WINTER LIFE AND SCENES.
Shall He come and find me standing
From the worldling's joy apart,
Outside of its mirth and folly,
With a true and loyal heart?
On one occasion, in reference to a severe winter, she writes: "This has
been the hardest winter I have known for years." The winters in New York
are sometimes very severe. And here we are reminded of Thomson's vivid
description of it in his "Seasons." He prefixes it with this wonderful
prayer:
"Father of light and life! thou God supreme!
O, teach me what is good! teach me Thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low pursuit! and feed my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace and virtue pure;
Sacred substantial, never-fading bliss!"
"SNOW MANTLES THE EARTH. DISTURBS THE COMFORT OF MANKIND.
"The keener tempests rise; and fuming down
From all the livid east, or piercing north,
Thick clouds ascend; in whose capacious womb
A vapory deluge lies, to snow congealed.
Heavy they roll their fleecy world along,
And the sky saddens with the gathered storm."
We all know that a northwest snow-storm in this city is very cold and
biting. But amid the blinding snow-drift this woman could be seen
wending her way to homes of want, poverty, and wretchedness.
In order to recognize and appreciate her labors we have only to
contrast her aims and aspirations with another and far different class
that abound in all large cities, so graphically described by Pollock:
Ah! little think the gay licentious proud,
When pleasure, power, and affluence surround;
Ah! little think they of the sad variety of pain:
How many pine in want; how many bleed,
How many pine, how many drink the cup
Of baleful grief, or eat the bitter bread
Of misery; sore pierced by wintry winds.
Amid all such sad scenes this heroine bids us labor on in faith, and
she adds, "_Our labor will not be in vain._" No, never! "For, they
that go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall _doubtless_
return again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them."
What is faith? Faith is simply taking God at His word. Paul, in the
eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, reveals to us the victories God's
people obtained through faith. There is often something startling to
our sluggish spirits by a critical examination of the almost incredible
account of the power of faith. How tremendously efficacious. Oh! that
the Holy Spirit may reveal to us its vast importance.
"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed
about seven days.
"By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not,
when she had received the spies with peace.
"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jepthae; of David also, and
Samuel, and of the prophets:
"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
"Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens.
"Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection:
"And others had trial of _cruel_ mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover
of bonds and imprisonment:
"They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins;
being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
"(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
"And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received
not the promise;
"God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect."
To lift with tender pitying hand,
Sin's victims, from the dust;
Reproach them not, nor chide their wrong,
Be kind as well as just;
A word may touch a sleeping chord
Of mem'ry pure and sweet,
And bring them, sorry for their sins,
To bow at Jesus' feet.
Go, seek them out--poor, wand'ring sheep,
That on the mountain cold,
Are hungry--starving now for bread--
Go, lead them to the fold;
There comes a cheering thought to those
Who toil in patient love--
Each soul reclaimed shall be a star
To deck their crown above.
If we but prayerfully consider the sad condition of the unregenerate,
and the innumerable antagonistic diabolical influences to which they
are constantly exposed, we will be able to accurately understand the
nature and importance of a city missionary's work, and the great need
there is of giving heed to the injunction of the Master, "Be ye wise as
serpents and harmless as doves." There are few vices which cannot be
conquered by the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth. Here the reader will behold this illustrated,
for she writes again:
"In many places I have found it distressing to visit, the destitution
being so great; but through the assistance of kind friends, I have been
able to assist them in various ways, and thus have found a way to their
hearts, and they gladly receive me in many houses, and listen with
great attention to reading and prayer. One poor woman whom I found, had
been ill for some weeks, and while ministering to her temporal wants I
have not neglected her spiritual needs. She seems truly awakened to the
sinfulness of her past life, and feels her need of Christ. She begged
me to visit her daughter and try to influence her. I have spent some
happy seasons in that attic-room, and when I leave she puts her arms
around me, kissing me, and asking me to come again.
"A man asked me for a Testament, saying he wanted to read it for
himself. I gave him one, and on visiting him again, he said, 'I have
been reading your book, and like it so very much, I will pay you for
it;' and he handed me a dollar.
"Notwithstanding this has been the hardest winter I have known for
years, I have been much encouraged in my work, having been enabled to
help every deserving family I have met with; and one, where I have been
visiting for years without being able to induce them to attend church,
have now been brought in, and have united with the church, both mother
and daughter rejoicing in the Saviour, and feeling they have never
known happiness before. Let us, therefore, labor on in faith, and our
labor will not be in vain."