The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-12-01


unable to save any thing else, went to
his trunk and took out a Bible which
| his mother had placed there and swan
ashore, the Bible he held in his teeth.
| The book was read on all sides until the
rOugh and vicious population were
evangelical and church was started
and an enlightened commonwealth es-
| tablished, and the worlds history has
no more brilliant page than that which
tells of the transformation of nation
by one book. 1t did not seem of much
Importance whether the sailor cOntinu-
| ed to hold the book in his teeth or let it
| fall in the breakers, but upon what small
circumstance depended what mighty re-
suits.
Practical inference: There are no in
significancies in our lives. The minutest
thing is part of magnitude. Infnity
is made up of ininiteSimalS. Great
things an aggregation of small things.
Bethlehem manger pulling On'a star in
the eastern sky. One book in dTenched
sailors mouth the eVangeliZatiOn of
multitude. One boat Of papyrusiOn the
Nile freighted with events for all ages.
The fate of ChristendOm in a basket let
down from window on the wall.
What you do, do we'll. If you make
rope, make it strong and true, for you
know not how much may depend on
your workmanship. If you fashion a
boat let it be water proof, for you know
not who may sail in it. If you putt
Bible in the trunk of your boy as he goes
from home, let it be heard in your
prayers, for it may have a mission as
far-Teaching as the book which the sail
or carried in his teeth to the Pit
cairn beach. The plainest mans life
is an island between two eternities-
eternity past rippling against his
shoulders, eternity to come touching his
brow. The casual, the accidental, that
which merely happened so, are parts of
a great plan, and the rope that lets the
fugitive apostle from the Damascus
wall is the cable that holds to it's moor
ing the ship Of the church in the north
est storm Of the centuries.
Again, notice unrecOgnized and unTe.
corded services. Who spun that rOpeP
Who tied it to the basketp Who steadied
the illustriOus preacher as he stepped
into itP Who relaxed not muscle of
the arm or dismissed an anxious look
from his face until the basket touched
the ground and discharged Its magnifi
cent cargo? Not one of their names has
come to us, but there was no work done
that day in Damascus or in all the earth
compared with the importance of their
work. What If they had IN the agita-
tiOn tied knot that could slipP What
if the sound of the mob at the door had
led them to say: Paul must take care
of himself, and we will take care of our.
selves? mol mol They held the rope,
and in doing so did more for the Chris
tian church than any thousand of us
will ever accomplish. But God knows,
and has made eternal record of their
risky undertaking. And they know. How
exultant they must have felt when they
read his letters to the Romans, to the
Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the
Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the
COlOssians, to the ThessalOnians, to
Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to the
Hebrews; and when they heard how he
walked out of prison with the earth
quake unlocking the door for him and
took command of the AlexandTian corn
ship when the sailors were nearly scared
to death and preached a sermon that
nearly shook Felix off of his judgment
seat | hear the men and women who
helped him down through the window
and over the wall talking in private over
the matter and saying, "HOw glad am
that we affected that rescue! In coming
times others may get the glory of PauPs
work, but no one shall rob us of the
satisfaction of knowing that we held the
rope"
There are said to be about 10000 min
listers of religion in this country. About
80, 900, l warrant, came from early homes
which had to struggle for the neces-
saTies of life. The sons of rich bankers
and merchants generally become bank
ers and merchants, or, having plenty of
money, sail yacht or flirt with other
mems wives at Newport and Long
Branch during the summer. The most
of those who become ministers are the
sons of those who had terrific struggle
to get their daily bread. The collegiate
and theological education of that son
took every luxury from the parental
table for eight years. The other chill
dren were more scantily appaTeled. The
son at college every little while got a
bundle from home. In it were socks
that mother had knit sitting up late at
night, her sight not as good as once 1t was
and there also were some dellcacieS from
the sisters hand for the VoraeiOus
appetite of the hungry student. The
father swung the heavy cradle through
the wheat, the sweat rolling from his
chin, bedewing every step of the way,
and then sitting down under the cherry
tree at noon, thinking to himself: 81
am feaTfully tired, but it will pay IL
can once see that boy through college;
and know he will be preaching the gOs-
pei after 1 am dead" The younger
children want to know why they can't
have this and that as others do, and the
mother says, "Be patient, my children,
until your brother graduates; then you
shall have more luxuries; but we must
see that boy through" The years go by
and the son has been ordained, and is
preaching the glorious gospel, and a
great revival comes, and souls by the
hundreds accept the gospel from the
lips of that young preacher, and father
and mother, quite old now, are visiting
the son at the village parsonage, and at
the close of a Sabbath of mighty bless
ing, father and mother retire to their
room, the son lighting the way and ask
ing of them if he can do anything to
make them more comfortable, saying if
they want anything in the night, just
knock on the wall, and then all alone
father and mother talk over the graci-
GUS influences of the day and say, well,
it was worth all we went through to
educate that boy. 1t was hard pull,
but we held on till the work was done.
The world may not know it, but mother,
we held the rope, didn't wep" And the
voice. tremulOus with joyful emotion,
responds: Eyes, father, we held the
rope. 1 feel my work is done. Now,
Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in
Deace for mine ewes have seen thV sal