St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-03-07
The Patchwork Quilt.
BY AN ARMY CHAPLAIN.

III An ARNl CHAPLAIN.
In one of the boxes sent to us during
the war by the Sanitary Commission
was patchwork quilt of unusual soft
ness and lightnt>S. How nice, how
good it feels so home like, This will
make the poor fellows laugh" we said.
And it did make them laugh heartily,
and made some of them cry, to. When
we opened il we found note pinned to
it, 1t read rs follows:
Il have made this Scripture quilt for
one of the hospital beds. for thought
that while it would he IL comfort to the
poor body. it might speak word of
good I" the precious Soul-the words
are so beautiful and blessed. and full of
balm and healing. May it be blessed to
to the dear boys in the army. among
whom have son"
"Oh. that it may said. and dropped
the first tear upon it. No. not the first.
nor the hundrcth tear. even: for that
quilt had not been made without many
tears. Every block had been PRAYED
and wept over.
1t was made of square blocks of cali
co and white cotton mtermingled. and
on every white block WAS written IA
verse from the Bible, or Il coupet from
one of our best hymns. On the central
block. i'll letters So large as to catch the
careless eye, was that faithful saving"
i'll which is all our hope and strength.
Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners" And below it. the pray
CT of all prayers we need to pray: God
hc mercltul to me, 4 sinner. The head
border. which would be nearest the sick
mans eye, and oftene>t read. had the
sweetest texts of promise, and love, and
comfort. Among them read. God so
loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten son, that whatsoever helieveth
in him should not perish" Come unto
Me, all We that labor and are heavy la
den. and ! will give you rest" "IIo.
every one that thirsteth. come We to the
water" Il sought the Lord. and he
heard me, and delivered me from all nv
fears. "Oh." we said. wiping our ewes,
that all our beds had such quilts us
this. God will surely speak through
these texts to the sick and wounded
men They will read them when they
would read nothing else. Who knows
how much good they will do p
1t was not long before man sick
with pneumonia was brought in, and
we put our new quilt on his bed. He
noticed nothing at first, he was too sick
but Wen he grew better | saw him in
tent on the texts.
Handy to have 'em here" he said,
pointing to them as stood near him.
You know how to value them. then"
Il do, lie answered, with heartiness.
L.. e
unto my feet, and light unto nv
path'?"
We'll, that's what the Bible is, and
I've found it out down here.
After that | saw many studying the
quilt almost all who lay beneath it.
One poor fellow, who had tossed III pain
and teveriShneSS tor several days. caught
sight of the words, And | will give You
rest" He hcckoued to me.
''Rest where can get it Rest for
the body and mind both | am half
mad-sick, as you see, but sicker us
II" one can see. Tell me how to get
rest -
Did you never hear of the way ,
never hear of Jesus p
Tell me again, and as you would a
child"
| told him, as | would a child. the
story of the cross. ''Died for my sins p
he asked.
YES, yours. He saw YOU in YOUR
sins and pitied you, loved you, died to
save you from sin and give YOU rest
to make you happy
81 have never been happy never. /
have been too wicked. And he really
died for me ?"
with You in his heart ~
Il never felt it before. 1t never
seemed to me zeal thing"
Il hope You will come to feel il the
most real thing"
He tossed again: "Oh, for rest ~
Have You seen the lines
None but Jesus none but Jesus
Ian do helpless sinners good r.
ITS true | know, it is none but Je-
sus Eve tried everything else"
III 20 To Jesus, though my sins
Have like mountain rose"
repeated.
Il can't 90. feel that | can't do
anything. | am here very wretched
man: and that is all
Just leave Yourself to God. then:
Here, Lord, give myself away.
lis all that Can do
That's all You have to do
''ls that Verse here ?"
| showed it to him on the quilt
iii keep it before me. oh. for rest
A little rest :" he groaned again.
Not long, and he found it-found
peace i'll believing, and left his hospi
tabled happier than he had ever been
before.
An Irishman lay under the Scripture
quilt. One day, when nearly well, he
was looking at it.
is that radin'P'' he asked. putting
his finger on text.
"leS"
sure, and what does it say ~
l read, "And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes; and there
shall be no more death. neither sorrow.