The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-04

timely effort.
Think then what fearful consequences
unfaithfulness to your opportunities
may involve. What if Isaiah had CON
ceaed his wonderful vision of the COM
ing Messiah and Paul had refused tc
carry the gospel to the Gentle world
beyond?
What if Martin Luther had refused tic
make known his wonderful experience
that led to the great reformation? And
John Bunyan had not recorded for sub
sequent generations his divine dream?
How poor the world would have been
to-day but for the fidelity of those men
and women whom God has endowed
with gifts and commissioned to labor.
How rich is this generation in the life
and labors of Frances e. Willard and
Dwight L. Moody. Your genius and
ability may be humber than theirs, but
the fact of its possession, be it ever so
humble, is an evidence that it must
not be buried nor wasted. Think of
what word or look may accomplish!
Or the friendly pressure of the hand,
| / have often thought of the experience
Of DR.. Samuel H. Virgin of New York,
when in company with a friend he Wis
tied the great jewellery establishment of
Tiffany & Co. While looking at the dia-
monds sparkling in their beauty, his
eye fell upon jewel that was perfectly
lusterless. See" says DR.. Virgin, here
is a jewel without any beauty or
brightness. Surely it cannot be Of much
value" His friend took the jewel
| from the case and placed it in his hand,
| closing his fingers over it for moment
or two, and then relaxing his fingers
he held up the jewel sparkling with all
the brlliancy of rainbow. DR.. Virgin
was filed with surprise and enquired
What is the cause Of this great trans
formation?" This, said his friend, is an
OPAL what we jewelers. call a sympa-
thetic jewel. 1t needs but the warm
pressure Of the hand to bring out its
lustre. Are there not many persons
about us to-day whose lives are sad
and lustreless that require only the
warm pressure of the hand of sympathy
to bring out that which is truest and
noblest and best in them?
Now let me specify a few of the du-
ties that come to us whom God has so
highly favored in point of privilege and
oPpoll unity AIIlOlS THESE is llle CIed-
ton of pure public sentiment. | put
this first as of great Importance. Polit-
ical intrigue, greed for gain, feeble
Christian faith, and questionable
amusements are all contributing to the
undermining of a wholesome public
opinion BY consistent living, by fidel-
ity to duty, by exemplifying the life of
Christ, the greatest reformer this world
has ever seen, by these means. / say,
a healthy. vigorous public sentiment
may be established, which shall elevate
our morals as people and ward off
the vengeance of God. The necessity
for more decisive action along this line
by Christian people becomes apparent,
when we remember that such atrocities
as prize-fighting a relic of barbarism,
is tolerated in Christian community;
that the saloon, with its horrors and the
brothel with its infamy and shame are
protected by government sanction. Let
US not say the case Is hopeless, that
would be cowardly Let us be up and
doing. God has given to his people
great power and influence, and when
used Alright it will be like the leaven !
in the meal permeating the whole lump |
In the day when gladiatorial combats
formed the chief amusement of the Ro
man capital the humble Christian monk |
Lelemachus rushed into the arena and |
separated two fighting gladiators de- |
claring that the murderous sport must |
cease forever. He was slain on the |
spot by those whom he would have |
saved to satisfy the demands of the |
angry populace crowding the vast am
but the gladiatorial combat
was doomed from that hour. He Great
ed public sentiment at the cost of his
own life-a price not too dear for the
boon it purchased.
The man who in our day can help to
strengthen public sentiment and the in
tegrity of personal character is a pub
lie benefactor. By such men God will !
spare our nation from impending wrath.
Do you not know that ten righteous
men in ancient Sodom would have saw
ed that doomed city? Such men are
needed to-day as much, as ever Great
evils need crying against to-day There
Is an astonishing amount of unusued
power in the church, and this Is our
condemnation-that we will not let
Christ call it out to the accomplishment
Of mighty deeds.
We are told that the Niagara Falls
Power company has utilized e-tenth
Of one per cent. of the water that flows
over Niagara. With this fraction of
It's power they have set in motion ten
dynamos, each estimated at five thou
sand horsepower. Experts tell us that |
this force is sufficient to furnish light
IN the form of electricity for two of the
largest cities in the land. A wire from
the Falls to New York on the one side
with a second wire to Chicago on the
other would make ample provision for
the illumination of these two cities.
Now, If we estimate their combined
population at six millions, then it fol-
ows that one per cent. of Niagara, If
utilized, would illuminate the whole
population of this country, for if one
,entb of one per cent. is enough for six
then ten times this force, or
lne single per cent, would suffice for
sixty millions. This would leave nine
.y-nine per cent. of Niagara unutilized,
enough power running to waste to illu-
inmate both hemispheres.
Just so with the working force of the
,hurch of Jesus Christ in the world to-
lay. Not more than one-tenth of one
per cent. is utilized. Even if one per
cent. of the power latent in the Chris
lar, nb111,pb in t,ic loud 1Uaro