The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-10-13

heroic missionaries; in the midst of In- dia's famine, of China's scourge, Of Turkeys atrocities, they walk as an- gels of light; the women pure and fear less as Perpetua; the men chivalrlc and steadfast as Polycarp; hampered py constraining and imperative mandates from the authorities at home, surround ed by the unusual and crying urgency of appalling conditions; their own scan- ty support first diminished by an en- forced reduction and then shared With unprecedented generosity with the needy about them; the efficiency Of their work crippled; the burden Of It nightly increased; they reveal their thorough mastery of the lesson lgnatius taught the martyrs when he counseiled them "to stand firm as an anvil when 1t | is smitten, since it is the part of great athlete to receive blows and conquer"
 The missionary virtues of loyalty to a great love, of fidelity in cross-bearing, of patience in irritating circumstances, of enthusiasm in difficulty, of fearless ness in danger, of utter Christ-devoted- ness, has surely in the history of mod ern missions had no more explicit and emphatic illustration than that which at this very hour is manifest to any dis corning spirit. The home church needs no spur with which to prod her sons and daughters on the field; she has her hith- erto unfNflled task of keeping abreast of them, fellow-shipping their suffer- ings, sharing their burdens, equfpping
 their endeavors, through virile sym pathy in spirit and purpose, and an ad- equate appreciation of the proportions
 of their world-saving work.
 We are dreaming to-day of the possi-
 bilities which might be realized if
 Christ should come again, where He
 would go, what He would see, and
 what His comment would be on our
 modern Christianity. Indeed then has
 He not come? Are we still orphans?
 Has He never whispered to a nine I teenth century Peter, Lowest thou
 Me?" Are Christians to-day denied His
 fellowship? Is there no open vision?
 An, friends, Christ is not dead! He lives! He is not abroad, He is here! In
 His world He organizes and advances
 His kingdom. In His church he feeds
 the fires of spiritual life. In His disci-
 ples He wakens deep and soulful pur-
 poses as He bids them exploit their love
 in sacrificial ministry. To their hearts
 He whispers glorious hopes, while to
 their lives He commits toilful tasks.
 The world belongs to Him. Surely will
 He conquer it. And His companions in
 victory will be those brave spirits who in unfaltering allegiance have partaken
 of His love- and have shared it with
 others.
 Lowest thou me?-Feed my sheep." lr 1 ! To the first man whom thou l,layst
 meet,
 In lane, highway or open street. That he and we and all men move Under canopy of Love,
 As broad as the blue sky above; That doubt and trouble fear and pain And anguish, all are shadows vain; That death itself shall not remain; That weary deserts we may tread, A dreary labyrinth may thread, Through dark ways underground be led,
 Yet if our Guide we will obey, The dreariest path, the darkest way, Shall issue out in Heavenly day, And we, on divers shores now cast, Shall meet, our perilous voyage past, All in our Fathers House at last. And ere thou leave him. say thou this Yet one word more-they only miss 7 The winning of that final bliss Who will not count it true that Love, l Blessing not cursing, rules above, , And that in it we live and move , And one thing further make him know , That to believe these things are so, , This, firm faith never to forego, . Despite of all which seems at strife, $ With blessing and with curses rife That this is blessing-tfis is lifei'