. This ox is kept in the stockyards at Chicago. In those stockyards they kill thousands of cattle every year to give us beef to eat. When the cattle come to these stockyards they are not tame cattle like the cows we see out in our pastures, but they are cattle that have pastured out on the great broad prairies, and they have seen very few people. And for that reason they are very timid and hard to get close to. So it is difficult to get them near the pens where they want them. Here is where the tricky ox comes in. In one of those yards they keep a black, short-tailed ox known as "Bob," and he just walks along in an unconcerned way toward the pens, and he looks so calm and unafraid that the other cattle just take confidence and follow along after him. And then, before they know it, they are in a trap and can never get out. But in the meanwhile Bob has slipped away, to play the same trick on other cattle. There are some boys and girls just like that ox. They are always urging other boys and girls on to do wrong things, telling them that they are cowards if they don't take the "dare" and do it, and showing how brave they are. But when they have got you into a scrape, and the real business of punishment begins, they can't be found anywhere: they have slipped out like old Bob. You must be on the lookout for boys like that. Don't be afraid to be called a coward by them. Don't let them "dare" you to do things which your conscience tells you are foolish or wrong. You will be a bigger coward if you do these things because you are ashamed not to take the dare.
A good man positively influences his surroundings like water sustaining life in a desert.
In a hot summer's-day, some years ago, I was sailing with a friend in a tiny boat, on a miniature lake, enclosed like a cup within a circle of steep, bare Scottish hills. On the shoulder of the brown sun-burnt mountain, and full in sight, was a well with a crystal stream trickling over its lip, and making its way down towards the lake. Around the well's mouth and along the course of the rivulet, a belt of green stood out in strong contrast with the iron surface of the rocks all around. We soon agreed as to what should be made of it. There it was, a legend clearly printed by the finger of God on the side of these silent hills, teaching the passer-by how needful a good man is, and how useful he may be in a desert world.— W. Arnot.
People closely associated tend to take on each other's traits over time.
The Italian mothers get for nurses the most beautiful persons, because they believe that by constantly looking into such faces the infant will unconsciously take on some of the beauty of the nurse.
This may be a fiction; but we do know that where there is mutuality of interest and deep affection, persons thrown closely together, in the process of the years, take on traits each of the other.
True acting can deeply move even those portraying opposing characters.
The following remembrance of Henry Irving is given by his friend and associate Ellen Terry:
My greatest triumph as Desdemona was not gained with the audience, but with Henry Irving! He found my endeavors to accept comfort from Iago so pathetic that they brought the tears to his eyes. It was the oddest sensation, when I said, “Oh, good Iago, what shall I do to win my lord again?” to look up--my own eyes dry, for Desdemona is past crying then--and see Henry’s eyes at their biggest, luminous, soft, and full of tears! He was, in spite of Iago and in spite of his power of identifying himself with the part, very deeply moved by my acting.
Age does not diminish true eloquence and spiritual power in oratory.
This is the description of one who had the privilege of hearing Gladstone, in the autumn of 1896, make his last great oration in Liverpool:
See the old man with slow and dragging steps advancing from the door behind the platform to his seat before that sea of eager faces. The figure is shrunken. The eyelids droop. The cheeks are as parchment. Now that he sits, his hands lean heavily upon his staff. We think, “Ah, it is too late; the fire has flickered out; the speech will be but the dead echo of bygone glories.” But lo! he rises. The color mantles to his face. He stands erect, alert. The great eyes open full upon his countrymen. Yes, the first notes are somewhat feeble, somewhat painful; but a few minutes pass, and the noble voice falls as the solemn music of an organ on the throng. The eloquent arms seem to weave a mystic garment for his oratory. The involved sentences unfold themselves with a perfect lucidity. The whole man dilates. The soul breaks out through the marvelous lips. Age? Not so! this is eternal youth. He is pleading for mercy to an outraged people, for fidelity to a national obligation, for courage and for conscience in a tremendous crisis. And the words from the Revised Version of the Psalms seem to print themselves on the listener’s heart: “Thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor.” (Text.)
Association with higher lives sweetens and strengthens one's own character and conduct.
There are localities in Switzerland where the canary is caged with a nightingale so that it may catch the sweetness and breathe into its notes that harmonious melody that delights all tourists in Europe. It is a demonstration of the power of association. This canary-bird had been trained by a nightingale.
So men may make their lives strong, pure, sweet and holy in thought, word and deed by unbroken association with those who live on a higher plane. (Text.)
People can be influenced deeply by outward appearances and habits of those they respect.
My father remembered the last clergyman in New England who still continued to wear the wig. At first it became a singularity and at last a monstrosity, and the good doctor concluded to leave it off. But there was one poor woman among his parishioners who lamented this sadly; and waylaying the clergyman as he came out of church, she said, “Oh, dear doctor, I have always listened to your sermon with the greatest edification and comfort, but now that the wig is gone all is gone.”
— JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
A blue jay learned the song of a cardinal by close association, showing learning by example.
A gentleman had in his bird-room a deformed blue jay, who was reared from the nest and never associated with his kind. In the room was also a cardinal grosbeak, one of the finest singers of his family. The young blue jay learned the song of the cardinal so perfectly that the gentleman could not tell it from the cardinal’s own. “Even when hearing the two performers almost together, I could distinguish only a slight difference, which was not in the cardinal’s favor.”--OLIVE THORNE MILLER, “The Bird Our Brother.”
Good associations shape character and art, rejecting evil influences for purity and devotion.
Among the doctrines of Belial is the theory that we must familiarize ourselves with evil if we would have power to resist it.
Jean François Millet in the middle of the last century was engaged on his early pictures. As they appeared one after another they astonished and delighted all lovers of art throughout the world. What were the subjects of these wonderful paintings? They were all deeply religious--the “Angelus,” the “Sower,” the “Man with the Hoe,” the “Winnower,” the “Gleaners.” These masterpieces were not only spiritual, but were replete with beauty, pathos, power, and with all the works of the highest genius. Now, the theory had been popular that an artist must revel in fleshly and voluptuous presentations of life. But Millet hated the salaciousness of Greece, and Rome was abhorrent to him. He was a lifelong lover of his Bible, and his life was one of devotion and purity. (Text.)
Admiring beauty can transform character, like a child changed by a statue’s example.
Every one is influenced to a greater or less degree by that which he sees about him, and those with whom he comes in contact.
A beautiful statue once stood in the market-place of an Italian city. It was the statue of a Greek slave-girl. It represented the slave as tidy and well drest. A ragged, uncombed little street child, coming across the statue in her play, stopt and gazed at it in admiration. She was captivated by it. She gazed long and lovingly. Moved by a sudden impulse, she went home and washed her face and combed her hair. Another day she stopt again before the statue and admired it, and she got a new idea. Next day her tattered clothes were washed and mended. Each time she looked at the statue she found something in its beauties until she was a transformed child.
This law of transformation through appreciation has its highest illustration in the changed life and character of men who have lived in communion with God.
Listening to youth reveals their potential and the importance of giving them opportunity.
From _Congregational Work_ is taken the following incident:
Patrick A. Collins, Mayor of Boston for a number of years past, believed that a boy’s word is worth listening to. One time complaint was made to him that a saloon was located too near a certain public school. The politicians and others interested in keeping the place open urged him not to interfere with the resort. The school authorities desired it closed and removed.
After the Mayor had listened to arguments from both sides, he said:
“Well, I’m going to let the boys of the school tell me what they think of the place. Send me,” he said to the principal of the school, “half a dozen of your brightest boys. I’ll listen to them.”
The next day half a dozen of the boys, ranging from ten to fifteen years of age, called on the Mayor. Each boy gave some reason why he believed the saloon ought to be taken away, until it came to the last one, a youngster of twelve. He looked the Mayor squarely in the eye, and gave as his reason:
“My school gives me a chance to be Mayor of Boston some day; the saloon can’t. I think us boys ought to have all the show we can get to be Mayor. That’s all I know about it.”
The Mayor threw himself back in his chair and laughed heartily; then, straightening up, he said to the last spokesman:
“My boy, you have said more than did all the politicians and the teachers. You shall have the show to be Mayor. That saloon will have to quit business at once.”
The boys gave the Mayor a hearty cheer, and marched out of his office. They had conquered, and were consequently happy and triumphant.
A godly life influences others more powerfully than mere theological ideas.
That a life tells more than a creed is shown in this incident told in the _Young Man_:
Mr. John Morley said to a Presbyterian minister who was his guest: “How was it that your Church tolerated Drummond? His views were surely not those of the Free Church.” “No,” said the minister, “but we never took him seriously as a thinker. No one believed that he would shape the theological opinions of the Church. We regarded him rather as a religious influence.” “Ah, yes,” said Mr. Morley, “you are quite right; he wasn’t a thinker.” After some talk on other matters he returned to the subject: “You said a little while ago that Drummond was a religious influence. How did he show that?” “Well,” replied the minister, “for one thing, he cleansed Edinburgh University life for several years.” “Ah,” said Mr. Morley thoughtfully, “that’s better than being a thinker.” It is never easy for the Church to drive out heretics who are not thinkers, but who purify by love the sources of spiritual life in men.
A sincere compliment can leave a lasting positive influence on others.
Few have equalled Sir Joshua Reynolds in skill and graciousness of compliment. When he painted the portrait of Mrs. Siddons as the “Tragic Muse,” he wrought his name on the border of her robe, with the remark, “I can not lose this opportunity of sending my name to posterity on the hem of your garment.”
Recognizing true beauty and greatness is itself a high compliment.
* * * * *
I recollect once standing in front of a bit of marble carved by Powers, a Vermonter, who had a matchless, instinctive love of art and perception of beauty. I said to an Italian standing with me, “Well, now, that seems to me to be perfection.” The answer was, “To be perfection”--shrugging his shoulders--“why, sir, that reminds you of Phidias!” as if to remind you of that Greek was a greater compliment than to be perfection.
— WENDELL PHILLIPS
Turner's unpredictable behavior illustrates how eccentricity affects relationships and business.
The _Youth’s Companion_ tells this incident about the peculiar moods of Turner, the artist, in the matter of selling his pictures:
At times nothing could induce him to part with one of them, and at other times he would receive a customer with the greatest affability of voice and manner, and readily settle upon the sum to be paid for one of his treasures.
On one occasion, when he was offered one thousand pounds apiece for some old sketchbooks, he turned them over leaf by leaf before the eyes of the would-be purchaser, saying, “Well, would you really like to have them?”
Then, just as the man proceeded to take possession of the books, Turner, with a tantalizing “I dare say you would!” suddenly thrust them into a drawer and turned the key in the lock, leaving the customer dumb with indignation.
On another occasion a rich manufacturer of Birmingham managed to secure an entrance into the artist’s house, after considerable parley with the disagreeable janitress whom Turner employed. He hurried up-stairs to the gallery. In a moment Turner dashed out upon him with anything but a hospitable air. The visitor bowed politely and introduced himself, saying he had come to buy some pictures.
“Don’t want to sell,” said the artist gruffly.
“Have you ever seen our Birmingham pictures, Mr. Turner?” inquired the visitor blandly.
“Never heard of ’em,” returned the artist.
The manufacturer now took an attractive package of crisp Birmingham bank-notes from his wallet.
“Mere paper,” said Turner contemptuously.
“To be bartered for mere canvas,” retorted the visitor calmly, waving his hand in the direction of some paintings.
This ready wit and tone of cool depreciation had the effect of putting the erratic artist in a good humor at once. He changed his manner immediately, and not long after his visitor departed, having bought several fine paintings, and leaving the comfortable sum of five thousand pounds behind him.
Artists and mothers both contribute to human liberty by inspiring noble ideals and virtues.
See AGE AND ORATORY; EARNESTNESS; LORD’S PRAYER INTERPRETED.
EMANCIPATION
Every artist who works upon his canvas or upon the stone, or rears up stately fabrics, expressing something nobler to men, giving some form to their ideals and aspirations--every such man also is working for the largeness and so for the liberty of men. And every mother who sits by the cradle, singing to her babe the song which the angels sing all the way up to the very throne, she, too, is God’s priestess, and is working for the largeness of men, and so for their liberty. Whoever teaches men to be truthful, to be virtuous, to be enterprising; in short, whoever teaches manhood, emancipates men.
— HENRY WARD BEECHER
Great men’s virtues serve as powerful examples for younger generations.
* * * * *
The ancient Romans were accustomed to place in the vestibules of their houses the busts of their great men, that the young might be reminded of their noble deeds and illustrious virtues.
The deeds and virtues of living men are still better examples. (Text.)
Even criminals can be influenced by the cunning and skill of others.
A footman stole a casket containing ten thousand francs’ worth of jewels and concealed it in a hole in the ground in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. When finally forced to confess, he declared that he had been so much imprest by the cunning of Sherlock Holmes and the skill of Moriarty as a criminal that he wished to imitate them.
Excellence is valued because it is rare; if common, it loses admiration.
“What a world this would be,” says Christopher North, “were all its inhabitants to fiddle like Paganini, ride like Ducrow, discourse like Coleridge, and do everything else in a style of equal perfection!” Nay, good Christopher, the world would remain the same old dull commonplace world. Our standard would be raised, that is all. If every one rode like Ducrow, no one would stop a moment to look at Ducrow; if every one fiddled like Paganini, Paganini’s fiddle would be complained of by the neighbors as a nuisance; if every one discoursed like Coleridge, Coleridge would be voted an intolerable bore. We give our admiration to intellectual performances that are rare and difficult. The moment the rarity and the difficulty disappear our admiration also disappears, we seek fresh idols to worship,--_Lippincott’s Magazine._
True fame is the lasting impact of noble thoughts carried through time.
Fame is the sound which the stream of high thoughts, carried down to future ages, makes as it flows; deep, distant, murmuring evermore like the waters of the mighty ocean. He who has ears truly touched to this music is, in a manner, deaf to the voice of popularity.
— WILLIAM HAZLITT
A true likeness reveals character, not just outward features or appearance.
When David, the painter, was commissioned to paint his picture of Napoleon crossing the Alps, he asked the First Consul to name a day when he would sit. “Sit!” said Bonaparte; “to what good? Do you suppose the great men of antiquity sat for their portraits?” “But I paint you for your own times, for men who have known and seen you; they expect a good likeness.” “A good likeness! It is not the exactitude of the features, the little wart on the nose, that makes a likeness. What ought to be painted is the character of the physiognomy. No one inquires if the portraits of great men are alike; it is quite enough if they manifest their genius.”--_Magazine of Art._
Ideas and beliefs shape societies and sustain their spiritual life and strength.
The soul, which vivifies, moves, and supports the body, is a more potent substance than the hard bones and heavy flesh which it vitalizes. A ten-pound weight falling on your head affects you unpleasantly as substance, much more so than a leaf of the New Testament, if dropt in the same direction; but there is a way in which a page of the New Testament may fall upon a nation and split it, or infuse itself into its bulk and give it strength and permanence. We should be careful, therefore, what test we adopt in order to decide the relative stability of things.
Every house, workshop, church, school-room, atheneum, theater, is the representative of an opinion. What the eye sees of them is built of bricks, iron, wood, and mortar by carpenters, smiths, and masons; but the seed from which they grew and the forces by which they are upheld are ideas, affections, conceptions of utility, sentiments of worship. Strike these out of a people’s mind and heart, and its homes, temples, colleges, and art-rooms fall away, like the trunk of the oak when its life-power is smitten, and only the bald, sandy surface of savage life remains.
— THOMAS STARR KING
One person's dedicated teaching can positively transform an entire community over time.
I met, the other day, a learned judge who told me that for more than twenty years he had met every winter, in his own library, once a week, a club of his neighbors, men and women, who came, and came gladly, that he might guide them in the study of history. “And all those people,” said he, laughing--there are three or four hundred of them now, scattered over the world--“they all know what to read, and how to read it.” You see that village is another place because that one man lived there.
— EDWARD EVERETT HALE
Small actions influence others more than we realize, for good or ill.
A little clock in a jeweler’s window in a certain Western town stopt one day for half an hour, at fifteen minutes of nine. School-children, noticing the time, stopt to play; people hurrying to the train, looking at the clock, began to walk leisurely; professional men, after a look at the clock, stopt to chat a minute with one another; working men and women noted the time and lingered a little longer in the sunshine, and all were half an hour late because one small clock stopt. Never had these people known how much they had depended upon that clock till it had led them astray.
Many are thus unconsciously depending upon the influence of Christians; you may think you have no influence, but you can not go wrong in one little act without leading others astray.--Seattle _Churchman_.
Bad influences corrupt others, just as wild cattle spoil domestic herds.
See INDIVIDUAL INFLUENCE; MOTHER’S INFLUENCE.
INFLUENCE, BAD
As these wild cattle mentioned below soon demoralize the domestic herds, so one or two wild youths may draw away many others from safe paths.
Much has been written lately about wild horses infesting certain mountain ranges of the West and menacing the interest of stockmen. A report from a district in the Shasta National Forest of California states that wild cattle have become a nuisance.
These animals are the descendants of domestic cattle, but having run without restraint for several generations, have become as wild as deer. Stockmen will not apply for ranges infested by these cattle, since tame cattle soon adopt the habits of their wild relatives and become equally as unmanageable. It is impossible to gather young stock in the fall, which have run with these animals even for a season.
The majority of the stockmen desire to shoot them, but certain mountain-dwellers claim them, and shoot an occasional one for winter beef. The forest officers will, in conjunction with the stockmen interested, investigate the matter, and decide upon some plan of ridding the forests of this pest.
Christian influence humbles pride and builds up the humble like water leveling a hill.
“‘Washing a hill away’ is a process employed by a land-improvement company near Baltimore,” says _Indoors and Out_. “The summit of a hill was to be lowered about nine feet. The operations covered an area fifteen hundred feet long and three hundred feet wide. From a stream near by water was forced at eighty pounds pressure through eight-inch pipes to a five-inch reducing nozzle and then against the wall of earth. This fell in cartloads every few minutes, and so thin was it, with the water added, as to be easily conveyed through pipes to an abandoned pond which the company wished to fill as a part of the improvement plans.” (Text.)
The streams of Christian influence are leveling society by washing away human pride and building up the humble.
A luminous atmosphere enables each person to be a light to the world.
Natural science has shown that the transmission of light to our globe is dependent on the luminous atmosphere surrounding the sun; and that light existed originally independent of the sun, and consisted of the undulations of a luminiferous ether. The latest theory maintains that the body of the sun is simply an irritant, having the property of setting the undulations of this ether into motion, but wholly devoid of light in itself.
Such a luminous atmosphere is the environment of one’s life, and capable of being made the means of constituting each man a luminary to the world.
Music's charm can attract and win companionship, as seen in nature's example.
A bewitching way to win a mate is to charm her by music. This is the fashion of our little house-wren, who arrives first in the nesting region, selects a site for the home, and then draws a mate out of the vast unknown by his charm of voice. No one could do it better, for he is a delightful, tireless singer.--OLIVE THORNE MILLER, “The Bird Our Brother.”
