{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4287", "width": "2813", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.\\nChap. Copyright No.\\nShelf JE 35\\nUNITED STATES OF AMERICA.", "height": "4196", "width": "2680", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4148", "width": "2616", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4196", "width": "2680", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "The Improvement\\nof Perfection\\nBy/\\nWilliam E. Barton, D. D.,\\nAuthor of The Psalms and Their Story/ etc.\\nUnited Society of Christian Endeavor\\nBoston and Chicago", "height": "4132", "width": "2560", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "56423\\nji-ibi^ry of Conuretej\\nOCT 4 1900\\nCopyrigM \u00c2\u00abntry\\nUic^. f\\nSECOND COPV.\\nOliver fid to\\nOBDtR DIVISION,\\n-jOGT 18 19QQ\\nCopyright, 1900,\\nby the\\nUnited Society of Christian Endeavor", "height": "4260", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "TO MY DEAE FEIEKD,\\nJAMES HARRIS FAIRCHILD, D. D.,\\nand to the memory of his brother,\\nEDWIN HENRY FAIRCHILD, D. D.,\\nMy Hoxoeed Teachees", "height": "4140", "width": "2584", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4196", "width": "2720", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nHIS is no treatise on perfection-\\nism, nor does it contain any doc-\\ntrine unusual or strange. It is a\\nsimple talk with young people\\nwho are striving for a higher life, and is\\nmeant especially for those who are ready\\nat the outset to lay it down, saying that\\nthe book is not for them, as they have no\\nperfection to improve.\\nI have known some people who believed\\nthemselves perfect. I have known a some-\\nwhat smaller number whose friends be-\\nlieved them perfect. The two classes were\\ndistinct. Those whose friends thought\\nthem perfect were shocked when they\\nlearned it, and said that daily they had\\nneed to pray, Forgive us our debts,\\nand Lead us not into temptation. The\\nones who thought themselves to have at-\\ntained perfection could never persuade\\ntheir friends to agree with them.\\n5", "height": "4148", "width": "2548", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "6 PREFACE.\\nNevertheless, there are many young\\nChristians who are seeking a higher life,\\nand there are more who ought to seek it.\\nThere is something unreal and fanciful\\nto many of them in an effort to lift one s\\nself into a higher spiritual level. This\\ntiny book attempts to define the kind of\\nperfection which is possible, and to fur-\\nnish incentive to higher spiritual living.\\nMay God bless the little book to those\\nwho read it. W. E. B.\\nFirst Church Study,\\nOak Park, III, March 5, 1900.", "height": "4196", "width": "2648", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS\\nPAGE\\nINTKODUCTION .9\\nPAET I. IMPEEFECT PEEFECTION 13\\ni. The Flexibility of Language 15\\nii. An Appeal to Fairness .17\\niii. Perfection in Nature .19\\niv. Perfection in Human Workmanship 21\\nv. Judging by the Best .23\\nvi. Perfection in Blossom and in Fruit 24\\nPaet II:\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Chaeactee s Eaened Inceement, 29\\ni. The Par Value of a Life 31\\nii. Life s Compound Interest 32\\niii. Character Begets Character 34\\niv. One Life at Par and at a Premium 36\\nv. Recapitulation .40\\nPaet III. Cumulative Peefection 43\\ni. Perfection as Personal .45\\nii. Co-operative Perfection .46\\niii. Some Things That Have Been Perfected, 47\\niv. The World in Process of Perfecting 49\\nv. The Kingdom among Us .52\\nvi. Partakers of the Divine Nature 53\\nvii. God s Perfection and Ours 55\\nviii. The Value of This Truth as an Incentive, 57\\nix. The Parable of the Shingles 59\\nx. Life as a Relay Race .60", "height": "4148", "width": "2576", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4264", "width": "2712", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "THE IMPROVEMENT OF\\nPERFECTION.\\nAnd these all, having had witness borne to them\\nthrough their faith, received not the promise, God\\nhaving provided some better thing concerning us, that\\napart from us they should not be made perfect. Eeb.\\n11 39, 40.\\nIKE volcanic islands in midocean,\\nlifting their heads above the\\nwaters that surround them, the\\nnames of the great men in the\\neleventh chapter of Hebrews tower above\\nthe sea of oblivion that has buried the\\nmemories of their contemporaries, and\\ncast their light afar. It is a great, classic\\nchapter, a literary masterpiece, a cata-\\nlogue of the immortal names of the an-\\ncient world. There are one or two mild\\nsurprises in it, too and they creep out\\nin this concluding word. They suggest\\nthe title which I have chosen, which\\nwhile antithetic is not wholly contradic-\\n9", "height": "4152", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "10 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\ntory, for perfection is cumulative and pro-\\ngressive. There are some lessons about\\nit in this verse, and we may well try to\\nfind one or two of the truths which are\\nsuggested.\\nIn the preface I have explained that\\nthis is no treatise on perfectionism, sanc-\\ntification, or any of the technical terms\\nby which different groups of Christians\\ndesignate a special and definite religious\\nexperience apart from regular Christian\\ngrowth. And let me hasten to say, what\\nI must say again and again in these few\\npages, that I am using the term perfec-\\ntion, not in the hard and narrow sense\\nwhich is given to it in theological writ-\\ning, but in the free and elastic sense in\\nwhich the term is employed in the Bible.\\nI wish to speak of the influence of\\ngood men upon their own time, of their\\nlabor as a heritage to subsequent time,\\nand of the impulse which a right concep-\\ntion should give us of their work and\\nGod s as related to ours. The titles which\\nI have chosen are selected with reference\\nto the declaration of the author of this", "height": "4260", "width": "2708", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION. 11\\nepistle that apart from us they should\\nnot be made perfect. I write, there-\\nfore, of the kind of perfection which they\\nhad in themselves, of that which their\\nwork has since attained, and that which\\nit may attain with our effort joined to\\ntheirs.", "height": "4148", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4260", "width": "2712", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "PAET I.\\nImperfect Perfection.\\nMark the perfect man, and behold the upright.\\nPs. 37 37.\\nAnd the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou consid-\\nered ruy servant Job, a perfect and an upright\\nman? Job 1 8.\\nLet us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus\\nminded and if in anything ye be otherwise minded,\\nGod shall reveal even this unto you. Phil. 3 15.", "height": "4156", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "11 Great truths are portions of the soul of man\\nGreat souls are portions of eternity.\\nLowell.\\nFain would I say, Forgive my foul offence\\nFain promise never more to disobey\\nBut, should my Author health again dispense,\\nAgain I might desert fair Virtue s way,\\nAgain in Folly s path might go astray,\\nAgain exalt the brute and sink the man\\nThen how should I for heavenly mercy pray,\\nWho act so counter heavenly mercy s plan,\\nWho sin so oft have mourned, yet to tempta-\\ntion ran\\nIf I- have taken the common clay,\\nAnd wrought it cunningly,\\nIn the shape of a god that was digged a clod,\\nThe greater honor to me.\\nIf thou hast taken the common clay\\nAnd thy hands be not free\\nFrom the taint of the soil, thou hast made\\nthy spoil,\\nThe greater shame to thee.\\nKipling.\\n11 Strength alone knows conflict. Weakness is be-\\nlow even defeat, and is born vanquished. Madame\\nSwetchine.", "height": "4196", "width": "2648", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "Imperfect Perfection.\\nI. The Flexibility of Language.\\nOITNT it not a mere trick in the\\nuse of words. Language is flexi-\\nble, and word-meanings are not\\nthe hard and fast things which\\nwe sometimes essay to make them. If\\nthe Bible could have been killed, it would\\nhave died long ago through the effort of\\nits friends, as well as its enemies, to nail\\nits coffin-lid with hard and fast defini-\\ntions of words most variously used.\\nWho has not heard a devout believer\\nholding science by the throat, and pound-\\ning its assertion that the earth was cre-\\nated in long periods, with the declaration\\nthat the Bible s use of the word day\\nmust be uniform And what word has\\ncome so readily to the tongue of the\\nsceptic as this, that the Bible calls imper-\\nfect men perfect, and instances David as\\na man after God s own heart\\n15", "height": "4136", "width": "2588", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "16 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nI have put together perfection and im-\\nperfection in the title that we may face\\nthis point squarely. For this text says\\nthat these men did not become perfect,\\nand there are other places in the Bible in\\nwhich perfection of one sort or another\\nis affirmed of some of them. In accord\\nwith these other and various commenda-\\ntions of Noah, Abraham, David, and\\nother sinful men here mentioned, whose\\ncharacter is strongly commended in other\\nplaces, let me affirm that they did attain\\na certain sort of perfection. They served\\ntheir own ages with such devotion and\\nearnestness as to claim a place in this list\\nof those who helped the world along to-\\nward the perfection which is God s goal,\\nand, to do this, they required and had in\\nthem some of the raw material of per-\\nfection.\\nNow, it is in a sense something like\\nthis that the Bible calls any man per-\\nfect, and it is a proper use of language.\\nIndeed, as I shall presently show, it is\\nthe only way in which we can affirm per-\\nfection of anything save God himself.", "height": "4256", "width": "2712", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "IMPERFECT PERFECTION. 17\\nII. An Appeal to Fairness.\\nBut first let me pause to say that I like\\nit little that the Bible should be quoted\\nunfairly against itself in the proving of\\nimperfection in the men whom it com-\\nmends. If the Bible commended their\\ncharacters without reservation, and men\\nhad found out their sins in some other\\nway if the Bible had told us of God s\\napproval, and some uncovered tablet or\\npapyrus enabled us to prove their human\\nfrailties then we might cast back into\\nthe teeth of the Bible the declaration\\nthat Job was a perfect man, and that\\nAbraham was the father of the faithful,\\nand David a man after God s own heart.\\nBut inasmuch as the same Bible which\\nthus commends these men tells us hon-\\nestly of their faults, and how God re-\\nbuked them, tearing the royal purple\\nfrom the king, and setting him down in\\nsackcloth till his breaking heart cried out\\nfor mercy, inasmuch as to the honesty of\\nthe Bible we are indebted for material to\\nconvict it thus (if we do convict it) of a\\nfalse idea of perfection, I declare in the", "height": "4128", "width": "2580", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "18 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nname of simple fairness that the method\\nis dishonest and unfair.\\nI am no apologist for the errors of\\nthese men. I am perfectly willing to ad-\\nmit them. They were sins to them and\\naccording to the standards of their own\\nday; they would be still greater sins ac-\\ncording to our present standards. Those\\npresent standards are what they are in\\npart because of the work of these same\\nmen, but I will not plead this in their\\nfavor. I will simply insist that it shall be\\nremembered that the same Bible that\\ngives them credit for their perfection,\\nsuch as it was, convicts and condemns\\nthem, kindly but sternly, for their imper-\\nfections. And as the Bible thus gives us\\nboth sides of these characters, I count it\\nnot a wrong use of language to use this\\nantithetic title. I shall not speak of\\nthese or any other men as perfect, except\\nin a sense such as this, which admits their\\nimperfections. I shall not dwell upon\\ntheir faults; others, delighting in the\\ntask, have made it superfluous for me;\\nneither shall I excuse them.", "height": "4264", "width": "2708", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "IMPERFECT PERFECTION. 19\\nIII. Perfection in Nature.\\nGod calls his work good. He has\\nnever called it complete. Those good\\npeople invert the teaching of Scripture\\nwho premise a perfect creation with sub-\\nsequent deterioration. First was not the\\nspiritual and after that the natural, but\\nthe reverse and the climb has been long\\nand slow. God calls his work good at\\nevery creative stage, then treats it as raw\\nmaterial, and works it over. He has\\ngiven us no illustration of his power to\\nmake something out of nothing. Nature\\nhas few tj^pes, and remodels them, incon-\\nveniently sometimes, and imperfectly at\\nbest.\\nFull many a gem of purest ray\\nserene we read about, but among them\\nthere is not a perfect one. From the\\nKoh-i-noor that flashes on the breast of\\nVictoria down, they are all imperfect.\\nIf we cannot see it, it is because our sight\\nor our instruments are too imperfect to\\ndetect the imperfection which we know\\nexists.\\nThe wing of the bird is wonderful, but", "height": "4140", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "20 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nthe maker of scientific kites does not fol-\\nlow its pattern, much as its mechanism\\nsuggests to him, and glad as he would be\\nto make a kite that could fly as well. He\\nwill tell you, and truly, that the bird s\\nwing is an imperfect organ of flight.\\nThe hoof of the horse is the most perfect\\nof all nature s foot-making for purposes\\nof speed, but the veterinary will tell you\\nof its manifest imperfections. The hu-\\nman eye is wonderful, but it is not per-\\nfect. They have ceased, almost, to dis-\\ncover new stars with the telescope, be-\\ncause they can make a camera that in\\nthree respects excels the eye it has a\\nfiner lens, that can find stars where the\\neye cannot it can endure without wink-\\ning or fatigue a whole night s study of a\\nsingle spot in the heavens and it records\\naccurately what it sees, while the eye de-\\npends upon the inaccuracy and uncer-\\ntainty of memory. But the knowledge\\nof the imperfections of the eye does not\\nmake the optician despise it. The ability\\nto grind a finer lens does not cause him\\nto have contempt for the eye itself. Nay,", "height": "4256", "width": "2720", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "IMPERFECT PERFECTION. 21\\nhe would give all his skill ten times over\\nto be able to make an eye, though it had\\nten times as many imperfections as it has.\\nNot only so, but, recognizing a relative\\nperfection in each of these things, we\\nreadily accommodate our language to the\\nfact, and speak of the eye of the eagle,\\nthe hoof of the horse, the wing of the\\nbird, as perfect in their adaptation to\\ntheir needs. And such a use of language\\nis correct, unless we are to eliminate the\\nterm altogether, or use it only of God.\\nIV. Perfection in Human Workmanship.\\nWhat do we mean when we speak of\\nany human work as perfect A teacher\\nreturns a composition to a boy, marked\\none hundred per cent. That does not\\nmean that the lad of twelve has spoken\\nthe last word that can ever be said on\\nthe subject which he has chosen. The\\nencyclopaedias will not immediately get\\nout new editions to include the results of\\nhis thinking. He has made no impor-\\ntant contribution to human knowledge.\\nBut he has read well the few references", "height": "4148", "width": "2652", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "22 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\ngiven him, and has thought the subject\\nover enough to make the thought his\\nown and express it in his own words.\\nHe has been careful not to blot his\\npaper, and has avoided the words which\\nhe could not spell. He has been pains-\\ntaking and conscientious, and, judged by\\nthe standard of what may reasonably be\\nexpected from such a boy, he has done\\nhis work perfectly, and may go and play\\nwith a light heart and a consciousness of\\nhaving done well. Some day he will read\\nthat composition again, and smile over it.\\nThus, when I speak of Gray s Elegy\\nas the most perfect of English poems, of\\nthe Yenus de Milo as a perfect type of\\nfemale beauty, of St. Paul s as the per-\\nf ection of Christopher Wren s genius, of\\nEdison as having perfected the phono-\\ngraph, or of Addison s perfect mastery\\nof English prose style, I use the term\\nperfect or perfection in a way that\\npeople have learned to understand, and\\nin a way that is perfectly fair, and\\nthere I have used the word perfectly\\nagain.", "height": "4256", "width": "2716", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "IMPERFECT PERFECTION. 23\\nV. Judging by the Best.\\nLet me say further that all such use of\\nthe word implies the judging by what is\\nbest. Let me drop the word perfec-\\ntion, lest it become tedious. When I\\nspeak of Tennyson as a master of\\nrhythm, I do not forget his occasional\\nlapses. When I call Browning a mighty\\npoet, I do not forget some shockingly\\nbad rhymes. I do not pretend that\\nevery work of Millet s was an Angelus\\nor a Man with the Hoe. The world\\nstill judges an artist by his best. I have\\nknown a man to be made or marred by\\nan accidental stroke of genius, according\\nas the world read a like genius into all\\nhis other work, or condemned it unspar-\\ningly, though it had elements of power,\\nbecause it lacked the master touch. In\\neither case it showed the world s stand-\\nard of judging. It judges Wellington by\\nWaterloo, and not by his minor victories,\\nmuch less by his defeats.\\nNow it is right that the heroes of an-\\ncient time should be so judged. The au-\\nthor of the epistle to the Hebrews brings", "height": "4148", "width": "2612", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "24 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nthem all to the test of faith, and finds\\nthem to endure it. Incidentally he brings\\nto light almost ever other virtue; but\\nthis is the one thing which he claims for\\nthem, that they exhibited that quality of\\nreliance on God which made them worthy\\nthe love of God and the honor of men.\\nAnd that is what still may be claimed for\\nthem.\\nVI. Perfection in Blossom and in Fruit.\\nIf to this it be objected that, while this\\nis true, it falls short of our hard, matter-\\nof-fact, unimaginative, Occidental use\\nof language, and is not in our modern\\nsense perfection, I must admit the fact\\nfrom the point of view of that definition,\\nand say that that is the only sort of hu-\\nman perfection about which I know any-\\nthing.\\nTrue, perfection is possible. That is,\\nit is possible at any moment for any man\\nto do the whole will of God as he under-\\nstands it. His understanding is defec-\\ntive, and to that understanding God s\\nwill is accommodated. And so it is pos-", "height": "4196", "width": "2708", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "IMPERFECT PERFECTION. 25\\nsible for him to do it perfectly. I doubt\\nnot there are moments, perhaps hours,\\nmay be days, when by the grace of God\\nhe so does it, and so far forth his\\nlife is one of perfect obedience. Such\\nmoments, such days, these old heroes\\nhad and I am willing to call that perfec-\\ntion, a perfection which has its limita-\\ntions, but was still perfection.\\nWhen I say that an apple blossom is a\\nperfect flower, I mean that it has five\\nbeautifully tinted, regular petals, a five-\\nchambered pistil, and stamens which\\nnumber a multiple of five. I also mean\\nthat the whole impresses me as beautiful,\\nfragrant, symmetrical. I do not mean\\nthat it is good to eat, nor shall I mean\\nthat till the fruit is ripe. If the county\\nfair occurs before the period for the\\nripening of this particular kind of apples,\\nI may exhibit the green fruit, and per-\\nchance bring home a blue ribbon upon it.\\nThe fruit is hard, green, bitter, and would\\nmake me ill if I ate it but the judges,\\nknowing its time to ripen, and judging\\nits progress accordingly, called it perfect", "height": "4148", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "26 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nfruit. Such was the perfection of the\\nbest of Old Testament saints, and in their\\nbest moods and moments. When domi-\\nnated by the best that was in them, they\\nhad the perfection of the flower, the per-\\nfection of the unripe fruit they re-\\nceived not the promise of complete\\nfruition.\\nSo let us have done with quibbling\\nabout language, and the meanings, vari-\\nous and elastic, which may be covered by\\none word. A little imagination and a\\nlittle common sense would have done\\naway with half our commentaries. For\\nwhy should books be written for the stu-\\npidity or wilful carelessness of those who\\nobject that the Bible both tells us to bear\\none another s burdens, and that every\\nman must bear his own burden to an-\\nswer not a fool according to his folly,\\nand to answer a fool according to his\\nfolly, that certain men obtained prom-\\nises by their faith, yet lived on faith be-\\ncause they obtained not the promise\\nand that God gave credit for the meagre\\nand latent elements of perfection in the", "height": "4268", "width": "2696", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "I3IPERFECT PERFECTION. 27\\nlives of imperfect men, judging them\\noften by their aspiration rather than their\\nattainment, and counting their faith for\\nrighteousness, which indeed it was\\nLet us thank God for every element\\nof perfectness that has entered into hu-\\nman life, and honor the name of every\\nman or woman who laid hold on it and\\ntransmitted it, however far short they\\ncame of a realization of all its graces.", "height": "4148", "width": "2616", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4256", "width": "2704", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "PART II.\\nCharacter s Earned Increment.\\nNow all these things happened unto them for en-\\nsamples and they are written for our admonition,\\nupon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Cor.\\n10 11.\\nThese all died in faith, not having received the\\npromises, but having seen them afar off, and were\\npersuaded of them, and embraced them, and con-\\nfessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the\\nearth.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Heb. 11 13.", "height": "4136", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "I am owner of the sphere,\\nOf the seven stars, and the solar year\\nOf Caesar s hand and Plato s brain,\\nThe Lord Christ s heart, and Shakespeare s strain.\\nEmerson.\\n11 So nigh is grandeur to our dust,\\nSo near is God to man,\\nWhen Duty whispers low, l Thou must,\\nThe youth replies, l I can\\nEmerson.\\nThere is no life so humble that, if it be true and\\ngenuinely human and obedient to God, it may not\\nhope to shed some of his light. There is no life so\\nmeagre that the greatest and wisest of us can afford to\\ndespise it. We cannot know at what moment it may\\nflash forth with the life of God. Phillips Brooks.", "height": "4264", "width": "2688", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "Chaeactee s Eaened Tnceemeistt.\\nI. The Par Value of a Life.\\nHAT they should not be\\nmade perfect. Yet their lives\\nhave grown in honor and in their\\nmoral value to the world. I\\nhave spoken of the fact that they served\\ntheir own times well as a proof of their\\nworthiness. Every life must come to\\nthat test, and that constitutes its initial\\nvalue. To put the thought in commercial\\nlanguage, I might say that the par value\\nof every life is the value of the service\\nwhich that life renders to its own age.\\nBut that is not its whole value. Some\\nlives are below par a week after the fu-\\nneral others being dead still speak, and\\nthe whisper of their initial utterance\\nswells to an anthem that echoes down\\nthe centuries.\\n31", "height": "4128", "width": "2584", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "32 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nII. Life s Compound Interest.\\nHe would greatly err who might sup-\\npose that the only value of a life is that\\nof the impression which it makes upon\\nits own age. Judged thus, Cromwell is\\na traitor and Homer a straggling beggar.\\n1 i Seven cities strove for Homer dead,\\nThrough which the living Homer begged his bread.\\nEpictetus and ^Esop had their value,\\nnot the one as a philosopher and the\\nother as an interpreter of the soul of\\nvoiceless things, but their market value\\nas slaves. History has no sadder trage-\\ndies than those which illustrate this post-\\nmortem revaluation of the world s heroes.\\nWe should go far wide of the truth if we\\njudged men with the judgment of their\\nown age. The cross which gilds the\\nhighest spires of Christendom to-day but\\nillustrates in the person of the world s\\ngreatest Character Avhat has proved true\\nof many of her great characters, that a\\nman s own age often fails to value him\\nat his real worth.\\nNow, what is the value to the world", "height": "4264", "width": "2704", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "CHARACTER S EARNED INCRE31ENT. 33\\nof a character like that of Abraham?\\nTo his own age he was the somewhat\\nerratic but prosperous sheik who, because\\nhe sought better pasturage for his flocks,\\nor for some less valid reason (as the world\\nestimated it), went out from his home\\nand founded a new nation and a new re-\\nligion. He was a capitalist, an apostate,\\na lucky fellow, a fanatic, an honest man,\\na good fighter, or something better or\\nworse than any of these, according to the\\nstandpoint of those who judged him.\\nWhat is he to us He is the ancient\\nworld s early and concrete exponent of\\nfaith in God and duty, that caused him\\nto go forth homeless but hopeful, friend-\\nless, but the friend of God. He did not\\nfail under the supreme test. He failed\\nin minor tests, let me say it again, and\\nif need be for the hundredth time, but\\nhe did not fail in this supreme test.\\nHandel was a glutton, if you please to\\nremember it but it is not by his gluttony\\nI judge him when the Hallelujah\\nChorus opens the gates of heaven to a\\nworshipful soul, and makes him hear the", "height": "4124", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "34 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nvery praises about the Throne. And\\nHandel s life is worth to me, not the\\nvalue of his patronage of the coffee-house,\\nbut the value of his abiding genius and\\ninspiration. That is what I call the com-\\npound interest of a faithful life. The\\nvalue which it has to any single life is\\neternal increment, and the power of the\\nlife to give help to other lives is increased\\nthereby.\\nIII. Character Begets Character.\\nIt is other life that inspires us. It is\\ncharacter that begets character. We\\ngrow like what we contemplate. \u00c2\u00a5e\\nare the sum of all the lives that have\\nhelped or hindered us, plus our own in-\\ndividuality, and that is a part of the\\nlives that we have helped to make or\\nmar.\\nHave you not read of the pebble in the\\nmiddle of the lake, whose ripples reach\\nthe farther shore It displaces, in the\\nfirst instance, a cubic inch of water, per-\\nhaps but miles of water respond to its\\nimpulse ere its last widened ripple dies", "height": "4256", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "CHARACTER S EARNED INCREMENT. 35\\naway on some far-distant coast. So life\\nimpels, inspires life. And the influence\\nof a life widens and deepens. If Abra-\\nham s fidelity has made you more faith-\\nful, then Abraham s life lives itself over in\\nyou, and you are a child of him who is\\nthus proved again to be the father of the\\nfaithful. What a progeny this has thus\\nbecome If his children according to the\\nflesh are as the leaves of the trees, his seed\\naccording to the spirit are as the sand\\nupon the seashore\\nHow many ancestors a man has You\\nhave been wondering whether you were\\neligible for admission to the Sons or\\nDaughters of the Eevolution, and were\\nsurprised to find how many ancestors be-\\nlong to every man. A million and a\\nhalf, or thereabout, I believe, belong to\\nthe twentieth generation. There is room,\\nthen, in my life for something good to\\nhave been derived from an almost infinite\\nnumber of the great lives of earth. All\\nthings are mine. Adam, with his sin, is\\nnot my only ancestor Abraham s faith,\\nJoseph s chastity, Job s integrity, all", "height": "4132", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "36 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nare mine, and by the laws of spiritual\\nheredity\\nIV. One Life at Par and at a Pre-\\nmium.\\nBut, lest the thought of my wealth in\\nthis inheritance cause me to forget the\\nintegral value of each of these lives, let\\nme stop a moment and compare their\\nvalue as I see it in one life of which I\\nhappen to know a little.\\nI am sorry that I do not know more\\nabout the life which I am to tell about.\\nAll that I positively know I read in one\\nof the Chicago papers a few weeks ago.\\nI paid it the compliment of forgetting\\nthe man s name. That is because, thank\\nGod, such deeds are not so verv rare.\\nThe paper told about it in four or five\\ninches of space. I read about it, and\\nturned the paper for something else, and\\nleft the paper in the street-car when I\\ngot out. But I thought about it after-\\nward, and so shall you.\\nAlthough I did not know this man, I\\nhave known others like him. From their", "height": "4260", "width": "2728", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "CHARACTER S EARNED INCREMENT. 37\\nlives let me supply a little detail about\\nhis. His name was Tom or Mike or Pat,\\nand his par value was a dollar and a half\\na day. He wore blue overalls, and\\nsmoked a stubby clay pipe. And, having\\nbeen faithful as a spike-driver, and being\\nno longer able to continue work so ardu-\\nous, the company employed him to tend a\\ncrossing. They looked at his record first,\\nand found that he had not got so drunk\\nupon his wages Saturday night as to fail\\nto appear for work on Monday. They\\njudged him faithful ay, and, thank God,\\nthey found him so\\nI have seen him, or others like him, as\\nthe train whizzed by, and he did not look\\nlike a hero. But he was.\\nSo much I have supplied. Xow for\\nwhat I read. ISo farther away than\\nChicago, no longer ago than a few\\nmonths since, this man stood out to signal\\nthe fast express that the crossing was\\nclear. Waving his flag till the train\\ncame near, he turned to let it pass, just\\nas a tiny little girl came toddling down\\nupon the track from the opposite side.", "height": "4152", "width": "2568", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "38 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nThere was no time to stop the train.\\nThere was no time to catch the child and\\nget away.\\nNow, all the years that this man had\\nworked, earning his dollar and a half a\\nday at commonplace and monotonous\\nlabor, there had grown up in his soul an\\nideal of duty, to which he adjusted the\\nsimple habits of his daily task. And a\\nthousand times he had thought of what\\nthat ideal of duty might compel but the\\nyears went by, and no great occasion had\\ncome. He had waved his red flag, or\\nhis white flag, or his green flag, and had\\ndone nothing more heroic than to help a\\ntimid old woman over the crossing. But\\nnow, in that instant of mortal danger,\\nthe ideal stood out clean-cut as a cameo,\\nnor did the smoke or roar of the train\\ndim its outlines or silence its imperative\\ncommand. He shouted to the child but\\nshe did not hear, or, if she heard, she did\\nnot heed. Even as he shouted he was\\nrunning, for he knew what he must do.\\nHe met her on the track amid the shriek\\nof the whistle and the grind of the air-", "height": "4256", "width": "2700", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "CHARACTER S EARNED INCREMENT. 39\\nbrakes that could not avail. And in\\nthe instant that the engine was dashing\\nhim to death, he was throwing, and did\\nthrow, that little girl off the track and\\naway from danger.\\nNay, nay It was not in the tales of\\nKing Arthur and his knights of the Kound\\nTable that I read this. This splendid,\\nintrepid act occurred but a few days ago.\\nHats off for my knight in blue overalls\\nAnd above the grave that may never\\nknow a monument, or, if it has a simple\\nstone above it, will bear but the name\\nthat was never in print but once, and\\nthen only to be forgotten, pay your trib-\\nute of honor to my hero in every-day\\nclothes\\nThe par value of that life was a dollar\\nand a half a day! But the real value,\\nthe moral value, of that life, is that sum\\nplus all its helpful influence upon your\\nlife and mine.\\nWhen I read of a deed like this, I feel\\nthat, if God should honor me some time\\nby making me a crossing-tender, perhaps\\nby the grace of God and the help of this", "height": "4136", "width": "2572", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "40 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nman s example, I might do the same that\\nhe did. And if I never have occasion to\\nserve God and my fellow-men in that\\nparticular station, still, by this splendid,\\nknightly deed, which glorifies not simply\\nthis one man, but every faithful man of\\nhis class whose life contains the raw ma-\\nterial for a hero, I may tend my own\\ncrossing in life, which is of another sort,\\nindeed, but which requires the same de-\\nvotion, with like fidelity to his.\\nAnd so 1 add to my thought of the\\nperfection such as it was attained by\\nthese men, this element which time had\\ncomputed and compounded, which, to-\\ngether with what they wrought on earth,\\ngives me the aggregate value of their\\nlives and their struggle toward perfection.\\nV. Recapitulation.\\nBe not afraid of recapitulations. Dan-\\niel Webster used to repeat each proposi-\\ntion in his plea as many times as there\\nwere men in the jury, and a book must\\nsay the same thing over in as many dif-\\nferent ways as there are classes of readers.", "height": "4260", "width": "2704", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "CHARACTER S EARNED INCREMENT. 41\\nThis, then, is the sum of what has been\\nsaid thus far that these Old Testament\\nworthies served their own ages so faith-\\nfully and well as to give to their lives a\\nthen present and intrinsic worth not to\\nbe lightly spoken against, though it co-\\nexisted with many and obvious imperfec-\\ntions but that, added to this, is another\\nworth, accumulated through long ages,\\nto which the influence of these lives in\\nall subsequent generations has made sub-\\nstantial increment.\\nThese men were accumulators of good,\\nsharers of it, and depositors of it. Their\\nnames have become synonyms for the\\ngraces w r hich they exemplify. This is\\nthe charm of biography. This is the\\nreason why we have so much of it in the\\nBible, the biography of men faulty and\\nimperfect, but striving toward a perfec-\\ntion which has helped to shape the world s\\nideal of perfection.\\nA great name is God s most fecund\\ncreation. Its progeny continues to a\\nthousand generations. Thus Abel, not\\none of whose words is recorded, still", "height": "4152", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "42 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nspeaks. Thus the victories of those who\\nstopped the mouths of lions, quenched\\nthe violence of fire, and out of weakness\\nwere made strong, recur in every gener-\\nation. Their shouts of victory resound\\nanew in the conquests of every age over\\npassion, folly, and shame. Their life-\\nwork goes on in an ever perfecting per-\\nfection, wrought partly out of their own\\nlives, and partly out of the legacy which\\nthey have bequeathed to the world.", "height": "4264", "width": "2648", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "PART III.\\nCumulative Perfection.\\nNot as though I had already attained, either were\\nalready perfect, but I follow after, if that I may ap-\\nprehend that for which also I am apprehended of\\nChrist Jesus.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Phil. 3 12.\\nFor we know that the whole creation groaneth and\\ntravaileth in pain together until now. And not only\\n[the creation] but ourselves, also, which have the first-\\nfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within\\nourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the re-\\ndemption of our bodies. Bom. 8 22, 23.\\nWho now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill\\nup that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ,\\nfor his body s sake, which is the church. Col. 1 24.", "height": "4148", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "Lord, who thy thousand years doth wait\\nTo work the thousandth part\\nOf thy vast plan, for us create,\\nWith zeal a patient heart\\nNewman,\\nGod has made all good work dependent upon\\nother good work for its beginning and its completion.\\nHe has made it impossible for any man to point to\\nany good thing, and say, I did it. W. G. Frost,\\nD. D.\\nL i Not free, what proof could they have given sincere\\nOf true allegiance, constant faith and love,\\nWhere only what they needs must do appeared,\\nNor what they would? What praise could they\\nreceive\\nWhat pleasure I from such obedience paid\\nWhen will and reason (reason also is choice),\\nUseless and vain, of freedom both despoiled,\\nMade passive, both, had served necessity,\\nNot me?\\nMilton.\\ni l Finish then thy new creation,\\nPure, unspotted may we be\\nLet us see our full salvation\\nPerfectly revealed by thee.\\nChanged from glory into glory\\nTill in heaven we take our place,\\nTill we cast our crowns before thee,\\nLost in wonder, love, and praise.\\nCharles Wesley.", "height": "4196", "width": "2632", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "Cumulative Perfection.\\nPerfection as Personal.\\nE have talked about perfection\\nas though it were a personal\\npossession. There is an ele-\\nment of truth in it. Paul\\nfreely conceded that there were some\\nChristians among those to whom he\\nwrote, whose advancement in the Chris-\\ntian life made it appropriate or courteous\\nfor him to speak of them as perfect. He,\\nwho does not claim perfection, but dis-\\ntinctly disavows it, however, does not\\nconsider them so much above him but\\nthat he gives them advice, which is to do\\njust what he is doing, Let us, then, as\\nmany as be perfect, be thus minded,\\ni. e., forget the perfection which they\\nhave attained and press forward. So let\\nus forget the perfection about which we\\nhave been talking, which is personal, and\\n45", "height": "4152", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "46 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\ntalk of that which is co-operative. For\\nthat is the kind about which the author\\nof this epistle is talking.\\nII. Co-operative Perfection.\\nOne of the surprising things about this\\neleventh chapter of Hebrews is the way\\nin which it ends. It would be perfectly\\ntrue to say that so far have these ancient\\nworthies influenced us that we apart\\nfrom them have not been made perfect,\\nand that for this reason God provided\\nsome better thing concerning us than\\nto have lived before them, and hence de-\\nvoid of their inspiring example. But he\\ndoes not say that our perfection, such as\\nit is, is the result of theirs, true as that\\nwould have been, but that their perfec-\\ntion depends upon ours.\\nNow we are getting down to the roots\\nof things. If a personal perfection be in\\nany sense hopeless, and if the claim to\\nhave attained it be the result of morbid\\nintrospection, then at least we may hope\\nto claim a share in cooperative perfec-\\ntion, cumulative perfection. And this is", "height": "4256", "width": "2656", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 47\\nan illustration of the three things which\\nI am talking about The Pilgrim Fath-\\ners did a work which was worth doing\\nfor its own sake they did a w r ork which\\nhas been an inspiration to the world for\\nnearly three centuries but the supreme\\nvalue of it all appears in the fruition of\\ntheir beginnings in the national life of\\nto-day. Their work had its intrinsic\\nvalue, its increment in the example which\\nthey left, and its complement in the labor\\nof others w T ho have builded upon their\\nfoundation. They themselves realized that\\nthe third was the highest value of their\\ntoil, and recorded their willingness to\\ngive their own lives to that end, yea,\\nthough they should be unto others but as\\nstepping-stones, for ye performing of so\\ngreat a work. Ah, but that was a pro-\\nphetic word\\nIII. Some Things That Have Been Per-\\nfected.\\nThere are some things that have been\\nperfected. Kepler s laws, for instance,\\nare final. We have ceased to expect f u-", "height": "4148", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "48 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nture discoveries to change them. But\\nastronomers from Ptolemy and even be-\\nfore had been working on the same prob-\\nlems, and Kepler s own teacher after\\nyears of labor bequeathed these problems\\nto him with his own approach to a solu-\\ntion. The ancient astronomers without\\nKepler were not made perfect. Nay,\\ncontradictory as were their theories,\\nPtolemy without Copernicus was not\\nmade perfect. The alchemists labored\\nlong after the universal solvent and the\\npower to turn all metals to gold. Hun-\\ndreds of the wisest men of earth gave\\ntheir lives to this problem. They re-\\nceived not the promise they died, for the\\nmost part, with little gold. But our\\nchemistry grew out of their effort. God\\nprovided some better thing than that they\\nshould have found what they were seek-\\ning.\\nAnd herein is that saying true, One\\nsoweth and another reapeth. For verily,\\nwe are all reaping what the past has\\nsown. And, what is more, every reaper\\ncarries both sickle and seed-bag, or while", "height": "4256", "width": "2652", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 49\\nhe reaps scatters handfuls of purpose,\\nwhich are the world s future harvest.\\nGod is patient. He is almost prodigal\\nof time. He has never hurried, but he\\nhas ever his harvesting and re-seeding;\\nand they go on together in the world.\\nIV. The World in Process of Perfecting.\\nThe principle is the same as applied to\\nthings in progress of perfecting, which\\nincludes practically the world. I spoke\\nof the Pilgrim Fathers. The Mayflower\\nCompact without the Constitution of the\\nUnited States was not made perfect. The\\nDeclaration of Independence without the\\nEmancipation Proclamation was not made\\nperfect. Nay, lest we should so readily\\npair our beginnings and completings of\\nindividual attainments, God has linked\\nthem together and intertwined them in\\nsuch a manner that it may be truly said\\nthat Magna Charta will not have wrought\\nout its final and logical result till the\\nblessings of Anglo-Saxon civilization\\nshall have wrought out a larger freedom\\nfor all men.", "height": "4148", "width": "2652", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "50 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nNow, indeed, we begin to understand\\nthe elements of possible perfection in the\\nimperfection of the older things. The\\nblank and staring voids in their attain-\\nment are built into in part, and in other\\npart are arched over, by the attainments\\nof those who followed them, and these\\nalso left their own blank spaces, yet\\nwithal laid a good foundation for our\\nbuilding.\\nNow in the rush of the locomotive and\\nthe steady throb of the ocean steamer s\\npiston I see the approach to perfection of\\nwhat a certain lad once saw afar off, but\\nembraced and was persuaded of, when he\\nnoticed the steam lifting the lid of the\\nkettle. Now in the whir of the electric\\ncar, the blaze of the arc-light, and the\\nworld-belting flash of the telegraph, I\\nsee the process of perfecting what was\\ncontained in the spark which Franklin re-\\nceived into his knuckle. And, if I am\\nnot mistaken, I have hit upon God s cus-\\ntomary method of working.\\nIs, then, the new the enemy of the old\\nGod forbid. Nay, the new is the fulfil-", "height": "4264", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 51\\nling of the old. The worst enemies of the\\nOld Testament are not the believers in\\nthe New, but the believers in the Old\\nalone. Kow I understand why Jesus\\nwould not put new wine into old bot-\\ntles, and why he opposed those whose\\naxiom was, The old is better. Men\\nstill quote it, and quote it as if he had\\nadded his authority to it, but he opposed\\nit. There is ever a new theology which\\nmen cry out against as revolutionary, but\\nit is the fulfilling of the old. There is\\never the rise of some new political doc-\\ntrine, which is looked at askance and\\nwhich at length triumphs; and in its\\ntriumph the historian sees, what the men\\nof that generation never see, the triumph\\nof what had long been striven for. And\\nso it comes to me in the midst of the\\nchanging forms and creed of life, that\\nlove and faith and trust in God and\\nChristlike living are eternally good, and\\nthat the interpretation of these to my\\nown age, together with the handing of it\\ndown to other ages, depends somewhat\\nupon me.", "height": "4140", "width": "2660", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "52 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nV. The Kingdom Among Us.\\nu The kingdom of heaven is within\\nyou. It was a true, noble word. But\\nmore accurate is this The kingdom is\\namong you. There are some Christian\\nprivileges too sacred to belong to the in-\\ndividual apart from his fellows. It is only\\nwhen we understand it with all saints\\nthat we know the breadth and length\\nand depth and height of the love of God,\\nwhich passeth individual knowledge. It\\nis only thus that we are filled with all\\nthe fulness of God. It is not as a per-\\nsonal attainment, a cubit added to our in-\\ndividual stature by taking thought, that\\nwe come to the full height of Christian\\nmanhood. We must all come, in the\\nunity of the faith, and the knowledge of\\nthe Son of God, unto this state of per-\\nfect manhood, unto the measure of the\\nstature of the fulness of Christ.\\nIn the unity of the faith. That re-\\nminds us that these all died in faith,\\nand that the unity of which we are speak-\\ning includes their faith who lived and\\ndied before Christ came. And it is also", "height": "4196", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 53\\nthe unifying bond of our present effort.\\nAnd now I begin to see how our lives to-\\ngether make up the mosaic which is to re-\\nveal the pattern of his face. And ye\\nare complete in him.\\nI belteve in the communion of saints.\\nAnd thus I see how God is working,\\nthat in the dispensation of the fulness\\nof times he might gather together all\\nthings in Christ, both which are in heaven\\nand which are in earth, who is the head\\nof all things to the church, which is his\\nbody, the fulness of him that nlleth all\\nin all.\\nVI. Partakers of the Divine Nature.\\nDo we lose thus our hope of personal\\nrighteousness Nay, verily. We have\\nnever yet dared to think how much\\nthose Scripture promises imply that de-\\nclare our oneness with Christ and our\\nresulting privileges. Peter, writing to\\nthose that had obtained like precious faith\\nwith himself, but some of whom, though\\nhaving faith, needed to add to it courage,\\ntemperance, patience, godliness, brotherly", "height": "4148", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "54 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nkindness, and love, assured them that it\\nwas not enough for them to have escaped\\nthe corruption that is in the world\\nthrough lust, but that the same exceed-\\ning great and precious promises which\\nhad made this possible enabled them also\\nto become partakers of the divine na-\\nture. The first verses of the twelfth\\nchapter of Hebrews contain the same\\nthought when they speak of Jesus, not\\nonly as the Author, but also the Finisher,\\nthe Initiator and the Perfecter, of our\\nfaith.\\nMore than once we are assured that\\nHe who hath begun a good work in us\\nwill complete it. In the magnificent\\nchapter which contains his philosophy of\\nthe universe, Paul tells us that we have\\nreceived the spirit, not of bondage, but of\\nsons, and that to be a son of God means\\nto be a joint heir of Christ, that we and\\nChrist may be glorified together. John\\nhas the same superb thought, and tells\\nus that what we shall be doth not yet\\nappear, but we know that we shall be\\nlike Christ. Nay, as a foretaste of this", "height": "4196", "width": "2656", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 55\\nand the assurance of it, the earnest of\\nit, Paul would say, we are told that\\neven now are we the sons of God, and\\nthus heirs of the promises. I do not\\nwonder when I find John adding that\\nevery man that hath this hope in him\\npurifieth himself, even as he is pure.\\nThere I find what I am seeking in in-\\ndividual perfection.\\nVII. God? 8 Perfection and Ours.\\nBe ye therefore perfect, even as your\\nFather in heaven is perfect. If the\\nthought of perfection itself overwhelms\\nme, what shall be said of this measure of\\nit What, indeed, save that, while it\\nseems to us unattainable, any lower\\nstandard must seem to us unworthy of\\nthe striving of those who are made in\\nGod s image Nay, for this we must\\nstrive, and, pitiable as are our failures,\\nwe dare not confess that the quest is\\nhopeless. For, while the degree of that\\nperfection shall be to us eternally unat-\\ntainable, the quality of it cannot be hope-\\nless to those who with open face be-", "height": "4136", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "56 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nholding as in a glass the glory of the\\nLord, are changed into the same image,\\nfrom glory unto glory, even as by the\\nSpirit of the Lord.\\nOne of the wonders of the Centennial\\nExposition was the mighty Corliss en-\\ngine, turning its acres of machinery, the\\ngreatest and most perfect engine that\\nhad been made at that time. One day\\na man approached it, and, taking from\\nhis vest-pocket a tiny box, removed\\nsomething from it, and set it on the\\nengine-bed. A group gathered about,\\nbut only those nearest could see. There\\nwas a miniature engine, whose base was\\na gold half-dollar, and the cover of its\\nbox a silver three-cent piece. The tiniest\\nalcohol lamp furnished its power, and\\nthree drops of water filled its boiler.\\nBut it was a perfect steam-engine, and\\nthe kind of perfection which it had was\\nthe same as that of the great Corliss. It\\nturned water into steam and steam into\\nenergy by the same principle, and, in di-\\nrect proportion to its power, the energy\\nderived was applicable to the same ends.", "height": "4196", "width": "2672", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "CU3IULATIVE PERFECTION. 57\\nSuch, I sometimes think, is to be our per-\\nfection as related to God s.\\nVIII. The Value of This Truth as an\\nIncentive.\\nNow, when I realize the meaning of\\nthis, I feel a thrill to the inmost corner\\nof my soul. I am not here as a thing to\\nbe tolerated. I am here to help God in\\nhis work of perfecting the world. I am\\nhere to strive to attain for myself the per-\\nfect ideal which God has set before me\\nin Jesus Christ, and I am here also for\\nthe doing of a work which even God\\ncounts of value, a part of the very work\\nof Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is what I\\nhave been lacking in the way of motive.\\nPerhaps my personal strivings for my\\nown sake have been to some extent futile\\nand a bit morbid. Perhaps I am now\\nready to realize that by saving my life I\\nam in danger of losing it, as not a few\\npeople, I am constrained to believe, have\\nbeen lost through their very salvation.\\nBut I am to save my life by losing it,\\nand to attain my personal perfection by", "height": "4140", "width": "2656", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "58 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nadding my personal increment to the\\nworld s perfecting. This is something\\nthat appeals to all that is noble, cour-\\nageous, chivalrous, within me. It takes\\nreligion out of the realm of tatting-work\\nand five o clock tea, and makes it ele-\\nmental, practical, spiritual and eternal.\\nOnce the men of a certain nation set\\nout to choose a king. They agreed that\\nthe first man among them to see the sun\\nshould be the king, and long before the\\ndawn they started toward the east to see\\nit rise. All save one, who, feeling the\\ngreatness of the office, would not enter\\nthe scramble for it, but sat on the ground\\nwith his back to the east. So, while they\\npressed on toward the sunrise, and were\\nyet in darkness, he looked up, and lo, he\\nsaw the sunlight, full and fair upon the\\ntop of the mountains, and cried, I see\\nit I see it So sometimes are revealed\\nto us the crowning truths of the spiritual\\nlife.\\nWe need more introspection, more\\nquiet, more meditation. This busy age\\nhas too little time for them. But we", "height": "4256", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 59\\nalso need incentive and momentum. We\\nshall not get much out of self-castigation.\\nWe shall not get much out of self-seeking\\nspiritual enjoyment. But if we come\\nwhere God is, and into the mighty sweep\\nof his eternal purpose for human life, we\\nshall not lack for impulse in our quest of\\nthe good, and we shall find it in the con-\\nservation of an energy that is being eter-\\nnally given out.\\nIX. The Parable of the Shingles.\\nHear ye the parable of the shingles.\\nA shingle is three times as long as the\\nspace it covers. It has for its first duty\\nto cover its own little spot of roof, and\\ndo it well its second duty is to complete\\nthe strip of equal width that is made by\\nthe courses below; and the next is to\\nfurnish a tight foundation for the courses\\nabove to be laid upon. Now, shingles\\nare of different widths, even as one life\\nhas one talent, another two, and another\\nfive. And the lives of men adjoining one\\nanother in a given generation, and doing\\ntheir work, some well and others with", "height": "4132", "width": "2660", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "60 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nknots and cracks, these are the shingles\\nof a single course. And the generations\\nmount slowly and steadily upward to-\\nward the ridge. And underneath are\\nthe rafters of God s eternal purposes. So\\nmay my life align itself with the good\\nand the true of my own age, and be\\nnailed fast to the eternal truths that are\\nGod s own It is not my duty to hold\\nup the roof but there is one small spot\\nupon it, whose length is measured by the\\nyears of my life, and whose breadth is\\nmade by my best effort by the grace of\\nGod I will make that one spot secure\\nX. Life as a Relay Race.\\nWe have been studying the last verses\\nof the eleventh of Hebrews, concerning\\nthe men who did well, but who without\\nus are not made perfect. You have\\nnoticed how the next chapter begins,\\nu Wherefore, seeing we are compassed\\nabout with so great a cloud of witnesses.\\nWho are those witnesses They are\\nthose whose names he has been recalling,\\nEnoch, Noah, Abraham, and the rest. I", "height": "4196", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 61\\ndo not know that this text could be\\nquoted to prove that saints in heaven\\nknow of our labor, but at least, by a\\nstartling and brilliant figure of speech,\\nhe makes all these whose perfection\\nawaits our completing effort the wit-\\nnesses of our performances. Just before\\nthe battle of the Pyramids, Xapoleon, as\\nyou have often heard, addressed his army\\nthus From yonder heights forty cen-\\nturies look down upon you. What sol-\\ndier would not have proved a hero with\\nsuch a reminder? The centuries look\\ndown on you, my friend\\nHappy as we all w r ere to have our\\nAmerican boys win so many events at\\nthe re-establishment of the Greek games\\na few years ago, we were all glad that a\\nyoung Greek won the Marathon race. It\\nw r as long and hard, but O, how his heart\\nmust have leaped when he entered the\\narena where the whole nation past and\\npresent seemed gathered to behold his\\nvictory, where the elite of the present\\nnation and the glory of ancient Greece\\nlooked down upon his success And the", "height": "4144", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "62 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\nking s two sons leaped down, and, taking\\nhim by either arm, brought him up be-\\nfore the king, who cheered his splendid\\nsuccess.\\nLife is a race. Paul says so. The au-\\nthor of this epistle says so. A thousand\\npulpits have said so. But neither Paul\\nnor this author, had they lived to-day,\\nwould have gone past our modern athlet-\\nics for figures derived from the ancient\\ngames of Corinth. So let me add to the\\nBible figure of the race, that life is a re-\\nlay race. The runners of the past, these\\nworthies in the eleventh of Hebrews,\\nthey are in the grand stand now. The\\npennant is in your hand; my young\\nfriend, go\\nYours is the inspiration of the present\\nmoment all the enthusiasm of youth\\nand courage and of present need are\\nyours. Yours is the inspiration of the\\npast and of the future also go\\nThe past has run with varying success,\\nsometimes with courage and again with\\nfear, but it has brought you the pennant,\\nbear it on! The past has borne it", "height": "4196", "width": "2652", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "CUMULATIVE PERFECTION. 63\\nthrough many generations, sometimes\\nmanfully, sometimes timidly, sometimes\\nfiercely sometimes it has moved grandly\\non to the sound of martial music and the\\nclash of arms sometimes it has been\\nsnatched from the flame that encircled\\nthe martyr s stake sometimes it has been\\nswept on by the tide of missionary zeal\\nsometimes it has moved slowly, weighted\\nwith the heavy cross, and amid the clank\\nof chains sometimes its bearer has come\\nup sobbing through Gethsemane, and\\nagain he has stood out resplendent in the\\nglory of a dawn upon the mountain-crest\\nwhich he has scaled in the night. By\\ngood work and ill, by duty performed\\nand duty neglected, by heroism and\\ntyranny, by mercy and cruelty, by devo-\\ntion and by shame, the past has lived. its\\nlife, and amid it all there have not failed\\nthose who have run their race, and borne\\nonward the banner of the cross. It is in\\nyour hand to-day. Let not your progress\\nbe retarded by any weight of cherished\\nsin. The centuries are looking. The\\nexpectant future, too, is waiting for your", "height": "4148", "width": "2640", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "64 THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFECTION.\\neffort. Christ himself looks down to see\\nyou run your course. Much depends on\\nyou to-day, rny brother. O, gird up your\\nloins, and bear your pennant high!\\nWherefore, seeing Ave are compassed\\nabout with so great a cloud of witnesses,\\nlet us lay aside every weight, and the sin\\nthat doth so easily trip us as we run, and\\nlet us run with loyalty and strength and\\nzeal the race set before us, looking unto\\nJesus, the Author and the Perfecter of\\nour faith.", "height": "4196", "width": "2580", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4124", "width": "2652", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "OCT* 4-1900\\nDeacidified using the Bookkeeper process.\\nNeutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide\\nTreatment Date: Nov. 2005\\nPreservationTechnologies\\nA WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION\\n1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive\\nCranberry Township, PA 16066\\n(724)779-2111", "height": "4224", "width": "2596", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "u", "height": "4131", "width": "2772", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4340", "width": "2810", "jp2-path": "improvementofper00bart_0072.jp2"}}