On this page
-
Text (1)
-
386 THB IKE1-XJENOE OF THE INDIVIDTTAIi ...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
« Op All Tlie Various Kinds Of Books Tha...
ia a life tliat was the most eloquent of all his arguments , and that aR value to themby proving that they were not" mere theory .
gave , The last day of that life , as recorded in Plato _^ s glorious _Phsedo _^ must have done more to light the dying sons of heathendom after- ,
him through the dark valley of the shadow of death , than any luminary that had ever shone , till the Sun of [ Righteousness
himself arose . And of those who sat at his _^ feet , one at least was a man of action ; and who shall say what share the calm _meditations
of the sage in Athens may not have had in the daring deeds of tliegeneral in Mediaor how far it was the influence of Socrates'
life-, that was wrought out in Xenophon ' s " Retreat of the Ten Thousand" ?
And higher still may we ascend for an instance , aye , even up to the right hand of Godfor there sitteth one whose life was given
, to the world , as the "best gift that world ever received from the AH-bounteous Bestower of goodand the chronicle of whose
bio-, graphy has been ever since a gospel of salvation to mankind , "When the Creator desired to send forth an influence that should
make itself felt among all the human race and through all time , it was not by deeds of power and might that it was manifested , but
in the development of an unobtrusive existence . Some marvellousworksindeeddid Jesus of _Nazarethbut very limited was their
effect ; , so limited , at the time , that thoug , h they might relieve individual suffering , beyond this they did not suffice to establish
His-Divine authority , or gain general credence for His message , even from those who witnessed them , while in after days the record of
them affects even believers comparatively little : by many they liave been deniedby some even ridiculed . But who can deny His *
life , that greatest , miracle of all , which awes even the veriest scoffer into something like reverence , and which , had He never
wrought any works beyond those of the most ordinary mortal _^ would still have remained in its unique perfection the greatest
moral fact , and the strongest influence in the whole world ? Nor is it necessary that a life should become the theme of a
_biographer in order to give it a wide-spread action , or even that it should be capable of furnishing such a theme ; for they who would
scarcely strive to imitate a hero or a saint , may yet be unwilling to fall far below some admired associate , whose little superiority
may thus have no small effect on its immediate witnesses , and through them , perhaps , on many beyond . The far-off star renders .
not so serviceable a light as is lent by the little taper close beside us : and so , a moderate degree of excellence immediately before
our eyes , may affect us more than the most eminent example of former days , and the fruitage of a life-long sowing may too ,
sometimes be gathered in an hour ; for when we remember Wordsworth ' s determination to _" think of the leech-gatherer on the lonely
moor , "' whenever in trying times he might need to collect all hm
386 Thb Ike1-Xjenoe Of The Individttaii ...
386 THB _IKE 1-XJENOE OF THE _INDIVIDTTAIi LIFE .
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1863, page 386, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081863/page/26/
-