The Progress., 1897-05-15

the valleys, and had them supplied at the
wells and fountains of the neighbors.
But these after awhile began to fail, and
the neighbors said to Mr.. Birdseye, of
whom shall speak: 50 You must not send
your hocks and herds down here any
more Our wells are giving OUT Mr.
Birdseye, the old Christian man, gathered
his family at the altar and with his fam
lily he gathered the slaves OF the house
holG-for bondage was then in vogue in
Connecticut-and on their knees before
God they cried for water, and the family
story is, that there was weeping and great
sobbing at that altar that the family
might not perish for lack of water AID
that the herds and 1ocks might not perish
The family rose from the altar. Mr..
Birdseye, the old man, took his staff and
walked out over the hills. and in II place
where he had been scores of times without
noticing Dytbing particular he saw the
ground was very dark, and he took his
staff and turned up the ground. and water
started, and he beckoned to his servants
and they came and brought pals and
buckets until all the family and all the
docks and the herds were cared for, and
then they made troughs reaching from
that place down to the house and barn,
and the water flowed, and it is living
fountain today.
Now I call that old grandfather Elijah.
and 1 call that brook that began to roll
then and is rolling still, the brook Che
nth, and the lesson to me and to all who
hear it Is when you are in great stress Of
circumstances. Pray and dig, dig and
pray, and pray and dig. How does that
passage gof 1.-The mountains shall depart
and the hills be removed, but my loving
kindness shall not fall If your mer-
chandise, II your mechanism, If your hus-
bandry, fail, look out for ravens. If you
have In your Dependency put God on trial
and condemned him as guilty of cruelty,
move today for a new trial. If the BIZ
ography of your life is ever written, will
tell you what the first chapter, and the
middle chapter, and the last chapter will
be about If 1T is written accurately; the
first chapter about mercy, the middle chap
ter about mercy, the last chapter about
mercy. The mercy that lowered over your
cradle. The mercy that will hover over
your grave The mercy that will cover all
between.
Gods Unexpected Agents.
Again, this story of the text impresses
me that relief came to this prophet with
the most unexpected and with seemingly
impossible conveyance. II it had been
robin redbreast, or a musical meadow
lark, or a meek turtledove, or a sublime
albatross that had brought the food to Eli
jah, it would not have been SO surprising.
But, no. 1t was bird SO fierce and in
auspicate that We have fashioned one of
our most forceful and repulsive words out
Of it-ravenous. That bird has a passion
for picking out the eyes of men and of
animals. It loves to maui the sick and
the dying. It swallows with vulturous
guzzle everything 1t can put its beak on,
and yet all the food Elijah gets for six
months or year is from ravens So your
supply is going to come from an unexpect-
ed source.
You think some great hearted, generous
man will come along and give you his
name on the back of your note. or he will
go security for you in some great enter
prise. No. he will not. God will open
the heart Of some Shylock toward you.
Your relief will come from the most un-
expected quarter. The providence which
seemed ominous will be to you more than
that which seemed suspicious. 1t will not
be a chaf6nch with breast and wing
dashed with white and brown and chest
nut; 1t will be black raven.
Here is where we all make our mistake,