West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1881-05-25
NICOLAS HERMAN.

About two hundred years ago there was Nv
ing in the city of Paris an old man, VINO was 80
holy and in his holiness so happy' tii''' 'iio
people came from far and near 10 learn INC
secret of his life. He lived in great mousse
with company Of religious men. Among
those men his place was very lo"lS ohe'
He was their cook, and it was down In the
kitchen of their great house that ne hiiu 10
spend his days. For more than forty years
this man lived in that house, doing thls low
ly service; and through all those years the
one desire and Joy of his heart was TO be al
ways with God, and to do nothing, say noth-
ing, and think nothing which might De ois-
pleasing to Him. He had set his heart on
being like the Friend in whose presence ne
loved so much to be- And he had learned
that the nearest and best way to this likeness
was to let this divine Friend rule him in ev-
erything. SO he placed himself altogether
under the will of God. He gave himself; he
gave body and soul he gave will and wish.
He kept nothing back. 1t was not easy to DO
this at first. But he prayed for help and all
difficulty came to an end. 1t became both
easy and pleasant, until, at last, next to the
Joy Of being in the presence OF his Divine
Friend was the Joy of giving up every thing
for that Friends sake To this old man the
kitchen was as holy place as the church.
He was with God there. Daily he had sweet
talk with him as he went about his humble
duties. And the fireside, with its pots ana
pans its heats and smells, became like n
gate of heaven to his soul; and this was the
more beautiful in him because, naturally, he
did not like the work Of the kitchen. Buthe
put his dislike of the work aside, and ne ana
ii joyfully out of love of God. He began ev-
cry part of his duties with silent prayer. AS
the work went forward he would lift up his
heart in prayer, and when 1t was finished he
would give thanks to God for helping him;
or, if he had failed, he would ask God to par
don him. In this way his dlstasteful work
became Joy to him, and easy. Nicolas be-
lieved that a holy life did not depend upon
some high and heavenly kind of work to do;
but in doing common work the work of every
day, for the love of God. 1t is holy life, he
held, to do for God sake the things we com
monty do for our own. He put great stress
on the doing of little things for God. at is
not the greatness of the work which God re-
cards." he would say, "but the love with
which it is performed" A friend who saw
him at work in the kitchen has borne wit
ness how truly it was work for God. "His
very countenance was edifiying. There was
such sweet and calm devotion appearing in
it as could not fail to affect the beholder. In
the greatest hurry he still preserved his
heavenly -mindedness He never was hasty
nor lettering, but did each thing in its sea-
son, with an even, uninterrupted composure
and tranquility of spirit" Nicolas had such
perfect faith in Cod that when he brought
any difficulty before Him in prayer, when he
came with some burden, or sorrow, care,
he really left it with God. After laying it on
God, he did not suffer it to trouble him any
more. And it was the same with his sins.
When he had once asked God to forgive
him for some particular sin, he left the sin
with God, and believed that he was forgiven,
and went on to do the next duty in his path.
In this way he had an almost unbrollen
peace and JOY of mind. To people who came
to ask him about the way of happiness he
was accustomed to say, "Cast every thing out
of your hearts, that God may have the room
to himself. And when God has taken up
his abode there, trust him in every thing to
the end of your lives" When he was about
eighty years of age he wrote: ~ hope from
Gods mercy and favor to see him in few
days" And within few days he Went
home, to be with God forever.-From "Ihe
Gentle Heart" 6y Ale1ander Nc Cleod, DID.