sh to confess, and a
veneration that we cannot help rendering; how does your mystic
influence, imparted from the soft pressure and the undying smile, weave
itself through all the brightness through all the darkness of our after
life. The mould of character set on the front of the world's great men,
and gladly confessed by them, bears your stamp. Your inspiration burns
along the poet's line. It is your true courage, more than man's rude
daring, that makes the force of heroes. The statesman, when treason to
humanity wears the garb of power, and duty calls him like a trumpet,
hears your voice. The philanthropist, when he feels that the most
efficient service is to be patient and to wait, imbibes the strength of
your fortitude. The sailor, "on the high and giddy mast," mingles your
name close to God's. And thousands in life's great claims, in life's
great perils, trace back the influences of the hour to some early time,
some calm moment, when,--little, timid children,--they knelt by your
side, and from tones of reverence and looks of love and simple words of
prayer, they first learnt piety at home.

But I observe again, that Home is the sphere where are most clearly
displayed _the real elements of character_. The world furnishes
occasions of trial, but it also furnishes prudential considerations.
Without any absolute hypocrisy, one measures his speech and restrains
his action in the street and the market. And it is easy to conceive how
small men may perform great deeds, and mean men seem philanthropic, and
cowards flourish as heroes, with the tremendous motive of publicity to
urge them. But at home all masks are thrown aside, and the true
proportions of the man appear. Here he can find his actual moral
standard, and measure himself accordingly. If he is irritable, here
breaks forth his repressed fretfulness. If he is selfish, here are the
sordid tokens. If he passes in any way for more than he is worth, here
you may detect the counterfeit in the ring of his natural voice and the
superscription of his undisguised life. No, the world is not the place
to prove the moral stature and quality of a man. There are too many
props and stimulants. Nor, on the other hand, can he himself determine
his actual character merely by looking into his own solitary heart.
Therein he may discover _possibilities_, but it needs actuality to make
up the estimate of a complete life. He must _do_ something as well as be
something; he must do somethin