27. My hearers, my friends, I have now spoken unto ye for well-nigh six hours. From the manner in which you have listened unto me, I judge that ye have been entertained, perhaps even instructed. And yet I should feel that I have spoken unto ye to but little purpose, if my words have merely entertained, merely instructed you; for mere entertainment you can find already in abundance elsewhere,--in the circus, in the play-house, in the concert-room, in the magazine, in the wit of the diner-out, and not unto me is it given to compete with these. And mere instruction likewise you can find already in abundance elsewhere,--in the cyclopædias, in the universities, in the libraries, in the Browning-reader; and neither is it given wholly unto me to compete with these. Not, therefore, to amuse, not even wholly to instruct ye, have I come before ye these successive evenings, and asked you to lend me your ear. But I had hoped that on parting from me, as you will this evening, perhaps for aye, you might perhaps carry away with ye also that earnestness of purpose, the absence of which made so barren the muse of Pushkin; that sympathy for a soul struggling upward, the want of which made so cheerless the life of Gogol; that faith in God, the lack of which made so incomplete the life of Turgenef; and lastly, that faith in the commands of Christ, the living out of which makes so inspiring the life of Tolstoy. 28. Would to God, my friends, ye might carry away with ye all these things besides the entertainment, besides even the instruction you may have found here. In the days of old the great God was ready to save from perdition a whole city of sinners if only ten righteous men could be found within its walls; and so shall I feel amply repaid for my toil, if of the large number who have listened unto me at least ten leave me with the feeling that they have got from my words something more than mere entertainment, something more than mere instruction. THE END. [ Transcriber's Note: The following is a list of corrections made to the original. The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. himself, took off his "masquerading" dress, kicked it into the himself, took off his 'masquerading' dress, kicked it into the Im Norden auf kahler Höh' Im Norden auf kahler Höh'. was enabled to give it a zenith-like loftiness and a nadir like depth was enabled to give it a zenith-like loftiness and a nadir-like depth Unto me on the parting of the roads Unto me on the parting of the roads; horses. They were two sturdy follows, still looking out from under horses. They were two sturdy fellows, still looking out from under Cossak, even without preliminary trial. 'Well, welcome, sonny; come Cossak, even without preliminary trial. Well, welcome, sonny; come