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56 the side-paths of ancient erudition with neither time nor need to enter them. The spirit that called him to his ministry was ever present in him, whispering "This is the way," when he glanced wistfully into those rich affluents of ancient lore. So he made but little if any acquaintance with Demosthenes or Cicero, Homer or Virgil, on the straight and narrow path of his education; but much with the Author and Finisher of his faith. With a single eye and heart for His service, the ardent young man not only forgot the things that were behind, but the things that were on either side of him, keeping the mark and prize of his high calling only and ever in view. And he attained both beyond his own expectation and the best thought of his early friends. He came to the pulpit without the loss of a single lock of his young manhood's strength. That classical culture that so often exhausts the vital heat of the soul in producing mental brilliance, had not sobered or softened the pulse of a single faculty within him. He entered upon his work with all his young enthusiasm at full glow, and with all his great-eyed hope and faith, looking out grandly into the future. Thus, at the outset of his ministry, he threw into it all the native eloquence of his heart; and his lips could not help bring eloquent with its utterances. Sometimes when the two were moved with unusual inspiration, he gave them larger poetical license,