Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-10-21

would devote the entire discourse to
review of his summers journey. The
great tabernacle building was crowded
early by an expectant audience. Prof.
Brown, the organist, during the serv-
ice, rendered the Russian national air,
the English national air, and our own
national air. Among other hymns
sung was,
My country tits of thee;
Sweet land of liberty.
The subject was, observations in
Russia and Great Britain" the text
selected being: Psalm 1869: "If
take the wings of the morning and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there shall thy hand lead me-"
You all know why I went to Russia
this summer. There are many thou
sands of people who have right to say
to me, as was said in the bible para BILE:
"Give account of thy stewardship"
Now, we know nothing about famine
in America. The grasshoppers may
kill the crops in Kansas, the freshets
may destroy the crops along the Ohio,
the potato worm may kill the vines of
Long Island, the rust may get Into
the wheat of Michigan, yet when there
has been dreadful scarcity in some
parts of the land, there has been
plenty in other parts. But in
districts of Russia, vast enough to drop
several nations into them, drought for
six consecutive years has devastated,
and those districts were previously the
most productive of all the empire. 1t
was like what we would have in Amer
lea if the hunger fiend somehow got
out of hell and alighted in our land,
and swept his wing over Minnesota,
and said: Let nothing grow here, {"
and over Missouri, and said:
Let nothing grow here" and
over New York State, and said: "Let
nothing grow here" and over Ohio and
Georgia and Massachusetts and Penn
sylvania and Nebraska and Dakota and
the Carolinas, and said: "Let nothing
grow here" and the hunger fend had
swept the same whitening and blasting
wing over the best parts of America in
the years 1887, loss, 1889, 1890, 1891 and
1892 and finally all our families were put
on small allowance and we all had risen
from the table hungry and after
awhile the children had only quarter
enough, and after awhile only one
meal day, and after awhile no good
food at all, but mixture of wheat
and chaff and bark of trees, and then
three of the children down with hun
ger typhus, and then all the family un-
able to walk, and then crawling on
hands and knees, and then one dead in
each room, and ncighbors, not quite
so exhausted, coming in to bury
them, and afterwards the house be-
coming the tomb. with none to
carry the dead to more appropriate
sepulchre-whole families blotted out
That was what occurred in Russia in
homes more than were ever counted, in
homes that were once as comfortable
and happy and bountiful as yours or
mine, in homes as virtuous as yours or
mine, in homes where God is worshiped
as much as in yours or mine. 1t was to
do a little something towards beating
back that Archangel of Wretchedness
and Horror that we went, and we
have now to report that, according
to the estimate of the Russian
Famine Relief committee, we saved
the lives of 125,000 people.
As at the hunger relief stations, the
into loaves and distributed-many peo-
pie would halt before taking it and re-
.igiously cross themselves and utter a
prayer for the donors. Some of them
would come staggering back, and say,
"Please tell us who sent this bread to
u.s." And when told it came from
America, they would say: What
the names of those who sent it."
All, God only knows the names
of those who sent it, but he
certainly does know, and many prayer
is going up warrant you, day by day
for those who sent flour by the ship
Leo, Perhaps, some of us at our tables
rattle off prayer that may mean moth
ing, although we call it Saying Grace, +"
but warrant when those people who
| received the bread which saved their
| lives ''said grace" it meant something.
Our religion may not demand that we
"cross ourselves" but have learned
that while crossing ones self in some
cases may mean nothing but mere form,
/ believe in most cases it means: "Oh,
thou of the suffering cross of Calvary,
have mercy on me and accept my graft
tude." Prefer your own form of re-
ligion by all means, but do not de-
preciate the religious forms OF others.
From all can learn, there were
several good people before we were
born, and rather expect there will
be several left after we are dead. l
have travelled in many lands, but tell
you plainly, as told Emperor Alex
ander III inthe palace at Peterhoff that
l had never been so impressed with
the fidelity TO their religion of any
people as by what had seen in Russia,
and especially among her public men.
/ said respectfully to Russian, when
1 saw him cross himself: "What do
you do that for?" co." he said, 'when
do that always say: God have mercy
on mel !" hold in my hand some
thing very. suggestive. What does