Connecticut western news., 1903-08-20

strings of the castled towers began to vibrate and send forth the sweetest of melodies. God sounds his sweetest notes upon the harp strings of our spir- itual hearts when we seem to be the most weak and helpless. He often de- yelops his children by the pruning hook of trouble. He makes ,us lean heaviest upon the divine heart when our own hearts have been gashed open by the gravedigger's spade, and when the dark nights of sorrow have obliterated all cancellations save the one star which gleamed over the Bethlehem crib on the night that Jesus was born.
 God will bless the Christian workers of the present generation because Christ has emphatically and distinctly promised that by the weak things of this world God shall confound the mighty. That means that no child of God is too young to lead sinners to the cross; no Christian's arm is too weak to wield a, sickle In, Gods harvest field; no lip is too dumb ito utter a farreach- ing prayer, if thatilip only belongs to q true disciple of Jesus Christ.
 When Eloquence Meant Silence.
 
 counting the history of the famous re- vival services held ;among the students of Edinburgh a few years ago. Henry Drummond of blesssd memory! Henry Drummond, whose chief mission was given to the redemption for Christ of student life, gave an account of this movement on. his 4last visit to this country. A couple aof athletes of the University of Edinburgh were about to sail as toreign missionaries. Their classmates wanted to give them a big farewell. They hired one of the lar gest halls in the'city. AS those athletes were about to go forth as missionaries they prepared big religious service. After these young men had departed a few of the Christian students left In the college came together and decided that they ought to hold such re- ligious service every week. These services were to be addressed for the most part by the students themselves. A committee'was selected and arrange ments made. Every student who was asked to addDess that. meeting had to have two cfnracteristics-the one, a pure, noble. life;, the other, he had to be a man of plainI speech. The only bar to an vitationtto address that meeting was eloquence. If a man was known to have the silver tongue" of speech he was compelled to keep a golden silence" What was the result of these series of imeetings, held Sunday after Sunday in old Edinburgh by plain, un- assuming and, in most cases, by "one talent" students? Not only did crowds of students weekly fill the hall, but scores, and hundreds of young men were Drought to confess Christ. The like of that religious influence had never before been seen in old Scotland, although Edinburgh had been blessed with pHlpiteers whose names were famous all around the world.
 Then the result of these meetings began to spread. These humble, one talenti young men in patches of four and five were sent to other colleges and universities and also to villages and towns. These plain young men, by consecrnted Christian lives, not only moved Edinburgh, but also all Scotland and all England and all Wales and, to some extent, religiously influenced tfse whole world. Mark you. my brother, that religious influence was not starfed by a Jonathan Ed wards or Robert McCheyne or a Frederick Robertson, but by plain, humble individuals, who were conse- crating their lives to Jesus Christ. If God can andt did bless those modern Joshuas will lhe not bless us as indi- vii leyf fF md to our lives to his service and pray and plead and work as we ought to pray and plead and work? He will, my Christian brother. He will, he will. He will, even though we may be phys ically and mentally weddings. He will if we will only throw ourselves upon his divine and omnipotent strength.
 God willfbless the old as well as the young On, how often in religious work I have iheard this excuse given: T believe that ought to give myself up to religious work, but the trouble is I am too old. I have wasted the best part of my life. I am too old to start life over again." Some people may think you, are right in your decision;
  glorious time for you, oh, man, oh, woman, If you will start in Christian work just at the present time. I do not believe 1t is too late for you to start to serve Jesus Christ; not too late even though for you the hour hand of the clock of time may be pointing to the twelfth hour and the minute hand to five minutes of 12 o'clock.
 Never Too old For the Lords Work.
 How old was Moses when he began to lead forth theschildren of Israel into the wilderness? Was he young man? No. His hair must have been white. His skin must have been wrinkled. Michael Angelo'ss wonderful chisel has cut him in stone, as giant. There Moses sits in the Roman capital to- day, with arms and back knotted In muscles, with beard tossed of a tenn pest, with features swarthy enough to frown down any mob and with fists like a sledge hammer But with all of Michael Angelo's genius he could not change the facts. His chisel had to make Moses an old man. He had al- most passed his eightieth milestone of life when he went forth to liberate the children of Israel from Egyptian slav- cry. How old was Joshua when the mantle of the dead Moses fell upon his shoulders2 He had already passed his fourscore years and five. He was al- ready pressing on toward his nine tieth milestone. So God has for you and me, if we only throw ourselves upon his mercy, a mission of Christian usefulness. He has 1t even though we may be old men and women, with many years of wasted opportunities to our discredit.
 By an ex-member of my church can prove how God can bless a redeemed life which has been cursed by many years of sin. Some time ago a poor woman attended the services of the