PICK YOURSELF UP.

HE illustration preceding this sketch shows a poor fellow, for any reason, down in the world. He is surrounded by seven characters principally representing the many who oppose and the few who help him. On his back

is the bold and outspoken enemy who "sits down upon him." In his front is the man less bold who stands at a distance and throws stones at him. In his rear is the sneak who slips up behind him and kicks him. On the left of him stand three characters -the left-hand of whom is a business man who looks on with cold concern, but who feels that it would not "pay" to help him. On the right of the three is the policy man who politely presses his hands together and concludes that it might not be "popular" to help him. In the midst of the three is the regular old hypocrite, heartless and blind with prejudice, who walls his eyes heavenward and says, "He had no business to get down in the world, to do wrong. Let him stay where he is; he ought to be there;" and while he takes no positive part in keeping him down, except by a cold, philosophical criticism of his sins or errors, he will do nothing to encourage his getting up. In front of the poor fellow a woman, representing true charity, is seen taking him by the hand and helping

him up in the face of all his opposition. The picture represents a man determined to rise, and the following sketch of my lecture on this subject gives a little advice to the point. Several other characters, of minor importance, both opposing and helping the man who is down, might have been represented, but these suffice, in general outline, to show the chief difficulties of a rising man, especially when he is once down.

Nothing is more common than for people to stumble and fall, and it is about as true morally as it is physically. There are but few people in the world who never made a mistake, committed a blunder, nor got a tumble of some kind, even in the plainest path marked out for human conduct. People are often safest in the most dangerous way, because more on their guard. Every boy has stumped his toe, and, not unfrequently, upon the smooth pavement an orange or a banana-peel causes us to slip and bruise our body, if we do not break our back or crack our head. Sometimes these falls are fatal or maim us for life, but generally we get up again, either by ourselves or by the help of others--more or less hurt-and in a little or a great while we are up and out again. So in the business and social affairs of life. He who attempts or risks much-meets the temptations and oppositions of the world-sometimes errs, stumbles, and falls, and, like the physical man, he may fall fatally or get badly hurt or casually bruised. In the ruin of himself, sometimes he gets beyond the possibility of self-reformation, or, in the eyes of mankind, he may be unable to reach restoration to position or honor. In any event, however, if self-ruin has not been wrought, or if our fall is not beyond recovery in the eyes of men, we have the same encouragement that a physically

hurt man has to recover; and if we have not committed an unpardonable crime in God's sight, we have the chance and the inspiration to rise to heaven, whether we can recover with our fellow-man or not. He that has never stumbled nor fallen-never erred nor done wrong—has never traveled far nor attempted ́much; and our case must be an exceedingly bad one not at last to have the general sympathy of mankind in getting upon our feet again if we keep on trying.

When you fall, my friend, pick yourself up. This is a case of ordinary possibility; and in every case of restoration we have one of the sublimest illustrations of manhood. I like the boy who stumps his toe, knocks off the nail, tumbles heels over head, and, without a grunt or a whine, gets up again, grins and bears it, and goes limping on his way. The little fellow that sprawls out and bawls, and waits for his mother to come and pick him up, pet and coddle him till he gets well, is not the fellow to pick himself up and get on his feet, a-going again. It is always a mark of manhood not to fall, if we are doing any thing in the world; but it is often a mark of greater manhood to pick yourself up when down than it is in some people not to tumble at all. Some people deserve but little credit for not falling. Cold-hearted or well balanced, so conditioned or circumstanced in life as never to meet temptation or trial, they never get in the way of a tumble. Some are negative and inert, or never subjected to conflict with the world; and they never "spoil a horn to make a spoon." They never make any spoons; and it is useless to talk about manhood being put to the test in such people. They do not compare, for manhood, with the poor fellow who has been trying to do something in conflict with the world and his own nat

ure, and, though fallen, has picked himself up and is making a man of himself once more. Perhaps he had a thousand conflicts with himself and with all the powers of seductive evil, of delusive darkness, of which the other man never dreamed. The man who picks himself up and goes on against the double opposition of his own weakness and the world's attempts to crush him, against the friction of habit and of a lost or damaged character, displays a heroic manhood if he rises again to position and honor. But few ever do it, because few ever press to the end the heroic remedy of self-treatment.

It is a sad fact that, in extreme cases, so few of the fallen, or failing, ever pick themselves up. All about us the world is strewn with human wrecks, and no age ever witnessed greater efforts upon the part of charity for human restoration. Thousands fall, and seem to persist in falling, especially in drunkenness, lewdness, and other vices, when, if they would, the world never before offered such chances to rise again. After all, the world admires heroes; and old Time is a wonderful healer and forgetter of the past. He that can himself be inspired to forget the things behind him, and can be made to press for the prizes of the future before him, has a thousand chances of honor and position he imagines are forever lost to him when down in the world. The man struggling to rise in faith and hope always has God on his side; and God and the hero, struggling for restoration and manhood, are a big majority against all opposition. Earth and hell combined cannot battle down such a man or woman. don't care what such a man or woman may have done, how far or low he or she may have fallen into crime. and disgrace, recovery is possible, at least in virtue

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and honor, and in the consciousness of rectitude and happiness; and, under God, there is no telling what position such a man or woman may attain to, even among men, if health and life do not forsake them too soon. God's grace is sufficient for the restoration of every wreck of life, willing and determined to be and do some thing again. Mary Magdalene, the thief on the cross, John B. Gough, and thousands of others have been saved and elevated to honor and position by religion. David picked himself up, under God; and Samson might have done so before the Philistines if he had not lost his eyes, and God had so willed. Millions have picked themselves up, have lived honorable and useful lives before they died, and have gone home shouting to God and to glory, saved and sanctified by grace and grit combined.

I wish to notice two great difficulties in the way of picking yourself up, and which have to be overcome:

1. Our own weaknesses. A man once down loses self-confidence and often self-control, and by repeating his falls he continues to weaken all the forces of manhood. Bad habit breaches the fortress of character, and every repetition of vice in the line of bad habit opens wider still the breach, however often repaired. A man may become so discouraged by his own weakness, growing weaker still, that every motive to rise is finally lost. Pride and ambition, hope and resolution, take their flight, and sooner or later the sense of virtue and honor becomes deadened, the strong column of conscience crumbles from under the fabric of character, and the victim of habit loses all the elements of manhood upon which to work for restoration. Often there is nothing left, apparently, for God and religion to work upon. There is a point, therefore, at which the