DEPRAVITY— ITS TREATMENT. 281 



welkin rings with the singing of birds, which is not so delightful 

 as the notes of birds at home, because I have not been familiar 

 with them from infancy. The notes here, however, strike the 

 mind by their loudness and variety, as the wellings forth from 

 joyous hearts of praise to Him who fills them with overflowing 

 gladness. All of us rise early to enjoy the luscious balmy air of 

 the morning. We then have worship ; but, amid all the beauty 

 and loveliness with which we are surrounded, there is still a 

 feeling of want in the soul in viewing one's poor companions, 

 and hearing bitter, impure words jarring on the ear in the per- 

 fection of the scenes of Nature, and a longing that both their 

 hearts and ours might be brought into harmony with the Great 

 Father of Spirits. I pointed out, in, as usual, the simplest words 

 I could employ, the remedy which God has presented to us, in 

 the inexpressibly precious gift of His own Son, on whom the 

 Lord "laid the iniquity of us all." The great difficulty in deal- 

 ing with these people is to make the subject plain. The minds 

 of the auditors can not be understood by one who has not mingled 

 much with them. They readily pray for the forgiveness of sins, 

 and then sin again ; confess the evil of it, and there the matter 

 ends. 



I shall not often advert to their depravity. My practice has 

 always been to apply the remedy with all possible earnestness, 

 but never allow my own mind to dwell on the dark shades of 

 men's characters. I have never been able to draw pictures of 

 guilt, as if that could awaken Christian sympathy. The evil is 

 there. But all around in this fair creation are scenes of beauty, 

 and to turn from these to ponder on deeds of sin can not promote 

 a healthy state of the faculties. I attribute much of the bodily 

 health I enjoy to following the plan adopted by most physicians, 

 who, while engaged in active, laborious efforts to assist the needy, 

 at the same time follow the delightful studies of some department 

 of natural history. The human misery and sin we endeavor to 

 alleviate and cure may be likened to the sickness and impurity 

 of some of the back slums of great cities. One contents him- 

 self by ministering to the sick and trying to remove the causes, 

 without remaining longer in the filth than is necessary for his 

 work; another, equally anxious for the public good, stirs up 



