Connecticut western news., 1902-04-24
ma the well wishes or

structure was IunlDleu Into rulHS 50 quickly tha" nothing was saved from the huge editice except an immense mortgage Homeless and In debt, the | outlook for the congregation was very dark Undaunted, however, the st6l l wart leader called his faithful follow CTS abont him. Many were discouraged, | but not this modern Nehemiah. The second Brooklyn tabernacle. built upon the ruins was grander and more ma | jestic than the first. This was the struc- ture where the crowds became so great | that it seemed as if no man who visit | ed New York felt that he had made | the Lest of his sojourn in the great city until he had heard my father preach. l But there seems sometimes a terrible sequence in calamities. AS certain dis cases have Il penchant for destroying certain families, so this fire demon came | to find new prey in the place where he l had once held high carnival. The sec | ond Brooklyn tabernacle was destroy. l ed. The third building went the same l way as did the first and second.
 The Crosses He Bore.
 Domestic bereavement fell upon him, ] and people who saw only his outward checrfulness had no conception how | deeply the iron had entered his soul. When my father was dying, he con- tiuually talked about the boy who had I been his pride. his eldest son, who Is now sleeping by his side as he once sat at his feet. He was a noble lad, | brilliant young lawyer. We carried | him out one cold winter day and laid ! him away to rest under a soft quilt of | snow. My father went back to his work. He said, Il dare not lay 1t | down even for an hour lest the effort l to take it up again should be too great | for me-" He took up his cross in the I same cheerful. hopeful spirit as be- | fore. though the wound in his heart never healed. He always carried | scar which was cut by the gravedig- l gers spade.
 My fathers best sermon was the
 daily life which he lived In his own
 home. bear my testimony to the fact
 that from my boyhood until the time | that I entered my own parsonage and | was ordained by him for my own pull pit bad before me the example and l upon me the sweet influence of Chris 1 tian home There never was in Amer icl happier or more prayerful home than that of which he was the head. i The children idoliZed him. The exam
 pie he set before them was that of
 consecrated Christian gentleman al-
 ways anxious to do what Christ would have him do. There was no bitterness 1 in l,n " learned ? how to forget as we'll as to forgive. !. Among all the men I have known in
 various walks of life I never knew a ] hlman being who was like him in the
 characteristic that he could never bear grudge against any one. An enemy ! might do everything in his power to destroy him, but my father never struck back If he could, he would not only forgive, but he would go any distance l to serve and help an enemy. Among the many homes have visited as a l pastor I never entered one where the parent has so earnestly sought to in-
 culcate gentleness of rule as he did in i my old home. My father never lifted l a hand to strike blow, yet he ruled | his children with rod stronger than
 one made out of iron. It was the rod
 of love. My sisters and myself had but one fear In reference to his life we were afraid to do anything wrong
 for fear of seeing a wounded look pass
 over the kind face, which to us always ! reflected the light which shone from the divine face of Christ. Family pray
 CTS were not to us a meaningless for l mality. We felt that our dear father was taking ns to the throne of grace, ] as Joseph the Good brought his breth- ! ren into the throneroom of the Egyp- 1 tian king.
 Reputation and Character.
 Reputation is what the world thinks about a man. Character is what he really Is. Reputation may be wrong. i Character is an actual fact. Man look eth upon the outward appearance; God looketh upon the heart. But I have sometimes felt that God has made 1t | possible for other eyes, as well as his , own all seeing eye. to look into a mans heart. The child has the opportunity and the privilege of looking into the parents heart. When a boy lives for years by the side of father, he knows
 what are the ruling principles of his i life. it's strongest motives and funda- mental beliefs. When I lived at home or travelled by my fathers side, con ] tinually with him for weeks or months | at time, 1 formed the conviction that ! he was as good man as ever lived.
 l My father was a Christian minister 1 assuredly inspired for his work by the nlx ivfR .Nfo ] tury his critics have been trying by
 analysing his character and his ser mons to discover how be came to at
 tain worldwide success. Some attrib- ute his power to word painting. He was an unequaled master in the art of i portraying before an audience ancient
 and modern scenes and events and i opening up to the entranced gaze of his 1 hearers the palaces of dead kings and queens. He could, with a few words. 1 transport an audience into the hanging 1 gardens of Babylon or make them hear l the harvests sigh or the nightingale sing. | Some have attributed his power to in- 1 vective. No rapier was sharper than the stiletto of his tongue when he want ! ed to execrate sin. Some again have ascribed his popularity to his loving | personality. But the critics who only | go as far as these do but touch the | outer garment of his power. These
 traits were all present, but the source of | my fathers power was not in what he i himself could do. As he often averred, | with the sincerity of profound convic- ton, in and of himself he could do
 nothing. With the power of the Holy
 Spirit he could accomplish anything.
 The true history of the Brooklyn
 tabernacle revivals has never been
 written. I will declare it now for the
 first time. AS a coming storm signal
 can be seen in the dark cloud which is
 hung high in the heaven of blue, I could tell weeks before when the abun- ] dnI, Shc..-nr. l.lo.,s.iz.G.