The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-12-27

meetings l>.len half his converts are
drinking people. daily tempted and en-
ticed by the saloon on every corner
| The Christian daily we must have. 1t
would be giving up to the enemy 20
have The News fail. have great con-
fdence in Mr. Norman S ability. l have
not seen his plans. but have the con-
fdence that he has in making the paper
succeed if it is carried forward on a
large enough scale.
81 cannot believe taat Christian in
telligence in journalism will be inferior
to un-C Christian intelligence, even when
it comes to making the paper pay fnan-
cially. So that is my reason for putting
this money-God's, S, not 1nine-into this
powerful agent for doing as Jesus
would If we can keep such a paper
going for one year, I shall be willing to
see that amount Of money used in the
experiment. Do not thank me- Do rot
consider my promise a wonderful thing.
What have I done with Gods money
I'll these years but crafty my own
selfish, physical personal desires? What
can do with the rest of it but try to
make some reparation for what l have
stolen from God? That is the way I
look at it now. I believe it is what
Jesus would do.
Over the lecture room swept that IN
seen yet distinctly felt wave of Divine
presence. No one spoke for awhile.
Henry Maxwell. standing there where
the faces lifted their intense gaze into
his, felt what he had already felt be-
fore, strange setting back out Of the
nineteenth century into the first, when
the disciples had ali things in common.
and a spirit of fellowship must have
flowed freely between them such as the
First church of Raymond had never
known. How much had his church
membership known of this fellowship
in daily interests before this little COM
pany had begun to do as Jesus would
do? 1t was with difficulty that be
thought of his present age and its sur
roundings. The same thought was pres
ent with all the rest also. There was an
unspoken comradeship such as they had
never known. It was present with them
while Virginia was speaking and dur
ing the silence that followed If it had
been defined by any one Of them. it
would perhaps have taken some such
shape as this:
eff shall in the course of my obedi
ence to my promise meet with loss OF
trouble in the world. can depend upon
the genuine, practical sympathy and
fellowship of any other Christian in this
room who has with me made the pledge
to do ell things by the rule. What
would Jesus do?' .
All this the distinct wave Of spiritual
power expressed It had the effect that
a physical miracle may have had on
the early disciples in giving them
feeling of confidence in their Lord that
helped them to face loss and martyrdom
with courage and even JOY.
Before they went away this time
there were several condolences like those
of Edward Norman Some of the young
men told of the loss of places owing to
their honest obedience to their promise
Alexander Powers spoke briefly Of the
fact that the commission had promised
to take action ct the earliest date POS
sible
He was already at his old work Of
telegraphy It was a significant fact
that since his action in resignicg his
position neither his wife nor daughter
had appeared in public. No one bat
himself knew the bitterness OF th::t fam
ily arrangement and misunderstanding
of the higher motive. Yet many Of the
disciples present in the meeting carried
similar burdens. There were things
which they could not talk about. Henry
Maxwell from his knowledge Of k!s
church people. could almost certainly
know that obedience to this pledge had
produced in the hearts Of families sep
aration Of sympathy and even the intro
duction Of enmity and hatred. Truly.
ga mans foes are they of his own
household when the rule of Jesus is
obeyed by some and disobeyed by 9th
ers Jesus is great divider Of life. One
must walk either parallel with him or
directly across his path
But more than any other feeling at
this meeting rose the tide of fellowship
for one another Henry Maxwell watch
ed it, trembling for its climax. which
he knew was not yet reached When it
was where would it lead them? He
did not know, but he was not unduly
alarmed about it. only he watched with
growing wonder the results of that
simple promise as it was being obeyed
in these various lives Those results
were already being felt all over the
city. Who could measure their inf1u-
ence at the end Of the year?
One practical form Of this fellowship
showed itself in the assurances which
Edward Norman received in support of
his paper. There was a general focklng
toward him when the meeting closed.
and the response to his appeal for help
from the Christian disciples in Ray
mond was fully understood by this little