Year: 1879




The attendance last night at Plymouth church was
very large the commodious church being nearly
r ed. The Rev. DR.. Dana delivered an address to
The railroad men, selecting his text from the gospel
Of st. John, chap. Xxx, 27:


/ "And be not faithless but believing.n


The reverend speaker began by saying: It's ever a
ui1icult matter to get men to believe that Christ is
thear savior and friend, and that to him they need
personally to come for pardon and help. The church
has been slow to realize the fact that the Lord Jesus
is for all men, Not for the well todo and favorably-
circumstanced, but for the tempted and the poor
and those whose life is full of perils and dsadvant-
ages. 1t has been slow work, therefore, to persuade
the churchinto doing for the latter classes And yet
we never so dlshonor the gospel as when we restrict
Its application and falter in carrying it to the most
exposed and unpronlsing. Railroad men furnish us
case in point. II s not till within few years that
anything specifically has been done in the eir behalf
they were deemed beyond the reach of Christianity
200 unfavorab]y situated to respond to It's claims
But since the distinctive work in behalf of railroad
men has been commenced, how God has rebuked the
falthessness of the church in the signal success He
has granted to this effort And when we think of it,
what commentary it is on thoughtlessness and
lack OF sympathy and faith, that we have SO long
overlooked railroad men, and done so little for them
How much we owe to them, how much we trust
10 them, how deserving they are of our conf
and comforts of religion. Thank God that at last
the Christian world has turned lovingly to do for
'hese men, and they are showing that they not only
are reachable, but are likely to become grand work
ers for Christ embodiments of noble and infiuen-
tial piety There III this country and the British
provinces nearly 100000 engaged in railroad work.
ana there are now largely the fruit Of special
efforts in their behaf-over 2COU Christian railroad
men, who are living and preaching Christ wherever
they co. trust the time is not far distant when in
this important and growing railroad center the work
in behalf of this class will be taken ND and measures
adopted to reach and bless and bring them into the
churches But now want to speak more particularly
about the claims Of the ospe! on railroad men right
mere in our own community.


tlrst.-Let me emphasize the grand fact that
CHRIST is interested in and can do for them. No man
lives now, be his occupation what it may who is be-
yond Gods love and care. And it makes q great
difference with every ones life when he can feel that
he is not necessarily cut off from Christian sympathy
or nope. In this thought begins all true patience
and yearnings after better life. You would realize


TINS truth more feeingly if you could hear the Chris
an engineers and conductors all over the land bear
their testimony to the power of Christs grace and
the support and joy his friendship afford.


second Coupled with this fact of Gods personal
interest s the consequent duty of becoming Christian
men. AND railroad men, let it be known, can be
sucn Notwithstanding their special exposures and
temptations Piety, when it is manly, is respected by
tnenl' Inc grace which makes railroad employees
more NOR faithful sober and righteous is grace that
will desire them to possess And there is no blessing
comparable to the grace of Christ It does make
nooler men, it does comfort and restrain il does
bring a better life and glorious hope And when
we see connected with all railroads Christian Of
hclais we will have reached the Of many of the
troubles and perils incident to their management
AND that there are such Christians to be met with
now, from the president down to the brakeman and
switch tender Is proof conclusive that all and any
can I'VE Christian Life and show Christian spirjt
and faith in the positions they hold in railroad


ihlrd-Let these men, through our actions even
more than through our words, be made to feel the
sympathy of the church. The latter ought to re-
member them more frequently in her prayers, and
Christian fellowship be readily assured them.
Christian men in their travels ought to seek to mani
fest their interest in railroad officials and EMPLOYEES
they meet Railroad cities like this ono ought church
wise and otherwise to eynce special interest in this
into living sympathy with the great keeper and friend
of all men. One of the brightest omens now dis
cernible s the turning of the attention aud interest
of the Christian public toward railroad men lonons
revirals have followed in the wake Of chapel SER
vices and prayer meetings held, amongst them such
cities as Cleveland, Albany, Buffalo, etc. Railroad
corporations seeing the good effects of this work
and iberally contributing to it. And Christian CON
ductors, engineers and train hands are everywhere
bearing witness to what God has done for them and