desert drear," was the actual fact as long as priests and soldiers
were supreme. The Reign of the Barons was merely a transfer of power
with no revision of ideals. The choice between a miter and a helmet is
nil, and when the owner converses through his head-gear, his logic is
alike vulnerable and valueless.

So enter the Merchant, whose business it is to carry things from where
they are plentiful to where they are scarce. And comes he so quietly and
with so little ostentation that men do not realize the change.

And George Peabody, an American, gives three million dollars to the poor
of London. This money was not tossed out to purchase peace, and to
encourage idleness, and to be spent in strong drink and frills and
finery, and the ways that lead to Nowhere, but to provide better homes
for men, women and children.

"Lay hold on eternal life," said Paul, writing to Timothy. The proper
translation we now believe should be, "Lay hold on the age to come."
Philanthropy now seeks to lay hold on the age to come. We are building
for the future.

The embryo has eyes, ears and organs of speech. But the embryo does not
see, nor hear, nor speak. It is laying hold on the age to come--it is
preparing to live--it is getting ready for the future. The past is dead,
the present is dying, and only that which is to come is alive.

The life of George Peabody was not in what he gave, but in what he
taught the millionaires that are to be. He laid hold on the age to
come.

* * * * *

George Peabody is another example of a boy who succeeded in spite of his
parents. The rigors of climate and the unkindness of a scanty soil may
be good things. They are good, like competition, very excellent,
provided you do not get more than your constitution requires.

New England has her "white trash," as well as the South. The Peabodys of
Danvers were good folks who never seemed to get on. They had come down
from the mountains of New Hampshire, headed for Boston, but got stuck
near Salem. If there was anything going on, like mumps, measles,
potato-bugs, blight, "janders" or the cows-in-the-corn, they got it.
Their roof leaked, the cistern busted, the chimney fell in, and although
they had nothing worth stealing the house was once burglarized while the
family was at church. The moral to little George was plain: Don't go to
church and you'll not get burgled. Life was such a grievous thing that
the parents forgot how to laug