Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1903-05-02

destroy IN enemy. lie invited llllS en-
envy to sup with him. While they sat
at meat he had the waiter bring in two
glasses OF wine, the one poisoned and
the other not. But when the king of
fered to his guest cup he Ghe king
by mistake took and drank the pol
soned cup. Like the king, is it not al
ways the case when man writes a
purely revengeful letter that he is hurt
more in the sending than the enemy is
in the receiving? Did not the officers
of state prepare their own death war
rant when they persuaded Darius to
send forth the public decree by which
they hoped to destroy the prime min
lister?
Never write letter without realiZ-
ing that in it you have the mightiest
| opportunities of testifying for Jesus
Christ We have all studied the far
reaching effect in a literary sense OF
letter writing. The private corre-
spondence between individuals fills
some of the brightest and the most
! lnltIPSllIlE DOOhS VI nNNAhtNiN' NN
love letters of Elizabeth Barrett and
Robert Browning, the tender words
which were sent east and west across
the Atlantic ocean when Thomas Car
LYLE the mighty sage Of English let
ters, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the
gentle sage of Concord, cOrresponded;
the letters of Robert Louis Stevenson
to his friends, scattered all over the
world: the letters of Cicero and of the
younger Pliny, letters of julius Cesar
to the Emperor Constantine and letters
of SidOnius Apollinaris-these letters
are the more fascinating because, ike
the mountain streams, they sparkle
under the oyerhanging eyergreens Of
the affections. They were murmur-
ing for the most part into the ears Of
only one nightingale and moistening
the throat of but one songster or song
stress.
Many have studied the effect OF let
ter writing in Il political sense. We
know the power Of Samuel Adams
pen in fomenting Revolutionary strife
We know that Alexander Hamilton's
pen. By the power Of public letter
writing. defeated Aaron Burr for the
gubernatorial chair of New York state
and caused him to challenge Hamilton
TO n deadly duel. We know how
George Washington by letter writing
after his retirement from the presiden-
tial chair practically directed national
legislation. We know how the famous
Letters of Junius." written against
the British ministry, nightly changed
the reading upon the pages of English
history. And if we are able to study
the influence of letter writing In a lit
erary and political sense can we not
study its influence in a spiritual sense!
Letters From n Mother.
Let us first see the spiritual influence
of letter writing in your own life.
Strange to say, you do not remember
much about your mothers life. l mean
as you sit there you have forgotten
exactly how she looked and the tone Of
her voice. She has been dead many
years. Then you have forgotten to d
great extent her words ofadyice in the
home, but you have never forgotten
her letters. Somehow, after you left
home. the words which she wrote to
you made a far greater impression than
the words which she spoke. If should
90 into your home and ask for your
most valuable collection of papers you
would in all probability show me a
collection of old yellow letters. They
were written by her hand. You have
read them over and over again. Some
Of those letters are stained as though
the children had spattered water upon
them. They are stained with your
tears as well as perhaps with hers.
The gospel advice in those letters
which you were able to read in the
0uietude of your own room is today
the sweetest lesson that your mother
ever taught. What has been true in
reference to your life is also true in
mine. The greatest lesson that my Ia
ther taught me was not by the lip, but
with the pen. Though | had lived
with him for eighteen years he never
so overwhelmingly affected me as on
the day | left for college. He placed
in nv hand a letter He told me to
read it in the train. In this letter, on
one half sheet of paper, he wrote these
words: "In college you will find two
groups Group the first, boys who go
TO college because their fathers send
them there. Boys who drink and
smoke and who cheat at their examina-
tions. Failure. Group the second,
boys who go to college to prepare for
life's struggle; boys who study hard
and 90 to church and the prayer meet
| ing, especially the prayer meeting. Sue
cess. Them that honor me, will hon
or. And they that despise me shall be
lightly esteemed" That was all he
wrote. but those written words, far
more than any spoken words my father
ever uttered, burned themselves into
nv innermost being. That letter of his
| illustrated the power of spiritual pen.
welded in Christian home.
But why circumscribe this thought
within the four walls of a home? The
spiritual power of gospel letter writing
Is seen everywhere that it has been
tried. To what could Maltbie Bah
cocks osderfulsspiritual influence be
mostly attributed? He was ewithout
doubt one of the most successful min
listers in the American pulpit at the
time of his death. TO his marvellous
and yet simple eloquence, which Sun
day after Sunday crowded the famous
Brick church of New York city to the
doors? No, not chiefly. To his sweet
and winsome personality in personal
contact? No, not principally. The
greatest part of his influence was won
by the power of personal letter writ
ing. One of his old classmates and
most intimate friends told me that DR..
Babcock never let a member Of his
congregation get out Of his reach. He
kept a book filled with dates. On the
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