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A Wish
BY REUNK D. R( SB.
If 1 were one who could but sketch his face
Upon the canvas of my soul’s dt sire
Oh I would wield a brush and lightly trace
Each God like mould of feature and each
grace.
In a coloiing of fire.
* Shut Up to Faith.
Galktians hi. 23.
God, our Father, greatly de
sires that we should believe in
him, because through faith alone
we must derive from him the
supplies of life power in virtue
of which we can realize his ideal.
A single illustration will suffice
to show how needful faith Jis, as
the bridge of communication over
which the resources of God may
pass into our lives.
In a period of anxiety and per
plexity, some friend or relative of
yours comes to your house and
takes his seat beside you. He
would have you confide the en
tire story of your circumstances
to his safe-keeping, while in re
turn he offers whatever of sym
pathy, resource, or prudence he
can commandißut before this, an
incident had tmnspired, or a piece
of information had come to your
ears, with respect to him, which
has entirely destroyed your con
fidence in his character and good
intentions. Z ton can no * kJhger
believe in him; and as the inevit
able result, a barrier of ice is
raised between you. Across
that gulf you cannot go to him,
and he may not approach you. He
may be as wise as Solomon and as
strong as Samson, but so long as
you do not believe in him all is
fruitless. Whereas tre resources
of a much poorer soul may great
ly succor you, as they pour into
your heart, because you thor
oughly believe in its honesty
and sincerity of purpose.
If o ily a soul can believe in
God, to the extent to which it be
lieves.it can obtain anything that
is in God’s he&rt to bestow. God
is the All giver; giving does not
impoverish him -so far from that,
it is the condition of his bleesed
ness; but he greatly deplores
that he cannot do what he would,
or give us all that he might, be
cause of our unbelief.
Now there are two ways by
which he leads us to faith; first,
he shuts us up to it; and second
ly, in the moment of despair he
reveals its way or law. Thus we
are shut up to the faith which is
afterward revealed.
LET US UNDERSTAND THIS META
PHOR.
This epistle was composed
against the teachings of the Ju
daizers, who, following in the
track of the apostle, insisted on
circumcision as necessary to sal
vation. They were willing
enough to admit the claims of
Christ, if only the Levitical sys
tem were maintained as of equal
validity. They combined Moses
with Christ, circumcision with
faith. The apostle met them by
insisting that Abraham was a
Gentile before he became a Jew,
and that the-promises were made
to him as a simple believer while
still in his Gentile condition, and
long before he became the pro
genitor of the Hebrew people.
Those promises could not, there
fore, be annulled by circumci
sion or the Levitical system.
They, at last, must stand, as the
granite rocks are not removed by
the accumulations of after-ages.
The apostle then proceeds to
answer the very natural question
as to the purpose of the law and
ritual associated with the great
name of Moses “Wherefore
then serveth the, law?” He re
plies that it was introduced, not
as a means of life, but as a mt a is
of showing men their inability to
get life, and thus to shut them
up to the way of faith in the
promise and covenant of God,
given aforetime to Abraham.
□ That phrase “shut up io” is
very significant. It is as though
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the law were jailer-like »a its re
spect, though loving and tender
at heart, and went slowly down
the grim prison corridor, at the
extremity of which the soul had
suddenly found itself. There are
many doors on either side. One
is labeled Perfect Obedience, an
other Punctilious Performance of
R te, another Strict Morality, an
other Good Resolutions; all these
are locked before the gaze of the
soul, by none of them is escape
possible. But the jailer leaves
one door without turning the
key. It is that which leads not
only into freedom, but into very
favorable circumstances; indeed,
it communicates with the Fath
er’s home. All other doors are
locked and barred that the soul
may not be able to pass through
one of them, but may be shut up
to this one, which will insure rtiv
greatest amount of bliss. /'
We will suppose a prisoner in
the Castle of Chillon, whose
gloomy walls rise over the LMe
of Geneva, its stones worn
the pacing to and fro of thiflp
nivards that have
their lives within those
precincts. He is there on
charge; but an indi
side, a man in authority,
able and willing to befriend him
on condition of his making appli
cation. There is, therefore, a
conspiracy of silence among all
his friends; he sends letters to
wife and son, to lawyer and phy
sician, but none answers his ap
peal, till, every door being
closed, he is compelled finally, as
a last resort, to apply to the one
who can immediately succor him
most effectively.
Tnus God, in his eagerness to
drive us to faith in himself, shuts
every other door, that the soul,
weary, worn, fluttering, hard
pressed, may tiee for refuge to
the hope set before it, may be
shut up to the faith which is re
vealed.
LET US ILLUSTRATE THIS META
PHOR.
Abraham was doomed to wait
year after year, and compelled to
witness the gradual failure of all
natural likelihood of having a
child. His marriage with Hagar
did not better his position, for
Ishmael could not be his heir.
In the utter hopelessness of na
ture he w r as shut up to faith.
Israel, on the banks of the
Red Sea, with the mountains on
ttja.oa£ side, their foes on the
e set' in front, dMi’d
Whither
could they flee? How escape?
They were shut up to faith in the
hand that alone could cleave a
path through the mighty waters.
This great apostle, in his en
deavor to live a pure and holy
life, tells us that he spared no
pains or care or endeavor; but the
more he strove the worse he fell.
Approving of the law as holy,
just, and good, after the inward
man, he found himself brought
into captivity to the law of sin in
his members. Finally he was
shut up to Christ and to the way
of faith.
Luther’s experience was pre
cisely similar, only in the direc
tion of justification. He sought
peace with God by austerity, fasi
ings and vigils, till he became
wasted to the last degree of
strength. At one time it was
only by the singing of the choir
boys that he could be revived.
Conscience failed to be appeased
until, in despair of all else, he
found himself shut up to the faith
that was graciously revealed
THIS WILL ENABLE US TO LEARN
TRULY TO USE OUR FAIL
URES.
They may be traced to many
causes. For instance, our ideals
are constantly rising. Therefore
we cannot rest with what satis
tied us yesterday. We must al
ways be a pilgrim host, follow
ing the beckoning pillar, but
needing ever augmenting grace,
which we are sometimes slow to
seek.
Or,after we have realized some
high point in the Christian life
we have forgotten to distinguish
between spiritual and intellectual
attainments. In the latter, when
once we have acquired a piece of
information, or discovered the
solution of a problem, it is ours
ever after; but in spiritual mat
ters we can only hold our posi
tion, as we have acquired it, by
faith. All depends on our attitude.
If there is relaxation and
unfaithfulness there, relapse is
inevitable.
Or we are harboring a traitor,
who is constantly sapping our in
ward energy.
Or we have ceased to grow in
grace and the knowledge and
love of God. And to cease to
grow is to decline; not to advance
is to recede.
Or we have not lived in fellow
ship with God, nor sought the aid
of the Holy Spirit, nor fed our
souls with the Bread of Life, by
reason of which our spiritual
strength is minished and brought
] ow . —Through Fire and Flood
Meyer.
Some Thoughts on Prayer.
BY REV. J. C. SOLOMON.
Prayer is one of the world’s
mightiest agencies for good.
Without it life would be dull and
listless. Prayer stands among
the heart’s chiefest treasures. It
is the handmaid of hope. It is a
true friend in timeof sorest need.
It is a bright and burning light
in the dark days of the world
Many a broken heart has had
a fresh solace when prayer has
burned upon the altar. Despair
blossoms into hope when men can
pray again. And melodies, like
the sweetest notes of birds, stir
in the soul when the heart looks
up to God. What life is there
taat can live in this realm of strife
and unrest and not look to the
Infinite? Do not our burdens fan
our hearts to flame and part our
lips in burning, soulful petition?
There is a consuming desire to
throw off these old chafing cares
or to obtain grace to sustain
us while we carry them. Prayer
is the white wing on which the
souls mounts to the throne. It is
the Christian’s delightful avenue
to God.
“Prayer is the aspiration of
our poor, struggling, heavy-laden
soul towards its eternal Father,
and, with or without words,
ought not to become impossible,
nor, I persuade myself, need it
ever. Loyal sons and subjects
can approach the King’s throne
who have no request to make
there except that they may con
tinue loyal.”
The great soul of Carlyle nev
er, perhaps, uttered a stronger or
nobler sentiment. The Chris
tian poet, James Montgomery,
aives out thoughts that breathe
and words that burn in these ex
quisite lines:
Prayer is the Christian s vitai breath;
The Christian's native air;
His watch word at the gates of death—
He enters heaven with prayer.
But no Chr’stian is He
knows how to
He may but he
is mighty He may nbt be fluent
—he may have a stammering
tongue, but God always under
stands him. Let no child of the
King be silent when his Father is
ready to pour him out a blessing
for the simple asking.
It was Joanna Baillie in “Eth
wald” who gave utterance to
these beautiful thoughts:
? A good man’«»praters
Will from the deepest dungeon
Climb heaven’s height
And bring a blessing down.
We pray for men; we pray for
affairs. We pray in the daytime;
we pray in the lonely hours of
the night. We pray when our
hearts are glad; we pray when
some crushing sorrow has fallen
on our homes. The little baby in
his crib, the dear child in her
trundle bed, the big boy in the
shed room, are all objects of our
prayers. And we will not forget
the dear old mother. She is the
sunshine of the home. And there
is the father —strong man that
provides so well —we pour out
our hearts for him. We don’t
forget the little invalid brother
and the poor little, frail, delicate
sister. Some financial vicissitude
befalls one’s business, a ruinous
mortgage is just ready to be fore
closed. It is a dark hour and ev
ery heart is sad. The creditor
shows no mercy. What can you
do but pray? Some domestic in
felicity has arisen—a gloom, as
black as midnight, hangs over
human souls. What can you do
but kneel down and cry? Some
dear boy has wandered off into
sin—steps down into crime. The
boy is ruined; the father’s name
is disgraced. No uno knows
what a sorrow this is except pa
rei/s whose cheeks hi ve been
blistered by scalding tears and
whose heart strings have snapped
as they saw the dear fellow step
overboard and go down to the
depths. If souls were ever wrung
in agony—if lips ever spoke to
God, it were at a time like this. I
wonder if your daughter has lost
her chastity. I wonder if her
virtue is but a filthy rag. Poor
fallen soul! Your heart was
crushed when the fatal day over
took her. Be not too hard on
this class. The Savior wrote on
the sand—looked up and forgave
her. With tender prayer and
kisses of affection the fallen wo
man of to-day may be led up to
God Almighty’s pardoning love
“As long as the lamp holds out
to burn the vilest sinner may re
turn. ’ Pray and some tears may
fall. Pray and some heart may
break. Pray, and as God answers
prayer, some soul will be saved.
Eliza Cook strikes a responsive
cord in many a believer’s heart
and speaks the beautiful truth of
God when she cries:
In desert wilds, in midnight gloom.
In grateful joy. in tr ing pain;
In laughing youth, or night the tomb;
Oh! when is prayer unheard or vain?
But for prayer this old world
would be a wild waste —a wilder
ness—a land of thick shadows and
grim apparitions.
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1896.
Take prayer out of the human
vocabulary and the heat’s lan
guage would be , poor indeed.
Prayer has broken many a flinty
heart and made eyes, unused to
tears, run like rain. Prayer has
closed the black door of tl< >om and
opened the gates of pearl Prayer
has throttled the grim monster
despair and made hope bloom im
mortal in the breast.
What would you have Jone that
night when the doctor said there
was no hope, when med. ine had
failed, when every human inge
nuity had been exhausted and
your precious was boy tossing in
wild delirium? What w uld you
have done with no recourse to
prayer—with no God to >eg?
You threw yourself at the feet
of mercy and cried aloud, your
very heart dripping blood. The
night passed, tne gray dawn of
the morning broke into the room,
and the boy smiled in your face;
and floods of sunshine poured
into your soul. The prayer was
answered. You prayed one
morning and then walked the rest
of the day among thorns and
never murmured. Your property
was swept away, but you took it
all to God in prayer and he sus
tained you.
It was a bitter night when the
death angel came to your house
and bore away your little darling.
But for your faith in the Infinite
it seems your heart must burst
now with grief. You follow the
little white coffin on You stand
by the open grave. It seems
your life went down with the lit
tie sleeper. You look up and the
All Merciful one pours cordial
into your soul. You have peace
at last. ’Twas a hard b ow, but
his grace is sufficient Wonder
ful prayer! wonderful grace!
wonderful peace!
“Prayer is the Spirit speaking
truth to Truth.” Th» n let him
who prays be in earnest and
heaven will never prove him
false.
vale or
the shadow
sorrow, if in the
grip of some relentless pain, if in
death’s convulsive throes, look
up. Speak to the Eternal.
“Prayer ardent opens heaven, lets down
a stream ’ 1
Os glory on the consecrated hour
Os man. in the audience with the Deity;
Who worships the God, that in
stant joins
The first in heaven, s his foot on
Comical
REV. H. D D. (STRATON
l
It is an inquiry of some inter
est, at the present time, why such
large multitudes of human be
ings so eagerly crowd to listen to
certain men who have assumed
the role of great evangelists,
while so many others who figure
in the same lines of work, have
compara ively so meager a fol
lowing. A distinguished preacher
of my acquaintance once put the
question to a gentleman whose
reputation on the religious lec
ture platform is national. “Why
is it, brother Blank, that you sue
ceed in getting such large crowds
to your performances, while
I have so much trouble in secur
ing even a small audience? My
lectures are prepared with great
care and labor, and it is not ego
tistical in me to say that I regard
them as meritorious enough to
deserve a larger hearing.” The
response of Mr. Blank was brief
but suggestive “You haven’t the
notoriety, my son.”
No doubt the “notoriety” will
succeed in drawing the crowd,
and notoriety can be gained if a
man is willing to pay the price
demanded for it. If he is willing
to assume the garb and use the
language of a buffoon; to employ
the natural mother wit he may
be endowed with; to crack jokes,
tell the funny anecdotes, spice his
oratory with liberal doses of her
esy, use the slang of the gutti r,
and have at his tongue’s end the
vulgar familiarities and obsceni
ties of the market place, the
brothel and the barroom, he will
have no trouble getting people to
listen to him. There is a singu
lar fascination to the average hu
man being in gossip, slander,and
popular exposure of the foibles
and corrupt propensities of our
fellowmen. It is to gratify this
vicious and inordinate appetite
that the most popular of cur
great daily newspapers load their
tables with so many dainty dishes
of scandal, revolting details of
vice and profligacy, wink at the
perversions of justice, stab vir
tue, and disguise vice in the
flaunting habiliments of spurious
charity. The ravenous vulture
of the air will not find out with a
more unerring instinct the car
cass that is rotting in the waste
and desolate field, than the lover
of scandal and vulgarity will
find a victim on whose damaged
reputation he may glut his mor
bid appetite. It is surely a dis
eased condition of the moral na
ture that can find gratification in
those caricatures of the Gospel
which pass in these days for evan
gelical preaching—these “mim
icries of earth born flowers,
which to the eye raise phantoms
of gayety,” but which to the ear
that has drunk a part, at least,of
the heavenly music of truth,
righteousness and judgment to
come, are more like the echoes of
that fiendish and fugitive laugh
ter that mix with the ravings of
the sea of wrath and vengeance
that will whelm a mocking and
infidel world.
“The great Creator to revere,
Must sure become the creature;
But still the preaching can't forbear,
And ev’n the rigid feature;
Yet ne’er with wits profane to rage
Be complaisance extended,
An atheist’s laugh’s a poor exchange
For Deity offended.”
The world’s eras have been
classified into the “stone age,”
the “golden age,” the “ironage,”
etc. I think we have fallen upon
the “laughing age.” It would
seem that no place is too venera
ble, no theme too sacred to be ex
empt from the silly jeer, the
broad grin and the polluting touch
of Momus Is broad farce the
channel for the new evangel?
Are wit, laughter, and funny
jokes the agency that the Spirit
of God is now using to bring sin
ners to repentance, to roll back
the dark tides of human sin and
suffering, to heal the broken
hearted, and emancipate human
ity from its bondage to the world,
the devil and the flesh? If so,
let us throw away our Bibles,
turn our temples of worship into
theaters, quench our altar fires of
private and public devotion, and
transform our schools of the
prophets into training academies
for perfect and efficient drill in
the use of the sock, the buskin
and the mask. Let “motley” be
our “only wear,” and hurrah for
him who has reached the highest
■nd bells; who
y as a power
his inacquain
doctrines and
s a “creative
ot yet prepar
modern craze
ation. We are
the doctrinal
nderlies this
menon. The
f God. He has
ucvci wauLvu ui ue witnesses to
its truth and tender grace and
righteousness. He equips and
sends them forth with the weap
ons of spiritual w’arfare in their
hands; and the undying fires of
holy love and zeal flaming upon
the altar of their hearts. The
good fight of faith is to be waged
and won by the same weapons,
and under the enduement of the
same panoply which made the
apostle Paul the greatest human
hero of the world.
The solemn verities of God’s
eternal truth are to be proclaimed
as of old “with tears,” and the
deathless zeal which girt the di
vine Master must still be the pal
ladium of the true and tried sol
diers of the cross. Men must
still be taught in detail as well as
in the mass, that salvation is not
quitting their meanness, or adopt
ing a code of moral reformation;
but by exercising repentance to
ward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, plunging, all pant
ing, not into fetid and
troubled waters, but into the
fountain of a Savior’s blood. We
must get back to the theology of
the New Testament —back to the
blood earnestness of the apostles
and prophets and of the martyrs
and witnesses for Christ. The
austere virtues of the Christian
faith have never been popular in
the strict sense of that word.
Its rewards are not paid in the
coin of this world, or its merits
tested by popular applause.
“Woe unto you when all men
shall speak well of you, for so
did their fathers to the false
prophets.” “Yea, all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution.” Fidelity to
Christ will entail suffering; but
there are infinite compensations
derived from the approval of a
good conscience, the smile of our
Divine Master, and his welcome
plaudit when the conflict is over
and the victory is won.
Monticello, Ga.
For the Index.
The City versus The Country.
BY REV. A B. M’CURDY.
The time draws nigh when
men, especially pastors, will be
seeking rest and recreation in
the country, and upon the moun
tains, and by the sea, and this is
beneficial, for indeed God ap
pears in another form unto us as
we v/alk into the country. The
old proverb: “God male the
country and man made the town,”
is, of course, one of that large
class which, by the greatness of
its exaggeration of a truth, be
comes false; yet it is doing its
work to an alarming degree in
our large cities, and men are for
getting God, and are gradually
being drawn to an acceptance cf
the proverb. But to see nothing
of God’s work and God’s pur
pose in the vast enterprise, in the
ceaseless activity of brain, in the
immense concourse of humanity,
in the noble philanthropy which
seeks to grapple with the misery
and vice of the seething popula
tion, in that attrition of mind
which often brings forth sparks
of undying energy, all of which
are t triking characteristics of
our great cities, is to be blind
indeed to some of God's best and
truest revelations.
There is something very grand
and awful in a great populous
city. I remember, one bright
nigh?, gazing over London from
that range of hills which is its
northern boundary. Amid a still
ness there where one could hear
the quiver of the smallest leaf,
there arose the distant ceaseless,
monotonous murmur of the roar
of London's midnight traffic.
Away beyond the eye stretched
that vast forest of human habi
tations, shimmering in the cold
light till lost in the distant sil
very mist. There was something
overpowering in thought of
the millions waking or sleeping
there —of all the strange variety
of piety or vice—of joy and of
sorrow—of hate and of love- of
suffering and of happiness, that
was gathered there. As we
gazed, at least one young soul
was entering into life—at least
one soul was passing away from
earth forever. And then, the
grander thought of the great God
above, who saw it all, who heard
every sigh, every prayer, every
curse, every blasphemy that
broke upon the midnight.
Yes, man may have made the
town, but God made the think
ing brains, the throbbing hearts,
the men, the women whose mil
lions swarm there. Still there
is a great truth at the basis of
that proverb. The absorption of
the greater part of the thought,
and genius, and manhood, and
life of a nation into cities is not
without danger.
“When the villages ceased in
Israel, then wes there war in the
gates.” Is there not war now in
every gate where faith and hope
stand sentinels for God? Is not
village and country life being
largely absorbed into city life in
this land? Is not the very man
ner in which we use the word
“country” an evidence not only
of how highly we esteem the life
of towns, but of how greatly we
depreciate the life of the country
and the village ? And wherein
all this land is there a strong city
church who would direct the
pulpit committee to look “out in
the country” for a pastor? When
was a pastor called from a coun
try pastorate to a city ? lam not
finding fault, nor am I criticising
our churches of the city; I am
well aware of the peculiarities of
the city pastorate; yet, is there
not a very different habit or
thought regarding the churches,
and God as well, and our relation
to him, engendered by a long
residence in a crowded metropo
lis, from that which dawns upon
a thoughtful spirit amid the
sights and sounds of nature 9
Have you never felt, amidst so
much human life and surrounded
with the vast works of man’s
hands, a little more faith in
things material—a little less real
ization of complete dependence
upon God, than when you have
been alone in the country, and
the mountains encircled you with
their majesty, or the bright har
vest fields waved in their golden
glory at your feet ? There is,
indeed, a great tendency of
thought, engendered by the in
fluences of the crowded city and
its life, which may be discerned
spreading and increasing in our
day and midst to an alarming ex
tent —it is to forget God. In
deed, so multitudinous have be
come our branches of organiza
tion and auxiliaries, and so won
derfully manipulated the wires
of church organization, and so
successfully, we have almost in
many instances laid aside that
old and Christ recognized essen
tia! —faith in God.
In the city man seems to be
creator as well as utilizer. He
seems in all his enterprise and
in all his achievement to be his
own master, and not God’s work
man. God may not be entirely
forgotten, but he appears a Law
and not a Person.
Let churches send their pas
tors away for a few weeks to the
country, or the mountain or sea,
that they may get away from the
rush and bustle and materialism
of the town, that God may ap
pear unto them in another form
as they walk in the country, and
they will return to their work
full of rich truth overlooked, and
not only rested and recuperated
in body, but the better able to
lead the flock over which they
are overseers, because of the
burning words spoken unto them
by the Master as he walked and
talked with them in the country.
Natchez, Miss
VOL. 76-NO. 38
For the Index.
Reminiscences of Georgia Baptists.
BY S. G. HILLYER, D.D.
VI.
REV. ADIEL SHERWOOD, D.D.
As stated in a former paper, I
knew Dr. Sherwood when I was
a little boy. I saw him first at
our home, but I was too young to
know who or what he was. I
only learned that he was a preach
er, and that his name was Sher
wood. He was then a stranger in
Georgia. He was a native of
Vermont, a graduate of Middle
burg College and also of the The
ological Seminary at Andover.
It was with such preparation,
as above stated, that Dr. Sher
wood entered upon his work in
Georgia. He gave to our State the
best part of a long life. The his
tory of that life is on record. And
a more instructive and useful
history for Georgia Baptists can
hardly be found.
It was about 1824, that Dr.
Sherwood was, a second time, a
guest at my mother’s home. I
was then old enough to know
him, and, in some small measure,
to appreciate him. It was easy
enough to see that my mother
and grandmother (our father had
passed away) were deeply inter
ested in his conversation. He
was, decidedly, the most learned
Baptist preacher they had ever
known; yet, though so far above
them in learning, they discovered
that, in the realm of experimen
tal religion, he spoke a language
which they well understood. And
if he spoke of the need of mis
sionary work among the Indians
upon our borders, or among the
distant heathen where Judson
was, his words found a ready
echo from their hearts.
Nor was he unmindful of my
mother’s sons. I was then about
fifteen years old. I remember he
took occasion to address a few
words to me. He asked me
what I was reading in Latin. I
told him I was reading Virgil.
And, looking at me with a pleas
ant smile, he said: “And where
did you first find Tityrus?” Ire
plied : “I found him reclining un
der the shade of a beech tree.”
The answer seemed to please
him; and I felt gratified by his
attention.
At the same time, or in a sub
sequent interview, my brother
Junius had a similar experience.\
My brother was two years older
than I, and of course more ad
vanced in his studies. Dr. Sher
wood drew him out as to his
studies. The conversation cul
minated in my brother’s reading
to him a composition he had just
finished. The good doctor was
evidently pleased with the youth
ful effort. Yet with a gentleness
almost parental, he criticized the
diction in two or three sentences
and suggested amendments. My
brother at once and with pleas
ure accepted his suggestions, and
afterwards gave evidence of his
gratification in having Dr. Sher
wood to criticize his composi
tion.
Such incidents as just given
may appear to some readers too
trilling to deserve remembrance;
but simple as they are, they teach
us a valuable lesson. In just
such incidents we learn how Dr.
Sherwood was able, perhaps un
consciously to himself, to work
his way into the affections of the
families which he visited.
Let me give you another sim
ple story. It was given to me by
one who claimed to know the
facts.
On one occasion brother Sher
wood was riding through a rural
district. His road led him by a
house where dwelt a fanily with
which he was well acquainted.
He concluded to drop in aid greet
the household. He found, how
ever, that the husband and father
of the family was out in the fields
superintending his work. Tne
time was too short to make it
worth while to send for him. So
the visit was limited to the mem
bers of the family who were
present.
The lady of the house was
deeply pious, and greatly con
cerned about her husband, who
was not a member of the church
and seemed to be unconcerned
about his salvation. Brother
Sherwood understood the situa
tion. The case seemed to touch
his heart; for just before he left
he made prayer with the family.
A part of it was an earnest and
feeling supplication in behalf of
the unconverted husband. He
then took leave of all present and
went ou his way.
About twilight the husband
came in from the field. H s wife
met him and told him of Dr.
Sherwood’s visit, and of the
earnest prayer which he had
made for the salvation of tha
husband. What reply he made I
cannot now report.
But it came to pass, in a few
weeks, that this man presented
himself to the Baptist church in
his neighborhood as a candidate