3. This same Captain Self-denial, his history goes on, was stout, he was
an hardy man also, and a man of great courage. Stout and hardy and of
great courage at home, that is; in his own mind and heart, soul and body,
that is. Young Captain Self-denial was a perfect hero at saying No! and
at saying No! to himself. It is a proverb that there is nothing so
difficult as to say that monosyllable. And the proverb is Scripture
truth if you try to say No! to yourself. It takes the very stoutest of
hearts, the most noble, the most manly, the most soldierly, and the most
saintly of hearts to say No! to itself, and to keep on saying No! to
itself to the bitter end of every trial and temptation and opportunity. I
remember reading long ago a page or two of a medical man's diary. And in
it he made a confession and an appeal I have never forgot; though, to my
loss, I have not always acted upon it. He said that for many years he
had never been entirely well. He had constant headaches and depressions,
and it was seldom that he was not to some extent out of sorts. But, all
the time, he had a shrewd guess within himself as to what was the matter
with him. He felt ashamed to confess it even to himself that he over-ate
himself every day at table; till, at last, summoning up all divine and
human help, he determined that, however hungry he was, and however
savoury the dish was, and however excellent the wine was, he would never
either ask for or accept a second helping. And this was his testimony,
that from that stout and hardy day he grew better in health daily; 'my
head became clear, my eye bright, my complexion pure, my mind and
feelings were redeemed from all clouds and depressions. And to-day I am
a younger man at fifty than I was at thirty.' Now, if just saying No! to
himself and to the waiter at table did work such a new birth in a
confirmed gourmand of middle life, what would it not have wrought for him
had he carried his answer stoutly and courageously through all the other
parts of his body and soul?--as perhaps he did. Perhaps, having tasted
the sweet beginnings of salvation, he carried his short and sure regimen
through. If he has done so, let him give us his full autobiography. What
a blessed, what a priceless book it would be!

4. Stout Captain Self-denial was commanded to begin his life as an
officer in Emmanuel's army by taking especial watch over Ear-gate and Eye-
gate; and at our last accounts of our abstemi