The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-12
POWER OF INFLUENCE
RULES MANS CAREER.
Reverend w. F. Van VnlkenburSh
Says Deeds and Lives of Great Men
Influence Future Generations.

AT the Tuxedo Methodist Church, yes
terGay morning. the Reverend W. F. Van
Valkenburgh preached on Influence.
His text was: Il saw in my vision by
night, and behold the four winds of the
heaven strove upon the great sea" He
said. in part:
"The secret power of influence Is one of
the subtle forces of life that mankind
has long tried to discover. How often in
the time of Mr.. Moody's greatest success
we would see and read articles discuss
ing The secret of Moody's power and
yet that secret is as much a secret as 1t
ever was. Many of the subtle forces that
work in life to-day. the influences, secret
though they may be, that work for the
veal of man to-day have long since, as
to the source from which they have en-
anated. been lost sight of. Human life.
its worth and possibilities. has always
been to man profitable study.
Take. for instance. the passing away OF
the great Worlds Exposition that has
Just closed. We may have admired Its
beautiful adornment. statuary. Golonnaaes'
paviions. lagoons, terraces and cascades,
but apart from man, of what worth couia
they possibly be? And I would not de-
tract one iota from the beauty and grand
eur of those magnificent productions.
La Sale, James Monroe. Horace Mann;
Pere Marquette and others galore VIII
live on in the memories of those VINO pc,
came familiar with the statuary and
grounds. but apart from or without man
to admire and to appropriate or WAT
worth could they possibly be! Inc PyIa-
mids of Egypt represent to us only desoia
ton and ruin-barren wastes OF &, classic oH,,e
sands, lonesome Isolation and weary cen
turies of watching. Human beings. rich
personalities. have lent much or the
these statues stood alone without the hui
man element, how different would nave
been the result. Historians may tell US
of how the Sphinx and Pyrdmids once
can only see them as they are to-day. And
so. if the beautiful statuary of the
grounds and Art Hill lives in the hearts
and memories of those who saw IL, nov
much more enriching than to have built
simply upon the soil such enduring struc-
lures. And are We not building for eter-
nifty? The artistic statuary may PERISH
the spirit. the life remains.
Man is truly the master OF the eie-
ments all animate and inanimate crea-
tion; the elements. too. shall yet be SUD
ject to him. He knows himself to be the
master of all these. hence the reluctance
with which he yields to them supremacy;
Great men and women who have hvcd
before us have left an impress upon the
formers. Newcomb as practical inventor;
and so on. Miss Willard as leader ana
molder Of public sentiment has helped
to crystalline a great principle into sn. the IN
Will live on in the pages of history; wheth-
er written or not. as great philanthro-
pist, because he embodied those character
istics into his own life and made them
real Abstract principles take but little
.'The prophets, no doubt. not only fore
saw the coming of the SAVIOR S an and fd1S ms
evangelists and the part they took in re-
cording and handing. over to US the story
of their lives. Daniel saw pFophetlcaiy
EpFaI kNFrE 1yl.a
common center, the life of one man from
four different viewpoints. The influence
and life of the four evangelists ma their
counterpart in the settings whlch tney
the Christ His life is broad and all com.
prehensive TO US because of the four1oid
character it possesses In its fourfold set
ting Neither evangelist has given US the
complete life, and just so, no one OF them
sould be dispensed with. The tidal wave
of influence sent out by Matthew gospel
anv one of the other three. Whether i'm
perceptibly. or otherwise each has an in
fluence peculiar to Itself which is in
strict harmony with the laws OF mlnd
Cast in the mold of thought peculiar to
the personality and environment Of the
one who compiled it. each has a mission
distinetivey its own hsekiea d loresaw sr,h tne
them: Matthew. man of Roman ideas.
a taxgatherer lion. the king. Of royal
his genealogical table his parallels and
all. Mark, an OK. the beast Of burden:
the servant of the household, without
geneaIogy: how lowly his station. how
humble his lot None need despair! And
Luke, the beloved physician; of whom
should ne write? A man bone of our bone
ogy, the parabies of the Prodigal Son.
How compassionate, how human the cul-
mination Of the divine work Of creation.
Surely he has borne our gsiefs and car, car.
soaring aloft above the material. above
this mundane sphere. Here his genealogy:
In the beginning was the Word. and the
God. The Diyine One. The Christ God