Connecticut western news., 1902-05-29

department or lire.
 Now, God in the same way is testing the spiritual availability and the future usefulness of his servants. He tests them by their willingness to travel the twain mile, to do more than they are asked to do. He tests them by the way they go and hunt up the poor invalids in the back alleys. He tests them by the way they are willing to assist in some mission work. He tests them by the way they are ready to teach in the Sunday school and by the way they take part in the Christian Endeavor prayer meetings. He tests them by the way the mistresses try to uplift the spiritual welfare of the kitchen and by the conversations the merchant has with the young clerk in reference to the salvation of the boys soul.
 My friend, you think your spiritual position in life Is very humble, but you have a twain mile to travel That twain mile, whether it starts from the nursery, the factory, the mechanics bench, the laborer's ditch or the farm CTS blow, heads straight up to the throne of grace. God is spiritually judging you today by what you are spiritually willing of your own accord to do for him.
 The Angel of the Twain Mile.
 The twain mile has for q guide the angel of inspiring hope. The man who lives without ambition or without the hope of making something better out of his life is practically dead. He is like the branch of a tree in midwinter All its latent buds are frozen. Then the sap of life is unable to flow, but when the spring comes then the snow flakes melt away. Then the air is redo, lent with incense. Then the tree takes on a new life. Later on,, if the tree is an apple tree, its branches are laden with the golden fruits.
 The pathway of the twain mile is al ways warmed by the life developing sunshine of hope. The young man says to himself: ''I am ready to work years and years if necessary in an inconspic- uous position. I am ready to work hard and do more than am asked to do because I know that at last my employer will reward me with higher position" The young college student says, "I am ready to bury myself in my books and work hard because know that at last there will come a time when my industry will be recom- pensed as well as recognized"
 The young man is led along the twain mile of sacrifice the more willingly be- cause as he walks hand in hand with the sweet angel of inspiring hope he reads the lives of the great men of the past He finds that the position from which some of them started to climb the mountain of fame and usefulness was often more humble than that which he is filling. He sees a poor, ignorant colored boy standing before the billboard poster trying to learn how to spell Then he sees the ignorant col ored boy grow into the great orator. until Frederick Douglass name be- comes known over the civilized world. He sees a young man as a Sunday school teacher gather his own class of rough boys by going into one of the poorest and most depraved sections of Chicago. Then he hears of that young man, D. L. Moody, who was the great est evangelist of the last century. He sees Dr. Barnardo called to his great work by being led by the hand of street urchin to where fifteen little boys were spending a winter night In a coal bin. There the great human savior of the London street arab saw fifteen hungry urchins who were on their way, but for his rescue, toward the gallows, the penitentiary or the poorhouse. When the young man thinks Of these great men, he says: Il. too, have a mission in life. I, too, can accomplish some good for my fellow mile of self sacrifice"
 So the sweet faced angel of hope leads the disciple of Christ along the self sacrificing pathway of the twain mile. She puts the Bible into the dis ciple's hand and says: Read, Chris tian; read. That Bible is the promise God has given to you. God declares that if you will do what he bids you do you shall have your reward for travelling the twain mile for him."
 Learning to Forgive.
 The twain mile is the place where the Christian traveller upon life's Journey learns how to forgive an injustice as well as to forget. Forgiveness is one of the gospel fine arts. 1t is the power which comes into a Christians life which practically says: "When I have . work to do and only a short time in whach to do it, l cannot afford to be wasting my enmgies in foolishly at- tacking those pqbple who are attacking me. cannot, ai a general be spending moHt of my timt in pursuing few for aging parties Ikhen I ought to be marching on toTard the great city of Gospel Success Besides that, the Christian travsser says to himself: "Perhaps I hare not Gene my full duty toward my enemies Perhaps I have not been kind and k0ying enough. Perhaps I have not psssented my Jesus in a clear, simple way. If I did. then I might change the foes of Christ into his loving disciples. will forgive as well as forget After
 
 cheek will turn to him the other also. After he has compelled me to go with him one mile will go with him twain"
 This is not an absurd Interpretation to make Of the Christians feelings in reference to his enemies when he is trying to travel the twain mile of for gtveness. Almost without exception the truly great men who have conse- czated their lives to a temporal cause hnve been able to drop the bitter per sonalities out of their existence. They were able to forgive as we'll as forget the personal injustices which had been practiced against them. When the rsorth German states were being weld ed into the great confederacy of the German empire by the master states nan of the last century, Prince Bis marck said to a friend during the dark est days of the struggle: "I must not think of what mine enemies might say or do. To attain this end I would