The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-02-19

Z whom he meets, and lis Interested 1u
their present and eternal destiny For
fifty or sixty years he lives that kind
of life and then gets through with it
and goes into heaven a ransomed soul
But am not going to describe the port
into which that ship has entered
am not going TO describe the pilot who
met him outside at the 'ightship-o
ana not going to say anything about
\ the crowds of friends who met him on
+ the crystalline wharves UP which he
+ goes on steps OF chrysoprases. For
God in his words 10 job calls me to
look at the path Of foam in the wake
Of that ship, and T tell you it is all
a-gleam with splendors Of kindness
done, and rolling with i11umined tears
that were wiped away. and a-dash with
congratulations, and clear out to the
horizon in all directions is the spark
ling, flashing, binowlng phosphOres-
cence Of a Christian life. ssHe maketh
a path to shine after him %
And here correct one Of the mean.
notions which at some time takes pos
session Of all Of us. and that is as to
the brevity of human life When 4
bury some very useful man. clerical or
lay. in his thirtieth or fortieth year. L
say. '.What a waste Of energiesl Tt
was hardly worth while for him to get
ready for Christian work. for he had
50 soon to quit it, But the fact is
that I may insure any man or woman
who does any good on a large or small
scale for a life on earth as long as the
world lasts. Sickness, trolley-car ac-
cidents. death itself can NO more de
stroy his life than they can tear down
one of the rings of Saturn. You can
start one good word, one kind act. one
cheerful smile, on a mission that viii
last until the world becomes a bonfire,
and out Of that blaze it will pass into
the heavens never to halt as long as
God lives.
There were in the seventeenth century
men and women whose names YOU
never heard of who are to-day infu-
encing schools, colleges. churches, ma
tIOns, u on can no more measure the
gracious results of their lifetime than
you could measure the length and
breadth and depth Of the phosphores-
cence last night following the ship Of
the White Star line Il 500 miles out at
sea How the courage and consecra-
tion of others inspires us to follow as
a general IN the American army, cool
amid the flying bullets. inspired a
trembling soldier who said afterward,
Il was nearly scared to death, but j.
saw the old mans white mustaehe
over his shoulder. and went on Aye
we are all following somebody, either
in right or wrong directions. a few
davs ago I stood beside the garlanded
casket Of a gospel minister, and
in my remarks had occasion to re-
call a snowy night In farmhouse
when 7 was a boy, and ain evangelist
spending a night at my father house.
who said something so tender and
beautiful and Impressive that It led
me into the kingdom of God, and der
cided my destiny for this world and
the next. You will. before twenty
four hours 60 by, meet some man Or
woman with big pack of care and
trouble and you may say something
to him or her that viii endure until f
this world shall have been So far lost
IN the past that nothing but the
stretch Of angelic memory viii be able
to realize that 1t ever existed a. all
am not talking of remarkable men and .
women, but Of what ordinary folks
can do I am not speaking Of the
hosphorescence in the wake Of q
'Campania." but Of the ph0sphores-
eence in the track of a Newfound
land fishing smack- God makes .
thunderbolts out of sparks, and
out Of the small words and
lGeI@ Oh q small LIe me cam
launch power that viii fash and
burn and thunder through the eterni
ties. How do You like this prolonga-
sion Of your earthly life by deathless
influence Many a babe that died at
six months of age by the anxiety
created IN the parents heart to meet
that child in realms seraphic, is living
vet in the transformed heart and life
0f those parents, and viii live on for
ever ia the history of that family. If
this be the opportunity of ordinary
souls, what is the opportunity Of those
who have especial Intellectual Of
social, or monetary equipment2 Have
you any arithmetic capable of esti-
mating the influence Of our good and
gra cious friend who a few days ago
vent up to rest-George w. Childs Of
Philadelphia From a newspaper that
vas printed for thirty years with
7ut one word of defamation,
'r scurrility. OF scandal and put
ing chief emphasis on virtue and
charity, and clean intelligence, he
capped a fortune for himself and then
listri buted a vast amount of il among
he poor and struggling, putting his
Invalid and aged reporters ON pensions,
until his name stands everywhere for
arge- heartedness and sympathy and
lelp and highest style of Christian gem
leman. In an era which had I'm the
hairs OF its journalism Horace
freelev, and Henry j. Raymond. and
anes Gordon Bennett, and an Eras-
US Brooks and a George William cur
is. and an Irenaeus Prime. none Of
hem VIII be longer remembered than
seorge wv. Childs Staying away from
he unwilling Of the monument he had
cared at q large expense in our Green
vood ia memory Of Prof Proctor the
stronomer. lest / should say something