The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-01-19
ESPON NOE.
Letter from Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 13, 1881

MeSSrS. Editors, Our heart has been
so full of the great sorrow which has
fallen upon the whole Presbyterian
church and business community in this
city in the death of William g. Crowell,
elder of the First Presby yterian church,
and Secretary of the Pennsylvania Fire
Insurance Company, that we can think
and write of naught else The death of
this universally beloved man was another
illustration
OF the Suddenness with which our
Lo d may Gene.
The minister of the First Presbyterian
church was addressing the assembled
congregation upon the subject of the
Family" during the session of the Tues
day evening prayer meeting when this
brother was seen to drop his head back
ward and breathe heavily. The prayer
had gone up for Gods especial presence,
and lol He had come in his own way to
conduct one of the suppliants directly to
his throne. 1t was startling answer,
though a good place to receive the mes
senger of death. 1t would solve many
question of difficult casuistry in our mod
ern times if we did put the question to
our hearts at the doors OF pleasure and
recreation into which we are tempted to
enter, "Would this be good place for
the Son of Man to find me when he
comes" To say the least, would rather
be found in prayer meeting than ball
room, or a modern theatre The prayer
meeting was dismissed, and the i'll man
gotten home with difficulty at midnight
There was some recuperation toward
morning, but at noon he "fell on sleep"
But ffty-eight years old and with ap-
pearance of health, it was great shock
to his friends-an emphatic illustration
of Christ's warming" Behold | come
quickly Watch therefore, for ye neither
know the day nor the hour in which your
Lord doth comel" Such unexpected ap
proaches of death, however, were never
more needed than in this time of utter
absorption in worldly things. The age
In which we live is so full of the roar of
business that men having ears to hear
spiritual truths hear not The struggle
is so fierce, the rewards are so dazzling
that religion and its claims were never
perhaps so relegated to future consid-
Grafton and more convenient season.
And yet along with this universal post
ponement OF the one supreme question of
LIE for these subordinate interests, death
is becoming far more sudden than of yore
AS result OF the high pressure under
which we are living, growing out of
the very go-aheadativeness" concerning
which we pride ourselves-diseases OF
heart and nerve and brain are multiply
ing with such rapidity as to astonish and
engage the earnest attention of the most
eminent practitioners on both sides of the
water. On every side, not only men of
active business life, but women of quiet
habit, and children also, are subjects of
swift and fatal nervous disorders. They
drop In their paths as if struck with the
ngntnlng., The man who is waiting for
SICK or dying bed on which to find the
opportunity for the salvation of his sonl
is running fearful hazard. He needs
no one to rise from the dead to warn him
OF his peril. Any physician NAV be his
prophet and utter truths drawn from tbe
practice Of his profession calculated 70
make him tremble. Behold now ;9
the accepted time"-the only time-all
else is eternity.
The life of this elder in Israel was
a Practical Solution of the NTos, nieE
cult Problem of our Age
Ihe great question of this bour IS NOT
now are we going to cut the Isthnus and
unite the Atlantic and Pacific. But it is
now are we going to unite the two
worlds? Is 1T possible to get on without
sacrificing one world to the other or con
we, as Thomas Binney alleged, make tbe
best OF both? Can we secure the satis-
factions of this world and eniov it's re-
sources, but 60 it in such way that the
future will not be sacrificed for the rra,