Milford chronicle., 1902-08-01

DlfQG would / then have died as the
bird fedgelings would die of starya-
ton, OF would I have lived to grow
up a Christian man or have fallen into
crime and finally been put behind iron
bars as a convictT And thus /
dreamed the whole day away and only
caught one small fish! But right along
side Of me was a man who had the
same kind Of bait, the same kind of
line ami practically the same position
He differed from me only in the fact
that he put his whole body and mind
into his work. He did not go down
New York harbOr to watch the clouds
or the birds or the waves. He went to
fish, ard he fished until the perspira-
ton rolled off his face in streams; he
fished Until his hands were dirty and
till his clothes were dirty. He fished
until he forgot everything but his line.
But the result Of putting his whole
force into his work was a basketful of
at least fifty or sixty big founders.
So, my brother. if you and l are to
become one purpOsed Christians, if we
NNAhN ~ AANG " DtANE luEAlg We AlAuhL
surrender ourselves, body, mind and
soul, tc the service of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We must leave our worldly
nets down by the shores of Lake Cal
flee and follow him. Jesus demands
that we make his service life's con-
secratiOn, not Sabbaths recreation.
He demands unceasing toll, not sum-
mers sport.
Thu. True Gospel Fisherman.
The true gospel fisherman is a brave
man. We have been taught to regard
the soldier as among the bravest of
men. 'rrue, it needs brave heart to
stand unblanched amid q storm of shot
and shell and to walk up to the can
mons mouth when the bullets are fall
ing around like hail pattering upon
the pavements. But the soldier never
has to face great dangers continuously
like those the fisherman has to meet.
! suppose that among all the different
classes Of men there is not one among
which the destruction of life proper
tionately is so great as among the men
who make the harvest Of the sea their
OvOcation or life work.
During a recent journey across the
Atlantic and after we had been out a
couple of days from New York har-
Dor l saw two men pointing to a dark
cloud ahead. / heard one of them
say: eve are going to have a bad
night. That is the Newfoundland fog
bank" Soon the thick mists began to
settle around us. All that night the
gloomy fog horn blew. l said to the
commander of the Cunarder: Captain,
why dc you blow that terrific fog horn
Surely the danger of collision with
a passing steamer is comparatively
small All" answered the captain
''we are blowing the fog horn chiefly
to warn the fishermen. All about these
waters are hundreds Of little fishing
smacksl The fishermen come here and
anchor. They stay month in and
month out until they catch their cargo
and scores and scores of these poor fel
lows are ran down every year. We
want 10 warn them, if possible, that
we are coming along" Go to any OF
the little fishing towns along the rocky
coasts Of old Scotland. There you will
find women who have lost fathers and
brothers and husbands and sons in the
awful dangers of a fisherman's life
Every seaman will tell you that the
perils of a sailors life are compare
lively nothing if there are only sixty
fathOms of water under the ships keel
But the fisherman rarely puts out t.
the deep sea. He must fish compare
lively near the shore. Then the storms
come up and threaten to drive the frai
craft upon the rocks. Then the fOgs
settle so thickly that the steersma1
can hlrdly see the prov Of the boa
from the stern. Yes, the true fisher
mans life, whether it is found on Lake
GalileO or off the coasts of Scotland OF
in the Newfoundland fOgs. is a life o.
overwhelming danger. Brave must b,
the MIN who would follow so perilOul
an avCcatlon.
So the gospel fishermen, too, must b,
brave men! They must be as coura
geOus as were Peter and Andrew, who
to become gospel fishermen, laid dow
their lives for Christ. They must b,
as brave as the heroic Father Damien
who in order to minister to the sicI
and the dying went to MOlokai, tn
Leper island of the Pacific, and him
self became a leper and died. They
must be as brave as that Salvation
Army girl who stands and sings anC
prays upon the street corner amid tn
SCOTS and the ridicule of the passers
by and who penetrates the dark alleys
humanity unprotected, to seek out soul
for Christ. They have to be as BRAY
as that young Christian clerk who goe
from saloon to saloon giving out Cos
pei trJcts and leading in prayer wher
the proprietor will allow him to pray
To show the kind of heroic stuff on
Of which the gospel fishermen az
made I would point you to the tragi
history Of the greatest missionary c
the Fill islands as he personally tol
it to me. Many years ago the cam
balls Of those islands killed and ate tn
first missionary who had been sen
there by the London Missionary 81
ciety. Immediately after that even
this missionary, then young man, al
piled for appointment to the post {
danger. He went forth with his yOun
bride to what most of their friend
thought was certain death. When til
ship dropped anchor In the harbor {
Suva, the native chief sent out wOrt
Give us another missionary, and "
will make meal out of him." In IL
face of that threat and of all thes
dangers the young missionary and h
bride disembarked. For ten long yeai
they never saw the face of a viii
man, except when the missionary SUI
ply boat made its biennial visit. II
young missiOnary's children were boz
there, in the woods. Two of his chi
dren died because he had no prop,
medicine. He lived there alone wit
his lerOic wife until he transformt
the whole island. Such is the career
one heroic gospel fisherman. Are yC
and / ready to be as brave for Chri
as were that noble missionary and h
e devoted wife? Are we ready to be /
spire1 with that holy fearlessness al
disregard of ourselves that we ms
e save souls for Christ wherever we CT
= find them, which all Christ's fishers
r men should show in his service?
e The true gospel fisherman must
c spiritually a strong man. Peter al
+ Andrew, to whom Christ spoke, we
). net fishermen. think they rarely,
+ ever, fished with line or a pole Tn