The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-11-13
PILLS BANNER.
How the Infant Glass Won tt
BE Ye Faithful Unto Death"


"Be Ye Faithful Unto Death"
Else never made to go to churcht'
tearfully exclaimed little Phillip Judd,
rs his patient mother combed out the
curly looks of her only son and heir that
bright Sunday morning, preparatory
for his pilgrimage to the Sabbath-school.
Mr.. and Mrs. Judd lived in l., a
small town in Western Illinois. They
were poor, but in spite of this misfort-
une, if such it may be termed, they
were decidedly rich in the possession of
n family heirloom which had been
handed down from generation to gen
Grafton with unbroken faith.
and this precious heirloom consisted
of an old saying, viz: 1.-The Judd fam
lily are noted for their extreme piety."
This was the oft-repeatcd expression
OF an aged Methodist minister, a rugged
pioneer in 1.-THE church militant" who,
in his iourneying in those olden times,
had oft and again been the welcome
guest at the hearthstone of many a
representative of this remarkable fam
lily, whose name, it seems, was legion
throughout the wide scope of country
in which this patriarch was wont to
labor.
And this, his favorite saying, repeated
in the experience meeting, on the camD
ground, and around the festal board
became of history, and. as the Judd
family passed from one generation to
another, this religious appellation chung
to them, and followed the family name
like a benediction.
The grand old prelate has long since
been gathered to his fathers, and ere
young Phil Judd shall have reached his
majority, four score and ten winters
viii have swept the autumn leaves over
that old mans grave.
Thus, early in life, greatly to the sor-
row of his parents, did Phil sound the
keynote of revolt He "was never
made to 90 to church, or to Sunday
school, either, for both were the same
10 him. Both were terror to his
young heart. Even as he grew older
the feeling of aversion to places of di-
vine worship grew upon him.
His worthy parents had fOndlv cher
ished the hope that they might live to
see their only child and son a minister
in the church. But how early, indeed,
were their hopes blasted.
Certainly, here was a break in the
golden chain. Was it possible that
Phillip Judd, sole heir to a sacred heir
loom of generations, would ignore and
- cast uvay this birthrightP
But Phil was a dutiful son. and al
though never losing his dread of the
church and Sunday-schOol, attended
quite regularly during his earlier years
lie often tried to become interested in
the Sunday-school, but the teacher often
4 Il.
the superintendent made his bones
ache rs he often said. He took
a book from the Sundav-school IL
brary once which was so full of horrible
stories of deaths of martyrs and bad
boys that it made him have terrible
dreams.
At last he gave up trying to like the
,Sunday-school; and, as he grew older,
his parents, seeing that he could never
be a minister of his own choice, advised
Thin to choose some occupation suitable
to his inclination.
Phil was always bright scholar, and
his education, though limited. was thor
iough. He had often wished to be a
railroad man. as he called it, and at
last determined to seek his fortune and
his idol in the far West.
IL was sOrrowfUl parting for the
happy home. How many just such sor-
rOwful partings have there not been
Goodbye, my boy said his father.
:" BE faithful, and you'll winl"
d" Oh, Phil! ! kR0tC YOU will be GOOD.
and you viii write to me; but YOU will
promise not to forget the church and
Sunday-schooll "
"Yes, mother, I'll write; and I'll not
forget Good-bye! "
And he was gone-out into the world.
IL is needless to follow our hero
through the sundry and manifold vicis-
STUDIES of the first years of his battle
with the world. Perhaps his expert
ences would differ but little from those
of thousands who started in life as did
he.
First. an odd job here; another there;
then a menia's position at a menial' $
salary; then something higher and bet
ter. until now we find him higher on the
ladder toward the coveted goal Phil is a
telegraph operator at c., large
railroad center. Here he has been
stationed some months. and has lately
received the promise of promotion. 1t
was soon to come.
In all these years that Phil had been
absent from home, he never forgot the
parting promise to his mother. He
often wrote to her, and his assurance
that he kept the pledge, together with
the report that he was doing well, "
filed the hearts of his parents with
great JOY.
During the few months that Phil had
been in c., he had occasionally at
tended church, and once in awhile
would visit the Sunday-schools.
One Sunday morning, as he was
strolling along, his attention was at
tracted TO a procession cOmpOseds of
Young men who were entering n church
near bv. One Of their number carried
a staff from which hoated n beautiful
banner of white silk, and upon whose
folds were these words: "Be We Faith
full Unto Death. Instinctively joining
the thrOng OF children, he entered the
church and took a quiet seat in the cor
ner. The exercises of the Sunday