Democratic messenger., 1894-02-24

words 10 Job calls me TO look mt the path
of foam iii ihe wake of that ship. and
tell you il il all a-glram with splendors
of kindness done. and rolling with IL
lumincd tears that were wiped away,
and a-da>h with congratulations, and
clear out 10 the horizon in all directions
is the sparkling. flashing billowing phos-
phoresccncc of Christian life lie
maketh path to shine after HIM"
And here correct one Of the mean no
tions which AT some time takes posses
sion of all of us. and that is as To TIE
brcvity Of human life. When ! bury
some very useful man. clerical or lay, in
his thiriic;h or fortieth year. say:
"What waste of energies! 1t was
hardly worth while for him To get ready
for Christian work. for he had 81 soon
To quit it. But the fact is that may
insure any man or woman who does any
good on large or small scale for life
on earth aS lungas the world lasts. Sick
ness. trolley car accidents. death itself,
can no more destroy his life than they
can tear down one Of the rings of Sat
urn. Iou can start one good word. one
kind act, one cheerful smile. on mis-
sion that will last until the world be
come. u bonfire. and ont of that blaze it
will pass into the heavens. never 10 halt
as long as God lives.
WHAT ORDINARY PERSONS CAN 10.
There We're in the seventeenth century
men and women whose names you never
heard of who are today influencing
Il,
can no more measure the gracious re-
suits of their lifetime than you could
measure the length and breadth and
depth of the phosphorescence last night
following the sMpof the White Star line
$40 miles ont at sea. How the courage
and conservation of others inspire MS 10
follow, as Il general in the American
army, cool amid the flying bullets. in
spired trembling soldier. who said aft
erward, II was nearly scared to death,
but saw the old mans white mustache
over his shoulder and went on" Aye,
we are all following somebody either in
right or wrong directions.
\ few days ago stood beside the gar
landed caSkct of Il gospel minister. and
in my remarks had occasion 10 recall a
snowy night in a farmhouse when was
boy and an evangelist spending a
night at my fathers house, who said
something so tender and beautiful and
impressive that il led me into the king
dom of God and decided my destiny for
this world and the next. You will. he
fore % hours 20 by. meet some man or
woman with a big pack of care and trou-
hle. and YOU may say something to him
or her that will endure until this world
shall have been So far lost in the past
that nothing but the stretch Of angelic
memory Will be able To realize that il
ever existed at all.
am not talking of remarkable men
and women. but of what ordinary folks
can do. ] am not speaking Of the phos-
phoresceuce in the wake Of Campania.
but of the phosphorescence in the track
of y, wfoundland fishing smack God
makes thunderbolts ont Of sparks. and
out Of the small words and deeds of a
small life he can launch u power that
will flash and burn and thunder through
the cternitles.
How do you like this prolongation Of
Your earthly life by deathleSs influence
Many babe that died at d months of
age by tue anxiety created in the parents
heart to meet that child in realms 50.
raphic is livin. yet in the transformed
heart and life of those parents and will
live on forever in TN" history of that
family. Ii this i" the opportunity of or
binary souls what is the opportunity OF
those who have especial intellectual OF
social or monetary equipment:
Have Won any arithmetic capable of es
timating the influence of our good and
gracious friend who few days ago wen:
up To rest George W. ChildS of Phila.
dclrhia: From newspaper that was
printed for 10 wears without one word OF
| defamation or scurriliiy or scandal. and
putting chief emphasis ON virtue and
charity and clean intelligence he reaped
a fortune for himself and then distrib
uied a vast amount of II among the poor
and struggling. putting his invalid and
aged reporters on pensions. until his
name stands everywhere for larg" heart.
edness and sympathy and help and high
est style of Christian gentleman.
In an era which had in the chairs Of
| its journalism a Horace Greeley. and
Henry J. RAYMOND. and a James Gordon
Bennett. and an EraStus Brooks, and a
George William Curtis. and an lrenaeus
| Prime. none of them will he longer re-
memhcrcd than George W. Childs Stay
ing away frn.n the unvcilin=of tine mon
umcnt he had reared at large expense in
4 &
! Proctor, the astronomer lest | should
say something in praise Of the man who
had paid for the monument. By all ac
| knowledged Il representative of the high
est American journalism.
If you would calculate his influence
for good. yCu must count how many
sheets of his newspapers have been pub
| lished i'll the last quarter of a century,
and how many people have read them,
and the effect. not only upon those read
erS. but upon AL whom they shall infiu-
ence for all time. while YOU add To all
| that the work of the churches he helped
! build and Of the institutions Of mercy he
! helped found Better give mp before YOU
start the measuring of the phoSphores-
cence in the wake of that ship of the &C.
lestal line Who can tell the post NOR
TEN influence of Savonarcla. Win
kelried. "A Gutenberg. Marlborough. n
Decatur. Toussaint, a Bolivar, a Clark
son. Robert Raikcs. a Harlan Page.
who had l2j sabbath scholars. 81 cf
whom became Christians. and six of them
ministers of the gospel.
TIE BRIGHT FAITH.
With gratitude and penitence and wor-
ship mention the grandest life that was
ever lived That ship Of light was
launched from the heavens nT,rly 800
years ago. angelic hosts chanting. and
from the celestial wharves the ship
| sprang into the roughe>t sea that ever
tossed. Its hllows were made up of the
wrath of men and devils. llcro'iic and
sanhedrinc prosecutions stirring the
deep with red wrath. and all the hurri-
n