AUTHOR OF "MANY THOUGHTS OF MANY MINDS," "NOBLE THOUGHTS IN NOBLE LANGUAGE," "There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose LET HIM KNOW THAT UNDERTAKES TO PICK OUT THE BEST EAR AMONGST AN ACRE OF WHEAT, THAT HE SHALL LEAVE AS GOOD, IF NOT BETTER, BEHIND HIM, THAN THAT WHICH HE CHOOSETH. THOMAS FULLER. PREFACE. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." Colossians ii. 8-10. JESUS CHRIST is ever drawing to Himself more and more of the interest and attention of the world. To this the evident direction and movement of thought in our time bears witness, and to-day more than ever, when Faith does not already rest, Inquiry waits upon the Son of God. Who, and what Jesus was, His life, His character, His purpose, His work, His doctrine, Ilis influence over individual lives, His public power in human society, and over the ideas and conduct of many millions of our race, have a high degree of speculative interest for all educated and intelligent persons, while to the believing and earnest Christian they have a personal and spiritual interest which is ever increasing with the growth of his religious life. To the Christian what THE CHRIST is as Mediator, Saviour, Exemplar, and Sovereign, is of far more than intellectual or speculative interest, his connection and concern with Him being personal and eternal. What He was, and is, and ever will be, is in the Christian's deepest convictions of the most vital moment. It has therefore occurred to me, following my un-ambitious vocation as a compiler, in which I have found much pleasant occupation, and an amount of recognition from the reading and studious public with which I have reason to be well satisfied, that I might very |