The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1878-01-30

more distinctly drawn than with nc he posi-
sessed none of the advantages which wealth
bestcws; we read Of no powerful and influ-:
entail friends beneath whose patronage be-
was reared to fame. And, worse than all,
there seems to have been no systematic efforts
for the development Of the mental powers id
carly life. But with all these weights load.
ing him down, as II would seem even below
the common level of snedioSFity, Bis star Has
risen TO the zenith, and Tiers brightly beams
gentle, steady, powerful radianca which Win
never be dimmed, a. long as the church lives
and houriahes, for there is but the femotest
possibility Of any brighter luminary rising to
eclipse the glory Of John Bunyan.
I'd. The secret of bis success then must IL
sought for outside the events Of his life. Nor
need We look far toffnd it. II was the intensity
of high and sacred purpose, disciplined 10
the school of sorrow, and developed BY pc4
culiar combination of circumstances that inn
peratively demanded concentration OF effort.
Bunyan was no timid time server his rsliQ.
ion was Of that decided outspoken type which,
could find happiness and usefulness within
the walls of a jail. The absence OF library
and the society OF letters compelled ths
stream of invention to flow In q narrow chan.
mel for his dreams must be spun from his
Bible and religious experience alone, while
his sufferings and prosecutions deepened that
experiences and fitted 1t to give birth to those
happy flights of fancy which have cheered
and instructed SO many million Christian
hearts. Had Bunyan's purpose been less firm,
had his experience been of the low type that
too commonly prevails, or had he had access
and a taste for the libraries of the learned,
the Pilgrims Progress would never have been
written, and the name of Bunyan would long
since have been forgotten.
3D.. A third thought. near Of kin to the pre-
ceding, is the result on self of high and no.
bic purpose Bunyan labored not for fame
but for che good of his fellows. His intens-
ity of purpose developed him into strong
and powerful thinker, and more than made
amends for the lack OF education. The diff
ferent faculties of the mind are so related
that each may be powerfully acted on by the
others. You have all known cases In which
s''S NNeAeSshohs va tuo ttuOttoubi tchF, nttftus
love, hope, have developed powers the exist
ence of which were before unknown. And
Bunyan may serve as standing example Of
the power OF win on intellect.
4th. We may learn also from Btnyan che
perfect adaptation Of the Bible to the mental
and moral nature Of man. There are numsr-
GUS cases on record, besides Bunyan's, whore
constant. faithful study Of the Bible, and the
Bible alonet has made men powerful Iii
thought and action. do not believe that
there is another book in the English or any
other language that could have transformed
Bunyan, the profane tinker-boy, into Bunyan,
the Prince of Dreamers. There are plen-
ty of books admirably suited to strengthen
some one faculty of soul--as the intellect or
imagination, but none but the Bible with
power TO develop the whole soul in symmetry
and harmony.
Read before the students Of the Sem
mary at Ringoes, N. j., Jan. nth, '7s.