256 THE WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN 



everyone who has a drop of strong old Norse blood 

 in his veins will prefer a heathen Valhalla, though 

 builded in hell, to such a heaven. And his Norse 

 instincts will be nearer truth than your counterfeit of 

 a debased Christianity. But preach the city of God's 

 righteousness on earth and now among men, and call 

 on every heroic soul to take sides with God against 

 sin within himself and the evil and misery all around 

 him. There is an almost infinite amount of strength, 

 endurance, and heroism in this " slow-witted but long- 

 winded " human race waiting to leap up at the appeal 

 to fight once more and win a victory after repeated 

 defeats before the sun goes down. Appeal to this and 

 point to the great " captain of our salvation made 

 perfect through sufferings," and every man that is of 

 the truth will hear in your voice the call of the 

 Master and King. You will not be disappointed, but 

 among the publicans and fishermen of America you 

 will find heroic souls, who will leave all to follow, as 

 faithfully and unflinchingly as those from the shores 

 of Galilee. 



And what of faith? Faith is the personal attach- 

 ment of a soul to such a leader. Fortunately the Bible 

 contains a scientific monograph on this subject. I 

 refer, of course, to the eleventh chapter of the epistle 

 to the Hebrews. And the whole result is summed up 

 in a few words of the thirteenth verse. The great 

 heroes, like Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, "saw the 

 promises afar off, and were persuaded of them, and 

 embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers 

 and pilgrims on the earth." 



They saw the promises afar off, dimly, on the horizon 

 of their mental vision ; as one looks into the distance 



