The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-06-15

After coming onc} or twice he again
disappeared, and was found In rags,
consequent upon fighting The teacher
was disposed to give him up, but the
superintendent said: LET us try him
again." and the third suit Of clothes
was provided him. Thereafter he came
until he was converted, and Joined the
church, and started for the Gospel
ministry, and became q foreign mis-
sionary, preaching and translating
scriptures? Who was the boy called
Bob? The illustrious DIR. Robert Nor
rison, great on earth, and greater In
Heaven. Who his teacher was know
not, but she used the opportunity
opened, and great has been her reward.
You may not be able to load an Arm
strong gun; you may not be able to
hurl Hotchlxiss shell; you may not be
able to shoulder glittering musket, but
use anything you can lay your hands
on. Try a blacksmith's hammer. or
merchants yardstick, or mason's
trowel, or a carpenters plane, or
housewives broom, or a farmers OK
goad. One of the surprises Of Heaven
will be what grand results came from
how simple means. Matthias Joyce.
the vile man, became a great apostle
of righteousness, not from, hearing
John Wesley preach, but from seeing
him kiss little child on the pulpit
stairs.
Again, my subject springs upon us
the thought that in calculating the
prospects OF religious attempt. we
must take omnipotence, and omnis-
cience, and omnipresenoe, and all the
other attributes of God into the calcu-
lation. Whom do you see on that
plowed field Of my text? One nearer
says, ~ see Shamgar." Another nearer
says. ~ see six hundred Philistines"
My nearer, you have missed the chief
parsonage on that battlefield OF
plowed ground. / also see Shamgar
q nd six hundred Philistines, but more
than all, and mightier than all, and
more overwhelming than all, l see
God. Shamgar witi his unaided arm,
however muscular, and with that hum
BILE instrument made for agricultural
purposes, and never constructed for
combat, could not have wrought such
victory. 1t was omnipotence above,
and beneath, and back of, and at the
point of the ox-goad. Before that bat
tie WIS over, the plowman realized
this, and all the six hundred Philis-
tines realized 1t, and all who visited
the battlefield afterward appreciated
it. want in heaven to hear the story,
for 1t can never be fully told on earth
perhaps some day may be set apart
for the rehearsal, while all heaven lis
tens-the story of how God blessed
awkward and humble instrument
talities. Many an evangelist has come
into town given up to worldliuess.
The pastors say to the evangelist: "We
| are glad you have come, but it Is hard
field, and we feel sorry for you. The
mem bers of our churches play pro-
gressive euchre, and go the theater,
and bet at the horse races, and gayety
and fashion have taken possession OF
| the town. We have advertised your
meetings, but are not very hopeful.
God bless YOU" This evangelist takes
his place on platform or pulpit. He
never graduated at college, and there
are before him twenty graduates of
the best universities. He never
took one lesson in elocution, and there
are before him twenty trained ora
tors Many of the ladies present are
graduates OF the highest female semi
naries, and one slip in grammar or
one mispronunciation, will result in
suppressed giggle. And the general
chill that pervades the house, the un-
pretending evangelist opens his Bible
and takes for his text: Lord, that
my eyes may be opened" Opera
glasses in the gallery euriously scru-
tinizing the speaker. He tells in a
plain way the story of the blind
man, tells two or three touch
ing anecdotes, and the general
chill gives way before the strange
warmth. A classical nearer who took
the frs. honor at Yale. and who is the
prince Of proprieties, finds his specta-
Giles becoming dim with a moisture
suggestive of tears. A:worldly mother
who has been bringing up her sons
and daughters in utter godlessness
puts her handkerchief to her eyes and
begins to weep. Highly-educated men
who came to criticise and pick to
pieces, and find fault, bow on their
gold-headed canes. What Is that
sound from under the gallery? 1t is
sob, and sobs are catching; and
all along the wall, and all up
and down the audience, there is
deep emotion, SO that when at the
close Of the service anxious souls are
invited to special seats, or the inquiry
room, they come up by scores, and
knecl and repent, and rise up par
doned the whole town is shaken, and
places Of evil amusement are sparsely
attended, and rum holes lose their
patrons, and the churches are
thronged, and the whole community
is cleansed, and elevated and rejoiced.
What power did the evangelist bring
to bear to capture that town for right
f! eousnessp Not one brilliant epigram
did he utter. Not one graceful gesture
did he make. Not one rhetorical eli
max did he pile up. But there was
something about him that people had
not taken in the estimate when
they prophesied the failure Of that
work. They had not taken into the
calculation the omnipotence of the
Holy Ghost. 1t was not the flash of a
Damascus blade. 1t was God before,