Connecticut western news., 1893-12-21

forward and kissed her blind eyes, and the legend says her vision came imme- diately. That was only 8 legend, but it is truth, glorious truth, that the kiss of Gods eternal love has brought to many blind eye eternal illumination.
 HOPES OF THE FUTURE.
 A step farther: There are those in all communities who toll nightly for live lihood. They have scant wages. Per haps they are diseased or have physical infrmities, so they are hindered from doing continuous days work. A city missionary finds them up the dark al ley, with no fire, with thin clothing, with very coarse bread. They never ride in the street car; they cannot afford the 5 cents. They never see any pictures save those in the show window on the street, from which they are often jostled and looked at by some one who seems to say in the look: "Move on! What are you doing here looking at pictures?''
 Yet many of them live on mountains of transfguration. At their rough table he who fed the 5000 breaks the bread. They talk often of the good times that are coming. This world has no charm for them, but heaven entrances their spirit They often divide their scant crust with some forlorn wretch who knocks at their door at night, and on the blast of the night wind, as the door opens to let them in, is heard the voice of him who said. "I was hungry. and he fed me-" No cohort of heaven will be too bright to transport them. By Gods help they have vanquished the Assyrian host. They have divided among them the spells. Lame, lame, yet they took the prey.
 MORE CASES IN POINT
 Twas riding along the country road one day, and I saw man on crutches I overlook him. He was very old. He was going very slowly. At that rate it would have taken him two hours to go a mile. I said, Wouldn't you like to ride?' He said: "Thank you, I would. God bless you" When he sat beside me, he said: ''You see, I am very lame and very old. but the Lord has been a good Lord to me- l have buried all my children. The Lord gave them and the Lord had right to take them away. Blessed be his name! was very sick, and had no money, and my neighbors came in and took care of me, and wanted nothing. T suffer great deal with pain, but then I have so many mercies left. The Lord has been good Lord to me-"
 And before we had got far was in or he was giving me ride! He said: ''Now, if you please, I'll get out here. Just help me down on my crutches, if you please. God bless you. Thank you, sir. Good morning. Good morning. You have been feet to the lame, sir, you have. Good morning."
 Swarthy men had gone the road that day. 1 do not know where they came out, but every hobble of that old man was toward the shining gate. With his old crutch he had struck down many 8 Sennacherib of temptation which has mastered you and me. Lame, so fear fully lame, so awfully lame, but he took the prey.
 A step farther: There are in all com munities many orphans. During our last war and in the years immediately following, how many children at the north and south we heard say, "Oh, my father was killed in the war" Have you ever noticed-I fear you have not-how well those children have turned out? Starting under the greatest disadvan- tage. no orphan asylum could do for them what their father would have done had he lived.
 The skirmisher sat one night by the light of fagots in the swamp, writing 8 letter home, when sharpshooter's bull let ended the letter which was never folded, never posted and never read. Those children came. up under great dis advantage. No father to fight their way for them. Perhaps there was in the old family Bible an old yellow letter pasted fast, which told the story of that fathers long march and how he suffered in the hospital. But they looked still farther on in the Bible, and they came to the story of how God is the father of the father less and the widows portion, and they soon took their fathers place in that household.
 They battled the way for their mother. They came on up, and many of them have already, in the years since the war, taken positions in church and state, north and south. While many of those who suffered nothing during those times have had sons go out into lives of indo- lence and vagabondage, these who start ed under so many disadvantages because they were so early bereft, these are the lame who took the prey.
 cfor fo rtbor. Tbor.a ora fhoca ubo would like to do good. They say, "Oh, If only had wealth, or if had elo- quence, or if I had high social position, how much I would accomplish for God and the churchw I stand here today to tell you that you have great opportuni- ties for usefulness.
 Who built the pyramids? The king who ordered them built? No; the plain workmen who added stone after stone and stone after stone. Who built the dikes of Holland? The government that ordered the enterprise? No; the plain workmen who carried the earth and rang their. trowels on the wall. Who are those that built these vast cities? The capital ists? No; the carpenters, the masons, the plumbers, the plasterers, the timers, the roofers, dependent on days wages for a livelihood. And so in the great work of assuaging human suffering and enlightening human ignorance and halt ing human iniquity. In that great work, the chief part is to be done by ordinary men, with ordinary speech, in an ordinary manner, and by ordinary means.
 The trouble is that in the army of Christ we all want to be captains and colonels and brigaGier generals. Weare not willing to march with the rank and file and do duty with the private soldier. We want to belong to the reserve corps and read about the battle while warming ourselves at the campfres or on fur tough at home, our feet upon an otto- man, we sagging back into an armchair.
 As you go down the street you see an excavation, and four or five men are working and perhaps 20 or 30 leaning on tho y-oi1 Ioa1inn oxo, of fbax,o :r