Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-03-29

rounding eannibalism and squalor, the
| passengers discovered Christia col
ony of churches and schools and beau
tlful homes and highest style of reli
glon and civilization. For fifty years
no missionary and no Christian intlu.
ence had landed there. Why this oasis
OF life amid a desert of heathendom'
Sixty years before, ship had met dis
aster, and one of the sailors, una BILE T.
save anything else. went to his trunk
and took out 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 We're evangel-
lied, and a church was started, and an
enlightened commonwealth estab-
lished, and the worlds history has nc
more brilliant page than that which
tells OF the transformation of a nation
by Que book. 1t did not seem of much
Importance whether the sailor eontin-
ued to hold the book in his teeth or le
1t fall in the breakers, but upon wha
small circumstance depended VIVA
mighty results,
Practical interference: There are nc
insignifieanees in our lives. The m
nutest thing is part of magnitude
lnfnity IS made up of infinitesmals
Great things an aggregation Of small
things. Bethlehem manger pulling
star in The eastern sky. One book II
drenched sailors mouth the evange-
lization Of a multitude on a boat Q
~ u
events of all ages. The fate of Chris
tendon in basket let down from
window on the wall What you do, dc
we'll. If You make a rope make
strong and true, for you know not how
much may depend on your workman
ship If you fashion boat let it b
waterproof, for You know not VIII
may sail in it. If you put a Bible il
the trunk of your boy as he goes from
home. let il be heard in your prayers
for it may have mission as far-reacL
ing as the book W hich the sailor car
rled in his teeth 10 the Pitcairn beach
ne plainest ma MS life is an island be
tween two eternities-eternity pas
ripping against his shoulders, eternit
to come touching his brow. The casual
the accidental. that which merely hap
pened so, are parts of a great plan, an
the rope that lets the fugitive apostle
from the Damascus wall is the cab
that holds to its mooriug the ship
the church in the northeast storm o
the centuries.
Again, notice unreeognized and IN
recorded services. Who spun tina
rope? Who tied it to the basket? Win
steadied the illustrious preacher as h
stepped into it? Who relaxed not
muscle of the arm or dismissed al
anxious look from his face until til
basket touched the ground and dis
charged its magnificent cargo2 No
one of their names has come TO MS, bu
there was no work done that day il
Damascus or in all the earth compared
with the Importance of their work
What if they had in their agitation
tied knot that could slip? What if Ia,
sound OF the mob at the door had le
them to say; Paul must take care o
himself, and we win take care of our
selves?'' No, no! They held tn,
rope, and in doing so dia more for the
Christian church than any thousano
of US win ever accomplish. But
God knows and has made eternal rec
ord of their undertaking. And they
know, How exultant they must have
felt when they read lis letters to tn
Romans, to the Corinthians, to the
Galatians, to the Ephesians, to tho
Philippians to the Colossians, to tbs
Thessalonians, to Tim othy, to Titus, t,
Philemon 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
Alexandrian corn ship when the sail
ors were nearly scared to death. anl
preached a sermon that nearly shoot
Felix off his Judgment seat. heai
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 W,
effected that rescue! In coming times
others may get the glory of Pauls /
work. but no one shall rob us of the /
of KIN owing that we held
the rope"
There are said to be about sixty-nine !
thousand ministers of religion in thi> |
country. About fifty thousand, war
rant. came from early homes which /
had to struggle for the necessaries OF |
life. The sons of rich bankers and mer-
chants generally become bankers and
merchants. The most of those who be /
come ministers are the sons of those /
who had terrific struggles TO get thei; 4
everyday bread. The collegiate and
education of that son took
every luxury from the parental table
for eight years. 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 it once was. And there
also were some delicaeies from the sis
tiers hand for the voracious appetite OF