Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-03-14

would have persisted but for the living
stair of peasants shoulders.
An En- 5lish ship stopped at Pitcairn
island, and right in the midst of sur
rounding cannibaiism and sqaalor the
Passengers discovered Christian colony
OF churches ard schools and beautiful
homes and highest style of religion and
civilization. For 80 years no missionary
and no Christian influence had landed
there Why this oasis of light amid a
desert of heathendom? Sixty years before
a ship had met disaster, and one of the
Sailors, unable to save anything else,
went to his trunk and took out a Bible
which his mother had placed there and
swan ashore, the Bible 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 impor-
tance whether the sailor continued to
hold the book in his teeth or let it fall in
the breakers, but upon what small cir
cumstance depended what mighty re-
suits!
Practical inference-there are no in
signifcances in our lives. The minutest
thing is part of magnitude. Infnity
is madeup of infinitesimals; great things
an aggregation of small things Bethle-
hem manger pulling on star in the east
ern sky. One book in drenched sailors
mouth the evangelization Of multitude.
One boat of papyrus on the Nile freight
ed with events for all ages, The fate of
Christendom in basket let down from
a window on the wall. What you do, do
well. If you make rope, make it strong
and true, for you know not how much
may depend on your workmanship. If
you fashion boat, let it be waterproof,
for you know not who may sail in it.
If you put Bible in the trunk ofyour
boy as he goes from home, let it be heard
in your prayers, for it may have mis-
sion as farreaching as the book which
the sailor carried in his teeth to the Pit
cairn beach. The plainest mans life is
an island between two eternities-eter-
nifty past ripping against his shoulders,
eternity to come touching his l. ow. The
casual, the accidental, thatwh merely
happened so, are parts of great plan,
and the rope that let's the fugitive apostle
from the Damascus wall is the cable that
holds to its mooring the ship of the
church in the northeast storm of the CEN
turies. tt
THEY HELD THE ROPE.
Again, notice unrecognized and unre-
corded services. Who spun that rope?
Who tied it to the basket? Who steadied
the illustrious preacher as he stepped in
to it? Who relaxed not a muscle of the
arm or dismissed an anxious look from
his face until the basket touched the
ground and discharged its magnificent
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 COM
pared with the importance Of their work.
What if they had in their agitation tied
a knot that could slip2 What if the
sound of the mob at the door had led
them to say, Paul must take care of him.
self, and we will take care of ourselves"
No, mol They held the rope, and in do
ing so did more for the Christian church |
than any thousand of us will ever ac-
complish. But God knows and has made
eternal record of their undertaking. And !
they know.
How exultant they must have felt
when they read his letters to the Ro-
mans, to the Corinthians, to the Gala
tians, to the Ephesians, to the Philip
plans, to the Colossians, to the Thessa-
lonians, to Timothy, to Titus, to Phlle-
mon, to the Hebrews, and when they |
heard how he walked out of prison with
the earthquake unlocking the door for
him and took command of the Alexan-
drian corn ship when the sailors were
nearly scared to death and preached a |
sermon that nearly shook Felix off his !
Judgment seat! l 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 l am that we effected that
rescued In coming times others may
get the glory of Paul's work, but no one
shall rob US of the satisfaction of know
ing that we held the rope"
There are said to be about $4,000 min
listers of religion in this country. About
80 900, Warrant, came from early homes,
which had to struggle for the necessaries
of life. The sons of rich bankers and
merchants generally become bankers and
merchants. The most of those who be-
come ministers are the sons of those who
had terrific struggle to get their every
day bread. The collegiate and theolog-
ical education of that son took every
luxury from the parental table for eight
wears. The other children were more
scantily appareled. The son at college
every little while got bundle from
home. In it were the socks that mother
had knit, sitting up late at night, her
sight not as good as once it was, and
there also were some delicacies from the
sisters hand for the yoracious appetite
of hungry student.
HARD PULL.
The years go by, and the son has been
ordained and is preaching the glorious