The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-02-07

tho boys hand on the latch Of tho front
samuel HEX, an English Methodist
preacher, solicited aid for West India mis-
nlom from q rich mlser and failed Then
the minister dropped on h8 knees, and the
mlser said. ~ win give thee a Guinea IN
thou wilt give over" But tho ministsr con-
unued % pray, until the miser said, 81 will
give thee two gulneas N thou wilt
give over" Then the money was
taken 90 tho missionary meeting. Oh.
the power OF prayer Melahehihou.
utterly discouraged. was passing along
n place where children we're heard praying.
ana he came back, saying, "brs,hran. take
courage tho children ARE praying for as"
Nothing can stand before prayer. An inaaal
came Into q Bible class 20 ask puzzlng ques.
lions. Many OF the noighb0fs came In 10
hear the discussion. Tho inndel arose
ana said 60 the leader Of tho Bible
class, 81 hear you allow questions
asked" "Oh, yes said the leader.
'but az the sturt lei us kneol down
and ask God 20 guide u.s." "Oh, no." said
the inndel. ~ did, come 20 pray, / came
20 discuss Out" said the leader. "you
viii. OF course. submit 20 our rule, and that
Is always TO begin with prayer" The leader
knst IN proyer, and then arose and said to
the lnhdel, Nov You pray" The inHdel re-
piled, ~ cannot pray. i have no God 10
pray TO. Let mo gol Let me gol' The
spectators, who expected fun, found moth
ing but overp0Weung solemniiy, and a re-
vlvai started, and among the first who were
brought Ia was the inndel. That prayer did
it. In all our lives thore have been times
when we felt that prayer was answered. Then
let us say so.
There fingers on this side Of the river that
divides earth and heaven, ready at any time
10 rHNee uWnr fhn nnnafln ~ rrn4snr Toe FhFs
century Jeremiah Calvin Lanphier, the
founder Of the Fulton street prayer meeting,
and II he should put on his spectacles and
read this / salute him as more qualified than
any man since Bible times in demonstrating
what prayer can do. Dear Brother Lam
phier! The high heavens are full of his
fame. Having announced meeting for u
o'clock, September %, 1857, he sat IN the
upper room on Fulton street, New York,
whiting for people TO come. He waited for
hair hour. aud then football was heard
on tho steps, and after awhile In an six per-
sons arrived but the next day twenty, and
the next day forty and from that time 10 This,
for over thirty-eight years, every day, Sab
bath excepted, that Fulton street PRAYER
meeting has been o place where people have
asked prayer aud answers to prayer have
been announced, and the throb Of that great
heart Of supplication has thrilled not only
I o.
more than any spot on earth. That has been
the place where the redeemed OF the Lord
said sol
Let the same outspoken ness he employed
toward those by whom we have been person.
ally advantaged. We wait until they are
dead before we say 80. Your parents have
/ planned for your best interests all these
/ years. They may sometimes, their nervous
/ system used up by the cares, the losses. the
/ disappointments, the wornments Of life, be
more irritable than they ought to be, and
/ they probably have faults which have be-
/ come oppressive as the years 90 by. But
/ those eyes, long before they took on spec
/ tacles, were watching for your welfare, and
/ their hands, not as smooth and much more
| deeply lined than once. have done for
/ you many good days work. Liiehas been
/ 20 them more of a struggle than you will
/ ever know about, and much OF the struggle
/ has been for you, and how much they are
/ wrapped up in your welfare you will never
/ appreciate.
Have you by word or gift or behavior ex-
| pressed your thanks? Or if you cannot quite
/ get up TO say it face 60 face, have You written
it in some holiday salutation? The time win
/ soon pass, and they will be gone out of your
/ sight, and their ears will not hear, and their
eyes will not see. IL you owe them any
! kindness OF deed or any words Of apprecIa-
ton. why DO you not say so? How much
we might all of US save ourselves In the
matter Of regrets if we did not delay until
too late an expression Of obligation that
would have made the last years OF earthly
life more attractive, The grave is deaf, and
epitaphs on cold marble cannot make re-
parauOn.
In conjugal life the honeymoon is soon
past, and the twain take it for granted that
each is thoroughly understood. How depen-
dent on each other they become, and the
years 90 by, and perhaps nothing is said TO
make the other fully understand that sense
Of dependence. Impatient words sometimes
come forth, and motives are misinterpreted,
and it is taken as a matter OF course that the
two will walk the path of life side by side
until about the same time their journey shall
be ended. but some sudden and appalling ill.
ness unloosens the right hands that were
clasped years ut beforB the altar OF orange
blossoms, tho parting takes place, and AMONG
the worst Of all the sorrows is that you die
not oftener, If you ever did at all, tell her OF
tell him how Indispensable she was or how
indispensable he was to your happiness, anC
that in some plain, square talklong ago you
did not ask for forgiveness for inflrmitie!
and neglects, and by some unlimited utter
ance make it understood that you fully ap
preciated the fidelity and reimbursement o
many years. Alas, how many such have Il
lament the rest Of their lives, "oh, if hat
only said So"
My subject takes wider range. The Lort
has hundreds of thousands of people among
those VINO have never joined His army be
cause OF some high ideal OF what a Christian
should be or because of q fear that they ma,
not hold out or because of q spirit of pro
crastination. They have never publicl,
protested Christ. They have as much RICH
to measurements and as much right to al
the privileges of the church as thousand
who have for years been enrolled In churc
membership, and yet they have made n
positive utterance by which the world ma
know they love God and are on the road t
heaven. They are redeemed of the Lord an
vet do not say so. Oh, what an augmenta
ton it would be If by some divine impuls
all those outsiders should become insiders.
tell you what would bring them to thei
right places, and perhaps nothing else will
days Of persecution. II they were compele
to take sides as betweenFOhrist ana His en-
mics, they would take the side OF Christ, an
, the fagots and the instruments of tortul
and the anathemas Of all earth and he
would not make them blanch. Martyrs al
! made out OF such stuff as they are. But Il
~ fof.c dox fr r.