"Then, if you by faith come to Christ, in your filthy rags, just as you are, He will wash you in the fountain of His blood, and will cover you with the robe of His righteousness."
And Bob came. He felt his guilt and misery, and like a little child he asked for mercy. Need we say he found it? We do not pretend to fix the exact day and hour of his conversion, but this we know--the once dishonest man is now, and has been for years, a man of the strictest probity; the blasphemer now worships the Saviour whom once he despised; and among that little band of Christians in L----, there is none more devoted to his Master"s service, none more loving and gentle to wife and children, and to all within the sphere of his influence, than Bob.
"And under G.o.d, I owe it all to Mr. Thorn," he would say. "Had he, a professing Christian, sent me to prison then, could I have believed what he said of G.o.d"s mercy? Mr. Thorn was to me the living witness of G.o.d"s mercy in Christ."
"For if ye forgive men their trespa.s.ses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you."
"Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of G.o.d, I come!
"Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of G.o.d, I come!
"Just as I am Thou wilt receive; Wilt strengthen, pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because Thy promise I believe; O Lamb of G.o.d, I come!
"Just as I am--Thy love unknown Has broken every barrier down; Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, O Lamb of G.o.d, I come!"
--_From a Tract._
SUCCESS.--There is a glare about success which is apt to dazzle men"s eyes. When we see a man rising in the world, a foolish high opinion is formed of his merits. It is said, "What a wonderful man this must be to rise so rapidly!" forgetting that straw, dust, and feathers--things without value or weight--rise the soonest and easiest. It is not always the good and great man who rises rapidly into wealth and notice.
A GOOD EXAMPLE.
The following notice, headed, "To the Workmen of Stoke Works," was recently issued by Mr. J. Corbett, M.P.:--
"It has been to me a matter of great pain and regret to receive from time to time complaints from grocers, bakers, and other tradesmen, that the men employed at the works ask for credit, and then refuse to pay their lawful debts, thereby bringing a bad name upon the works, and no good repute upon me as an employer. Now, considering that the men employed here obtain higher wages than at any other salt works in England, and receive their wages weekly, I consider such conduct simply disgraceful, particularly when evidence is brought before me that the money which should go to pay tradesmen for provisions for the wife and family is expended in drink, too often leading to drunkenness. I contend that workmen who receive their wages weekly should never get into debt, and tradesmen ought to know that if men who regularly have their wages every Sat.u.r.day cannot pay one week, they are in no better position to pay the week after. I am determined to try to remove this stigma from Stoke Works, and hereby give notice that any man or men who expend their wages in drinking or otherwise, instead of paying their lawful debts, are no men for these works; and I do hope that any such men will take advice intended with the best feelings for their good and the comfort of their families. A copy of this notice will be sent to the tradesmen of Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, and other places. This is, of course, only intended to apply to those men who are guilty of the conduct herein complained of.--(Signed) JOHN CORBETT, Stoke Prior Salt Works."
IT is better to be n.o.bly remembered than n.o.bly born.--_Ruskin._
THE DUTCH AND THEIR COUNTRY.
The enemies with which they had to contend were three--the sea, the lakes, the rivers. They dried up the lakes, imprisoned the rivers, drove back the sea.
In order to drain the lakes they made use of the air. The lakes and ponds were surrounded by dams, the dams by ca.n.a.ls. An army of windmills put pumps in motion, which turned the water into the ca.n.a.ls, which conducted it to the rivers and to the sea. Thus vast s.p.a.ces of land buried under water were transformed as if by enchantment into fertile, smiling plains, populated by villages. From 1500 to 1858 the amount of land reclaimed was 355 miles.
By the subst.i.tution of steam instead of windmills, the great lake of Haarlem was dried, the furious tempests of which threatened the cities of Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Leyden with destruction; and the Dutch, in 1883, seriously contemplated the prodigious undertaking of reclaiming the land buried under the Zuyder Zee.
The rivers did not cost much less labour than the lakes, but the most tremendous struggle was with the ocean. A great part of Holland is below sea-level, and the land has to be defended by d.y.k.es. If these wonderful bulwarks of earth and of wood and granite were not there as monuments to attest the courage and perseverance of the Dutch, no one would believe that the hand of man, even in the course of centuries, could accomplish so great a work.
Holland is an impregnable fortress. The mills are the towers of its immense bastions, the cataracts the gates, the islands the advanced forts; and she shows to her enemy, the sea, only the belfries and roofs of the edifices.
Holland is a fortress, and the Dutch, like people in a fortress, stand on a perpetual war-footing with the sea. An army of engineers, dependent on the Minister of the Interior, spy upon the enemy continually, watch over the state of the internal waters, provide for ruptures in the embankments, advise and direct new works of defence to strengthen and support the old.
The danger is constant, the sentinels ever at their posts. At the first a.s.sault of the sea they give the cry of alarm, and Holland sends arms, materials, and money. Even when there is not a great battle raging, there is always a slow, silent struggle. The innumerable mills are never quiet, always pumping the rain-water into the ca.n.a.ls. Every day the cataracts of the ca.n.a.ls and rivers shut their huge gates against the rising tide, which struggles to precipitate itself into the heart of the country.
But Holland has done more than defend herself from the sea, and master it. The waters were her scourge, but she has made them her defence. When a foreign army invaded her territory, she opened her sluice-gates, unchained the sea and the waves, and let them loose on the enemy, defending internal cities with a fleet. The water was her poverty; she made it her wealth.
"Nature," says a Dutch poet, "refused all her gifts to Holland. Men had to do everything in spite of Nature."
It is enough to look at the monuments of the great struggle with the sea to understand that the distinctive characteristics of this people must be firmness and patience, accompanied by a calm and never-failing courage.
YOU can outlive a slander in half the time you can out-argue it.
THE soul that cannot entirely trust G.o.d, whether man be pleased or displeased, can never long be true to Him; for, while you are eyeing man, you are losing sight of G.o.d and stabbing religion at the very heart.--_Manton._
SUNDAY SCHOOL INTELLIGENCE.
CLIFTON SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY.
Special services in the above place, on behalf of the Sunday School, were held on Sunday, July 22nd.
Two sermons were preached, in the morning and evening, by the Pastor, Mr. Frederick Marshall; also an address was given by him in the afternoon. Text in the morning, Deuteronomy vi. 6, 7. He spoke of the good of Sunday Schools in the cases of many that have left them and gone out into the world to earn their living. It was his prayer that the Lord would bless the labours of the brethren and sisters in the good work, and that they might not be weary in well-doing, for they have the promise, "they shall reap if they faint not." He could rest a.s.sured that what was taught in the school was according to the Scriptures. He warned the young people to flee from temptations and from the appearance of evil, and directed them to diligently search the Scriptures, and take them for a guide.
In the afternoon, in the presence of a goodly number of parents, teachers, and scholars, he spoke from the little word "One." He said that there must be a oneness between teachers and scholars, or the school could not succeed. He also said that each boy and girl, as well as the teacher, had his or her individual duty to do, and he said that they all ought to try to do that duty well, out of school as well as in.
In the evening, the text was Romans xvi. 26. The sermon was listened to very attentively by a good congregation. Suitable pieces for the occasion were sung by the children.
On the following Thursday the children had their annual treat. On account of the previous wet weather, it was feared that not a very enjoyable day was in store; but He who is still the Answerer of prayer was pleased to stay the rain, so that a very pleasant day was spent by all present.
A SCHOLAR.
PROVIDENCE CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, BURWASH.
The first public meeting took place on Wednesday, August 8th. The meeting was opened at two p.m. by singing, and then the Superintendent read Proverbs iv. 1-13, and spoke in prayer. The children then amused themselves for a time in the adjoining field. They were called in again at four o"clock, and after reading and prayer, eight of the senior scholars recited from fifteen to thirty verses each of Scripture, and some hymns, for which they were presented, six with the Clifton Hymnal, one with "The Sack and its Treasure," and the other with "The Morte Stone," kindly presented by Mr. J. Wilmshurst, of Cranbrook. Three of the junior scholars also said a few verses, for which they were presented, two with a New Testament, and one with the Psalms.
At five o"clock about thirty persons sat down to tea, most of whom were children.
In the evening Mr. J. Jarvis, of Mayfield, preached a very impressive and encouraging sermon from Hebrews xii. 24.
The Sunday School was opened on the last Lord"s Day in April with three scholars. It now has eighteen, and we trust that the Lord will still prosper the good work.
S. H. JARVIS.