There was a time when the Eastern part of the United States looked upon San Francisco as the coming New York of the Pacific Coast, but since the disastrous earthquake in the year 1906, the stream of progress as a great commercial center has been turned rather towards the Northern Pacific Coast, yet San Francisco with its great harbor, the ever increasing commercial developments and number of other advantages, still is a magnificent attraction to the homeseeker, who for the last few years has been very sceptical in his preference on account of existing unfavorable conditions regarding the city's government which is the prey of dishonest politicians. For this and many other reasons I should never make my home within the limits of the city of San Francisco. There are beautiful localities within short distances, desirable in every respect and beyond the claws of the city hall of San Francisco.
Mount Tamalpais, I believe, is a most pleasant location for the lovers of nature. Words fail, and it is beyond the ability of my pen, to even attempt to describe, the beauties which nature has bestowed upon the Mount of Tamalpais. Situated just across the bay of San Francisco, by the way of Socialito,on the train to Mill Valley and whence on the crookedest railroad in the world, climbing 2000 feet above the tide of water, we reach the lower top of the mountain, and there we find accommodations to entertain kings and princesses, and the most eccentric Yankee. Yet, I am assured, that scarcely one-tenth of the visitors to California, have ever had the exceptional privilege to spend 24 hours, on the top of Mount Tamalpais, and thereafter all through their lives enjoy the most wonderful recollection in all God's creation.
The Alps in Europe are too stupendous to be compared with this majestically magnificent mount of Tamalpais. The Himalaya in Asia are too brutish to be considered as a rival of this gentle and illustrious sky-scraper. The Olympus and Parnassus of Greece are out of season to be paralleled with this up-to-date marvelous throne of their Majesties the Kings of America. There is the Tamalpais Hotel, a real palace, where the guests can rest and from the verandas or the windows of their own rooms observe the animating sights on the left hand side the snow-covered top-heads of the mountains and following to the right look down upon the valleys and behold the myriads of orange and lemon and all the fruit-bearing trees blooming all the year around and decorated like brides in their wedding procession, not only for a few moments, till the law ties the knot, but forever as long as the life-giving climate of beautiful California lasts and time shall be no more.
When I went up to the Mountain, looking foremployment, because I wanted to locate myself in such a place, if I could, till the celebration of the Knights Templar was over, I was surprised to find that the General Manager of the Hotel and the R. R. Station was a lady, of a striking majestical appearance, she was the controlling power of the whole business on Mount Tamalpais, and she was not a suffragette either. But she was a loving mother of two beautiful children, a typical Yankee girl, well up in her teens, supervising over the chambermaids, and variously assisting her mother, and an active boy of sixteen, the good-fellow of everybody, and especially to the Chinamen employed in the kitchen. Mr. Johnson was the husband and father of this happy family, and he occupied the position of butler of the house, receiving orders from his beloved wife.
I presented my credentials to Mrs. Johnson and she, being satisfied, was very kind to give me the charge of two tables to wait upon in the dining room. It seemed as though I made good as a waiter, judging by the coins which the customers, began to forget, beneath their plates, in leaving the table, some call it tips, I called it real money.
September was well at hand, one day old, and Mrs. Johnson was very anxious to have the premises well decorated, and a big arch should be erected at the entrance, with the sign, "WELCOME," to Knights Templar, as news came from San Francisco, that the Knights were already in possession of the Golden Gate. Mrs. Johnson was almost in despair, unable to find someone among that great army ofemployees, to have any artistic ideas of decorating or even to make a few flower designs and put up the arch out of some green foliage. We were all green, in that respect. But as I always find myself at hand, wherever help is to be rendered, I offered my services, and by what I could remember from my friend Jack, in New York, how he could decorate everything to a good taste, I have been able to put up a nice decoration and the third of September, 1904, the flags of all nations were waving and everything was ready for the reception of the Knights Templar. Mrs. Johnson was pleased to the extent of presenting me with an extra three dollars and relieving me from the dining room, she appointed me in charge of the pavilion, an out-doors building, where the Knights Templar would privately entertain their families and lady friends. In this position I was enabled to see more of the high American life than I ever dreamed of before. The English Lord, and the Parisien Dame de Honor, were eclipsed as they would look like pygmies by the side of the sunshining, bright-hearted American gentlemen, and the sweet and graceful demigoddess American lady. But my enthusiasm reached its zenith when a gentleman from Pittsburg, in company with his ladies, after an enjoyable dinner, at the pavilion, he left under his plate a shining five dollar gold piece; at the sight of the unexpected I made a sign to which the gentleman was obliged to respond, and that settled it, there was no mistake about it, the man and I were brothers and the coin was intended as my tip. Andafterwards the incident occurred repeatedly during the celebration of Knights Templar in San Francisco.
Now, if everything in this world was just a procession like that of Knights Templar in San Francisco, and everybody was happy as the people I have seen on Mount Tamalpais, then there would be no sorrow, and there would be no pain; in fact this world would be the paradise on earth. But, alas! regretful as it may be, yet it is only the simple truth, that it is only the minority that are real happy, while the vast majority of men and women and children in this world are just a mass of suffering humanity, and if the investigations of religious societies, sociologists, and psychologists, are true, the cause of all misery in this world is misconduct or misfortune, which in one word is, sin, that brings misery. And there is where my purpose in life begins. I am out against sin. But to fight sin, it is absolutely necessary to be a soldier of the man who gave his life for the salvation of all mankind.
President Emeritus Eliot of Harvard University, a man of colossal thought-machine, man, who controls the unprejudiced intellectual minds of America, in his address on "The Religion of the Future," is quoted as saying: "I venture to add that I am not at the hold of any proud world—whatever; second, that such little part of the world as I am best acquainted with loves the Lowly Nazarene—and does not hate Him; thirdly, that I have met during my life most of the sorrows which are accounted heaviest; fourth, that Jesus will be in the religion of the future, not less, but more, than in the Christianity of the past." All efforts without Jesus, trying to better the world, shall fail. It is and will be the opinion of all sane minds for many generations yet to come. This was my opinion and the only imposing motive that brought me down on my knees on the 14th of October, 1904, in a poorly furnished hall where the Salvation Army had the Sunday night's meeting. I gave my heart to Jesus, for life and for eternity, to be his and his alone. And I knew, there and then, that I was honorably converted.
To make the surrender complete I offered my services to the Salvation Army, that I should use all I had, my time and my talent, to uplift the down-fallen humanity and help to make this world better. Major Harris Connett and Adjutant Allison Coe, were the officers in charge of the Los Angeles Salvation Army and they received me into their ranks and for ten months I was engaged in this wonderful organization, visiting the sick, praying in the saloons, in the slums and everywhere doing all that I could to promote the cause of Jesus in bringing souls into his fold. But nothing gave me so great pleasure as the poor children of Los Angeles at Christmas time when I was dressed in the Santa Claus clothing distributing presents to them. I never felt happier in all my life even in the best days as a High Priest.
After passing successfully my preparatory studies in Los Angeles, word came from the Headquarters that they wanted me in the college Training Home,in Chicago, to take the course of officership; and the 15th of August, 1905, finds me sweeping the back yard at the Training Home, West Adams St., Chicago, Illinois.
Were it possible for every man and woman who pretends to be a minister of Jesus, to pass six months in any of the Training Colleges of the Salvation Army, then there should be fewer ministers, but far more useful, in the betterment of the world, than many of them that are under the present conditions.
It is the most psychological system, in these Training Colleges that brings out all the virtues that every heart possesses and every bit of iniquity that may be hidden in the personal character of the man or woman who willingly denies himself or herself of all prospects and pleasures in this world just for the only purpose to live and love and serve the suffering humanity. There are exceptions to the rule among the officers of the Salvation Army, once in a great while some one will prove unworthy to the cause, but these exceptions are common in every human institution, and they are so few in the Salvation Army that fully justifies the public confidence upon this marvelously developing great movement.
I went through the theoretical and practical work for which I could make a whole volume of the experiences in the slums of Chicago, where I had to reprove a policeman, whom I found in a saloon drinking in full uniform, while in the back room there was a girl not over fifteen years old, in the company of a most reckless middle-aged man, both exceedinglyintoxicated and still drinking. I dismissed the man, and sent the girl to the rescue home, where she would be taken care of.
The 17th of January, 1906, I received my diploma as an active member of the National First Aid Association of America, and my commission as a Captain in the Salvation Army, and I was appointed in charge of No. 4 in Chicago. I went to my quarters and there was not kindling wood enough to start a fire, and no coal; and the weather 14 degrees below zero, half the glass panes of the windows broken, and everything in the house frozen, and the Corps indebted to the extent of 175 dollars, that I was expected to pay. You have to put yourself in a position of this kind in order to appreciate the circumstances under which I was placed. Yet, when everything seems dark, and there is no visible way out of the difficulty, it is then that with Jesus on our side, we shall always find some way. The first consideration in a missionary work should be to get souls converted to God. With much prayer and great faith upon the Almighty, I began my work, and when the Spirit spread all round that community and the sinners began to flock into the fold of Jesus, there was a change in a very short time. The old debt was paid, and we had comfortable quarters to lay our heads; and the roll-call of the Corps increased, and God was glorified, and there is a Corps, till this day, in Chicago, which they call the big 4 of the Salvation Army.
The San Francisco disaster came and the Salvation Army called me into its relieving department to help the sufferers. After which they appointed me assistant to the Illinois Division, where for two years I made a deeper and more thorough study of the various departments in operation.
In April, 1908, I visited England with the desire to study closer and more extensively the methods, and see for myself the great works which the Salvation Army has accomplished in the British Isles.
On my return to the United States I was appointed divisional solicitor for the Northern New England, where, splendid success was the result of my efforts, and there was a great field to work in and every opportunity to do good.
But in searching my heart's ambition I find that it was high time for me to turn all my energies toward the people for whose Salvation I was ordained a High Priest in the Church, and although the Church failed in its mission, yet, to uplift my people is still the aim of my life.
After much thought and due consideration of my obligations to the Salvation Army, I came to the conclusion that in view of the fact that following an unsuccessful correspondence with the Salvation Army, the National Headquarters refused to grant me a leave of absence, and insisted that I should go back West, while I knew that the field where I was called to fight the battle of my life was right here in New England, the best thing for me to do remained to send in my resignation, and I did so, thus thrusting myself entirely upon the hands of God.
And though as yet I have received no reply from the National Headquarters, my resignation is final, and now I am free, and my work unmolested of all denominational differences, dogmas and doctrines, which in the light of the Ecclesiastical history has always been the fatal cause of failure, in the Churches, to accomplish their mission in the Salvation of the world.
The necessity of faith, as a primary element in all acceptable religious exercises, has already been noticed. A feeling of entire dependence upon God for spiritual mercy is the only right feeling, because it is the only true feeling. It is necessary, according to the foregoing view of the subject, in order to offer acceptable prayer, that man should possess a spirit of faith and dependence upon Christ. The principle upon which Christ acted in relation to this subject, as well as His instruction concerning the duty of prayer, fully confirm the preceding thoughts. He seldom performed an act of mercy, by miracle or otherwise, unless those who received the mercy could see the hand of God in the blessing:—"If thou canst believe, thou mayest be cleansed," was His habitual sentiment. As if He had said—Your desire for the blessing is manifest by your urgent request; now, if you can have faith to see God in the blessing, so that He will be honored and praised for conferring it, I will grant it; but if you have no faith, you can receive no favor.
This little book could easily occupy thrice as large a size as its present volume, had I taken into accountall the blessings which God has bestowed upon my faithful prayers and upon His children, using me as an instrument of His hand. But I must content myself by referring to only two cases, which had had exceptional significance and gratifying joy not only to my own heart, but to every Christian worker.
With the individuals spoken of I am well acquainted, having frequently conversed with them all on the subjects of which I shall speak. Their words in these cases may not have been exactly remembered, but the sense is truly given.
The first case, is a story, told all by itself, and the second case, is a letter of a dear girl, whose mother was a down to the bone Roman Catholic. The daughter accidentally came to our meeting and gave her heart to Jesus. The mother thinking that the worldly pleasures might drive her newly converted daughter away from Jesus, and being very anxious to get her daughter back into the Catholic parish, she gave a party to all the young people from the same parish. And there was plenty of song and dance, but the daughter did not show up. The mother with a number of the guests went into the daughter's room where the girl in seclusion was reading her Bible; the young people almost carrying her into the reception hall, sat her upon the stool in front of the piano, earnestly asking her to play for them while they were dancing. But, the girl, lifting up to God her angelic heart and voice, she began to play and sing, softly "Nearer My God ToThee," the tears streaming down her cheeks; they were tears of joy for the saved girl, but the young people could not stand it and they ran away, while the converted girl bended on her knees in prayer for them, and her own mother's salvation.
Case 1.—For love of the Christ:—John Davis was the only child of a Chicago banker. The wealth and social prominence of his father had surrounded him with every comfort and luxury, and his growth from boyhood to incipient manhood had been tenderly watched over by his fond parents.
All the hopes of his parents were centered in their only child. Mr. Davis looked forward to the time when John would become his partner, and that his son might be fitted in every way, engaged the best tutors procurable to attend to his education. John had graduated with honors after four years of college work, which was marked by the thorough and earnest application on his part. His father watched his progress with growing pride and with fullest confidence in his son's ability, arranged to take him into partnership at the proper time.
Seemingly the future for John was one of brilliant promise. But John did not show an eager anticipation for the future as planned for him. A life devoted to business was to him a selfish one. Something within him was insistently calling him to a higher vocation; although apparently acquiescing to his father's plans, the prospect daily became more and more distasteful to him.
From his mother, a woman of singular devoutnessand piety, John had received a careful religious training, and he could not reconcile the idea of a life devoted to self with the truths he had reverently accepted as his faith. Daily he met with examples of shamefully degraded manhood, of pitiful want, and of unhelped suffering. His soul went out in pity towards these unfortunate ones, and at such times the voice within imperiously summoned him to follow in the footsteps of Him whom he worshiped as Lord and Saviour.
On the other hand Reason urged filial obedience to the wishes of his father. That his mother would understand and encourage him should he heed the call of his soul, John did not for an instant doubt. Not less clearly, however, did he recognize the attitude his father would take to such a course; for his father, while refraining from scoffing at beliefs cherished by his wife and friends, made no secret of his own disbelief in them.
The life which would appear to his mother and himself as noblest of all would seem quixotic and senseless to his father. Besides, his father had set his heart on John's becoming his partner in business. John dreaded to disappoint him, yet stronger and stronger grew the call of that inner voice which now all but dominated him.
One evening as he sat with his parents he surprised them by saying: "Now that I have finished my college course it is time for me to choose my vocation, to strive to be of benefit to my fellow men."
"All arrangements have been made, John," respondedMr. Davis, "you may begin at once if you so desire. Your mother and I thought, however, that you were entitled to a vacation after your college work. However we can use you at the bank the moment you are ready," laughed Mr. Davis.
"That is just what I desire to talk over with you, father," returned John. "For weeks I have felt that the future you have designed for me is too narrow—too selfish. With my Master's Call sounding in my ears, the thought of devoting my life to any business, however high its position in the eyes of the world, is intolerably repugnant.
"I know how firmly your heart has been set upon my joining you in business, and I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to disappoint you at this late hour, but Christ has called me to preach to His people. I feel and know that only in so doing shall I find true happiness and contentment.
"You surely, father, will not oppose my doing that which every fibre of my body tells me is my duty."
The eyes of Mrs. Davis filled with glad tears, and a prayer for Divine guidance for her son went up from her heart; but annoyance and displeasure plainly showed on Mr. Davis' face. At length he said:
"I had thought it definitely settled that you were to assist me, and on the strength of that belief I have made several important changes in my business with the view of affording a proper position for you. Your decision declining to accept it will inconvenience me not a little.
"With all due consideration for your religious beliefs, I feel it my duty as your father, John, to express my disappointment of the profession you at present seem inclined to adopt. However you are entering man's estate, and it is for you to decide as to your career. I shall, however, insist upon one thing: that you take a good vacation before making your final decision.
"If, upon your return you are of the same mind, I shall not oppose you, although to speak frankly, John, I am not a little disappointed.
"Anyway a good western trip will greatly benefit you, and I shall not be at all surprised if on your return your conception of your duty has undergone important modifications." As if signifying that he desired to discuss the subject no farther, Mr. Davis rose and left the room.
Keenly feeling his father's disappointment and displeasure, John instinctively turned to his mother for sympathy. Mrs. Davis stepped to his side and with a fond caress said:
"Thank God you have made this choice; I shall do all in my power to help you."
"Thank you, mother dear. I believe you understand me, and know how sincere is my desire to do what I can for my fellow men.
"I do so long to lead some of them to Christ; for many are wandering in darkness, just waiting for some one to reach them a helping hand.
"In deference to father's wishes I shall take a vacation; though it can by no possibility alter mydetermination. On my return I shall begin active work without delay.
"I have education enough to preach the simple truths of God's love. I wish to preach to sinners, not to saints. I shall ask no salary and have no denomination. My Church will be Christ."
After tenderly embracing his mother, during which the souls of mother and son united in a prayer to the Most High, John bade her "Good night" and retired.
The following week found John on his way to South Dakota, his plan being to make his first stop of any length at Aberdeen.
He arrived there at night and the following morning mounted his bicycle for a trip through the surrounding country.
It was a new world to him. His first thought was: how splendid the roads were for wheeling, they seemed even better than the paved streets of the city.
He cast his eyes over his surroundings. On all sides was the vast expanse of prairie, ending only in the horizon—the fields of grass and grain, moving in the wind like the waves of the sea; overhead the blue sky, stretching out in a dome unbroken by hill or forest. The sun above him seemed to shine with a brighter splendor than he had before known.
The beauties of nature filled the soul of this city-bred youth with wonder and admiration.
He rode on and on.
At one moment the joyous song of a lark captivatedhim; at another, the capering of some colts, or a sleek herd of cattle quietly grazing in a nearby pasture attracted his attention; or a colony of prairie gophers which dived excitedly into their burrows at his approach, amused him with their antics.
At last he began to wonder how far he had gone.
Seeing nearby a large, well kept farm-house, he rode up to it, to procure such rest and refreshment as it might afford him, before undertaking his long ride back to town.
His knock at the door was answered by a beautiful girl, apparently about fifteen years of age. John explained his errand to her, and requested such courtesies as could be granted without putting the people of the house to undue inconvenience.
The girl expressed her regrets that her parents were away in town, but saying that she expected them home very soon, she invited him in, and ushered him into a cool, spacious sitting-room.
Mutual introductions followed and John learned that the name of his fair young hostess was Lily Long, "but," said she, with a slight blush, "father calls me the Queen of the Prairie."
They visited together for some little time, until Lily, exclaiming that her father and mother were coming, went out to greet them.
Left to himself, John glanced around him.
An old-fashioned piano stood in one corner of the room. He noted also an ample, well filled book-case at one end of the room.
"Music, books, and Prairie Queen. If this is atypical example of country life, I must say that I rather like it."
Mr. and Mrs. Long greeted him heartily and gave him a cordial invitation to stay to dinner—an invitation which he gratefully accepted.
And what a dinner it was; vegetables fresh gathered from the garden in abundance; fried chicken prepared as only a farmer's wife can prepare it; and the countless other good things which go to make dinner on the farm. To this dinner John brought an appetite sharpened by his brisk morning ride; he did full justice to the tempting viands, nor could he remember so thoroughly enjoying a dinner before.
Everything on the farm was so clean and well arranged that John began to wish he could board there instead of in town during the remainder of his visit; so when they had adjourned to the sitting-room, he informed Mr. Long of his wish, and asked if it were possible.
"But before you answer me," he added, "I should like to make myself better known to you."
Then he told them of his father and mother, of his own youth, and of his college life. A natural question on the part of Mr. Long as to what brought him so far West led to an explanation from John, who presently found himself telling his new-found friends his future plans and ambitions.
"My boy," said Mr. Long, reaching out his hand, "I honor you for your choice. You are welcome to share our home as long as you care to stay."
Mrs. Long wiped her eyes as she pressed John tostay with them, for she thought of her own son whom God had called home.
Lily must have been thinking of him too, for she said: "I am glad you are going to stay, for then I can play you are my brother."
"I certainly shall be proud to be your brother," John answered gallantly.
That evening when the family gathered for prayers, Lily took her seat at the old piano. Then John realized why they called her "Queen," for never had he heard such a magnificent voice, so sweet, so soft, and so full of feeling. It seemed as though she carried them nearer Heaven with her song.
Before John retired he wrote to his mother, telling her of the home he had found, and of "The Queen of the Prairie." This rather amused Mrs. Davis, for hitherto, John had had little to say in praise of young ladies, although he was a favorite among them.
The summer passed merrily on, and John's vacation was drawing near its close, when one morning he received a telegram telling him that his mother was dangerously sick. The message filled him with anxious foreboding, and he quickly prepared to return home at once.
Tears were on Mrs. Long's cheeks as she helped him pack, for she had not realized before to what an extent John had taken her own boy's place in her heart. His own eyes were moist as he bade her farewell, promising to return as soon as possible.
Mr. Long was ready with a team to drive him totown, and Lily was standing beside her father. She raised a tear-stained face to him, and said: "Goodbye, dear brother, we shall miss you."
John was not ashamed of his own tears, for this little girl who called him "Brother," had grown dearer to him than all the world. He stooped and reverently kissed her snow white brow, then sprang in the buggy and was gone.
When John reached home, his father met him at the door. Mr. Davis' face was ghastly pale; he had grown old with grief.
John's eyes asked the question his lips could not frame.
"She still lives, but the doctor says she cannot last long," said his father in answer to his son's mute appeal.
"She is paralyzed. She will probably recognize you, but she can neither speak nor move."
Without speaking John went to his mother's bedside, and saw that this was indeed true. His mother lay as one dead. A faint spark of recognition showed in her fast dimming eyes as he approached but other signs of life there were none.
Overcome with grief, John stood motionless at the bedside.
Then in agony he turned to Him who faileth not, he fell on his knees and prayed reverently for his mother's recovery.
His father tried to lead him away, but John continued to pray.
Then suddenly in that hour of anguish the grief-strickenman found his God. Kneeling at his son's side, he implored mercy from Him whom hitherto he had denied.
All at once Mrs. Davis spoke, "My son."
The doctor hastened to her side.
In a moment he turned to Mr. Davis and said, "She is better, she will live."
Dr. Gordon was an unbeliever, but at that moment he realized that something had control of life, which could act after science had failed.
He looked at John who had not yet risen from his knees, at Mr. Davis who was pouring out thanks to the God he had just found, then at the woman who had been saved at the point of death.
Like a flash came to him the knowledge of a merciful Christ, and he joined the father and son in their prayer of thanksgiving.
Mrs. Davis rapidly recovered her health, and John soon entered upon his life work. He received hearty encouragement from his father this time, for Mr. Davis had learned the Truth and found his God at the bedside of his dying wife in such a way as to leave no place in his heart for opposition to work in His service.
John's work was among the poor. He visited from house to house, preaching and praying, and extending material help when such help was most needed.
His sincerity and earnestness were the means of bringing light into many darkened lives, and the message of Christ crucified was eagerly received in response to his pleadings.
At one broken-down house he was met by a frail woman who carried a half-starved child in her arms. It was plainly apparent that in better days she had been a handsome and refined woman.
John introduced himself and asked if he could be of any help to her.
"No," she answered, "I am afraid you cannot aid me. I am Rose Williams. My father is a man of wealth. He is living today in luxury in a neighboring city, and if I would leave my husband I could be clothed in silk and satin instead of these rags, but as long as I stay with him, my father will not help me, not even to keep me from starving. But I would rather starve with my husband than leave him to kill himself with drink, for I love him.
"Drink is the cause of all my poverty and misery. Oh, if Ralph would only let it alone."
She ended her story in a frenzied cry which plainly showed the tension to which she had been wrought, but John's voice was low and soothing as he said, "Suppose you and I pray for your husband. I have great faith in the power of prayer. Shall we not pray together?"
Together they knelt down, and offered up an earnest prayer. Mrs. Williams spoke in low tones at first, then with great excitement. At last she tried to rise, but fell in a swoon on the floor. John placed her on a couch in the room and sent at once for Dr. Gordon.
After his examination, Dr. Gordon looked serious.
"This is going to be a bad case of brain fever,John. From all appearances it has been hastened by lack of proper food, but she may pull through if she has proper care."
Rev. M. Golden The Founder of the Greek-Amerikan-Christian-AssociationRev. M. GoldenThe Founder of the Greek-Amerikan-Christian-Association
John saw that the service of the physician was only part of what was needed for the woman's safety.
He went out and procured bedding and food, and his mother sent over one of her maids, also a trained nurse.
Soon things were made comfortable for Mrs. Williams, but she could not rest.
In her delirium she called continually for Ralph to come home and bring her something to eat.
And where was Ralph? For three days he had been laying in a drunken stupor in the cellar of a saloon, but this evening he had sobered somewhat, and remorse for his cruel neglect of his wife and children was finding a place in his heart. He recalled the starving condition in which he had left them.
Perhaps for the first time he began to realize how dearly his wife must love him to give up the pleasure and luxury of her girlhood home for him, and there in that room not fit for cattle, this man cried out in his anguish, "Oh, God, protect my wife and forgive me."
He started at once for home but as he neared the house his heart was filled with fear, his head began to whirl. Where was Rose? Why was everything so still?
He opened the door and was met by a little girl dressed in white and with golden curls.
How beautiful she was; she ran to him and cried, "Papa has come, Papa has come!"
Then he knew she was his own little daughter.
She led him to the bed on which lay his wife, but the only words which greeted him were, "Ralph come home and bring us something to eat."
He called her name but she heard him not.
Again he spoke: "Dear Rose, forgive me, forgive me."
Dr. Gordon laid his hand on the shoulder of the stricken man and said: "Ask your God to forgive you, your wife knows not what you say."
He looked at the doctor a moment, then said in a low voice, "I did that before I started home. God has forgiven me and saved me. But tell me what I can do for my poor wife."
It was indeed true, Ralph Williams was a changed man. The God who had heard the prayers of the father and son at the dying woman's bedside, and restored her to them, vouchsafed his mercy to the starving wife who prayed for her drink-sodden husband, and in answer to it the dulled conscience of the husband was aroused.
Slowly Mrs. Williams improved, until one morning she said: "Is this Heaven, and are Ralph and my children here?"
"Yes, Rose," her husband replied, "Ralph and the children are here, and henceforth I will do all I can to make this home Heaven on earth."
* * * * *
The years rolling by saw John still fighting the fight for his Maker. Out of the gratitude Ralph Williams had felt for the Divine mercy shown him,had sprung a determination to do all in his power towards uplifting others. John eagerly accepted his services, and thus the nucleus of a rapidly growing power for good was formed.
As more and more came to know the meaning of "Christ Crucified," they entered heart and soul into the work of spreading the truth to others and soon a mightly cohort of Christian workers spread over the city. Individually and with them John labored night and day sustained by his faith and enthusiasm.
The work of directing the efforts of so many, the nightly vigil at the bedside of sick and dying, the continual breathing of the vitiated air of the lower quarters of the city, gradually sapped the strength of John, who did not know the meaning of fatigue when a call on the service of his Christ sounded.
At last an attack of nervous prostration made him realize his position, and yielding to the importunities of his parents and fellow-workers, he consented to take a vacation.
Where should he go but to the broad, sunny prairies of Dakota, to his dearly remembered friends, the Longs and Lily.
She met him with outstretched arms and a glad smile of welcome. With the glory of dawning womanhood about her she was more than ever the "Queen of the Prairie," but by the soft light in her eyes John saw that she was still his Lily.
During the long pleasant vacation which followed, John gained strength and vigor once more, and its close found him ably equipped to take up Christ's work once more.
Mr. and Mrs. Long were doubly sorrowful at their second parting from him, for his heart had found its mate and Lily was accompanying him.
He had gained a lovely bride, and more than that, an enthusiastic helpmate.
Together they took up the work where John had left it. Ere long the erstwhile "Queen of the Prairie" was known as "Angel of the Poor," for her womanly sympathy could often find its way into darkness which even John's earnestness failed to penetrate.
One Friday night they both came to take part in our holiness meeting, and the Spirit revealed to them that should they submit all their powers unreservedly to the will of God, He could use them to still higher and more effective purposes of the cause of Jesus. So, John and Lily, side by side, came out at the altar and offered their lives and their services to Jesus for time and for eternity, they, becoming active members in my corps, and a great blessing to the suffering humanity in that community.
Case 2.—The following letter was received from the girl already mentioned, as the daughter of a Roman Catholic woman, who tried to drive her converted daughter, by the worldly pleasures, away from Jesus:
"Chicago, Ill., Oct. 5, 1906.Captain Golden,Salvation Army.Dear Friend:I feel that I must let you know what the Lord has done for me, 'through you.'Why I ever went to the Salvation Army meeting is more than I know, because I have always been told that the Salvation Army was nothing more than street beggars and a great deal more.So I never went to their meetings until I went to No. 4, and I do sincerely thank God that I went, because now I can see how far from the Lord I was wandering and so unintentionally because I never meant to be a sinner, but I just wanted to have a good time. But now, I can see where some of those good times lead us.Captain, I often think how brave you must have been to go on with the work at No. 4, with so little help, 'that is, earthly help.' I am sorry that I could not help you, but you see I was not brave like you. I could not talk about Jesus to those who scoffed, but I do want Jesus to help me and strengthen me to do His will. Captain, do you know there is a song that always come to me when I am in any difficulty, 'Lead Me Saviour.'Yours sincerely,FLOY MAYHEN,2207, 63d St., Chicago."
"Chicago, Ill., Oct. 5, 1906.Captain Golden,Salvation Army.Dear Friend:
I feel that I must let you know what the Lord has done for me, 'through you.'
Why I ever went to the Salvation Army meeting is more than I know, because I have always been told that the Salvation Army was nothing more than street beggars and a great deal more.
So I never went to their meetings until I went to No. 4, and I do sincerely thank God that I went, because now I can see how far from the Lord I was wandering and so unintentionally because I never meant to be a sinner, but I just wanted to have a good time. But now, I can see where some of those good times lead us.
Captain, I often think how brave you must have been to go on with the work at No. 4, with so little help, 'that is, earthly help.' I am sorry that I could not help you, but you see I was not brave like you. I could not talk about Jesus to those who scoffed, but I do want Jesus to help me and strengthen me to do His will. Captain, do you know there is a song that always come to me when I am in any difficulty, 'Lead Me Saviour.'
Yours sincerely,FLOY MAYHEN,2207, 63d St., Chicago."
It is simply wonderful, that there is no one to lead us like the Saviour, dear Jesus. Who died on Calvary's Cross for our redemption. And now, dear reader, just a word to you. This volume is written for you; if you are a converted Christian enjoying the blessings of a clean heart, indeed, blessed you are, for "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shallsee God." But, if for some reason, if there can be a reason for not being saved, you kept back until this hour, I pray that you may go down upon your knees, at this very moment, just as you are, and open your heart to God, and let Jesus come in: and I know and you will know that the remaining days of your life will be sweet and happy; and when the roll is called up yonder you'll be there, in a robe of white with the angels in the air to meet the Lamb of God, Who will say unto all that loved Him and worked for Him, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of Thy Lord."
Greek Peasant WomanGreek Peasant Woman
It is said, by Him who never told a lie, that every tree is known by its own fruit, and the confirmation of the statement is conclusive to the student of natural and human history.
It was an idea of King Maximilian of Bavaria, to transmit to history a reminder of his reign. He instructed the architects of Germany to design a new style to be named after him. Such a style of Maximilianesque was created. An architect—it was Semper, if I am not mistaken—when asked to take a part in this creation of the so-called Maximilian style, answered that such a thing could not be made to order, that a style of building is the consequence of the history, the culture, life, and doings of a great period of people. If such be the case with a style of architecture, how much more must it be the case in regard to religion?
The history of this style of Maximilian's is, that it has no history, and consequently all efforts of pursuing eminent architects to adopt the Maximilian style failed. This short history is that of the attempts to create a very much needed world religion.It is not the dogma nor the doctrines or the profession that will make it possible for all right thinking minds to unite efforts in building a universal religion, sufficient to satisfy the intellectual want of every people and of every time. Attempts, all-powerful, such as Papism and Mohammedanism, failed in their egotistic purposes to enforce upon the world an exotic structure. Neither the fires of Torquemadas, nor the sword of Islam could deter the bravery of civilization. The blood that was spilled by the millions of martyrs of the lowly Nazarene served to make the history of the man who died upon the Cross, more effective and heartfelt world-need for the only aristurgimatical shrine in which all human families may live in peace and prosperity.
At a time when the world was imperilled by the treatment accorded to Galileo for believing in the motion of the earth; and though 69 years of age he was cast, by the tools of Vatican, into a dungeon, where he lost his sight and ultimately his life; and Copernicus was facing the same fate, for accomplishing a noble astronomical discovery; and Martin Luther was persecuted by the Roman Catholic church, for trying to bring the people nearer to God. The Greeks, a brave people, who, in the face of starvation, for lack of food, and horrified by the sword of the conqueror, dishonored in their holiest sacreds, pure maidens slain after being used in the most beastly way, mothers put to death after their children were torn off into shreds of flesh under the sword of the barbarous Turk, young people and oldaged having no rescuing place to escape from horror and death; when all crowned heads of Europe should bow on their knees and kiss the slipper of the holy father before they could attain their rights to the throne of their own kingdoms; when all the known world was trembling equally in the name of Mohammed and Pope, these people (the Greeks) stood up, and with all the strength that was left in their lungs, they cried out, "we prefer political slavery rather than to be the slaves of the Pope," and for more than three centuries the Greeks suffered such a martyrdom which if only printed it would be more than a human heart could bear.
The history of Greece shall remain until the end of time, and as the peoples of the world grow intelligently and intellectually more enlightened they will come to the appreciation of the fact that the Greek people has contributed more material in paving the way to the spiritual freedom and the individual liberty of the world than any other nation on the face of the earth, and that the Greek spirit is still living and ruling in principle in the very heart of the civilized world.
It is essential that every nation in making up the list of its benefactors should give the first place to the most distinguished one. In accordance to the general law the Greek nation of today not only owes its literary language, in part at least, to the exertions of the great patriot Korais, but to him is accredited the prophecy, that, "the Greek nation shall never be great again, unless regenerated in Christ."
Adamantios Korais was born April 27, 1747, in Smyrna. From early youth he devoted himself to the study of old and new languages. In obedience to his father's wishes, he followed a mercantile career during the year 1772-78, without, however, neglecting the sciences. From 1782-88 he studied medicine in Montpellier and established himself as a practising physician in Paris. From there he worked incessantly for the education of his compatriots, and endeavored to awaken a favorable opinion of his nation in the Occidental countries. In 1800 he received the prize of the Academy for an edition of the writings of Hippocrates, but before this time he had attracted the attention of the world of learning by his ability, and Napoleon the Great conferred upon him many honors and titles and appointed him the medical adviser of the Court. Later on he gained fame by his Greek translation of Beccaria's work on crimes and their punishments. This was followed by a work entitled "De l'etat actuel de la civilization en Greece" (Paris, 1803). This was the first publication in Europe which gave true information on the intellectual and moral conditions of the new Greeks. During the period from 1805-27 he published a collection—twenty volumes—of old Greek classics, with critical explanations and prolegomena. In the latter he gave his patriotic teachings and advices. His greatest merit consisted in his promoting the Greek morals and the Greek language; he eliminated as much as possible all foreign elements, but retained all that was goodand useful from all centuries, rejecting the one-sided retention of the old words and forms as not compatible with the understanding of the people. He above all, helped to establish a noble literary language. On account of his old age he could take no part in the rising of his fatherland in 1821, but aided it greatly by his patriotic pen. When Greece had gained her independence he took an active interest in the new formation of his country. In 1830-31 he attacked the government of Kapodistria in two publications. He died in 1833. His autobiography appeared in Paris in the same year. The name of Adamantios Korais will never die from the memory of every patriot Greek, and yet his sincere opinion that "the Greek nation shall never be great again, unless regenerated in Christ," had little effect upon the hearts of the people, or rather upon the hearts of the leaders of the people.
Great nations have failed, and in every case it was the government's corruption and neglect of duty that caused the sufferings and failures, of which the political history is too abounding and too accessible to be quoted. We only mention the Greek nation, perhaps the greatest and most illustrious of all nations that ever failed in their political career, because we are well informed and personally acquainted with the details that brought this formerly world-wide respected and valued gem of civilization into insignificance in the eye of the scornful, and a plaything in the hands of the so-called great powers of Europe.
In the year of 1902, while I was a High Priest, Archimandrites, grand representative of the Saint Mary's Monastery, Salamis; Orator and Grand Chaplain of the Supreme Council of Greece; and confessor in the most exclusive societies of Athens, hearing confessions and granting absolutions; the following incident, which is published for the first time, and only in parts that are printable, brought me to a final decision, that I should leave my home, my loved ones, and all the flourishing prospects to be a Bishop, with all the comforts and luxuries attached to a Bishopric, just because I had witnessed a few scenes of the manifold political plots that caused the downfall of my own nation, and my own people scattered to the four corners of the world, wandering, struggling for their existence, while Greece, the land of the Gods, and the home of art and beauty, was left in the hands of a few parasites, strangers and unsympathetic feudals who have shown no mercy in straining every material and spiritual bit from the people that still honors them as their kings and sovereigns.
At the time spoken of, there was an open secret to every well informed Greek that the Queen of Greece, Olga, had been the tool of the Russian bureaucracy, trying by means of religious influences to keep the Greeks under the Russian political control; that the Queen Olga paid the expenses for the education of a monk, who, on his return from Russia, where he was graduated from the theological academies of Kiev and Moskow, became the Queen'spersonal confessor, and afterwards by the Queen's very earnest and almost scandalous activities that monk was raised to the Metropolitan Throne of Athens, which position placed him at the head of the Greek Church, and made him the President of the Holy Synod of Greece.
The Metropolitan Throne of Athens is the highest and most exalted position that a mortal Greek could approach, and it is, in fact, the next to the King's Throne, most influential occupation, and more powerful, even than the Royal Throne, because, the Metropolite of Athens is the spiritual leader of all Greeks.
There was plenty of rejoicing in the Queen's camarilla, at the installation of Procopios (that was the name of the monk) as the Metropolite of Athens, and every effort, Queen Olga leading the fight, had gone forth to assure a complete victory for the Russian bureaucracy, over the few remaining unspoiled patriotic Greeks.
All the characteristics of a civil war were enacted in the streets of Athens when Queen Olga attempted to enforce upon the Greek people a new inferior language in their Bibles, and in their holy mass—a language, which the Greek people considered as a means to confound their historical and religious customs and habits and subdue them into a Russian spiritual dependency. Against the attempt there was the very best element of the Greek scholars. Adamantios Korais fought the fight, 100 years before this attempt was made, and he distinctly and clearly madeit understood that the Attic Greek language has been, it is and must be the safeguard of all that is beautiful in the Greek history.
Faithful to their traditions the Greeks of the present generation fought and won a triumphant victory. The innocent blood of the people that was slain on the streets of Athens by orders from the Royal Palace, have wrote with indelible letters, the anathema, which, frenzied mothers in the sight of their assassinated sons, and overwhelmed in grief, cried against Queen Olga, and her crown all but torn to pieces by the wronged multitudes.
Within 24 hours from that terrible bloody day, that will remain an indelible stigma in the history of Queen Olga's life, the most exalted Metropolite Procopios was a fallen ragmuffin and the most hated person in all Greece. And when every one of his colleagues deserted him and the King and Queen shut their door in his face, leaving him a pitiful victim of the political plots to save the royal skin, and while there was no visible friend to give him a helping hand when fallen from the Metropolitan Throne, and while this monk-metropolite Procopios, in all his glorious days had been a profound enemy against every honest effort, especially against young priests who refused to serve his unlawful appetites, and my own experience with this monk-metropolite Procopios is not of the kind to be printed, yet, it was I who put my own life in a probable danger to save him from the mob, that was ready to attack him, and probably kill him, the day after I made his escape possibleinto the Saint Mary's Monastery, Salamis, where at the time I was Archimandrites.
Procopios, in the opinion of his own friends, was the last man in the Greek priesthood, qualified to occupy the Metropolitan Throne of Athens, and totally lost his will power when he became Metropolite by Royal favor. There was an organized clique around the Metropolitan mansion, but the controlling power should be located within the walls of the Royal Palace. Procopios was only an instrument transmitting orders. And if I was allowed to publish all that Procopios himself told me, in Salamis, it would make the Greek people sit up and take notice, but in my vows as confessor I have to carry the confession of the fallen Metropolite Procopios with me to my grave, unless the need arises to serve the best interests of my beloved country. It was his last confession upon the earth. He died and went there, where, at the great Judgment Day, he, surely will give account for all his deeds done in the body.
For the first time in the ecclesiastical history of the Greek Kingdom, a Metropolite abdicated from his throne, rejected by his closest friends, helpless under the anathema of the people, above whom he was called to be the spiritual leader, his life imperilled by the injured public sentiment, Procopios, left a real wreck cast by the shore, as a warning sign of those dangers to which every public man is exposed, when corrupted by higher favours and neglects his duties to the people who entrusted him with responsibilities of national importance.
This incident, which I hope will never occur again, and many other minor opportunities, in which I had a part to play, during that fateful Queen Olga's attempt to adulterate the beautiful and pure Attic Greek language, gave me the exceptional privilege to study all the works of the political machinery in Greece. I have seen the drama enacted behind the scenes. It is a dreadful drama that could break the neck of the strongest long-suffering. The awful drama that is enacted in Greece at the expenses of the people is a long, very long story; perhaps it has its beginning with the reign of King George and Queen Olga, I will not say, but the people of Greece, the poorest people of Europe, are contented and well pleased that they have a King who is a great diplomat, and he is one of the richest Kings in Europe, and their Queen, Olga, they believe (the ignorant do) that she is a saintly woman (as all the Russian saints are), and this ignorant Greek people, they simply feel glad to leave their homes and their children and go into war, like sheep into the butcher's shop, sacrifice their lives, thus destroying their homes and the hopes of their loved ones, every time King George calls them to arms to fight against the Turks. And King George has always a great patriotic cause to fight the Turks. And the Greeks could not appreciate more highly a privilege than to fight and die for the deliverance of their brethren in Crete and for the salvation of the unfortunate Christians in Macedonia.
Yet, for half a century, in fact, since King Georgecame to Greece, there are hundreds of thousands of the best Greek patriots that have been killed, slain, or assassinated, and nearly a billion drachmas national debt, hanging upon the neck of every Greek, like the Damoclean sword, but there is no deliverance for the Cretans, and there is no salvation for the Macedonians, instead there are the traps strategically placed across the Greek borders, so, every time the Greek patriots, in answer to the call of their King, are sent to render a helping hand to the sufferers, they cross the border, only to find, but too late, that they have been trapped, under the sword of the enemy, the Turk; or they are left at the mercy of their assassins, the Bulgars. This drama is going on repeatedly with great success, and to the amusement of the observing great powers of Europe.
Occasionally there is some crippling of the territory already belonging to the possessions of Greece, because the places are of some strategical importance, and this reason is enough, that they should be taken away from the Greeks. And there is a financial commission appointed by the great powers, because King George is a great diplomat and he wants to be sure that his allowance is coming to him increasingly, every year, from the coffers of the Greek treasury, while the international commission should count every penny that the Greek expends in bread for his children.
In the evolution of events, I believe, that there is a time coming, when the Greek people shall rise, from the lethargy, in which they unnaturally areslumbering, for a long time, and they shall awake and break every fetter, and shake off their feet every chain, and their eyes shall be opened and they shall see things that will horrify them as a nation; then shall they know the persons responsible for their sufferings and for the sufferings of the Cretans and Macedonians and why Carditses was beheaded in a dungeon, without giving him the privilege of free citizenship, to prove his reason or his sanity, without any chance to protect his life; and where and by whom that plot was framed up, just to turn the tide of public anger against a royal gang, thus causing the destruction of two beautiful Greek girls, that left alone in the world to suffer from consumption, in agony, to die with the stigma as sisters of a would-be royal assassin. It was my privilege to take care of these two unfortunate sisters, both suffering, and the story of these two girls and the uprising of the Greek people against the adulteration of their language by Queen Olga, settled my determination to fight for the rights of my own people and my beloved country. But, the time for the Greek people to stand up and walk on their own feet, shall come when the prophecy of the great patriot Adamantios Korais, is no more prophecy, but in reality the Greek people will be regenerated in Christ, and there and then shall be a great Greek nation, not only within the boundaries of the feudatory of King George, but within the bounds of love that unites all the millions of people that speak the historical Attic Greek language, and a great Greek nation shall attract theattention of all the civilized world, once more as in the days of old.
I know the dangers in which I am exposed for the step I have taken, because, I know the character and the principles of the Greek people, perhaps, as well as any living Greek, the demagogues, the priests, the church, and the drones and parasites of the royal gang, they each and every one and all together are going to use all their power and money that is at their disposal, and with no regards as to the honesty of means they shall move earth and hell to quench this movement for the regeneration of the Greek people, but having all my trust upon the Almighty and Omnipotent God, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, Who died that all men may be happy, and in the right Spirit of love to God and to my fellow men, I dare launch the Greek-Amerikan-Christian-Association.
Every Greek of reputable character, and all the lovers of the Greek ancient and modern history, are eligible to membership. It is my purpose to endeavor by all the Christian means to bring the Greek and American people into a mutual, intellectual and intelligent understanding. It has been my experience in studying conditions for the last six years, that the Greeks in the United States know very little or nothing of the American history, government, political, social, customs and habits of the American people, which, also, unfortunate as it may appear, yet it is the truth, that only a very limited number of Americans whom I have found all over the UnitedStates, are well informed of the doings in Greece, and still fewer well acquainted and unprejudiced as to the historical and classical importance of the Greek nation.
It is estimated that there are about 300,000 Greek people in the United States, representing the 12,000,000 of Greek-speaking people that is the Greek nation extended all around the Mediterranean countries.
When it is considered that the vast majority of the Greeks in the United States, has never had any opportunity to attend a Christian meeting, or hear the Gospel preached in their own language, it is to their credit that, with all the temptations and the ambiguous associations which the laboring class is often in contact with they have not been worse than they are; it is an indication that the primitive and strong character of the Greek seldom yields to temptation; they hold fast to their historical energy and honesty.
There has never been an attempt of any importance, neither has there ever been any organized effort, for the regeneration of the Greek people, and while the Home and Foreign Missions of America for the last 25 years have given the best of their spiritual leaders for the conversion of the Zulu and the Mogul and millions of American dollars have been expended, with insignificant returns, in trying vainly to make real Christians out of a barbarous and semi-human race of people, and trying to civilize the jungles of Africa, the most urgent duty hasbeen neglected, and some spasmodical efforts that have been put forth by the zeal of earnest individuals, were soon exhausted, and failed, not only for lack of financial support, but, the worst, by spiritual discouragements, and today a noble and the most historical race of peoples, the Greeks, are drifting in despair, away from God, politically perishing, blind, and ignorant priests, and political demagogues leading them fast into the ditch.
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; who will help us to garner in? HELP! is the cry, the most earnest cry, that was ever uttered from the lips and from the heart of a sincere Christian worker.
In organizing the Greek-Amerikan-Christian-Association, all the latest and most effective, spiritual and industrial methods will be employed.
It is hoped that the organization will be incorporated under the laws of the United States, as soon as there are members sufficient in number to assemble in their first meeting and vote the Constitution and the By-Laws of the Association.
Much consideration will be given to the methods of the Y. M. C. A., and Y. W. C. A. This two-fold Institution, which in the opinion of Christian leaders, and the most distinguished sociologists, of the present time, is the very best agency to approach all nations, and spread civilization, well established upon the fundamental principles of Christianity.
For the last few months in my struggle trying to establish the Greek-Amerikan-Christian-Associationand at the same time keep my soul and body together providing a lean livelihood by selling this book, I can truthfully say that I had more experiences than in all my life before. One clergyman of the high Episcopal church in the most fashionable Back Bay, Boston, offered to grant me the use of his church any time I wanted to offer the mass as high priest according to the ritual of the Greek Orthodox Church, if I would only "break off all relations with Protestant bodies here in America." I have a letter from this clergyman which is the most astounding fact of his inconsistency, because he himself is an active member of the Bible Club, a purely Protestant organization: he invited me to one of their meetings, but he would not purchase my book to help me to my bread and butter. Another clergyman, a member of the executive committee of City Missions, Boston, would not purchase my book, unless I offered myself to be employed by them at a certain salary, and he gave me his card introducing me to the chairman of that organization.
Last winter I began to preach to the Greeks at Kneeland street, Boston, in the open air, and when I went to see the police captain of that district he promised to co-operate with me and gave me his consent to go on with my work, but the following Sunday his Lieutenant came up to me, while I was preaching on the street, he stopped me, on the pretense, that he was informed of a plot among the Greeks to take my life. And when I made my complaints to the General Secretary of New EnglandMissions, he told me that I should have known that Boston is a Catholic town, and that the police being informed that I was an ex-priest, they simply would not tolerate me. Horror stricken by this statement I went to see the captain myself, and the very same man who promised co-operation, only a few days hence, he stood up in front of my face and in a savage manner told me that he would not tolerate me to preach on the streets of Boston.
The names of all concerned are in my possession and open to investigation by the general public. But I will omit them here for reasons well understood.
A number of other discouraging instances, only worked together to deeper impress upon my heart the importance and the excellency of my high calling. Sooner or later, in the inevitable law of evolution and universal progress, the Greek nation must be regenerated in spirit and in truth: and I believe that it is not only a case of courtesy, but, there is a sense of duty for every true American man and woman to co-operate in the uplifting of all mankind. As for me I fully appreciate the privilege to suffer for the benefit of my fellow men, and I can hopefully repeat Tennyson's immortal words:
Once in a golden hourI cast to earth a seed,Up then came a flower,The people said, a weed.
To and fro they wentThro' my garden bower,And muttering discontentCursed me and my flower.
Then it grew so tall,It wore a crown of light,But thieves from o'er the wallStole the seed by night.
Sow'd it far and wide,By every town and tower,Till all the people cried,"Splendid is the flower:"
Read my little fable,He that runs may read:Most can raise the flower now,For all have got the seed.