Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-08-30

basket let down from window on the
wall. What you do. do well. IL you
make n rope. make 1t strong and true.
for you know not how much may de-
pend on your workmanship. IL you
fashion boat, let il be waterproof, for
you know not who may sail In IL. IL
you put a Bible in the trunk OF your
boy as he goes from home. let IL be re-
mcmbered i'm your prayers, for II may
have a mission as farreaching as the
book which the sailor carried I'm bis
teeth to the Pitcairn beach. The plain
est mans life is an island between two
enthusiastically past ripping against
his shoulders, eternity to come touch
ing his brow. The casual. the acciden-
tai. that which merely happened so. are
parts of great plan, and the rope that
let's the fugitive apostle from the Da-
maScuS wall Is the cable that holds to
It's mooring the ship OF the church in
the storm of the centuries.
Again. notice urrecognlzcd and unre-
corded service Who spun that ropef
Who tied it TO the basket? Who stead
led the iliUstrlous preacher as he step
ped into Il? Who relaxed not muscle
of the arm or dismissed an anxious
look from his face until the basket
touched the ground and discharged It's
magnificent cargo? Not one of their
names has come to Us, but there was
no work done that day in Damascus or
in al earth compared with the impor-
lance of their work. What If they had
in their agitation tied knot that could
slip? What If the sound of the mob at
the door had led them TO say, paul
must take care OF himself, and we will
take care of ourselvesT No, mol They
held the rope and in doing so did more
for the Christian church than any thou
sand of us will ever accomplish. But
God knows and has made record OF
their undertaking. And they know.
Cause For ExuItstion.
How eXultant they must have felt
when they read his letters TO the Ro-
mans. to the Corinthians, to the Gala
tians, to the Ephesians. to the Philip
plans, to the Colossians, to the Thessa-
lonians, and when they heard how he
walked out of prison. with the earth
quake unlocking the door for him, and
took command OF the Alexandrlan corn
ship when the sailors were nearly
scared to death and preached a sermon
that nearly shook Felix Off his judg-
meut seatl | hear the men and women
who helped him down through the
window and over the wall talking in
private over the matter and saying:
How glad am that we effected that
rescue, In coming times others may
get the glory OF Paurs work, but no
one shall rob us of the satisfaction of
knowing that we held the rope"
Once for sc hours we expected every
moment 10 60 TO the bottom OF the
ocean. The waves struck through the
skylights and rushed down into the
hold OF the ship.and Missed against the
boilers. 1t was an awful time. but by
the blessing OF God and the faithful
ness of the men in charge we came out
OF the cyclone. and we arrived ut home.
Each one before leaving the ship
thanked Captain Andrews. / do not
think there was n man or woman that
went Off that ship without thanking
Captain Andrews. and when years aft
er | heard of his death was Impelled
TO write n letter of coincidence to his
family I'm Liverpool. Everybody recog-
nized the goodness, the courage. the
kindness. of Captain Andrews, but IL
occurs TO me now, that we never thank
I'd the engineer. He stood away down
In the darkness amid the Kissing fur
naces, doing his whole duty. Nobody
thanked the engineer, but God recog-
nized his heroism and his continuance
aud his fidelity, and there will be Just
rs high reward for the engineer. who
worked out of sight. as for the captain,
who stood on the bridge of the ship In
the midst OF the bowling tempest.
There are said to be about 150. 900
ministers OF religion In this country.
About $4,000. warrant, came from
early homes which had TO struggle for
The necessarles OF life. The sons OF rich
bankers and merchants generally be-
,ome bankers and merchants. The
most or those who become ministers
ire the sons of those who had terrific
struggle TO get their everyday bread.
The collegiate and theological educa-
Ion or that son took every luxury from
he parental table FOR eight years. The
'ther children were more scantily ap-
'areled. The son at college every little
While got bundle from home. In II
we're the socks that mother had knit
sitting up late at night, her sight not
Is good as once 1t was. And there also
we're some delicacies from the sisters
land fos the voSacious appetite of n
lunSry student. The father swung the
aeavy cradle through the wheat, the
sweat rolling from his chin believing
very step OF the way, and then sitting
cown under the cherry tree at noon.
to himself, 81 am fearfully
Tired, but 1t Will pay IL l can once see
hat boy through college and II I can
Know that he will be preaching the Cos
pei after 1 am dead" The Younger
children want to know why they can't
have this and that as others do, and
he mother says, ''Be patient, my chill
ircn, until your brother graduates, and
hen you shall have more Injuries, but
we must see that boy through"
Good Reason For Rejoicfnu.
The years go by. and the son hns
$3.50 oAN<NaAeu uiu Is pTeuCQing the glO-
rious gospel. and n great revival comes.
and souls by scores aud hundreds ac-
cept the gospel from the lips OF TINT
young preacher, and father and moth
err, quite old now, are visiting the son
at the village parsonage, and at the
close OF a Sabbath OF mighty blessing
father and mother retire to their room.
the son lighting the way and asking
them II he can do anything to make
them more comfortable, saying IL they
want anything in the night just to
knock on the wall. And then, all alone.
rather and mother talk over the gra-
cious influences of the day and say:
wei. it was worth all we went
through to educate that boy. 1t was a
hard pull, but we held on till the work
was done. The world may not know II:
Dur, mother, we held the rope, didn't
weT And the voice, tremulous with
loyfui emotion, responds: "Yes, father.
we held the rope. l feel my work is
done. Now. Lord, lettest thou thy sery-
ant depart In peace, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation" "Pshawp' says
the father. II never felt so much ike