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diff --git a/37883-h/37883-h.htm b/37883-h/37883-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2cf77d --- /dev/null +++ b/37883-h/37883-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15161 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + +<head> + + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Steve P. Holcombe, The Converted Gambler: His Life And Work, by Rev. Gross Alexander. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + blockquote { + text-align:justify; + } + + body { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + } + + .booktitle { + letter-spacing:3px; + } + + .centered { + text-align:center; + font-weight:bold; + } + + div.centered { + text-align:center; + } + + div.centered table { + margin-left:auto; + margin-right:auto; + text-align:left; + } + + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + .figcenter { + padding:1em; + text-align:center; + font-size:0.8em; + border:none; + margin:auto; + text-indent:1em; + } + + .footnote { + font-size:0.9em; + margin-right:10%; + margin-left:10%; + } + + .footnote .label { + position:absolute; + right:84%; + text-align:right; + } + + .fnanchor { + vertical-align:super; + font-size:.8em; + text-decoration: + none; + } + + .h1 { + font-size:2em; + margin:.67em 0; + } + + .h1, .h2, .h3, .h4, .h5, .h6 { + font-weight:bolder; + text-align:center; + text-indent:0; + } + + h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 { + text-align:center; + } + + .h2 { + font-size:1.5em; + margin:.75em 0; + } + + .h3 { + font-size:1.17em; + margin:.83em 0; + } + + .h4 { + margin:1.12em 0 ; + } + + .h5 { + font-size:.83em; + margin:1.5em 0 ; + } + + h5 { + margin-bottom:1%; + margin-top:1%; + } + + .h6 { + font-size:.75em; + margin:1.67em 0; + } + + hr.chapter { + margin-top:6em; + margin-bottom:4em; + } + + hr.tb { + margin:2em 25%; + width:50%; + } + + p { + text-align:justify; + margin-top:.75em; + margin-bottom:.75em; + text-indent:0; + } + + p.author { + text-align:right; + margin-right:5%; + } + + p.author1 { + text-align:right; + margin-right:15%; + } + + p.caption { + text-indent:0; + text-align:center; + font-weight:bold; + margin-bottom:2em; + } + + p.spacer { + margin-top:2em; + margin-bottom:3em; + } + + .pagenum { +/* visibility:hidden; remove comment out to hide page numbers */ + position:absolute; + right:2%; + font-size:75%; + color:gray; + background-color:inherit; + text-align:right; + text-indent:0; + font-style:normal; + font-weight:normal; + font-variant:normal; + } + + .poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + margin-bottom:1em; + text-align:left; + } + + .poem .stanza { + margin:1em 0em 1em 0em; + } + + .poem p { + margin:0; + padding-left:3em; + text-indent:-3em; + } + + .poem span.i0 { + display:block; + margin-left:0em; + padding-left:3em; + text-indent:-3em; + } + + .poem span.i4 { + display:block; + margin-left:4em; + padding-left:3em; + text-indent:-3em; + } + + .smcap { + font-variant:small-caps; + } + + span.tenl { + float:left; + padding-left:10% + } + + span.tenr { + float:right; + padding-right:10% + } + + span.thirtyl { + float:left; + padding-left:30% + } + + span.thirtyr { + float:right; + padding-right:30% + } + + span.fifty { + font-size:50%; + } + + span.in2 { + margin-left:2em; + } + + .tdl { + text-align:left; + } + + .tdlin { + text-align:left; + padding-left: 2.5em; + } + + .tdr { + text-align:right; + padding-right:1em; + } + + .tdrfirst { + text-align:right; + padding-right:1em; + font-size:80%; + } + + </style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted Gambler, by +Rev. Gross Alexander + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted Gambler + His Life and Work + +Author: Rev. Gross Alexander + +Commentator: Rev. Sam P. Jones + +Release Date: October 30, 2011 [EBook #37883] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STEVE P. HOLCOMBE, THE *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Kentuckiana Digital Library) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-001.jpg" width="288" height="468" alt="Steve P. Holcombe." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">Steve P. Holcombe.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<h1 class="booktitle"> +<span class="smcap">Steve P. Holcombe</span>,<br /> +<br /> +<span class="fifty">THE</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="fifty">CONVERTED GAMBLER:</span><br /> +<br /> +HIS LIFE AND WORK.</h1> + +<p class="h2"><span class="smcap">By Rev. Gross Alexander.</span></p> + +<p class="h5">INTRODUCTION BY</p> + +<p class="h4"><i>REV. SAM P. JONES.</i></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h6">LOUISVILLE:<br /> +PRESS OF THE COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING COMPANY.<br /> +1888.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h6"><span class="smcap">Copyrighted, 1888.</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h5">TO<br /> +<br /> +Mrs. S. P. Holcombe,<br /> +<br /> +THE PATIENT WIFE,<br /> +<br /> +THE FAITHFUL MOTHER,<br /> +<br /> +THE FRIEND OF PUBLICANS AND SINNERS,<br /> +<br /> +THIS ACCOUNT OF<br /> +<br /> +THE LIFE AND WORK OF HER HUSBAND<br /> +<br /> +IS DEDICATED.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h3">TABLE OF CONTENTS.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdrfirst">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION BY SAM. P. JONES</a></td> + <td class="tdr">ix</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#LETTER_FROM_DR_JOHN_A_BROADUS">LETTER FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS</a></td> + <td class="tdr">xiii</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">LIFE AND WORKS OF STEVE P. HOLCOMBE--</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></td> + <td class="tdr">19</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></td> + <td class="tdr">28</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td> + <td class="tdr">75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></td> + <td class="tdr">102</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td> + <td class="tdr">111</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#LETTERS">LETTERS</a></td> + <td class="tdr">125</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#TESTIMONIALS">TESTIMONIALS OF CONVERTS</a></td> + <td class="tdr">173</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#SERMONS">SERMONS</a></td> + <td class="tdr">269</td> + </tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[vii]</span> + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>It has been thought and suggested by some of +those having knowledge of Mr. Holcombe's history, +that an account of his life and work in book-form +would multiply his usefulness and do good. And +since the narration of his experiences by himself has +been of such great benefit to those who have been +privileged to hear him, why may not others also be +benefited by reading some account of his uncommon +career?</p> + +<p>It is hoped that it will be of interest to the general +reader as a revelation and record of the workings and +struggles of some human hearts and the wretchedness +and blessedness of some human lives. It is a sort of +luxury to read about and sympathize with wretchedness, +as it is a joy to see that wretchedness turned +to blessedness. It will show to those who are unwillingly +the slaves of sin what God has done for such as +they. It will possibly interest and encourage those +who are engaged in Christian work. It may furnish +suggestions as to practical methods to be pursued +in working among poor and needy classes, whether +in towns or cities. Even ministers of the Gospel may +find encouragement and instruction in the experience +of Mr. Holcombe's life and the methods and successes +of his work.</p> + +<p>What few letters of Mr. Holcombe's could be +found are put in as showing phases of this interesting +character that could be shown as well no other way, +and some letters written <i>to</i> him are selected out of<span class="pagenum">[viii]</span> +several hundred of like character to show how he +touches all classes of people.</p> + +<p>The "Testimonies" are from men who have been +rescued under Mr. Holcombe's ministry, and will give +some idea of the work that is being done. These +are only a few of the men who have been brought +to a better and happier life through Mr. Holcombe's +efforts. If any should feel that there is a sameness +in these testimonies, which it is believed very few will +do, perhaps others will feel the cumulative effect of +line upon line, example upon example.</p> + +<p>The sermons or addresses are inserted because +they have been the means of awakening and guiding +many to salvation, and they may be of interest and +possibly of benefit to some who have not heard Mr. +Holcombe. They contain much of the history of his +inner life in statements of experience introduced by +way of illustration. They are given in outline only, +as will be seen.</p> + +<p>The book lays no claim to literary excellence. +The position and work of the man make his life +worth writing and reading apart from the style of +the book.</p> + +<p>The accounts here given of Mr. Holcombe's character +and work are not written for the purpose of +glorifying him. Many of these pages are profoundly +painful and humiliating to him. But they are written +that those who read them may know from what depths +he has been brought, and to what blessedness he has +been raised, through Jesus Christ, to whose name the +glory is given and to whose blessing the book is +commended.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap in2">August, 1888.</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[ix]</span></p> + +<h2 id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p class="h3">BY REV. SAM P. JONES.</p> + +<p>The author of this volume, the Rev. Gross Alexander, +Professor of Theology in Vanderbilt University, +was surely the man to give to the world the Life of +Steve Holcombe. The warm heart and clear head of +the author, and the consecrated, self-denying life of the +subject of the volume, assure the reader ample compensation +for the time given to the book.</p> + +<p>Mr. Alexander has known Brother Holcombe from +the beginning of his Christian life, and tells the story +of his fidelity to Christ and loyalty to duty as no other +could.</p> + +<p>I first met Brother Holcombe at Louisville, in the +year 1882, when I was preaching in the church of his +pastor, Rev. J. C. Morris. It was from Brother Morris +that I learned of this consecrated layman. He often +told me with joy of many incidents connected with +the conversion and work of Brother Holcombe. My +acquaintance with him soon grew into a warm friendship. +It has always been an inspiration to me to talk +with him, and a source of gratitude to me to know that +I have his affection and prayers.</p> + +<p>The work he is doing now in the city of Louisville, +Kentucky, is very much like Jerry Macauley's +work in New York City years ago. No man has +experienced more vividly the power of Christ to save, +and no man has a stronger faith in Christ's ability to +save. Brother Holcombe's humility and fidelity have +made him a power in the work of rescuing the perishing<span class="pagenum">[x]</span> +and saving the fallen. I have been charmed by +the purity of soul manifested by him on all occasions, +and his continual efforts to bring back those who +have been overtaken in a fault. Hundreds of men +who have felt his sympathizing arms about them and +listened to his brotherly words have grown strong, +because they had a friend and brother in Steve +Holcombe, who, in spite of their failures and faults, +has clung to them with a love like that which Christ +Himself manifested toward those who were as bruised +reeds and smoking flax.</p> + +<p>Brother Holcombe, rescued himself by the loving +hand of Christ, has extended the hand from a heart +full of love for Christ and men, and has done his best +to save all who have come under his influence.</p> + +<p>This volume will be especially instructive to those +who are interested in the salvation of the non-churchgoers +of the great cities. For surely Brother Holcombe's +Mission is a place where the worst sinners +hear of Christ's power to save, and where they see, +in Brother Holcombe himself, with his rich experience, +one of the greatest triumphs of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>I heartily commend this volume to all Christian +people, because it tells of the life of a saved man. It +tells also what a saved man can do for others, and it +will inspire many hearts with sympathy for such work +and prepare many hands to help in it. I heartily +commend this book because it is the biography of +one whom I love and whom all men would love, if they +knew him in his devotion to God and duty. Brother +Holcombe has frequently been with me in my meetings +and in my private room; I have frequently been with<span class="pagenum">[xi]</span> +him in his Mission, in his family circle, on the streets +of the great cities, and he is one man of whom it may +be said: "His conversation is in heaven." I frequently +feel that my own life would have been more successful +with such a fervent consecration to my work as Brother +Steve Holcombe exemplifies.</p> + +<p>The sermons contained in this volume will be read +with interest. They are his sermons. They come +from his heart, and they have reached the hearts of +hundreds and thousands who have heard him gladly.</p> + +<p>I bespeak for the book a circulation which will +put it into the library of all pastors and into thousands +of homes.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Sam P. Jones.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap in2">Cartersville, Ga.</span>, October 18, 1888.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[xiii]</span> + +<h2 id="LETTER_FROM_DR_JOHN_A_BROADUS">LETTER FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS.</h2> + +<p>I have read with very great interest the "Life of +Steve Holcombe," and have carefully looked through +the letters, testimonies and sermons to be included in +the proposed volume, and I rejoice that it is to be +published. Professor Alexander, who was Mr. Holcombe's +first pastor, has written the life with the best +use of his fine literary gifts, and with sound judgment +and good taste. It is a wonderful story. I have long +felt interest in Mr. Holcombe and his work, for after +beginning his Mission he attended my seminary lessons +in the New Testament through a session and more; +but this record of his life warms my heart still more +toward him and his remarkable labors of love. I +think the book will be very widely read. It will +stir Christians to more hopeful efforts to save the +most wicked. It will encourage many a desperate +wanderer to seek the grace of God in the Gospel. +Such a book makes a real addition to the "evidences +of Christianity." No one can read it without feeling +that Christian piety is something real and powerful +and delightful. Much may be learned from Mr. Holcombe's +recorded methods and discourses, and from +the testimonies of his converts, as to the best means +of carrying on religious work of many kinds. The +book will, doubtless, lead to the establishment of like +Missions in other cities, and put new heart and hope +into the pastors, missionaries and every class of Christian +workers. It will show that zeal and love and +faith must be supported by ample common sense and<span class="pagenum">[xiv]</span> +force of character, as in Mr. Holcombe's case, if great +results are to hoped for. Many persons can be induced +to read his brief outline sermons who would never +look at more elaborate discourses. As to two or +three slight touches of doctrinal statement, some of +us might not agree with the speaker, but all must +see that his sermons are very practical, pervaded by +good sense and true feeling, and adapted to do much +good.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">John A. Broadus.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap in2">Louisville, Ky.</span>, September 25, 1888.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> +<h2>LIFE AND WORK.</h2> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[1]</span> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p>Steve P. Holcombe, known in former years +as a gambler and doer of all evil, no less known +in these latter days as a preacher of the +Gospel and doer of all good, was born at Shippingsport, +Kentucky, in 1835. The place, as well as the +man, has an interesting history. An odd, straggling, +tired, little old town, it looks as if it had been left +behind and had long ago given up all hope of ever +catching up. It is in this and other respects in striking +contrast with its surroundings. The triangular +island, upon which it is situated, lies lazily between +the Ohio river, which flows like a torrent around two +sides of it, and the Louisville canal, which stretches +straight as an arrow along the third. On its northeast +side it commands a view of the most picturesque +part of La Belle Riviere. This part embraces the +rapids, or "Falls," opposite the city of Louisville, +which gets its surname of "Falls City" from this +circumstance. In the midst of the rapids a lone, +little island of bare rocks rises sheer out of the +dashing waters to the height of several feet, and +across the wide expanse, on the other side of the +river, loom up the wooded banks of the Indiana +side, indented with many a romantic cove, and sweeping +around with a graceful curve, while the chimneys +and towers and spires of Jeffersonville and New<span class="pagenum">[2]</span> +Albany rise in the distance, with the blue Indiana +"Knobs" in the deep background beyond. From this +same point on the island, and forming part of the +same extensive view, one may see the two majestic +bridges, each a mile in length, one of which spans +the river directly over the Falls and connects the +city of Louisville with Jeffersonville, Indiana, while +the other joins the western portion of Louisville with +the thriving city of New Albany. Across the canal +from the island, on the south, lies the city of Louisville +with its near 200,000 population, its broad +avenues, its palatial buildings.</p> + +<p>In the very midst of all this profusion of beauty +and all this hum and buzz and rush of commercial +and social life, lies the dingy, sleepy old town of +Shippingsport with its three hundred or four hundred +people, all unheeded and unheeding, uncared for and +uncaring. There are five or six fairly good houses, +and all the rest are poor. There is a good brick +school-house, built and kept up by the city of Louisville, +of which, since 1842, Shippingsport is an incorporated +part. There is one dilapidated, sad looking, +little old brick church, which seldom suffers any sort +of disturbance. On the northeast shore of the island +directly over the rushing waters stands the picturesque +old mill built by Tarascon in the early part of +the century. It utilizes the fine water-power of the +"Falls" in making the famous Louisville cement. Part +of the inhabitants are employed as laborers in this +mill, and part of them derive their support from fishing +in the river, for which there are exceptional opportunities +all the year around in the shallows, where<span class="pagenum">[3]</span> +the rushing waters dash, with eddying whirl, against +the rocky shores of their island.</p> + +<p>There are, at this time, some excellent people in +Shippingsport, who faithfully maintain spiritual life and +good moral character amid surrounding apathy and +immorality. "For except the Lord had left unto +them a very small remnant, they should have been +as Sodom, and they should have been like unto +Gomorrah."</p> + +<p>And yet, Shippingsport was not always what it +is now. Time was when it boasted the aristocracy +of the Falls. "The house is still standing," says a +recent writer in Harper's Monthly Magazine, "where +in the early part of the century the Frenchman, Tarascon, +offered border hospitality to many distinguished +guests, among whom were Aaron Burr and Blennerhasset, +and General Wilkinson, then in command of +the armies of the United States." He might have +added that Shippingsport was once honored with a +visit from LaFayette, and later also from President +Jackson. But in other respects also Shippingsport +was, in former years, far different from what it is +to-day. In business importance it rivaled the city of +Louisville itself. In that early day, before the building +of the canal, steamboats could not, on account of +the Falls, pass up the river except during high water, +so that for about nine months in the year Shippingsport +was the head of navigation. Naturally, it became a +place of considerable commercial importance, as the +shrewd Frenchman who first settled there saw it was +bound to be. Very soon it attracted a population of +some hundreds, and grew into a very busy little mart.<span class="pagenum">[4]</span> +"Every day," says one of the old citizens still living, +"steamboats were landing with products and passengers +from the South, or leaving with products and +passengers from Kentucky and the upper country." +The freight which was landed at Shippingsport was +carried by wagons and drays to Louisville, Lexington +and other places in Kentucky and Indiana. This +same old citizen, Mr. Alex. Folwell, declares that he +has seen as many as five hundred wagons in one +day in and around the place. There were three large +warehouses and several stores, and what seems hard +to believe, land sold in some instances for $100 per +foot.</p> + +<p>The canal was begun in 1824, the first spadeful +of dirt being taken out by DeWitt Clinton, of New +York. During the next six years from five hundred +to a thousand men were employed on it. They +were, as a general thing, a rough set. Sometimes, +while steamboats were lying at the place, the unemployed +hands would annoy the workmen on the canal +so that gradually there grew up a feeling of enmity +between the two classes which broke out occasionally +in regular battles.</p> + +<p>In 1830, when the canal was finished, the days of +Shippingsport's prosperity were numbered. Thenceforth +steamboats, independent of obstructions in the +river, passed on up through the canal, and Shippingsport +found her occupation was gone. The better +classes lost no time in removing to other places, and +only the poorer and rougher classes remained. Many +of the workmen who had been engaged in building +the canal settled down there to live; unemployed and<span class="pagenum">[5]</span> +broken-down steamboatmen gravitated to the place +where they always had such good times; shiftless +and thriftless poor people from other places came +flocking in as to a poor man's paradise. Within +easy reach of Louisville, the place became a resort +for the immoral young men, the gamblers and all the +rough characters of that growing city.</p> + +<p>Such was the place to which Steve Holcombe's +parents removed from Central Kentucky in 1835, the +year of his birth; and, though coming into the midst of +surroundings so full of moral perils, they did not bring +that strength of moral character, that fixedness of moral +habit and that steadfastness of moral purpose which +were necessary to guard against the temptations of +every sort which were awaiting them.</p> + +<p>The father, though an honest and well disposed sort +of man and very kind to his family, was already a +drunkard. His son says of him: "My poor father had +gotten to be a confirmed drunkard before I was born, +and after he had settled at Shippingsport, my mother +would not let him stay about the house, so that most of +his time was spent in lying around bar-rooms or out on +the commons, where he usually slept all times of the +year." It is not surprising that as a consequence of +such dissipation and such exposure he died at the early +age of thirty-three, when his son Steve was eleven +years old. Dead, he sleeps in an unmarked grave on +the commons where formerly he slept when drunk and +shut out by his wife from his home.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holcombe, the mother of Steve, a woman five +feet ten inches in height and one hundred and ninety +pounds in weight, was as strong in passion as in physical<span class="pagenum">[6]</span> +power. "When aroused," says her son, "she was +as fierce as a tigress and fearless of God, man or devil, +although she was a woman of quick sympathy and +impulsive kindheartedness toward those who were in +distress, and would go further to help such than almost +any one I have ever known." She was a woman of +more than ordinary mind, though entirely without +education. In the government of her children she was +extremely severe. "Though my father," says Mr. Holcombe, +"never whipped me but once in my life, and +that slightly, my mother has whipped me hundreds of +times, I suppose, and with as great severity as frequency. +She has, at times, almost beaten me to death. She +would use a switch, a cane, a broom-stick or a club, +whichever happened to be at hand when she became +provoked. She whipped me oftener for going swimming +than for anything else, I believe. If I told her +a lie about it she would whip me, and if I told her the +truth, she would whip me."</p> + +<p>From neglect and other causes little Steve was very +sickly and puny in his babyhood, so that he did not +walk till he was four years old; but from the beginning +his temper was as violent as his body was weak, and +from his earliest recollection, he says, he loved to fight. +At the same time he had his mother's tenderheartedness +for those who were in distress. Once a stranger +stopped for a few days at the tavern in Shippingsport, +and the roughs of the place caught him out on one +occasion and beat him so severely that he was left for +dead; but he crawled afterward into an old shed where +little Holcombe, between five and six years old, found +him and took him food every day for about two weeks.<span class="pagenum">[7]</span></p> + +<p>The boys with whom he associated in childhood +were addicted to petty stealing, and he learned from +them to practice the same. When about seven years +old his mother, on account of their poverty, provided +him with a supply of cakes, pies and fruits to peddle +out on the steamers while they were detained in passing +the locks of the canal. Instead of returning the money +to his mother, however, he would often lose it in gambling +with the bad boys of the place, and sometimes +even with his half-brothers, so that he seldom got home +with his money, but always got his beating.</p> + +<p>At eight years of age he played cards for money +in bar-rooms with grown men. At ten he began to +explore those parts of the river about the falls, in a +skiff alone looking for articles of various kinds lost in +wrecks, that he might get means for gambling. This, +together with the fact that his hair was very light in +color, gained for him the distinction of the "Little +White-headed Pirate."</p> + +<p>In 1842 Shippingsport was taken into the city of Louisville, +and a school was established, which he attended +about three months during this period of his life, and he +never attended school afterward. The brown-haired, +black-eyed little girl who afterward became his wife, +attended this school at the same time. Her parents +had lately removed to Shippingsport from Jeffersonville, +Indiana. They were people of excellent character and +were so careful of their children that they would not +allow them to associate with the children of Shippingsport +any farther than was necessary and unavoidable. +But, notwithstanding these restrictions, their little Mary +saw just enough of Steve Holcombe in school to form a<span class="pagenum">[8]</span> +strange liking for him, as he did also for her—an attachment +which has lasted through many and varying +experiences up to the present. At that time he had +grown to be "a heavy set little boy," as Mrs. Holcombe +describes him, and was "very good looking," indeed, +"very handsome," as she goes on to say, "with his +deep blue eyes and his golden hair." She did not +know that she was in love with a boy who was to +become one of the worst of men in all forms of +wickedness, and as little did she know that she was in +love with a boy who was to become one of the best of +men in all forms of goodness and usefulness. Nor did +he foresee that he was forming an attachment then and +there for one who was to love him devotedly and serve +him patiently through all phases of infidelity and wickedness, +and through years of almost unexampled trials +and sufferings, who was to cling to him amid numberless +perils and scandals, who was to train and restrain his +children so as to lead them in ways of purity and goodness +in spite of the father's bad example, who was to +endure for his sake forms of ill treatment that have +killed many a woman, and who was in long distant +years to be his most patient encourager and helper in a +singularly blessed and successful work for God and the +most abandoned and hopeless class of sinful men, and +to develop, amid all and in spite of all and by means of +all, one of the truest and strongest and most devoted of +female characters. A singular thing it seems, indeed, +that an attachment begun so early and tested so +severely should have lasted so late. And yet it is +perhaps at this moment stronger than ever it was +before.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-027.jpg" width="468" height="290" alt="BIRTHPLACE OF MR. HOLCOMBE. SHIPPINGSPORT." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">BIRTHPLACE OF MR. HOLCOMBE. SHIPPINGSPORT.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">[9]</span> + +<p>Notwithstanding young Holcombe's lack of religious +instruction and his extraordinary maturity in wickedness, +he declares that at times he had, even before his +tenth year, very serious thoughts. He says:</p> + +<p>"I always believed there was a God and that the +Bible was from God, but for the most part my belief +was very vague and took hold of nothing definite. +Hence, nearly all my thoughts were evil, only evil and +evil continually. I am sure, however, that I believed +there was a hell. When a child, I used to dream, it +seems to me, almost every night, that the devil had me, +and sometimes my dreams were so real that I would +say to myself while dreaming, 'Now this is no dream; +he has got me this time, sure enough.' I remember +that one text which I heard a preacher read troubled +me more than anything else, when I thought about +dying and going to judgment. It was this: 'And +they hid themselves in the dens and rocks of the +mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall +on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth +on the throne.' I always had a fear of death and a +dread of the future. The rattling of clods on a coffin +filled me with awe and dread. When I thought about +my soul, I would always say to myself, 'I am going to +get good before I go into the presence of God; but now +I want to keep these thoughts out of mind so I can +do as I please and not have to suffer and struggle and +fight against sin—till I get consumption. When I get +consumption I will have plenty of warning as to death's +approach and plenty of time to prepare for it.' But I +had gotten such an admiration for gamblers and such a +passion for gambling that I had a consuming ambition<span class="pagenum">[10]</span> +to become a regular blackleg, as gamblers were called +in those days. I made up my mind that this was to be +my business, and I began to look about for some way +to get loose from everything else, so I could do nothing +but gamble, with nobody to molest or make me afraid."</p> + +<p>It is hard enough for a boy to keep from doing +wrong and to do right always, even when he has +inherited a good disposition, enjoyed good advantages +and had the best of training. But our little friend, +Steve Holcombe, poor fellow, inherited from his father +an appetite for drink and from his mother a savage +temper. To balance these, he had none of the safeguards +of a careful, moral or religious education, and +none of those sweet and helpful home associations +which follow a man through life and hold him back +from wrong doing.</p> + +<p>Thus unprepared, unshielded, unguarded, at the tender +age of eleven years he left home to work his own way in +the world. No mother's prayers had hitherto helped him, +and no mother's prayers from henceforth followed him. +No hallowed home influences had blessed and sweetened +his miserable childhood and no tender recollections of +sanctified home life were to follow him into the great +wicked world. On the contrary, he was fleeing from his +home to find some refuge, he knew not what, he knew not +where. He was going out, boy as he was, loaded +down with the vices and hungry with the passions of +a man. He did not seek employment among people +that were good or in circumstances encouraging to +goodness, but just where of all places he would find +most vice and learn most wickedness—on a steamboat. +One knowing his antecedents and looking out into his<span class="pagenum">[11]</span> +future could easily have foreseen his career in vice and +crime, but would hardly have predicted for him that +life of goodness and usefulness which now for eleven +wonderful years he has been leading.</p> + +<p>He was employed on a steamboat which ran on +the Tennessee river, and his first trip was to Florence, +Alabama. His mother did not know what had become +of him. He was employed in some service about the +kitchen. He slept on deck with the hands and ate +with the servants. Hungry as he was for some word +or look of sympathy which, given him and followed +up, might have made him a different character, nobody +showed him any kindness. The steward of the boat +on the contrary showed him some unkindness, and +was in the act of kicking him on one occasion for +something, when young Holcombe jumped at him +like an enraged animal and frightened him so badly +that he was glad to drop the matter for the present +and to respect the boy for the future. On this trip +he found five dollars in money on the boat, and +was honest enough to take it to the steward for the +owner.</p> + +<p>When he returned home from this trip, strange to +say, his mother so far from giving him a severer beating +than usual, as might have been expected, did not punish +him at all. She was probably too glad to get him back +and too afraid of driving him away again. But nothing +could restrain him now that he had once seen the world +and made the successful experiment of getting on in +the world without anybody's help. So that he soon +went on another trip and so continued, going on four +or five long steamboat runs before he was fourteen<span class="pagenum">[12]</span> +years of age, and spending his unoccupied time in +gambling with either white men or negroes, as he +found opportunity.</p> + +<p>After he was fourteen years old he went on the +upper Mississippi river and traveled to and from St. +Louis. On the Mississippi steamers of those days gambling +was common, not only among the servants and +deck-hands, it was the pastime or the business of some +of the first-class passengers also. Sometimes when +a rich planter had lost all his ready money in gambling, +he would put up a slave, male or female, that he might +happen to have with him, and after losing, would +borrow money to win or buy again the slave. Professional +gamblers, luxuriously dressed and living like +princes, frequented the steamers of those days for the +purpose of entrapping and fleecing the passengers. +All this only increased the fascination of gambling for +young Holcombe, and he studied and practiced it with +increasing zeal.</p> + +<p>About this time, when he was in the neighborhood +of fourteen years of age, his mother, awaking all too +late to his peril and to her duty, got him a situation +as office-boy in the office of Dr. Mandeville Thum, of +Louisville, hoping to keep him at home and rescue +him from the perilous life he had entered upon. +Dr. Thum was much pleased with him, took great +interest in him, and treated him with unusual kindness. +He even began himself to teach him algebra, +with the intention of making a civil engineer of the +boy. And he was making encouraging progress in +his studies and would, doubtless, have done well, had +he continued.<span class="pagenum">[13]</span></p> + +<p>During the time he spent in the service of Dr. +Thum, he attended a revival meeting held by the +Rev. Mr. Crenshaw, at Shippingsport, and was much +impressed by what he heard. He became so awakened +and interested that he responded to the appeals +that were made by this devoted and zealous preacher +and sought interviews with him. He tried his level +best, as he expresses it, to work himself up to a point +where he could feel that he was converted, a not rare, +but very wrong, view of this solemn matter. But he +could not <i>feel</i> it. While, however, he could not get +the feeling, he <i>determined</i> to be a Christian, anyhow, a +rarer and better, but not altogether correct, view of the +subject either. For a week or ten days he succeeded +in overcoming evil impulses, and in living right, but he +was led away by evil companions. Soon after this he +tried it again, and this time he succeeded for a longer +time than before in resisting temptations and following +his sense of right, but was one day persuaded to +go on a Sunday steamboat-excursion to New Albany, +with some young folks from Shippingsport, which +proved the occasion of his fall. On returning home +he and two other boys went part of the way on foot. +They heard a man, not far away, crying for water, and +Holcombe's quick impulse of sympathy led him to propose +to go to the relief of the sufferer. When they +found he was not so bad off as they thought, the two +other boys began to abuse and mistreat the stranger. +He was an unequal match for the two, however, and +as he was about to get the best of them, young Holcombe +knocked the poor man down, and they all +kicked him so severely over the head and face that<span class="pagenum">[14]</span> +when they left him he was nearly dead. Holcombe +went back the next day, and half a mile away he found +the coroner holding an inquest over the man. He +was preparing to flee to Indiana when he heard that +the verdict of the jury was: "Death from exposure +to the sun."</p> + +<p>This cowardly and wicked deed wrought in him +such shame, such self-loathing and such discouragement +that he abandoned all hope and purpose of +living a better life. With a sort of feeling of desperation +and of revenge against his better nature for +allowing him to yield and stoop to such meanness, +he left his position in Louisville and shipped on a +steamboat again for St. Louis. While the boat was +lying at the wharf at St. Louis he got into a difficulty +with one of the deck-hands who applied to +him a very disgraceful name. Instantly young Holcombe +seized a heavy meat-cleaver and would have +split the man's head in two if the cook had not +caught his arm as he swung it back for the stroke. +From St. Louis he went up the Missouri river to +Omaha, engaging, as usual, in gambling and other +nameless vices.</p> + +<p>On his second trip from Omaha to St. Louis he +innocently provoked the anger of the steward of the +boat, who abused him in such a way that Holcombe +ran at him with an ice-pick, when the terrified man +rushed into the office and took refuge behind the +captain. It was decided that Holcombe should be +discharged and put ashore. When the clerk called +him up to pay him off, he volunteered some reproof +and abuse of the seventeen-year-old boy. But, upon<span class="pagenum">[15]</span> +finding he was dealing with one who, when aroused, +knew neither fear nor self-control, he was glad to +quiet down and pay him his dues, as Holcombe remarked: +"You may discharge me and put me ashore, +but you shall not abuse me." And they put him +ashore at Kansas City, then a small village. While +waiting at Kansas City for the next boat to St. Louis +(all traveling being done in those days and regions by +water), he spent his time around bar-rooms and gambling-houses. +There he saw a different and more +extensive kind of gaming than he had ever seen before. +Great quantities of money were on the tables before +the players, greater than he had ever seen, and he +saw it change hands and pass from one to another. +Such a sight increased his desire to follow such a life. +So he put up his money, the wages of his labor on +the boat, and lost it—all. He spent the remainder +of his stay in Kansas City wandering around, destitute, +hungry, lonely, with various reflections on the +fortunes and misfortunes of a gambler's life, till at last +he got deck-passage on a boat to St. Louis, and paid +his fare by sawing wood. During this trip his violent +and revengeful temper led him to commit an act that +nearly resulted in murder. One of the deck-hands +threw down some wood which he had piled up, and +Holcombe protested, whereupon the deck-hand cursed +him and said: "You little rat, I will throw you overboard!" +Mr. Holcombe replied: "I guess you won't," +and said nothing more at the time. After the man +had lain down and gone to sleep, Mr. Holcombe got a +cord-stick, slipped upon him, and hit him on the skull +with all his might, completely stunning the man.<span class="pagenum">[16]</span> +"Now," says Mr. Holcombe, speaking of this incident, +"I can not understand how a man could do so cruel +a thing, but <i>then</i> I felt I must have revenge some way, +and <i>I could not keep from it</i>."</p> + +<p>At St. Louis he got a position on a boat for New +Orleans, and soon after arriving in that city he shipped +on board a steamship for Galveston, Texas, but returned +immediately to New Orleans. Here, however, +he soon lost, in gambling, all the money he had made +on the trip, and was so entirely without friends or +acquaintances that he could find no place to sleep, +and wandered about on the levee until one or two +o'clock in the morning. To add to the loneliness and +dismalness of his situation, it was during an epidemic +of yellow fever in the city, and people were dying so +fast they could not bury them, but had to plow trenches +and throw the corpses in, as they bury soldiers on a +battle-field. About one or two o'clock, a colored man, +on a steamboat seeing him walking around alone, +called him, and finding out his condition, took him on +board the steamer and gave him a bed. But Holcombe +was so afraid the negro had some design +upon him, as there were no others on board, that he +stole away from the boat and wandered around, alone, +all the rest of the night.</p> + +<p>On that awful night the great deep of his heart was +broken up and he felt a sense of loneliness that he had +never felt before in his life. He was in a strange city +among a strange people. He had no friends, he had no +means. He had not where to lay his head. The +darkness of the night shut off the sight of those +objects which in the day would have diverted his mind<span class="pagenum">[17]</span> +and relieved his painful reflections; and the awful +stillness, broken only by the rattling of wheels that +bore away the dead, made it seem to him as if his +thoughts were spoken to him by some audible voice. +His past life came up before him, but there was in +it nothing pleasant for him to remember. It had been +from his earliest recollection one constant experience of +pain and sin. He was uneasy about himself. He was +frightened at the past, and the recollection of his hard, +but vain, struggle to get his evil nature changed and +bettered, cast a dark cloud over his future. What +could he do? Where could he go? Who was there +could help him? Who was there that loved him? At +his own home, if home it could be called, there was +nothing but strife and cruelty and sin. Father, he had +none. He that was his father had lived a drunkard's +life, had died a drunkard's death and was buried in a +drunkard's grave. And his mother—she had no +power to help him or even love him as most mothers +love their children, and as on that lone dismal night he +would have given the world to be loved. Of God's +mercy and love he did not know, he thought only of +his wrath, nor had he learned how to approach him in +prayer. Alone, alone, he felt himself to be shut up between +a past that was full of sin and crime and a future +that promised nothing better. But he did think of +one who had loved him and who had said she would +always love him and he felt there was truth in her soul +and in her words. It was the brown-haired, sweet-faced, +strong-hearted little girl he had left in Shippingsport. +He would go back to her. She alone of all +people in the world seemed able to help him and this<span class="pagenum">[18]</span> +seemed his last, his only hope. If she had remained +true to him, and if she would love him, the world would +not seem so dreary and the future would not seem so +dark, and maybe she could help him to be a better +man. "On the next day," says Mr. Holcombe, "an +acquaintance of mine from Louisville ran across me as +I was strolling about the streets, took me aboard a +steamer and made me go home with him."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-039.jpg" width="290" height="494" alt="THE OLD MILL AT SHIPPINGSPORT." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE OLD MILL AT SHIPPINGSPORT.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[19]</span> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p>As has already been said, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, the +parents of Mrs. Holcombe, were people of excellent +moral character and were so careful of their +children that as long as they could prevent it, they did +not allow them to associate freely with the Shippingsport +children. But of Steve Holcombe, the worst of +them all, they had a special dread. Mr. Evans could +not endure to see him or to hear his name called. +And yet, this same Steve Holcombe was in love with +their own precious child, and had now come home to +ask her to marry him. Of course, he did not visit her +at her own home but he managed to see her elsewhere. +He found that she had not wavered during his absence, +but that the bond of their childhood had grown with +her womanhood. And yet she knew full well his past +career and his present character. She went into it +"with her eyes open," to quote her own words. +Against the will of her parents and against the advice +of her friends she adhered to her purpose to marry +Steve Holcombe when the time should come. Even +his own mother, moved with pity at the thought of the +sufferings and wretchedness which this marriage would +bring the poor girl, tried to dissuade her from it and +warned her that she was going to marry "the very +devil." She replied that she knew all about it, and +when asked why she then did it, her simple answer +was "because I love him."<span class="pagenum">[20]</span></p> + +<p>He promised her that he would try to be a better +man and <i>she</i>, as well as <i>he, believed it</i>, though not because +she expected he would some time become a Christian +and not because she had the Christian's faith and hope. +Her simple belief was that the outcome of her love +would be his reformation and return to a better life. +It was not thus definitely stated to herself by herself. +It was an unconscious process of reasoning or rather it +was the deep instinct of her strong and deeply-rooted +love.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holcombe was recently asked if, during all the +years of her husband's recklessness and disgraceful +dissipation, his sins and crimes, his cruel neglect and +heartless mistreatment of herself, her love ever faltered? +She answered: "No; never. There never +was a time, even when Mr. Holcombe was at his worst, +that I did not love him. It pained me, of course, that +some things should come <i>through</i> him, but I never +loved <i>him</i> any less." A rare and wonderful love it +surely was. When she was asked if during those dark +and bitter years she ever gave up her belief that her +husband would change his life and become a good man, +she answered, "No; I never gave it up." A woman +of deep Insight, of large reading and wide observation, +on hearing these replies of Mrs. Holcombe, said: "It +is the most wonderful case of love and patience and +faith I have ever known."</p> + +<p>He had come home then to marry Mary Evans. +He met her at the house of a mutual friend and proposed +an elopement. She was frightened and refused. +But he pleaded and besought her, and, wounded and +vexed at what seemed a disregard of his feelings and<span class="pagenum">[21]</span> +rights, he ended by saying, "It must be to-night or +never." Whereupon she consented, though with great +reluctance, and they went together to the house of +his mother, in the city of Louisville. But his own +mother would not consent to their marriage under such +circumstances until she could first go and see if she +could get the consent of the girl's parents. Accordingly, +she went at once to Shippingsport, night as it +was, and laid the case before them. They did not +consent, but saw it would do no good to undertake to +put a stop to it. So that, at the house of his mother +in Louisville, they were married, Steve Holcombe and +Mary Evans, the hardened gambler and the timid girl.</p> + +<p>After his marriage he quit running on the river, +settled down at Shippingsport and went to fishing for a +living. And it did seem for a time that his hope was +to be realized and that through the helpful influences +of his young wife he was to become a better man. He +grew steadily toward better purposes and toward a +higher standard of character, and within two or three +months after their marriage they joined the church +together. Mrs. Holcombe says, however, that she does +not now believe that she was a Christian at the time. +They thought in a general way that it was right to join +the church, and that it would do them good and somehow +help them to be good. If they had had some one, +wise and patient and faithful, to teach them and advise +them and sympathize with them at this time of awakening +and of honest endeavor after a spiritual life, they +would probably have gone on happily and helpfully +together in it. But alas! as is true in so many, many +cases to-day, nobody understood or seemed to understand<span class="pagenum">[22]</span> +them, nobody tried or cared to understand them; +nobody cared for their souls. It was taken for granted, +then as now, that when people are gotten into the +church, nothing special is to be done for them any +further, though, in fact, the most difficult and delicate +part of training a soul and developing Christian character +comes after conversion and after joining the +church. Mr. Holcombe attributes his present success +in the helping and guidance of inquiring and struggling +souls to his lack on the one hand of careful and sympathetic +training in his earlier efforts to be a Christian and +on the other hand to the great benefit of such training +in his later efforts. In such a nature as his, especially, +no mere form of religion and no external bond of union +with the church was sufficient. The strength of his +will, the tenacity of his old habits, the intensity of his +nature and the violence of his passions were such that +only an extraordinary power would suffice to bring him +under control. It was not long, therefore, before he +was overcome by his evil nature, and he soon gave over +the ineffectual struggle and fell back into his old ways. +His poor wife soon found to her sorrow that reforming +a bad man was a greater undertaking than she had +dreamed of, and was often reminded of her mother-in-law's +remark that she had married "the very devil." +And Mr. Holcombe found out, too, that his wife, good +as she was, could not make him good. Some men +there are so hungry-hearted and so dependent, that +they can not endure life without the supreme and +faithful and submissive affection of a wife, but who +know not how to appreciate or treat a wife and soon +lose that consideration and love for her which are<span class="pagenum">[23]</span> +her due. Then marriage becomes tyranny on the one +side and slavery on the other.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the reader will conclude later that this +description applies all too well to the married life of +Steve Holcombe and his faithful and brave-hearted +young wife; for it was not long before he returned, in +spite of all his solemn vows and his earnest resolutions, +to his old habit of gambling and to all his evil ways. +On a certain occasion not long after he married, in +company with a friend, who is at this moment lying in +the jail in Louisville for the violation of the law against +gambling, he went on a fishing excursion to Mound +City, Illinois. Having returned to the landing one +night about midnight they found a fierce-looking man +sitting on the wharf-boat who said to them on entering, +"I understand there are some gamblers here and I have +come to play them, and I can whip any two men on the +Ohio river," at the same time exposing a large knife +which he carried in his boot. He was evidently a +bully who thought he could intimidate these strangers +and in some underhanded way get from them their +money. Mr. Holcombe did not reply but waited till the +next morning when he "sized up the man" and determined +to play against him. After they had been playing +some time Mr. Holcombe discovered that the man was +"holding cards out of the pack" on him. He said nothing, +however, till the man had gotten out all the cards he +wanted, when Mr. Holcombe made a bet. The other +man "raised him," that is, offered to increase the +amount. Mr. Holcombe raised him back and so on till +each one had put up all the money he had. Then the +man "showed down his hand" as the saying is, and he<span class="pagenum">[24]</span> +had the four aces. Mr. Holcombe replied "That is a +good hand, but here is a better one;" and with that +struck him a quick heavy blow that sent the man to the +floor, Mr. Holcombe took all the money and the other +man began to cry like a child and beg for it. Mr. Holcombe +was instantly touched with pity and wanted to +give him back his money but his partner objected. +He did, however, give the man enough for his immediate +wants and left him some the wiser for his loss of +the rest.</p> + +<p>At the same place the owner of the storeboat left a +young man in charge, who, during the absence of his +proprietor, offered to play against Mr. Holcombe and +lost all the money he had. Then he insisted on Mr. +Holcombe's playing for the clothing which he had in +the store and Mr. Holcombe won all that from him, +leaving him a sadder, but it is to be hoped a wiser, +man.</p> + +<p>Having thus once again felt the fascination of +gambling and the intoxication of success, Mr. Holcombe +was impelled by these and by his naturally restless +disposition to give up altogether his legitimate business +and to return to the old life. So without returning to +visit his wife and child or even informing them of his +whereabouts, he shipped on a steamer for Memphis and +thence to New Orleans.</p> + +<p>On his return trip from New Orleans he played +poker and won several hundred dollars. On landing in +Louisville, his half-brother, Mr. Wm. Sowders, the +largest fish and oyster dealer in Louisville, gave him a +partnership in his business, but they soon fell out and +he quit the firm.<span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p> + +<p>He removed to Nashville, Tennessee, and opened +a business of the same kind there in connection with +his brother's house in Louisville, Mr. Holcombe shipping +his vegetables and produce in return for fish and +oysters. This was early in 1860. It was a great trial +for his young wife to be taken from among her relatives +and friends and put down among people who were +entire strangers, especially that she had found out in +four or five years of married life that her husband had +grown away from her, that his heart and life were in +other people than his family, in other places than his +home and in others pleasures than his duty. She knew +that she could not now count on having his companionship +day or night, in sickness or in health, in poverty or +in wealth. And to make the outlook all the more +gloomy for her, she had just passed through one of the +severest trials that had come into her life.</p> + +<p>When an intense woman finds that she is deceived +and disappointed in her husband, and the hopes of +married bliss are brought to naught, she finds some +compensation and relief in the love of her children. +So it was with Mrs. Holcombe. But just before the +time came for them to remove to Nashville, death came +and took from her arms her second-born child. This +made it all the harder to leave her home to go among +strangers. But already, as a wife, she had learned that +charity which suffereth long and is kind, which seeketh +not her own and which endureth all things.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe's business in Nashville was very +profitable and he made sometimes as much as fifty +dollars a day, so that in a short time he had accumulated +a considerable amount of money. But his passion<span class="pagenum">[26]</span> +for gambling remained. His wife had hoped that the +sufferings and death of their little child might soften +his heart and lead him to a better life. But it seemed +to have no effect on him whatever. Though he did not +follow gambling as a profession, he engaged in it at +night and in a private way with business men.</p> + +<p>When the active hostilities of the war came on, his +communication with Louisville was cut off and so his +business was at an end. Leaving his wife and only +remaining child alone in Nashville he went to Clarksville +and engaged in the ice business. While he was +there, the Kentucky troops, who were encamped near +that place, moved up to Bowling Green, Kentucky. +The sound of fife and drum and the sight of moving +columns of soldiers stirred either his patriotism or his +enthusiasm so that he got rid of his business and +followed them on up to Green river in Kentucky, and +went into camp with them where he spent some time, +without, however, being sworn into service. But this +short time sufficed for him and he became satisfied +that "lugging knap-sack, box and gun was harder work +than" gambling.</p> + +<p>He quit the camp, settled down at Bowling Green, +and opened a grocery and restaurant, doing a very +prosperous business. While there, he had a severe +spell of sickness and came near dying, but did not send +for his wife and child, who were still alone in Nashville. +Just before the Federal troops took possession +of Bowling Green, he sold his grocery for a large claim +on the Confederate Government which a party held +for some guns sold to the Confederacy. He then rode +horseback from Bowling Green to Nashville, where he<span class="pagenum">[27]</span> +rejoined his wife and child. After another severe spell +of sickness through which his wife nursed him, he left +his family again in those trying and fearful times and +went South to collect his claim on the Confederate +Government. Having succeeded in getting it he returned +to Nashville with a large sum of money.</p> + +<p>As he had no legitimate business to occupy his time +and his mind, he returned to gambling and this is his +own account of it: "Then I began playing poker +with business men in private rooms; and one of those +business men being familiar with faro banks, roped us +around to a faro room to play poker; and while we +were playing, the faro dealer, who had cappers around, +opened up a brace game, and the game of poker broke +up, and I drifted over to the faro table, and did not look +on long until I began to bet, and soon lost two or three +hundred dollars which I had in my pockets, and lost +a little on credit, which I paid the next morning. +I lost what I had the next day, and kept up that same +racket until I was broke. During this time I had been +very liberal with the gamblers, treated them to oyster +stews and other good things; and when I got broke I +got to sitting around the gambling-house, and heard +them say to each other, 'We will have to make Steve +one of the boys,' and thus it was I became familiar +with faro."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[28]</span> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p>The initiation of Mr. Holcombe into the game of +faro was an epoch in his life. He was so fascinated +with it, and saw so much money in it, that +he now finally and deliberately gave up all attempts +at any other business or occupation, and, removing +again to Louisville, in partnership with a gambling +friend he "opened up a game" or established a house +of his own for playing faro in that city. He sent for +his family thinking he was settled for life. Alas! how +little he knew of that heart of his that knew so little +of God. He found out later what St. Augustine has +so beautifully said for all humanity: "Thou hast +made us for Thyself and our hearts find no repose +till they repose in Thee." It was not long before he +had lost all his money and was "dead broke" again. +It was about this time and during this residence at +Louisville, that, uncontrolled by the grace and power +of God, and untouched by the love that can forgive +as it hopes to be forgiven, he committed the greatest +crime of his life.</p> + +<p>A young man was visiting and courting a half-sister +of his at Shippingsport, and, under promise of +marriage, had deceived her. When Mr. Holcombe +found it out, he felt enraged, and thought it his duty +to compel him to marry her. But knowing himself +so well, and being afraid to trust himself to speak to<span class="pagenum">[29]</span> +the young man about it, he asked his two older half-brothers +to see him and get the affair settled. They +refused to do so. Mr. Holcombe then got a pistol +and looked the man up with the deliberate intention +of having the affair settled according to his notion of +what was right, or killing him. He met him at Shippingsport, +near the bank of the canal, and told him +who he was—for they scarcely knew each other. +Then he reminded him of what had occurred, and +said that the only thing to be done was to marry the +girl. This the man declined to do, saying: "We are +as good as married now." He had scarcely uttered +the words when Mr. Holcombe drew his derringer +and shot him. When he fell, Mr. Holcombe put his +hand under the poor man's neck, raised him up and +held him until a doctor could be called. He was +touched with a great feeling of pity for his victim, and +would have done anything in his power for him. But +all his pity and repentance could not bring back the +dying man. He went into a neighboring house and +washed the blood from his hands, but he could not +wash the blood from his conscience. In after years +the cry of another murderer, "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, +O, God!" was to burst from his lips, and +faith in the blood of a murdered Christ was to bring +the answer of peace to his long troubled soul. But +alas! alas! he was to add crime to crime and multiply +guilt manifold before that time should come.</p> + +<p>He was soon arrested and taken to jail, where, +after some hours, he was informed that the man was +dead. Some time afterward he was tried by a jury +and acquitted, though the Commonwealth's Attorney,<span class="pagenum">[30]</span> +assisted by paid counsel, did all he could to procure +his conviction. But no human sentence or approval +of public opinion can quiet a guilty human conscience +when awakened by the God whose sole prerogative +of executing justice is guarded by His own solemn +and awful words, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay," +saith the Lord. When the conscience is pressed with +a great sense of guilt, it seeks relief by the way of +contrition and repentance, or it seeks relief by a +deeper plunge into sin and guilt, as if the antidote to +a poison were a larger dose of poison. There is no +middle ground unless it be insanity. Nor did Mr. +Holcombe find any middle ground, though he declares +that he never allowed himself to think about the killing +of Martin Mohler, and could not bear to hear +his name. He had to <i>keep very busy</i> in a career +of sin, however, to <i>keep from</i> thinking about it, and +that is exactly the second alternative of the two described +above.</p> + +<p>"After this," says Mr. Holcombe, "I continued +gambling, traveling around from place to place, and +at last I settled down at Nashville and dealt faro +there. I took my family with me to Nashville. I +gambled there for awhile, and then came back to +Louisville, where I opened a game for working men. +But when I looked at their hard hands and thought +of their suffering families, I could not bear to take +their money. Then I turned my steps toward the +South and landed in Augusta, Georgia. I went to +Augusta in 1869 in connection with a man named +Dennis McCarty. We opened there a big game of +faro, where I did some of the biggest gambling I<span class="pagenum">[31]</span> +ever did in my life. On one occasion I played seven-up +with a man and beat him out of five thousand +dollars, which broke him up entirely."</p> + +<p>Let us now take a peep into his home-life: Mrs. +Holcombe says that in Augusta he was in the habit +of staying out for several days and nights at a time, +a thing which he had never done before. They lived +in Augusta something over two years, and during all +that time she had not one day of peace. He was more +reckless than he had ever been before. She suffered +most from his drunkenness and his ungovernable +temper. Sometimes he would come into the house +in a bad humor and proceed to vent his wrath on +her and the furniture; for he was never harsh to his +children, but on the contrary, excessively indulgent, +especially to his sons. During his outbursts of anger, +Mrs. Holcombe always sat perfectly still, not in fear, +but in grief; for she knew as little of fear as he. +Many a time he has come into the house in a bad +humor and proceeded to upset the dining-table, emptying +all the food onto the floor and breaking all the +dishes. On one occasion he came home angry and +found his wife sitting on a sofa in the parlor. He +began to complain of her and to find fault with her, +and as her silence seemed to provoke him, he began +to curse her; and as she sat and wept in silence, he +grew worse and worse, using the most dreadful oaths +she ever heard. When he had fully vented his passion, +he walked out and stood awhile at the front +gate as if in a study. Then he walked back into +the house where she sat, still weeping, and said, in a +mild and gentle tone: "Well, Mary, I was pretty mad<span class="pagenum">[32]</span> +awhile ago, wasn't I?" Then he began to apologize +and to tell her how sorry he was for having talked +to her so harshly, and wound up by petting her. +He was at times almost insanely jealous of his wife, +and if he saw her even talking with a man, no +matter whom, it put him in a rage which ended only +when he had vented it in the most abusive language +to her.</p> + +<p>On another occasion, while they were living in Augusta, +an incident occurred which illustrates at once +her unexampled devotion and his unexampled depravity. +On the night in question she had gone to +bed, but not to sleep. About midnight he came staggering +in and fell full length on the floor at the foot +of the stairway. She tried to help him up, but he was +so dead drunk she could not lift him. She left him +lying at the foot of the stairway and went back to +bed. But, though she was very tired, she could not +endure the thought of lying in a comfortable bed +while her husband was on the floor. She got up, +therefore, and went down stairs again and sat on the +floor beside him in her night-dress till morning. Then +she left him and went up stairs to dress, that she +might be prepared for the duties of the day. When, +some time afterward, she came back to where he was +lying, he abused and cursed her for leaving him +alone, and, before his tirade was ended he was sorry, +and tried to smooth it over by saying: "I did not +think <i>you</i> would leave me."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holcombe says concerning her life at this +period: "I usually walked the floor, after the children +were in bed, till past midnight waiting for him to come<span class="pagenum">[33]</span> +home. One night in particular, between eleven and +twelve o'clock, I heard a shot fired and I heard a man +cry out not far from the house. I thought it was Mr. +Holcombe, and my agony was almost more than I could +bear while waiting for day to come, for I was sure somebody +had shot him. But between three and four o'clock +In the morning he came in, and his coming brought me +great relief." "Then another time," she goes on to +say, "I was sitting by the window when an express +wagon drove up with a coffin in it. The driver said to +me, 'Does this coffin belong here?' I understood him +to say, 'Does Mr. Holcombe live here?' I thought it +was Mr. Holcombe and that he had been killed and +sent home to me in his coffin. The driver repeated his +question twice, but I was so paralyzed I could not +answer him a word."</p> + +<p>From Augusta Mr. Holcombe removed with his +family to Atlanta, where he made a good deal of money. +Mrs. Holcombe says concerning their stay in Atlanta, +"My life at Atlanta was no better than it had been at +Augusta. Much of my time was spent in walking the +floor and grieving. Often in my loneliness and sorrow +my lips would cry out, 'How can I endure this life any +longer?' I had not then become a Christian and did not +know what I do now about taking troubles and burdens +to God. And yet I believe that it was God who comforted +my heart more than once when my sorrow was +more than I could bear. I cried to Him without knowing +Him. All these years I tried to raise my children +right, and I taught them to respect their father. I hid +his sins from them when I could, and when I could not, +I always excused him to them the best I could." But<span class="pagenum">[34]</span> +Mr. Holcombe instead of aiding his wife's efforts to +bring up their children in the right path, often perversely +put obstacles in her way and increased her +difficulties, though he did try to conceal his drinking +from them, and would never allow his boys to have or +handle cards. So in many things he was a combination +of contradictions. He could not endure, however, for +his wife to punish the children, and especially the boys. +On one occasion he came home and the younger son +was still crying from the punishment inflicted by his +mother for wading in a pond of water with his shoes on. +Mr. Holcombe asked him what was the matter, and +when he found out, he was so angry he made the boy +go and wade in the pond again with his shoes on. And +yet Mrs. Holcombe's love for her husband "never +wavered," and she loved him "when he was at his +worst."</p> + +<p>While Mr. Holcombe was living in Atlanta he +attended the races in Nashville, and while there, two +men came along that had a new thing on cards, and +they beat him out of five or six thousand dollars—broke +him, in fact. After he was broke, he went to one of the +men by the name of Buchanan and said, "I see that +you have got a new trick on cards, and as I am well +acquainted through the South, if you will give it away +to me, we can go together and make money." The +man, after some hesitation, agreed to do so. They went +in partnership and traveled through the South as far as +Key West, Florida, stopping at the principal cities and +making money everywhere. At Key West he and his +partner had a split and separated. From Key West +Mr. Holcombe crossed over to Cuba, and spent some<span class="pagenum">[35]</span> +time in Havana. In seeking adventures in that strange +city he made some very narrow escapes, and was glad to +get away. On landing at New Orleans, though he had +a good deal of money, the accumulations of his winnings +on his late tour through the South, he got to playing +against faro bank and lost all he had. But he fell in +with a young man about twenty years of age, from +Georgia, on his way to Texas, and became very intimate +with him. Finding that this young man had a draft for +$1,050, by the most adroit piece of maneuvering he +got another man, a third party, to win it from him for +himself, and gave this third party $50 for doing it. +Then he took charge of the young man in his destitution +and distress, paid his bill for a day or two at a +hotel in New Orleans, and gave him enough to pay his +way on to Texas. The young man departed thinking +Mr. Holcombe was one of the kindest men he had ever +met. The gentle reader, if he be a young man who +thinks himself wise enough to be intimate with strangers, +might learn a useful little lesson from this young Georgian's +experience as herein detailed.</p> + +<p>From New Orleans, Mr. Holcombe went by river +to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he met again with his +former partner, Buchanan. They made up their differences +and went into partnership again, and were successful +in winning a good deal of money together. But +afterward their fortunes changed and they both lost all +they had. This soured Buchanan, who had never cordially +liked Holcombe since their quarrel and separation +at Key West. Mr. Holcombe himself shall narrate +what took place afterward: "During this time we had +been sleeping in a room together. Buchanan knew that<span class="pagenum">[36]</span> +I had two derringer pistols. He got Phil Spangler to +borrow one, and I feel satisfied he had snaked the other. +A friend of mine, John Norton, asked me to deal faro +bank, and I got broke, and the night that I did, I put the +box in the drawer pretty roughly, and made some pretty +rough remarks. Buchanan was present, but took no +exception to what I said that night. The next morning, +however, in the bar-room he began to abuse me, and we +abused each other backward and forward until I had +backed clear across the street. During this time I had +my derringer pistol out in my hand. He had a big +stick in his hand and a knife in his bosom. When we +got across the street I made this remark, 'Mr. Buchanan, +I do not want to kill you,' He was then about ten feet +from me, and made a step toward me. I took deliberate +aim at his heart and pulled the trigger, but the pistol +snapped. He walked away from me then. I ran up to +the hotel where Aleck Doran was, knowing that his six-shooter +was always in good condition. I borrowed it +and started to hunt Buchanan up, and when I found him, +he came up to me with his hand out. We made up and +have been good friends ever since. After we left +there, these parties with whom we had been playing, +got to quarreling among themselves about the different +games, and the result was that John Norton killed Phil +Spangler and another one of the men. And such is the +life of the gambler." And such is too often, alas! the +death of the gambler.</p> + +<p>From Shreveport he went back to Atlanta where his +family, consisting now of his wife, two sons and two +daughters, had remained. But he could not be contented +at any one place. It seemed impossible for him<span class="pagenum">[37]</span> +to be quiet, no matter how much money he was making. +Indeed, the more he got the more disquieted he seemed, +and yet it was his passion to win money. Sometimes +he would go to his home with his pockets full of it and +would pour it out on the floor and tell the children to +take what they wanted. He was so restless when he +had won largely that he could not sleep; and his wife +says she has known him to get up after having retired +late and walk back to the city to his gambling house to +find somebody to play with. He seemed to want to +lose his money again. In fact, he seemed happier +when he was entirely without money than when he had +a great deal.</p> + +<p>Not contented, then, at Atlanta, he went from there +to Beaufort, South Carolina, to gamble with the officers +of the navy. He got into a game of poker with some +of them and won all the money. Then he was ready to +quit and leave the place, but he got into a difficulty +with a man there whose diamond pin he had in pawn +for money lent him, and though it be at the risk of +taxing the reader's patience with these details, yet, in +order to show vividly what a gambler's life is, we shall +let Mr. Holcombe give his own account of the affair:</p> + +<p>"This man was the bully of the place. I had his +diamond pin in pawn for seventy-five dollars, and +another little fellow owed me eighteen dollars, or something +like that, and I wanted him to pay me. Instead +of paying me, however, he began to curse and abuse +me; and I hit him on the nose, knocked him over and +bloodied it, and he was bleeding like everything. He +got over into the crowd; and under the excitement of +the moment, I drew my pistol and started toward him.<span class="pagenum">[38]</span> +This big bully caught me gently by the vest, and asked +me quietly to put up my pistol. I did so. Then he +said, 'You can't shoot anybody here,' I said 'I do not +want to shoot anybody.' I then asked him to turn me +loose. He again said 'You can't shoot anybody here.' +I then said, 'What is the matter with you? Are we +not friends?' And he said 'No,' and made the remark, +'I will take your pistol away from you and beat your +brains out.' I struck him and knocked him over on a +lounge, but he rose up and came at me, and we had +quite a tussle around the room. The others all ran +and left the house, and the barkeeper hid.</p> + +<p>"When we separated, the big fellow had quite +a head on him; was all beaten up. He then +went into the other room and sat down, and the +barkeeper came in where I was. I was willing to +do or say anything to reconcile this man, and I said to +the barkeeper that I was sorry of the difficulty, as I +liked the man, which was a lie, and a square one, for I +hated him from the moment I saw him. When he +heard what I said, he came sauntering into the room, +and I said to him, 'I am sorry this occurred, but you +called me such a name that I was compelled to do +as I did. You know that you are a brave man; and if +any man had called you such a name, you would have +done just as I did.' He called me a liar, and at it we +went again. We separated ourselves every time. +I got the best of the round. After that he stepped +up to the sideboard and got a tumbler; but I looked +him in the eye so closely that he could not throw it at +me, and he put it down. After a little more conversation, +he started to lift up a heavy spittoon of iron. I<span class="pagenum">[39]</span> +stepped back a foot or two, drew my pistol, and told +him if he did not put that down, I would kill him. He +put it down. I then told the barkeeper he must come +in there and witness this thing, because I expected to +have to kill him. After the barkeeper came in, the +man went out, saying, 'You had a gun on me to-night, +and I will have one on you to-morrow.' Feeling satisfied +if I remained, one of us would have to be killed; +and feeling that I did not want to kill him, neither did +I want to get killed on a cold collar, I concluded to walk +out of the place. I got the barkeeper to promise to +ship my trunk to Atlanta, and walked through the +swamps to a station fourteen miles away, arriving there +some time next day." Other such experiences Mr. +Holcombe had enough to fill a volume perhaps, but +these are sufficient to give an impression of what a +gambler's life is and to show what <i>was</i> the life of that +same Steve Holcombe who now for eleven years has +been a pattern of Christian usefulness and zeal.</p> + +<p>After spending a short time at Atlanta, he went to +Hot Springs, Arkansas, and then again to Louisville, +where he opened a faro bank and once more settled +down for life, as he thought. <i>At any rate for the first +time in his life he thought of saving a little money</i>, and +he did so, investing it in some houses in the West End. +Poor man! he had wandered <i>nearly</i> enough. He had +almost found that rest can not be found, at least in the +way he was seeking it, and the time was approaching +when he would be <i>prepared</i> to hear of another sort and +source of rest. Until he should be prepared, it would +be vain to send him the message. To give the truth to +some people to-day would be to cast pearls before<span class="pagenum">[40]</span> +swine, to give it to them to-morrow may be re-clothing +banished princes with due tokens of welcome and +of royalty. To have told Steve Holcombe of Christ +yet awhile would probably have excited his wonder and +disgust; to tell him a little later will be to welcome a +long-lost, long-enslaved and perishing child to his +Father's house and to all the liberty of the sons of +God.</p> + +<p>So <i>he thought</i> of saving a little money and of +investing in some cottages in the west end of Louisville. +And God was thinking, too, and He was +thinking thoughts of kindness and of love for the +poor wicked outcast. He was <i>more</i> than thinking, He +was getting things ready. But the time was not yet. +A few more wanderings and the sinning one, foot-sore, +heart-sore and weary will be willing to come to the +Father's house and rest. Truth and God are always +ready, but man is not always ready. "I have many +things to say to you, but you can not bear them now."</p> + +<p>His income at Louisville at this time was between +five and seven thousand dollars a year. He had a large +interest in the bank and some nights he would take in +hundreds of dollars. But he could not be contented. +The roving passion seized him again, and in company +with a young man of fine family in Louisville, who had +just inherited five thousand dollars, he set out on a +circuit of the races. But in Lexington, the very first +place they visited, they lost all they had, including the +young man's jewelry, watch and diamond pin. They +got more money and other partners and started again +on the circuit and they made money. At Kalamazoo, +Michigan, Mr. Holcombe withdrew from the party,<span class="pagenum">[41]</span> +just for the sake of change, just because he was +tired of them; and in playing against the faro banks +at Kalamazoo he lost all he had again. Then he +traveled around to different places playing against faro +banks and "catching on" when he could. He visited +Fort Wayne, Cleveland, Utica, Saratoga and New York. +At New York he was broke and he had become so disgusted +with traveling around and so weary of the world +that he determined he <i>would</i> go back to Louisville and +settle down for life. He did return to Louisville and +got an interest in two gambling houses, making for him +an income again of five thousand dollars a year.</p> + +<p>During all these years his faithful wife, though not +professing to be a Christian herself, endeavored in all +possible ways to lead her children to become Christians. +She taught them to pray the best she could, and sent +them to Sunday-school. After her first child was born +she gave up those worldly amusements which before she +had, to please her husband, participated in with him—a +good example for Christian mothers. She was in continual +dread lest the children should grow up to follow +the father's example. She always tried to conceal from +them the fact of his being a gambler. The two +daughters, Mamie and Irene, did not, when good-sized +girls and going to school, know their father's business. +They were asked at school what his occupation was, +and could not tell. More than once they asked their +mother, but she evaded the question by saying, "He +isn't engaged in any work just now," or in some such +way. Mrs. Holcombe begged her husband again and +again not to continue gambling. She says, "I told him +I was willing to live on bread and water, if he would<span class="pagenum">[42]</span> +quit it." And she would not lay up any of the money +he would give her, nor use any more of it than was +necessary for herself and the children, for she felt that +it was not rightly gotten. And because she would +neither lay it up nor use it lavishly, she had nothing to +do but let the children take it to play with and to give +away. Under the training of such a mother with +such patience, love and faith, it is no great marvel, +and yet perhaps it is a great marvel, that Willie, the +eldest child, notwithstanding the father's example, grew +up to discern good, to desire good and to be good. +While he was still a child, when his father came home +drunk, the wounded and wondering child would beg +him not to drink any more. Mrs. Holcombe says of +him further, "When Willie would see his father on the +street drinking, I have seen him, when twelve years old, +jump off the car, go to his father and beg him with +tears to go home with him. And I never saw Mr. +Holcombe refuse to go."</p> + +<p>In this way the boy grew up with a disgust and +horror of drunkenness and drinking, and when in the +year 1877 the great temperance movement was rolling +over the country and meetings were held everywhere, +and in Louisville also, though the boy had never drunk +any intoxicating liquor in his life, he signed the pledge. +He took his card home with his name signed to it, and +when his father saw it, he was very angry about it. +And yet, strange to say, on that very evening the +father himself attended the meeting; and on the next +evening he went again, in company with his wife. +During the progress of the meeting he turned to his +wife and said, "Mary, shall I go up and sign the<span class="pagenum">[43]</span> +pledge?" Concealing her emotions as best she could, +lest the show of it might disgust and repel him, she +replied, "Yes, Steve, Willie and I would be very glad +if you would," and he did so.</p> + +<p>Some time after that, Willie asked his father and +mother if they would accompany him to the Broadway +Baptist church in the city to see him baptized. While +witnessing the baptism of his son, Mr. Holcombe made +up his mind that he would quit gambling, and as he +went out of the church, he said to his wife, "<i>I will +never play another card</i>."</p> + +<p>Some friend of his who overhead the remark said +to him, "Steve, you had better study about that." He +answered, "No, I have made up my mind. I wish +you would tell the boys for me that they may count +me out. They may stop my interest in the banks. +I am done."</p> + +<p>His wife, who was hanging on his arm, could no +longer now conceal her emotions, nor did she try. +She laughed and cried for joy. God was saying to +her, "Mary, thy toils and tears, thy sufferings and +patience have come up for a memorial before me, and +I will send a man who will tell thee what thou oughtest +to do, and speak to thee words whereby thou and all +thy house shall be saved."</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe was as good as his word. He did +give up gambling from that time. But he had had +so little experience in business that he was at a great +loss what to do. Finally, however, he decided to go +into the produce and commission business as he had +had some experience in that line years before in +Nashville, and as that required no great outlay of<span class="pagenum">[44]</span> +money for a beginning. All the money he had was +tied up in the houses which he had bought in Portland, +the western suburb of Louisville. He was living +in one of these himself, but he now determined to rent +it out and to remove to the city that he might be +nearer his business.</p> + +<p>One day in October, 1877, a stranger entered his +place of business, on Main street, and, calling for Mr. +Holcombe, said: "I see you have a house for rent in +Portland."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said he, "I have."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the stranger, "I like your house; +but as my income is not large, I should be glad to +get it at as low a rent as you can allow."</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe replied: "I am rather pressed for +money now myself, but maybe we can make a trade. +What is your business?"</p> + +<p>"I am a Methodist minister, and am just sent to +the church in Portland, and you know it can not pay +very much of a salary."</p> + +<p>"That settles it then, sir," said Mr. Holcombe, with +that abruptness and positiveness which are so characteristic +of him, "I am a notorious gambler, and, of +course, you would not want to live in a house of mine."</p> + +<p>He expected that would be the end of the matter, +and he looked to see the minister shrink from him +and leave at once his presence and his house. On +the contrary, the minister, though knowing nothing +of Mr. Holcombe's recent reformation, yet seeing his +sensitiveness, admiring his candor and hoping to be +able to do him some good, laid his hand kindly on +his shoulder and said:<span class="pagenum">[45]</span></p> + +<p>"Oh no, my brother; I do not object to living in +your house; and who knows but that this interview +will result in good to us both, in more ways than one?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe's impression was that ministers of +the Gospel were, in their own estimation, and in fact, +too good for gamblers to touch the hem of their garments, +and that ministers had, for this reason, as little +use and as great contempt for gamblers as the average +gambler has, on the very same account, for ministers. +But he found, to his amazement, that he was mistaken, +and when the minister invited him to come to +his church he said, not to the minister, yet he said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will go, I never had a good man to call me +'brother' before. And he knows what I am, for I told +him. I am so tired; I am so spent. Maybe he can +tell me what to do and how to go. If Sunday ever +comes, I will go to that man's church."</p> + +<p>And when Sunday came the minister and the gambler +faced each other again. With a great sense of +his responsibility and insufficiency the preacher declared +the message of his Lord, not as he wished, +but as he could. To the usual invitation to join the +church nobody responded. After the benediction, however, +Mr. Holcombe walked down the aisle to the +pulpit and said to the minister: "How does a man +join the church?" He had not attended church for +twenty-three years, and had been engaged in such a +life that he had forgotten what little he knew. The +minister informed him.</p> + +<p>"Then," said he, "may I join your church?"</p> + +<p>"You are welcome, and more than welcome," replied +the minister, and the people wondered.<span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p> + +<p>"From the day I joined his church," says Mr. +Holcombe, "that minister seemed to understand me +better than I understood myself. He seemed to know +and did tell me my own secrets. He led me into an +understanding of myself and my situation. I saw now +what had been the cause of my restlessness, my wanderings, +my weariness and my woe. I saw what it +was I needed, and I prayed as earnestly as I knew +how from that time. I attended all the services—preaching, +Sunday-school, prayer-meeting, class-meeting +in any and all kinds of weather, walking frequently all +the way from Second street to Portland, a distance of +three miles, because I was making too little to allow +me to ride on the street-cars. But with all this, I felt +something was yet wanting. I began to see that I +could not make any advance in goodness and happiness +so long as I was burdened with the unforgiven +guilt of forty years of sin and crime. It grew worse +and heavier until I felt I must have relief, if relief +could be had. One day I went in the back office of my +business house, after the others had all gone home, +and shut myself up and determined to stay there and +pray until I should find relief. The room was dark, +and I had prayed, I know not how long, when such a +great sense of relief and gladness and joy came to +me that it seemed to me as if a light had flooded the +room, and the only words I could utter or think of +were these three: 'Jesus of Nazareth.' It seemed to me +they were the sweetest words I had ever heard. Never, +till then, did the feeling of blood-guiltiness leave me. +It was only the blood of Christ that could wash from +my conscience the blood of my fellowman."<span class="pagenum">[47]</span></p> + +<p>As in his case, so always, in proportion as a man +is in earnest about forsaking sin, will he desire the +assurance of the forgiveness of past sins, and <i>vice +versa</i>. But Mr. Holcombe did not find this an end of +difficulty and trial and conflict—far from it. Indeed, it +was the preparation for conflict, and the entrance +upon it. Hitherto, in his old life, he had made no +resistance to his evil nature, and there was no conflict +with the world, the flesh and the devil. But such +a nature as his was not to be conquered and subjected +to entire and easy control in a day. His +passions would revive, his old habits would re-assert +themselves, poverty pinched him, people misunderstood +him, failure after failure in business discouraged him. +Hence, he needed constant and careful guidance and +an unfailing sympathy. And he thus refers to the +help he received from his pastor in those trying days:</p> + +<p>"Seeing the great necessity of giving me much +attention and making me feel at home in his presence +and in the presence of his wife, he spent much time +in my company, and with loving patience bore with +my ignorance, dullness and slowness. In this way I +became so much attached to him that I had no need +or desire for my old associations. He led me along +till I was entirely weaned from all desire for my old +sinful life and habits. I think he gave me this close +attention for about two years, when he felt that it +was best for me to lean more upon God and less +upon him."</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe received continual kindness and +encouragement from the minister's wife also, who not +only had for him always a cordial greeting and a kindly<span class="pagenum">[48]</span> +word of cheer, but who took great pleasure in entertaining +him frequently in their home. It was a perpetual +benediction to him to know her, to see the +daily beauty of her faithful life, to feel the influence +of her heavenly spirit. With quick intuition she recognized +the sincerity and intensity of Mr. Holcombe's +desires and efforts to be a Christian man; with ready +insight she comprehended the situation and saw his +difficulties and needs, and with a very Christlike self-forgetfulness +and joy she ministered to this struggling +soul. Not only Mr. Holcombe, but all who ever knew +her, whether in adversity or prosperity, whether in sickness +or in health, admired the beauty and felt the quiet +unconscious power of her character. As for Mr. Holcombe +himself, his mingled feeling of reverence for her +saintliness and of gratitude for her sisterliness led him +always to speak of her in terms that he did not apply +to any other person whom he knew. He could never +cease to marvel that one of her education, position and +tender womanliness should take such pains and have +such pleasure in helping, entertaining and serving such +as he. A few years only was he blessed with the helpfulness +of her friendship. In 1885, when she was just +past the age of thirty-one, her tender feet grew so +tired that she could go no further in this rough world, +and Christ took her away. Few were more deeply +bereaved than the poor converted gambler, and when +he was asked if he would serve as one of the pallbearers +on the occasion of her funeral, he burst into +tears and replied, "I am not worthy, I am not worthy." +If those who knew her—little children of tender years, +young men and women, perplexed on life's threshold<span class="pagenum">[49]</span> +and desiring to enter in at the strait gate, people +of rank and wealth, people in poverty and ignorance, +worldly-minded people whom she had unconsciously +attracted, experienced Christians whom she unconsciously +helped, and, most of all, her husband and +children who knew her best—if all these should be +asked, all these would agree that St. Paul has written +her fitting epitaph:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Well reported of for good works;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If she have brought up children,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If she have lodged strangers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If she have washed the saints' feet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If she have relieved the afflicted,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If she have diligently followed every good work."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was not long after Mr. Holcombe's conversion +before his entire family became members of the church. +Though this was to him cause of unspeakable joy and +gratitude, it did not mark the limit of his love and zeal. +From the time of his conversion he had a deep and +brotherly sympathy for all who were without the knowledge +and joy he had come into the possession of, but +he felt a special interest in the salvation of the wretched +and the outcast, and of the men of his own class and +former occupation who were as ignorant as he was of +these higher things and as shut out from opportunities +of knowing them. So that from the very beginning +of his Christian life he undertook to help others, and +when they were in need, not stopping to think of any +other way, he took them to his own house. This, with +the support of his own family, increased the cost of +his living to such an extent that he was soon surprised +and pained to find that he could not carry on his business.<span class="pagenum">[50]</span> +He had taken to his home, also, the father of his +wife, whom he cared for till his death. And in a short +time he was so pressed for means that he had to mortgage +his property for money to go into another kind of +business.</p> + +<p>When it was first reported that Steve Holcombe, +one of the most successful, daring and famous gamblers +in the South, had been converted and had joined the +church, the usual predictions were made that in less +than three months, etc., he would see his mistake or +yield to discouragements and return to his old life of +self-indulgence and ease. But when men passed and +repassed the corner where this man had a little fruit +store and was trying to make an honest living for his +family, their thoughts became more serious and their +questions deepen Steve had got something or something +had got him. He was not the man of former +times. And most of his friends, the gamblers included, +when they saw this, were glad, and while they wondered +wished him well. But there was one man engaged in +business just across the street from the little fruit store, +who with a patronizing air bought little fruits from Mr. +Holcombe, and then spent his leisure in discussions and +arguments to prove not only that he had made a big +blunder in becoming a Christian, but that religion was all +a sham, the Bible a not very cunningly devised fable and +that Mr. Ingersoll was the greatest man of the day, +because he had shattered these delusions. Mr. Holcombe +patiently heard it all, and perhaps did not frame +as cogent or logical an answer to this man's sophistries +as he could do now, but he felt in his own heart and he +saw in his own life that he was a new man. He felt a<span class="pagenum">[51]</span> +profound pity for his friend who knew not nor cared for +any of these things, and he lived on his humble, patient, +uncomplaining Christian life. It may not be out of +place to add as the sequel of this little episode that the +testimony of this man across the way, who was such an +unbeliever and scoffer, is given elsewhere in this volume, +and doubtless will be recognized by the reader. Mr. +Holcombe's life was too much for his logic.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Holcombe had failed in every kind of +business that he undertook, his property was forced +on the market and nothing was left him from the sale +of it. Christian men of means might have helped him +and ought to have helped him, but for reasons known +to themselves they did not. Perhaps they were afraid +to take hold of so tough a case as Steve Holcombe was +known to have been, perhaps they saw he was not an +experienced business man, perhaps they felt indisposed +to help a man who was so incapable of economy and so +generous in entertaining his friends and helping the +needy. Greatly pressed, he went at last to his half-brother +with whom in former years he had been associated +as partner in business, and putting his case and +condition before him asked for employment. But his +half-brother declined on the spot, giving as his short +and sole reason that he believed Mr. Holcombe was a +hypocrite and was making believe that he was a +Christian for some sinister purpose.</p> + +<p>This was "the most unkindest cut" of all and for +days the poor wounded man felt the iron in his soul. +During his former life he would have cared nothing for +such treatment. A ruined character is benumbed like a +paralyzed limb, but a revived and repentant soul is full<span class="pagenum">[52]</span> +of sensitive nerves and feels the slightest slight or the +smallest wound. He found out months afterward, however, +that his half-brother was already losing his mind +and was not responsible for this extraordinary behavior. +He tried and his friends tried everywhere and every +way to find employment for him, but he could get nothing +to do. His money was all gone, his property was +all gone, he sold his piano, he sold his Brussels carpets, +he removed from place to place, following cheaper rent +till at last he took his family to a garret. It was now +two years since his conversion. During these two +years he had done nothing to bring reproach on his +profession or to give ground for a doubt of his sincerity. +He had not only lived a consistent life himself, he had +striven earnestly to help others to do so. He assisted +in holding meetings in Shippingsport, and the people +marveled and magnified the grace of God in him. +But he was with his family on the point of starvation. +When at last everything had been tried and no relief +was found, in his desperation he thought of the improbable +possibility of finding something, at least something +to do, in the West, and he decided to go to Colorado.</p> + +<p>In Louisville, where he was suffering and where his +family was suffering, he could have returned to gambling +and have been independent in a month. He could +have been living in a comfortable house; he could have +had, as he was wont, the best the market afforded for +his table, he could have decked himself with jewelry +and diamonds, he could soon have been once more in +position to spend, as he had regularly done, from two to +ten dollars a day for the mere luxuries of life. He +could have done all this and he could do all this even<span class="pagenum">[53]</span> +yet; for even yet he is in the prime of life and power. +But he did not, and he does not. He did not turn +Christian because he had played out as a gambler. +He did not turn to Christianity because fortune had +turned away from him. But he turned away himself +from fortune when he was fortune's pet, in order to +turn to a better and worthier life.</p> + +<p>When he had decided to go to Colorado, he went to +his pastor and told him. The pastor was astonished, +alarmed. After two years and more of faithful and +self-denying service was his friend and brother about to +give away? Was this a plan to get away into a "far +country" where he might turn again to sin? He reasoned +with him, he appealed to him, he besought him. +He tried to picture the perils of the journey and the +perils of the place. He reminded Mr. Holcombe of +the condition, as far as he knew it, of his family. +But all to no purpose. He committed his friend trustfully +to God and gave it up.</p> + +<p>"But," said the pastor, "how are you going to get +there?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to walk from place to place and work +my way out. I can not stay here, I can get nothing to +do and I must try elsewhere. I am desperate."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the pastor, "if your mind is made up +and you are going, I can let you have some money. +I have about sixty-one dollars in bank which I laid +aside when a single man, to use for Christ, and if that +will pay your way out, you can have it. Christ has +called for his own."</p> + +<p>He accepted it with tears, left a few dollars of it +with his wife and, with the rest, started for Leadville.<span class="pagenum">[54]</span></p> + +<p>When he first landed at Denver, he met an old +friend, John Chisholm, with whom he had gambled in +Atlanta. This man had left Atlanta on account of +having killed somebody there, and had made a considerable +amount of money in California. He had +now come to Denver and opened a game of faro. +When he saw Mr. Holcombe on the street, he said: +"You are just the man I want. I have opened a +game of faro here, and I am afraid I can not protect +myself. I will give you a good interest if you will +go in with me."</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe replied: "Yes, John; but I am a +Christian now, and can not deal faro."</p> + +<p>"I know," said the man, "you were a Christian +in Louisville, but you are a long ways from there."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Mr. Holcombe said, "but a true Christian +is a Christian everywhere."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding, he insisted on Mr. Holcombe's +going to his room to see another old Atlanta friend. +He did so, but felt so much out of place there that +he did not remain ten minutes.</p> + +<p>From Denver he concluded to go to Silver Cliff +instead of Leadville. When he arrived in that strange +village, his money was all gone and he lacked fifteen +cents of having enough to pay the stage-driver. "It +was about sundown," says he, "when I got there. I +did not know a living soul. I had not a cent of +money. My courage failed me. I broke down and +wept like a child."</p> + +<p>Having a good trunk he knew he would not be +asked to pay in advance, and he went to a hotel and +spent the night. In the morning he walked out after<span class="pagenum">[55]</span> +breakfast to see what sort of a place he had gotten +into. As he stood at the post-office, he saw across +the street what he recognized as a gambling-house, +"everything wide open," no attempt at concealment +or privacy. He asked some one out of curiosity who +was the proprietor, and found that two of his old +acquaintances were running the house. He could +easily, and at once, have gotten a situation with them, +and could soon have had money to relieve his own +wants and the wants of his family. But he had +already stood severe tests, and had now arrived at a +point where he had no inclination whatever to gamble +and felt no temptation to procure money in that +way or from that source. He did not even look +for the proprietors of the establishment or let them +know he was in the village. But while he was +standing there, thinking of his condition and wondering +what he should do, he overheard a man say that +a dining-room waiter was wanted at the Carbonate +hotel, the one at which he had spent the night. He +went at once to the hotel, made application for the +place, and was accepted at a salary of twenty-five +dollars a month and board.</p> + +<p>He was filled with thankfulness and joy, and he +has declared since, that though, on one night during +his gambling life, he had won three thousand dollars +in money, the satisfaction which he felt then could +not be compared with that which he felt now when +the hotel-proprietor gave him this position of dining-room +waiter <i>at a salary of twenty-five dollars a month</i>. +He entered at once upon his duties. To his great +surprise he found several Louisville gentlemen stopping<span class="pagenum">[56]</span> +at the hotel, some of whom had known him in +other days and circumstances, and whom he had +boarded with at hotels where he paid five dollars a +day, with two to four dollars a day, extra, for wine +and cigars. But, notwithstanding that, he was not +ashamed of his present position. On the contrary, +he was very thankful for it and happy in it. He did +such faithful service there that the proprietor became +interested in him and showed him much kindness.</p> + +<p>During his stay at Silver Cliff he did not neglect +any opportunity of doing good to others.</p> + +<p>One day, when he was standing in the door of +the post-office, a man, whose name he afterward +found to be James Lewis, came in, got a letter and +sat down on the step right under Mr. Holcombe to +read it. As he read it, he was much affected and +tears were running down his hardened face. Mr. Holcombe +became so interested that he read the man's +letter over his shoulder. It was from his wife, who, +with her three children, had left her husband on +account of his drunkenness. Mr. Holcombe made up +his mind he would see if he could do something for +the poor man to better his condition, and, if possible, +bring about the reunion of the family. He did not +like to approach him then and there. He watched +him till he got up and moved away and started down +through an alley. As he emerged from the alley, at +the farther end, Mr. Holcombe, who had gone around +another way, met him. Little did the man suspect +that the stranger who accosted him knew his trouble +and his family secrets. Mr. Holcombe, with that tact +which his knowledge of men had given him, spoke to<span class="pagenum">[57]</span> +him kindly, but in a way that would not arouse his +suspicions. He told him, after a little while, his own +condition in that far-off land away from his family and +friends. He found out from the man where he stayed. +He went to see him, found that he slept in a stable, +provided him with some things he needed, and then +got down on his knees there in the stable and prayed +for him.</p> + +<p>Finally, when the proper time had come, Mr. Holcombe +showed him a Murphy pledge and asked him if +he would not sign it. He told him what he himself +had been before, and what he had become, since +signing that pledge. The man gave Mr. Holcombe +his confidence, unbosomed himself to him and eagerly +sought counsel. He signed the pledge also and said +he would, by God's help, give up his sins that had +separated him from a loving wife, and would try to live +a better life. Mr. Holcombe wrote to the man's wife +informing her of the change in her husband and the +effort he was making to do right. She came at once to +Silver Cliff and Mr. Holcombe had the pleasure of +seeing them reunited and ate with them in their humble +cabin.</p> + +<p>When he had been some time at the Carbonate +hotel, he found a position where he could make more +money and worked there till he had saved enough to +buy an outfit for "prospecting" in the mountains. +This outfit consisted of a little donkey, several "agricultural +implements for subverting <i>terra firma</i>" such as +spade, pick, etc., and provisions for two or three weeks. +Having procured these and packed his burro, as the +donkey is called out West, he and his partner started<span class="pagenum">[58]</span> +for the mountains. Mr. Holcombe kept a sort of diary +of this part of his Western trip, and we give it here, +including the time from his leaving Silver Cliff to his +return to Denver.</p> + +<p class="h4">DIARY.</p> + +<p>Tuesday, May 27, 1879.—I entered into partnership +with a man by the name of J. E. White from Wisconsin +for prospecting in the mountains. He had some +blankets at Oak Creek, a distance of thirty miles from +Silver Cliff. We walked out there one day and +returned the next. The road was very full of dust and +gravel. My shoes would get full of it. Every little +mountain stream we came to I would stop and wash my +feet, which was very refreshing. This made me think +of the blessed Son of God and why, when he was a +guest at different places, they brought him water for +his feet,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Those blessed feet<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, eighteen hundred years ago, were nailed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For our advantage on the bitter cross."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Wednesday, May 28.—After having bought a burro +and a two weeks' grub-stake, J. E. White and myself +started for the Sangre de Christo mountain, a wild, +high range of the Rockies. We paid for our burro +twenty-one dollars, and for our grub seven dollars. +It consisted of flour, coffee, sugar, bacon, salt, pepper, +potatoes and baking powder. We had a coffee-pot, +frying-pan, tin cups. We used our pocket-knives +instead of table-knives. We had a butcher-knife and +some teaspoons. With these and some other things +we packed our burro and started. It was a funny sight. +It all looked like a house on top of the poor little<span class="pagenum">[59]</span> +animal which was not much larger than a good sized +Newfoundland dog. But it was strong, faithful and +sure-footed and could go anywhere in the mountains +that a man could. We traveled this first day about ten +miles and camped in a gulch at night. Had a hard +storm. Our only shelter was a hut made of boughs of +trees, Indian fashion.</p> + +<p>Thursday, May 29.—We moved up the gulch as far +as we could for the snow. Did some little prospecting +of which neither of us knew very much, and, of course, +we found nothing. Every once in awhile, White would +pick up a rock, look at it wisely and say "This is +good float. I think there is a paying lode up on this +mountain somewhere." Up the mountain we go about +9,000 feet above the sea level. We turned over all the +stones and dug up the earth every now and then and +toward night we went to work to make our hut which +we got about half finished. During the night snow fell +about three inches. We were on the side of the +mountain. Could hardly keep the fire from rolling +down the side of the mountain. Could hardly keep +our victuals from upsetting. This and the snow made +me weaken considerably, and I did say in my heart I +wished I was back home.</p> + +<p>Friday, May 30.—We prospected the second ridge, +south of Horn's Peak, going up about 300 feet above +timber line, or about 12,000 feet above the sea-level. +There were no indications of minerals. About five +miles off we could see a beautiful lake. I was very +anxious to go to it, but White objected. Said it would +be dangerous, might be caught in a snow-storm. +The sun was shining brightly. Weather was very<span class="pagenum">[60]</span> +pleasant. I could not conceive of a snow-storm on the +30th of May. So I persuaded him to go. After we +had gone some distance, all of a sudden it began to +blow up cold and in a little while to snow. We turned +our faces toward camp. Just then we saw one of those +beautiful Rocky mountain spotted grouse. We were +so hungry for something fresh to eat, we took several +shots at it with White's pistol. But the blinding snow +made it impossible for us to hit it. We had no grouse +for supper.</p> + +<p>It grew cold very rapidly and in a very short time it +seemed to me as cold as I ever felt it in my life. +My moustache froze stiff. At last the storm got so +heavy, and, the evening coming on, we could hardly see +our way. The side of the mountain was full of dead +timber, which was slick like glass and, as everything +was covered with snow, we could not always see where +to put our feet down, and to have slipped would have +been almost certain death. Once White did slip and +but for having the pick and sticking it in a soft place, +he would have been killed. We got lost and wandered +about over the mountain side till late in the evening +when we providentially struck on our camp. We were +hungry, tired and wet. Our bedding was covered with +snow. Before going to bed I read the first chapter +of Romans.</p> + +<p>Saturday, May 31.—Cloudy morning. Four inches +of snow. No wind. Felt very well. We moved +our camp. Stopped at a deserted cabin. Found a +grindstone and ground our hatchet. We pitched camp +about three miles South-east. Built a hut of boughs. +We got wet. I had but one pair of pants and one pair<span class="pagenum">[61]</span> +of socks. My feet were soaking wet. At bedtime I +read Romans, second chapter.</p> + +<p>Sunday, June 1, 1879.—Snowed Saturday night. +When I awoke our blankets were wet. I had symptoms +of rheumatism in knees and wrists. I read Romans, +third chapter, and we had prayer together. White sang +"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" and "Safe in the Arms +of Jesus." It made me think of my family so far away, +of my dear pastor, Brother——, and the dear old +Portland church, and the tears streamed down my face. +Spent the day in camp.</p> + +<p>Monday, June 2.—Woke up very cold. Our hut +of pine boughs was not sufficient to keep us warm. +So much snow on the mountains that we prospected the +foot-hills and found what we thought were indications +of mineral. At night read Romans, fourth chapter. +Much encouraged by Abraham's faith. So cold I had to +get my hat in the night and put it on my head to keep +warm. Dreamed that I was at home with my precious +wife. Tried to wake her up, but she was dead. What +awful feelings!</p> + +<p>Tuesday, June 3.—A beautiful bright morning. +Read Romans v. Partner wanted to go deer hunting +with a pistol. Seemed to me so foolish I would not go. +I stayed at camp and was very lonesome.</p> + +<p>Wednesday, June 4.—Bright, clear morning. Read +Romans vi. Had our breakfast, bread, bacon, coffee +and potatoes, early, so as to prospect on third +mountain south of Horn's Peak. Started for the +mountains. Went up above timber line. Ate lunch +up there. Too much snow to go any higher. Found +what we thought were indications of mineral. Saw a<span class="pagenum">[62]</span> +gray eagle sailing around. It looked very grand away +up above that lonely mountain. Suppose its nest was +near. In evening returned to camp very tired. Read +Romans vii., and it did me a great deal of good.</p> + +<p>Thursday, June 5.—Clear morning. Prospected +some around the foot-hills. Found nothing. Began +to get disgusted with prospecting. Struck camp +about ten or eleven o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Packed our burro +and crossed valley about fifteen miles. Very hot crossing. +Pack slipped out of place several times. Very +troublesome. White got out of humor. Was inclined +to quarrel, but I would not quarrel with him. After +getting across the valley we had trouble finding a place +to camp convenient to water, but found it at last. +While we were unpacking a big rabbit jumped up. +White fired three or four shots at him with his revolver. +Followed him up the side of the mountain. At last +he killed him. He came down the mountain swinging +old Brer Rabbit, and I think he was as happy looking a +man as I ever saw. No doubt a smile of satisfaction +might have been seen on your Uncle Remus' face, too, +when I saw that rabbit. That was the first thing in +shape of fresh meat we had had for about ten days.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +SUPPER—BILL OF FARE. +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<span class="tenl"><i>Fried Rabbit,</i></span> +<span class="tenr"><i>Fried Bread</i>,</span> +<br /> +<span class="thirtyl"><i>Potatoes,</i></span> +<span class="thirtyr"><i>Coffee.</i></span> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>After supper we raised a few poles and threw our +blankets over them for shelter. Read Romans viii., +and went to sleep, feeling satisfied that if I died before +morning, I would wake up in heaven.</p> + +<p>Friday, June 6.—Bright morning. Fine appetite. +Good breakfast. Read Romans ix. We moved from<span class="pagenum">[63]</span> +the foot-hills and went up into the mountain. White +went prospecting while I built us a hut for the night. +When he came back he said he had found some very +good float. Very cold night. Our burro got loose in +the night and made considerable noise moving around. +We were sure it was a mountain lion, but, of course, +we were not afraid. I had my hatchet under my head +and he had his pistols. Of course, we were not afraid.</p> + +<p>Saturday, June 7.—Very cold morning. Prospected. +Found a lode of black rock. Felt sure we had struck +it rich. Dug a whole in the ground and staked a claim. +Read Romans x, at night. Slept cold. Got to thinking. +Thought it was easier to find a needle in a +haystack than a paying mine in the Rocky mountains.</p> + +<p>Sunday, June 8.—Morning clear and bright. Owing +to the disagreeable place in which we were camped, we +thought our health justified us in moving even on the +Lord's day. Found an old cabin. It was worse than +any horse stable, but we cleaned it out. Made a bed +of poles, which we cut and carried some distance. +This was on the Pueblo and Rosita road.</p> + +<p>Monday, June 9.—Bright, cold morning. Ice on +the spring branch. After breakfast we started prospecting. +Found nothing, except another old deserted +cabin of the Arkansaw Traveler's style. Returned to +camp in the evening. Read Romans xii. and xiii. and +slept like a prince.</p> + +<p>Tuesday, June 10—Another bright, clear, cold +morning. We prospected some. Staked off a claim, +more in fun than anything else, for we knew it was +worth nothing. The locality is called Hardscrabble. +And it was the right name. Our provisions had about<span class="pagenum">[64]</span> +given out, and it was a hard scrabble for us to get +along. Concluded to return to Silver Cliff, go to +work, get another grub stake, and take another fresh +start. In the afternoon we rested. Read Romans xiv., +xv. and xvi.</p> + +<p>Wednesday, June 11.—Another beautiful Colorado +morning. Read 1 Cor., i. Started for Silver Cliff +about 7:00 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> I carried White's pistol. On the +way I killed two doves. Had them for dinner about +3:00 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> How sweet they did taste! Arrived at +Silver Cliff about dark.</p> + +<p>Thursday, June 12.—Concluded the best thing I +could do was to get home as soon as possible. We +sold our burro for $15.00, and with my part ($7.50) +I started with a friend by the name of Hall for home. +We got a cheap ride in a freight wagon from Silver +Cliff to Pueblo. The country through which we passed +is the wildest and grandest I ever saw anywhere in +my life. Hardscrabble canon is one of the most +picturesque in the world, and then the beautiful mountain +stream all the way, winding like a serpent down +the valley. We crossed and re-crossed it several +times. That night we slept in the wagon. I never +neglected praying any day while I was on the prospecting +tour.</p> + +<p>Friday, June 13.—Arrived at Pueblo about 2:00 +<span class="smcap">p. m.</span> Had a little money. Got a bite to eat. At +that time there was a railroad war. Men were killing +each other for three dollars a day for corporations. +The excitement about this, and the moving bodies of +men all anxious for news, kept me from thinking of +my condition till night. At night I went out to the<span class="pagenum">[65]</span> +commons, on the edge of the city, and, with other +tramps, went to sleep on the cold ground.</p> + +<p>Saturday, June 14.—Had a little money. Some +others of the tramps had a little. We pooled it, +bought a little grub, and at 12:00 o'clock started on +a tramp to Denver, a distance of about one hundred +and twenty-five miles. I felt fresh and strong. We +walked about six miles and slept on the ground at +night.</p> + +<p>Sunday, June 15.—Got up early. Had a little breakfast. +Started about 6:00 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Walked about three +miles when, two of our party having such sore feet, +we stopped. I had a voracious appetite. Went to +cooking. We had some canned tomatoes and canned +syrup. I cooked some tomatoes and ate them. Then +I went to a ranch, bought a nickel's worth of milk, +fried some cakes, ate them with the syrup, drank the +milk and was—sick. Did not feel strong again all +the time. I had had no experience in tramping and +tried to carry too much luggage. My feet got sore. +Every day's tramp after that was a drag. One of the +party left us and went on ahead by himself. We +never saw him again. Another was so broken down +we had to leave him. Hall and I went on sick and +tired. About dark we went up to the house of a +ranchman, and I told him my story. He took us in. +I found out he was a professing Christian. I read +Romans vii., and prayed with the family. His name +is John Irvine, El Paso, Colorado.</p> + +<p>Monday, June 16.—Left John Irvine's soon after +breakfast. Walked five miles to a water-tank where +the train had to stop for water. We waited till the<span class="pagenum">[66]</span> +train came along, and boarded her. The conductor +did not see us till we had passed Colorado Springs +some distance. When he did see us, I made the appeal +of my life on account of myself and my friend, +whose feet were so sore he could, with difficulty, +hobble along. I told the conductor my own condition, +and of my anxiety to get home to a suffering family. +When I saw he would not believe what I said, I offered +him my pocket-knife, a very fine and costly one, to let +us ride a short distance further, but he was like a +stone. At the next stop he put us off without a cent +of money or a bite to eat. We walked about six miles, +lay down on the ground, with the sky for a covering, +and slept like logs.</p> + +<p>Tuesday, June 17.—We started about daybreak, +without anything to eat. Walked about eight miles +to a little place called Sedalia. Saw a German boarding +house. Sent Hall in to see if we could get anything +to eat. Had no money, but told him to tell her +I would give her a butcher-knife and a silver teaspoon, +which I had brought from home, for something to eat.</p> + +<p>She said to him so I could hear her: "Breakfast +is over, but I will give you what I have." That was +enough for me. In I went. Sat down to a real German +lunch, and never did a breakfast taste sweeter to me +than that. God bless that good old German woman, +not only for her good breakfast, but for her kind, +motherly words to two strangers in want. It taught +me a lesson which I have not forgotten yet, and I pray +God I never may.</p> + +<p>I left Sedalia feeling comfortable. Walked about +four miles. Hall was about done. He could go no<span class="pagenum">[67]</span> +further. While we were sitting there, a Christian man +by the name of Jennings came along, took pity on us, +took us in his wagon, gave us something to eat and +brought us to Denver. We arrived there about 6:00 +<span class="smcap">p m.</span>, without one cent, nothing to eat, no place to +go. Slept that night in a stable-yard under Jennings' +wagon.</p> + +<p>Wednesday, June 18.—Got up next morning about +daybreak. Had a little cold breakfast with Jennings. +Knocked about town a little. Had a baker's blackberry +pie and a cup of water for dinner.</p> + +<p>Here the diary of the prospecting tour and the tramp +to Denver ends.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe continued the next day to knock about +town, not knowing what to do, when his old friend, Frank +Jones, by nature one of the kindest-hearted men in the +world, chanced to meet him and insisted on sharing his +room with him. As his friend Jones, however, was himself +broke, he could render Mr. Holcombe no further +assistance and it was necessary for Mr. Holcombe to +look about for something to do. He spent a week in +this occupation, or want of occupation, and at the end +of that time found employment in a brickyard. But the +work was so hard, at the end of three weeks, he had to +give it up. After some time what little money he had +was expended and again he was destitute. And at one +time he was so pressed that he went into a grocery store +and offered his fine pocket-knife again for something to +eat, but it was refused. Several times he passed the +Young Men's Christian Association rooms. Each time +he stopped, looked wistfully in and debated with himself +whether they would probably believe him and help<span class="pagenum">[68]</span> +him if he ventured to go in and make his condition +known. But he had never been used to asking favors, +and he did not know how to approach Christian people, +and so his heart failed him.</p> + +<p>At that time and in that condition he was assailed +by a sore temptation. The devil, he says, suggested +these thoughts to him: "This is a fine condition for +Steve Holcombe to be in. Before you heard of God +and this religion, you could stop at first-class hotels, +wear fine clothes, live like a gentleman, have a good +home and all that money could buy for your family. +Now, you say you are serving God. You say He is +your father and that He owns everything in the world. +Yet here you are without food and clothing and your +family is at home in want. You have not enough to +buy a meal for them or for yourself. Can you afford to +trust and serve such a master as that?"</p> + +<p>But he had not been serving God two years and +more for naught. He had learned some things in that +time. One of them was that trials and privations are a +part of the Christian's heritage, and that if any man will +live godly in this present world, he must expect to suffer. +So his reply was ready and he met the temptation with +decision. "Yea, and though He slay me, yet will I trust +in Him." And the sequel will show whether he made +a mistake in trusting Him.</p> + +<p>When he saw it was useless for him to remain longer +away from home, he informed his friend, Mr. Jones, of his +purpose to leave at once for Louisville. Mr. Jones got +him money enough to buy a ticket to Kansas City, and +there the great temperance lecturer, Francis Murphy, +having found out his character and condition, gave him +enough to get home.<span class="pagenum">[69]</span></p> + +<p>Whether God can or not, at any rate He does not +pour wisdom into a man as we pour water into a bottle. +He does not so favor even His own children, if favor it +could be called. But He gives a man opportunities of +self-discipline, and if, aided by His divine help and +grace, the man is willing to go through the process, he +comes out with larger knowledge and better equipment +for life and service and usefulness.</p> + +<p>Without the experiences and lessons of this Colorado +trip, Mr. Holcombe could not have been the efficient +man he is to-day. That season of loneliness and self-searching +and severe testing and humiliation was to +him, though a painful, yet a helpful, and perhaps necessary, +stage in his Christian life.</p> + +<p>Indeed, all the trying experiences that had come to +him since his conversion were helpful to him in one way +or another. He needed to learn patience, he needed to +learn economy, he needed to learn self-control. The +disposition to practice all these was given him at the +time of his conversion, he needed now to be put to the +test and to "learn obedience, practically, by the things +which he suffered." Moreover, if he was to serve +efficiently the poor and the tempted, he needed to +become acquainted with their condition, their sorrows, +their conflicts, by passing through them himself.</p> + +<p>The endurance of the evils which give occasion for +the exercise of self-denial and for the acquisition of self-control +is a far less evil than the want of self-denial and +of self-control. So Mr. Holcombe was willing to suffer +all these things rather than to decline them and be +without the blessing which comes through them. This +reflection justified his past sufferings and prepared him<span class="pagenum">[70]</span> +for any that might come in the future. He knew what +he had been and he had learned that he was to be +purified by fire. So he felt that if God would be +patient with him, he would be patient with God's +dealings. When he arrived at home he found his family +in a very needy condition. Shortly after his departure +for Colorado, his wife had to remove from the house +she was occupying, because she could not pay the rent. +She had never taken care of herself before or done any +sort of work, for he always provided well for his family; +but now she saw it was necessary for her to support the +family. Accordingly, she took in sewing, and in that +way did support them till Mr. Holcombe's return. For +six weeks after his return he could find nothing to do, +and Mrs. Holcombe, brave, noble woman, continued +to support the family with her needle. The time of +her full deliverance was coming, but it was not yet. +Nor did she know when it would come, or that it would +ever come. But all the same she waited, and while +she waited, she served, and with a glad heart, too, for +had not her husband turned his face heavenward? And +poverty seemed now a small thing.</p> + +<p>Some time after Mr. Holcombe's return, his friend, +Major Ed Hughes, was elected Chief of the Fire +Department in Louisville, and he made application to +him at once for a position. Major Hughes gave it to +him unhesitatingly; but, as Mr. Holcombe was entirely +without experience, it had to be a subordinate one, in +which the salary was not large, being only a dollar and +a half per day. It was impossible for him to support +his family on so little, and though Mrs. Holcombe +undertook to help him out by keeping boarders and +<span class="pagenum">[71]</span>doing all the work herself, they got behind all the time +he was in the fire department. Finding that keeping +boarders after Mrs. Holcombe's liberal fashion was +entirely unprofitable, she gave that up and commenced +taking in sewing again. She even learned to make +coats for clothing stores in Louisville, and continued +that for some time.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-093.jpg" width="298" height="458" alt="ENGINE HOUSE." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ENGINE HOUSE.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, he was having a hard time in his subordinate +position in the fire department. In the first +place he was required to be at the engine-house night +and day and Sundays, with the bare exception of a +half hour or such a matter at meal time. For a man of +his nature and habits this confinement was almost intolerable, +and would have been quite so, if he had not been +radically changed. In the second place he was subject +to the orders of his superiors, though he had never +been obliged to obey anybody, and as a matter of fact +never had obeyed anybody since he was a mere infant. +In the third place, notwithstanding his experience, his +knowledge of the world and his capacity for higher +work, he was required to do work which a well-trained +idiot might have done just as well. One of his duties +was to rub the engine and keep it polished. In order +to clean some parts of it, he would have to lie down +on the floor under it flat on his back; and in order to +clean other more delicate parts of the machinery, he +had to work in such places that he was always bruising +and skinning his hands.</p> + +<p>If repeated failure in business in Louisville was +hard, if starving in Colorado was harder, the confinement +and drudgery of his position at the engine-house +were hardest. It would require some effort to<span class="pagenum">[72]</span> +think of a position more thoroughly disagreeable and +trying than this one which Mr. Holcombe filled to the +satisfaction of his superiors for two mortal years. But +he was learning some things he needed to know. He +was passing through a necessary apprenticeship, though +he did not know it, for something vastly higher. It +perhaps should be added that Mr. Holcombe was +practically isolated and alone at the engine-house, +for none of the men there employed were congenial +companions. However, to their credit, be it said, they +showed great respect for him and for his Christian +profession; they quit gambling, they refrained from +using obscene or profane language in his presence, +and, in general, were very kind to him.</p> + +<p>Nothing could lessen Mr. Holcombe's sympathy +for the outcast and the lost, and nothing destroy his +zeal for their salvation. Though he was not allowed +to leave his post even on Sunday, without hiring, at +his own expense, a substitute, yet he frequently went +to Shippingsport and other places to hold services +among the poor "with the hope," as he says, "of +helping and blessing them." He incurred the expense +of a substitute that he might, once in awhile, go out +bearing light and blessing to others, and he even took +to his own home men who were trying to reform and +live better lives. In view of the condition of his family, +this was doubtless more than he ought to have done, +and in after years he saw it was a mistake, but such +was his insatiable longing to help and bless others, he +let his zeal, perhaps, go beyond his prudence in that +single particular. Most of us err very far on the other +side. He did not hesitate to take to his home in some<span class="pagenum">[73]</span> +instances men who had gone in their dissipation to +the extent of delirium tremens. One such case was +that of a fine young fellow who belonged to an excellent +family in Louisville, but who through drink had +gone down, down, down, until he had struck bottom. +During his drinking sprees he was the most forlorn +and wretched looking man in Louisville. He was at +this time, by Mr. Holcombe's invitation, staying at +his house. He ate there, he slept there; it was his +home. But on one occasion, some time after midnight, +he was attacked with a frightful spell of delirium +tremens, or, as he said, the devils got after him. They +told him, he said, that if he did not kill Mr. and Mrs. +Holcombe and their baby, they would kill him. He +heard them. They told him to go and get his razor, +and he did it. Then they advanced on him and he +backed from them, his razor in hand. As they advanced +he retreated. He opened Mr. Holcombe's door (for he +had hired a substitute and remained at home on the +night in question in order to help his man through his +spell). He backed to the bed in which Mr. and Mrs. +Holcombe were sleeping. He struck the bed as he +retreated from the devils, and Mrs. Holcombe awoke +to find a demonized man standing over them with a +drawn razor. She woke her husband. He jumped +out of bed, caught the man's arm and took the razor +from him. After that Mr. Holcombe sat up with him +the remainder of the night, and during most of the +time the man was talking to imaginary devils. About +daylight he snatched up a brickbat out of the hearth +and rushed toward the door saying there were three +big men out there who had come to kill him. Mr.<span class="pagenum">[74]</span> +Holcombe kept him with himself all next day. The +next night while they were walking together in the +open air, the man imagined that a woman whom he +knew to be dead was choking him to death, and he +was on the point of dying with suffocation when Mr. +Holcombe called a physician to his aid.</p> + +<p>Such was the kind of men Mr. Holcombe, even in +those days of poverty and discouragement, was trying +to help and rescue, and such were his efforts and trials +and perils in rescuing them.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Holcombe's pastor saw the grace of God +that abounded in him, it was plain to him that he might, +in future, when a suitable opening should come, make a +very useful helper in the work of the church. In order, +therefore, that Mr. Holcombe might be prepared for an +enlarged sphere, if it should ever come, the pastor +proposed to teach him in certain lines and did so, +visiting him regularly at the engine house for that +purpose. Mr. Holcombe studied very industriously, +but it was with extreme difficulty that he could apply +himself to books at that time. Later, however, he +overcame to a great extent this difficulty and has +gotten now to be quite a student. He has attended +also, for two years, with great profit, the lectures of +Dr. Broadus in the Baptist Seminary in Louisville.</p> + +<p>As has been said elsewhere, Mr. Holcombe +remained in the fire department for two years, enduring +the confinement, performing the drudgery and +trying, as best he could, to help and bless others. +Four years and more had now elapsed since his +conversion. It was a long stretch and at times a heavy +strain. But he endured it, and grew strong.<span class="pagenum">[75]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> +<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p>The time had now come for such an extraordinary +career and such an extraordinary man to be +recognized, and he was. He had made an impression +and his work, humble as it was, had made an +impression. Moreover, Mr. Holcombe himself was +now growing impatient to get into a position more +favorable to his usefulness. It was not the selfish +impatience that could not longer endure the humiliation +and manifold disagreeablenesses of his position at the +engine house. He had overcome all that. It was the +noble impatience of love and zeal. Oh, how he did +long to get into a place where he could help somebody +and serve somebody and love somebody.</p> + +<p>He had been very kindly treated by his old friends, +the gamblers, during all this time; and though he was +loath to allow it and at first declined it, yet fearing lest +his refusal might alienate them, he had, more than once, +accepted substantial help from one or two particular +friends among them. Encouraged by assurances from +some of these and by the promise of all the help his +pastor could possibly give him, financially and otherwise, +he had made up his mind to rent a room in the +central part of the city and to open a meeting for the +outcast classes. But on the very day when he was +engaged in making these arrangements, his remarkable +conversion and character and career were the subject of<span class="pagenum">[76]</span> +discussion at the Methodist Ministers' meeting. The +result was that before the week had passed, the Rev. +Jas. C. Morris, pastor of the Walnut-street Methodist +church, visited him at the engine-house and informed +him that the Official Board of his church had authorized +him to take measures for the establishment of a mission +in the central part of the city and to employ Mr. +Holcombe to take charge of it at an assured salary +sufficient to meet the wants of his family. He at once +accepted it as a call from God and gave up his position +in the fire department, with no great degree of +reluctance.</p> + +<p>A vacant store in the Tyler Block, on Jefferson +street between Third and Fourth, was offered free of +rent. Regular noon-day meetings were held there in +charge of Rev. Mr. Morris and Mr. Holcombe. It was +a phenomenon. Within two blocks of the two faro +banks which Steve Holcombe used to own and run, he +was now every day at high noon declaring the Gospel +of the grace of God. The people came to see and +hear. They found it was no mushroom fanatic, but a +man who for forty years was a leader in wickedness +and for four years had been almost a pattern of righteousness. +He spoke no hot words of excitement, but +narrated facts with truth and soberness. Many of his +old time friends, the gamblers, their timidity overcome +by their curiosity, joined the crowd and heard the man. +Poor drunkards, too far gone for timidity or curiosity, +dragged themselves to the place where the famous +gambler was telling about his conversion and his +new life. And the power of God was present to heal, +and great grace was upon them all. Among those who<span class="pagenum">[77]</span> +were saved at that time and place were Mr. Ben +Harney, son of the distinguished editor of the old +<i>Louisville Democrat</i>, who lives again in happiness and +prosperity with his beloved family, and Mr. D. C. +Chaudoin, at one time a Main-street merchant, who +remained faithful until death.</p> + +<p>When the supporters of the movement saw that +it promised so much, they took steps at once to make +larger provision for it and to secure its permanence. +They sought a suitable house in a convenient place, +and finally decided to take the room at No. 436 Jefferson +street, between Fourth and Fifth streets, which +had formerly been used as a gambling-house. Mr. +Holcombe took possession of it, and found some of +the gambling implements still there. A Board of +Managers was elected, consisting of John L. Wheat, +James G. Carter, P. H. Tapp, C. P. Atmore and George +W. Wicks. Some friends from the Walnut-street church +and others volunteered as singers; the room was supplied +with hymn-books, an organ was secured, and the +meetings commenced under the most promising circumstances. +At first, meetings were held three nights +in the week, and the attendance was large. Soon +after, meetings were held every night and on Sundays. +People of all classes came. The services consisted +of singing, prayers, reading of Scripture, a short, +earnest address from Mr. Holcombe, and sometimes +testimonies from the men who had been helped and +saved—among whom were drunkards, gamblers, pick-pockets, +thieves, burglars, tramps, men who had fallen +from high positions in business and social circles, and +in short, men of all classes and kinds. Many of these<span class="pagenum">[78]</span> +gave unquestionable proofs of conversion, "of whom +the greater part remain unto this present, but some +are fallen asleep," faithful unto death. Among those +who were converted during that period were Robert +Denny, Fred Ropke, Captain B. F. Davidson and +Charles Wilson, whose testimonies will be found elsewhere +in this book—besides others, some of whom +are residents of Louisville and some of other places.</p> + +<p>By request, the Rev. James C. Morris, D. D., now +of Kansas City, Mo., has written a brief account of +Mr. Holcombe's work from the beginning to the point +which we have now reached in this narrative. And, +as no part of it can well be omitted or changed for +the better, it is here introduced entire, with a part of +the genial letter which accompanied it:</p> + +<blockquote><p class="author"><span class="smcap">"Kansas City, Mo.,</span> August 14, 1888.</p> + +<p>"<i>My Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>"I inclose the notes for which you ask. You see +they are in a crude state. But do not judge from +that that I have no interest in the work you have in +hand. My Father in heaven knows I keep it very +near my heart. I felt it would be sufficient for me to +furnish you the matter in a crude state, and let you +work it into your plan rather than give it any literary +shape myself. Besides, I am pressed, pressed to my +utmost, and I therefore send you this imperfect sketch +with an apology. I am glad you are doing the work. +It will surely do good. Brother Holcombe's work +ought to be known. I wish in my heart of hearts +that every city and town had such a man in it to<span class="pagenum">[79]</span> +work for God and souls. Praying God to bless you +and your work, I am,</p> + +<p class="author1">"Yours affectionately,</p> + +<p class="author">"<span class="smcap">James C. Morris</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"In the year 1881, while I was pastor of the +Walnut-street Methodist church, in Louisville, Ky., +I heard of Steve Holcombe, the converted gambler; +of his remarkable career; of his remarkable conversion, +and of his unusual devotion and zeal in the +cause of religion. I heard also of his efforts in the +line of Christian work and of his desire for better +opportunities. I mentioned his case to the Official +Board of the Walnut-street church, and suggested +that he might be usefully employed by our churches +in the city in doing missionary work. The matter +was kindly received, but the suggestion took no practical +shape. As I walked home from the meeting one +of the stewards said to me: 'Why could not we, of +the Walnut-street church, employ Brother Holcombe +ourselves?' This question put me upon a course of +thought about the work we might be able to do, and +at the next meeting of the Board I made the suggestion +that we organize some work of the kind and +employ Brother Holcombe to take charge of it. They +unanimously accepted the suggestion and directed me +to investigate the case. If anything could be done, +they were ready to enter upon the work and support it. +I lost no time in seeing Brother Holcombe. He was +then employed at the engine-house, on Portland avenue. +I found him rubbing the engine. It took but a moment +to introduce myself, and in a short time we<span class="pagenum">[80]</span> +were up-stairs, alone, talking about religion and work +for Christ. He told me how his heart was drawn out in +solicitude for the classes who never attended church—the +gamblers, drunkards and the like. It was easy to +see that the movement contemplated was of God. +We talked and rejoiced together; we knelt down and +prayed together for God's guidance in all our plans +and undertakings. I then told him how I came to call +on him, and laid before him our plan. His eyes filled +with tears—tears of joy—at the thought of having +an opportunity to do the work that was on his heart.</p> + +<p>"At once I reported to the Board, and recommended +that Brother Holcombe be at once employed +and the work set on foot without delay. God breathed +on them the same spirit that he had breathed on us +together at the engine-house. With unanimity and +enthusiasm they entered into the plan and pledged +their support. They fixed his salary at nine hundred +dollars a year and authorized me to do all that was +necessary to carry the plan into effect.</p> + +<p>"Early the next morning Brother Holcombe gave +up his place at the engine-house, and we went out to +look for a house in which to domicile our work. I +can never forget that day. What joy there was in +that heart that had waited so long and prayed so +fervently for an open door of opportunity. Now the +door was opened wide, and a song was put in his +heart and in his mouth. We walked miles to find a +suitable place, while we talked much by the way as +our hearts burned within us.</p> + +<p>"At length we found a vacant storeroom on Jefferson +street, between Third and Fourth, and as we +<span class="pagenum">[81]</span>looked in the window, we said: 'This would make +a grand place to begin in.' We went to see Mr. +Isaac Tyler, the owner, and he gave us a favorable +answer and the key. The next day we began a +meeting which continued through three months. And +who can write the history of that work? Only the +All-seeing God; and He has the record of it in His +book. We had a noon-day service every day, except +Sunday, and a Saturday evening service every week.</p> + +<p>"The services were advertised and men stationed at +the door invited the passer-by to come in. At the meetings +all classes of men were represented. There were +strong, wise, honorable business-men and there were +tramps and drunkards with all the classes that lie +between these two. No man was slighted. Many a +man was brought in who was too drunk to sit alone in +his seat. Many were there who had not slept in a bed +for months. There were gamblers and drunkards and +outcast men from every quarter of the city. The gathering +looked more like that in the police courts of a +great city on Monday morning than like a religious +meeting. The workers did literally go out into the +highways and into the lowways and compel them to +come in. And marvelous things took place there.</p> + +<p>"Steve Holcombe was known all over the city, and +such a work done by such a man who had lately been +a noted gambler in the community drew men who, +for years, had had no thought of attending church. +The old companions of his worldly life came, the worst +elements of the city came, good men from all the +churches came. Brother Holcombe was in his element. +His soul was as free to the work as that of an<span class="pagenum">[82]</span> +Apostle. Daily he trod the streets inviting people +to come, and daily, as they came, he spoke words of +deep feeling to them, urging them to be saved. No man +ever had a more respectful hearing than he had. No +man ever devoted himself more fully in the spirit of the +Master to doing men good than did he. His devotion to +the poor outcast who showed any willingness to listen or +any wish to be saved was as marvelous as his own conversion. +I never saw such in any other worker for Christ.</p> + +<p>"In the progress of the work we often spoke of +keeping a record of those who professed conversion +there. I am sorry it was not done. Hardly a day +passed without some case of exceptional interest. Men +were saved who had been for years in the very lowest +stages of dissipation and vagrancy. Not a few of those +who were thus saved were men who had belonged to the +very best social, and business circles of the city. Many +of them are bright and blessed lights in Christian circles +to-day. Many homes were built up out of wrecks +where only ashes and tears remained. Many scattered +families were brought together after long separation. +God only knows the results of that three months' work. +I remember some conversions that were as marvelous as +that of Saul of Tarsus. I could tell of some of them +but perhaps this is not the place.</p> + +<p>"This meeting in the Tyler block was a feature of +a meeting which was in progress at the Walnut-street +church and to this it was tributary. In the evening +those who had been reached by the services at the +mission were invited to the church. They were largely +of a class not often seen in the church but they came, +and when they came the church welcomed them.<span class="pagenum">[83]</span></p> + +<p>"Then there was rejoicing in the presence of the +angels, for many sinners were repenting and returning. +I saw the Gospel net dragged to the shore enclosing +fish that no one would have been willing to take out of +the net except Steve Holcombe. But it is far different +with them to-day. Changed by the power of God, +these repulsive creatures are honored members of the +various churches, heads of happy families and respected +and useful citizens of the community.</p> + +<p>"At the end of three months the meetings in the +storeroom were discontinued. Mr. Holcombe had won +thousands of friends, hundreds had been put in the +way of a new life and the whole city was in sympathy +with the work.</p> + +<p>"We were now to select and secure a suitable place +for the permanent home of the mission. Another +search brought us to the room on the south side of +Jefferson between Fourth and Fifth streets, No. 436. +It had been occupied as a gambling room, and the +gambling apparatus was still there when we took possession +of it. In a few days the house was fitted +up and the 'Gospel-Mission' was opened.</p> + +<p>"The work was now thoroughly organized. There +was, in addition to the regular services, a Sunday-school +for the children whose parents never went to +church. Colonel C. P. Atmore was superintendent. +The 'Industrial School' also was organized, where +Christian women taught the girls to sew, furnishing +them the materials and giving them the finished garments. +It is especially worthy of remark that the old +associates of Mr. Holcombe, the gamblers, contributed +more than $500 toward the expenses of this work.<span class="pagenum">[84]</span></p> + +<p>"This house became an open home for any weary, +foot-sore wanderer who was willing to come in, and +through the years many were the hearts made happy +in a new life.</p> + +<p>"The year following the organization of the work, +Rev. Sam P. Jones conducted a meeting at the Walnut-street +church, and his heart was strangely drawn to that +mission. He himself conducted many services there +and he was more impressed with the character of the +work and of the man who was in charge of it than +with any Christian work he had ever seen. During +this meeting of Mr. Jones a programme of street-preaching +was carried out by Mr. Holcombe and +his fellow-workers. Mr. Holcombe himself preached +several times on the courthouse steps, and, even in +the midst of the tumult, souls were converted to God."</p> + +<p>This is the end of Dr. Morris' account of the +beginnings of Mr. Holcombe's work, though the +reader will probably wish it were longer, and even +more circumstantial.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe's family lived in the same building, +over the mission room, and whenever men in need or +distress applied, he gave them board and lodging. +Mrs. Holcombe says that for three months they had +never less than twenty men eating two meals a day. +Of course, among so many there were, doubtless, +some imposters, but it took a pretty keen man to +play imposter without being spotted by the keen +man who was in charge of the enterprise. Mr. Holcombe +had mixed with men long enough to know +them. He had spent most of his life among bad +men. He had studied their ways and he knew their<span class="pagenum">[85]</span> +tricks. And it is not necessary to say to the reader +who has perused the foregoing pages, that Mr. Holcombe +was not afraid of any man. His former experience +in sin and his former association with sinners +of every sort led him to see that it was necessary +for him rigidly to protect the work he was now +engaged in and he determined to do so. Men would +come into the meetings, sometimes, in a state of intoxication; +sometimes lewd fellows of the baser sort +would come in for the purpose of interrupting the +service and still others for other purposes; but when +Mr. Holcombe had put a few of them out, they saw +that this man in getting religion had lost neither +common sense nor courage, and that Steve Holcombe, +the converted gambler, was not a man to be fooled +with any more than Steve Holcombe, the unconverted +gambler; so that all such interruptions soon ceased. +But nobody should get the impression that Mr. Holcombe +was harsh or unsympathetic. On the contrary, +he is one of the most tenderhearted of men, and few +men living would go farther, do more or make greater +sacrifices to save a drunkard or a gambler or an +outcast of any sort, than Steve Holcombe. For days +he has gone without meat for himself and his family +that he might have something to help a poor drunkard +who was trying to reform. Indeed, his pitying +love for wretched men and women of every class and +degree, manifested in his efforts to look them up +and to do them good in any possible way, is the chief +secret of his wonderful success in dealing with hardened +and apparently inaccessible cases. The following +account of his last and perhaps most desperate<span class="pagenum">[86]</span> +case is taken from one of the Louisville daily papers +and will illustrate what has been said:</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-104.jpg" width="186" height="394" alt="JAMES WILLIAMS +AS HE WAS." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">JAMES WILLIAMS<br />AS HE WAS.</p> + +<p class="h4">DRUNK TWENTY-THREE YEARS.</p> + +<p class="h5">REMARKABLE STORY OF "WHISKY JIM'S" + WASTED LIFE AND FINAL CONVERSION. + HOW THE WORK WAS EFFECTED.</p> + +<p>The work that Steve Holcombe is doing is well +known, in a general way, but the public understand but +little of the wonderful good that man is doing. The +reformations he has brought about may be numbered +by the hundred, and the drunkards he has reclaimed +would make a regiment.</p> + +<p>But of all the wonderful and truly startling examples +of what Mr. Holcombe is doing, the case of James +Williams is the climax. Williams has been known for +years as "Whisky Jim" and "Old Hoss," and there is +not a more familiar character in the city. Until the last +two or three weeks no man in Louisville ever remembers +to have seen Jim free from the influence of liquor. +He was always drunk, and was looked upon as an +absolutely hopeless case, that would be able to stand +the terrible life he was leading but a year or two +longer.</p> + +<p>The story of his life and reformation as related to a +<i>Times</i> reporter is very interesting. He had asked +Mr. Holcombe when his protégé could be seen, and +was told at nine o'clock at the mission. Williams was +seen coming up the steps, his face clean shaven, his +eyes bright and his gait steady. Mr. Holcombe said: +"There he is now, God bless him; I could just kiss +him. I knew he'd be here. One thing I've learned +about Jim is, that he is an honest man, and another is<span class="pagenum">[87]</span> +that he will not tell a lie. I feel that I can trust him. +He has had the hardest struggle to overcome the drinking +habit I ever saw, and I feel sure that he has gained +the victory. I began on him quietly about one month +ago and got him to attend our meetings. But here he +is." The reporter was introduced, and Mr. Williams +readily consented to tell anything concerning himself +that would be of interest to the public and calculated to +do good in the cause of temperance. He said: "I was +born in Paducah, Ky., and am forty-eight years old. +My father's name was Rufus A. Williams. While a +boy I was sent to school, and picked up a little +education. I was put at work in a tobacco manufactory, +and am a tobacco-twister by trade. My father +died when I was nine years old, after which our family +consisted of my mother, now seventy-five years of age, +my sister and myself. We now live on the east side of +Floyd street, near Market. Shortly after I grew up I +found work on the river and have been employed on +nearly every boat between Louisville and New Orleans. +That is what downed me. I began to drink little by +little, and the appetite and habit began to grow on me +until I gave up all idea of resistance. Up to yesterday +a week ago, I can truthfully say that I have been drunk +twenty-three years, day and night.</p> + +<p>"In 1862 I got a job on the 'Science,' Number 2, a +little Government boat running the Ohio and Cumberland +rivers. Coming down the Cumberland on one +trip I was too sick to work, and the boat put me ashore +about twenty miles above Clarksville. The woods +where I was dumped out were full of guerrillas, but I +managed to secure a little canoe in which I paddled<span class="pagenum">[88]</span> +down to Clarksville. There I sold it for three dollars +and with the small sum I had already I came to this city, +where we were then living. I then drank up every cent +I could rake and scrape. I could get all sorts of work, +but could keep no job because I couldn't keep sober. +I finally depended on getting odd jobs along the river +front, such as loading and unloading freight, etc. +But the work was so hard I could scarcely do it, and +finally I had to give that up, especially after falling and +breaking my leg while at work on the old 'United +States' several years ago. That accident laid me up in +the Marine Hospital for several months, and just as I felt +able to get out I broke the same leg again at the same +place. After recovering I yielded entirely to the +appetite for strong drink and cared for nothing else. +As I say, for twenty-three years I have not known what +it is to be sober until a few days ago.</p> + +<p>"For the past six years I have earned my drinks +and some free lunch by picking up old boxes and barrel +staves which I would dispose of to the saloon-keepers +along the river front who knew me. I did not often ask +any one for money with which to buy whisky, for I +could always earn it in this manner. I usually slept at +my mother's house. As to eating I did not eat much +and was getting so I could scarcely eat at all. I am +getting over that now, and have a good appetite, as +Mr. Holcombe can testify.</p> + +<p>"Well, about one month ago Mr. Holcombe came +to me and gave me a little talk. He did not say much, +but he set me to thinking as far as I was capable of +thinking. He saw me the second time, and then +several times. Of course, I was always drunk but I +<span class="pagenum">[89]</span>understood him. Finally he said to me 'Jim, if you're +bound to have whisky, come around to the Mission and +let me give it to you.' I promised him I'd come around, +and I did so, for I wanted some o' the liquor. After I +had gone around several times and he had given me a +few drinks, not to make me drunk, of course, but to +help me get sober, if possible; he invited me to go in +and attend the religious services. I did so and he +invited me to come again, which I did. At last he +insisted that I should take my meals at the mission, +and I have been doing so for some days. Finally I +made up my mind to quit drinking altogether, and +I intend to stick to the pledge I have taken. I was full +last Sunday week for the last time. I was trying to +taper off then, but a saloon-keeper on Market, just +below Jackson, knowing my condition and knowing that +I was trying to quit, gave me a bucket of bock beer. +I knew he meant no good to me, but I couldn't help +drinking it. Other saloon-keepers have been trying to +get me to drink again, and I think they are trying to +get me to do a great wrong.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-115.jpg" width="298" height="440" alt="JAMES WILLIAMS, +AS HE IS" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">JAMES WILLIAMS,<br />AS HE IS</p> + +<p>"I went to church yesterday for the first time since +I was a boy. Heard Dr. Eaton preach.</p> + +<p>"My poor old mother is greatly rejoiced at the +change in me, for I have given her a great deal of +torment and misery. As soon as the Murphy meetings +are over Mr. Holcombe and I will spend a couple of +weeks at French Lick Springs."</p> + +<p>During this period, when the mission occupied +rooms at No. 436 Jefferson street, the meetings were +not confined to that single place, but services were +held in other parts of the city, on the streets and even<span class="pagenum">[90]</span> +on the courthouse steps. Many strangers, as well as +citizens of Louisville, attended these, and some were +so powerfully impressed that after going away to their +distant homes they wrote back to Mr. Holcombe +acknowledging the good they had received, and in some +instances giving an account of their conviction, repentance +and conversion. The Holcombe Mission became +one of the "sights" of the city, so that strangers visiting +the city would look it up and attend services there.</p> + +<p>In 1884 a new feature was added which, in turn, +added much to the efficiency and usefulness of the +mission. It was suggested by the sight of the poorly +clad children who attended the mission with their +parents, and who seemed willing and anxious themselves +to do better and be better. This new feature +was the Industrial School, an account of the origin, +history and methods of which is furnished by Mrs. +Clark, the Superintendent. A Sunday-school was +organized also, with C. P. Atmore, Esq., as Superintendent, +and some of the most earnest Christian +people of the city as teachers and helpers. A little +later the Kindergarten was also organized and is now +in successful operation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-118.jpg" width="600" height="390" alt="THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.<br />1. Cutting Garments. 2. Boys Making Carpets. 3. Girls Sewing.</p> + +<p class="h4">THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AND THE KINDERGARTEN.</p> + +<p>In order to enlarge the mission work and better +reach the homes of the needy, both spiritually and +temporally, the Union Gospel Industrial School was +opened in April, 1884, with six little girls and three +teachers in attendance. In May following it was formally +organized as The Union Gospel Mission +Industrial School with</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[91]</span></p> +<p> +Mrs. J. R. Clark, Superintendent;<br /> +Mrs. L. G. Herndon, Assistant Superintendent;<br /> +Miss Ella Downing, Secretary;<br /> +Miss Ella Harding, Treasurer.<br /> +</p> + +<p>In June, 1884, it closed for the summer with twenty-two +pupils and five teachers. In September following +it opened for the fall and winter term with the same +teachers and a small increase in the number of pupils, +all from the neglected classes. The school was organized +in the old mission room, at No. 436 Jefferson +street, between Fourth and Fifth, and continued there +for three winters. The children came, however, from +all parts of the city, some of them from garrets and +cellars. Their ages ranged from five to eighteen +years.</p> + +<p>In May, 1886, the school was removed to its present +spacious rooms in the Union Gospel Mission building +on Jefferson street, above First. The work has steadily +increased, each year bringing in a larger number +of the neglected children. Those who come are so +interested and benefited, they become missionaries, so +to speak, to other poor and neglected children. There +is one class of girls, however, who are not charity-scholars, +but come for the purpose of learning to sew. +Their work is done, not for themselves, but for the +younger children of the poorer class who are not yet +old enough to sew. For this reason, the class just +mentioned is called The Missionary Class, and it is +one of which the school is justly proud. They not +only do their work for others, they do good in other +ways and in general exert a good influence over the +other children who are less fortunate.<span class="pagenum">[92]</span></p> + +<p>The children are first taught all the different stitches +that are used in sewing. Then work is cut out for +them by a committee of ladies who attend for that +purpose, and the children are taught to make all kinds +of garments. When the garment is completed and +passes examination, it is given to the child who +made it.</p> + +<p>There is a class of boys, sixty in number, ranging +from five to twelve years of age. These are first +taught to sew on buttons and to mend rents in their +own clothes and then other things follow. They are +at present engaged in making a carpet for Mr. Holcombe's +office. The teachers in charge of them +endeavor to train them to habits of industry, self-reliance, +cleanliness, truthfulness, etc. Some of the +boys are very bright and promising and some of them +seem hopelessly cowed and broken. Their histories +would, doubtless, be full of pathos and of pain, if they +were known.</p> + +<p>The school meets every Saturday morning at 9:15. +The opening services consist of—</p> + +<p>1. Singing (Gospel Hymns).</p> + +<p>2. Responsive recitation of a Psalm, or the Beatitudes +or the Ten Commandments.</p> + +<p>3. Prayer.</p> + +<p>4. Distribution of work-baskets.</p> + +<p>The sewing continues for one hour and a half, +then, at the tap of the bell, the work is folded nicely, +replaced in the basket and taken to another room. +The children then return to the large room and join +in the closing exercises, which consist of—</p> + +<p>5. Singing.<span class="pagenum">[93]</span></p> + +<p>6. Repeating of Scripture texts, each teacher and +child repeating a verse; or this is sometimes replaced +with a chalk-talk, sometimes with a short address on +the Sunday-school lesson for the following Sunday, +sometimes with a short earnest appeal to the children +by some visitor who is known to be an effective speaker +for such occasions.</p> + +<p>7. The Lord's Prayer is recited in concert.</p> + +<p>8. Dismissal.</p> + +<p>The teachers, besides instructing the children in +the art of sewing, converse with them on pleasant +and profitable topics and upon the subject of religion +in seasonable times and ways.</p> + +<p>Quite a number of families have been brought under +Christian influence through the pupils of the Industrial +School. Several parents as well as children have been +converted. Mr. Robert Denny, the account of whose +conversion is given by himself in another part of this +volume, was induced to attend the meetings of the +Holcombe Mission by what his children told him of +the things they learned at the Industrial School. One +of the members of the first class of six and her mother +are now acceptable members of the First Presbyterian +church. The daughter has become an artist and is +employed in retouching pictures in one of the city +photograph galleries. Three or four of the girls connected +with the school have died. Two of them, +one aged twelve and the other fourteen, gave every +evidence of being Christians. One of these when +asked when she learned to love God and to pray, +answered, "At the sewing school; Jesus is always +there."<span class="pagenum">[94]</span></p> + +<p>Many when they began to attend did not even know +the little prayer beginning:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Now I lay me down to sleep."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The ignorance of these poor children led the superintendent +to open a "Mothers' Meeting," for the +mothers of these children and any others who might +wish to attend. The results have been wonderful. +So many homes have become changed, and are now +neat, clean, orderly and happy. In the rounds of the +superintendent's visits she found a very sick woman +who said to her:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad you have come, Mrs. Clark. +I want you to pray with me."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clark said, "Can't you pray yourself?"</p> + +<p>She replied, "I don't know what to say. I did not +know 'Now I lay me down to sleep,' till my little Jennie +learned it at the sewing school, and I learned it from +her."</p> + +<p>"But can't you say 'Our Father who art in +heaven?'" asked Mrs. Clark.</p> + +<p>"No; not all of it, I know only a little of it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clark was much moved at the ignorance, helplessness +and need of the poor woman, and was praying +with her when the husband came in. She talked with +him and he was deeply impressed, and before she left +promised he would try to live a better life. A position +as street car driver was gotten for him, and for a while +he did well, but after a time he fell into his old ways +and was dismissed. But, through the intervention of +the friends who had helped him before, he was restored +to his place, and to-day he is a sober industrious man +and a member of the First Christian church in the city.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-125.jpg" width="466" height="306" alt="KINDERGARTEN, THANKSGIVING DAY" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">KINDERGARTEN,<br />THANKSGIVING DAY</p> + +<span class="pagenum">[95]</span> + +<p>Perhaps a score of similar instances could be cited.</p> + +<p>The sewing school closed May 12, 1888, with the +annual picnic. The following is the report for the +year just past:</p> + +<p>Average weekly attendance of girls, 162; average +weekly attendance of boys, 21; total average attendance +of pupils, 183; average attendance of officers and +teachers, 32; average attendance of visitors, 4; total +average attendance, 219; total number of garments +made by, and given to, the children, 848.</p> + +<p>The officers for the past year were as follows: +Mrs. J. R. Clark, superintendent; Miss Mary L. Graham, +assistant superintendent; Mrs. L. G. Herndon, +superintendent of work; Miss Lithgow, treasurer; Miss +Ella Gardiner, secretary.</p> + +<p class="h4">THE KINDERGARTEN.</p> + +<p>In January, 1885, there were so many little boys and +girls between the ages of three and five years that +the teachers did not know what to do with them. +The superintendent, who had some knowledge of the +kindergarten system, believed that its introduction here +was what was needed. She could not see her way clear, +however, to incur any more expense. But in answer to +prayer the way was opened. Money was given for +the appliances and Miss Graham, an excellent teacher, +offered her services freely. The class at first averaged +twenty-four pupils, met each Saturday morning in connection +with the sewing school, and was called the +Kindergarten class.</p> + +<p>The interest increased till February, 1886, when +the board of directors of the Holcombe Mission consented<span class="pagenum">[96]</span> +that the superintendent should open a regular +kindergarten for every day in the week except Saturday. +More money was raised and a trained kindergarten +teacher from Cincinnati was employed. In June, +1886, the school closed with sixty little children in +attendance and four young ladies training for kindergarten +teachers. Arrangements were made for the +following year and several hundred dollars pledged. +In September, 1887, the kindergarten was re-opened +with Miss Bryan, of Chicago, as teacher of training +class and superintendent of the school. In the following +October a large and enthusiastic meeting was +held in the Warren Memorial church and the Free +Kindergarten Association was formally organized. In +February, 1888, a second free kindergarten was opened +in another part of the city. The year's work closed +in June, 1888, five young ladies graduating as kindergarten +teachers. The number of children enrolled for +the year was one hundred. The kindergarten, it will +be noticed, is thus distinct from the industrial school.</p> + +<p>In 1885, another department still was added to meet +a want which had been developed in the progress +of the work. The great number of broken-down men +and tramps that came to Mr. Holcombe for food and +help of one sort or another made it impossible for +him to give them lodging in the mission rooms or +board in his own family. And it encouraged indolence +in unworthy men to feed and lodge them as +a mere charity. And yet, if anything was to be done +for their souls, they had for a time to be cared for. +Mr. Holcombe conceived the idea, therefore, of establishing +some sort of a place in connection with his +<span class="pagenum">[97]</span>work, where these men might earn their food and +lodging by the sweat of their brows and at the same +time be brought under the powerful religious influences +of the Mission.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-129.jpg" width="252" height="394" alt="MRS. J. M. CLARK." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">MRS. J. M. CLARK.</p> + +<p>The result was the establishment of the "Wayfarers' +Rest." Mayor Reed and Chief of Police +Whallen gave Mr. Holcombe a police station building +free of rent and Mr. J. T. Burghard gave the money +to furnish it with bunks, stove, cooking utensils, +facilities for bathing, etc., and it became at once an +established feature, and a very admirable one, of the +Union Gospel Mission.</p> + +<p>When Mayor Jacob came into office he gladly continued +the use of the building free of rent, and the +institution has continued in successful operation up to +the present time—a space of three years.</p> + +<p>The rooms are arranged for the accommodation of +sixty men. All who come are required to do some sort +of work for whatever they receive, whether it be food +or lodging. The men do various kinds of work, according +to their several ability, but the chief employment is +sawing kindling wood out of material provided by the +superintendent. Each man is required to work an +hour for one night's lodging or for a meal. The kindling +wood is sold all over the city, and under the +excellent management of Mr. W. H. Black, the present +superintendent, the enterprise has become more than +self-supporting, bringing in enough to pay the salary +of the superintendent and the book-keeper, and leaving +a surplus. It should, perhaps, in justice be added, +that donations of food are made daily and have been +from the beginning, by the Alexander Hotel Company.<span class="pagenum">[98]</span></p> + +<p>During the winter of 1887 Mr. Black fed and lodged +an average of fifty men a day. He has never turned +one away. The average income per day from the sale +of kindling wood is, in winter, ten dollars. The rules +for the government of the inmates requiring registration, +cleanliness, bathing, etc., are wisely conceived and +strictly carried out.</p> + +<p>This institution has proved in Louisville the solution +of the vexed question as to the proper treatment of +tramps and beggars. The citizens, instead of encouraging +indolence and pauperism by feeding tramps at +their houses, some of whom are burglars in disguise, +can now send them to the Wayfarers' Rest, where they +are always sure of finding food and lodging, and, what +is better, the opportunity of earning what they get by +honest work. And Mr. Holcombe's experience as a +tramp in Colorado leads him to take a brotherly interest +in all these unfortunate men.</p> + +<p>In 1886, the work had expanded beyond its quarters +and beyond all expectations. It was predicted that +Steve Holcombe would hold out three months. He +had now held out three times three years, and that +through unprecedented trials and discouragements. +During these nine years he had helped many and +many a man, almost as bad as he, into the blessed +life that he was living. He had established a unique +institution in the city of Louisville which had been +the means of helping and uplifting and blessing men +and women and whole families. But the end was not +yet. The man and his work had so won the confidence +of the people of the city that in 1886, a +formal request was made by the Evangelical churches<span class="pagenum">[99]</span> +of the city that they be allowed to share with the +Walnut-street Methodist church in the expense and +the care and the usefulness of the Mission. It was +changed then into a Union Mission, and representatives +from the Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, Christian +and Lutheran churches were added to the board +of directors.</p> + +<p>In the same year, when Mr. Holcombe was feeling +the need of more spacious quarters for his expanding +work, the large and elegant house on Jefferson +street above First, known as the "Smith Property," +was advertised for sale. Mr. Holcombe saw it and +liked it. It was the very sort of a building he needed +for his work and all its various departments.</p> + +<p>He procured the keys and went through the +building alone, from cellar to garret, stopping in every +room to pray that, in some way, God would put it +into his hands, with a firm persuasion, moreover, that +his prayer would be answered. An interesting letter +written by Mr. Holcombe in February, 1886, contains +a reference to the project of purchasing the new +house. It is addressed to one of the converts of +the Mission, Mr. S. P. Dalton, of Cleveland, Ohio, +and, as it shows also Mr. Holcombe's interest in his +spiritual children, it is given entire:</p> + +<blockquote><p class="author">"<span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, February 3, 1886.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dear Brother Dalton</i>:</p> + +<p>"Your welcome and encouraging letter is just received. +I acknowledge your claim, so gently urged, +to something better than a hasty postal in reply.<span class="pagenum">[100]</span> +When I write you briefly, it is because my work +compels it. My soul delights to commune with spirits +like yours, consecrated to God, and with brothers +who live in my memory as associates in our humble +work here. Our mission is being abundantly blessed +of God, although meeting, from time to time, with +those drawbacks which remind us of our dependence +and the need of constant prayer. We are having +good meetings and conversions are numerous, and, +as a rule, of such a character as to make us believe +they are genuine and permanent. As I write, our +friends are canvassing the city for the collection of +means to purchase the old Smith mansion on Jefferson +street, for our use, and believing all our work +to be of God I have no doubt that it will be ours +within a week. Then shall we do a great work for +Louisville and for souls. Our sewing-school and our +Sunday-school, having outgrown our present quarters, +will be greatly enlarged, and every department of +our work also.</p> + +<p>"I am truly glad you are having such opportunities +of doing good in Cleveland. May God bless you and +your dear wife, my dear brother, and in His own time +bring you back to us and to the work which always +needs such help, is the prayer of</p> + +<p class="author1">"Your brother,</p> + +<p class="author">"<span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>An incident that occurred in connection with the +purchase of this elegant property will show how Mr. +Holcombe and his work were looked upon in Louisville +even by those who were not Christians.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-135.jpg" width="474" height="306" alt="THE WAYFARER'S REST." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE WAYFARER'S REST.<br /> +<span class="smcap"> +1. Exterior. +2. Office. +3. Sleeping Apartment. +4. Taking Meals. +5. At Work. +6. On the Levee.</span></p> + +<p>A German singing society was negotiating for the +building at the same time, and had offered a higher +price than the friends of the Mission thought they +could give. Mr. Holcombe went to the leader of the +society and told him he desired the building for the +Mission, and, though the man was an unbeliever, he +said: "Mr. Holcombe, though I am not a Christian +and do not believe in Christianity, I do believe in +the work you are doing. I will not be in the way +of your getting that building." He withdrew his bid +at once, and the Directors of the Holcombe Mission +purchased it for $12,500.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe at once took possession. He fitted +up the rooms of the lower floor for the various departments +of the mission work. The large and elegant +double-parlors were thrown into one and arranged for +the audience-room. This has a seating capacity of +two hundred or more. The other rooms of the lower +floor are used, one for Mr. Holcombe's office, two +others for the Kindergarten, another for a cloak-room, +and so on. The second floor, with its seven large, +bright, airy rooms, is occupied by Mr. Holcombe's +family, and, for the first time since his conversion, they +are in comfortable quarters.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[102]</span> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p>At last after years of love and faith and faithfulness +Mrs. Holcombe has her full reward and joy. +The long twenty-five years of sorrow and suspense +passed by and her husband is what she unconsciously +believed her love had the power of waiting for him to +become—a good man. And more than a good man. +He is consumed with the desire and somehow clothed +with the power of making other men good, of making +bad men good, of making the worst of bad men good. +This he has now been doing, by God's grace, for seven +faithful years and more—and continues to do. Her +husband is honored and beloved for his character, his +work and his usefulness—no man, no minister in +Louisville more so.</p> + +<p>All her children are members of the church even +down to little Pearl, the latest-born. Her oldest son, +her Willie, is happily married, occupies the position of +book-keeper with the Sievers Hardware Company on +Main street, and is an efficient officer of the church of +God. Her second daughter is happily married to a +Christian man, "one of the best of husbands," who is +book-keeper in the old Kentucky Woolen Mills, of +Louisville. Her oldest daughter is a devoted Christian +and serves with equal efficiency as organist of the +Mission and teacher in the Kindergarten. Her baby-boy +now eighteen years old and the rise of six feet in +<span class="pagenum">[103]</span>height is a member of the church and a good boy. +He also is in business with the Sievers Hardware +Company on Main street. And Pearl, the blue-eyed, +golden-haired, eight-year-old girl baby is, nobody dare +question, the flower of the flock. Her dead children +are in heaven all, for they died before they knew sin, +and her living children are on the way to heaven, all, +for they trust in and serve Him who was manifested to +take away sin.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-138.jpg" width="234" height="376" alt="MRS. S. P. HOLCOMBE." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">MRS. S. P. HOLCOMBE.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holcombe helps her husband in his noble work +and the "converts" look on her as their spiritual +mother as they regard him as their spiritual father. +She <i>might</i> say with Simeon, the <i>Nunc dimittis</i>, "Now +lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes +have seen thy salvation;" but instead of that she says +with St. Paul, "Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is +more needful" for my husband, my children and the +work of Christ.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holcombe still has trials, but they are few and +small, while her blessings are many and great. +She still has faults, perhaps, as most of mortals have; +but they are few and small, while her virtues are very +many and very great. Many daughters have done +virtuously but few have excelled this one in those +qualities which constitute a noble womanly character.</p> + +<p>The following letter, written to her by her husband +during a short visit in the country, will show how that +after so long a time of waiting, the hope of her earliest +love is realized at last.<span class="pagenum">[104]</span></p> + +<blockquote><p class="author">"LOUISVILLE, KY., May 29, 1888.</p> + +<p>"My Dear Wife:</p> + +<p>"Your letter to hand. I am so happy to know that +you are having a good time. Isn't God good to us? +When we look back over our past lives and see how +good God has been to us, how thankful we should be. +Very little sickness in our immediate family and no +death in thirty years. The two babes that we lost +thirty years ago are safe in the arms of Jesus, and all +the living ones are sweetly trusting in Him. Let us +from this hour be more earnest and untiring in our +efforts to save the children of others. Kiss Mamie for +me and then look in the glass and kiss yourself a +thousand times for him who loves you with a true, deep +love.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours in life, yours in death,</p> + +<p class="author">"<span class="smcap">Steve P. Holcombe.</span>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Those who are familiar with Mr. Holcombe's career +as a Christian worker would regard any sketch of his +life incomplete which did not contain some account of +the assault made upon him by three strange men in +the winter of 1887. A few months after his removal +to the new quarters that had been purchased by the +Mission, he was attacked by three men in his own house +and severely injured. On a Sunday afternoon in January, +1887, he heard some one walking in the hall on +the second floor of the building, and went out to see +who it was. He found a man there whom he had never +seen before, and asked him who he was and what he +wanted. The man replied in an insolent, manner that +he had come to visit a servant girl who was at the time +working in Mr. Holcombe's family. When Mr. Holcombe<span class="pagenum">[105]</span> +asked him why he came into his private family +apartments, the man became more impudent and defiant, +and gave utterance to some abusive language. Already +provoked at the man's audacity and alarmed at the +thought of what such a ruffian might have done to +some one of his family if he had been absent, Mr. +Holcombe's quick nature now became so exasperated +that he forgot himself for a moment and thrust the +man violently down the stairway and out of the house. +The man left the place and Mr. Holcombe thought that +was the end of it. But an hour or two later some one +knocked at his room door on the same floor, and as +he opened it, he saw himself confronted by three men, +one of whom he recognized as the man he had put out +of the house. The two others professed to be policemen +who had come to arrest Mr. Holcombe, but when +he asked to see their badges of authority they seized +him. One against three, he resisted them with all +his might, uttering no cry of distress or call for help. +In the struggle Mr. Holcombe's leg was broken, both +bones of it, and as he fell, with all his weight, the men +thought he was badly hurt and fled, leaving him lying +helpless on the floor. He was taken up by those whom +he called and laid on his bed. Physicians were sent for. +The news spread in a few minutes all over the neighborhood, +and before night, all over the city. The Chief +of Police, Colonel Whallen, set his detectives to work +looking for the men, and many citizens, self-constituted +detectives, inquired concerning the appearance +of the men and kept a sharp lookout for them. But +they succeeded in escaping, and it was, perhaps, +well for them they did. Before night Mr. Holcombe's<span class="pagenum">[106]</span> +room was crowded with friends filled with sympathy +and indignation. Drs. Kelly and Alexander set the +broken limb and gave Mr. Holcombe the unwelcome +bit of information that he would have to lie in his +bed for some five or six weeks, a sore trial to his +restless spirit; but by the help of God he accepted +it and settled down to endure it, not knowing, however, +what good he was to get out of it. It was +an opportunity for the people of Louisville to show +their estimation and appreciation of him, and it is +safe to say that no man in Louisville would have +received the attentions and favors which this poor +converted gambler, Steve Holcombe, did receive. It +reminds one of a passage in Dr. Prime's account of +the funeral of Jerry McAuley in the Broadway Tabernacle +in New York. Dr. Prime himself was to conduct +the funeral service, and this is what he says:</p> + +<p>"We are going to-day to the tabernacle to talk of +what Jerry McAuley was and what he has done, to +the little congregation that will gather there. If it +were Dr. Taylor, the beloved and honored pastor, the +house would be crowded and the streets full of +mourners, but poor Jerry, he is dead and who will +be there to weep with us over his remains? Ah, +how little did I know the place poor Jerry held in +the hearts of the people of this vast city! I was to +conduct the funeral and went early to complete all +arrangements. As I turned down from Fifth avenue +through Thirty-fourth street, I saw a vast multitude +standing in the sunshine, filling the streets and the +square in front of the tabernacle. Astonished at the +spectacle and wondering why they did not go and<span class="pagenum">[107]</span> +take seats in the church, I soon found that the house +was packed with people so that it was impossible for +me to get within the door. Proclamation was made +that the clergy who were to officiate were on the outside, +and a passage was made for us to enter. What +could be more impressive and what more expressive +of the estimate set upon the man and his work? There +is no other Christian worker in the city who would +have called out these uncounted thousands in a last +tribute of love and in honor of his memory."</p> + +<p>The tribute which the people of Louisville paid to +the work and worth of Steve Holcombe <i>before</i> his +death was hardly less.</p> + +<p>On Monday, the day following his misfortune, Mr. +Holcombe's room was, nearly all the day long, full of +people of every grade, from the mayor and the richest +and finest people on Broadway and Fourth avenue, +down to the poor drunkard and outcast, who forgot +his shabby dress and pressed in among those fine +people in order to see "Brother Holcombe," and find +out how he was. The ministers of the leading churches +of every Protestant denomination came with words of +sympathy and prayer. Fine ladies came in their carriages, +bringing baskets of fruit and all sorts of +delicacies. Those who could not go sent letters and +messages. And Mr. Holcombe lay in his bed and +wept—not for pain, but for gratitude and humble joy. +"Why," said he, "I would be willing to have half a +dozen legs broken to know that these people think +so much of me and of my poor efforts to be useful."</p> + +<p>This, then, was the first compensation and blessing.<span class="pagenum">[108]</span></p> + +<p>He learned also that it would be absolutely necessary +for him to watch more closely his impulsive and +fiery temper, and get a better control of it. For he +does not deny that he was inexcusably hasty and severe +in his treatment of the impudent intruder.</p> + +<p>And then he was temporarily relieved from the +incessant demands and the constant strain of his daily +activity and his nightly anxiety. He had time and +opportunity, as far as the importunity and kindness +of his friends would allow, to get calmed, to look down +into his own heart, to analyze his motives, to study +his own nature, to see his own faults, to find out his +own needs and to pray. He had been told by one of +his friends, that while he did not work too much, he +did not pray <i>enough</i>, and that he was, therefore, liable +to be overtaken by some sudden temptation and be +betrayed into sin.</p> + +<p>That same friend, in conducting service in one of +the churches of the city on that very Sunday morning, +had offered special public prayer for Mr. Holcombe +and his work. He prayed specifically that if Brother +Holcombe needed a thorn in the flesh, to keep him +humble, God would send it. It was thought to be a +special and speedy answer, that before sundown of +that very day, Mr. Holcombe did receive almost literally +a thorn in the flesh; a messenger of Satan it +was withal to buffet him. And Mr. Holcombe was +the first to acknowledge that he needed this trial and +the threefold blessing which came with it.</p> + +<p>The perpetrators of the cowardly deed were, some +time afterward, caught and imprisoned—every one of +them. One of them has been pardoned and released,<span class="pagenum">[109]</span> +and through Mr. Holcombe's kindly intervention the +other two probably will be, while through his friendly +counsels one of them has been brought to realize his +own sinfulness, and has promised to live a better +life.</p> + +<p>It would be out of the question to reproduce here +all the written messages of sympathy which Mr. Holcombe +received during his confinement from the injury +he received. But one of them is too touching and +beautiful to be left out. It was written by Miss Jennie +Casseday, a lady of culture and refinement, who has, +for eighteen years, been confined to her "sick bed." +She is well known as the originator of the "Flower +Missions," which, all over this country, have been the +bearers of blessing to many unblessed and unloved +ones:</p> + +<blockquote><p class="author">"<span class="smcap">Sick Bed</span>, January 18, 1887.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dear Christian Friend</i>:</p> + +<p>"I send you some lines which have been a great +blessing to me:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"'I can not say,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">I joy in these;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But I <i>can</i> say<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That I <i>had rather</i> walk this rugged way<br /></span> +<span class="i4">If Him it please.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"'I can not feel<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That all is well, when darkening clouds conceal<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The shining sun;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But then I know<br /></span> +<span class="i0">God lives and loves, and say, since that is so,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">"Thy will be done."<span class="pagenum">[110]</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"'I can not speak<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Show I am sad;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But I <i>can</i> speak<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Of grace to suffer</i> with submission meek,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Until made glad.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"'I do not see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why God should e'en permit <i>some things</i> to be;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">When He is Love;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But I <i>can</i> see,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though often dimly, through the mystery,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">His hand above.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"'I do not know<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow<br /></span> +<span class="i4">With greatest care;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But I shall know<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The meaning of each waiting hour below<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Sometime, somewhere.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Selected with tender sympathy.</p> + +<p class="author1">"Your friend,</p> +<p class="author">"<span class="smcap">Jennie Casseday</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[111]</span> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p>In conclusion it will not be out of place to glance +for a moment backward and to call attention definitely +to some plain facts.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holcombe inherited from his parents a diversely +perverse and bad nature. Already in his childhood he +was cross, irritable, spiteful. In his boyhood his +temper was savage and revengful. In his manhood he +took the life of a fellowman. He inherited the love of +drink from his father, who was a confirmed drunkard +before the child was born; and the child himself was +drunk before he was twelve years old. He was given +to sensuality from his boyhood.</p> + +<p>His education was not good—as far as the educating +power of daily example goes, it was bad, positively +bad, continually bad. His associations outside of +home were, for the most part, of the worst sort. +His boyish companions were given to gambling, pilfering, +fighting, and in all these things they called him +chief. But the companionship of boys did not long +satisfy him and already before he was fifteen, he drank +and gambled with grown men in the bar-rooms of the +village.</p> + +<p>He had an impulsive sympathy for helpless suffering +when it was before his eyes. He had a vague, faint +fear of the Power that makes for righteousness, so that +in his youth he made three or four ineffectual efforts to<span class="pagenum">[112]</span> +get the mastery of his evil nature and to become +better. He provided well for his family in meat and +drink and the like. He was generous to his friends. +When this is said, about all is said on that side. +Apart from these things he gave himself up for forty +years to the indulgence of all his passions without let +or hinderance from parental authority, domestic bonds, +fear of God or regard for man. So that the adverse +power of evil habit, strengthened by forty years of +indulgence, was superimposed upon the moral helplessness +of an inherited bad nature made worse by bad +education and bad associations.</p> + +<p>Such he <i>was</i>. The preceding pages have described +in part what he <i>is</i>. And only in part. The +uttermost details of the purity of his life since October, +1877, could not be stated without violating delicacy +any more than the uttermost details of his sinful life +could be uncurtained without injuring the innocent and +offending the public. The candid reader will bridge for +himself the past and present of Mr. Holcombe's life. +These are the facts. And these facts are freely and +fully recognized by all classes of the community in +which he lives his daily life. Thousands of eyes have +watched him for years and no one has detected any +immoral practice or act or found any fault of a serious +nature in him.</p> + +<p>Candor requires us to say that he is sometimes +over-sensitive, that he has his own views as to the best +methods of conducting his work and is sometimes a +little domineering in carrying them out; that he sometimes +uses unnecessary harshness in his public addresses +in dealing with the sins and shortcomings of people,<span class="pagenum">[113]</span> +especially of the converts of the Mission, a thing which +is probably due to his over-anxiety for them; that he +has not yet learned economy and the best way of +conducting his financial affairs, and that owing to his +own former wicked life he would be a trifle too severe in +the control of his family but for the good sense and +prudent firmness of his wife. But these are minor +matters and when they are said, about all is said on <i>that</i> +side.</p> + +<p>And Mr. Holcombe has come to occupy a unique +and commanding position in the city of Louisville. +All classes respect him, all classes look up to him and +people from all classes seek his counsel and aid in +certain emergencies.</p> + +<p>Mothers in distress over the sins of their sons, +sisters in sorrow over the dissipation of their brothers, +wives in despair over the wickedness of their husbands, +all these go to Steve Holcombe for advice, comfort, +encouragement and help; and when they can not go, +they write; sometimes from distant places, as far away +as Canada. The ministers of Louisville refer to him +those extreme cases which they meet with in their +ministry, and which they feel his experience and his +knowledge of the ways and temptations of dissipated +men enable him to handle, as a letter from Dr. Broadus +and one from Dr. Willits, elsewhere reproduced, will +show. And the dissipated men themselves, the drunkards, +the gamblers, the outcast, the lost—all these +feel that Steve Holcombe is their friend, a friend who +has the willingness and the power to help them up, +and they go to him when they are in distress or when +they awake to a sense of their wretched condition<span class="pagenum">[114]</span> +and desire to rise again. And through his instrumentality +many a one <i>has</i> risen again, and to many a +mother, wife, sister, family, has come through him a +resurrection of buried hope and joy.</p> + +<p>And those gamblers who have never yet come to +distress or to religion regard him with admiration +and affection. The following letter from Mr. A. M. +Waddill, one of the leading sporting men of the South, +was written in answer to an inquiry as to how Mr. +Holcombe is looked upon by the gamblers:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="author">"<span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, August 13, 1888.</p> + +<p>"<i>Rev. Gross Alexander</i>:</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: In writing of my friend, Steve P. +Holcombe, I will say that his adoption of the pulpit +has not lowered him in the esteem of his former associates—the +gamblers. Far from it. They are his +admirers and his friends, and, when they have the funds, +are as willing supporters of his work as any. They +can not show him too much respect and can not exhibit +a more profound love than is shown him every day by +some one of his old companions. He has wielded a +wonderful influence over them for good, both here and +elsewhere, and has made many converts from their +ranks, who could not have been influenced probably +by any other minister of the Gospel. I myself have +been, I am happy to say, wonderfully benefited by +the influence of his benevolent character.</p> + +<p class="author1">"Very respectfully yours,</p> +<p class="author">"<span class="smcap">A. M. Waddill</span>." +</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[115]</span></p> + +<p>The esteem in which he is held by the leading +business men of the city is shown by the fact that +the Board of Directors of the Mission is composed +of such men as John A. Carter, J. P. Torbitt, L. Richardson, +J. B. McFerran, R. J. Menefee, J. T. Burghard, +H. V. Loving, Arthur Peter, John T. Moore, J. K. +Goodloe, P. Meguiar, C. McClarty, W. T. Rolph, John +Finzer, with P. H. Tapp as Treasurer.</p> + +<p>He has the confidence and esteem of the officers +both of the city and State, and he has a large influence +with them.</p> + +<p>The Mayor, the Chief of Police, and the Judges +of the Courts recognize his usefulness, his ability and +his efficiency by co-operating with him, as far as may +be, and by adopting his views and suggestions as to +the treatment of criminals charged with lesser crimes +and misdemeanors.</p> + +<p>The Governor, J. Proctor Knott, readily granted +pardon to the only man for whom Mr. Holcombe ever +asked it, and the testimony of this now happy man +is given in this volume.</p> + +<p>Not only is Mr. Holcombe thus in honor and demand +at home; he is in demand all over the country. +Until it came to be known that he would not leave +his own work in Louisville, he was constantly receiving +requests to attend or conduct meetings of one sort or +another in all parts of Kentucky and in several other +States.</p> + +<p>Year before last, in the summer of 1886, he was, +by appointment of the Governor of the State, a Commissioner +from Kentucky in the National Convention +of Corrections and Charities at Washington.<span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p> + +<p>In the fall of 1887 he attended, by request, the +Convention of Christian Workers of the United States +and Canada, in the Broadway Tabernacle in New York +City, and made two addresses, both of which are printed +among his sermons in this book. He was appointed +a member of the Executive Committee of that body, +in which capacity he now serves.</p> + +<p>But not only in direct results has the power of God +been manifested through this instrument. Mr. Holcombe's +conversion and work have had the effect of +quickening the faith and zeal of all the churches of +the city. It has not only drawn them nearer together +in fostering and furthering a common enterprise into +which they entered of their own motion, and without +solicitation, but it has revived the languishing faith of +all classes. Not only has the Gospel saved Steve Holcombe +and others, he (let it be said reverently and +understood rightly) has, in one sense, saved the Gospel. +Many had lost faith in it. They thought it was an old, +worn-out story. It had lost its novelty and vitality, +and it had not the power it claimed to have. Its +achievements were not equal to its pretensions. Some +of the men who have been brought to a better life +through Mr. Holcombe's instrumentality have said that, +though they did not, out of respect for other people, +publish the fact, they had lost all faith and were, at +heart, utter infidels. Some of them continued to attend +church and to give to the church of their means, and +to give respectful attention to the preaching, but it +was out of deference to relatives or respect for custom, +or for mere Sunday pastime. But the conversion of +Steve Holcombe, and the life he was living, arrested<span class="pagenum">[117]</span> +their thought, awakened inquiry and revived their faith, +and many of these have been saved.</p> + +<p>The conversion of these has in turn resulted in the +conviction of others and so the stream has broadened +and deepened. As Mr. Holcombe says in one of his +addresses, "There is naturally in the minds of men a +doubt as to the truth and divinity of the religion which +fails to do what it proposes to do, and so in times of +religious deadness men lose faith and unbelief gets +stronger and more stubborn while they see no examples +of the power of the Gospel to save bad men. But +when bad men have been reached and quickened and +made better through the Gospel, and this continues +year after year, then the tide turns, and faith becomes +natural and easy not to say contagious and inevitable."</p> + +<p>These effects have demonstrated the reality of +conversion in opposition to the view that it is an effect +of the excitement of the imagination. "One hears," +it is said, "the narration of the experience of others +who claim to be converted, and he works at himself till +he works himself up to the persuasion that he also has +got it." But, as one of the converts in narrating his +experience said, "Imagination could not take the +whisky habit out of a man. It never did take it out of +me. But the power of this Gospel which Steve Holcombe +preaches has taken it out root and branch."</p> + +<p>Another thing is shown also by the history of this +work. A distinguished minister said once, "We must +get the top of society converted and then we may +expect to reach the lower classes." Mr. Holcombe, on +the contrary, in accordance with the example and words +of Jesus and of Paul, of Luther and of Wesley, has given<span class="pagenum">[118]</span> +his time and labor primarily and largely to the lower +classes and the lost classes, and through these he has +reached also the higher classes, exemplifying again +what was said by the most apostolic man since the +Apostles, that the Gospel "works not from the top +down but from the bottom up."</p> + +<p>If you should ask what is the explanation of Mr. +Holcombe's success, it may be answered that it is due +to three things. The extraordinary change which has +taken place in his character and in his life arrests +attention and produces conviction.</p> + +<p>In the second place is his intense and pitying love +for those who are not saved, and especially for those who, +besides being most utterly lost, are, either by their own +suspicions and fears or by the customs and coldheartedness +of society, or both, shut out from all sympathy and +opportunity. He has a very mother's love for poor, +sinful, struggling souls, and he shows this not in words +only or chiefly, but in service. Some account has +already been given from one of the Louisville papers +concerning his rescue of a man who had been drunk +continuously for twenty-three years. To have preached +temperance and morality and duty to this wild and +degraded man would have been useless, to have <i>told</i> +him of the love of God would, perhaps, have been no +better. But when this far off love of God took concrete +form in the person of Steve Holcombe and was brought +nigh and made real in his brotherliness and gentleness +and patience and service, it proved stronger than a +twenty-three years' whisky habit and to-day this man, +who lately dwelt apart from men like the man among +the tombs and who was possessed by the demon of<span class="pagenum">[119]</span> +drink so that no man could bind him with bonds of +morality or duty—this man is to-day clothed and in +his right mind. And though he has not fully apprehended +the way of salvation, he says, yet a transfiguration +has taken place in him which is little short of +miraculous. He says also that he has got some light +on the question of personal religion. He is thoroughly +honest and will not claim or profess what he has not. +He says a man who has always gone slow in everything +else can't go fast in getting religion.<a id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This man has, since the above was written, been brought into a clear experience of +conversion, and is now a clean and happy Christian man.</p></div> + +<p>In the third place, Mr Holcombe's success is due +to the character of his preaching. It is the simple +Gospel, wherein two points are continually made and +emphasized, the reality and tenderness of God's love +for sinful men, even the worst, and the absolute necessity +of regeneration and a holy life. Both these great +truths he illustrates with fitness and force from his +own life and that of the men who have been converted +under his ministry. His sermons are so striking in +their directness and simplicity, and so helpful withal, +that some of them have been reproduced in outline +in the present volume, and the reader who has never +heard him may get some idea of his preaching from +these, and, it is hoped, some profit as well.</p> + +<p>Whatever men may say, the fact remains that when +the Gospel is preached on apostolic conditions, it has +still apostolic success.</p> + +<p>In 1886, when Rev. Sam P. Jones was holding a +meeting in Cincinnati, he said of Mr. Holcombe:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Holcombe's work is finer than anything done +since the death of Jerry McAuley. He is fully consecrated +to the work of rescuing the perishing and +<span class="pagenum">[120]</span>saving the fallen. Hundreds of men, dug by him +from the deepest depths of dissipation and degradation, +are to-day clothed in their right minds. Some +of the most efficient Christian men have passed through +his Mission, at No. 436 Jefferson street, in Louisville. +I feel that in helping Steve Holcombe, I shall be +able to say, at least: 'Lord, if I did not do much +when I was on earth, I did what I could to help Steve +Holcombe, the converted gambler, in his mission work +among men who never hear preaching, and to whom +a helping hand is never extended.'</p> + +<p>"There are mighty few men like Steve Holcombe +to take hold of poor fellows and bring them back to +a purer and better life."</p> + +<p>In 1888, during a great temperance meeting in +Louisville, Mr. Francis Murphy said of Mr. Holcombe:</p> + +<p>"Of all the noble men I know, he is one of the +noblest, and Louisville may well be proud of the +grand, big-hearted Christian man, who, in his quiet, +unassuming manner is doing such a world of good +here."</p> + +<p>Mr. D. L. Moody, during his great meeting in +Louisville, in the months of January and February, +1888, said of Mr. Holcombe:</p> + +<p>"I have got very much interested in a work in +your city conducted by a man you call Steve Holcombe. +I don't know when I met a man who so +struck my heart. I went up and saw his headquarters +and how he works. He is doing the noblest work I +know of. I want you to help him with money and +words of cheer. Remember, here in Louisville you +make so many drunkards that you must have a place<span class="pagenum">[121]</span> +to take care of the wrecks. Steve Holcombe rescues +them. Let us help him all we can."</p> + +<p>And Mr. Holcombe's work is not done. He is +in the vigor of life, with fifteen or twenty years of +life and service, God willing, before him. He is +only beginning to reap the results of these ten years +of study and these ten years of Christian living and +working. He knows the Gospel better than he ever +did before, and he preaches it better. He knows +himself and God better than he ever did before, and +he lives nearer the Source of Power. He knows men +good and bad, better than he ever did before, and he +deals with them in all states and stages more wisely +and successfully.</p> + +<p>He is of that nervous and Intense temperament +which can not rest without getting something done, +and he is always doing something to advance his work. +And though so intensely in earnest, he is singularly, it +is not at all too strong to say, entirely free from +fanaticism. He is in high esteem, with large influence +at home and abroad, and this he does not prostitute +to selfishness, but uses for usefulness.</p> + +<p>And, best of all, he has tokens, not a few, in the +form of discipline on the one hand, and success on +the other, that God is guarding and guiding his Life +and Work.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-159.jpg" width="462" height="308" alt="THE UNION GOSPEL MISSION." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE UNION GOSPEL MISSION.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[125]</span> + +<h2 id="LETTERS">LETTERS.</h2> + +<p class="h4">TO HIS FIRST PASTOR.</p> + +<blockquote><p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, November 6, 1883.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>Our meetings continue in interest. Last night the +Holy Ghost was with us in great power. At the close +of the talk, we invited backsliders to come forward and +kneel. Six responded. Then we invited all others +who wanted to become Christians to come forward +and nine others responded, most of them the most +hardened sinners in the city. I am sure nothing but +the power of God could have lifted them from their +seats. Men who have fought each other actually +embraced last night. Continue to pray for us.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, November 19, 1883.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>Last night about two hundred persons were present, +most of them non-churchgoers. About forty stood up +for prayers. And oh, such good testimonies, no harangues +but living testimonies as to what God can +and will do for those who will let him.</p> + +<p>Yours truly,</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[126]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, November 21, 1883.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>How grateful I am to you for all your kindness God +alone knows. I may and do lack education and refinement, +but I will not allow myself under any circumstances +to lack gratitude. The results of our meetings +prove to me that it is the work of the Holy Ghost. +Of course, I could hardly believe you would come to +Louisville even for a little while and not come to see +me, one who has cost you so much of time and care. +There was a time when I could not have stood it. +But thanks to God I am now above letting small things +or great things upset me. Give my love to your dear +family.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours truly,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, February 3, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>How I do wish you could have been where you +could have looked in on us last night. The room +was full. They had to be turned away from the +door. And they were so anxious to hear the glad +tidings. No carpet, nothing to deaden the sound +and yet you could have heard a pin drop. All the +churches are feeling the results of our work. Yesterday +G. H. joined the Christian church. He seems to be a +thoroughly converted man, if I know one. P. D., whom<span class="pagenum">[127]</span> +you know, came in here about a week ago under the +influence of liquor. Said "I am an infidel and a +drunkard. Pray for me." We did pray for him. He +has been coming ever since. He is now perfectly +sober and says he was never so moved before. These +are two out of many cases.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours truly,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, February 7, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>Your kind favor received. P. D. comes every +night and sometimes speaks. He is not drinking. +He says he can not believe. He does so pitifully and +pleadingly ask for the prayers of Christian people. +He is in earnest. Pray for him.</p> + +<p>C. T. testified last night. He was a schoolmate +of yours. He said: "For the last five years, when I +would meet Brother Holcombe, I would say to myself: +'I wish he would say good day, and pass on.' But he +would not. He generally had something to say about +the way I was living. Of late, every time he has met +me he has invited me to the Mission. I would promise +to go, but went, instead, to some bar-room, until I +wound up by losing my position, being sent to the +work-house, and being left by a loving wife. Two +weeks ago he met me again, and this time I kept my +promise. I have been coming every night since, and +have not touched liquor since, and by God's help I do +not expect to do so any more. I enjoy the meetings<span class="pagenum">[128]</span> +so much. The two hours I spend here seem so +short."</p> + +<p>G. H. never misses a night. He is in the room +with me now singing, "Happy Day, When Jesus +Washed My Sins Away." And he is happy. Although +in the last four years he has spent thirty +thousand dollars in riotous living, and although his +wife has left him, he said to me: "Brother Holcombe, +I believe I am as happy as I ever was in my life." I +asked him, why? He said: "Because I have something +which I never had when I had wife, child and +money. I have the forgiveness of sins and the friendship +of God."</p> + +<p>I said: "You will have to watch the devil or he +will get you in his power again."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied, "the devil told me when I +first began to come to this Mission that I was too +mean, and my heart was too dead ever to get religion; +but I fought him on my knees and I got the victory. +I know how hard it was to get, and by the help of +God I am going to keep it, whether I ever have wife +or child or money again."</p> + +<p>Pray for me, that I may make no mistake in my +difficult work.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours, as ever,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, February 13, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>I did just what you suggested; though I was +disappointed I did not show it. God is helping me<span class="pagenum">[129]</span> +to give up my preferences. I am trusting in the +Lord, and sweetly singing</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, to be nothing, nothing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Only as led by His hand;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A messenger at His gateway,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Only waiting for His command."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I am willing to preach on the streets, at the +Mission, at Walnut-street church, or I am willing to +be door-keeper—anything for Christ.</p> + +<p>So you heard that I am improving in preaching. +Well, I do believe that I shall yet learn how to +preach.</p> + +<p>I had a letter requesting me to go to Nicholasville +to preach. But I can not go. I feel I have +a little, humble work to do in Louisville, and I am +going to do it. The mission men are all doing well. +Though to you I may seem very weak, I am to them +what you are to me.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours, etc.,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, May 1, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother</i>:</p> + +<p>Yours to hand. I do not think you negligent. +I know you love me, and I know you love the cause +of Christ for which I am laboring, and I know you +will do all you can to help me to help it. I am +surprised, not at what you don't do, but at what +you do do.<span class="pagenum">[130]</span></p> + +<p>I suppose you saw in the paper what a handsome +thing they did for us in the way of giving us a fifty-dollar +parlor set, a fine Brussels carpet, a large walnut +book-case and many other articles, including a fine +portrait of dear Brother Morris.</p> + +<p>Even for this donation and for all the love shown +me by these good people I am indebted to you. +"Jesus must needs go through Samaria" to save the +woman at the well. You must needs be sent to +Portland church to save and instruct and guide +Steve Holcombe. This morning I prayed nearly an +hour before breakfast, and it was lucky for me I did. +Something came up at noon that would have completely +upset me, but I was fortified and withstood the temptation +successfully.</p> + +<p>I am improving every way. My health is better, +my memory is better. I can read my Bible more +profitably than ever and I can pray better.</p> + +<p>God grant you may have good health, length of +days and all of this world's goods that may be good +for you.</p> + +<p class="author">S. P. H.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, May 23, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Yours of the 16th to hand. God is so good to me. +Certain temptations have come to me lately and I could +not have borne them but for His help. I talked at the +church last Sunday night in the absence of Dr. Messick. +I felt so humble, it seemed a privilege to be treated<span class="pagenum">[131]</span> +shamefully that I might have an opportunity of showing +that a Christian can give up his own rights for the good +of others. I have grown in grace since you showed +me the necessity of secret prayer and of getting so +well acquainted with God that he would become more +real to me than my own father ever was.</p> + +<p>You have seen in the papers poor D. T.'s attempt +at suicide. But God has spared him yet another +season. He will recover. Pray for him. May God +bless you and strengthen you and keep you is the +prayer of</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 23, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Yours received this <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> I am so pressed for +means I can not now buy the book you speak of, but will +do so as soon as I can. I am <i>taking time</i> to study. I am +getting much better acquainted with God and the better +I know him the more I love him.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours in love,</p> + +<p class="author">S. P. H.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 25, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>The men are all doing tolerably well. The attendance +at the meetings is increasing. Sunday-school<span class="pagenum">[132]</span> +holds up well. My great desire now is to be able to +study the Bible better. The more I think of what +you have been to me, the more grateful I feel. I wish +I could in some substantial way show you how I appreciate +your care. But God will reward you.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours, etc.,</p> + +<p class="author">S. P. H.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 30, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>The Bible is becoming very sweet to me. I can +study it all day long and not get tired. I am sure +the Holy Ghost is helping me. I have read the +book you gave me. It is very helpful.</p> + +<p>Brother Davidson has gone to housekeeping. He +has his son and daughter with him. Oh, the love and +power of God. Praise His name!</p> + +<p class="author">S. P. H.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Chicago, Ill.</span>, September 5, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Yours of the 2d to hand. Think of you? The +sun may forget to shine, but poor Steve Holcombe +can never forget the man who has done so much +for his soul. Never has a day passed since my +conversion that I have not prayed God's blessing on +you, your family and your work.<span class="pagenum">[133]</span></p> + +<p>Well, Chicago is a great city, a grand field for +Christian work. I find many earnest Christian men +and women laboring for the Master. I am not idle +either. I talked four times last Sunday—three times +on the street and once at a Mission.</p> + +<p>I am having a royal time, sailing on the lake, +riding on street-cars, taking in the town. I wish +you were here.</p> + +<p class="author1">God bless you always.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 1, 1885.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Yours of June 25th received. I do hope you +will get Brother C.<a id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> those books to sell. These men +must have employment. They can not live, as some +Christian people seem to think, on promises. It is all +right to say, "Oh, let go and trust in the Lord," to a +man who knows the way, but it is all not right when +it is said to a poor struggling gambler, who, in faith, is +as weak as a baby. I know of Brother L.'s troubles. +My heart goes out to him. All well.</p> + +<p class="author">Yours, S. P. H.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> A converted gambler.</p></div> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, May 15, 1885.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Since writing my card this morning I have learned +that D. McC., the boss Nashville gambler, and an old +partner of mine, is attending Sam Jones' meetings. +<span class="pagenum">[134]</span>I want you to go to see him. Don't be afraid to go +right up to him and introduce yourself. Tell him you +and I are old friends, and that I love him, and requested +you to see him. But you know better how +to approach him than I can tell you. But you must +see him. Take Sam Jones to see him. Visit him at +his home, with Sam Jones. He is worthy of concentration. +If you can get him converted, he will be a +power for good. Most of your members know him, I +guess. If you don't like to call on him, alone, get +some of them to go along and introduce you. May +God help us save poor D. McC.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, December 20, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Your favor to hand. I have had a terrible battle +with self, but by the grace of God I have come out +conquerer. I praise God now that I had the struggle, +because it has enabled me to realize the emptiness of all +that is earthly. It has convinced me that to depend on +men is "like a foot out of joint." I make more miles +toward my haven of rest during a night of storm than +in days of calm weather. Wishing you a merry Christmas +and a happy New Year, I am as ever,</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[135]</span></p> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, December 29, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Yours was received a few days ago. Yes, I thank +God I am almost rid of my love of praise. I am +willing to do the dirty and disagreeable work and let +others have the picnics and the praise. "Who am I +that I should be a leader of the Lord's people?" But I +confess I did not get to this point without a struggle. +How I did have to wrestle with God. He showed me +the envy that was in my heart, that is my jealousy of +any one who did more work or had more attention paid +them than I had. But glory to God I hope I am rid of +it at last.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours,</p> + +<p class="author">S. P. H.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, January 26, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Yours just received. I hardly think it would be +worth while to ask Mr. Moody to visit our Mission, as +his time is so completely occupied. I think our work is +as much thought of as ever. It is quiet but I think deep. +I have kept it out of the papers, because too much +newspaper notoriety is calculated to cause a poor little-brained +fellow to exaggerate his own importance. +And then there is such sweetness in the work when +you are sure it is not for praise but for Christ. I am +afraid that many of us on analyzing our hearts will find<span class="pagenum">[136]</span> +first, self; second, self; and almost all for self in one +way or another. May God deliver me from self.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours as ever,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 10, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother:</i></p> + +<p>Your letter to hand. There is nothing so comforting +as true friendship. Alas! how little of it there is +in this world. Happy the man who can claim <i>one true +friend</i>. I know a man that has a true friend. I am +that man and you are that friend. How do I know it? +You are so faithful in telling me the truth about myself +and showing me my faults and mistakes. Who but +a true friend that had your best interest at heart would +have written such a letter as this last one from you? +I want you to know that while I loved you much before, +I love you more now. I have been going through the +fire lately, but I think I shall come out all right. +Doesn't God sift a fellow? I believe I can say I rejoice +in tribulation. I find I can not expect to be understood +in this world or always have sympathy, but I do expect, +if "I meekly wait and murmur not," to find it is all +right in my Father's house.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve P. Holcombe.</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[137]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO S. P. DALTON (one of the converts).</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 17, 1883.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Brother Dalton:</i></p> + +<p>Your good letter to hand. It is, as you say, so +sweet to be bound together by the ties of Christian +love, and there is no tie which binds men more closely +than the religion of Christ. It breaks down every +barrier, and all are alike to the true Christian man; +rich, poor, halt, lame, blind, there is no difference. And +the Christian is happiest when he is denying himself +to help others.</p> + +<p>In order to convince the world of the truth and +power of our religion, our own standard must be very +high. We must deny ourselves of things which in +themselves would be innocent, but which, if practiced +by us, would lessen our influence for good. And how +comforting to think that if we <i>suffer</i> with Him, we +shall also reign with Him. The suffering comes first, +the humiliation first, the toil and weariness first. Yes, +we may <i>expect</i> troubles and crosses here, but we leave +it all behind when we enter within the gates into the +city. I thank God that your heart has been changed +and that you have tasted of the powers of the world +to come. I am glad you find more pleasure in my poor +company and lame words than in the follies and friendships +of the world. Hoping for you all good things, +I am with much love,</p> + +<p class="author1">Your brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve Holcombe</span>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[138]</span></p> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 23, 1885.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Dalton:</i></p> + +<p>Your letter from the great Falls is to hand. It +is very gratifying to me to know that in the midst of +so much excitement you could and did think of one +so humble and obscure as myself. I have been at the +Falls and have seen many wonderful and grand things, +but the most beautiful thing I have ever seen is an +old hardened sinner picking up his grip-sack and +bidding the devil farewell forever. And, praise the +Lord, that is my privilege almost daily in the dear +old mission. Though the weather is very hot, we have +glorious meetings; new converts testifying almost +nightly. Two professional gamblers have just been +converted. One of them was one of the sweetest +conversions I ever saw. The old converts are nearly +all doing well. Don't grow, cold, but be in some work +for the Master every day, and you will not miss the time +or regret the service. God bless you.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, April 17, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Dalton:</i></p> + +<p>Yours of the 6th to hand. We have purchased +the property for our new home, and we shall move in +in about a month. Our work is moving like a thing<span class="pagenum">[139]</span> +of life. It was never so prosperous before. I wish +you could be here to work with us. Sister Clark is +in her glory. She is one of the grandest Christian +women I have ever seen. Nearly all the converts are +doing well.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, November 15, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Dalton:</i></p> + +<p>I receive no letters that touch my heart more +deeply than those I receive from you. Our work is +more quiet now. The papers do not notice it so much, +but we are doing a good work. It is now more among +the unfortunate business men of the city some of whom, +were fallen very low. Some who have recently been +reclaimed are now first-class business men. The old +converts are all right and doing well, but they don't +stand by me in the work as I wish they would. Oh, +for "consecration and concentration." That is my +motto.</p> + +<p>My married daughter has got one of the best of +husbands and I think they are the happiest couple I +know. The rest are all well. I hope you will be +blown back this way by some favoring breeze, so we +can have your help in our work.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[140]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, January 6, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Dalton:</i></p> + +<p>Our work is going on grandly again. You can see +from the papers I am kept as busy as a bee. You +must know from the number that come that my time +is all taken up in nursing them. Hence, I can not write +long letters, however much I would like to.</p> + +<p>Hope to see you soon.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, October 28, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>S.P. Dalton, Cleveland, Ohio:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Brother Dalton:</span> Yours of the 17th is +received. I am glad you are an active worker in the +church, and that they have shown their appreciation +of you by making you a steward in the church.</p> + +<p>I believe you will render a good account of your +stewardship. The main thing for you to guard against +is <i>care</i>. Remember, always when you think you are +too busy to pray in secret, read the Bible, go to the +meetings, etc., what Jesus said to Martha: "Thou +art careful and troubled about many things."</p> + +<p>I am trying to be a faithful servant. God is +blessing my humble efforts. The converts are sticking +and the work is growing. Most of the converts are +prospering in business. Some that were in the gutter<span class="pagenum">[141]</span> +are now making from fifty to two hundred dollars a +month.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">S. P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">TO THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, May 11, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Dalton:</i></p> + +<p>Yours of the 9th to hand. Glad to hear of your +continued success in business. You are a great man, +but a man who is so prosperous in business must +keep his eyes open.</p> + +<p>Remember to give to the Lord all that belongs +to Him of every dollar you earn. John Wesley's +motto is hard to improve on: "Make all you can, save +all you can, give all you can." And oh! what sweetness +there is in giving. Never get too busy to do +some Christian work. We have just had Murphy +at Louisville, for a month.</p> + +<p class="author1">Good-bye,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Steve P. Holcombe.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4"><a id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>LETTERS TO MR. HOLCOMBE.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> A few of the letters to Mr. Holcombe have been selected out of several +hundreds.</p></div> + +<p><i>Mr. Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>I have heard and read so much of your influence +and prayers for men leading dissolute lives, that I am +going to ask you if you won't find my husband and +stay and pray with him until he is saved. The other +<span class="pagenum">[142]</span>night, when he was drinking very hard, he appealed +to me to send for you to pray for him. He has much +confidence in your prayers, and believes in your life; +I have often heard him say so. He has a noble, loving +disposition, and forgiving; so you need not be afraid +of offending him. His whole heart would forever offer +thanksgivings for his delivery from drink; for it is +that that he prays for. I have thought that, perhaps, +God intended salvation to come to him through you; +and how earnestly I pray that it may. So much has +been done, and so many prayers offered for him, won't +you please, at your next opportunity, find him and talk +and pray with him? You would make a miserable, +lonely woman's life happy again. We have been so +happy together, so congenial, so well mated; and if +God will answer all our united prayers, happiness will +return to our hearts tenfold. Oh, Mr. Holcombe, pray +the prayer of faith, and my heart will ever turn in +grateful acknowledgment to God for making you the +humble instrument of my much-loved husband's salvation. +Won't you go now immediately and wrestle +for and with him in prayer?</p> + +<p>Believe me, most earnestly, your co-worker in +prayer for his salvation.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Mrs. H.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Birmingham, Ala.</span>, May 12, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>I hope you will not think hard of me for asking you +to write once more to my husband. I feel so confident +it will stir up a remembrance of his conversion. Oh,<span class="pagenum">[143]</span> +brother, don't give up helping me. Try to save my +husband. It nearly kills me to see him come home full +of the destroying thing called whisky; and it seems to +have such a strong hold on him. All the imploring I +can do will not change him at all. I have grieved until +my life is almost grieved away. But oh, God will +surely hear my cry after a while. If I could give my +life to save my husband's soul, I would willingly, yes, +gladly, do it. Brother Holcombe, what do you think +about this plan? If you can get one of the converts +whom my husband knows, and one who has been a +great drunkard, to write a friendly, brotherly letter to +him, don't you think that might do some good? Oh, I +have thought of so many plans and ways to try and get +him back to the Lord. I am sorry to say that the +city of Birmingham is the most wicked place I have +ever seen; so few Christians, and they are not working. +I do fervently hope God will send some one here who +is like yourself, not ashamed to work for the lost. I +hope you will write, Brother Holcombe. Pray for me; +and oh, do ask all the friends there to pray for my +husband.</p> + +<p class="author">Mrs. P.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, December 3d.</p> + +<p><i>Brother Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>Will you ask the prayers of your people in behalf +of my skeptical son-in-law. He is a talented man, but +he is using his influence against his best friend. My +poor child is suffering the penalty for marrying an +infidel. If I dared tell you how desperate the case, I<span class="pagenum">[144]</span> +am sure your heart would be troubled to its depths. +Do pray that this man may be led into the light of the +Gospel, and become a better husband, father and +citizen.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">A Suffering Mother.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Bowling Green</span>, November 10, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>Will you please go and see my son L., and try to +persuade him to live a better life? He has great faith +in what you say. When you wrote to him last spring +he seemed very much affected, and said to me. "That +is one of the best men in the world." Oh, for heaven's +sake, pray for him. If you can go and talk to him, +advise him to leave Kentucky and go away off and +reform his life. If he comes back here, <i>danger awaits +him</i>. I feel sure you can influence him, for he believes +you are sincere. He is not mean and sinful at heart, +but oh, the accursed demon Drink causes him all his +trouble. If he could get some respectable work and +some one to encourage him and lift him above his +darkened life, I believe he would be all right. He has +relatives there, but they are the last to apply to for +assistance. He is in jail in your city now. God only +knows the pang it causes me to say he is in jail. He +was such a good Sunday-school boy and a good +Templar. Is it possible that he is to be lost? I can't +yet give up all hope. While my Father in heaven has +so sorely afflicted me, I can't help believing that after +awhile the change will come. Oh, how I wish Brother<span class="pagenum">[145]</span> +Morris could go to him to-day. He took more interest +in him than any one else ever did. Please do what +you can. I know God <i>will hear your prayer</i> and help +you to save him. Yours with a mother's aching heart +for her boy,</p> + +<p class="author">—— ——</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Chicago</span>, May 24th.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Steve Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Friend:</span> I have just received a letter +from my son, who has almost ruined himself and broken +my heart by his intemperance. I have been always +praying for his reformation, but felt almost hopeless, as +he would not go to church and seemed hardened, and I +know very well he could not rely on his own strength +and would not look to a stronger arm for help. Do +you know when I received a letter from him to-day +making a full confession of all his past course, and +saying he had been to hear you and asked for your +prayers, I could not realize it? How we are surprised +when God hears us. I write this to thank you for +anything you may have said to help him, and to beg +you to follow him with your prayers and advice. Oh, +won't you try to help him all you can? It will be a hard +battle with him, poor fellow, as he has been for some +time indulging freely. Will you look after him as +much as you can and if he should fall, help him up? +I am praying for you and your work, and have been +doing so for a long time. Your friend,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Mrs. P. W. M.</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[146]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Wednesday Night.</span></p> + +<p><i>Dear Mr. Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>Will you please come out to my home on Third +street in the morning as early as you can? I dislike to +trouble you in this way; but I am in great trouble with +Mr. L. He has been drinking, and I feel that you can +be the means of bringing him back to God. I have +prayed with him, and done all I could for him. I feel +crushed to the earth with this deep sorrow and mortification. +Don't let him know that I sent for you. +He is quite sick to-night. Pray that God may sustain +us and lift us out of this deep dark sorrow, and cast +out the demon that seems to possess my poor dear +husband. God bless you, our dear good friend, and +keep us all this night.</p> + +<p class="author1">Sincerely your friend,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Mrs. L.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, April 12, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. S. P. Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Brother:</span> It is with grief in my heart I +must write you again. Mr. L. went on a business trip +three weeks since, but fell into bad company, and has +been on a protracted spree. He came home last night +utterly discouraged—will not even try to pray again. +I am almost discouraged myself; can only wait and +trust. I think if you could make it convenient to call +to see him to-day, perhaps God will put words into +your mouth that will help him. I leave it with you; +and would not ask you to leave your duties, except +I know your willingness to work for the Master.<span class="pagenum">[147]</span> +He will not know that I have sent for you. Oh, help +me to pray that God will help my husband.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Mrs. L.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">October 28th.</span></p> + +<p><i>Friend Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>I am locked up, and go to the work-house this +morning. Oh, can anything be done to help me; +I want to become a different man. Try and save me.</p> + +<p class="author">Truly, —— ——</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">City Work-house</span>, November 1, 1882.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Stephen P. Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir:</span> You kindly requested me to write you +in event I reached the conclusion that under a change +of condition I might become a different man. My +knowledge of your own career inspires me with more +confidence than anything that has ever fallen under my +notice. Coupled with the impression made upon me +by the sermon on Sunday afternoon, I firmly believe if +you will come and see me, and allow me to state to you +fully my convictions as to your ability to make a sober +man of me, you will do one of the greatest and noblest +acts of your life; and, in keeping me from the slavery +of drink, rescue one who has suffered, and who has +caused, and now is causing, much suffering to others. +I stand ready to unite with you in any manner you may +suggest, and pray God Almighty to bless you.</p> + +<p class="author">Truly, —— ——.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[148]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">City Work-house</span>, November 2, 1882.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>When I penned the few lines to you yesterday, I +had to do it in so short a space of time, that in all +probability I omitted to state specifically why I desired +to see you. Heretofore, I have never entertained any +settled plan of operations to restrain my appetite for +liquor other than the mere will power I deemed in my +own possession and control, and, as a result, would +invariably find myself in the very midst of violating +every previously conceived resolution. Your kindness +in pointing out a course of discipline and conduct, and +extending to me a welcome among those who have +made, and who are making, successful battle against the +great destroyer of happiness, awakened within me an +entirely different current of thought; and when I stated +I would unite with you in any manner you would +suggest, to effect the object in view, I meant it with all +my heart and mind; and I appeal to an all-wise and +merciful Creator to attest the sincerity of my +declaration in this matter. Again, my resolve is to +attend strictly to any suggestions you may make. +The accursed appetite has beggared me. I do not ask +charity from any mortal toward me. I am not deserving +of either sympathy or pity; and while the embracing +of the cause of religion and temperance can not of +itself work reformation, it places a man in a position +where he can climb upward and go forward, instead of +forever traveling the broad way that leads to destruction. +Holcombe, I want to redeem myself. I only crave +this one last opportunity, and if God will help me no<span class="pagenum">[149]</span> +man shall ever know of me using either intoxicating +drink or profane language as long as breath is in my +body. When released, I do not want to be idle a day. +I have mouths to feed whose entry into this troubled +life is chargeable solely to me. I will work for a dollar +a day to do my duty towards them. Judge W. L. +Jackson, Judge H. H. Bruee, Gary B. Blackburn or +Major Tom Hays, would, I am sure, put in a good word +for me; and Judge Price himself, I think has some hope +for me. I had a violent chill to-day, and am in the +hospital department, and my fingers are somewhat stiff +from researches in the geological department.<a id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Hence +this cramped writing. Come and see me, and do not +give me up as hopeless.</p> + +<p class="author">Truly, —— ——.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> He means the rock-pile.</p></div> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Bowling Green, Ky.</span>, March 27, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Steve Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir:</span> I am so much obliged to you for the +kind letter you were pleased to write me. You no +doubt think ere this that the seed has fallen on stony +ground, and, perhaps, among thorns; but I can assure +you that I made up my mind when in your city to lead +a different life, and to devote the remainder of my life +to the service of my God. I have so often thought +of you, and have wished to see you. Pray for me, and +I do hope we may meet again. If ever convenient, +call and see me. Our doors will be open, yes, wide +open, to you. Thanking you again for your remembrance +of me, I am, yours truly,</p> + +<p class="author">——.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[150]</span></p><hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Sick Bed</span>, February 5th.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Christian Brother:</i></p> + +<p>I have a tenant in a little house, a grocery, on +Sixth street, right next to the First Presbyterian +church, who is a fearfully wicked man, a common +drunkard, and steeped in sin; and I come to you +to-day to beg you to seek him out and try to rescue +him. He has four or five little motherless children, +whose lives are full of the bitterest sorrow; they are +so dirty and unkempt that the public school teacher +had to send them home. They are under no control; +have no one to train them for God, and ought to be +where some one would save them from themselves +and ruin. When I leased my house to him, he was a +very handsome, well-to-do man; young, apparently +honest, paid his rent regularly, and had a very nice +little wife, who has since died—I think with a broken +heart. Will you not look him up at once? Or, if +you are too full of other cases, will you not get +some one of your workers to try to lead him back +to good paths? He is a very desperate case, I know, +and seems almost past saving now; but you know +God's grace can reach any heart. I would lay this +poor dissolute creature, lost to all sense of honor, +shame or manliness, on your soul, my brother, and +beseech you, for Christ's sake, for the sake of these +poor motherless children, whose souls are worth saving +for Christ, do try to bring your influence and your +prayers for God's help, to this miserable man's case, +and see if you can help. If he is past God's mercy—and +I can not believe that—will you not see what<span class="pagenum">[151]</span> +can be done for the little ones? The oldest boy is +a bright little fellow, and may become a great light +in our Father's work. I hear that this man has been +to hear Mr. Moody. I do not know if it helped him. +Will you not send after him, and try to get him to go +to-night? I will meet you in prayer there for him.</p> + +<p class="author1">In bonds of Christian friendship,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Jennie Casseday.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author1"><span class="smcap">Alexander's Hotel,</span></p> +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, May 30, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Mr. Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>I am struggling as hard as ever a poor wretch +did against my appetite for liquor. I have asked the +good Lord to help me overcome the habit, but I feel +that my prayers amount to nothing. May I ask you +to ask the Great Controller of us all to give me +strength to overcome this habit? Save me, or help +save me, I beg and implore you. Please give me +your prayers.</p> + +<p class="author">————.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">October 16, 1887.</span></p> + +<p><i>My Dear Steve:</i></p> + +<p>Your kind favor of the 7th instant reached me in +due time. I was, of course, delighted to hear from you, +and inexpressibly glad to hear of the improved state +of your health. I also note with much pleasure what +you say in regard to the pleasant and extensive trip +that you have just finished. It gratifies and pleases<span class="pagenum">[152]</span> +me beyond expression to know that the people of +Louisville are at last awakened to your worth, and are +willing to manifest some substantial recognition of the +same. "All things work well for those who love the +Lord." I believe the quotation is correct. Oh, had I +continued in the way you pointed out to me, how +different my situation and circumstances would be. +Instead of being broken in health and bankrupt in +purse, separated from all that I love and hold most +dear, I would be, I am sure, what I was while I was +endeavoring to lead a Christian life—a happy husband +and father and a respectable citizen. Oh, Steve, my +dear friend, I am wretched, miserable, broken hearted. +When I reflect upon what I was and what I might have +been, and consider what I am and how little I have to +look forward to, I simply get desperate. But I will not +weary you with my troubles. As regards myself and +habits, I may say, without exaggeration, that I am in +better health and my mode of living is plainer and +more regular than it has ever been. I rise every +morning between four and five o'clock, and retire +between eight and nine. My food is of the plainest +and coarsest kind. My companions are, I regret to +say, cowboys. You know, I presume, what they are, so +I will say nothing about them. I neither drink nor +smoke; I chew tobacco very moderately, and expect +to quit that. I suffer terribly at times for the want of +congenial company. You must excuse this effort, as +I am surrounded by a lot of boys who are making a +terrible lot of noise. Give my love to all of your family. +God bless you, my dear Steve. Pray for me and mine.</p> + +<p class="author">Your friend, —— —— ——.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[153]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">November 2, 1887.</span></p> + +<p><i>My Dear Steve:</i></p> + +<p>Your letter of the 27th is before me. It is just +such a letter as I expected—so full of sympathy, love +and good, wholesome advice. I wish it were possible, +or, rather, expedient, to listen to your advice and return +home, for I am heartily sick and tired of the life I am +now living. Don't you know that my life out here +reminds me, in a measure, of your western experience? +Of course, I am not subjected to the hardships and +deprivations that you were forced to undergo. But, as +far as bodily comfort and companionship are concerned, +I must say that your experience must have been rather +"tough," if it was worse than mine. Now, don't misunderstand +me, I have plenty to eat, such as it is, I +have a fairly good bed, in a fairly good room. My companions +are, as you know, cowboys. That they are +rough and all that, goes without saying, but let me tell +you, my dear friend, I have received better treatment +and more consideration from these wild, half-civilized +cowboys, upon whom I have no earthly claim, than I +ever received from some from whom I had a right to +expect, if not fair treatment, at least some consideration. +The people one meets out here are always willing to +give a fellow a "white man's chance." When you write, +tell me something about the dear old Mission and +its workers. What has become of Davidson, Peck, +Booker and all of the boys? I would be extremely +sorry to hear that any of them had forsaken the narrow +for the broad way. The dear old Mission! What a +train of happy memories is connected with it. I almost<span class="pagenum">[154]</span> +forgot to inquire about Clay Price. Tell me about all +of them. I am about to change my quarters. Don't +know where I will go. You had better wait until you +hear from me again before answering. With much +love to yourself and family, I am, as ever,</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend,</p> + +<p class="author">—— —— ——.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">December 10, 1887.</span></p> + +<p><i>My Dear Steve:</i></p> + +<p>Your letter, or rather note, of November 29th, +reached me in due course. You advise me to keep up +a brave heart. Steve, old fellow, my heart is broken. +I know you will smile and shake your head; but I +honestly believe that if there is such a thing as a +broken heart, mine is broken. Haven't I suffered +enough? Well, how is the Mission getting along? +I noticed in the <i>Courier-Journal</i> the other day that +George Kerr had been reclaimed. Well, well, who +would have thought it? I know him well. He is a +fellow of some parts. If he can only keep sober, he is +abundantly qualified to do well. Write me something +about the boys. I would be mighty glad to hear good +reports of them. Have you seen the ——s lately. +Give them my regards when you see them; and remind +them for me, that they are in debt to me a letter. +They and you, old fellow, are about all the friends I +have left. What a sad commentary upon human nature +is the mutability of so-called friendship! When I was +prosperous, I had all the friends I wanted, and more, too. +Now, I can count them upon the fingers of one hand.<span class="pagenum">[155]</span> +Ah, well, I suppose it has been the same time out of +mind; I am not an exception. Now, Steve, write me a +long letter, and tell me all the news.</p> + +<p class="author1">Very truly your friend,</p> +<p class="author">—— ——.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM A CONVERT.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Kansas City, Mo.</span>, May 30, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Steve P. Holcombe, Louisville, Ky.:</i></p> + +<p>Yours received. Would have written sooner but I +have been away and busy. I have been at Fulton, Mo., +since the tenth instant. Brother Jones left Monday +morning. I tell you I just had a glorious time. Steve, +I love the work! and God is blessing me wonderfully; +everything is prosperous; business is getting better; +my health is getting better. In short, everything is +just glorious. Of course, I feel gloomy sometimes; but, +blessed be God, he will not allow us to be tempted +above that we are able to bear; and, with every +temptation there is a way of escape. I feel just that +way. Every time temptation comes to me, I flee to +God for help, and I never yet failed. I have gone into +this for life; and, God helping me, I will stick. I have +not tasted drink of any kind since about January 9th, +and I tell you I was a slave to it. I never think of +drinking now; my thought is all in a different channel; +bless God for it. Our little mission is gradually growing, +and we hope for grand things from it. Pray for us. +Brother Morris wishes to be remembered to yourself +and family. I am a member of his church, and I love<span class="pagenum">[156]</span> +him. He is a grand man. I am going to Chillicothe, +Missouri, the 12th of June—Brother Jones will be there +for ten days. Give my regards to all who know me; +and tell them I am trusting Jesus for everything. +May God bless you in your good work. I shall never +forget you. Write as soon as convenient.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Harry Chapman.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM A CONVERT.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Chicago</span>, July 21, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Brother Steve:</i></p> + +<p>Your kind postal of the 21st to hand this <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> I +must really beg your pardon for having neglected +your cards; but I have no excuse to offer. It has +been nothing but carelessness. I was absent from +Chicago a week with my friend D., and had a very +pleasant time. It is probable that he will start into +business in Chicago. He will know in the next few +weeks. The Lord has taken wonderfully good care +of me since I have been here, although on one or two +occasions I have had to do with only one meal a day. +He has blessed me all the time. He has kept me +cheerful through all, and I feel to-day that I am nearer +to Him than I have ever been. I have put myself into +His hands unreservedly, and I feel that He is taking +care of me. Yesterday I got a letter from my brother. +He asked me to pray for him, and I shall certainly +continue to do so as long as I live. Whenever you +see him, speak to him about the salvation of his soul.<span class="pagenum">[157]</span> +I have written to him about it, and he wants to try +and become a Christian. Pray for him. Sunday I saw +Dr. S. He is better dressed than I ever saw him. +I notice he wears the Murphy ribbon in his button-hole. +I am glad he is looking so well. This was the +first time I had seen him for weeks. Steve, there is +only one thing lacking to make my happiness complete, +and that is to have my mother think more favorably +of my reformation. I have written to her twice, and +she has not even deigned to answer. I feel, however, +that the Lord will bring this about all right. As to +my getting into a situation, it will be some time yet, as +business hardly ever starts up here until about September. +Then the Lord will put me into something +permanent, I know. The captain is indeed happy with +his family reunited with him. He ought to shout +God's praises from morning till night; but he is not +the only one that can shout—<i>my</i> heart is forever full. +Neither hard times, nor anything else, can keep me +down as long as I have Jesus with me. I must close; +it is time to go to convert's meeting. My prayers are +for you and the Mission. I humbly ask you, as well as +all the good Christians there, to pray for me. May +God bless you and yours.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Fred Ropke.</span></p> + +<p>Remember me to Mrs. Holcombe and the rest of +the family, as well as to all inquiring friends.<span class="pagenum">[158]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Chicago</span>, August 3, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Steve:</i></p> + +<p>Your kind letter to hand. I feel ashamed of myself +for not answering your letters more promptly. It does +my heart good to think that you at last have confidence +in me, and that my going to Chicago must not +necessarily round up in my going to hell. It seems to +me, although I have not been in the service of our glorious +Master as long as you have, yet I have, or rather +had, more faith in His power to keep me than you had; +but your remark has often been recalled to my mind. +Do you remember saying "that if I went to Chicago, I +was certainly bound for hell?" Was this charity or +placing much faith in God's word? Well, let the matter +drop. I have just come home from a glorious meeting. +Oh, how I thank God this morning for a lightness of +heart and a buoyancy of spirit that lift me above surrounding +trials and troubles! I am poor in purse; but, +bless His holy name, I am rich in promises and faith. +My temporal affairs are not in a very prosperous condition, +but notwithstanding all this, I have the confidence +He will take care of me. He has done this in +a wonderful manner to this time, and He certainly has +not changed since I have become one of His. Captain +Davidson keeps me pretty well posted as to your +meetings. I am glad they are well attended. The +Lord willing, I will be with you on a visit this coming +winter, and I will bring a friend. You will then see in +what style they conduct their meetings here in Chicago. +I have as yet received no answer to my long letter<span class="pagenum">[159]</span> +to H., but I praise God that my humble words have +set him to thinking. My prayers ascend to heaven +daily that he may be saved. Your friend, Frank Jones, +is here in Chicago. I saw him once on Clark street, +but had no chance to talk to him. This has been some +two weeks ago. Remember me in Christian love to +the Millers, Captain Denny, Dalton, Ben Harney, Tom +Watts—in fact, all; but especially give my regards to +Mrs. Holcombe. Don't forget Mulligan, and my +prayers are that God may bless you as abundantly as +he is blessing your brother in Christ,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Fred Ropke.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM A CONVERT.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, September 12, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>Rev, S. P. Holcombe, New York City:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Old Friend:</span> You do not know the +pleasure your letter gave me, I have wanted to write +you ever since my return, but did not know where a +letter would reach you, nor do I know where to direct +this, but suppose I can get your address from Will. I +was at the Mission last night, and missed you sadly. +We all missed you in many ways. Your good, hard, +common horse sense is sadly needed. It is the same old +story; we never appreciate a man until it is too late. +I used to think I could pick many flaws in your management +of the mission work, but I have now come to the +conclusion that you can't be downed in that line, and<span class="pagenum">[160]</span> +hereafter I shall not even think a thought against your +management. Last night we had some ignoramus to +preach, and his grammar and ways of expressing +himself were (to say the least) tiresome; but we had +testimonies afterward, and I said to myself, "Well, +Brother Steve is away, and I have been on the quiet +lay for a long time; I think, for the sake of Christ and +old Steve, I will give a red-hot testimony right from +the shoulder," and I did. I was followed by Hocker +in a like strain, and others chiming in, we made the +welkin ring from turret to foundation-stone. But the +banner-bearer was not there; so the good intended +to be done fell short. Only one stood up for prayer. +But never mind, we will have our old veteran leader +with us soon, when we will unfurl our battle-flag anew +and carry terror and dismay into old Beelzebub's camp. +I think if our winter campaign is well organized, there +will be no "Indians on the warpath next spring." I +miss you and want to see you so bad, that you may +give me a hundred lectures and I won't shirk. Your +true blues are all holding fast. Your Old Guard is a +true and tried one. I think they all can be depended +on both on dress parade and under fire. Your family +are all well. May our heavenly Father bless you, my +dear friend, both here and hereafter. Your sins have +been great; but oh, what would I not give to know that, +after life's fitful fever is over, I would be permitted to +occupy a seat in the beautiful land of the blest alongside +of you. Truly your faith has made you whole. +Good-bye, and once more, God bless you.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your sincere friend,</p> + +<p class="author">P. B.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[161]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM A CONVERT.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Atlanta, Ga.</span>, February 3, 1885.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>Your letter of December 17th was received in +due time. Your postal card was also received a few +days ago. I have no lawful excuse to offer but pure +procrastination, from time to time, for not answering. +You are not forgotten by me or my wife and daughter. +We often speak of you, and the question is often +asked, "Will he come and see us this year and hold +another mission meeting?" You did so much good +in Atlanta. The meetings were kept up until the +bad weather broke us up; they were well attended +nearly every night, and the good seed you sowed +germinated; and, by Brother Barclay's good tilling +and the assistance and the goodness of God, has +brought forth much fruit of repentance; and, thank +God, we all bless the day He sent you to us. If +your Mission managers could see the great good you +accomplished while with us, I do not think they would +say no to your making Atlanta another visit; and +we look forward to the day as not being far distant +when you will do so. I am trying my best to live +right. I know I am changed; I feel very different +from what I did before you visited us. You have +known me fifteen years; and you know how bad and +sinful I was, and how dissipated. I have not even +wanted a drink of anything since your visit. You +know I told you I had put my foot on the serpent +and I intended to keep it there. I do not go with +any of my old associates who drink or who visit bar<span class="pagenum">[162]</span> +rooms. I select good company; I keep up the +family altar, and we are a happy little family now. +Can you appreciate that you saved one of your old +lost friends by your good work? When I met you +and saw and heard of the great blessing God had +bestowed upon you and your dear family, I set +about obtaining the like blessing for myself; and I feel +in my heart that I have received it. God has been +very merciful to me and blesses all my undertakings +and I am so thankful for all of His kind mercies. +Brother Barclay told me he wrote you a few days +ago, and I suppose he gave you all the news. I +have not been to the mission Sunday-school for +some time on account of the bad weather, and you +know I live a long way off. But, God willing, I shall +go next Sunday. My wife and daughter join in much +love to you and your family, and wish you a happy +and successful year in the Master's cause.</p> + +<p class="author">Yours truly, —— ——.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM AN OFFENDED GENTLEMAN.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, January 13, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Sir:</i></p> + +<p>Your letter surprises me. You came to me unintroduced; +I was glad to see you, and, I hope, treated +you with the consideration which I think your merit +demands. You again approached me to-day. Tonight +I received a letter from you which is to me +offensive and impolite. I am not coming to your<span class="pagenum">[163]</span> +place, and I will thank you to abate your interest in +my behalf. I believe in your work, and wish you +success; but I hope you will let me alone. My +self-constituted friends have done me more injury +than <i>even</i> my own indiscretions. Very truly,</p> + +<p>To Rev. Steve P. Holcombe. ——- ——-.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM A GAMBLER.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">February 4, 1884.</span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. Steve Holcombe, Esq., Lewisville, Ky.:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Friend:</span> I take my pen in hand to drop +you a few lines, as I haven't heard of you for a long +time, I learnt from a friend, of your whereabouts, and +that you had forever Retired from Gambling, I want +to accumulate a few hundred dollars and Retire from +the Business in the future, and as we have long Been +friends, I hope you will not Refuse giving me your +sure system of winning at the Game of Poker. From +your friend,</p> + +<p class="author1"><span class="smcap">David W. Miller</span>,</p> + +<p class="author"><i>Ridgeville, Randolph Co., Ind.</i></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">849 Seventh St., Louisville</span>, May 28, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Steve Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir:</span> I have a large family Bible, which has +been in my family a number of years. You will do +me a personal favor by accepting it as a souvenir of +my late son, Charles A. Gill. It was through your<span class="pagenum">[164]</span> +Christian instrumentality and kindness that my dear +son embraced his Saviour and died a Christian.</p> + +<p>Hoping that God will add many stars to your +crown, I am your sincere friend,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Hannah Gill.</span></p> + +<p>Two more Bibles will be given you by the same +hand for distribution.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">H. G.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM A CHRISTIAN BROTHER.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Memphis, Tenn.</span>, May 6, 1887.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Friend and Brother Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>Your card well received, but I have been so busy +that I have waited for a time to write to you. I am +in good health and have a good situation, thank God. +Am always alone. My children in Switzerland are +well. When I passed through Louisville, as I wrote you +from New York, I wished I had been able to stop for +twenty-four hours, but had a through sleeper to Memphis, +and could not stay over. I heard of your great +trial lately. Hope God did sustain you, and that good +will come out of it for your soul. The more I live, +the more I am separated from this world. My body +is in it, but my mind and spirit are longing for a better +state, where evil shall not be present, within or without. +The Bible becomes clearer to my soul every day, and +with the grace of God I hope to come to the end +a faithful and obedient child of the Almighty Father +in heaven. I suffer very much mentally; it is a constant +agony. I am absolutely, completely broken down<span class="pagenum">[165]</span> +in my own will; have given up entirely all worldly +pleasures; have no pleasure except in doing the will of +God the best I can. My old enemy, myself, with my +passions and self-indulgence, I pay no more attention to. +May God use me according to His good will, and make +me so as to be worthy of His service. Everything of +this world has been taken away from me; "Vanity of +vanities, all is vanity" is my daily bread. I often wish +to be in Louisville. Maybe I shall return there later, +to have some Christian friends around me. I have +here $150.00 a month, and the finest situation that +can be wished in my line of business. What are you +doing? I suppose always the same—taking care of +the lost and neglected. Your reward shall be great, +as you come nearer fulfilling the Master's teaching +than brilliant preachers who do not touch the burdens +of poor sinners. How is your family, especially your +sweet little daughter? I hope you are all well. This +world is nothing but a tremendous deception to all +who are attached to it; everything is corrupt, and +has the sting of death and sin. It is a constant warfare +with evil and evil forces around you. It is only worth +living for the good we can do to others. I can not +understand at all the joy that some find in it, except +in doing entirely, to the best of your ability, the will +of God. There is surely no other source of life in +the universe. I am writing now to dear Brother A. +A few months ago he wrote to me. He, also, has had +great sorrows. It is very strange that alone pain +and suffering can make us wise and pure in heart. +How antagonistic are the ways of God and those of +men? Absolutely opposed in all things. Oh, let us<span class="pagenum">[166]</span> +be true to God, even unto death, cutting mercilessly +all that is worldly and carnal, so as to live for the spirit +and not lose eternal life. My dear brother, please do +pray for your lonely brother, that God may bring His +presence into my worried soul and help me in the battle. +The enemy is very powerful, and shows no mercy. +His mission is to destroy and to lie, and he knows +how to do it. May God bless you and keep you +forever.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your true friend,</p> +<p class="author">—— ——.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM SAM P. JONES.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Chicago, Ill.</span>, March 16, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Steve Holcombe, Louisville, Ky.:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Brother Holcombe:</span> Yours of March 10th +received. I thought you were wise enough to know, +when you wanted to plant yourself in permanent quarters, +that the devil would do his best to prevent it. +The devil don't like you anyway; but keep your +equilibrium—God is with you; and He is more than all +that can be against you. I have just passed through +the most terrific storm of criticism almost of my life; +and thank God I have witnessed in Chicago, within +the last twenty-four hours, the grandest triumph of the +Gospel I ever saw. I wish you could be here a few +days and see the power of God, and rejoice with us +in the work.</p> + +<p>I enclose an article, which you can take to the +<i>Courier-Journal</i> if you like.<span class="pagenum">[167]</span></p> + +<p>Kindest regards to your loved ones and all the +brethren, and may God's blessing be upon your +work.</p> + +<p class="author1">Fraternally yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Sam P. Jones.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM THE SAME.</p> + +<p class="author1"><span class="smcap">Gibson House,</span></p> +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Cincinnati, Ohio</span>, June 13, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>My Dear Brother Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p>I received your message sent by Brother Cleveland. +I would like you to come over about the +middle of next week. I think we will have some of +the slain of the Lord for you to look after by that +time. Our meeting moves off gloriously. I have +never seen a better start anywhere. Thank God for +the prospect of a glorious victory in this wicked +city. The house is packed day and night, and the +preachers and people stand shoulder to shoulder +with me. Love to your family. Affectionately,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Sam P. Jones.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM REV. DR. WILLITS (Warren Memorial Church).</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Steve Holcombe:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir:</span> The bearer, Ch. H., is a stranger to +me; but he will tell you his story. It is the old story +of fight with appetite, and you will be better able to +advise him than myself.</p> + +<p class="author1">Truly yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">A. A. Willits.</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[168]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="h4">FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS.</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">March</span> 23, 1885.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Holcombe</i>:</p> + +<p>The bearer is Mr. B., once a merchant in Richmond, +Va., fallen by drinking habits, separated from +wife and children, <i>lost</i>. He spoke to me after +sermon yesterday morning, and came to my house +this morning. He does not ask immediate relief, +having some money; but wants to find employment, +and thinks he can stop drinking. He is evidently +an intelligent man, and earnestly desirous of regaining +himself. He used to be an Episcopal communicant. +Now, if you can in any way help Mr. B., I shall +be exceedingly glad.</p> + +<p class="author1">Your friend and brother,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">John A. Broadus.</span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The following letter is from one of the converts whose testimony is +given elsewhere, but it is interesting as an independent account given soon +after his conversion.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, January 28, 1884.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. G. Alexander</i>:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir and Brother</span>: The few brotherly words +you spoke to me during our short acquaintance, and +your kindness toward me, a poor drunken outcast at +the time, will ever be remembered. Often I make +inquiries of Brother Holcombe regarding you and your +health. At his suggestion, I write you and give a +brief history of my life, in hope it may encourage some +poor fellow whom you are seeking to save for a better +life, and give him renewed courage to battle against +sin; and for the glory of our Saviour Jesus Christ.<span class="pagenum">[169]</span></p> + +<p>My father, as a wealthy man, determined to give his +children the benefit of a good education. With this +end in view, he left my younger brother and myself in +Germany in 1864, after a visit there with the family. +We stayed until 1867, when we returned to Louisville, +I to enter the banking house of Theodore Schwartz +& Co. With them I stayed until 1869, when my father +became bondsman for the sheriff, Captain John A. +Martin. Out of courtesy, Captain Martin made me, +although only nineteen years of age, one of his deputies. +From that time I date my downfall. Money flowed in +freely; and, being young and inexperienced, I spent it +just as freely, if not more so. In two years, at the age +of twenty-one, I was considered about as reckless a +young man as there was in the city. My father was +always proud of his oldest son, and indulged me in +almost everything. The habit of intemperance was +gaining a sure hold; and when he died, in 1872, I was +considered by some a confirmed drunkard.</p> + +<p>Gradually I sank lower and lower, until I became +what I was when you first saw me eight months ago—a +poor miserable outcast from society, and a burden to +myself and friends. I was forsaken and despised by +all. I shudder to think that my life should ever flow +in the same channel again. During all these years of +dissipation I wandered all over this country—from +Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic +almost to the Pacific. I drifted aimlessly with no other +object in view but to gratify a terrible longing for strong +drink. I had been in the city but a short while when +I heard of Brother Holcombe's efforts to redeem the +fallen. Having known him before his conversion,<span class="pagenum">[170]</span> +curiosity led me to listen to him. During all this +time I knew and felt that a day of reckoning would +come, but whenever such thoughts entered my mind, +I dismissed them, as they made me tremble at the +very idea of having to give an account of the misdeeds +of a wasted life. On the 25th of last June I was +passing up Jefferson street, and heard singing in the +basement at No. 436. My first impulse was to turn +and go away, as I was in no suitable dress to go into a +place of worship. Then the thought came into my +mind, "This is Steve Holcombe's place; I'll go in and +see what it looks like." Thank God, I did go in. The +songs of those Sunday-school children awakened chords +in my heart which I thought had died long ago. Tears +came into my eyes, and then and there I vowed, if by +God's help salvation was possible for me, I certainly +would make the trial. Glorious have been the results. +That evening I heard Brother Holcombe once more; +introduced myself to him and promised him I would +attend evening service, which I did.</p> + +<p>From that day to this I have been growing in grace. +The Lord has blessed me wonderfully. My worldly +affairs have prospered; and, what is worth more than all +the world to me, I am continually happy. Nothing +disturbs my peace, and I allow nothing to interfere +with it. My trust is in my Saviour; He has promised to +care for those who trust Him, and I have implicit faith +in that promise. My old appetite and desires are all +taken away and I find pleasure and joy in things that in +former years I considered ridiculous.</p> + +<p class="author1">Very truly yours,</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Fred Ropke</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /><p><span class="pagenum">[173]</span></p> +<h2 id="TESTIMONIALS">TESTIMONIALS.</h2> + +<p class="h4">CAPTAIN EGBERT J. MARTIN.</p> + +<p>I was born in Louisville in 1842; was educated in +New York and Virginia; served in General Lee's army +during the war on the staff of my uncle, General +Edward Johnson. The only commission I received +was received on the third day of July, 1863, at the +battle of Gettysburg.</p> + +<p>My first drinking commenced in Georgia, where I +was planting rice with General Gordon. That was in +1867. I did not drink during the war at all except that +I might have taken a drink occasionally when I met +with friends. My uncle would not permit liquor about +his headquarters. On leaving Georgia, I went to New +York, and went into business. I acquired quite a +reputation there, and had a good income. My +periodical drinking continued, however, and each year +became greater and greater. Nothing was said about +it for seven years and a half. I would not drink around +my place of business. When I felt the spell coming on +me, I would quit and go off, and be gone seven or eight +days, and be back to business again when I had +straightened up, and nothing was said about it; but the +thing will increase on a man, and, of course, with each +succeeding year the habit became stronger, and the +intervals shorter.</p> + +<p>I conceived the idea that a change of climate would +do me good. Visits to the mountains seemed to benefit +me, and I thought I would go West, and the change +would effect a cure. I went to Colorado, made friends<span class="pagenum">[174]</span> +there, went into business, and was successful. I was +married to my wife in Denver, Colorado. I believed as +my wife did, that my drinking was a matter under my +control. I had been leading an aimless life, with no +family ties; and after I was married, I thought a strong +effort on my part would stop it. I wanted to get back +to salt water again, and have everything in my favor; +and the next morning after we were married, I started +for California. I was very successful there. I was in +a short time made special agent of the California +Electric Light Company, at a salary of three thousand +dollars a year. They wanted to make a contract with +me for five years, giving me three thousand dollars a +year, if I would bind myself not to drink during the five +years. I found it was not such an easy thing to quit +drinking. I consulted physicians there. There was +a doctor in Oakland who said he had a specific for +drunkenness; and he gave it to me. The result was +that when I wanted a drink, I threw the medicine away +and got the drink. What I always wanted, and tried +to get, was something to take away the appetite for +drink. There were times when I had no more desire +for drink than you or any other man; but when it seized +me, it seized me in an uncontrollable way, and I would +drink for the deliberate purpose of making myself sick +and getting over it as quick as possible. I knew it +had to be gone through with, and I drank until I made +myself sick.</p> + +<p>I never attended to business when I drank liquor. +I never mixed up my business affairs with my drinking. +Everybody I had anything to do with knew I was +thoroughly reliable. I never lied about being drunk.<span class="pagenum">[175]</span> +I never said I was sick or had the cholera infantum +or anything of that sort. Everybody who employed +me knew as much about it as I did.</p> + +<p>When my little boy was born, I felt a sacred duty +was imposed upon me; and I tried to encourage +my ideas of morality. I had always been a moral +man, and, although an infidel, had never sought +to break down the religious opinions of any one, +because I had nothing to give them instead. My +rationalism satisfied me. It was a belief, an opinion, +with which I was willing to face my Maker, because I +believed I was right. I believed in the existence of a +Supreme Being, but I did not believe that the great +Ruler of the universe thought enough of us insignificant +human beings to interest Himself in our affairs. I did +not believe in the Christians' God. There in Virginia I +had been surrounded by members of the church. Everybody +was either a Baptist, a Methodist, or a member +of some other denomination; drunkards and saloon-keepers +and all belonged to the church. They could do +wrong and afterward go straight to church. That +kind of religion disgusted me, and that kind of religion +confirmed my skepticism. I wanted to get away and I +even planned to go to Australia. After my little boy +was born, I stayed sober for six months, and then I +commenced drinking again. I did not conceal the truth +from myself. I said, "You are false to everything that +is manly; you are a disgrace to yourself." I decided +to go back to Virginia (my wife had never been there) +and settle up a lawsuit I had pending in the courts.</p> + +<p>But after a short stay in Virginia I had an offer to +return to New York and go to work, and went to New<span class="pagenum">[176]</span> +York; and after I had been there a month, I received a +dispatch stating that a compromise had been agreed +upon without consulting me at all. I went back to +Richmond and rejected the compromise.</p> + +<p>A decision was made in my favor, but the case was +taken to the Court of Appeals. I had used up everything +I had in litigation; and when, at last, I got a +telegram that the Court of Appeals had reversed the +case, and we had lost everything, it just broke me +down. It took me more than a month to realize that +it was a fact—I could not get it into my head; and +it broke me down completely. I loved my wife and +I loved my child, and was troubled about them, and +for the two years I was fighting these Virginia gentlemen +I was in a state of high excitement. I had +nothing to do except to worry, and I drank more than +ever in my life. I said, "My God! it is awful. I have +lost everything. I know I am a drunkard; it is no +use denying it, because the appetite is on me all +the time." And many a time I threw myself down +in the woods and sobbed aloud if Fate would have +mercy on me. I had given up all hope. I thought +the good fortune which had followed me all my life +would never return. I had sent my wife off; so I had +lost her, too. She went to her sister's, in Ohio; and +I arranged that my mother should remain at the old +place. I wrote to a cousin of mine whom I had not +met since the war. He used, frequently, to come to +our home, a delightful and healthful place, thirteen +miles from Richmond. I thought I would write him that +I desired to get out of Virginia, and had not the means, +and would make Louisville my objective point. So I<span class="pagenum">[177]</span> +wrote him, but received no reply. I wrote to another +man, stating the circumstances—that I wanted to get +out of Virginia and go to work; but I received no +answer from him; and I came to the conclusion if I +wanted to get out of Virginia I would have to walk. I +had secured my wife and child, and as for myself it +little mattered what befell me or how I fared.</p> + +<p>I was walking through the woods one day and +saw a man getting out railroad ties. He told me of +a place near by, called the "Lost Land." A year +before that, my uncle's executor gave me a deed that +was taken from the old house at my oldest uncle's +death. It was for a little slip of land—an avenue—that +my grandfather had bought in 1815. Well, I thought +nothing of it. I told the old negro woman that when +everything was settled up, I was going to give her +that land; and I put the deed away with other papers +and forgot all about it. When I was worrying about +the means, and making efforts to get the means to +get out of Virginia, this man, who was hewing in the +woods, told me about the little piece of woodland +that had so much sill timber on it, and he spoke +of it as the "Lost Land," and his speaking of the +"Lost Land" reminded me of this deed, and I hurried +home, found the deed, and saw that it located the land +at about where he mentioned. I went to the County +Surveyor, who had succeeded his father and grandfather +in the office, and we found that the property +of which this formed a part had been sold in large +lots, and it was there between the lines of the other +property, unclaimed by any one, and for seventy-three +years had escaped taxation, because the deed conveying<span class="pagenum">[178]</span> +it had never been recorded in the county books, +and it was supposed by the county officials that all of +the original tract had been divided off in the larger +subdivisions. We found it, ran the lines around it, +and I sold ten acres for one hundred dollars—enough +to pay a grocery bill, buy me a suit of clothes and +land me in Louisville.</p> + +<p>I had loved the old place—loved it all my life, +because I had spent many days there when a happy, +careless boy. My mother was born there, my grandmother +and my great-grandfather lie buried there. It +was bought in 1782 by my great-grandfather, who was +not only a gentleman but a scholar. He graduated +at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Edinburgh, +and afterward spent seven years in Europe. I +was very much attached to the old place, and on +leaving it I drank to deaden the pain.</p> + +<p>I came here to Louisville, and I drank after I got +here to keep from thinking. I tell you things looked +blue, and I tell you the fact, the liquor I drank every +day made me feel worse and worse, and my brain was +affected from the excitement I had passed through. I +found myself in a second or third-class hotel which stood +nearly on the spot where I was born. I lay in my room +for three days. I came to the conclusion there was no +use kicking; the end was at hand. Fate had brought +me back here, where I was born, to die. I even said it +to myself, "Destiny has brought you back here, to the +city where you were born, to die; and to die by your +own hands. You have no respect for yourself, nor have +others respect for you. You know by living you will +bring further disgrace upon the wife and child you love<span class="pagenum">[179]</span> +so well. If you will commit suicide people will say, 'He +was an unfortunate man, but a brave one; his only fault +was his drinking.'" I tried to shut out all thoughts of +my wife and child, but I could not. I said to myself, "I +was born here; I have not outraged the law; I have +done nothing dishonorable; nothing why any man +related to me should shun me. But I have lost everything; +I am accursed; I am alone here. My wife's +people know I am here, but do not communicate with me. +And they tell me there is a God." A man came to my +room in the hotel and said they wanted the room. +"You say you have no money and no friends, so we +can not keep you here any longer. You must give us +the room." Under these circumstances I was coming +nearer and nearer the final determination to commit +suicide when a man, a stranger, came into my room +who was himself a drunkard. I told him my condition +and my determination. He said, "Wait till I send that +man Holcombe down to see you. Maybe he can help +you." Mr. Holcombe dropped everything and came to +me at once. I did not know who he was. He said, +"My name is Holcombe: I am from the Mission." +Well, sir, if he had commenced at me as most +preachers would have done, and told me in a sort of +mechanical way that I had brought it all on myself, I +would have said, "I am much obliged to you for your +politeness and your well-meant efforts, but it does me +no good, and I am very much distressed and would +much prefer to be alone." He said, "There is no use +trusting in yourself; you can not save yourself." That +struck me at once as a correct diagnosis of my case, +and I said, "That is just the conclusion I have come<span class="pagenum">[180]</span> +to myself." Then he told me what had been done for +him, and he got down on his knees and prayed. And +when he prayed for me and my wife and child, that is +what reached my heart. I said "There is <i>something</i> +in that man's religion at any rate. I do not believe +in this stuff I have seen in the churches; but there is +something in that sort of religion. It is the last straw +I have to catch at. I will try it." I got up out of bed +where I had been for three wretched days, and came +up to the Mission. There I came in contact with some +influence I had never felt before. I came to the conclusion +that there was truth in the Christian religion, +and I said, "That is all right, but that is not what I +want. I want that inward consciousness that I am not +going to drink." I might get up and say, "I am ready +to confess I am wrong; I believe religion is right; I +have seen evidences of it; I believe you are right and I +am wrong. But I had no inward consciousness of +any change in me, and I did not feel secure or in any +way protected against the habit of drinking." I knew +if there was anything in religion, there must be something +a man would be conscious of. I said, "There is +something in this religion, but I have not got the hang +of it." It occurred to me that perhaps after all, my +chief motive and desire in all this was the welfare of +my wife and child and the recovery of our domestic +happiness. And lying on that bed I said, "I am willing +to do anything. There is nothing that I am not willing +to do, if I can only get rid of this appetite. I will get +up and state that I was a drunkard; I will acknowledge +every tramp as my brother; and, although I have no +desire to do it, I will go out and preach. Just let me<span class="pagenum">[181]</span> +know that I am free from this thing and that I can go +on in life;" and all at once—I could not connect the +thought and result together—there came upon me a +perfect sense of relief. I was just as conscious then of +divine interposition as I ever was afterward; and I said +to myself, "This is what they call regeneration," and +turned over and went to sleep. From that time I commenced +a new sober life; and I never have wanted +liquor; I never have had a desire for it since, and it is +now going on two years.</p> + +<p>I think many men are called, but few are chosen. +There are a great many men who get far enough in the +surrender to feel good and change their opinions; but +they do not get down to the bed-rock of regeneration. +I do not believe in any change, or in any doctrine that +says there is regeneration through anything except +a complete surrender. Men are ready to believe that +Christ was the son of God, but go straight home and +continue their old way of life. They must say, "I will +not only quit serving the devil, but I will commence +serving God." "Thou shall love the Lord thy God +with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy +strength."</p> + +<p>I do not let theological opinions disturb me now. +My simple faith and theology is this: That I have the +peace of God and He keeps me. I have knowledge +of God's power and mercy, and feel that God keeps me.</p> + +<p>My wife and child have come back and are now with +me, and are as happy as they can be; and there is not +a man in this country with less money and more happiness +than I. I am happier than I ever was in my life.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Captain Martin is now engaged in business in the house of +Bayless Bros. & Co., Louisville.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[182]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">R. N. DENNY.</p> + +<p>I was born in 1846 in the State of Illinois. At that +time, before there were many railroads, it was a comparatively +backwoods country where I was raised. +Our nearest market was St. Louis, sixty miles from +where we lived. My father kept a country store there, +and hauled his produce to St. Louis. My father was a +professed Christian, so also was my grandfather, yet +each of them kept a demijohn of whisky in the house. +They would prepare roots and whisky, and herbs and +whisky, which was used for all kinds of medical purposes +and for all kinds of ills that flesh is heir to; and I believe +at that time I got the appetite for whisky, if I did not +inherit it. I have drunk whisky as far back as I can +remember. I had a great many relatives who were +Christians; but I gloried in my obstinacy and would +have nothing to do with Christianity.</p> + +<p>In my seventeenth year I went into the army. +Of course, being among the Romans, I had to be a +Roman, too; and consequently, the drinking habit grew +upon me; and I acquired also a passion for gambling. +After the war I did not do much good. I drifted about +from place to place for something over a year, and then +joined the regular army. I belonged to the Seventh +Regular Cavalry, Custer's command, which was massacred +on the Little Big Horn. At that time I did not +belong to the command, as my time had expired some +time before.<span class="pagenum">[183]</span></p> + +<p>I came to Louisville in 1871, and commenced working +as a restaurant and hotel cook. I was very apt at +the business, and was soon able to command the best +situations to be had, having been <i>chef</i> at the Galt +House. During all this time I had been a drunkard in +different stages. I was what is called a "periodical +drunkard." I often braced up and went without a +drink for six months or a year—something like that +length of time—and always had work when I was not +drinking; but I became so unreliable, that I could get +no employment when another man could be had. +It was said of me everywhere, "Denny is a good man, +but he drinks." About 1873 I got married, and up to +1883 I had four children. Of course, my drinking, and +everything of that kind, brought my family to want—in +fact, to beggary. For a long time I always took my +wages home on pay-day, and my wife, in her good-heartedness, +always offered me money; would often ask +me of a morning if I did not feel bad, and would give +me fifteen cents or a quarter, not knowing that she +was giving me money for my own damnation, until the +year of the first Exposition here—1882. I had a +position there at twelve dollars a week. I stayed there +ten weeks; and I do not believe I got home with five +dollars in the whole ten weeks. The man with whom I +worked had a bar attachment to his restaurant, and I +could get what credit I wanted there; and on Saturday +night when I found my wages were short, I would get +drunk, and conclude to try and win something at +gambling, but I invariably lost.</p> + +<p>At the close of the Exposition, it was on the verge of +winter, and times were very dull. I was behind with my<span class="pagenum">[184]</span> +rent and in debt to everybody I could get in debt to, my +family were without decent clothing, had no fire, and I +was almost naked myself, with no prospects of a situation. +A short time afterward I got a position on a +steamboat, which paid me fairly well, and which I +believe I kept two, maybe three, weeks, and got drunk +as usual. I failed to take my money home, and, of course, +told my wife some lie. I had to say something. Sometimes +my wife believed me, and sometimes she did not. +At that time it was winter, it must have been in December, +and very cold. My children were barefooted, and I +was just about to be set out on the street because I had +not paid my rent. I woke up one very cold morning +very early, and we had not a morsel of food in the house +or coal to make a fire with. I walked down toward the +river and met the same man I had been working with a +few weeks before. He stopped and asked me if I did +not want to go back on the boat. I told him I would be +glad to go back. He asked me how long before I +would get drunk; and I said, as I had said a thousand +times before, "I will never drink again." I made one +trip, which was three days, and got drunk. It was on +the second day of January, 1883, that I shipped, and I +came back on the fifth, which was the coldest day I ever +saw in Louisville. The thermometer was twenty-six +degrees below zero between New Albany and the mouth +of Salt river. There were during these dark days a few +charitable people that used to give my family some of +the necessaries of life—and but for that I can not see +how they would have kept from starvation. I appreciated +my situation nearly all the time, knew how wrong I +was doing, would admit it to myself but would not admit<span class="pagenum">[185]</span> +it to anybody else. If a man had called me a drunkard, +I would have called him a liar.</p> + +<p>In the providence of God the Fifth and Walnut-street +church established the Holcombe Mission near +where I lived, and among other waifs picked up on the +street and taken to the Sunday-school were my children. +While I had always been pretty bad myself, I had +always tried to teach my children better. I shuddered +at the thought of my boys going on in the way that I +was going. When they went to Sunday-school and +learned the songs there and came home and sang them, +it broke me all to pieces. I had nothing left to do but +to go and get drunk in self-defense. The Sunday-school +teacher (Mrs. J. R. Clarke), who taught my +children, had been trying to find me for a long time. +She must have thought from seeing my children at +Sunday-school that there was some good in me; and +after awhile she sent me a Bible with a great many +passages marked in it. She was looking for me and +had sent for me to come and see her, and I had been +trying to keep out of her way for a long time. Finally +she found me at home one day, and would take no +excuse, but insisted that I must come to Holcombe's +Mission; and, of course, I promised to go, because I +could not help myself. I could not get out of it; and +if I had a redeeming trait in the world, it was that +I would not break a positive promise.</p> + +<p>I promised her to come, and that day I did go. +They were holding noon-day meetings at the time. I +do not remember just now that I was very deeply +impressed. I was of a skeptical turn of mind and very +critical. I well remember I criticised all the testimonies<span class="pagenum">[186]</span> +given there; but the thing was so strange to me, so +different from anything that I was used to, that I was +very considerably impressed in a strange kind of way, +which is unaccountable to me even now. I had taken +a seat near the door, so that I might get out very +quick; but Brother Holcombe headed me off, and +caught me before I got to the door. I did not know +him personally at that time, but had known of him for +a long time. Of course, I could not get out of the +Mission without promising to come again. After +having come two or three times, I was asked to say +something, but did not feel like saying anything. +Finally I stood up one day, perhaps the third or fourth +day I was there. It was not a time when they were +asking people if they wanted an interest in their +prayers. I got up and said I wanted an interest in +their prayers that I might be saved from myself. I +had known for a long time that I was helpless, so far +as delivering myself from drink was concerned. I +knew nothing about Christianity, in fact, I did not care +much about it, because I had not studied on the subject, +and would not study on the subject. For many years +I had not dared to stop and think seriously about such +a subject, but when I heard that the Gospel of Christ +was able to deliver such a man as I, I heard it gladly, +because I had found there was no earthly power that +could deliver such a man as I was. In the meantime, +I had been reading my Bible, and had committed some +of it to memory; and there was a good deal of mystery +attached to the whole thing—things that I could +not understand. When they asked me to speak, I +quoted a passage from the Bible. One day I quoted<span class="pagenum">[187]</span> +the passage about a man having put his hand to the +plow and looking back, not being worthy of the kingdom +of God. Brother Messick, pastor of the church +which I afterward joined, prayed directly afterward, and +in his prayer he quoted this passage of Scripture, and +prayed in such an encouraging and helpful way, that +I rose from my knees satisfied in my heart that I was +changed.</p> + +<p>Well, from that time until now I have never drunk +anything. That was in January or February, 1883. I +have never had a desire for liquor but once since. Last +summer I went to Crab Orchard. I was <i>chef</i> down +there, and I had to handle very choice wines and +liquors in my business, and I handled one brand of +wine that I was particularly fond of in old times. I +was tempted that time to drink wine. It seemed the +tempter said to me: "You are way down here where +nobody knows anything about you. It is good, and +you know it won't hurt you. It don't cost you anything +and it is nothing but wine, and you need not take too +much." At that time I could get all the liquor I +wanted. If I wanted it, I could order a hogshead of +it just by a scratch of the pen. With that single +exception, I have never had a temptation to drink. I +don't know that I had an appetite to drink then. It +was a clear cut temptation from without, and not from +within.</p> + +<p>I have had no trouble about getting positions since +my conversion and deliverance from the appetite for +drink. My family are well housed, well clothed and +well fed, and have everything they need, and have had +since the time I became a Christian man. They themselves<span class="pagenum">[188]</span> +are the greatest evidences in the world of what +Christianity can do for a man. A short time ago—six +months ago—I established myself in business, and have +been doing a thriving, prosperous business from that +time until now.</p> + +<p>I might say something about my going to the work-house: +Two years ago, or a little over, I was asked to +go to the work-house one Sunday evening. I was very +much impressed with the necessity for working for the +poor men there. I was at that time identified with the +Mission work, and the services at the work-house were +all under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. I continued +going to the work-house for some length of time—three +or four months. The Y. M. C. A. very kindly divided +time with me and other Mission workers. After having +gone to the work-house three or four months, I stopped +going. The Chairman of the Devotional Committee +of the Y. M. C. A. sent for me and gave me charge +of the work-house and jail, which, of course, I accepted +in the name of the Mission; and from that time until +now both of them have been under Mission workers. +I was very anxious to return to the work-house, but our +head decided that I should take the jail, where I have +continued to go for a year and a half—I suppose about +that length of time—every Sunday when I was in the +city, with possibly one or two exceptions.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Mr. Denny is at present the joint-proprietor, with Mr. Ropke, +of a thriving restaurant on Third street, between Jefferson and Green, +Louisville.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-227.jpg" width="274" height="366" alt="B. F. DAVIDSON." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">B. F. DAVIDSON.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">[189]</span> + +<p class="h4">B. F. DAVIDSON.</p> + +<p>Twenty years ago I resided in the city of Cincinnati; +was President of a Boatman's Insurance Company, +proprietor of a ship chandlery, and interested largely +in some twenty odd steamboats; and also interested +largely in other insurance companies, and was rated +as worth half a million of dollars. Through depreciation +in property, bad debts, and indorsing for other +parties largely, in four years I had lost all my money. +To retrieve my fortune, I then started West, not being +willing, of course, to accept a position where I had +been a proprietor. While there, associating with the +miners and Western people generally, I contracted the +habit of drinking. This grew upon me and was continued, +with short intermissions of soberness, up to +four years ago—about last January. I was brought +very low as a consequence of my dissipation, and I +have traveled as a tramp from the Atlantic to the +Pacific, and from the lakes to the Gulf, spending my +time in alternately fighting and yielding to the demon +of drink. For five years previous to my coming to +Louisville, I had given up all hope of ever being able +to make anything of myself, as I had tried, in vain, +every known remedy to cure me of the appetite. My +pride was effectually humbled, and I was in despair.</p> + +<p>From the time that I went West—which was in +1872—until my arrival in 1884, my children, a daughter +and son, knew not whether I was dead or alive—knew +nothing of me whatever. After I took to drink, I lost +all interest in them and everything else.<span class="pagenum">[190]</span></p> + +<p>As soon as I got off the ferry-boat in Louisville, in +as sad a plight as any wretched man was ever in, I +met an old friend, who had known me in years previous, +and who handed me two dollars, requesting me to +call at his office the next morning, when he would +give me such assistance as I needed. The two dollars +I spent that day for whisky. That night I begged +a quarter to pay for my lodging. The next day, by +begging, I filled up pretty well on whisky again. Toward +evening I went into a Main-street house and +asked a gentleman for a quarter to pay for a night's +lodging, I had lost all pride, all self-respect, and +could beg with a brazen face. The gentleman handed +me a card of Holcombe's Mission. As I did not know +or care anything about missions or churches, I merely +stuck the card in my pocket and went on my way. +After walking around for some time I heard the remark: +"There goes that old man now." Upon +looking up I recognized the gentleman whom I last +asked for a quarter to pay for a night's lodging, and +another man, engaged in conversation. The other +gentleman, who proved to be the Rev. Steve Holcombe, +of Holcombe's Mission, took me by the hand and +invited me up to the Mission rooms, where I told him +my story. He asked me if I ever had asked God +through Jesus Christ to assist me in my endeavors to +become a sober man. I told him I had not, as I had +made up my mind years ago that God had no use +for me. I felt as though I had sinned beyond redemption.</p> + +<p>I had left home very early in life. My mother was +the best Christian woman I had ever seen. She<span class="pagenum">[191]</span> +was a Methodist, but she never could preach Christianity +to me—I fell back on my own righteousness. +I did not drink, I did not smoke, I did not chew, I did +not swear, I did not run after women, I did not loaf +around saloons like other young men. When my +mother was after me to join the church, I told her that +would not make me any better: "Look at your church +members; is that man any better than I am?" My +sister, along toward the last, having joined the Episcopal +church, I took two pews in that church; was a +lay member, but I did not attend it. That was in Newport—St. +Paul's Episcopal church, Newport. When +the minister insisted on my going to church, I told him +that while he would be preaching sermons I would be +building steamboats, so his sermons would not do me +any good.</p> + +<p>After I got to drinking, my poor daughter did not see +me. I did not go to my children at all. I never got +but one letter from them during that time, from 1872 to +1884, and that was a letter that went to Cincinnati, and +they held it there, I believe, for two years. I was at +Cincinnati a good many times; but they could never get +me to stay there long enough to get my children down +to see me. As soon as I had an idea that they were +manœuvring for anything of that kind, I would get out +of town at once, and they would not know where I had +gone.</p> + +<p>During my life as a tramp, there is no kind of work +that can be thought of that I did not work at more or +less, and the money I earned—sometimes I earned as +much as eight dollars a day—eventually went to the +barkeepers; I could not even buy my clothes.<span class="pagenum">[192]</span></p> + +<p>After a long talk with Brother Holcombe, I told him +that, having tried everything else, I was perfectly willing +to try God. That night I went to church, and went up +to be prayed for. There was no regular meeting at the +Mission then, from the fact that the church that was +running the Mission had a revival. So, with Brother +Holcombe, I went around to the revival meeting at the +Fifth and Walnut-street church. When the invitation +was given for those who wanted to be prayed for to +come forward, I was among the first to accept it, and +went up clothed in all my rags. After prayer I felt +much better than I had for many years. That night I +went back and lay on the floor in the Mission, having +refused an invitation from Brother Holcombe to go to a +boarding-house, telling him if God, in His mercy, would +take from me the appetite for strong drink, I had still +strength and will enough left to make my own living. +The next morning I asked Brother Holcombe to go with +me to the paper-mill of Bremaker-Moore Company, +where they were building a dam to prevent an overflow +from stopping the engines in the paper-mill. I secured +a position there, at a dollar and a quarter a day, to +shovel mud. As soon as the river commenced to fall +that occupation was gone; but the superintendent of the +mill, becoming in the meantime somewhat acquainted +with my history, offered me a situation inside, which I +held for three weeks, when I was sent for to see the +business manager of the <i>Post</i>. I accepted a position on +the <i>Post</i> as advertising solicitor at fifteen dollars a week, +which was afterward increased to twenty-five. I was +then made business manager, at thirty dollars, which +position I now hold.<span class="pagenum">[193]</span></p> + +<p>I can say this: That while I had an abundance of +means to find happiness, pleasure and contentment, and +had sought it in every possible way that a man could, I +failed to find it until I accepted Christ as my Saviour, +and gave myself into His hands. Since then I have had +a happiness I never knew before. My life has been one +of constant peace and uninterrupted prosperity. My +children are both happily married, and I have married +myself.</p> + +<p>Though I was before so proud that I could not +accept my mother's teaching, I was at a point where I +would have accepted anything. They would tell me that +doctor so-and-so would cure me; which was no kindness +to me, because it kept me from asking God's help. +But nothing would do me any good. So I said, "God, +here I am; accept me. If there is any good in me, bring +it out. I am down, down, down; I can not help myself."</p> + +<p>Brother Holcombe had told me what God had done +for him. I had confidence in him from the start, from +the fact of his having told me he was a gambler so +long; and when he told me God had redeemed him from +the desire for gambling, I thought he might take away +the appetite for drink from me; and He has done so, I +am very thankful to say. I expect I was the worst-looking +sight you ever saw, but I do not take a back seat +now for any one—I look as well as anybody. As I told +a man last week: "With the Lord on my side, I do not +fear anything!" I had had charge of men, and had +succeeded in managing them. I did not accept religion +because I was a weak-minded man. As evidence of +that, I have proved it since as I had proved it before. +I proved that when I was trying to be a good man in<span class="pagenum">[194]</span> +my own way. I have proved since that I was not a +weak-minded man from the responsible positions I have +held and do hold.</p> + +<p>But, as I was going to say, I had not shaved for two +years, and had not had my hair cut, I am satisfied, for +one year. My hair was hanging down on my shoulders; +my face, of course, not very clean; my clothes were +rags. My shoes were simply tops, and the gentleman +who gave me these two dollars, told me: "Captain, you +are the hardest-looking man I ever saw in my life. I +do not know how I recognized you." I said: "This is +the condition I am in, and drinking has brought me +to it."</p> + +<p>I have been asked by several prominent men how +it is I get up night after night and tell people how bad +I have been. I told them it was like this; if they had +been sick nigh unto death and were going to die, and a +physician came and gave them some medicine and made +whole men out of them, would they not be going around +the streets telling people about that physician? I said +that is the reason I get up every night and tell people +about it. Christ was the physician that healed me. +That is the remedy I have for all evil now—the blood +of Jesus Christ. It was utterly impossible for a man +to exist and be in a worse condition than I was. I was +physically and mentally a wreck; and now by accepting +Christ—becoming a Christian—I am physically, +morally, mentally and spiritually restored and well. +That is the reason why I do not hesitate to tell anybody—even +people coming into my office. An editor +of a paper said to me: "Is it possible you were a +tramp?" I told him it was; and he was talking something<span class="pagenum">[195]</span> +about attacking me through his paper, about what +I had been. I said, "Blaze away; it won't hurt me. +I do not deny having been a tramp and a drunkard—everything +that was mean. But what am I now?" I +do not care what they bring back of my past record; +they can not hurt me, for I do not deny it. It is what +I am now. I think now that I was as bad and mean as +a man could possibly be. But I am no longer what I +was, by the grace of Him who called me out of the +former darkness into His light.<span class="pagenum">[196]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-236.jpg" width="232" height="356" alt="H. C. PRICE." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">H. C. PRICE.</p> + +<p class="h4">H. CLAY PRICE.</p> + +<p>I used to know Brother Holcombe in those days; +knew him to be a gambler. He was considered one +of the best of gamblers, but I always looked upon him +as being an honorable gambler, so far as I have heard. +I knew him even before he was a gambler.</p> + +<p>Well, my father and mother were very pious, my +mother especially. She was a praying woman, and +everybody knew her by the name of "Aunt Kittie," +and my father as "Uncle Billy." My father did not +think it was any harm to play cards in the parlor every +night. When I was young he loved to play whist. I +had a sister older than I, sixteen or seventeen years +old, and she used to invite young men, and father used +to invite them, to come there and play cards; and the +moment they commenced to fix the table, my father +beckoned his head to me, and I knew what that meant—to +get out. We had a young negro that used to wait +on the ladies in the parlor, and he told me one time, +"You steal a deck of cards and I will show you how +to play cards." And I stole a deck of cards from the +house and we went back in the stable; and that is the +way I came to learn how to play cards. I was twelve +or fifteen years old at that time—not any older than +that—and I commenced playing cards for money, and I +kept on playing cards for money with the boys; for +money or for anything. I was sent off to school—to +St. Mary's College, and we got to playing cards there +<span class="pagenum">[197]</span>for money, and we were caught, and the oldest one +was expelled from school, and I promised never to do +it any more, and the other boys promised not to do it +any more, and they did not. But I kept on and I was +caught playing cards, and I was expelled from school. +After that my father sent me to St. Joseph's College in +Ohio. I ran off from that school and came home, and I +was appointed a Deputy Marshal by my brother-in-law, +W. S. D. McGowen; and I got to gambling then sure +enough and running after women; and about that time +the war came on, and I went off with my brother-in-law +into the army, and I gambled all through the army—everywhere +I could get five cents to play with. All I +had I gambled away. I came back home and I +gambled here; played in the faro banks all the time. +And a proprietor of a gambling house by the name of +Jo. Croxton came to me and said, "You are too good +a man to be gambling around. I will give you an +interest, and you can take charge of my house." I did +not know much about gambling, but I knew how to +take care of his house. He gave me the bank roll; and +I went on down and down.</p> + +<p>I was married then and had a faithful, gentle and +devoted wife, but I thought I was smarter than anybody +about gambling, and I thought I could make big +money, and so I would leave my wife, devoted and +dependent as she was, and I kept traveling on around +the country, going to different towns. I went to Nashville; +from there I went to New Orleans. I came back +to Nashville. I left Nashville and went to Huntsville, +Ala.; came back here and went to St. Louis; then to +Chicago and Lexington. After that I went back to<span class="pagenum">[198]</span> +Nashville again. I made a good deal of money if I +could have kept it; but the Lord would not let me +have it. I averaged here for years and years $500 +a month. Sometimes I made more—made as much +as $1,700 a month, and once I went up as high as +$2,100 a month—made big winnings. As fast as I +got this money I could not keep it—threw it away on +women all the time and gambling against the bank +and poker; would spit at a mark for money. I have +lost hundreds and hundreds of dollars without getting +off of my seat, with men I knew were robbing me all +the time. It was a passion I had to gamble and I'd +not stop. In one game of poker that I was in I bet +and lost $900 on one hand, and I have never played +at poker since that time.</p> + +<p>When the gambling-houses were broken up here +in Louisville, I concluded I would go off to Chicago. +I had some money and I went to Chicago; and as +soon as I got there, I got broke, lost all the money I +had. I was among strangers and I was dead broke. +Finally I got another situation, and worked there for +some time. I then got hold of some money again, and +I came home and remained some time. My wife was +begging me all the time not to go away—did not +think I ought to go away; she said that I could stay +here and get some work to do, and make an honest +living. But I thought I had better go back to Chicago +and make some money; and I made some money as +soon as I got there by playing faro bank; and I did very +well at that time, made a good deal of money; and you +know how a man feels when he has five hundred dollars +in his pocket; and yet all that time I did not send my<span class="pagenum">[199]</span> +wife anything. I thought I would get about one thousand +dollars and open some kind of a bar-room or cigar +shop, or something of the kind. But the day before +Christmas I got to playing against the faro bank, and +got broke; and I was the most miserable man in the +world, to think that I had lost the last chance I had. +The day before Christmas my wife wrote me, "Why +don't you come home? I had rather see you home than +there again making money," I said, "Yesterday I got +broke—I played to win. I had nothing to eat all day." +But accidentally I found a twenty-five cent piece in my +pocket; and I got up and went and bought a ten-cent +dinner, and paid fifteen cents for a cigar. I have done +that many times, I suppose, bought a quarter dinner and +given the other quarter for a cigar. I just got to studying +about it, studying about what I was to do. I said, +"If I come back to Louisville, I will starve. I am not +competent to keep a set of books, or clerk anywhere; +but," I said, "I will go back if I do starve." So I wrote +to my patient wife: "I have lost every cent I had in +the world, I have got to work one week longer to make +enough money to come home on, and I am coming. +You may look for me the first of next week." As soon +as they paid me off that evening I jumped on the cars +and came home, having just the money to pay my +fare.</p> + +<p>Before this Brother Holcombe had met me time and +again after he had been converted. He used to come +after me; and every time he would see me, may be I +would be looking at something in the street—he would +hit me on the shoulder and say, "How do you do, old +boy?" and then he would talk to me about my salvation,<span class="pagenum">[200]</span> +and about Jesus Christ. I used to hide from him; +but it looked like every time he came around he would +nail me, and talk to me about Jesus. That was when I +was gambling here and prosperous. He told me about +my mother and told me I ought to quit gambling. +I said, "Brother Holcombe, what shall I do if I quit +gambling? I have no way to make a living." He said, +"Look to God, and He will help you." I went away +about that time; and as soon as I came back, every +time he would see me he would nail me again. After +awhile I got interested in him. I would look for him +and when I would catch him, I would say, "You can not +get away from me now." That was after I came from +Chicago. I had nowhere to go except to visit bar-rooms. +So I began to go down around the old Mission +every night. I heard the singing and praying down +there. One night I said, "I am going to see Brother +Holcombe." The clock struck eight, and I said "I am +not going in to-night, it is too late. I will go to-morrow;" +and to-morrow night came and I went down +there and went in very early, before they commenced +singing; and they sang and prayed and Brother Holcombe +preached, and the next night I went, and the +next night I went, and I went every night. And then +they moved up here on Jefferson street and after they +moved up here, I stayed away a week, and then +I commenced coming again; and here I am now, +thank God. I think God has been my friend all +the way through. To think He has let me go as far as +He could, and at last brought me home. I tell you it is +a great thing for a man that has been living the life I +have, to get up and say that he is now a child of God.<span class="pagenum">[201]</span></p> + +<p>It came gradually, a little bit of it at a time, but when +I was down in the Mission that night, God came to me +in full power, I felt that I did not care what happened +to me. I was willing to go if God called on me. Whatever +He said I was willing to do. After my conversion +I got a place where I was making a dollar a day, at +Robinson's, on Ninth, between Broadway and York +streets, and I worked there until I went up on a new +railroad. They promised to give me forty-five dollars +a month. I thought at the time, and so did Brother +Holcombe, I would get forty-five dollars a month. He +said, "You will get forty-five dollars a month, and it +is so much easier than the work you are doing." I +thought they would pay all my expenses and I worked +up there at forty-five dollars and I had to pay all my +own expenses; and all I received was not a cent more +or less than thirteen dollars a month. But I was +happier a thousand times—I will say a hundred thousand +times—than I was with six or seven hundred +dollars a month.</p> + +<p>You may think gamblers are happy, and it looks +like it; but they are not—they are miserable. Just +to look back in our lives and think what we have done +with all the money! It is nothing to be compared with +the life of a Christian. If I could go back to-morrow +and make a million dollars gambling, I would not do it. +I would say, "Take your million of dollars. I will stay +where I am." My wife is the best woman in the world. +I leave her at home and she is reading the Bible. You +can not go in there any time, when she is not at work, +that she is not either singing or reading the Bible. +She was raised a Catholic. She is now trying to help<span class="pagenum">[202]</span> +me along. She has joined the Methodist church; she +is with me. I do not think she was a Christian before +we came in contact with Brother Holcombe. It was +just her interest in me, and her patient, long-suffering +love. She never went to church nor prayed nor +knelt down. She prayed after she went to bed like I +did, for I said prayers every day even then. I always +said, "If I forget, God will forget me." Every day of +my life I prayed; and if I forgot it, I asked the Lord to +forgive me; but I never would kneel down. I prayed +after I went to bed; but now I get down on my knees +and pray. Do you know how we do at night? We +get down on our knees and say the Lord's prayer; and +after we get through, I pray; and after I get through, the +old lady prays. You see the old lady was raising our +little girl up to be a Catholic; and I said to her, after we +were converted—maybe a month afterward—"I don't +know whether I am right or wrong—I want you to say—do +you not think it is right to teach Kittie to do the +way we do in our prayers? I think it would be a sin to +try to teach her any other way. Now, let us set her an +example, and she will come over gradually and gradually +until she will be one of us." She has asked her mother +about Jesus. She said to her mother one day, "I can't +pray like you all can." The old lady said to her, "You +will learn after awhile." Last night I was out late, and +when I came home she said, "We will all kneel down +and pray." We started off, "Our Father, who art in +heaven," and Kittie went along with us, repeating it. +She knows all that, you know. After we were done +saying that, I prayed; and after I got through the old +lady prayed; and after we had prayed I said, "Kittie,<span class="pagenum">[203]</span> +you must say your prayer." She said, "I can not +pray like you do." But she did the best she could.</p> + +<p>If you ask me how I came to change my life, it was +this way: I knew that Brother Holcombe was a good +man, and knew that he was reformed and I had so much +faith in him, and I studied about that so much that I +just thought if he could be such a good man, why could +not I be a good man; and that is the way it came. I +tell you, backwardness is a fault with a good many +preachers. If I was a preacher and I saw a man on +the street that I saw was going wrong, I would go +right up to him and touch him on the shoulder. I do +it now—I never let him get away; I never let a +friend of mine get away, I do not care who he is. I +go to him and tell him what God has done for me. I +say, "Why don't you come up to the Mission? Don't +you know Brother Holcombe?" If he says "No; I +don't live here," I say, "If you come up there, we +will be pleased to see you. You don't know what +good it might do your soul."</p> + +<p>I do wish I had an education. I reckon there has +been more money spent on me than on all the rest of +my family. I went to three colleges; was expelled +from one and ran away from the other two. I was the +worst boy on earth; there is no use talking. I would +rather fight that eat; but no more fighting for me; I +am done. You know that I have been trying to get +work to do, and at last I have found a place. I am +earnestly praying every day more and more—I <i>can</i> pray +now. A man asked me the other day—I don't know +whether I answered him right or not—he asked me, +"Do you ever expect to go back to gambling?"<span class="pagenum">[204]</span> +I said, "I would starve to death before I would +gamble any more." He said, "What about your +wife—if you knew your wife was going to starve, +would you gamble?" I said, "Before I would let +my wife and child starve, I would gamble—I +would gamble to get them something to eat; but," +I said, "there is no danger of their starving. But +you put that question to me so strong." I said, +"I know that God would not censure me for that, +but there is no danger of it."</p> + +<p>I wish I could say more. I know I mean what +I have said, God knows I do, and it is all true as +near as I can remember.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Mr. Price is a brother of the late Hon. J. Hop Price, for many +years a well-known lawyer and judge in Louisville. He is now engaged as +night watchman on Main street.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[205]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">MILES TURPIN.</p> + +<p>I had the example of Christian parents, and, of +course, I had the benefit of a Christian education; +but, like all young men, I was rather inclined to be +wild; and after I had served four years in the Confederate +army, my habits were formed rather for the +worse. After I had returned home, being without +avocation, I naturally resorted to what all idle men do; +that was the beginning. I contracted the habit of +frolicing, gambling and drinking, in that early period +of my life, which has followed me through all these +years, up to March 14, 1886, when, after considerable +journeying through North America and portions of +Mexico, I happened in Cincinnati, and heard a great +many times about Steve Holcombe's conversion. Having +known Steve in his gambling days, it occurred to +me, like all persons in pursuit of happiness, going +from place to place and not finding it, that if there +was such a change and improvement in Steve as the +newspapers described, I would come to Louisville and +see for myself concluding that if religion had done +so much for him, it might do something for me. I +was a dissipated man—dissipated in the extreme. +I had contracted this habit of drinking, and was rarely +ever sober. I have some capacity, as a business +man, and I have had a great many positions, but +I had to give them up from this habit of drinking. +While a man would express his deep friendship +for me, he would say his business would not tolerate +my drinking; consequently, I have been frequently +but politely dismissed.<span class="pagenum">[206]</span></p> + +<p>I had lived in I don't know how many places in the +United States, I had lived in New Orleans, Savannah, +Ga., Charleston, S. C., Birmingham, Montgomery, +Selma, Vidalia, La., Cincinnati, Louisville, Ky., Macon, +Ga., Pensacola, Fla., Fernandina, Fla., throughout the +length and breadth of Western Mexico, Lower California +and the Pacific coast, and through the State of +Texas, end to end. In all these tortuous windings I +was searching for happiness; but a man who is more +or less full of whisky and without the religion of Jesus +Christ is of necessity unhappy, in himself, and, in +consequence, shunned by his fellowmen. No man can +wander around the world in that condition without +feeling a void which human wisdom can not fill; and I +was forced to this conclusion by a careful survey of +my past career. The desperation of the case was such, +that I resolved if I could not find employment, and if +I could not find happiness, which I then knew nothing +about, I would destroy myself. I have contemplated +suicide many times with the utmost seriousness; and +I certainly in my sinful life was not afraid of death. +But then it was because I was in despair.</p> + +<p>I was in Cincinnati; had previously held a political +position there, which paid me quite a handsome sum; +but in the change of politics my pecuniary condition +changed, and I found myself alone, poor and full of +rum and corruption; as vile a sinner as ever lived. It +was at that time that I heard of Steve. I was in a +deplorable condition; I knew not where to turn for +comfort, and it occurred to me that if I could go to +Louisville and have these assertions verified about +Steve's regeneration and if I could see and satisfy<span class="pagenum">[207]</span> +myself. I would do so, as vile as I was, and ask +God to have mercy upon me. Of course, I was +an infidel (at least, I imagined myself an infidel), an +atheist, if you please, and my chief delight was deriding +all Christian work, and ridiculing the Bible; and to +more thoroughly uphold my atheistical notions I went +so far as to defame the Saviour of mankind, not in +vulgar language or profane, but by a mode of expression +that was plain and unmistakable. <i>Now</i>, I do not +see how a man can be an infidel. When a man says +he is an atheist, I believe he is a liar. A man must +be insane who does not recognize a Supreme Power +and the Master-hand that made the world, and who +does not rely upon and give obedience to that Higher +Power. I do not believe that any atheist is honest +in the announcement that he does not believe in God +or a Creator. I believe now, since my conversion, +that no man is in his right mind unless he has the +habit of prayer.</p> + +<p>All nature points to the existence of a Creator—every +action of life, every hair of the head shows an +unseen hand. If it is a mistake, it is a mistake man +can never fathom; but if not and if, as we are told +by the word of faith, you believe, you shall be saved. +If you cast your burden upon Him, and there is a +possibility of a hereafter, you lose nothing in this world. +A man is wiser, purer, more companionable, more +affectionate and more charitable. There must be immortality +of the soul; there must be a future reward. +Reflection upon these great facts induced me to +become a Christian man. As I had served the devil +so long as one of his allies, and had been treated so<span class="pagenum">[208]</span> +badly by him. I deserted him and put my faith in God, +where I intend to remain the remainder of my life.</p> + +<p>I got to Louisville a little over a year ago, the +15th of March, and went immediately to find Mr. Holcombe. +He was sitting by the fire. He knew me +at once. I shook hands with him and sat down by +the fire, and had a conversation with him. He immediately +entered upon the subject of religion, and I +told him my condition. I told him what I wanted to +do—I wanted to see for myself if it was possible for +a man like him to become regenerated—if it was +possible for such a great scoundrel as I knew him to +be to become a Christian man. I wanted to see for +myself if it were possible to make, out of so vile a +creature, such a good man as he was said to be. As +I said last night, I came, like the conqueror of old, and +saw, but, unlike the conqueror of old, I was conquered. +I made up my mind that I was done with the old life. +Steve's appearance convinced me that he was cured, +and I confessed then and there that I was convinced. +That was the starting point. There was only one +thing I have never been thoroughly satisfied about; I +find that the Christian influence grows gradually on +me, and becomes stronger and stronger the longer I +live. I confess myself, when I first became a Christian +man, with the exception of drinking whisky, I was like +I was before; but, encouraged by my experiences in +the beginning, I gradually began to see that it was a +better life. A man was purer, and there was some +hope a man could be changed through and through, +and take his place among men; and from that time +forward I was continually growing in grace. From the +very moment I resolved to quit, I did not drink any<span class="pagenum">[209]</span> +more. After I saw Steve, I did not take a drop, +though I had tried before to quit it many a time. I had +oftentimes joined temperance societies, and made resolutions, +which were of no avail. A man in that case +was bound by no tie except his assertion—by his word: +and might break it just as a man allows a note to be +protested in bank. The moment I determined to +change my life, this appetite for whisky left me. It +was because my ideas were changed.</p> + +<p>I used to think that no drunken man could become +a Christian; but now I hope, by the grace of God, I am +a Christian, I could not explain it; I do not believe +any man can explain it. He may attempt it, but he can +not do it. A man who lives a Christian life can hardly +calculate the advantages; it is a matter of impossibility. +In the first place, his associates put an entirely different +estimate on him. His ambitions are entirely changed, +and certainly his hope is. It makes him a more charitable +man, a more forbearing man with the faults of his +neighbors, makes him a more tolerant man, makes him +a better citizen; and if he were a politician—though it +is scarcely within the bounds of possibility—it would +make him an honest politician.</p> + +<p>I have had no trouble to get along in business since +my conversion. Just as soon as I tried to get business, +when I was once really in earnest about it, I had a number +of offers. I have still a number of offers. When I +became a Christian man I determined, in my own mind, +I would live up to Christianity so far as I could in every +particular, humbly and conscientiously. The opinions +of man have no weight with me now. All I am I hold +by the grace of God, through Jesus Christ.<span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">FRED ROPKE.</p> + +<p>I think it was on the 25th of June, 1883, I was +stopping at Fifth and Jefferson. Previous to that time +I had been tramping the country for about eight years, +from 1874 until the middle of 1883. My father was a +Louisville man. He gave me all the advantages that +wealth could command. He sent me to Germany in +1864, where I remained three years at school. In 1869 +or 1870, I went into the sheriff's office here in Louisville. +Previous to that time I had been with Theodore +Schwartz & Co. I went from Theodore Schwartz & +Co. into the sheriff's office. I got that position from +courtesy of the sheriff to my father, who was his +bondsman. I contracted the habit of drinking right +there, through the associations. And, being ashamed +to remain among my friends as a drunkard, I went then +from pillar to post all over the country.</p> + +<p>I left home just after my father's death, in 1872, not +knowing whither I was going. I dragged around the +country from that time until the summer of 1883—eleven +years; and if there ever was a man sick and +tired, it was I. I beat my way through Texas, Louisiana, +Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, +Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, +Pennsylvania and New York.</p> + +<p>The box car was my home the greater part of the +time. Of course, during those years, I came home off and +on; but nothing could stop me in my downward course. +As soon as I lost self-control I persuaded myself there<span class="pagenum">[211]</span> +was no hereafter, no God and no devil. I took to that +idea to console myself for what I was doing more than +for anything else; and I had a perfect indifference as +to what became of me, except at times when I was alone +and sober and thoughtful. But I never had any aim; +no ambition at all; in fact, I had given up all hope. I +do not know what I wandered for. I would come home +and stay for a month or so, and I would get drunk and +get ashamed of myself and go away. I would walk all +night to get out of Louisville.</p> + +<p>I had been brought up by religious parents. My +father was a very religious man. He was considered +by people as a fanatic because he was making money +in the whisky business, and sold out rather than continue +it. He lost money by selling out during the war. +He saw what it was drifting to, and sold out. After +that there was not a drop of whisky handled in his +house on Main street until after his death. My mother +also was a very religious woman, so that I had a careful +religious training. But I had read a good deal of +Ingersoll and Tom Paine. I heard Ingersoll lecture on +one or two occasions; I wanted to get all the proof I +could to sustain me. I wanted some consolation; I +knew where I was drifting; there was a consciousness +all this time that I was wrong; and I trembled at the +thought of one day giving an account for the misdeeds +of a wasted life; but I could not possibly help myself. +From the mental anxiety I went through it is a wonder +my hair is not gray to-day. It was terrible. I had two +attacks of delirium tremens.</p> + +<p>What brought me to realize my condition more +than anything else, took place just before the time I<span class="pagenum">[212]</span> +first met Brother Holcombe. I was out on Second +street mending umbrellas; for that was the way I made +my living. I had become thoroughly hardened. I +would have cut my throat, only cowardice kept me from +it. Well, I was mending umbrellas out on Second +street, and Mrs. Werne heard me as I was calling +out, and knowing that Henry, her husband, and I had +been to school together—had been boys together, she +called me and said, "Fred, I want you to come in." +She insisted on my coming to their house to dinner +the next day. "Fix up," she said, "and come to dinner +with us;" but I do not believe I had a stitch of +clothes except what was on my back. She insisted +however, on my coming; some of my friends would be +there. That brought me to realize to what depths I +had fallen.</p> + +<p>The next week I went to New Albany; and I was +told to leave the town, and I left the town under +the escort of two policemen. To such abject wretchedness +was I reduced, I could not endure to stay +among friends, and I was in such a plight strangers +could not endure me among them. But once I was +coming down the street, and heard the singing in the +Holcombe Mission; and I was considerably touched +to think that I had come through the religious training +of a Christian home and of church and Sunday-school; +and that is all it amounted to. I went that +evening to the courthouse steps, and heard Mr. Holcombe +preach there; and from that day to this I have +not drank a single drop; and it is only through God's +grace that I realize that I am able to resist temptation. +I felt that I was not worth anything; I felt that there<span class="pagenum">[213]</span> +was no power in myself. My skepticism all melted +away. The view I took of it was that if God could +help Holcombe, he could and would help such a one +as I. I knew Mr. Holcombe very well. When I was +deputy sheriff, I had a warrant for his arrest one time +from Franklin county, and went there armed, knowing +his dangerous reputation. I thought if Holcombe +could be saved, there certainly was some hope for +me, and under the inspiration of that hope I turned +to God. It was my last and only hope. But it +was not disappointed, for He has saved me.</p> + +<p>I remember the first time I went up to be prayed +for; I felt that I would from that time have strength—I +had no doubt that I would have it from that +time on. It was in the back room of the old mission. +I felt—I don't know why it was—I felt then and there +that, by God's help, I would make a man of myself; +and I went out with that feeling, although I had been +under the influence of liquor for months before. I +can not say that I had no appetite for it, but I had +strength to resist it. That was the 25th of June, +1883.</p> + +<p>I would do anything for whisky when I wandered +around. I did not gamble, but I was licentious. I +lived for nothing else; I had no other aim in life +but to gratify my passions, and I would adopt any +extreme to do it, and did do it. I left nothing untouched—I +would sell my coat to gratify my passions. +If I wanted a drink of whisky and my hat would pay +for it, I would let it go. Once, on coming back from +New Orleans, my mother gave me a suit of clothes; +and I did not keep that suit of clothes three days.<span class="pagenum">[214]</span> +All of the time I was tramping around, my mother +was living in Louisville, worth seventy-five thousand +dollars. She was willing to do anything for me, and +suffered much because of my wicked ways. I remember +on one occasion, when I left her to go to Denver, +Colorado, she begged me to stay at home, and +reminded me how she would suffer from anxiety about +me, day and night, till I should return. But I had +just been released from jail for drunkenness and I did +not want to stay in Louisville. So I left my mother +in sorrow and despair.</p> + +<p>One thing I am thankful for to-day; that after my +conversion I did not get into anything right away; +that I made a bare living with my umbrellas; and +that continued two years before I got into a permanent +situation. I believe those were the two happiest +years of my life. I had a tough time to get something +to eat sometimes, but that was good for me. I +pegged away at an old umbrella for twenty-five or +thirty cents down in the old mission; and I was +thankful to get them to fix. It seemed to me it +was sweeter; I enjoyed it more.</p> + +<p>There is no comparison between the new life and +the old. I thought at one time that I was enjoying +myself; but I have had to suffer in my new life for all +the enjoyment that I had in the old—I have to suffer +physically—even yet. I am an old man before my +time. Even to-day on my coming in contact with it +the influence of the old association will crop out. +Sometimes my passions worry me considerably. The +only relief I find is by keeping close to God. I +realize that from day to day if I do not do that—pay<span class="pagenum">[215]</span> +strict attention to my religious duties—I will fall. I +know that if I neglect them for one week, I get away +off. I am happy in being placed where I am. My +place is a kind of rendezvous for religious people; +and their society and conversation help to strengthen +me. Since my conversion, I was offered a position +in a liquor house, but I would not take it, because I +was afraid of it, and the very next day I obtained +a situation with the Finzer Brothers. I went to a +minister and made it the subject of prayer as to +whether I should accept the situation; and finally +decided to decline it, and the next day I got a situation +that I had filled in years gone by, with Finzer +Brothers in this city. It is now the height of my +ambition to have the opportunity to convince the +people who were and are my friends in Louisville +that there is something in me, and by the grace of +God I am no longer the failure I was.<span class="pagenum">[216]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-258.jpg" width="290" height="396" alt="J. T. HOCKER." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">J. T. HOCKER.</p> + +<p class="h4">JAMES THOMPSON HOCKER.</p> + +<p>I was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1837, +and no man had better advantages for being a Christian +or becoming one than I had. I had a pious mother +and father, and all the influences of my home were +of that character. My father and mother were both +members of the Baptist church, and I recollect that +they used to have me go to Sunday-school, but I think +now I went there because they asked me to go. Thinking +over my condition, I did not have any other incentive +at that time than to obey my mother's request. At +about the age of fifteen I left my home, and it seems to +me now when I did do so I left behind me all good +impulses and all good feeling, and any religious inclination +I might have had seemed to leave me when I +stepped over the threshold; and I think the devil +joined me then and told me he would keep me company +all the rest of my life, and he did do it pretty +closely for thirty years. I do not suppose that he had +a better servant, or one who did his behests more +faithfully than I.</p> + +<p>Whether I inherited the appetite for drink has been +a question with me. On both sides of my house—the +Old Virginia stock—I had several relatives who +drank to excess; and it seems to me that the appetite +must have passed through our family to me. I +remember the first drink I ever took in my life; it was +whisky, and I liked it. Most people don't like the +first drink.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[217]</span></p><p>When I came to this city I went into business as a +clerk. The devil and I dropped into company as hail +fellows well met. He persuaded me to think it was +proper for young men to take a drink before calling +on their lady friends. He prompted me to go in with +the boys. "This is the right way for you to do," he +would say, "I am your friend." I had the usual compunctions +of conscience that the young man feels when +he goes into bar-rooms. I took wine at first, but the +devil said: "That is not the thing; whisky is better." +I obeyed him; I took whisky, until whisky pretty nearly +took me forever.</p> + +<p>Along in 1871—March, 1871—I was working at a +clothing house, and I married a lady who was thoroughly +conversant with all my habits; who knew that +the habit for drink had fastened itself on me; but +who, with a woman's faithful, trusting heart, married +me, hoping, as they generally do, that her influence +might reform me. Perhaps for a year or so the devil +and I rather separated, but he had me in sight all the +while. This continued for six or seven months, until, +on one occasion, I went out to a fishing party. We +carried two or three gallons of whisky, and two or three +pounds of solid food. I went fishing with two or three +personal acquaintances, who prevailed on me to indulge +with them in drinking, and from this time forward, until +about one year ago, I was as fully devoted to my old +ways as ever.</p> + +<p>The appetite for drink was on me, and dragged me +down day by day, deeper and deeper into the mire; +and still, through all this, my wife's loyal heart never +faltered, unwavering as she was in her trust in me, that<span class="pagenum">[218]</span> +I would yet reform. She still, when others failed me, +remained my faithful friend. My wife was forced, +however, by my conduct, to return to her mother's +home, because, instead of supporting her, I was spending +all my earnings for whisky and in debauchery of +other kinds.</p> + +<p>I shall have to go back a little in my story. About +eight years ago I was working in a clothing house at +the corner of Third and Market streets. I noticed +across the street, one morning, a man whom I knew +setting out on the sidewalk a lot of vegetables, apples, +etc. I looked at him, and recognized him as Steve +Holcombe, a man who had recently reformed his way of +living, and abandoned his old life. In the meantime, I +had become an infidel, I had begun to doubt the divinity +of Christ, and even doubted that there was a God. I +read all of Ingersoll's books, and went back and read +Paine's essay on Reason and Common Sense. I was +thoroughly fortified with all the infidel batteries that I +could bring to bear on Christian people. As soon as I +laid eyes on Brother Holcombe I started across the +street and opened on him; and I kept this up for +months. I fortified myself with a couple of drinks, so +as to be very brave, and went over and tackled him +regularly every morning.</p> + +<p>At last, I stood and watched him one morning. I +reasoned this way: "There is a man I have known for +twenty-five years. I know of no man who was more +thoroughly steeped in wickedness, who was a more +persistent sinner, and I have tried to batter him down +with my infidel batteries for months, and he is as solid +as a stone wall;" and all this led me to think that there<span class="pagenum">[219]</span> +was something in the religion of Jesus Christ; and, +thinking this way, I rather refrained from my attacks +upon him and his position; but I often thought of him +afterward, and the thought occurred to me, there must +be something in this thing, for no power living, or +anything that I know of, could sustain that man in his +position. It must be something beyond human.</p> + +<p>The 20th day of last April I was on a protracted +debauch; had been for three weeks. My brain was +thoroughly stunned with the effects of the liquor I had +drunk. I was sitting in a bar-room at seven o'clock +in the evening, as far as my memory now serves me, +and I appeared to see the face of my wife and child; +and then one of my boon companions said, "Join us in +a drink." Just then I could no more have taken that +drink than I could have transformed myself into an +angel of light. At that moment I thought some impending +calamity that neither I nor any human power +could avert was about to crush me. The next thing +that came into my mind was that I must see Mr. Holcombe; +and I went out of that saloon into the night, +scarcely knowing what I did, feeling that some terrible +accident was going to happen; but still this impulse +moved me to go to the man I had fought so long and +so persistently. I happened to find him before the old +Mission, on Jefferson street, near Fifth. He seemed to +think that I had now some other object in view than to +attack him as formerly, because, the first time in all my +career, he was the only man who did reach out his hand +and said, "God bless you, my brother." I said: "I +want to talk to you; I want you to pray for me." He +said, "God bless you, I am the happiest man to meet<span class="pagenum">[220]</span> +you that I know of." He asked me to walk down to +the Mission. The services were about to commence. +I stayed with him that evening. In the morning he +made a special prayer for me; and during all my +wanderings, I had felt that, perhaps, the prayers of my +mother and father would, in the end, reach the throne +of grace; and I had never lost my faith in the efficacy +of prayer. When he prayed for me, I felt my mother's +hand on my head and heard her saying, "God bless +and keep my boy." When I left him he said, "Won't +you go to your room to-night and pray?" I had no +room. He loaned me the money to get a room. I +went to the hotel and procured lodging. He said to +me, "Say any prayer you think of." The only prayer I +could recall was one I had heard in my childhood, +"Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner!" When I +made that prayer before the Christian's God, I did it +with fear and trembling, for it seemed profanity for a +wretch like me, who had defied God's laws, to prostrate +himself at His feet and ask the Christian's God to have +mercy on him; but I kept up that prayer in my weak, +broken way. And to-day, having tried this life one +year, you don't know of a man happier than I am. My +wife, no longer broken-hearted as in those years of +darkness and sorrow, now daily bids me welcome to our +happy home. And we recognize together that nothing +but this religion of Jesus Christ could have brought this +about. I know, from the experiences I have had, that +God has forgiven me, the sinner.</p> + +<p>I had from a child been the most inveterate swearer. +Since my conversion I have not sworn an oath; I never +have taken a drop of beer or anything that might<span class="pagenum">[221]</span> +intoxicate me, and I have never had a return of the +appetite. And I hope, by God's mercy, that when the +last call shall come I shall be found fighting for God; +and I feel I want to fall with "my back to the field +and my feet to the foe." Immediately after my conversion +I attached myself to the Fifth and Walnut-street +church; and if you inquire of those who know me, they +will tell you that, since I stepped out of the old life into +this, I have walked consistently.</p> + +<p>I have told you a true story. I can think of no +more to say. I may add, however, that since I have +come into this new life, under God's mercy, I have been +the humble instrument of bringing into the light three +of my acquaintances, of whose conversion I know +personally. I was the only wandering, wayward, +prodigal son in my father's family; and there is +probably not now a happier household in the State.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Mr. Hocker is at present engaged in business in one of the +large clothing houses of Louisville.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[222]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-266.jpg" width="234" height="310" alt="S. P. DALTON." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">S. P. DALTON.</p> + +<p class="h4">SAMUEL P. DALTON.</p> + +<p>I was born in Shelbyville, Tenn., January 20, 1849, +and am, therefore, thirty-nine years of age. My +father and mother were both members of the church; +and they tried to bring me up as a Christian. I went +to Sunday-school and church almost all my life. My +father has been dead twenty odd years. My mother +is still living. As I say, I was brought up a Christian, +and I was converted when I was about seventeen +years of age, while a boy clerking in a brickyard +alone. I was licensed soon afterward to exhort +in the Methodist church. After that I married; I +removed to Paducah, Ky., and I was a member of +the church there for several years. After that I lost +my wife, broke up housekeeping and went to traveling. +I traveled awhile, and then moved to Louisville. +I lived here seven years.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, I became indifferent to Christianity +and formed the habit of moderate drinking; I +was a moderate drinker for a couple of years, and +gradually I drifted farther and farther away till at last +I came to believe in Ingersoll's teachings. I formed +this idea, that the world was made to enjoy, and that +we had a right to enjoy it in any way we wished. I +never would go to church and I would avoid meeting +any of my church friends as much as possible. I +became very unhappy and miserable in my irreligious +life, and found that serving the devil was hard.</p> + +<p>One day while in this unhappy condition my attention +was called to a crowd of people on Jefferson +<span class="pagenum">[223]</span>street, near the courthouse. Going over to satisfy my +curiosity, I found they were a Christian band from +the Holcombe Mission preaching the Gospel. Of +course, I would not go to church, and when I went +over there to see what they were doing, I looked +upon them as so many cranks; but there was one +prayer that touched my heart. It was this: "Oh +Lord, if there are any persons in this audience who +are miserable or unhappy on account of their sins, +I pray Thee to give them no peace until they give +their hearts to God." And God answered the prayer +in my case. I had no peace until I gave my heart to +God and renewed my vows to the church. After hearing +this prayer I went home very miserable and unhappy, +and fought the feeling for six months afterward—tried +to drive it away by drinking; but could not do so. +Finally one night about midnight, in my room, I gave +my heart to God and made new vows. I was again +brought back to God on the 15th of October, 1882.</p> + +<p>Then I went to see Brother Morris, pastor of the +Fifth and Walnut-street Methodist church, and told +him what I had done. Of course, he met me with +open arms, and invited me to the church, and on the +following Sunday I joined the Methodist church. +Directly afterward Mr. Morris introduced me to Brother +Holcombe. He said: "Brother Dalton, here is a man +you ought to know and be with. His Mission is the +place for you to do Christian work." He saw, I suppose, +that I ought to be doing some good, and he +wanted me right there.</p> + +<p>I went, then, to Brother Holcombe's Mission, and +remained with him for about two years, working there<span class="pagenum">[224]</span> +almost every night for these two years, keeping door, +and doing, to the best of my ability, all the good I +could. I can say that my connection with the Mission, +I have no doubt, has had all to do with strengthening +me in the Christian life and leading me into usefulness, +giving me strength and energy to engage in saving +others, and confirming myself in Christian character.</p> + +<p>I have witnessed some of the most remarkable +conversions at Holcombe's Mission that I think ever +were known anywhere, and I regard Holcombe as one +of the most remarkable men on earth for mission work. +It seems that he can use more means to put men +to thinking than any other man that I know of.</p> + +<p>I was always fond of going to the theater. After +I had become a Christian, I had an idea that I could +still continue going to theaters, and so stated to Brother +Holcombe and Brother Alexander. They simply said +this: "Brother Dalton, if you get the love of God in +your heart you will find a great deal more pleasure +in God's service than you will in attending theaters;" +and from my own experience I have found it true. +I have no desire to go to theaters; my own pleasure +is in Christian work; and I do not think a man can +make a practice of attending theaters regularly and +exert the same influence for the salvation of others +as if he did not attend.</p> + +<p>I believe as firmly as I do anything, that when +I was a boy, God called me to some kind of Christian +work; and I was the most miserable man in the +world when I lost my religion. After meeting with +Brother Holcombe, he seemed to be a great wall of +protection to me—and he does yet. He has infused<span class="pagenum">[225]</span> +into my life more Christian zeal than I ever had before. +I am of a temperament that is easily led off—easily +influenced; and I feel that God, in His wisdom, leads +me into Christian work in order to save my own soul +as well as others. Since I have been away from Louisville, +in Cleveland, Ohio, in business, I think there +has not been a day or night but what I have thought +of Brother Holcombe and the Mission. It seems to +have such an everlasting effect on me, that at all +times I feel a restraining influence which comes out +from that Mission. If at any time I am tempted to +become discouraged, the remembrance of him and +the mission work that he is engaged in, seems to +be a protection, something that upholds me in my +Christian faith; and I have learned to love Brother +Holcombe as I never loved any man on earth who +was no kin to me. He is a man whom I have watched +very closely, and understand thoroughly; and believe +he is one of the most honest, earnest and upright +Christian men that I ever met in all my life, and +one who will do more, and endure more, to lead a +man to Christ than any one I ever knew.</p> + +<p>The result of that Christian experience which I +had while associated with Brother Holcombe has been +the means of my seeking an opportunity for Christian +work in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, where I am now +residing. I joined the Franklin-avenue Methodist +church, of Cleveland, a grand body of Christians, +too, about 650 members; and it seemed that the +Lord had opened the way into this church to harness +me into Christian work there. Being a man from +the South, I hardly expected them to receive me as<span class="pagenum">[226]</span> +cordially as they did; but it seemed that, after watching +me, and knowing me, when I was not expecting +it, I was elected one of the stewards of that church +a very short time after joining it; and I have been +put on different committees, and have been treated +as well as a Christian gentleman could possibly desire +to be treated, and I have learned to love them. My +aim and object in life now is to do all the good I +possibly can in this new field of labor.</p> + +<p>The Lord has been very good to me since I +reentered His service, and I have found complete happiness +and contentment in this Christian life, and no man +on earth is happier than I when I am doing Christian +work, and I am quite unhappy when I am not, being +fully convinced that the Lord has a Christian work of +some kind for me to engage in, and always being blest +in the least effort I make for the salvation of others.</p> + +<p>God has prospered me in business, too. I have +been very successful in my business life, not getting +rich, but making a good, honest living, having the confidence +and respect of my employers, and the full +confidence of those who work for me. I have endeavored, +to the best of my ability, to use every means +within my power to exert as good an influence over +the men in my employ as I possibly can under the +circumstances. I correspond with Brother Holcombe +regularly, and have for the last three years, and I very +often use his letters in endeavoring to bring others +to Christ; and frequently in my talks and Christian +work I take a great pride in referring to the Mission in +Louisville, and believe there has been some good done +in simply telling of these remarkable conversions that I<span class="pagenum">[227]</span> +have witnessed there, convincing me that the Mission +is not only exerting a good influence in the city of +Louisville, but is being felt all over this country.</p> + +<p>After being away a little over three years, I returned +to Kentucky on a visit to my mother and family in +Paducah, and also to Brother Holcombe and my friends +in Louisville, and stopped with Brother Holcombe. Of +course, he received me with open arms and a hearty +welcome, and I had the pleasure of meeting many of +those men whom I had known when they were in their +sinful lives, bound by the power of strong drink, and +it did my heart good to look into their happy, shining +faces, sober as they are, and active in business, and +engaged in Christian work, thereby receiving new +strength and stronger faith in the Blessed Gospel of +Christ. I am fully persuaded there is no other power +under heaven that would save men from these terrible +habits except the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>Coming into the presence of Brother Holcombe +seemed to have a peculiar effect upon me. It seemed +that I received a new baptism of the Holy Ghost. I +do not know what it is; I know that God's blessing +is just as rich and precious in Cleveland as it is in +Louisville, but having been associated with Brother +Holcombe in this Christian work, and witnessing such +wonderful conversions, and God's blessings having +been bestowed upon us so richly, it seems that the +place is precious to my soul, and the remembrance of +those things so cheers my heart that it gives me new +strength and new zeal, and I never could, under any +circumstances, in my future life, doubt the reality of +the Christian religion.<span class="pagenum">[228]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">COLONEL MOSES GIBSON.</p> + +<p>My birthplace was Bowling Green, Rappahannock +county, Virginia. I was born May 7, 1837. My ancestors +were Quakers, and my grandfather a Hicksite +Quaker. He married a Methodist, and was, consequently, +turned out of the church. The family originally +came from the north of Ireland, opposite Glasgow; +non-conformists. They came to this country +about the time Penn did, and got over into Loudon +county, Virginia. On my mother's side I am descended +from Nathaniel Pendleton, who is a brother of Edmund +Pendleton, and aid-de-camp of General Green during +the Revolutionary war. On both sides a considerable +number of the men were in both legal and literary +pursuits. My mother was raised in the Presbyterian +church—joined the Presbyterian church. I was baptized +by the Rev. Dr. Foot, one of the corner-stones +of the old school church. My father was never a +member of any church until very late in life. My +mother had me baptized by the Rev. Dr. Foot when +I was six years old.</p> + +<p>I was always, as a boy, religiously inclined; and +never cared for those enjoyments and pleasures that +boys indulge in so much, like playing ball, hunting +and fishing, tobogganing, coasting and all such kind +of sport. I was more of a house boy. I liked to +stay at home and read, and was very affectionate in +my disposition. Very early in life I started out in the +world, and when I was fourteen years old I was a<span class="pagenum">[229]</span> +store boy; and even with all that, my early training, +to a certain extent, kept me out of bad company, +although I slept in the store, and was really under no +restraint from the time I was about fourteen. I generally, +when I found I was too far gone, pulled up +stakes and went somewhere else; and in that way I +grew up. I very rarely failed to go to church twice +every Sunday; and I looked upon religion more as a +pleasure and a matter of pride for the respectability +of it. I liked the church, even after I grew up to be a +man. But during the latter part of the war, I became +impressed. I believe it was in October, 1864, I professed +religion in a little church in New Market, Virginia; +and after the war, I went to Baltimore, and +united myself there with the Episcopal church. I +never was confirmed, however, until some time in +1868, here in Calvary church in Louisville. But I +always considered myself a member of the church, +went to Sunday-school, and attended to my duties +very particularly. I never drank anything, and never +kept bad company. My association was always the +most refined, principally that of ladies. I was fond +of society, parties, theaters and things of that kind, +which our church never objected to very particularly, +but I kept myself in bounds.</p> + +<p>It was only about 1874 or 1875 that I became associated +with some gentlemen here who were very +learned, and who were very earnest men; and we got +into the study of the Bible in search of truth. We +got all the books of modern thought on the subject +that we could. We conversed together and talked +together a great deal. We got all the modern authors,<span class="pagenum">[230]</span> +and studied them very thoroughly; and studied +so much, that we finally studied ourselves into infidelity. +We studied Draper, Max Muller, Ledyard, Bishop +Colenzo and Judge Strange. Judge Strange's was the +most powerful book, to me, of any. It was a reference +to the Old Testament legends and the miracles of the +New. I gradually by the association, and by reading +these modern treatises on theology, etc., drifted into +that thoughtful infidelity, which is the worst sort in +the world, because I had a great respect for religion, +but did not believe it. I believed in a God, but could +not consistently believe that he was the God of the +Bible, or that the Bible itself could be an inspired +book, because so much of it was inconsistent with +demands of human reason.</p> + +<p>Following these convictions, I gradually drifted into +the most complete infidelity that a man ever did on +earth. I did not believe anything, still I did not +attempt in any way to have my associates and friends +believe that I was an infidel. I never boasted of it, +I never made light of religion. I continued to go to +church, continued to keep in the church; and when +Ingersoll was here I would not go to hear him. I +was satisfied that Ingersoll's teachings were, to a +great extent, what I believed; but I did not like to +hear a man get up and ridicule my mother's God; +and my answer to those who wanted me to go was +that I would not listen to any man who tried to ridicule +the religion of my mother.</p> + +<p>About 1878 I commenced drinking. I was then +about forty-one years old. I got to taking a drink here +and there, but do not suppose I took over a hundred<span class="pagenum">[231]</span> +drinks during the year. In 1879 I got to drinking a +little more. In 1880 I got to drinking pretty hard. +During the year 1879 I took rarely less than three, and +very often six to eight drinks, a day, and in 1881 I was +a confirmed, genteel tippler. I rarely took less than +three or more than I could stand, but in a genteel way +and in a genteel saloon.</p> + +<p>I sold out my business and traveled seven or eight +months for pleasure, and kept up the same thing everywhere. +I seldom gambled. I played poker for twenty-five +cents ante, and bet on horse races. I never was a +profane man except when I was intoxicated; then I +would be a little profane. I always remembered more +than anything else the early teachings of my mother; +they clung to me. I had respect not only for the church +but respect for the ministry and respect for Christian +people.</p> + +<p>After I commenced drinking I would have given +anything in the world if I could have stopped. I would +get up in the morning and I would feel a lassitude—feel +debilitated. I would not care to eat anything—a biscuit +and a cup of coffee—and by eleven o'clock that was all +emptied, and my stomach would crave something. +Probably if I had sat down at a restaurant and made a +good dinner it would have helped me; but it was so +much easier to get a toddy, and that toddy did away +with the craving, and probably in an hour and a half I +would want the same thing, and, instead of going to +dinner, I would take another drink, and about three +o'clock I would want this toning of the stomach again.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1883 I thought I would call a halt. I +quit drinking in October, 1883, of my own will, and I<span class="pagenum">[232]</span> +did not drink a drop of anything until July, 1884; and +then I got at it in the same old way. I got to taking a +toddy a day, and then I got to taking two, and for two +months I was taking a toddy before every meal; and +then my stomach got so I did not care to eat—I took +the toddy without the dinner; and in the course of the +year—probably by the first of October—I had got to +drinking all the way from six drinks a day to about a +dozen. I kept that up until I got to being genteelly +intoxicated—always genteel, but always going to bed +being pretty well intoxicated. When I got to bed, I +would lie down and sleep; and when I got up in the +morning I would have a toddy.</p> + +<p>About October we sold out our business here. The +winter was beginning, and I had no money. I began to +be a little reckless; and I commenced drinking the first +of October, and I was full until the first of January. I +do not think from the first of October, 1884, until the +first of January, 1887, there was a day that I did +not take six drinks, and generally ten or twelve—pretty +stiff drinks, too. I generally drank about two +ounces of whisky. It never affected my health at all. +It stimulated my mind; it made me bright—exceedingly +so—so much so that if there was anybody about the +bar-room I was the center of attraction. I could +discourse upon any subject; but I was very bright +and vivacious. I never was afraid of anything on +the face of the earth; I guess there never was a +man more fearless than I was when under the influence +of whisky; otherwise, I was very timid.</p> + +<p>I kept that thing up, and on the first of January +I was walking down the street. I had gone to bed<span class="pagenum">[233]</span> +pretty sober on the night before; and I got up on +the morning of the first of January and dressed myself +up nicely, intending to go to church. I met a friend +of mine, who said he was going around to the office, +and asked me to go with him. I said I would. On +the way around there he suggested we should have +a pint of whisky. I said, "I believe I will quit; I am +getting tired of whisky." "Well," he said, "let us +have a bottle anyway; it is the first of January." +"Yes," I said, "as it is the first of January." We +sat there and drank that, and sent out and got another +pint and drank that. After that, I went down to Louis +Roderer's and sat there, and some gentlemen came +in and they got to throwing dice for the drinks, and +I was invited to join them, and I did; and I took +six drinks there with them. The weather was cold; +the pavement covered with ice. As long as I stayed +in the house, the liquor did not affect me, but as soon +as I got out of the door, the cold coming right into +contact with it, seemed to throw all the undigested +alcohol into my brain. I went back to this friend +of mine. He was not there. I walked up Market +street, and went to my room and went to bed. It +was there, I suppose, I mashed my nose and cut my +face badly. The servant girl came up stairs and +found me lying on the floor. She went down and +got help, and they bathed my face, and they both +together put me to bed. I had been unconscious from +the moment I left the bar-room and was so up to +five o'clock the next morning.</p> + +<p>They put me to bed, and I was totally unconscious +until I woke up the next morning at five o'clock. It<span class="pagenum">[234]</span> +occurred to me that something was the matter; I felt +the wound on my face. I got up and lighted the +candle and looked into the glass, and saw that my +face was all bruised and bloody. I said, "I suppose +I ran against something and mashed my face last +night." The next morning I heard this servant girl +in the next room. I heard her saying, "Poor man, +poor man." Pretty soon she came in and said, "What +in the world is the matter with you? How did you +hurt your face?" She then told me the condition they +had found me in; and if they had not found me I would +have frozen to death. I said, "If this thing is going to +work that way on me, I must call a halt." I could not +eat anything but some milk. I lay in bed all day.</p> + +<p>I could not pray. I had got into that frame of +mind I could not pray. I did not believe in the efficacy +of prayer. I had lost sight of Christ as God, but I +had great respect for Christ as a teacher. I lay there +all that day, Monday. I was then thoroughly sober; +and I said, "I will just see if there is any efficacy in +religion, anyhow. I believe I will try it." I had gotten +up and dressed myself. I had not eaten any breakfast. +I drank some coffee. Not having taken anything +to eat, I felt pretty weak, and I said, "I believe I will +take a drink." I went around to a friend of mine on +First street, and he was not there. Then I walked +around to a saloon on Third street. Several gentlemen +were there that I used to drink with. I stood around +there for awhile, hoping that some one would ask me +to take a drink, but nobody asked me.</p> + +<p>Finally I came up here to Mr. Holcombe's and +found him here, and we got to talking the matter<span class="pagenum">[235]</span> +over. I told him that I was tired of this kind of +life. I wanted to take a pledge. "I do not give +pledges to anybody to stop drinking." He said there +was but one remedy—reliance upon Christ; that Christ +was all—Christ and the love of God. If I determined +to live up to the teachings of the Bible, if +I was willing about it, that he believed I would be +cured. Well, I told him that I thought that my mind +was sufficiently prepared; that I had made up my mind +to quit if I possibly could; that if the Lord wanted +to take me the way I was, I had made up my mind +to believe; that I had not believed anything for a long +time, and that if I did believe I would have to take +it by faith, and not by reason.</p> + +<p>Finally, after talking it over, Mr. Holcombe prayed, +and after prayer I said I had better go down to my +boarding-house. "No," he said, "you stay with me +awhile." I said I could not do that; I had to go down +to my boarding-house. He said, "No!" he thought +I had better stay awhile; that I could stay with him +just the same, as I was around there; that I might get +out and get to drinking; that I was not strong enough. +I concluded I would stay with him, and I stayed with +him for three weeks.</p> + +<p>I went down stairs to the Mission meeting that +night, and stood up for prayer. After the prayer, I +felt a great deal better—in fact, I felt as much converted +as I am now. Since then, I have had no trouble.</p> + +<p>I never had made a prayer in public in my life; +I never had talked religion in my life, and I got up a +week afterward and preached a sermon an hour long. +The second or third night I made a prayer. Before<span class="pagenum">[236]</span> +that night I had never prayed in public. The only +prayer I would say was, "Our Father Who Art In +Heaven."</p> + +<p>I have never taken a drink since then, and I do +not now chew tobacco. I had either a cigar or a chew +of tobacco in my mouth all the time during the last +year. From the time I was fifteen years old, I used to +smoke from three to a dozen cigars a day. My general +average of cigars was six a day. I have not chewed +tobacco, I have not smoked a cigar, I have not taken +a drink of liquor since January. A man talking to me +the other day said: "You have the strongest will +power on earth. If I had the will power you have, +I could do anything I wanted." I said, "I do not +think so. I do not believe I ever would have stopped +smoking and chewing without the change which has +been produced in me through faith and prayer."</p> + +<p>I will tell you what broke me of chewing tobacco. +It was Monday that I came here to the Mission, the 3d +of January, and on Tuesday night I professed conversion. +Wednesday morning I went out to see Mr. +Minnegerode, and had my name again placed on the +church record as a member of Calvary church. The +first Sunday in the month was our communion, and I +was very anxious that I should perform all the obligations +necessary to fill out the measure of my conversion, +and to do it as soon as possible; and I happened to +be down in Cyrus Young's office, and he told me that +they were going to have communion. They had quarterly +meeting at the Broadway Methodist church. Dr. +Brewer preached, and there I took my first communion. +From there I went over to the house of a friend of<span class="pagenum">[237]</span> +mine, who has since died, named Lewis. I took dinner +with him, and stayed there until half-past three o'clock. +Well, I took a chew of tobacco going down the street, +and when I had just commenced chewing it, I said: +"You are a pretty kind of a Christian. You have +got your mouth full of that stuff that a hog would +not eat, and immediately after taking the bread and +wine commemorative of the death of Christ. It is not +right for a Christian to take that after having partaken +of these emblems." And I spit it out of my mouth. For +two or three days it bothered me a great deal—much +more than drinking. I never had a desire to take a +drink since that Monday, although I have been asked +repeatedly. I was down at a hotel with two or three +gentlemen the other day, and somebody got up and +suggested taking a drink. I said, "No; I have joined +the church; I am a Christian, and I do not believe in +Christians or church members drinking." Shortly after +that they offered me a cigar, which I refused.</p> + +<p>I have now charge of a chapel, and have preached +two sermons up there this week, one Sunday night and +one Thursday night. I preached on the Prodigal Son +the other night. I have held seven or eight services up +there. I hold forth here at the Mission one night in the +week—that is Tuesday night. I never killed anybody; +have never won a thousand dollars at cards; and I +never was in the gutter. I was a refined tippler. I was +a leader of society all these years, as everybody who +knows me is aware. I was prominent in social life +and prominent in church life before I was an infidel, +previous to 1874, and a member of the vestry of Advent +church here. I kept up my acquaintances. All the<span class="pagenum">[238]</span> +drinking I did was with the tony men, at the high-typed, +tony saloons. I am now a communicant of Calvary +church. I am a lay reader, and, for the present, have +charge of Campbell-street chapel. I go up there two +nights a week. I was going up to Campbell street, the +other evening, to hold service and I met Bishop Dudley, +who was going up to Trinity to confirm a class, and he +asked me where I was going. I told him I was going +over to Campbell street to hold service. He asked me +who did my singing. I said I did all the preaching and +singing myself.</p> + +<p>The sum of it is, I felt that mine was a bad case; I +had been struggling for two years and a half to rid +myself of this appetite, by making to myself all kinds of +promises day after day, but was unable to do it; I said +to myself, "Mine is a bad case—an aggravated case—and +it needs heroic treatment. I can say I will quit +drinking. I can go and kneel down and feel very well +about it; but the question is, whether I would not go +back to the same old way of living; and I reflected that +I might be renewed or regenerated—if the Lord created +me, He could re-create me—to the man He had +made and created in His own image, if he believed, He +could give back his manhood; would re-create him +and give him a new birth." I felt that, and felt that I +must make a public confession. Mine was a bad case, +and there was only one way to cure me—a public confession +before God and the world, and a prayer for +strength to make me live up to that profession—and +when I made that profession, I felt relieved.</p> + +<p>I have had more strength since then. I have not +had the least desire for liquor. Last night was the first<span class="pagenum">[239]</span> +time I ever dreamed about drinking since; and then I +dreamed that I wanted a lemonade very badly and went +to the saloon to get it; and my conscience pricked me +even in my sleep for the desire for a lemonade and +going into a saloon to get it. Before, I used to dream +about going into drinking saloons. Instead of having a +desire for a drink of whisky, I give you my word and +honor, it was nauseating to me. That was not a qualm +of conscience, but a physical sensation. It came when +I picked up a glass that had had whisky in it. I +smelled it, and set it down. And, by the grace of +God, I am determined that I have drunk my last drop +of intoxicating liquor.<span class="pagenum">[240]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-286.jpg" width="248" height="326" alt="CAPTAIN N. B. PECK." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">CAPTAIN N. B. PECK.</p> + +<p class="h4">CAPTAIN BEN PECK.</p> + +<p>I have had rather an eventful life; but I don't +know that it would be interesting to the public.</p> + +<p>I certainly had less reason to be a bad boy, and +worse man, than almost anybody ever had. I was surrounded +by the very best Christian influences. My +father was a prominent minister of the Baptist denomination +in this State. He died, though, when I was +quite young. My mother's people had been Christian +people very far back. The male members on my +father's side were Baptist ministers as far as I could +trace it. I lost my father when I was about eight +years old. My mother tried to raise me right—taught +me right; but we were living out here in a little town—Hodgensville—and +I was wild from the start. I was +not worse than any other boys, but I was in all sorts +of mischief. I was looked upon as a bad boy, and +regarded as no exception to the general rule, that +preacher's boys are worse than other boys.</p> + +<p>When about twelve years old, I joined the church +at a revival. I believe I was truly converted, and for +a short while I lived up to the duties of my church; +but I soon neglected going to church—first I neglected +going to prayer-meeting—and I got back so far that +I would not be picked out as a Christian by any means.</p> + +<p>The war came up when I was fourteen years old, +and I went into it; and the first night out I got to +drinking and playing cards; and I suppose I was known +as the leader in all the mischief got up in the brigade. +<span class="pagenum">[241]</span>I was notorious throughout the command as a reckless, +bad boy from the beginning.</p> + +<p>My mother had been opposed to my going into +the army at all; but, if I was going, she would have +preferred my serving on the other side. I never shall +forget one thing she said to me at starting. When +the time came to go, I would not have hesitated to back +out if she had given me any encouragement at all. +She said, "My son, you have determined; you have +cast your lot with the South. I had rather you would +do your duty and be a brave soldier." But she continued +to pray for me.</p> + +<p>After the war I came back home, and found that +our property was all gone. My mother had sent me +to Georgetown college before the war, and my idea +was to educate myself for a lawyer. When I came +home the property was dissipated, and I did not +have enough to finish my education; and the question +was, what would be the best for me to do. I came +here to Louisville and went to drumming; met with +phenomenal success from the start; went up and up; +was hail fellow, well met, with everybody; situations +offered me on every side. But I continued to drink +and play cards as I did in the army, and gambled +all the time, although not a professional gambler. +I played against Holcombe's bank many a time. I +went from bad to worse. I continued to dissipate +and gamble; and eleven years ago my health was +very much shattered from my excesses, and I became +soured with myself and everybody. I was as miserable +as a man could be, in that condition, as a +matter of course; and a gentleman who had been a<span class="pagenum">[242]</span> +comrade in the army with me, and had taken a great +deal of interest in me, Captain Cross, in a conversation +with me, insisted that I should go with him to +Texas, where he was doing a flourishing business. +I had tried, time and again, to reform, always in my +own strength, and got further away from God all +the time. I tried to believe that Christ was not the +Son of God; that he was not inspired; I denied the +divinity of Christ, although I never denied that there +was a Supreme Ruler. Captain Cross wanted me +to go to Texas, thinking that if I got away from +the surroundings here, it would help me. Accordingly, +I went to Texas with him, where I made plenty +of money.</p> + +<p>But I soon fell into the old ways, and found gambling +houses as numerous there as they are here; I +found dance-houses more accessible than the churches. +I led a reckless life; and frequently did not hear from +my family and friends for months at a time. Finally +I drank until I drank myself into delirium tremens; +tried to kill myself; went and bought morphine. But +fortunately for me, they were watching me. That was +in Paris, Texas. I was in bed for two or three weeks; +and when I got up from that, I felt like I did not +want to stay in Texas any longer.</p> + +<p>I went to St. Louis and went into business there; +had success as a salesman; had a big trade; and I +went there with a determination not to drink any more +whisky; but I was there only a few days before I was +drinking and playing cards—my old life, in fact. Finally +I got into a difficulty with a man, shot him and got shot +myself. I got into a great deal of trouble on account of<span class="pagenum">[243]</span> +it. It cost me a great deal of money and my mother a +great deal of sorrow. One time I went to Mexico to +get out of the way, where I led a reckless life; went +into the army; played cards and drank whisky. I +neglected business for whisky a great deal of the time. +Then I came here to Louisville, and kept up the same +practice; went to Cincinnati and did the same thing +there. I let up for a little while when I went to new +places. When I got back from St. Louis, I met Steve +Holcombe and shook hands with him. The first thing +he said to me was, "I have changed my life." I had not +heard anything of it. I asked him what he was doing. +He said he was serving the Lord instead of the devil; +that he had a little mission somewhere. I did not pay +any attention to it. But one Sunday I was passing +down Jefferson street, and there was a crowd on the +courthouse steps, and I saw Steve talking to them. I +listened to him, and after the crowd went away I asked +him how he was getting along and he told me.</p> + +<p>I kept on drinking, however. Sometimes I had a +situation and sometimes I did not. People did not want +me; they did not know when I would be sober. If I +got a situation, it was in the busy season. After the +busy season was over, they would reduce my salary and +give me to understand they wanted me to get a new +place.</p> + +<p>One time I was drunk for a week or ten days, and +as I passed I heard them singing in the Mission down +stairs and went in. I thought that would be a good +place to rest. I went back a night or two; and one +night Mr. Holcombe delivered a powerful testimony +and mentioned some circumstances that had occurred<span class="pagenum">[244]</span> +in his life, at some of which I had been present—I +don't know that he had particular reference to me. +I went back the next night and went up for prayer. I +went again sober; but I did not see my way clear. +I went back and took "a nip," as he said. I sank lower +and lower; but I still went to that Mission. Something +impelled me, I know now what it was. I got a +situation, and was traveling; but whenever I got off a +trip the spirit of the Lord impelled me to go to that +Mission. I talked with Steve frequently, and promised +him that I was going to try and reform; but I did not, +and toward the last, in fact, I had almost quit going to +the Mission. I said, "It is not for me, it is for these +other men. I have gone too far."</p> + +<p>I went in there in November. I was going away +on a trip, and the next day I started. I met a friend +on the street, and he asked me for a quarter. He +wanted to get a drink and lunch. I told him it was +about my time to get a drink, too, and we would +go and get one together before I left. I was telling +him about going to the Mission, and he hooted at the +idea of a man of my sense going to the Mission. +About two o'clock in the afternoon I was going down +the street to take the boat, and I met another friend, +and he certainly was the worst looking case I ever saw. +I did not think he would live two weeks. He was a +physical wreck, and almost a total mental wreck. After +talking to him for a few minutes he asked me where +I was going. I told him. And I told him, too, I did +not care whether I ever got back or not. I told him +it would be a relief to me if I never got back off of +that trip. I had a family, saw them occasionally, and<span class="pagenum">[245]</span> +sent them money when I could; but I never lived with +them. After talking with him a little while, I said my +time was up, and asked him if he would not go and +take a parting drink with me. We went into the +Opera House down there and took a drink. I never +expected to see my friend alive again, even if I got +back from that trip myself. That was the 30th day of +November. I got back here the 18th day of December.</p> + +<p>The most of the night of the 18th I spent down +here at the Grand Central—"made a night of it." +The next morning, when I got up, the very first man +I saw asked me if I had seen a certain friend of mine. +I told him, "No." He said: "You would not know +him." I said: "What is the matter with him?" He +said: "He is reformed; he is a Christian, and he +looks twenty years younger than you ever saw him." +I said: "You are a liar." He said: "I am not a liar. +You won't know him. He looks like a gentleman." I +said: "It is pretty funny if he can look like a gentleman +in this short time." I had not gone another +square before some one asked me if I had seen +another friend of mine. I said: "No." "Well," +he said, "you ought to see him. He has quit drinking, +and looks like he used to look." I said "What +is the matter with him?" He said: "He has joined +the church." I took a drink, and thought about this +thing; went down to the store, and knocked around +there all day long, thinking about those two men. But +here I was, drunk and wretched and trying to get sober, +but could not.</p> + +<p>Somebody met me about four o'clock in the evening, +and asked: "Where are you going?" I said: "I<span class="pagenum">[246]</span> +am going around here to get a drink." He said: "How +are you going to drink when your partners have quit +drinking?" I asked him where they could be found; +that I wanted to take a look at them. He told me +that I could find them at the Mission. I concluded +I would come up to the Mission, and did so, pretty +full; and, honestly, I would not have known either of +these men on the street. I never saw such a transformation +as in them. After the services were over +they came up and shook hands with me, and treated +me as kindly as they used to do when we were drinking +together. And I made up my mind if Christ could +save them, I wanted some of it for myself.</p> + +<p>I came to the Mission, and stood up for prayers +all the time, but came half drunk for four or five nights, +but still with the determination to have salvation if +it was to be found; but the more I came the darker the +way grew. I think (on the 29th of December) Mrs. +Clark came and talked to me, and Mr. Atmore came +and talked to me, I was sober—comparatively so. I +told them that I had given up all hope; that I had +sinned away my day of grace, and there was no hope +for me. They cheered me, and I promised them I +would pray that night. I went out of the Mission and +got blind, staving drunk; was hardly able to get up +stairs to my bed at eleven o'clock, at night. I did +it out of despair. The doctors had told me before +that unless I quit drinking whisky I would go dead. I +was tired of life, but afraid to commit suicide. I concluded +that the sooner I died, the better. I got up at +three o'clock in the morning to come down stairs and +get a drink. The barkeeper was absent from his bar,<span class="pagenum">[247]</span> +and I concluded that I would wash myself before I took +a drink. I said to myself while I was washing: "You +promised yourself you would not drink, and the very +first night you get drunk, and get up in the morning +to take another drink, and if you take it you will be +drunk before night." I concluded I would stop. I +took a seat by the stove, and very soon the barkeeper +came back. He looked at me and said: "Are +you broke this morning, or too stingy to drink, or +what is the matter?" He added: "Come on. If you +are too stingy to take a drink yourself, take one with +me." I was just dying for a drink. I was shaking—suffering +physically and mentally. I got up two or +three times to go to that bar to take a drink, but I +argued to myself: "If you can not keep from taking +a drink, you had better go up stairs and kill yourself." +After awhile the boys commenced dropping in, and, as +was the custom, said: "Come on, Peck, and take a +drink." I told them, "No; I have quit."</p> + +<p>I went around to the Mission that night, and went +up to the front. I had a talk with some Christian +people there about the matter, and talked with one +of my converted friends. He said there was only one +way to do—to give myself to God. I went to bed +immediately after I left. I could not sleep. I continued +to pray until somewhere along about three +o'clock in the morning of the 2d of January; and +the way was made clear for me. I don't know that +there was any particular vision. I made up my mind +that I would go and make my arrangements to join +the church, and ask God's direction from that time +on, and to lead another life—lead a Christian life as<span class="pagenum">[248]</span> +much as it is possible for a sinful mortal like me +to do.</p> + +<p>I came up to the Mission that night, and told +Sister Clark and Brother Holcombe that I was as +happy as I could be; I had found what I was seeking +for, and I felt that I could trust God. The next +Wednesday night I went down to the Fourth and +Walnut-street Baptist church, and put myself under +the care of the church. Since that time I have been +leading a different life. I am in perfect peace and +rest. Everything, of course, has not gone to suit me +exactly; but I always have been able to say: "I +know it is for the best." My faith grows stronger +and my future brighter day by day. I think these +people who have been moral and religious all of their +lives can not enjoy religion like a hard customer, as +I was—if they do, they do not show it.</p> + +<p>Friends and relatives who had forsaken and avoided +me came to me at once and upheld and encouraged me. +Business came to me without seeking it. I was encouraged +on every hand. People that I thought despised +me, I found did not. I had every encouragement, so +far as this life is concerned, and I am, to-day, in a better +fix, a long ways, than I have been for years.</p> + +<p>My appetite for whisky has troubled me three or +four times since I came to Christ, but all I have to +do is to get down on my knees, and ask for strength +to resist it. And before I get through praying I forget +about it. I have confidence that God will keep me +to the end, and my confidence grows stronger every +day. Things that were a great trial to me at first are +no longer so.<span class="pagenum">[249]</span></p> + +<p>A very remarkable thing in my case is, that the +thing that I expected to give me the most trouble +has given me the least. I was certainly one of the +most profane men that ever lived, and I was always +afraid that the sin that I would have to guard against +most would be profanity. But, if I have ever sworn +an oath, it has been unconsciously, and I do not have +to think about it—I do not have to guard against it; +it horrifies me to hear a man swear now. I thought +I could fight whisky easier than I could that. Strange +to say, it has not bothered me in the least, but +whisky has, on three or four occasions. A craving +came on me yesterday. It was a terrible, miserable, +bleak, rainy day. I was sitting in my room, writing, +and all at once I concluded that I must have a stimulant. +I have not recovered, and will not for months, +from the effects of whisky. I said: "It is a cold, damp, +miserable day. Go up there to the drug-store and +get some port wine as a medicine. Do not go into +a bar-room. There will be no harm in going there +to get a little port wine. Bring it into your room. +It will be the best thing you can do." I got up and +put on my overcoat and my overshoes, and it struck +me that it would not be the best thing for me; and I +got down on my knees and prayed to God, and +before I got through praying I forgot all about it. +The devil had tempted me previously, but he put it +that day in the shape of the port wine.</p> + +<p>Just about ten days after I joined the church, I +was in the Phœnix hotel. A friend of mine, a man +that I had gambled and drunk with all my life, or at +least, for a number of years, said to me, "You are<span class="pagenum">[250]</span> +not drinking much from the way you look." I said, +"No, I am not." He said he thought he would beckon +me out, because he did not like to make that statement +before the crowd, and had I been drinking as I +did the last time he saw me, he would not have asked +me. He wanted me to come in and take a drink +with him. I said whisky had once got the upper +hand of me, and he must excuse me. He said he +knew I was a man, and could take a drink without +getting drunk, and he wanted me to take it socially. +I told him that might all be true. I might take the +drink without getting drunk, and I might take it without +its being a sin in his sight, or in the sight of +other people; but that I had promised God that I +would follow Him all my life, and walk in the way +He wanted me to go; that I had joined the church, +and our church rules forbade drinking. He then +begged my pardon, with tears in his eyes, for having +asked me, and bade me God speed.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-299.jpg" width="298" height="382" alt="J. C. WILSON." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">J. C. WILSON.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">[251]</span> + +<p class="h4">JAMES C. WILSON.</p> + +<p>I started out in gambling during the war—about +1862. That was in New York State. I was born +and raised there. I will be forty-five years of age the +next eighth of July. I started out in New York in +1862. My father kept a shoe store there then. He +was pretty well to do. Having money, I cared nothing +about getting any kind of business. I got in with a +man by the name of Captain Brown, who was one of +the principal gamblers there; and I began to be expert +in short cards at first.</p> + +<p>From there I went into the army during the war, +and stayed there until 1865, and then went to Texas. +At Austin, Texas, I got into trouble in 1866, on account +of my gambling. I believe it was about the 20th of +January. Myself and a man by the name of Ryan +had been playing together, and I had beaten him, which +made him mad. He called me very insulting names. +He slapped me and hit me, and I drew my pistol on +him. I first struck him once and then shot him, and +killed him instantly. I was put in jail. I had not been +there long and was a stranger. The thing occurred +down near the Colorado river. A mob assembled, and +came down with ropes to hang me. But the sheriff +and his posse, in order to save me, carried me out of +the city, and ran me up to San Antonio. I stayed in +jail six months and was tried; but there was nothing +done with me—the witnesses testified that I was justified +in doing what I did.<span class="pagenum">[252]</span></p> + +<p>After that I went to Rochester, New York, and +from there to Toronto, Canada. I made my living by +gambling; and, of course, gambled in all these places. +I got broke very often, but always managed to get +hold of a stake. I went from Canada back to New +York City; and used to play on the falls steamers—Fisk's +boats. I stayed there until I came to Louisville +in 1870, when I went into the army again. I was here +in the Taylor barracks with General Custer. I went +out West with him, and was there discharged from +the army, and went to gambling at Bismarck, Dakota. +When I had got out of the army, I had made about +six thousand dollars, and went to St. Paul, and from +there to Chicago. I gambled there for awhile, and +was unsuccessful; and from there I came to Louisville +again.</p> + +<p>I have been here since 1873, I believe. Shortly +after I commenced gambling here, the gambling houses +were closed, but were re-opened in 1874 again, and I +commenced gambling again, opening at the Richmond, +the house on the South-west corner of Fifth and +Market streets. Brother Holcombe before that, I think, +was interested in the Richmond. That was the last +house I dealt in, or worked in, until I opened for +myself, which was at "84" Fifth street, between Main +and Market. I was very unsuccessful there; had men +working for me who did not attend to their business.</p> + +<p>During all this time I had a wife and family, whom +I really loved but whom I neglected and allowed to +suffer greatly through my passion for gambling, the +uncertainty of making a living and my wanderings +from place to place. About this time I used to think<span class="pagenum">[253]</span> +of Holcombe; and we gamblers used to remark among +ourselves how it was that he had become religious. I +used to get to studying to myself how he got along, +and ask myself how a man could be a Christian who +had been a gambler so long as he had.</p> + +<p>About this time I met Dr. Jno. B. Richardson and +Mr. Samuel B. Richardson. They talked with me in +regard to swearing and gambling and the life I was +leading. They influenced me as best they could and +advised me to see Brother Holcombe, and together +with Brother Holcombe they watched over my spiritual +condition for a couple of years. I had become disgusted +with the life I was leading; and came to +Brother Holcombe for advice. I had quit "84" +and was broke. I had some money when I quit, and +bought the house which I am living in yet. I said to +Brother Holcombe: "I am getting tired of this infernal +gambling. How can I quit it? Show me something +to do. How can I get out of this life?" He +said, "Brother Wilson, come up stairs." He talked +with me and prayed with me. He said, "Do not be +discouraged. Take my advice. The first thing you +do, commit yourself; take a stand and after that every +night, and during the day, ask God for strength and +help, and come to this mission and," he said, "I will +help you to get something to do in every way I +can." I never will forget the first night I got down +on my knees and prayed. I laughed at myself, which +showed how the devil was after me to lead me back +to my old life. I actually laughed to think I was trying +to pray in earnest. I came to the mission and +told Steve. Brother Holcombe said, "Keep on in<span class="pagenum">[254]</span> +that way, anyhow. Pray to God and ask for strength +all the time. Keep away from gamblers and bad +company, and do not mix with them," and I did so—I +took his advice, and I began to get strength from +Almighty God; He was helping me; He opened a +way for me, though everything was new to me for +awhile.</p> + +<p>When I least expected it, I got a situation with +the Louisville City Railway Company, which I still +hold. I am happy and my family are happy, and all +my surroundings are good; and I know, with the help +of God, I will never touch a card again. If we trust +in God, I know we are kept from all temptation. +When any temptation comes to me, I always look +to God for help; and the help comes as naturally +as my pay does when pay-day comes. I feel that the +number of friends I have made, and everything I +have, I owe to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and +Brother Holcombe; and I trust I may be kept and +continue in the life I am leading. I am happy and +contented and all my surroundings are happy; and I +hope all good people will pray for me that I may +continue the life I am now leading.</p> + +<p>I belong to the First Presbyterian Church, Dr. +Witherspoon's church, and I am sorry I can not attend +more regularly. My business occupies me so +constantly that I can not get away.</p> + +<p>I get only a dollar and a half a day. When I was +a gambler, some months I would make three or four +thousand dollars, and sometimes five thousand dollars; +and some months I believe I have made more than +that, so far as that is concerned; but a gambler, you<span class="pagenum">[255]</span> +know, has his ups and downs, I have been so hard +up that I have been tempted to commit murder for +money. In Texas I looked for a man to kill him for +his money, but when I found him I did not have the +heart to do it. It seemed as if I could not use my +hands.</p> + +<p>It would take me from now until to-morrow morning +to tell all of my experiences. I have been in +Europe, California, Old and New Mexico, and I believe +that God was with me even when I was wicked. +I have a bad temper to this day, but, by God's grace, +I can control it.</p> + +<p>My parents were church members—Presbyterians, +and I was raised in the church. My father died when +I was fifteen years old, and my mother died when I +was eight years old. If I had been put to hard +work, and had had something to do, it might have +been different with me; but my father was well-to-do, +and I had too much money to spend. My parents +tried to give me a good education, and I went to +school; but when I got to gambling I could not get +anything in my head but cards. I did not care for +anything else. But, thank God, it is now just the +reverse; it just gives me the chills to think of playing +cards.</p> + +<p>Three years ago, if a man had told me that I +would quit gambling, I would have told him that he +was crazy. I thank God and Brother Holcombe for +what has been done for me. I am truly thankful +there was such a man. I know if it had not been +for him I would have been right in hell to-day. If I +had not been helped and lifted up, just like a little<span class="pagenum">[256]</span> +child in the new life, I think I would to-day be in +hell. I never will forget Brother Holcombe.</p> + +<p>I drank liquor, but was not a regular drunkard, +because it made me too sick. I used to drink and +get drunk, but I would get so sick I could not stand +it. The habit was there, but the constitution could +not endure it.</p> + +<p>I have no trouble now; I am perfectly happy; I +do not know what trouble is any more. Of course, +we all have ups and downs; we can not have everything +our own way; but I praise God and Brother +Holcombe that I am able to bear them.</p> + +<p>You must show that you are willing for the Lord +to help you before He will do so. It is like a man +teaching his children; if the child keeps shoving him +off, the parent can not help the child, and so it is +with God. But when a man has seen and felt the +effects of sin, and his pride is broken down so that +he is willing, then God will help him and save him, +no matter how far he has gone in wickedness.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Mr. Wilson is employed by the Louisville City Railway +Company, at the corner of Eighteenth and Chestnut streets, where, day +after day, for years, he has faithfully discharged his duties, and he has +the respect and esteem of his employers and of all who know him.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-307.jpg" width="230" height="312" alt="WM. BIERLY." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">WM. BIERLY.</p> + +<p class="h4">WILLIAM BIERLY.</p> + +<p>I am thirty-two years of age. I was born at Louisville +in 1856. My father was a Catholic then, but +he is not now. My mother died when I was so small +that I don't know what she was. I will tell you how +it was: My mother died when I was quite young, my +father went into the war, and I was kicked and cuffed +about from one place to another, here and there, till +I had no respect for myself, and felt that I was nobody.</p> + +<p>I was with my father in the soldiers' hospital for +a long time. He was nurse in the soldiers' hospital. +At this time I would drink whisky whenever I could +get it, which appetite did not leave me until I was +about eighteen years old.</p> + +<p>When I was about eleven years old I got to being +bad—got to stealing. My father was a strictly honest +man himself, and my pilfering was abhorrent to him; +so he had me put in the house of refuge when I was +eleven years old. I was to remain in the house of +refuge until I was twenty-one years old, but I got out +before I was twenty-one. When I was nineteen I got +to be a guard there. But I got to misbehaving, and +got discharged from there before I was twenty-one.</p> + +<p>When I came out of the house of refuge I boarded +around at different places, first at one place and then +another; and sometimes I had no place to board at +all, and sometimes I could almost lie down on the +ground and eat grass. I did not go to my father's,<span class="pagenum">[258]</span> +but knocked about from one place to another. I got +to stealing again, and I kept that up all the time. I +never had a desire to do anything else wrong, but +I always had the desire to steal; and while a boy I +would steal anything I came across. I would go down +to the river and steal a bag of peanuts, or burst in +the head of a barrel of apples and take apples out—many +a time have I done that. I worked in a tobacco +shop for awhile, and would steal tobacco—I would +steal anything.</p> + +<p>I never was arrested when I was a boy. The first +time I ever was arrested I was sent to the work-house, +and Mr. Steve Holcombe got me out. After I got out +of the work-house I attended the Mission, and there +was a good religious impression made on me. That +was the first time I ever had any religious impression.</p> + +<p>I lived pretty straight for awhile, and after awhile +my old desire to steal came back on me. Thank the +Lord it does not bother me any more now, I was +watching at the Louisville Exposition during the first +year of the exposition, 1883, and I was boarding where +there were some street car drivers boarding, and they +had all their money boxes there at the boarding house. +I was tempted to take a few of their boxes, and I did +take two of them. I was arrested for it, tried, convicted +and sentenced to six years in the penitentiary.</p> + +<p>While I was in the penitentiary it seemed that +everything turned around the other way with me; it +seemed like I had got enough of it. I saw so many +bad men there, I got disgusted. It seemed to me if +ever I got out and got my liberty any more, I would +try to do right if it took my head off.<span class="pagenum">[259]</span></p> + +<p>During the time—two years—that I was in the +penitentiary, I kept up a correspondence all the time +with Mr. Holcombe; and Mr. Holcombe's Christian +letters touched my heart, and I made up my mind by +the grace of God I would lead a Christian life in the +future. At the expiration of about two years, Mr. +Holcombe, to my great surprise and delight, brought +me a pardon from Governor Knott.</p> + +<p>Since I have been out of the penitentiary I have +been leading a Christian life, and have had no inclination +to steal. I have been at work for Hegan +Brothers, as engineer and fireman, for some time, have +got married to a sweet girl, and am now living happily +in the Lord; and I shall never cease to be grateful +to God and Mr. Holcombe. I never go to sleep at +night without thanking the Lord—and my wife joins +me in it.<span class="pagenum">[260]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-312.jpg" width="298" height="432" alt="MAC. PITTMAN." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">MAC. PITTMAN.</p> + +<p class="h4">CAPTAIN MAC PITTMAN.</p> + +<p>I was born in Baltimore in 1834. My ancestors +were driven away from Arcadia by the English, on +account of their Roman Catholic proclivities.</p> + +<p>I was educated at two Catholic colleges, St. +Mary's, at Baltimore; and St. Mary's at Wilmington, +Delaware. At eighteen years of age, on account of +the tyranny of my father, I ran away from home, and +shipped in the United States Navy as a common +sailor. I went around to San Francisco, and there +joined "the gray-eyed man of destiny," General +Walker.</p> + +<p>I joined his expedition in September, 1885, and +arrived in Nicaragua in October, the following month—the +third day of October. There was a civil war +then in progress in Nicaragua; and the pretense of +this expedition was that we were hired by one of the +parties to take part in it. Walker was to furnish +three hundred Americans, who were to get one hundred +dollars a month and five hundred acres of land, +and their clothes and rations, of course. When I first +arrived there, we were to escort specie trains across +the isthmus—there are but twelve miles of land from +water to water—from San Juan del Sur to Virgin +Bay. I was one of the guard over the celebrated +State prisoners, General Coral and the Secretary of +War, whose name I forget, who were both executed. +I was inside of the seventieth man who joined this +expedition; when I joined him, Walker had but sixty +<span class="pagenum">[261]</span>men. The re-enforcements that came over made just +one hundred men. He had sixty men, I think, and we +numbered forty. With this one hundred men we took +the city of Grenada, which had a population of twelve +thousand, on the morning of October 13, 1855. A +small division of men was sent to the town of Leon +on the Pacific coast. The natives of that section of +the country were all in favor of Walker; that part—the +western part—is the Democratic part of the +country. On our return to Grenada, on the 11th day +of April, 1856, we went into the Battle of Rivas, after +marching sixty-five miles. We fought from eight +o'clock in the morning until two the next morning, +by the flash of guns. I lost my arm that morning; +and was promoted from the rank of sergeant to that +of first lieutenant for taking a cannon in advance of +the army. I returned to Grenada, and lay there for +several months, and then returned to America. I +went back with the re-enforcements from New York +in the following August. In October, 1856, I resigned, +and came back to America.</p> + +<p>At the breaking out of the civil war, on the first +call for troops, I refused a commission in the Federal +army, and joined the Confederate forces.</p> + +<p>In 1861 we formed the First Maryland regiment. +The last six months of the war I spent as a prisoner +in Fort Delaware, charged with the murder of the +eleven men who were killed in Baltimore during the +riot, on the 19th of April, 1861. I was court-martialed +in Washington City, in the latter part of 1864, and +was sent in irons to Fort Delaware, and remained +there until May, 1865, when I was released.<span class="pagenum">[262]</span></p> + +<p>From Fort Delaware I went to New York, and +from there went to Virginia, where I married the great +granddaughter of the illustrious patriot, Patrick Henry, +at Danville. In January, 1866, I migrated to Texas, +where I spent the little patrimony my grandfather had +given me. When I left there, I took the position of +commercial and marine editor of the Savannah <i>News</i>.</p> + +<p>I never had given a thought to religion or my +hereafter before this time. To illustrate this: When +they amputated my arm, they asked me distinctly if I +had any religion. They told me afterward they expected +me to die. I said: "Yes, I have been raised a Catholic." +They wanted to send for a priest. I said: "No, I +do not want you to send for a priest." They asked me +why? "Well," I said, "as I have lived, thus will I die; +I don't have much faith in the hereafter business." I +did not have much faith in hell, I meant.</p> + +<p>I was interested, directly and indirectly, in several +gambling establishments, and my proclivities were in +that direction. The passion of gambling controlled +me to such an extent that I was capable of all sins +and crimes to indulge in it. It was one day up, one +day down; one day with plenty, another day without +a cent.</p> + +<p>I continued in this wild, reckless career, until fate +turned my footsteps toward the city of Louisville. For +it was fate, sure enough, or I don't know what it was. +I was sitting one Sunday in front of the old Willard +Hotel, Steve Holcombe was preaching that Sunday +on the courthouse steps. His remarks were such as +to elicit my closest attention; so impressive were they +that he seemed to picture before me a panorama of<span class="pagenum">[263]</span> +my whole life, in referring to his own career. When +he got through with his sermon, I walked up to him, +and said: "Mr. Holcombe, you are the first man that I +ever heard in my life who impressed me with the +importance of preparing for death and meeting God." +I then commenced attending the Mission, on Jefferson +street, near Fifth, daily. I was there nearly every day.</p> + +<p>I then went South, to New Orleans, and fell from +grace again—commenced going through the same old +routine—gambling, drinking, spreeing. In fact, I was +a fearful periodical spreer; if I took one drink, I +had to keep drinking for a month. As long as I kept +away from it I was all right. I was very abusive when +I was drinking; I would knock a man down with a +club. I have been arrested, I guess, fifty times for +fighting and drunken brawls.</p> + +<p>From New Orleans I again came back to Louisville, +the 6th of August a year ago, still going on in +the same reckless manner, getting drunk, and being +drunk, as usual, a week at a time—sometimes a +month; in fact, I lived in bar-rooms here. One night, +while Mr. Murphy was here—I do not recollect the +night, but at one of Mr. Murphy's meetings—he appealed +to us all to try and reform and be sober men. +I met Mr. Werne and Miles Turpin there, and while +there, Mr. Werne asked me if I did not intend to +reform, or something like that—that was the substance +of the conversation of himself and his wife with me—and +he told me that Miles Turpin had reformed. I +said: "If Miles Turpin has reformed, I can, too. From +this day henceforth I will be a sober man." And I +signed the Murphy pledge a short time afterward,<span class="pagenum">[264]</span> +and I have not taken anything intoxicating from that +day to this.</p> + +<p>Mr. Werne then asked me to come up to the +Mission, and I have not missed attending this Mission +but three nights since, and the benefits that I have +derived—the satisfaction, the happiness of mind, the +contentment of spirit—I would not exchange for my +old life for anything in the world. I mean I would +not exchange my present life for the old one for any +earthly consideration. I attribute this reformation to +the strong personal interest that Mr. Holcombe has +taken in my welfare, and if he does not save but one +soul, as he says, it would pay him for all the trouble +he has gone through within the last ten years or +more.<span class="pagenum">[265]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<blockquote><p>The two following letters, though in the nature of testimonies, are from +men of high standing in the community, who preferred, on account of others, +not to give their testimonies in the form in which the foregoing are given:</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<blockquote><p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, July 24, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Rev. Gross Alexander</i>:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Brother</span>—Yours of 21st is just received. +I can not see how a sketch of my life can do "The Life +of Brother Holcombe" any good. As I understand it, +you are writing the life and conversion of Steve Holcombe +and not of others. My past history is sufficiently +sad and regretful without having it paraded +before the public in book form. I am far from being +proud of it. I am exceedingly anxious it should sink +into the shades of forgetfulness. Having marked +out a new and brighter life, I am only too glad to +let "the dead past bury its dead."</p> + +<p class="author1">Most sincerely,</p> + +<p class="author">—— ——.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Louisville, Ky.</span>, August 2, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brother Alexander</i>:</p> + +<p>Your kind letter was received several days ago, +but I have delayed answering, in the expectation of +seeing you here in person.</p> + +<p>I am now anxious for the successful issue of the +book, on account of the great moral influence it will +have upon all classes of the community. But I can +not consent to what you propose. I am endeavoring +every day to blot out and forget the dark and cloudy<span class="pagenum">[266]</span> +past of my life, keeping always a bright future in +view. There are dark and painful episodes in the +life of every man and though <i>he</i> may be willing to +expose them to the eyes of the public, there are +those who are bound to him by the ties of blood and +relationship, who would blush at the recital. This is +the position I occupy. I hope to see you here soon.</p> + +<p class="author1">Yours truly,</p> + +<p class="author">—— ——.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + + <div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo-321.jpg" width="466" height="292" alt="A NIGHT MEETING—MR. HOLCOMBE PREACHING." /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A NIGHT MEETING—MR. HOLCOMBE PREACHING.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> +<h2 id="SERMONS">SERMONS.</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[269]</span></p><p class="h4">MARK 1: 15.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe +the Gospel."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Verse 14 says, the Lord Jesus came into Galilee +preaching; and this was the announcement which He +made, namely, that the kingdom of God was at hand +and they were to enter it by repentance and faith. +The kingdom was brought to them; they did not have +to go and search for it. It was brought to them, +opened for them and they were <i>urged</i> to go in and +become members of it. And so it is now. God's messengers +are sent everywhere to find sinners, and when +they are found, to say to them: "Ho! everyone that +thirsteth, come ye to the waters and drink, come buy +and eat without money and without price" (Isaiah 55), +and to cry, "All things are now ready; come ye, therefore, +to the feast."</p> + +<p>And so it is to-day, God sends the same message +of good news, of glad tidings to you—even to you. +The kingdom of God is <i>here—here to-day and now</i>; +and if you <i>will</i>, you may enter it and be saved.</p> + +<p>But what are men told to do in order that they +may enter?</p> + +<p>How are they to enter?</p> + +<p>1. They are to <i>repent</i>.</p> + +<p>And what is it to repent?</p> + +<p>Some think that great sorrow of heart is a necessary +part of repentance; and that tears and groans of +agony must be a part of every repentance that is +genuine, and they think that unless we feel deeply +and keenly the baseness of our ingratitude to God we<span class="pagenum">[270]</span> +are not truly penitent. Now, it is true that some people +have <i>all these</i> marks of repentance, and it is very +well to have them, but some men can not have them +and never can get them. So that if all men are commanded +to repent and can repent, these things are +not an essential part of true repentance. To repent, +then, is to turn unto God with the feeling that sin is +wrong, and that, if we do not get rid of it, it will ruin +us; and with the resolution and hope, by the help of +God, to keep from sin and to live for Him during the +rest of our lives. And if our repentance is genuine, +we <i>will</i> leave off sin and practice righteousness. It +will show itself by its <i>fruits</i>. Pretending or professing +to repent without turning away from our sins and +abandoning them is, as some one has said, like trying +to pump the water out of a boat without stopping the +leaks. If you have sorrow and regrets and tears, +they are all right; but the <i>main thing</i> is to have +such a feeling concerning sin as to turn <i>forever</i> away +from it to God and to a life of righteousness. And +if your repentance is genuine, you will not wait until +you are converted before you begin to leave off all +sin and to do all the good of every kind in your +power. No; you will begin <i>at once and keep it up</i>, +and the longer you keep at it the more you will feel +that you must go on with it.</p> + +<p>2. But there is another thing to be done. The +Lord says:</p> + +<p>"Repent and <i>believe</i> the Gospel."</p> + +<p>So you are to <i>believe</i>. You are to believe that +God <i>does</i> accept you now through Jesus Christ <i>just +because He says</i> He accepts and saves those who believe<span class="pagenum">[271]</span> +in His Son. You may not receive the evidence of +acceptance <i>at once</i> and so you are to hold on by faith +till He does give you the evidence of your acceptance, +even the witness of His spirit that your sins are forgiven +and you made a child of God.</p> + +<p>You must not let the difficulty of believing without +feeling keep you back from believing and you must +not let the remembrance of your great sins keep you +from believing. Poor, unhappy men, you who are +bruised and sore on account of your sins, I beg you +cease from your evil ways. Why will you die? "What +fearful thing is there in Heaven which makes you flee +from that world? What fascinating object in hell, that +excites such frenzied exertion to break every band, +and overleap every bound, and force your way downward +to the chambers of death?" Stop, I beseech +you, and repent, and Jesus Christ shall blot out your +sins, and remember your transgressions no more. Stop, +and the host who follow your steps shall turn, and +take hold on the path of life. Stop, and the wide +waste of sin shall cease, and the song of the angels +shall be heard again, "glory to God in the highest; +on earth, peace, good will to men." Stop, and instead +of wailing with the lost, you shall join the multitude +which no man can number, in the ascription of blessing +and honor, and glory, and power, to Him that sitteth +on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and forever.</p> + +<p>The kingdom of God is here to-night. Will you +come in?</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Come humble sinner in whose breast," etc.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Come, angels invite you, we invite you, and, best of +all, Christ invites you. O, do not, by your own actions,<span class="pagenum">[272]</span> +bar this door forever against your immortal soul. +What a fearful thing it will be to wake up in eternity +to find this door, which to-day hangs wide open, barred +against you and hung with crape. O, how fearful will +be those words, too late! too late! All is lost.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Just as I am, without one plea,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But that Thy blood was shed for me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O! Lamb of God I come.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Just as I am, tho' tossed about,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With many a conflict, many a doubt,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fightings and fears within, without,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O! Lamb of God I come."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum">[273]</span></div></div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">JOHN III: 16</p> + +<blockquote><p>"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten +Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but +have everlasting life."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Many of the glorious truths of the Gospel are both +above the conception of man and altogether contrary +to what his unrenewed nature would desire to publish. +Heathen writers could tell of the cruelty and vengeful +wrath of their imaginary gods. They could tell of +deeds of daring, the exploits of Hercules, Hector, +Æneas and others; but it was foreign to their nature +to write: "God so loved the world as to give His +only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him +should not perish, but have everlasting life."</p> + +<p>1. The Gospel is glad tidings. It is the news that +God is reconciled and wants to be at peace with man. +Is this not good news? Have you never heard good +news that made your heart leap for joy? Well, this +is better news than any you have ever heard. God, +not angry with you, but loving you, so as, at a great +sacrifice, to make a way for the salvation of the world.</p> + +<p>2. What was that sacrifice? It was the gift of His +own Son. Think of it, oh sinner! God consenteth to +give up His Son, to leave His glory and come as a +stranger into the world, and to be born in great +poverty, and with all the conditions of us poor +mortals. Think of God looking down on Jesus, His +Son, living this poor earthly life, here among strangers +who did not recognize His divinity—nay, who became +jealous of Him, and persecuted Him trying to kill +him; and at last, after unheard-of tortures inflicted<span class="pagenum">[274]</span> +upon Him, did kill Him. Now, think of God giving +up His Son to endure all this, and watching all this +lonely and misunderstood and persecuted life of His +only begotten Son, watching it and enduring it for +thirty-three years, and then ask yourself how much +God sacrificed to show His love for us sinners. +Have you a son? If you have, don't you know how +it stings you deeper for a man to mistreat or strike +him than yourself? If a man should beat my little +Pearl it would be harder for me to bear than anything, +and yet this is what God endured for long +years to show His love for you and me.</p> + +<p>Think of the arrest of Jesus, His being tied, handcuffed, +beaten more than once with fearful lashes, +knocked in the face, spit on, and then nailed with +spikes to a cross with thieves, and think of God looking +at all this while it was going on, and you have +some idea of what it means when it says God <i>gave</i> +His only begotten Son.</p> + +<p>3. And the way to get this friendship of God and +profit by this love is merely to <i>believe</i> with all your +heart on Jesus. It is hard to believe that God loves, +really loves, such sinners as you are, and yet I am a +living witness that He does; for I was as bad as any +of you, and if God did not love me and take hold of +me and save me, then I don't know what has happened +to me, certain. So you must <i>believe</i> it, even if +it is hard to believe it.</p> + +<p>4. But this glad tidings is for you and you and +you—for <i>every one of you</i>. It is for <i>whosoever</i>, and +that means everybody—everybody. A certain believing +man in England said, "I rather it would <i>be whosoever</i><span class="pagenum">[275]</span> +than to have my name there. For if my name +was there, I could say there might be another man of +my name in the world, but when it says <i>whosoever, I +know it includes me</i>."</p> + +<p>5. It is to save us from <i>perishing</i>.</p> + +<p>Oh, what an awful word is that, and what an awful +thing it must be to perish. You have a taste of it +now in your sins, and their saddening, darkening, +hardening effect on you. You once had tender consciences. +You once loved things and people that +were pure and good and true, and you loved a Christian +mother, wife, father or sister; but sin has so +hardened you, that you care for none of these things +now. Is it not so? Well, this is a little taste of +what it is to finally and forever <i>perish</i>.</p> + +<p>But Christ was given that you might <i>not perish</i>. +What, can Christ save me from my hardness of heart, +from my black sins, from my uncleanness and debauchery, +and from my awful darkness of mind and conscience?</p> + +<p>Yes; He can, glory to His name. I am a living +witness. He has saved me. He can save others like +me from all these awful effects of sin, even after +they have lived in it for scores of years, as I did. +Yes, and He saves from that awful <i>perishing</i> which +comes after this little, short life is over, whatever it +is. Yes; Jesus can shut and bar the door of hell, +and no soul can enter there who believes in Him and +lives for Him.</p> + +<p>6. But He not only saves from perishing, He +gives them eternal <i>life</i>,</p> + +<p>What does that mean? Oh, I know not—only I<span class="pagenum">[276]</span> +know it means life forever without death or decay or +sickness or pain or sorrow or weakness or tiredness +or parting or fear or anxiety. But what else it +means I know not. This eternal life, this life forever +in heaven, I expect—I fully expect—to get, though +I was a poor gambler and swearer and adulterer, and +all that I could be that was sinful, for forty years. +Yes; I expect to get it. I know I am on my way +thither, though I am not perfect. Won't you come and +go with us? Oh, won't you come?<span class="pagenum">[277]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">TITUS II: 14.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us +from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, +zealous of good works."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This verse contains a comprehensive statement of +the Gospel in few words. Let us ask God that His +Holy Spirit may give us wisdom and insight to understand +and profit by what we are here told.</p> + +<p>In the first place, we are told that the ground of +our salvation is through the self-surrender of Himself +by Jesus, the Son of God.</p> + +<p>We saw, in a passage of Scripture a week or two +ago, how great the condescension of Jesus Christ was. +Though He was equal with God, yet He took upon himself +the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as +a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto +death—the death of the Cross. Our text now teaches +us what this was for. "He gave Himself <i>for us</i>."</p> + +<p>Now, I will ask you, could God show His concern +for us in a more striking and convincing way than in +the <i>giving</i> of His Son to ignominy and death? Could +Jesus, the Son of God, show His love for men in any +more convincing way than in <i>giving Himself</i> for their +recovery and salvation? Then, surely we ought to lay +aside our habitual way of thinking of God as our +enemy, and think of Him as our best friend. For no +human friend ever did for us what God has done for +us. And if we judge of one's love for us by the +sacrifices he makes for us, then must we give the +crown to Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh. +He bore our sins; He would bear our burdens, if we<span class="pagenum">[278]</span> +would throw them on Him; He would fill us with +His spirit, and with power, if we would trust Him and +believe His promise.</p> + +<p>But did He give Himself for us that we might +remain <i>in sin</i>, and yet not be punished? This is +what the Universalists say. But no! He gave Himself +for us that He might redeem us <i>from</i> iniquity, and +from <i>all</i> iniquity at that. He was manifested to deliver +us from the <i>guilt</i> of our past sins; and, second, to +deliver us from the dominion and power of sin, that +being free from sin, we might live unto God.</p> + +<p>And that man who thinks he has been pardoned +for past sins is mistaken, unless he also has been saved +from the <i>power</i> of sin, so as no longer to be led captive +by the devil.</p> + +<p>Let not what I say discourage anybody. If you +have not been saved from the power of evil and of +evil habits, you may be saved, and that here and now. +The fact is, many of us are so selfish, we just want to +be delivered from the danger, but not from the practice, +of sin. Some of us enjoy sin.</p> + +<p>If some who are here could have <i>all</i> desire for +liquor utterly taken away by raising a hand, they would, +perhaps, not raise a hand, because they love liquor too +well. If some could be utterly and forever freed from +lust by bowing their heads, they would not be willing +to bow their heads, because they find so much pleasure +in lust and in lewd thoughts, feelings and acts, that +they do not <i>desire</i> to be freed from that which gives +them this low, animal pleasure. And yet these same +men will profess to have great desires to be cleansed +from their sins. But, if you are willing, Christ is ready +and able to deliver you from all these base and beastly<span class="pagenum">[279]</span> +passions and habits. What do you say? Do you want +to be redeemed from all iniquity to-night?</p> + +<p>And when thus delivered from all iniquity, your +soul being pure will desire nothing but to do good, +and to bring other poor soiled and enslaved souls +into the same liberty and purity. Since my conversion +I have had no other desire and no other care but to do +good and save others. And that is what the text says: +"Zealous of good works."</p> + +<p>Now, you who have been saved here, I want to ask +you: What are you doing for others? If you do +<i>not</i> abound in good works, and do not try to save +others, it will be difficult or <i>impossible</i> to keep yourself +saved. Jesus said: "Every branch that beareth not +fruit He taketh away."—John <span class="smcap">XV</span>: 1. And you will +find your supply of grace running short and your faith +growing weak and tottering, if you do not make it +a point and business to do good to others—to their +bodies and their souls. What do you say? Has anybody +else heard from your lips of your great blessing +and salvation? Do you tell your family and your +friends about it? Do you tell others of their sins and +their danger? Do you pray for others? Do you give +your time (part of it at least) and your money in doing +good to others? If you do, you will find your own cup +gets fuller, your own faith stronger, your own heart +more joyful. It is God's law and God's plan that +you should give out to others. In so doing He will +increase your own supply. Do you feel your weakness? +It is right you should do so. But do the work, speak +the word, and leave it to God who giveth the increase, +and it shall abound to the salvation of others, the joy +of your heart, and the glory of His blessed name.<span class="pagenum">[280]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ISAIAH LV: 6-7.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon +Him while He is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way +and let him return unto the Lord and He will abundantly +pardon."</p></blockquote> + +<p>If a father were to write a letter to a dissipated +and rebellious son, far away from home, to persuade +him to return, and to assure him of a cordial welcome, +he could hardly fill it fuller of expressions of tenderness +and love, expressions to inspire confidence, than +the Bible is of such expressions from the great God. +This chapter contains an invitation to seek God, and a +precious promise of forgiveness to any who will do so.</p> + +<p>1. <i>Seek</i> ye the Lord.</p> + +<p>Now, you know what it means when it says <i>seek</i>. +You know what it means when a man says he is seeking +employment. He goes from place to place, from +man to man, and he does this from day to day, and +from week to week if he does not succeed; and the +reason is, there is a <i>necessity</i> upon him. He <i>must</i> +have employment, or himself and family are without +bread, without clothing, without shelter. So when we +talk about a man seeking the Lord, we mean that he +searches diligently for Him, and from day to day, and +from week to week, because there is something worse +than starvation to suffer if he does not find God. I +tell you when a man has soul-hunger, it is worse than +body-hunger if he does not find God. When a man +is sick of sin and feels his loneliness and orphanage, +and that he is without God and without hope in the +world, and that he dare not go into eternity in his<span class="pagenum">[281]</span> +condition of guilt and uncleanness, it is more fearful +than hunger of the body, and it will make him seek +for God with all his soul.</p> + +<p><i>How</i> am I to seek God? you say. Well, seek +Him by prayer. "Call upon Him," as the text says. +"Ask and it shall be given you." Go off to yourself. +Shut out everybody. Be entirely alone. Then get +down upon your knees and call upon God. Plead His +promises. Tell Him you have heard that He receives +and saves sinners, and that you are a sinner, and that +you do not mean to let Him go until He blesses you.</p> + +<p>Seek Him by reading good, religious books and +papers, and especially the Bible; and don't read any +other sort of reading unless it is necessary till you find +Him. Keep your mind on God all the time.</p> + +<p>Seek Him by going with good, Christian people, +pious, godly men and women who walk with God, no +matter what their name or denomination may be. If +you say you don't know where to find such, come to +our Mission rooms, to the Walnut-street church, to all +our meetings, preaching, prayer-meeting, Sunday-school, +class-meetings, ask us questions, use us in any way we +can help you to find God.</p> + +<p>Seeking Him by putting out of the way those things +which are <i>hindrances</i>. The text refers to this. It says, +"Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous +man his thoughts and thus let him return unto God."</p> + +<p>The forsaking of sin is the main feature of what +we call <i>repentance</i>.</p> + +<p>You can not come to God unless you come giving +up your sins entirely or crying to God for help to +give them up.<span class="pagenum">[282]</span></p> + +<p>You can, by God's grace, give up all your sins and +all your sinful and slavish habits. A proof of this is +my own deliverance from evil habits, as whisky, tobacco +and evil passions, as lewdness, licentiousness.</p> + +<p>1. You must give up sin. You can not expect to +retain it and please God or serve God. Do not question +this. You must give up sin. There is no escape. +Turn away from it with all your heart and soul.</p> + +<p>2. You must give up <i>all</i> sin, your besetting sin, the +sin that has the most power over you.</p> + +<p>3. Give up all sin <i>now</i>.</p> + +<p>Do not wait. God will help you. You know not +that you will be living to-morrow or next Sunday; +and if you are, it will not be any easier then than it +is to-day. Now is the day of salvation.</p> + +<p>4. Give up all sin, give it up <i>now</i>, and give it up +<i>forever</i>. You can not give it up for awhile and then +turn to it again. That will do you no good. You +might as well not give it up at all as to turn back +to it again.</p> + +<p>And look to God for help, for present help, for +all-sufficient strength.</p> + +<p>Tell Him by His help you mean to be His, no +matter what it costs; and believe on Jesus Christ, His +Son, as the bearer of your past sins and the giver of +the Holy Spirit, and very soon you will be happier +than the men who own these hotels and business +houses and Broadway palaces and hundreds of thousands +of dollars. Yes; you will. I know from my +experience and that of others.</p> + +<p>My text says, God will have mercy on you and +will <i>abundantly</i> pardon you.<span class="pagenum">[283]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.</p> + +<p class="h4">LUKE VIII: 5-15.</p> + +<p>Jesus may have seen a farmer sowing seed, and, +directing the attention of the people to him, uttered +this parable. He took the commonest and most +familiar facts and occurrences and made them the +means of expressing the great truths of His kingdom. +So His ministers should try to do now—teach the +truth of God in language easily understood by the +men addressed.</p> + +<p>He divides the hearers of the word into four +classes: be ready then to decide in which class <i>you</i> +are, for you are certainly in one.</p> + +<p>1. The seed which fell on the hard beaten path is +the word preached to men who do not receive any +impression at all from hearing it.</p> + +<p>They have forgotten it by the time the sound of +the preacher's voice has died away. It does not +enter their minds and produce any <i>thought</i>; nor their +hearts, and produce any <i>feeling</i>.</p> + +<p>Are there not thousands of people who go to +church, who hear preaching constantly, and yet it +produces no effect? They are no better, and <i>they do +not try to be</i>.</p> + +<p>But in the twelfth verse we find who is the cause +of this astonishing indifference and hardness—it is the +<i>devil</i> who causes them at once and forever to forget +all that is said "lest they should <i>believe</i> and <i>be saved</i>."</p> + +<p>There is an unseen adversary, then, who keeps +us from thinking about religion all he can. If you<span class="pagenum">[284]</span> +do not think about it much, that is a proof that you +are under his influence.</p> + +<p>2. The next class consists of those who from +impulse become religious without counting the cost.</p> + +<p>They do not stop to reflect that to be godly +requires self-denial, humility, patience, crucifying the +flesh with all its lusts. And so, when temptation +comes or trial, they give up in disgust. They are +like Pliable in Bunyan's Pilgrims' Progress—easily +persuaded to start on the way to heaven, but just as +easily discouraged and disgusted. There are lots of +such people now. They lack stability.</p> + +<p>3. The next class are those who hear, believe, +receive and practice the word of God—who run well +for a season, maybe for a <i>long season</i>, but are little by +little, and in an unperceived way, drawn away from +their first love, and then on to perdition.</p> + +<p>Three things are here mentioned as drawing them +gradually away from their devotion to Christ:</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) <i>Cares.</i></p> + +<p>They have so much to attend to, they do not +<i>have</i> time or <i>take</i> time for their religious duties, as +prayer, going to meetings, etc., and missing these, +they soon grow cold, and they are so occupied and +worried with the multitude of things to be attended +to, they have no <i>disposition</i> for religion. All this care +may be about things that are lawful, as making a +living, for example.</p> + +<p>(<i>b</i>) <i>Riches.</i></p> + +<p>Oh, how deceitful riches are. We think we don't +love them, but let us be asked to part with them, as +Christ asked the young man, and <i>we see</i>. John Wesley<span class="pagenum">[285]</span> +said, "As wealth increases, religion decreases," and he +was right.</p> + +<p>(<i>c.</i>) <i>Pleasure.</i></p> + +<p>The pleasure of fine, rich living, fashionable life, +fine dress, theater-going, balls, parties, flirtations, the +admiration and praise of others etc., etc.</p> + +<p>4. The last class are those who <i>count the cost</i>, go +in with their eyes open, who <i>won't</i> let cares, riches or +pleasures draw them off, but who work, and serve, +and pray with <i>patience</i> even unto the end.<span class="pagenum">[286]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">II. CORINTHIANS, II: 11.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are +not ignorant of his devices."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The New Testament everywhere teaches that there +is a personal evil spirit of wonderful cunning and +deep malignity toward God and the human race. +Hence, our conflict is not with flesh and blood; not +against our own inclinations to evil, nor against sin +in the abstract, but it is against the god of this world, +the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.</p> + +<p>Therefore, yielding to sin is no small matter, for it +is yielding to an enemy of unfathomable hatred toward +us, and of the deepest cunning, who, in everything, +has for his purpose our ruin and God's disappointment, +and who, however lightly he may let his chains lie upon +us while we are led captive by him, at his will, always +draws them so tight, when we attempt to escape from +him, that only Almighty God can break them off and +set us free.</p> + +<p>It makes a vast difference whether sin is only the +indulgence of a passion which can have no intelligent +design to damage and to ruin us, and which passes +away when it is gratified, to trouble us no more, or +whether it is the means adopted by an invisible but +awfully real and hellish foe to lure us to an unforeseen +ruin.</p> + +<p>Yes, sin is not a mere pleasure whose effects are +ended when the enjoyment is over, but it is the bait +that hides the cruel hook thrown out for us by the<span class="pagenum">[287]</span> +artful fisherman of hell. And he is all the more dangerous +because we can not see him and realize always +his ultimate purpose.</p> + +<p>The skillful fisherman keeps himself out of sight +and lets the fish see only the tempting bait, and so +the poor, deceived creature is lured by a harmless +looking pleasure on to agony and death.</p> + +<p>And Satan not only controls the world, but he +continually tempts Christians; those who have just +recently escaped out of his snares and are on their +way to heaven.</p> + +<p>And now, what are some of his devices?</p> + +<p>1. He makes a grand effort to persuade young +Christians that they have never been converted. He +almost invariably attacks them with this temptation. +He sometimes pursues them for years with this fear, +that they have never really experienced a change of +heart. And, if he succeeds in persuading them of this, +he has gained a grand point toward their fall. For to +find that one is mistaken in the belief that he has +passed from death unto life, is the most discouraging, +disheartening thing he could experience.</p> + +<p>I have known old ministers of the Gospel say that +the first thing Satan ever tempted them with was this +suggestion, that they were mistaken in believing that +they had passed through that wonderful change which +makes a sinner an heir of God, and fits him for +heaven.</p> + +<p>So, my brother, you are in the line of God's true +servants if the enemy has troubled you with this temptation. +Don't, therefore, let it discourage you. And +do not, by any means, give up to it. Say to your<span class="pagenum">[288]</span> +tempter that your Lord says he is a liar from the +beginning, and that you can not believe him, but you +prefer to believe God.</p> + +<p>And the very fact that you are strongly tempted +to believe you are not converted is one proof that you +are. For if you were really <i>not</i> converted, but still in +the flesh, the devil would tempt you to believe you +<i>were</i> converted, in order to make you rest satisfied +and deceived with your unsaved condition. As he <i>does</i> +tempt many worldly-minded church members to believe +they are changed enough to be safe, and so they rest +satisfied in their unsaved condition, and perish.</p> + +<p>So, there are many church members who become +irreconcilably offended if you dare to suggest to them +that you don't believe they are really children of God. +Their temptation then is to believe the falsehood, +that they are really converted and in a safe condition.</p> + +<p>And if a man's temptation is to believe he is <i>not</i> +converted, it is one proof that he <i>is</i> converted.</p> + +<p>Besides, if the devil tempts you to believe you are +not converted, you can cut the matter short by saying: +"Well, then, I can be in a moment. For whosoever +believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ hath everlasting +life, and I do here and now believe on Him, and will +hold on to Him by faith in spite of earth and hell." +Old Brother Bottomly, a preacher in the Louisville +Conference, was tempted to doubt his conversion the +night after it occurred, as he was lying on his bed. He +recognized Satan at once as the author of his temptation, +and he said: "Well, Satan, if I have not been +converted, as you say, I will be." And he got out of +his bed, and down on his knees, and he gave himself<span class="pagenum">[289]</span> +to God, and he believed on Jesus, and prayed, and +soon he was rejoicing in full assurance, and the devil +fled away out of hearing with his harassing temptation.</p> + +<p>2. He tries to make them believe and feel, after +the glow of the first love has subsided a little, that the +service of God is hard and trying, and that it has +nothing in it to satisfy the heart and to compensate for +the pleasure of sin, which they have given up.</p> + +<p>And if you begin to yield and to slacken your +earnestness or zeal, he gets a great advantage and +you lose the joy of religion by letting yourself lag +away at a doubting distance from Christ, and then it +does seem like the devil is telling the truth, because +you don't keep close enough to Christ and put soul +and will enough into His service to get the joy of it. +Christ says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is +light." And if your heart or your enemy says the contrary, +tell them that they are false.</p> + +<p>But don't allow yourself to be tempted to try if +you can not find an easy way to heaven. It will get +sweet and easy by a patient and whole-souled perseverance +in it, but <i>not</i> by slackening your carefulness +and experimenting with worldly pleasure to see how +far you can go therein.</p> + +<p>3. But his grand scheme for ruining young Christians, +and the one he generally succeeds with, is the +suggestion that there is no need of being so particular +and so regular in everything and so rigid in the performance +of duty and in the avoiding of all appearances +of evil.</p> + +<p>In other words, a sort of reaction comes, and a +dangerous thing it often proves to be. Now, the temptation<span class="pagenum">[290]</span> +is to give up the regular and rigid performance +of duty because you don't <i>feel</i> as much like doing it +as you did at first, or because some of your well-meaning, +but unrenewed, friends say they can't see +the need of being so particular and strict. There's +no use of going to prayer-meeting every time, no use +going to church twice every Sunday, no use having +prayer at home every day, etc.</p> + +<p>But if you miss any duty once it will be much +easier to miss it the second time and you will be much +more likely to neglect it again. And you can't afford +to take such a dangerous risk in so important a matter.</p> + +<p>And then we begin to think that there is no use +being so particular about abstaining from the very +beginnings of evil, or else we persuade ourselves that +we have grown so strong and have been so changed +we can be men now and enjoy things in moderation +which formerly we could not use without going to +excess.</p> + +<p>Ah, brother, you are walking right into one of +Satan's unseen traps. O, beware! For your happiness' +sake, beware! for your family's sake, beware! +Satan says, "It's no harm to take a dram if you don't +get drunk; no harm to go to the race track if you +don't bet; no harm to go to the ball-room if you +don't dance," etc.</p> + +<p>But we know that even in case of a youth who has +never been in the habit of indulging in sins, they have +a growing charm and power over him if he yields +once or twice; how much greater the danger for one +who has been the slave of these sins and has only +recently broken off from them!<span class="pagenum">[291]</span></p> + +<p>I heard a recently converted man say to a friend +who was starting away on a trip, "Dunc, don't let +the devil say to you 'Now, just take one drink and +then stop.' For I tell you, if you take one drink you +are gone." Now, this man understood the case and +the danger.</p> + +<p>There is no possibility of compromise. No possible +middle ground in these things, especially for us +who were once the slaves of our evil passions.</p> + +<p>I have heard of a man who <i>for years</i> had abstained +from drinking and his father, thinking he was safe, +invited him to drink toddies with him. The son did +so, and he went back to his old habit of drunkenness, +had delirium tremens, forced his wife to get a divorce +and brought distress and disgrace and anguish on his +family as well as himself. That was a Mr. D., who +has several times been to our Mission.</p> + +<p>So, my brother, though you may think you would be +safe to trifle with sin, and try to practice moderation, +it is such an awful, awful risk you had better not +make the experiment. Remember, it is only the bait +of Satan to lure you to certain ruin.</p> + +<p>For your sake, for your father's sake, for your +mother's sake, for your wife's sake, for your children's +sake, for Christ's sake, don't do it.<span class="pagenum">[292]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">COMPARISON OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED.</p> + +<p class="h4">PSALM I: 1-2.</p> + +<p>All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and +hence it is profitable for instruction and assistance to +those who will attentively consider it. This Psalm is +a part of the Scripture, and we may expect to find it +instructive and helpful. It contains a description of +the righteous man.</p> + +<p>1. It tells what he does <i>not</i> do. He does not +walk in the counsel of the ungodly. This is the +beginning of an evil life—to go among those who are +ungodly and to listen to their opinions and views and +counsels. There is no sin, our evil hearts suggest to +us, in merely going with worldly people, if we do not +pattern after their ways and do as they do. We can +go with them and yet not do as they do. But the +history, the sad history, of many a struggling soul, +shows that this is a great mistake. We can't go +with bad associates and not be harmed by them. The +very fact that we want to go with wicked people +shows that there is in us an inclination toward sin +which is dangerous, and which ought to be severely +watched and kept down rather than encouraged. +More men have been ruined by their associations than +by any other one cause. And let me say by way of +warning that if any of you, my friends, are purposing +and trying to lead a new life, you will have to give +up the associations of your old life and choose new +ones, as I had to do, and did do.<span class="pagenum">[293]</span></p> + +<p>But did you observe the word <i>walk</i> here in this +verse? That word is intended to show that in the +first part of a sinful life there is restlessness and +uneasiness. The man who is just beginning to sin +against light and conscience and God is uneasy about +it. He can not be still. It is something new and +strange, and his conscience rises up against his +conduct; and till he goes on to the deadening of +his conscience, it gives him distress and anxiety.</p> + +<p>But it says, the good man does not "stand in the +way of sinners." This is the second stage. When +a man passes through the first stage and gets to this +second one, then he not only listens to the conversation +and counsel of those who are ungodly—that is, +who make no professions of religion—but he goes +now with open <i>sinners, in the way</i> with evil doers, +violators of law, criminals against God and man. +And now observe he takes a "<i>stand</i>." It is no +longer "walk," for the restlessness and uneasiness +have about passed away, and he takes a deliberate +<i>stand</i> among wicked men, who do not fear to commit +any sort of crime. And, my young friend, this is +always the way with sin. It grows upon a man; +and before he is aware of it, he has grown +fond of it, sees no evil or danger in it, and deliberately +chooses it as his course of life. Beware, then, +of <i>beginning</i> in the way of evil.</p> + +<p>But it says, in the third place, that he does not +"sit in the seat of the scornful." Ah, here we have +the third stage of the downward course of sin. First, +there was a restlessness in even associating with +ungodly people; second, a deliberate stand among<span class="pagenum">[294]</span> +sinners, evil doers, as one of their number; and now +it is <i>sitting down</i> in the seat of the <i>scornful</i>. When +men have silenced the voice of conscience, and spent +years in the practice of evil, they come at last to +lose faith in everything—in God, in man, in virtue, +in goodness; and they become cold and sneering +scorners of everything that is called good. Have +you not known men who have gone through this +downward road? Nay, do you not know now some +who are traveling this ruinous pathway? I have +known young men to go among gamblers just to +<i>look on</i>. They would have <i>feared</i> to touch the +implements of sin, but they became familiarized with +the sight, and then took part; and from bad to worse, +have gone on and on, till it makes me shudder to +know what they are to-day. I tell you, my friends, +the course of sin is down, down, down. You may as +soon expect to get in a boat on the current of +Niagara above the falls and stand still, as to expect +that you can launch yourself on the current of sin +and not go down toward swift and certain ruin. +Beware then! Hear the voice of warning before +you have gone too far ever to return.</p> + +<p>2. In the next place, this Psalm tells what a <i>good</i> +man does. His delight is in the law of the Lord. +He is satisfied that in sin there is only ruin; and +turning with fear and dread away from sin, he yearns +to find God, who alone can deliver him from sin and +keep him from it and furnish him a satisfying portion +instead of it.</p> + +<p>But where can we find God, and how? Not +in nature; for there is nothing clear enough in nature<span class="pagenum">[295]</span> +to teach anything about God or how to come to +His presence. But he can expect to find God in +that revelation which God has made of Himself in His +word. So he goes to that, and he finds there encouragement +and instruction and tender invitations and +promises of mercy and help; and the more he seeks +the more he finds to draw him on, to satisfy his yearning +heart and to charm his poor soul away from the +love of sin. As he practices what he finds in God's +word, he realizes the blessedness of it. It brings +peace, purity, deliverance from darkness, uncertainty +and fear; and so he longs to know more and more +of it and he studies into it. Do you know that to +one whose heart is changed the word of God is like a +whole California of gold mines? He is <i>always</i> finding +treasures there. Every time he reads it there is +something new and rich and blessed. The deepest +and most devout students of God's word say that +there is no end to its wealth of instruction and consolation. +If you want to know God and His salvation, +you ought to set apart a certain time <i>every day</i> +to prayerfully read and study into His word, always +asking His guidance and help.</p> + +<p>And it will soon come to pass that, as the text +says, you will "<i>delight</i> in the law of God." Do you +ever deliberately, carefully, studiously, humbly and +prayerfully read the Bible? You say, "No." Then +how can you expect to know anything of God? How +can a physician know anything of the nature of the +human body unless he studies into it? And how can +you know anything of God and His wonderful mercy +unless you go and search where God has revealed<span class="pagenum">[296]</span> +this for man? There are some men who will not +read the Bible because they can't understand it. Of +course they can't understand it all, but, if they can +understand one verse in a chapter, let them take that +and study on it and believe it, and keep reading, +and soon more and more will open out to their understanding, +and it will be a constant surprise and delight +to find the undreamed-of beauties and comforts of the +word of God. Promise God now that you will <i>patiently</i> +read some every day. You will then find your desire +for sin and sinful associations leaving you.<span class="pagenum">[297]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">PSALM I: 3-6.</p> + +<p>We propose to-day a continuance of the study of +the first Psalm, which we begun Sunday last. Then +we saw the downward course of sin and of the sinner, +and of the great transformation of the nature of men +when they are converted or become righteous.</p> + +<p>And now the inspired writer goes on to speak +of the fruitfulness of such men. "He shall be like +a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth +forth its fruit in its season." You know a tree planted +by a river draws moisture from below, and does not +depend on the uncertain rains that may or may not +come. And so in time of drought it shall bear its +fruit at its proper season.</p> + +<p>So the man who is born of God, whose nature is +transformed and made holy, is fruitful in good deeds, +in benevolent works. Having himself been translated +from the kingdom of darkness into the light, he has +a desire, a strong desire, an unquenchable desire, that +all others should know the same happiness, and he +works by all means to persuade them, to get their +good will and their confidence. He will feed and +clothe them, take them up out of filth and rags and +reclothe them and befriend them (as we are trying to +do at the Mission) in order to get their good will +and direct them to Christ.</p> + +<p>Not only so, but when a man has truly the Spirit +of God, he has an inexpressible pity for his poor +brother mortals, and a tender sympathy for their sufferings +and sorrows. His heart is a fountain of compassion<span class="pagenum">[298]</span> +for those who are in distress; and this leads him +to labor that he may in some way, and in all possible +ways, bring them relief and comfort.</p> + +<p>And, as the tree on the river is supplied with +moisture from an unseen source, and without the +showers, so the man whose heart is in communion +with God never suffers a drought. When the benevolence +of worldly men fails, his goes on and never +fails. Men wonder that he does not get tired or grow +weary or disappointed and discouraged. But no! he +never does. His zeal not depending on changing +influences from without, but supplied from an unseen +and never-failing source—that is, God—never gives out. +So he is always bearing fruit. Other men may be cold +and selfish, and panics and famines may shut up their +feelings of sympathy, but the man of God goes on +working and bearing fruit in panics and famines, in +cold and hot, in wet and dry, in plenty or in poverty, +always and ever.</p> + +<p>"<i>The ungodly are not so.</i>" No; the ungodly +greedily devour all they can get, and crave all they +can't get. They want selfish pleasure no matter +what sacrifice or pain it may cost others. They want +the property of other people, though it leave a +widow in poverty and orphans in want. They want +honor and promotion and fame, if it be built on +the downfall of their neighbors and fellows. They +want the passing animal pleasure of licentiousness, +if it blight the life and ruin the soul of an innocent +being and turn a happy home into a very hell of +anguish. Self! Self! Self! always and ever! and +if there be some semblance of benevolence, it is for<span class="pagenum">[299]</span> +the higher selfishness of getting the honor that men +bestow on charity, or to appease an angry and tormenting +conscience, that lashes them with fury for +their misdeeds done in secret.</p> + +<p>"The ungodly are like the chaff." They have no +stability, no steadfastness, no fixed purpose or plan in +life—nothing to tie to; and so they are the victims of +circumstances and changes and moods and tempers, and +are driven hither and thither by every passing breeze.</p> + +<p>How I do pity the poor man who does not know +or care what he is living for, and just pursues every +day what <i>happens</i> to take his mind for that day.</p> + +<p>And because the ungodly are not steadfast and +fixed in their devotion to God, neither shall they be +able to <i>stand</i> in the <i>judgment</i>.</p> + +<p>Then, there is a judgment coming, is there? Oh, +yes! All these things that men are doing are not +done and then put away forever and forgotten. No! +no! no! they are all to be brought into review again +and exposed before God and all men assembled in +judgment. All the midnight meanness you have +done will then be brought to light. Where were you +last night? What were you doing?</p> + +<p>How would you like for me to tell right here before +all this crowd all the mean and filthy things you have +done in the last week and kept them hidden from +father, mother, wife, children and every other mortal +except the accomplices of your guilt and shame? +Ah! you could not <i>stand</i>; no, you could not <i>stand</i>.</p> + +<p>Then, how do you expect to stand when God is +reciting to you all the misdoings of all the midnights +of your whole lives before your father, mother, sisters, +wife, neighbors and all the world?<span class="pagenum">[300]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">GOD'S LOVE FOR SINNERS.</p> + +<p class="h4">ROMANS V: 8.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"But God commendeth His love for us in that while we +were yet sinners, Christ died for us."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There are many of us who <i>feel</i> that we are <i>sinners</i>, +who know it, and who do not want any proof of it; but +we can't be persuaded to believe that God has any +love for us or interest in us. We have gotten to be +such wicked sinners that maybe our friends have forsaken +us, and we can not believe that God has any +feeling of tenderness for us. We are willing to admit +that God loves good people, those who are obedient, +and that if <i>we</i> were good, He would <i>then</i> love us; but +as it is, He can not love us, and there is no reason +why He should love us. And then we go back and try +to call up all our sins; all the times when we rejected +Christ and the truth, and we find plenty of arguments +to prove that God does not love us.</p> + +<p>But stop! You are judging the great God by yourself. +You know you would not love one who would +have treated you as you have treated God, and so you +conclude He does not love you. You find it <i>exceedingly</i> +hard to believe in the love of God. This is one of the +sad effects of sin. It darkens our hearts and separates +us far, far from God, so that when we come to feel our +need of Him we have no confidence that He will accept +us or help us.</p> + +<p>Besides, by your long service of sin, you have put +yourself in the power of an enemy who makes it as difficult +as possible for you to <i>believe</i> in God's love for you.<span class="pagenum">[301]</span></p> + +<p>But I come to you to-day with a declaration and +assurance from God's own word, that though you have +been a sinner all your life, and still feel that you are +the greatest of sinners, the great God loves you with +a true, deep, warm and yearning love.</p> + +<p>The great proof of it is the life and death of Jesus +Christ, His Son.</p> + +<p>Have you read about it in the Gospel?</p> + +<p>Ah, if you had, and had seen Him delighting to be +with the poor and the outcast, eating with them, +choosing them for His friends, speaking words of +heavenly cheer to them, pronouncing their sins forgiven +and promising them heaven, then you would be +moved and attracted and convinced. And then if you +had read the pathetic story of His awful sufferings +and death, and had reflected that "He was wounded +for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; +all we like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord +hath laid on Him the iniquity of us <i>all</i>," then hope +would begin to dawn in your breast, and faith in His +love would not be so difficult. But you have neglected +to read and reflect about it, and so I am come to bring +the glad tidings to you where you are, and to beg you +to believe it for your own sake.</p> + +<p>And now, here are some of the ways God has taken +to tell you of His love: Psalm ciii., 13; Isaiah xlix., +15; Luke xi., 13; Luke xviii., 13, 14; Luke xv., 7, 10; +Prodigal Son; Luke vii., 36 to end.</p> + +<p>"I came not to call the righteous but <i>sinners</i> to +repentance."</p> + +<p>Why does God, in so many ways, express His love +for sinners?<span class="pagenum">[302]</span></p> + +<p>Because He wants to touch their hearts and melt +them by tenderness.</p> + +<p>A father whose son had gone away to California, +and was a gambler in San Francisco, sent him word +by a friend: "Your father loves you still." And it +made him ashamed; it broke his heart; he repented, +returned home and was saved.</p> + +<p>So God sends me to-day to say to you: "Your +Father loves you still." Will you not believe it and +come to Him for safety? He will not abuse you for +your sins; He will save you from your sins, and make +you as happy as you were when you were little children +at your mother's knee.</p> + +<p>You know it is true that parents are more troubled +about a wandering boy, and take more pains with him +than with the good boys, and think more about him +and pray more for him, because he is in danger and +must be rescued or perish. So it is with God. Because +you are lost, away from Him, on the road to ruin, He +sends after you and He begs you to be reconciled.<span class="pagenum">[303]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">GODLINESS PROFITABLE FOR THIS LIFE.</p> + +<p class="h4">I. TIMOTHY IV: 8.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"But godliness is profitable unto all things having the +promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There are not many who think this. Nearly everybody +admits that religion is a good thing to have +when he is about to die and to enter upon the future +life; and all men, however hardened in vice, wickedness +and crime, have a sure expectation and firm intention +of making some preparation for death and what +may follow death. They fully intend to make amends +to conscience for the violations of it, of which they +have been guilty.</p> + +<p>There are men here to-day who know that this is +true of themselves, who feel that the coffin and the +grave and the unknown future beyond are the most +fearful of realities, and who are firmly persuaded that +a day of reckoning is coming, maybe slowly, but +surely, and they do mean to make peace in some way +with conscience before that time draws near. And so +I say all men agree that religion is good for death +and what is to follow; but how it can be an advantage +to one in <i>this life</i>, they can not see.</p> + +<p>1. But godliness is a help to a man in making a living.</p> + +<p>If a man is honest, industrious, faithful and conscientious, +he will be in demand. Such men are always +in demand; and, when they are known, can get employment +and can keep employment; but a man who is +a true Christian, <i>is</i> honest, industrious, careful, temperate, +trustworthy and conscientious, because he works<span class="pagenum">[304]</span> +and lives not to please men but God. Hence, such +a one is always wanted. Employers, rather than give +up such men, will increase their salaries and offer them +extra inducements. A Main-street merchant found he +could not do without Willie Holcombe conveniently, so +he raised his salary twenty dollars a month rather than +lose him.</p> + +<p>And, even if they are among strangers, and not +known, yet God will turn the hearts of strangers toward +them, as he turned the heart of the prison-keeper in +Egypt toward Joseph. And when they have a chance +to <i>try</i> and to show their value, their employers will +not give them up.</p> + +<p>But then if a man is in business for himself, he +will get a large custom if people find out that he +does business as a Christian—that is, he does not +charge an unjust and exorbitant price, his goods are +only what he says they are, he gives full and honest +measure, his word can be trusted, he will correct +mistakes and take back an article if it is found not +to be good. Show people such a man and they will +all want to patronize him. William Kendrick was such +a man here in Louisville.</p> + +<p>The Christian man has the <i>promise of God</i> that +he shall be provided for—Matthew vi.: 32, 33—while +the godless man has no such assurances at all.</p> + +<p>2. But religion keeps a man from those vices +which destroy the health—as dissipation, debauchery, +intemperance, etc.—and health is one of the chief elements +in human happiness.</p> + +<p>3. Religion keeps men also from those crimes which +bring men into ruin and disgrace and bitter remorse.<span class="pagenum">[305]</span></p> + +<p>Many a man has come to the jail or penitentiary or +gallows who would have escaped it all if he had had +religion to protect and shield and restrain and assist +him. And many a good and happy man there is +who might have been a guilty criminal and a wretched +convict but for the grace of God and the lessons and +blessings of true religion. He might gradually have +been led off and on and on till he would have +become capable of committing any crime.</p> + +<p>I might have been a drunkard or a murderer still, +if God had not changed my heart and helped me +mightily and constantly by His grace.</p> + +<p>4. But religion takes away the fear of death and +the dread of the future and gives inward and constant +peace—a heart happiness which poverty and disappointment +and trials can not destroy. And nothing +else can do this but true religion.</p> + +<p>5. Religion can release a man from the power of +those evil habits which make a man's life miserable—from +acquired appetites, as drinking, opium eating, +debauchery, licentiousness, swearing, gambling and even +from tobacco.</p> + +<p>6. Religion makes a good father, a good mother, a +good husband, a good wife, good children, it makes +the family happy, and the home bright, cheerful, +joyous.</p> + +<p>7. It makes a man a good citizen. So he can get +along in peace with his neighbors and even become +a peace-maker among them when they quarrel.</p> + +<p>Thus have I tried to show you that, regardless of +the future, godliness is profitable for this life. But if<span class="pagenum">[306]</span> +this were not so, if the life of a Christian were an +uninterrupted experience of pains and disappointments +and sorrows, yet, in view of the interests of the +soul, and the possibilities of the future, and the length +of eternity, it would be the highest wisdom to cheerfully +accept all these and endure them to the bitter +end, in order to depart out of this world with a +peaceful and unaccusing conscience and a sure preparation +for heaven.</p> + +<p>O man, what will you do with eternity, <i>eternity</i>, if +you go thither unprepared? Did you ever try to +think of eternity? As John Wesley says, "If a bird +were to come once in a million of years and take +away one grain of the earth, when it had taken the +whole earth away, that would not be eternity, nor the +beginning of eternity." And it is certain that eternity +is the period of the desolation and confusion and +remorse and suffering of the lost.</p> + +<p>8. But even if we had to live in misery all this +life, it would be better to do it and have religion; for +it alone fits us for happiness in the life to come.</p> + +<p>Take away property, comforts, friends, family, reputation, +health, but give me religion, and I shall have +a passport into the kingdom of heaven and an eternity +of rest and blessedness.</p> + +<p>O then, come to Jesus Christ and have all these +things and heaven beside.<span class="pagenum">[307]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">PROVERBS XII: 15.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The way of transgressors is hard."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Our friend's career affords a striking example of +the truth of the text. Most people do not think the text is +true. But the Bible reverses nearly all of our notions +about things, and when, in the light of experience and +honest thought, we come to examine the Bible, we find +it contains the truth on all subjects. The natural +effects of a life of sin are injurious and destructive in +every particular.</p> + +<p>1. In the first place, vice destroys health. If a +man indulges in gluttony, he brings on dyspepsia +with its accompanying pains and distress and torture. +All this is increased by a life of idleness, laziness and +inactivity. If he indulges in intemperance, he soon +becomes a wretched slave, and is consumed by inward +fires till delirium tremens ends the miserable career. +If he indulges in sensuality, he is likely to contract +loathsome and painful diseases—diseases which make +life a burden that can hardly be borne; diseases +which poison the blood and can not, by any art or +remedy, be expelled from the system, but which are +transmitted to the innocent offspring, if there be any.</p> + +<p>2. It brings disgrace and drives away friends who +would otherwise rally around and help. This poor +man spent two terms in the penitentiary, lost all his +friends, and had to go to a <i>hospital</i> to die!</p> + +<p>3. In destroying one's good name and alienating +one's friends, it becomes the cause of poverty and +want.<span class="pagenum">[308]</span></p> + +<p>4. It destroys the happiness of families, and in +this way adds to the wretchedness of the one who does +all this mischief and damage.</p> + +<p>5. It often produces insanity.</p> + +<p>6. It produces remorse, uneasiness of mind, shame, +hatred of self.</p> + +<p>7. It is what makes men shudder and shiver like +convicts under the gallows, when they think of death +and come near death. My own fear of death was +something terrible.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The sting of death is sin."</p></blockquote> + +<p>8. But this fear of death, this awful lashing of +conscience on the verge of the grave, is but the intimation +and the beginning of those awful experiences +in the future world which the Bible describes in words +of such dark and fearful import.</p> + +<p>But there is a remedy for sin, there is a fountain +opened in the house of King David for sin and uncleanness. +Yes</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"There is a fountain filled with blood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Drawn from Immanuel's veins,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sinners plunged beneath that flood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lose all their guilty stains.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The dying thief rejoiced to see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That fountain in his day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And there may <i>you</i>, though vile as he,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wash all your sins away."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And beside that, when He gives salvation from +the guilt of sin, He sends, also, the power to keep +you from sin in the future. It is a full salvation and +a <i>free</i> salvation.</p> + +<p>How much better to accept Christ while you are +in health and let your life of holiness and purity and<span class="pagenum">[309]</span> +devotion <i>prove</i> that the work is a genuine work and that +you really have been saved. I have almost <i>no</i> faith +in death-bed repentances and conversions. Hardly one +in a hundred is genuine. And then there is no way +of testing the genuineness of it; but if you turn to +Christ <i>now</i> you can have time and opportunity to +exemplify and manifest the fruits of regeneration in +your life. Christ has power to forgive sins, to give +peace and to keep from sin and sinful habits. An +experience of five years on my part enables me to +speak boldly and confidently on this point. God grant +some of you may turn to Him to-day.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—This was delivered at the funeral of some man who died +unsaved in a hospital. Mr. Holcombe is frequently called on to officiate +at the funeral of such men, and of gamblers, and of strangers and unknown +persons.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[310]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ROMANS XIV: 17.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but +righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."</p></blockquote> + +<p>We heard some time ago of the coming of the kingdom +of heaven. Christ, at His coming, brought it +near and proclaimed it to the people. At the time +when our text was written, the kingdom had been set +up, established among men, and many, very many, had +entered into it. And now, St. Paul, finding that some +of these had fallen into wrong notions as to what constituted +citizenship in that kingdom, corrects these +wrong notions, and sets before them the right and +proper notions about the matter.</p> + +<p>1. In the first place, he tells them that religion +does <i>not</i> consist in certain things. They had gotten +into the notion that they must, as a matter of great +importance, attend to certain outward things. But it +is not so. They thought, as the Jews, from whose +nation Jesus, the founder of the kingdom, arose, observed +certain customs as to eating and drinking and +keeping certain seasons and days, they also had to +do the same; and gradually they allowed these outward +things to become more important to them than the +inward spiritual life.</p> + +<p>So now we (or some of us) have fallen into the +notion that religion consists in certain outward things.</p> + +<p>There are those who believe that it consists in +connecting one's self with some certain church, and +that the sanctity and virtue of that church will be imparted +to them as members, and they will be saved. +But this is not true.<span class="pagenum">[311]</span></p> + +<p>Again, there are some who believe that some outward +ceremony, and especially that of baptism by the +proper authorities and in the proper mode, will procure +salvation, and that it constitutes a man a member of +the kingdom of heaven.</p> + +<p>Again, some think their own morality and effort +to do and live justly will give them a place among +those who are in the pale of the kingdom, forgetting +that God, Himself, says that the righteousness +of us miserable sinners is but as filthy rags in His +sight.</p> + +<p>And there are many, very many, who think that if +they are decent in their outward lives and attend the +services of the house of God and contribute to the +support of His church, they do all any man can require +of them, and that, therefore, they may claim that they +are also fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household +of faith.</p> + +<p>But no, none of these outward things can make a +man a new creature. He may comply with any one +or all of these, and yet be really a bad man at heart, +a rebel against God and His government. And the +fact that there are many such in the church calling +themselves Christians and performing the outward +duties of religion, while those who see them every +day and know their private walk see that they are not +really better than many outsiders, is a great stumbling-block +to serious and honest inquirers outside of the +church. We admit it, and we are sorry for it, though, +of course, it is no valid excuse for them, and will not +stand in the trying hour of death or the ordeal of the +judgment. But I want to say to you to-day, no matter<span class="pagenum">[312]</span> +who it is, if they have no more than a performance of +outward duties, ceremonies and services, they <i>are not</i> +members of the kingdom of God.</p> + +<p>2. But, in the second place, the Apostle does tell +us what true religion consists in, in the latter part of +the text. "It is righteousness and joy and peace in the +Holy Ghost."</p> + +<p>And, first, it is <i>righteousness</i>.</p> + +<p>In another place it is said that, "The wisdom that +cometh from above is first <i>pure</i>."</p> + +<p>The object and aim of the Christian religion is to +make men holy. That is <i>first</i>. The righteousness +mentioned in the text is put first—before the joy and +peace. And this is what the world demands of people +who profess to be Christians, no less than God's law +demands it. The world has no use or respect for +Christians who are not righteous or for a Christianity +that does not make men righteous.</p> + +<p>When God comes into a human heart, He comes +with power, with the power of God, and that is greater +than all other power, and before it all opposing forces +fall. The sins of men, such as avarice, or love of +money; the lust of the flesh, such as gluttony, licentiousness, +the hatred of fellowmen and the hatred of +God, all these are broken and driven out when the +spirit and power of God come in. There is not only +this demand of God, then, for righteousness, but also +ample supply of strength to meet it, and to meet it +fully. Come, then, to God, you who are in bondage +to evil habits, and who have striven in vain to deliver +yourselves. You can not retain your evil practices +and be a child of God. His first demand, His imperative<span class="pagenum">[313]</span> +demand, is righteousness, and if you have the <i>will</i> +He gives the <i>grace</i> to attain it.</p> + +<p>But this is not all. When you believe with your +heart in Christ, the Holy Ghost is given you, and +He brings, with the righteousness and holiness which +God requires, also joy and peace. Yes, when you +surrender to Christ, He makes you happy.<span class="pagenum">[314]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">MATTHEW XI: 28.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and +I will give you rest."</p></blockquote> + +<p>1. The cry of all hearts is for rest, for contentment. +Not only does the heart of humanity cry out for rest, +rest, rest; their busy and tired hands and feet <i>toil</i> for +it day and night, year in and year out.</p> + +<p>It is for this that men labor through the days and +weeks of summer's heat and expose themselves to +the severities of winter's cold.</p> + +<p>It is for this that they plow and sow and reap +and gather into barns.</p> + +<p>It is for this that they blow the bellows and swing +the heavy hammers from morn until night.</p> + +<p>It is for this they buy and sell and buy again to +sell again.</p> + +<p>It is for this that men will spend years of toil in +schools and colleges, burning the midnight lamp till +the eye is heavy and the brain is tired.</p> + +<p>It is for this that they will leave wife and children to +try their fortunes in some distant California or Australia.</p> + +<p>It is for this they will abandon their homes in time +of war to brave the dangers of the battle-field.</p> + +<p>It is for this that they will worry away the hours +of night in games to get each other's money.</p> + +<p>It is for this they will devise schemes and lay plans +to entrap their fellows, some times going to the length +of committing murder.</p> + +<p>It is for this that women will toil with the needle +and bend over the sewing machine.<span class="pagenum">[315]</span></p> + +<p>It is for this they will stand for weary hours behind +counters measuring off goods or waiting for customers +to buy.</p> + +<p>It is for this that they work over the hot stove +or wear out their hands in the wash-tub.</p> + +<p>Yes, it is for this that some of them, weary of +work-life, will venture on the slippery paths of pleasure, +turn their thoughts toward the gilded chambers +of licentiousness, sell virtue and abandon home and +family to go in the ways that in the end take hold +on death and hell.</p> + +<p>We are a race of <i>toilers</i>. All over the world it +is the same. We see it here in Louisville, It is work, +work, work, go, go, go.</p> + +<p>And are we happy? Have we rest?</p> + +<p>But not only are we toiling, some in one way, +some in another; some by innocent means, some by +wicked means; some by what does no harm to ourselves +or our neighbor, and some by what does harm +to both, in order to obtain rest and happiness; it is +also true that most of us are heavy laden, oppressed +and saddened beneath burdens that we can not shake +off, can not get rid of.</p> + +<p>Some of us are bowed down under our poverty. +No good house to live in, no comfortable home to +turn into after the battles and toils of outside life, +no comfortable shelter for our families. No assurance +as to where we are to get to-morrow's bread. No +comfortable and respectable clothes to wear, and, of +course, no friends. For when a poor fellow gets poor +and shabby, his friends drop off and pass by on the +other side. No friends, none of that sympathy and<span class="pagenum">[316]</span> +communion of friendship which all human hearts so +crave and which they find to be the best part of what +this life can give.</p> + +<p>Yes; some of us have this burden to bear. And +then some of us are bowed down beneath some great +sorrow, which may be one thing in one case and +another in another. In some cases it is domestic +trouble, continual jars and broils in the family, no +peace, no quiet, no love. Ah, if we could see into all +the homes in this city, I fear we should find in many +of them family trouble of some sort. Or it may be +some dear one of yours is given to drink or to gambling +and is wearing out his life as fast as vice can eat +it away, with no hope beyond the grave.</p> + +<p>Ah, yes; no doubt some of <i>you</i> are yourselves the +slaves of evil habits which you hate and would do anything +to break off. You have tried by resolving and +promising and all to no purpose; you have felt ashamed +and degraded because you had no power to do what +you felt you ought to do and what you knew would +be infinitely better for you.</p> + +<p>Do you not know men who would willingly give a +right arm for deliverance from some degrading and +ruinous habit? But giving a right arm avails nothing, +nor any human effort or means.</p> + +<p>Then, again, some of you are bowed down by the +recollection of your past life and its dissipation and +crimes.</p> + +<p>You may have mistreated father, mother, sister, +and may have broken hearts by your cruelty that +would gladly have bled for you. You may have crushed +a loving and faithful wife by your selfishness and your<span class="pagenum">[317]</span> +brutality and heartlessness. You may have driven your +children to desperation and crime by your coldness and +hardness to them.</p> + +<p>And may be some life, innocent until you came +upon it with your hellish art, has been corrupted and +embittered and darkened by your base passions and +lusts.</p> + +<p>May be your hands have gone to that last extreme +of human crime and have deprived a fellowman of +life. And, oh, if any of these things be true, what +must be the burden of remorse, remorse, remorse, that +weighs upon your heart.</p> + +<p>But you are the very ones whom Jesus addresses +and invites in this tender appeal. Do you believe it?</p> + +<p>2. In the second place, consider who it is that offers +you rest. It is one who knows you and who knows +what you need and one who has all power in heaven +and in earth to give what you need.</p> + +<p>3. Lastly, consider what this rest means which Jesus +offers to you burdened and toiling ones.</p> + +<p>1. It is rest from sin, both its guilt and power.</p> + +<p>2. It is rest from all care. For He has said, we +should cast all our care upon Him because He cares +for us.<span class="pagenum">[318]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">MATTHEW V: 3.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of +heaven."</p></blockquote> + +<p>These words, as you know, are the beginning of +the Sermon on the Mount as it is called. This Sermon +on the Mount is the full exposition of the character of +those who are members of Christ's kingdom. It is +one of the most important parts of the Bible. At the +time of Christ there were in the world many teachers +and many schools of philosophy all trying to find +what was best for men; or, thinking they had found it, +were teaching their views to others. But, of course, +none of them knew the truth and nearly every one +taught a different thing from the others. There was +no certainty. It all seemed like guess-work, and +while the philosophers were guessing at what was +best for men or trying to prove the views of each +other to be false, the poor people were perishing in +uncertainty and ignorance. But into this age of +uncertainty and darkness and hunger, there came a +Teacher from God Himself, who knew all things and +who could without arguing or guessing tell with +authority the simple and certain truth. What then +does the Teacher say? He does not say that blessedness +consists in any certain kind or degree of <i>knowledge</i> +but in the <i>disposition</i> of the <i>mind and heart</i>.</p> + +<p>Listen then and hear and be prepared to believe +and accept with all your heart what this Instructor +from God says. Remember He makes no mistakes. +He knows the end from the beginning. He knows +eternity as well as time. He knows the future as<span class="pagenum">[319]</span> +well as the past and present. He knows God as well +as He knows man. He has been all through eternity +and knows the nature and purposes of God. He then +is competent to say what is good for man, what is +best for man. Will you hear it? And, having heard +it, will you believe it? "Blessed"—ah, what a sweet +word to begin with! "Blessed." But who are +blessed? It may be blessed are the great or the powerful +or the good and some of us are sadly conscious +that we are not great or good. But no, troubled +heart, poor fearing heart, it is for you. "Blessed are +the poor in spirit." That is what the Divine +Teacher says. He brings it right down and home +to your poor heart and leaves blessedness at your +very door.</p> + +<p>And what is it to be poor in spirit? No doubt +some of you poor sinners are ready to say "I know +what it is, for I am so wretchedly poor that I feel +unworthy to set my polluted foot down anywhere in +God's universe." Yes, that is it—you are dissatisfied +with yourself, disgusted with yourself, weary of yourself; +and you know you can not make your condition +any better, for you have tried it and failed till you are +heart-sick and hopeless. You are satisfied that +neither your education, nor your wisdom, nor your +shrewdness, nor your money, if you have any, nor +your family, nor your friends, nor your strength, nor +your will, nor all these put together and multiplied a +thousand times can deliver you from soul-bondage +and soul-darkness and satisfy your aching and breaking +heart. Is that your feeling, my brother? Then +you are the one I am talking to; nay, you are the<span class="pagenum">[320]</span> +one my Divine Master is talking to. But God said +the same thing in other words away back yonder one +thousand years before Jesus came to earth. Read it +in Psalm xxxiv: 18: "The Lord is nigh unto them +that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a +contrite spirit." Have your sins broken your heart? +Does the recollection of them cast down your spirit? +You are not far from the kingdom of God then. +Only believe on Jesus Christ who was not only Divine +Teacher but also sin-bearer, and see God's willingness +to save sinners, in the scene enacted on Calvary's +trembling summit. What did Jesus suffer for +if not for you and your sins? Say, what for, if not for +you and all sinners? Answer that question. Do not +turn it away or put it off but <i>answer</i> it.</p> + +<p>Did I say you were not far from the kingdom of +heaven? My text says, if you have the spirit I have +described that "yours is, <i>is now</i>, the kingdom of +heaven." Read it again. Will you believe it?</p> + +<p>Oh, are you afraid to venture? Is it too good to +be true? Well, I tell you I ventured and that with +forty-two years of sin and crime on my heart to press +me down and keep me back. Yes; I ventured and I +found <i>such a welcome</i> that I was constrained in the joy +of my heart to give up all other employment and +spend my whole time and energy in telling of it to +others who are in the condition I was in.</p> + +<p>But if there are any here who are satisfied with +themselves, who do not feel their need of help and +cleansing and deliverance, then this message of comfort +is not for you. If you think you know enough +about eternity to risk going into it as you are, if you<span class="pagenum">[321]</span> +think you know enough about God to meet him as +you are, then we have no message of consolation for +you. It is not because we do not want you to have +a message of consolation and salvation, but because +<i>you</i> do not want it.</p> + +<p>It is said in one place that the "Word of God is +a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." +And now I am sure this text of ours has to-night +found you out and shown you to yourself. Where do +you stand? And even if you are persuaded, the suggestion +to put it off till to-morrow or next week will +knock it all in the head.<span class="pagenum">[322]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">MATTHEW V: 4-5.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"4. Blessed <i>are</i> they that mourn; for they shall be comforted."</p> + +<p>"5. Blessed <i>are</i> the meek; for they shall inherit the +earth."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Our talk to-night follows right along in the line +of the one preceding. We shall continue to speak +of that wonderful address of Jesus which is called the +Sermon on the Mount and which we began to speak +of before. We were speaking of those who are poor +in spirit and tried to describe such. Now we go on +and we find the next words of Jesus, the Divine +Teacher, just suited to those who are poor in spirit, +who are dissatisfied with themselves and their condition, +and who are wretched because they have not +the grace and favor of God, and who, as the Psalm +says, have a "broken heart and a contrite spirit." +(Psalm xxxiv., 18.) And what are these comforting +words of Jesus? "Blessed are they that <i>mourn</i>, for +they shall be <i>comforted</i>." Of course, those who are +poor in spirit and broken in heart <i>will mourn</i>. They +are comfortless and they will mourn for comfort. They +are in darkness and they will mourn for light. They are +in sin and under condemnation and they will mourn +till the power of sin is destroyed and they are set free +and until the voice of forgiving love assures them that +there is henceforth nothing against them. Ah, yes, +when a man is under conviction for sin he is, above +all men, a mourner. There is hardly any sorrow that +strikes deeper or any suspense that is more intense or +awful.<span class="pagenum">[323]</span></p> + +<p>But is there no one here who knows all about this, +not because they have heard me describe it, but +because they have felt it and groaned under it or, may +be, <i>are</i> doing so now?</p> + +<p>Well, let me assure you, on the authority of Jesus, +there is comfort for you as surely as Jesus will not lie. +Does He say "Cursed are they who mourn?" Or "To +be pitied are they that mourn?" No, He says, "<i>Blessed</i> +are they."</p> + +<p>There, now, you are already comforted a little bit, +are you not?</p> + +<p>But what is the rest of this sentence of Jesus? +"For they <i>shall</i> be comforted." And, indeed, the fact +that you <i>mourn</i> for a better condition and a better +life and for God, is itself a ground for you to surely +expect comfort. For only God's spirit could make +you dissatisfied with yourself, tired of your sins and +eager to find God.</p> + +<p>And if He began the work He will carry it on to +completion, assuredly, if you do not hinder him by +your turning back to sin or going with the vicious or +refusing to have faith in Jesus as Saviour.</p> + +<p>And the next verse comes right along to fill out +the one we are considering. "Blessed are the <i>meek</i>."</p> + +<p>If a man is truly poor in spirit, mourning because +of his sins and his ignorance of God and his insecurity +in view of death, then he will not be egotistic and +ambitious and greedy of praise and pompous and self-sufficient +and disposed to stand on <i>his honor</i> and his +rights. But he will have the opposite feelings exactly.</p> + +<p>He feels his unworthiness so deeply and keenly +that he is willing to give up his own rights and to<span class="pagenum">[324]</span> +prefer others before himself. And Jesus adds, "the +meek shall inherit the earth."</p> + +<p>A man who has this spirit of humility, deep consciousness +of his unworthiness and a disposition to +bear all things rather than be contentious, will win +everybody and they will want to give up to him.</p> + +<p>You have perhaps read of the man who went to +his neighbor to claim a piece of ground in his possession, +and, contrary to his expectation, that neighbor +said, "Well, then, if it is yours, I will not have a strife +about it. I will move in my fence and let you have it." +This gentle answer and this meek spirit made the +other man so ashamed and so completely melted and +won him that he said he would not take the land, and +he went back home leaving it as it was.</p> + +<p>And so if you have this meek and yielding spirit, +and this patient and forgiving spirit, you will make +even your enemies to be at peace with you. But this +meekness of spirit includes, also, cheerful submission +to all the hard and disappointing and trying experiences +of life, and perfect contentment with one's lot.</p> + +<p>A man who is always sour and bitter because things +don't go to suit him is the opposite of a <i>meek</i> man. +And one of the loveliest and most attractive and winning +qualities of human character is this unfailing +resignation, this <i>cheerful</i> acceptance of all that comes +upon us. If the church were full of people of this +description, they would soon win the world, and, as +Jesus said, they would "inherit the earth."</p> + +<p>Now, let me ask, have we all who profess to be +Christians this meek spirit and character? Are we +gentle and cheerful at home and abroad, when we are<span class="pagenum">[325]</span> +disappointed as well as when we are gratified, when we +are treated with ingratitude and injury as well as when +we are treated with kindness, consideration and honor? +Or are we crabbed and cross and discontented and +complaining against those who cross our wills and +against the lot that God has given to us in life? +If we are of this last sort we shall not draw many to +Jesus and to the acceptance of our religion. You can't +catch flies with vinegar.</p> + +<p>How disposed are we to lay our crossness and +roughness to the charge of our health, our dyspepsia +or neuralgia or nervousness. But it would be all the +<i>more convincing</i> to men if, <i>in the midst</i> of bad health +and nervousness, we should have a meek, quiet, patient, +bright and cheerful spirit.</p> + +<p>And if you haven't it, the way to get it is to be +filled with God's spirit, and the way to do that is to +pray, to commune with God in secret, to patiently wait +for Him, as David did (Psalms xl, 1), and to be with +Him so much that He shall become more real to you +than the objects of sight and sound and feeling that +surround you.<span class="pagenum">[326]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">MATTHEW V: 13.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost +its savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth +good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden +under foot of men."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Jesus takes the most familiar facts and objects to +convey the truths and doctrines which He wished to +communicate. Here he uses for illustration an object, +with the properties and uses of which everybody is +familiar—namely, salt. It is good to prevent corruption +and to preserve life. Without it life could not +continue. I have heard of a party of travelers whose +supply of salt almost gave out; and not having enough +for themselves and their horses, the horses grew weak, +would stagger, and finally fall and die, though they +had food for them. Yet the lack of salt could not +be supplied by any amount of food.</p> + +<p>So it is with Christianity. It prevents corruption, +moral corruption, in the individual, and so prevents +social corruption, political corruption, national corruption, +and is the means of purification in all these +respects. But it not only prevents corruption, it imparts +spiritual life and vigor and sends its possessors on +their way filled with an energy that goes out after +others.</p> + +<p>Christianity is suited to be the salt of the earth. +It demands a perfect morality, a perfect righteousness, +and offers the highest motives to men to attain this. +It teaches, with assurance, that there is a righteous +God who demands holiness on our part, and, at the +same time, it encourages men and inspires them with<span class="pagenum">[327]</span> +hope because it declares that this God loves men, as +sinners, and so it gets hold of men by the heart.</p> + +<p>If man will only compare those nations that are +Christian with those that are not, he will find out what +a difference there is.</p> + +<p>But the text refers to the holy lives of Christians +as being the salt of the earth.</p> + +<p>The savor of Christians is an unction from the +spirit of God that produces purity, humility, patience, +long-suffering, self-denial, tenderness, sympathy and +unselfish love.</p> + +<p>And when men see a person whose daily life +presents all these beauties, they are forced to pause +and regard it. It is such an unnatural and such an +unearthly thing that they can not help it. And it is +far more convincing and eloquent than all logic and +rhetoric put together. There is no way of getting +around it. Men know that a gifted orator can dress +things up so as to make any cause seem a fair and +plausible one, but men know also that neither a gifted +orator nor any one less than God can make men humble, +pure, patient, gentle, long-suffering, unselfish and +glad to spend and be spent for others than themselves.</p> + +<p>When men see such a life, they seek to know how +it is realized, and finding that Christianity has done it, +that faith in Jesus has done it, they are constrained +to say: "We know that Christianity is from God. +For nothing could do such wonderful miracles except +God be in it," as Nicodemus said to Jesus.</p> + +<p>There are so many men who are anxiously inquiring +about spiritual things and about God and a future +life. And they say: "Show us something that Christianity<span class="pagenum">[328]</span> +can do." And if we are living such lives, +they find what they are seeking for and are satisfied. +But there are many men who <i>won't</i> search the Bible +to find out if it is true—and many who don't do so for +want of time and of opportunity—and some who <i>can't</i> +do so because they can't read or reason, and we <i>force</i> +Christianity upon their attention by the beauty and +unearthliness of holy Christian lives. Instead of waiting +for them to come inquire and into Christianity, +which they might never do, we carry it before their +eyes in its loveliest and most attractive and powerful +form when we live holy lives before them. And when +men see many people living thus, it turns the tide of +their feelings, reverses the current of their thoughts, +and makes it easy instead of difficult to believe. Oh, +that we had more of these entirely consecrated lives! +They would do far more good than the preaching. +When people see these consecrated women doing the +work they do for the poor neglected children, they say: +"Ah, now, that looks like something, sure enough, and +we believe in that sort of religion." John Wesley +said: "Give me one hundred men who love nothing +but God, and who fear nothing but sin, and we will +soon lay England at Jesus' feet."</p> + +<p>How can we get and keep this savour, this divine +unction which produces such a life? Only by much +communion with God.</p> + +<p>David knew no fear when he went to meet Goliath +because he had communed so much with God in the +sheep pastures that God was more of a reality to him +than Goliath was. So it must be with us, my dear +brothers, or we <i>lose this savour</i>.<span class="pagenum">[329]</span></p> + +<p>And that is what the text says. Let us read it +again.</p> + +<p>You may retain outward forms of religion and perform +outward duties, but the unction and zeal and +power will be gone and men will find it out and see +it and say that you are no better than they are.</p> + +<p>So the text says, "Good for nothing but to be +cast out and trodden under foot of men." And sad it +is that more harm is done to the cause of Christianity +by hypocritical or wicked or inconsistent professors +of it than by all the Ingersolls in the world. +Men look at the church to see what Christianity can +do; and seeing it does nothing extraordinary in the +way of making men better, they say it must be false. +So it is the wicked and worldly professors of religion +that make more infidels than anything else. Oh, let +us be sure that we are not the darkness of the +world. For if we are not its light, we become darkness.</p> + +<p>The light in the lighthouse may be burning, but if +the lights along the shore are not burning, too, the +poor sailors may be lost.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Brightly beams our Father's mercy<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From <i>His</i> lighthouse evermore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But to <i>us</i> He gives the keeping<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the lights along the shore."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum">[330]</span></div></div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">THE PRODIGAL SON,</p> + +<p class="h4">HIS SIN, HIS WRETCHEDNESS AND HIS RECOVERY.</p> + +<p class="h4">LUKE XV: 11-24.</p> + +<p>1. This younger son thought he was wiser than +his father and wanted to manage his own affairs. So +it is with men who think they can manage their own +affairs without God. And as this young man wanted +to get as far from his father's presence as possible +(see verse 13, "into a far country") so the sinner, +when he determines to give himself up to pleasure +and sin, wants to get as far from God as possible. +He does not want to hear about Him or even think +about Him. Was not this so with <i>you</i>?</p> + +<p>2. The father did not <i>compel</i> the son to stay at +home. He allowed him to choose what he preferred. +So it is with God. He does not compel us to obedience. +For my part I wish He did. But he lets us go +and pursue sin with all our hearts, if we choose that +above the innocence and joy of dwelling with Him.</p> + +<p>3. "He <i>wasted</i> his substance with riotous living," +verse 13, and so it is with the sinner—in the service +of sin and Satan he wastes and destroys his property, +his health, his reputation, his intellect, his conscience—all.</p> + +<p>"<i>And he began to be in want.</i>"</p> + +<p>That is what sin brings a man to—want, want, +want and wretchedness, wretchedness, wretchedness. +Has not sin done this for <i>you</i>?</p> + +<p>4. And it was this very wretchedness which brought +him to his senses—"he came to himself" (verse 17).<span class="pagenum">[331]</span></p> + +<p>And when he does come to himself he can think +of only one place where he can hope to find relief +and he bravely determines to go straight to the very +father he had so shamefully abandoned and to make +a full confession of his sin and throw himself on that +father's mercy with the hope of being taken back as +a hired servant. He is willing to take the <i>humblest</i> and +<i>meanest</i> place, if he can only get back to that home +he was, a short time before, so eager to leave. Nor +does he offer <i>any excuse</i>, he calls his sin by the right +name and confesses it without trying to excuse it or +justify it.</p> + +<p>5. And how did his father receive him?</p> + +<p>Why, he did not wait till his poor, ragged, worn +and wasted boy got in and made his confession but +he saw him a great way off (verse 20) and he knew +what had passed in the poor boy's heart and life, and, +moved with compassion toward him, he ran and fell +on his neck and kissed him a glad welcome back to +his heart and his home. But the son goes on to make +his confession and his offer to be a hired servant anyhow, +and yet the father says, "No! no! bring forth +the <i>best</i> robe and put it on him." So, though we +may go to God expecting to <i>work as servants</i> for +Him and for His favor, He gives us far more than +we ask and He makes us His own <i>sons</i>. And, +poor wretched sinners, I come now with this message +for <i>you</i>, bruised and sore and despairing and wretched +as you are on account of your sins. May God help +you believe it.<span class="pagenum">[332]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">II. PETER I: 5-6.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"5. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your +faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;</p> + +<p>"6. And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, +patience; and to patience, godliness."</p></blockquote> + +<p>I want to say something to you to-night about +how to <i>grow</i> in the Christian life, and how to secure +yourself from falling. And now, let me begin by +saying what you, no doubt, have heard before, that +there is no such thing as standing still in the Christian +life. If you are not going forward, you are +losing ground. See the Apostle here speaks of giving +all diligence, to be adding something all the time. +And why not exercise diligence in making sure of +the salvation of your souls? Men use astonishing +diligence in the affairs and pursuits of this life. The +men of all professions and occupations use diligence +and industry and toil and self-denial in order to make +a little money or to gain a little honor. Why, you +know there are thousands of men in this city who get +up early in wet weather or dry, in summer's heat or +winter's cold, and go hurrying up and down these +streets to be at their places at the prescribed hour +for beginning their day's toil; and they work, work, +work, sometimes with tired hands and feet and weary +hearts, till the sun goes down, because they know +they must do it in order to get bread and meat and +clothing for themselves and their families. They do +not stop to think how they <i>feel</i>. No, no; feelings +and preferences and all must be overlooked and forgotten; +for they know that work must be done that<span class="pagenum">[333]</span> +bread may be won. And we do not hear many complaining +of this. They accept it as a matter of +course. Why, I know how the gamblers will sit up +late and do without sleep, and rack their brains, in +order to devise some means of finding a poor victim +and getting his money. Then why should not Christians, +who are striving to avoid the danger and sorrow +of sin and to gain eternal rest and reward—why should +not they exercise diligence and self-denial and watchfulness +also? And we are told in the text how to +succeed in this. We are to <i>make up our minds</i> by +God's grace to live a life of consecration and activity.</p> + +<p>You have begun with faith, have you not? If any +man here has been truly converted, he knows what +faith is. He came to Christ as a hell-deserving sinner, +and believed in Christ's mercy for forgiveness and +salvation. So faith is the first step; faith is the +foundation. And let me stop to say to any one here +who is not yet saved, that, if he wants to be, he must +throw himself as a sinner on the mercy of God in +Christ; and God will save him at once, if he will do +so. But, having exercised faith and received forgiveness +and strength, you must add virtue, which means +courage or boldness. It is sometimes very hard for a +man who has lived a sinner and taken pride in it, to +come out before the world, and especially before his +old companions, and let them know that henceforth +and forever he is a humble follower of Jesus Christ. +But it is necessary. No middle ground is safe at all. +If you try to meet the world as a reformed man, +concealing the fact that you are a Christian, you +will weaken, and give the devil a great advantage,<span class="pagenum">[334]</span> +and probably fall. I told gamblers in Denver I was +a Christian, and they let me alone. But, not only +that, you must be bold enough to try to persuade +others to become Christians. There are some poor +cowards who are not ashamed to let their friends and +the world know that they have <i>reformed</i>; but they are +too chicken-hearted to say that they have humbled +themselves, surrendered their pride and become <i>Christians</i>. +I know more than one of that sort. And, again, +there are some men who are content to be saved +themselves, but are afraid of being called fanatics if +they are bold enough to go to talking and trying to +persuade others to be so. Boldness in going out after +others strengthened me and kept me from many a +temptation.</p> + +<p>But, having this godly boldness, you must go on +striving to get knowledge—knowledge of your own +deceitful heart, knowledge of human nature, knowledge +of the fullness of the gospel way of salvation. +When a man is first converted, he is almost like a +baby. Everything is new, and he hardly knows anything. +So it was with me, but I trust I have grown +in knowledge of myself and others and of the word of +God and of the plan of salvation. Your knowledge +will increase of itself if you are in earnest and if you +will use all the means of growing better and stronger. +Conversation with older Christians, when you get +into a tight place, will help you. Earnest prayer to +God will result in increase of knowledge. Reading +His precious word, and studying short portions of it +at a time, with prayer for guidance, will wonderfully +enlighten you and increase your knowledge. You will<span class="pagenum">[335]</span> +gain knowledge also by reading good books—the lives +of very pious people, and the sermons of such men as +Wesley, Spurgeon, etc. Why not have some good +books to read? Could you invest your money to +better advantage? In this way, having your mind +always occupied with the subject of religion, you will +have neither time nor temptation for sin or thoughts +of sin.</p> + +<p>There are some selfish men who, when they find +themselves delivered from their evil appetites and +raised up again to respectability and their right mind, +begin to think of reading all sorts of worldly and +profane literature, and want to cultivate their "literary +taste" and prepare to shine in society. Such men +forget the pit from which they were taken, and in their +selfishness and worldliness and pride become blind +to the awful peril to which they expose themselves in +neglecting to keep their minds occupied with religious +thoughts and subjects as far as is practicable. Some +of our converts have fallen in this way.</p> + +<p>But what is the next thing, to be added? It is +<i>temperance</i>. This means entire self-control in things +that are, in themselves, innocent and lawful. Of +course, men understand that in things that are wrong +and dangerous nothing is right or safe but an utter +abstinence from them and abhorrence of them, (Read +Romans xii., 9, second clause: "Abhor that which is +evil.") Temperance means here what we spoke about +when we considered Paul's saying that he kept his +body under, and brought it into subjection, lest he +should be a castaway (1 Corinthians, ix: 27). And +as you grow in experience and in knowledge of yourself<span class="pagenum">[336]</span> +you will find it absolutely necessary to keep down +your body by denying it, and by asserting your entire +mastery of it, through God's grace. Oh, be careful +and be prayerful, and be self-denying, or some day, +when you think all is secure, some sudden temptation +will come and find you self-indulgent and careless, and, +like David, you will fall before you are aware of it, and +then, maybe, have not the heart and hope to ever try +to be a Christian again. Men who have been addicted +to bad habits before are especially in danger if they +do not practice the strictest self-control in all things. +But, with all this, you will often be provoked, and find +your temper very troublesome. It troubled me long +after conversion and troubles me now more than anything +else. So it is necessary to bear all things, +however unreasonable and provoking they may be; and +this is exactly the next thing the Apostle puts down—namely, +<i>patience</i>.</p> + +<p>Oh, how I tremble for some of these men who are +converted here. They do not know how necessary it +is to keep right down in the dust, and not only to give +diligence, but to <i>make it their chief business</i> for some +time to watch and guard their thoughts and ways, and +to pray always, and by all the means we have spoken +of try to keep away—far, far away from temptation. +I beg you to make up your minds to bear anything +and everything. Always be ready for a disappointment, +and determine not to let your contentment and +happiness depend upon anything or anybody in this +world. Then it won't make any difference what happens +to you; it will come like water on a duck's back, +and won't hurt you. Remember how humble you had<span class="pagenum">[337]</span> +to get before you could get forgiveness and strength +to resist your appetites. And did it kill you or did it +damage you in any way? No! It killed your wretched +sins, but not you. It robbed you of your bondage and +darkness and despair and wretchedness. But it did +not rob you of any good, did it? Then it won't hurt +you to keep humble and in that same state of mind till +you die. And you can afford to do so. How would +you like to get back into bondage and darkness where +you were? You say: "Not for the world!" But, +if you knew you could, by diligence and watchfulness, +gain the world, you would be diligent and watchful. +And yet, by this diligence, you not only keep yourself +secure from falling back, you make your family happy, +you bless many others—and, best of all, you make +<i>sure</i> of everlasting life, and escape the hell which we +all fear more than all things else combined.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Since I must fight if I would reign,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Increase my courage, Lord;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Supported by Thy word."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum">[338]</span></div></div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ECCLESIASTES XII: 13.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Let us bear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear +God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty +of man."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The book of Ecclesiastes contains the experience +of a man who had tried every phase of life, who had +tasted every kind of pleasure, and who, also, had +experience in the service of God, with its consolations +and its sacrifices; and he had also made a study of +the great questions that come up in considering the +affairs of the world about him. And after his long +and thorough experience, and his deep and life-long +study of the facts of human life and history, he at last +reaches a conclusion concerning it all, and this conclusion +he has recorded in the text I have read, "Fear +God and keep His commandments," etc.</p> + +<p>1. Fear God.</p> + +<p>The fear of God is natural to man until, by false +teaching and evil association, it is destroyed. The +severe things we see in nature about us lead us to +have a dread of Him who is the author of all these +things. And, then, death is an awful and a fear-inspiring +thing, and the thought of what is to come after +death, in that unknown country from which no traveler +has ever returned to tell us of it, fills us with awe and +sobers us whenever it comes to us. And most men +even that are in their lives wicked, and seemingly have +no thought of God or fear of Him, are often troubled +with the fear of death and what is to come after death. +This was my own experience.<span class="pagenum">[339]</span></p> + +<p>2. But merely to have this fear of God is not sufficient, +and will do no good if it does not lead a man +to obey God and keep His commandments, as the +text says. For example, I knew a fireman in an +engine-house here who had this fear of God; but he +lived a swearing, drinking man, and, of course, he was +not at all benefited by his fear of God. No doubt +this fear of God was created in the human mind in +order to lead men to keep God's commandments. But +how are we to know His commandments? Why, my +brothers, they are given with great plainness in His +Holy Word—so plain that the wayfaring man, though +he be a fool, need not miss them if only he is willing +to know them and to do them. And, as St. John says, +"His commandments are not grievous." They only +require of us what is most just and reasonably due to +Him who is the giver, the free and bountiful giver, of +all the good things of this life, and the gracious +promiser of perfect blessedness in the life to come. +And, on the human side, His commandments require of +us only that we keep from doing to others what they +ought not do to us, and that we do for others that +which they ought to do for us. In other words, the +commandments of God are all embraced in two sentences, +"Love God with all your heart, because He +first loved you," and "Love your fellowmen, because +they are commanded to love you," and when you +submit to God's Spirit, and become renewed in mind +and heart, born again, made a new creature, you will +see the reasonableness of keeping God's commandments, +and the desirableness of it, in such a light that +you will go on in His ways with delight, desiring to +know more and more of Him.<span class="pagenum">[340]</span></p> + +<p>3. And we are told that to do this is the <i>whole +purpose</i> of man's existence, and when he does this he +has fully answered the end of his existence, met all +that is required of him and is secure amid the problems +of life and the possibilities of the unknown future.</p> + +<p>This, also, brings rest to the human heart, a rest +to be found nowhere else. I am in a position to speak +with some confidence and positiveness on this point; +for, like the man who uttered the text, I have tried life +in all its phases. I have had all the kinds of pleasure, +and I have tested them to the bottom. I have +found out all there is in them. For forty years I gave +myself to seeking and enjoying worldly pleasure, and +I ought to know what it can do for a human soul. +But I have another advantage, too; I have tried the +doctrine of my text. I have surrendered myself, my +life, my prospects, my all, to God, and live only to keep +His commandments and to please Him. My mind +has been renewed, transformed, my life entirely turned +around. I have passed through the struggle and the +sacrifice that were involved in becoming a Christian, +and I have been passing through those that belong to +the life of a Christian. But you may say I speak thus +because it is a novelty to me. No, sir; it is no longer +a novelty. I have been trying it now for ten years—surely +a long enough time to know pretty well how it +compares with the old life; and my testimony, from +forty years' experience of the old life and ten years of +the new life, is that of the writer of my text, "Fear God +and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty +of man."<span class="pagenum">[341]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">HEBREWS XII: 1, 2.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"1. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with +so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, +and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run +with patience the race that is set before us.</p> + +<p>"2. Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our +faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the +cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand +of the throne of God."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Apostle here speaks of a great number of +witnesses, who, having tried God and His ways, are +competent to testify as to what God can do for those +who trust Him and serve Him. In the chapter just +preceding he has spoken of Abraham and Joseph and +Moses, and many others, and they, having lived the +life of faith, were prepared to say whether it was a +disappointment or not to trust God and to walk in +His ways. And they were not disappointed. They +obtained a good report, held fast to their faith in God, +and were content to endure all sorts of trials and +sufferings for the comfort and compensation of their +religion. And so now there are witnesses, not a few, +who have tested this matter, and tested it under circumstances +the most adverse and trying, and they give +no uncertain testimony as to the desirableness of religion. +There are people who have none of the good +things of this world; none of its honors; none of its +pleasures; none of its wealth, and not many of its +comforts, and yet they are contented, and even happy. +Yes, far happier than many who have the best that +this world can give. I am one of this class myself. +Then the Apostle goes on to exhort them to hold fast,<span class="pagenum">[342]</span> +and to go on, because others having tried it were +conquerors.</p> + +<p>He exhorts to three things:</p> + +<p>1. To lay aside every weight, and especially every +besetting sin that might have especial attraction and +special power. And it is impossible to serve God +and have peace of conscience and to overcome sin +while the mind is divided and undecided. A man +can not expect to win a race if he ties heavy weights +upon his person; be must be unencumbered and free. +So, in running the Christian race, we must free ourselves +from everything we find to be a hindrance, no +matter how desirable or how dear it may be to the +flesh. So Jesus Himself says: "If anything so dear +as a right arm or a right eye becomes a hindrance to +to us, it must be given up." There are men who +say they want to serve God, and expect to do so, but +then they enjoy certain things they know to be wrong +and hurtful, and they will indulge in them just a little, +not enough to cause them to get clear away from God. +I know and you know men who think they can enjoy +sin just a little, or once in awhile. In the first place, +this is ungrateful and mean. It is the same as to +say: "I want to be just religious enough to escape hell, +and yet I want to enjoy all the pleasure I can from sin, +too." Such a feeling dishonors God. And, in the +second place, it is exceedingly dangerous. It shows +that the heart is not right. While you are trifling +thus with sin, you may become so fascinated by it and +led away as to be enslaved before you know it, and +lose all your taste for heavenly things. Besides, God +will not long bear with a man who has no better heart<span class="pagenum">[343]</span> +and no more self-sacrificing spirit than that. For myself, +I should tremble and shudder if I were so far +gone as to feel that I could go and deliberately indulge +in some pleasant sin for awhile and then come back to +resume the service of God when I had satiated my +evil desires. Be assured, you can not serve God and +sin. They are as opposite as light and darkness; you +must give up one or the other. "But," you say, "how +can I give up sin?" If you are <i>willing</i> to do so, God +will see that you have the <i>power</i> to do it. Give it up +if it gives you pain—yes, if it breaks your heart! God +Himself will pour in the oil of comfort and joy, and +heal all your wounds.</p> + +<p>2. The Apostle exhorts to run with patience the +race set before us. It is easy to do well for awhile; +to abstain from sin while the excitement of novelty in +the religious life is upon us; and how many there are +who began well and did well for awhile, but when the +novelty wore away, and the excitement of the change +was gone, they grew weary and sought the old pleasures +of sin again. Some have thus done in connection +with our work here in this mission. Make up +your mind before hand that when the time of temptation +and loneliness comes, you will endure it and go +through with it patiently, waiting for the removal of +the temptation and the return of joy. And when +temptation does come, pray, oh pray. Go alone and +ask God to restore to you the joy of His salvation +and trust Him until he does it. Go work for others; +go mingle with Christian people, whether you feel like +it or not, and you will soon find how to meet the +enemy, and how to defeat his plans and purposes.<span class="pagenum">[344]</span></p> + +<p>3. But his last exhortation is to look to Jesus. +He bore our sins on the cross, and therefore we are +released from them, if we trust Him and accept Him +as our sin-bearer. He is alive forevermore; and +when earnestly asked, He gives spiritual life and joy +and strength by sending the Holy Spirit into our +hearts. Then again, His life is the pattern of +patience in loneliness and trials, which you and I are +to follow; and can we desire or aspire to be or to do +any better than did He?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Would you lose your load of sin?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fix your eyes upon Jesus.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would you have God's peace within?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fix your eyes upon Jesus."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum">[345]</span></div></div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ACTS II: 38.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized +every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission +of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."</p></blockquote> + +<p>We may not be able to understand how it is, but +these inspired Scriptures represent the work of salvation +as applied to human hearts by the Holy Spirit. We do +not hear enough of the Holy Spirit. We do not know +Him and speak of Him and pray for His help and +guidance and power, as the Scriptures teach us to do. +These Scriptures are our guide; what they say we do +not question, nor can we subtract from them or add to +them. Let us see, then, what they teach us as to the +Holy Spirit. In the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of St. +John's Gospel Jesus distinctly promises His disciples +that upon His departure He would send to them and +to the world a divine agent whom He calls the Spirit of +Truth, the Comforter, etc., and He tells them what that +divine agent would do. Let us, then, fix our minds now +intently on what He says, and be prepared to believe it.</p> + +<p>He said that this Spirit of Truth should "convince +men of sin." Well, the fact is, we do see men convinced +of sin as sin, and not merely because it is damaging +and ruinous. But we see this only in connection +with the Christian religion. So it must be by means of +some power that belongs to the Christian religion. And +if any of you here to-night see your sins and feel them +to be, not only damaging and destructive, but mean and +hateful and crimes against the good Father who has +borne with you and blessed you through all these years +of sin, then you may know that it is God's Holy Spirit<span class="pagenum">[346]</span> +that has produced that feeling in you; and especially so +if you feel that your ingratitude to God, who has provided +for you a way of salvation at such great cost, and +your cold and heartless neglect of Jesus Christ through +all these years of sin are the most aggravated part of +your guilt. And you may be sure if God is willing to +begin a good work in you He is willing to carry it on to +completion, and will do so if you do not hinder Him. +"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for +it is God that worketh in you." And since it is He +who has begun this work, beware that you do not +hinder it or stop it by your coldness, carelessness or sin.</p> + +<p>But, in the second place, Jesus says the Holy +Spirit should reveal Him to sinners as their sin-bearer +and life-giver. So the promise is to you. Hold on in +prayer and patient expectation. You can not be disappointed, +for God can not lie. I was ignorant of Christ +to an astonishing and shameful degree; but I was told +to pray and I did so. I shut myself up in my back +room one evening and told God I was going to stay +there until He blessed me, and I was blessed, and the +only three words I uttered were "Jesus of Nazareth." +By some power I was so illuminated and changed that +I saw Jesus as the dearest and loveliest being I ever +thought of. Was not this a fulfillment to me of the +promise made in John xvi.: 14? And having received +grace from my God, I continue to this day witnessing +to small and to great the things I have experienced +since becoming a Christian. Now, let us inquire what +else this gracious divine agent working in man is to do.</p> + +<p>He it is who produces that change in men which we +call conversion or regeneration or new birth. You<span class="pagenum">[347]</span> +remember in John (3d chapter) the expression, "Born of +the Spirit," and again in Titus iii.: 5, it is said we are +saved by the "renewing of the Holy Ghost." When we +know, then, that these changes are the immediate effect +of the inworking of this divine agent, we need not be +surprised that they are so sudden and so thorough as +we see them to be in some cases that we know of. Let +me say to those who have not yet experienced this +wonderful deliverance from the power and love of sin +and this inner revolution, that many of us have tested +this matter who were in the deepest depths of sin and +darkness, and God will do to depend on. Go ahead, go +ahead; keep on praying and keep on hoping and trust +yourself to Jesus, and you shall receive the gift of the +Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>But, after we have experienced this change which +we call conversion, God's spirit abides with us and +keeps on doing great things for us when we are converted. +We are not made angels or gods, but are still +human, and, though delivered from the guilt and power +of sin, we are hampered by ignorance and depressed +by sorrow and encompassed with temptations. But +just anticipating these needs of ours, the Holy Spirit +is to be our teacher and to guide us into the truth. So +we need not fear if we are only humble and honest and +teachable; we shall not go dangerously astray, for +God Himself will thus open to our minds the wonderful +things of Scripture, and cause us to understand as +much of it as we need.</p> + +<p>But He, the Holy Spirit, is to be the comforter of +God's people in their loneliness and trials and conflicts +in this world of exile. I have been sustained by unseen<span class="pagenum">[348]</span> +power in my trials as a Christian. But He enables +them to overcome, and be more than conquerors, when +they are assailed by temptation to sin. "He strengthens +with might in the inner man" (Ephesians iii.: 16), +and gives joy and peace; so that the soul, being content +with these, does not need or desire the poor pleasures +of sin. This has been my experience.</p> + +<p>He sanctifies God's people; He makes them holier +and holier; He produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, +long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, +faith; and He gives power to reach, by +our poor words, the hearts and consciences of others, +though they be dead in sin. Jesus says, "Ye shall +receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you." +(Acts 1.: 8.) There are some men who have this +power to reach and awaken and interest sinners in +the salvation of their souls. And they do have power to +bring sinners into this new life of peace and purity and +joy. And you and I might have this power, and far +more of it than we do, if, like the Apostle, we would +wait before God in patient, believing prayer till the +Holy Spirit should come in fullness and power. Pentecost +was a display of this power, and we may have +another Pentecost when we are willing to wait for it and +pray for it as did the little company in the upper room +at Jerusalem.<span class="pagenum">[349]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">LUKE V: 32.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."</p></blockquote> + +<p>These words of Jesus were spoken to the Scribes +and Pharisees, and combine in themselves a defense +of His own course in mingling with sinners, and +a keen rebuke of the spirit of those who brought +against him an accusation of associating with sinners, +as well as the declaration of the object of His mission +into this poor darkened world. And does it not +seem strange that a man should be required to defend +himself for going to spend and be spent for the good +of those who are most sorely in need of help and +relief? But it has always been so. Men are so selfish, +so utterly without concern for the interests of +others that they want to monopolize and swallow up +everything that is good. So when Jesus of Nazareth +was revealed to the Jewish people, and made Himself +conspicuous and famous by the daily performance of +astonishing miracles, the Scribes and Pharisees, who +thought that everything ought to be subservient to +their own personal interests and aggrandizement, fell +out with Jesus because He did not fall in with notions +of what He ought to be and do. They did not care +a baubee for the people, the rabble, the mob, the +human cattle. Indeed they utterly despised them, and +would have nothing to do with them. They might +perish and rot so far as the Scribes and Pharisees were +concerned, provided these latter could hold the places of +honor and gain. And so utterly possessed were they +by this feeling of all-consuming selfishness, that when<span class="pagenum">[350]</span> +they saw this Jesus of Nazareth going with sinners, +talking with sinners and eating with sinners, they set +it down as a conclusion they would never give up +that He was not, and could not be, and should not be, +their Messiah. So that Jesus was thus forced to +reason with them, and to make His defense before +these self-constituted judges of His, and tell them why +it was that He pursued the course He did. So it +was in the time of John Wesley in England. He +went among sinners, talked with them, taught them, +and drew them by the magic force of his great love to +follow him wherever he went to preach; and they so +crowded the churches to hear the words of grace and +tenderness that fell from his lips, that the doors were +shut upon him, and he had to go out on the commons +and into the fields beneath the sky of that God +and Father whose words he was preaching, and whose +lost children he was trying to save. This has been +the experience of other zealous and earnest ministers +of Christ. And they, too, have had to defend +themselves for such a course. Our dear Brother +Morris felt himself pressed to say why he went +to the courthouse steps to try to lift up the fallen +and save the wretched and the lost. But the words +of Jesus contain also a scathing rebuke of the self-righteous +spirit of those hard-headed, hard-hearted +Scribes and Pharisees. It was the same as saying, +"you claim that you are the righteous of the world. +You are not willing to be classed with sinners, or to be +called sinners, or to believe yourselves sinners. Therefore +you have no need of me, and I have nothing for +you; for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners,<span class="pagenum">[351]</span> +to repentance." Let us beware then, my dear friends +and brethren, of thinking or feeling that we are better +than others, or that we are not sinners. Now, need +I stop here to prove that any of you are sinners? +Does any one here need to have arguments worked out +and laid before him to prove to him that he is a poor, +miserable, blind sinner? If there is any one here who +thinks and feels that he is not, then he has no business +here, he has no business with Christ, and we +have nothing to tell him or give him here. We bid +him farewell, and turn away from him, to work for and +to talk to others. If I were to go to see a sick man +concerned about his soul, and he were to begin to tell +about his good deeds and his freedom from sins and +vices, I would get my hat and tell him good-bye; +that I knew nothing about salvation for anybody but +sinners. But for sinners I have and hold up a +Saviour, a divine Saviour, who, blessed be God, is +able to save to the uttermost all who come to him, +and to save them here and now. If you want to see +a specimen of Christ's interest in sinners and feeling +for sinners, look at His life. In the beginning of His +ministry He chooses Matthew, one of the despised +class of publicans, to be one of His disciples—nay, one +of His Apostles. Then He went to Matthew's house +to dinner. It was as if some leading minister of the +Gospel here to-day would be seen walking down the +street with some leading gambler, on his way to take +dinner and spend the afternoon with him. It was as if +Mr. Moody should come to Louisville to conduct one +of his great meetings, and, instead of stopping with +Mr. Carley or Mr. Carter or Judge Bullock, should<span class="pagenum">[352]</span> +stop with John Young or Harry Johnson, and be his +willing guest. So Jesus went to the house of another +big gambler, so to speak, in his day. It was the publican +Zaccheus (Luke xix., 1-10), and Jesus not only +went there to dinner, but took salvation with Him to +Zaccheus' house. So by His tenderness and grace, +Jesus drew to Him the poor outcast women of His day. +One wretched sinner of this class was so won by His +concern for sinners, that she pressed her way into a +rich man's house where Jesus was dining, and going +to Him washed His feet with her tears, and anointed +them with costly perfume, Jesus not only not forbidding +her, but defending her for it (Luke 7). And +Jesus spoke the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost +Piece of Silver, the Lost Prodigal Son, and said—oh, +hear it—"There is joy in heaven over one sinner +that repenteth."<span class="pagenum">[353]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">JAMES I: 25, 26.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, +and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but +a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.</p> + +<p>"26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and +bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this +man's religion is vain."</p></blockquote> + +<p>James, the writer of this language, is that inspired +servant of God, who gets impatient with mere professions +of piety, and who wants to see action, action! +not mere words, not dead faith, but also action. He +speaks, in the text, of "forgetful hearers of the Word." +Now, do you not know all about what that means? +Have you not, many a time, read the Bible, or heard +a sermon from it that, like a mirror, held up to your +heart, showed you yourself even better than you knew +yourself? And have you not said: "Well, I will +change; that picture is true, and it is too dark to be +endured any longer?" But, instead of carrying out +your purpose and doing what you say, you went away +and forgot all about it, and soon you were as dead +as ever. And, instead of continuing to read the Bible +and see yourself there; and instead of continuing to +go where faithful ministers would uncover your poor, +wicked heart and life to your eyes, you went on your +accustomed ways of business or pleasure, and became +a "forgetful hearer of the Word," and it did you no +good. How, then, in the name of God, can a man +keep himself from forgetting the things he reads or +hears from the Bible? Why, it is very simple—to go +to <i>doing</i> at once, without waiting even till to-morrow.<span class="pagenum">[354]</span> +"Do what?" you say. Why, go to praying. Cut +yourself off from retreat by coming out on the side of +Christ and taking your place among those who are +seeking His mercy and salvation, till you can take +your place among those who have that salvation. But +I want to say a very solemn word to those who profess +to have already obtained salvation. Are <i>you doing</i>, as +well as <i>hearing</i> the Word of God? Does your life +exemplify "holiness to the Lord," and does it abound +in good works and good words? Do you abstain from +evil and keep yourself from evil associations? Do you +turn away from dangerous and suspicious places and +people? Do you obey readily and heartily what you +find to be commanded in God's Word? If you do +not do the things you hear, then you, too, will soon +become "forgetful hearers," and little by little the +world will re-assert its power over you, and the flesh +will get the upper hand, and at the last you may +wind up as our poor friend Eicheler did. Doing is +as important a part of the Gospel as hearing. Read +the last part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew +vii., 24-27). Notice that Jesus says the man who +does His sayings is like one who buildeth on a solid +and enduring foundation that can stand storms and +temptations. Now, do you not find that if you do +what you find in the Bible, then the Bible becomes +sweeter and sweeter to you? You do not shut it up +then and shove it aside for fear of finding yourself +condemned, for when you do its biddings it will not +condemn you, but commend you, and that makes you +love it and keeps you from forgetting it. And thus +you grow stronger and stronger, and sin will grow<span class="pagenum">[355]</span> +weaker and weaker, and you will surely find that you +have built on a strong foundation. But, in the last +part of the text is a subject I want to talk about. +Read verse 26. It is the tongue. If any man seems +to be religious, and fails to control his tongue, then +he is mistaken. Oh, have you not found your tongue +to be one of the most troublesome things you have +to contend with? If you want to see James' idea of +the tongue, read chapter iii., 1-10. Do you watch +your conversation? Do you guard the door of your +lips? Do you? I am in earnest.</p> + +<p>Do you ever indulge in the least obscenity? Some +so-called Christians do, and it is sickening and disgusting +to others; and while it shows what their thoughts +dwell on, it does themselves great harm, for it keeps +temptation before their minds, and makes it a great +deal more difficult to resist temptations when they +come in their lives. Do you mean it only as innocent +fun? It is not innocent. For if you are so hardened +as to unclean thoughts, that they don't hurt <i>you</i>, they, +will hurt others.</p> + +<p>What about swearing? If the devil can get you to +swear a few times, then he will say: "Oh, you might as +well confess that you are no Christian, and give up +this hypocritical business." There is one of the Ten +Commandments forbidding to take God's name in +vain; the Sermon on the Mount forbids it still more +strongly, and James, in chapter v., 12, condemns it in +the strongest language. And yet there are some +church members who practice it, especially when they +get mad. That man's heart is not right, and he is +treading on very dangerous ground who is not changed<span class="pagenum">[356]</span> +enough to avoid swearing. And if a man, by God's +grace, will turn away from it and from the thought of +it, he will soon become so that it will make him +shudder to hear others swear. I know this from +my own experience.</p> + +<p>If you do not watch yourself in conversation, you +will tell things that are not true; and so, in trying to +be polite, you will have to watch or your tongue will +tell a falsehood, and you will recollect it with shame +and lose strength of faith in God.</p> + +<p>And then that tongue often indulges in gossip +about your acquaintances that does them great harm. +And have you not, in moments of temper and passion, +said cruel and, perhaps, false things to your dear +ones; to those who have worked for you, and maybe +would die for you? It cut them to the heart, and +you have not made acknowledgment of your sin to +them.<span class="pagenum">[357]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">JAMES I: 8.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."</p></blockquote> + +<p>One of the commonest and greatest faults and +weaknesses of men is this that I am going to speak +about to you to-night, and that is indecision. It is not +only a weakness and a fault and a great hindrance in +regard to religion, but in any and all the affairs of life. +Do you not know men of competent ability and of good +advantages and education who amount to very little in +the world? And when you ask yourself why it is, is it +not because they have not enough decision of character +to keep at any one thing long enough to master the +difficulties with which it is beset and to win success in +spite of obstacles? Some of them are confused by the +great number of ways that seem to open before them +and are not decided as to which one they will pursue. +And after embarking in one pursuit and continuing in it +for awhile, they conclude they could do better at something +else; and before they have studied and labored +long enough to obtain success in this second enterprise, +they conclude they could do better by changing for a +third or going back to the first. And so, because study +and time and labor are necessary to success in any +occupation or profession and they do not bestow these, +they do not succeed, and, in the nature of the case, can +not succeed. Or, if they are not embarrassed by the +number of openings before them, they are divided in +their minds between a life of ease, indulgence and +pleasure and a life of labor and self-denial, and, though +they would be something and are not without ambition,<span class="pagenum">[358]</span> +yet a life of indolence and rest offers so many inducements +that they prefer it to a life of hard work and of +discouragements and battles and anxieties, or, at least, +if they do not positively prefer such a life, yet they +hanker after it; and in their effort to have ease and +pleasure and, at the same time, to pursue some honorable +and profitable calling, <i>they miss both</i>, and have no +satisfaction, but only a consciousness of their own +weakness and uselessness and a contempt for themselves. +But maybe I need not ask you if you know +persons of this sort. You who listen to me to-night +may be of just that kind. Possibly—nay, probably—there +are men here to-night whose lives have been +failures just because of the miserable weakness I have +been trying to describe. But if this weakness of character +is the cause of many failures and the utter disappointment +that many lives have ended in, in worldly +matters, how much more so is it in religious concerns +and interests. If concentration of thought and fixedness +of purpose and firmness of will are necessary +to overcome obstacles and to master success in business +or in the learned professions, they are more so in the +matter of religion. If indecision and dividedness of +mind and wavering of purpose cause men to fail in +worldly matters, much more so will they cause men +to fail in religion. Some men are forever wavering +between accepting and rejecting Christianity. To-day +they are satisfied that Christianity is true, and to-morrow +they say they have found proof that Christianity is +false. Then, again, they get into trouble and find +that nothing can help them but Christianity, and they +believe it until some man comes along and argues<span class="pagenum">[359]</span> +against it, and away they go off after him. So they +never believe in Christianity long enough at any time +to get any good from it, and they will not utterly and +finally reject it so as to be no longer troubled by it. +But the trouble with most of the people who are in +this wretched state of indecision is that they believe +in Christianity, and are persuaded that it is far better +to be a Christian and safer, but they love the world +and the ways of the world and the honors of the +world and the pleasures of the world; and it is impossible +to love the world and partake of the pleasures +of the world and at the same time to serve God with +your whole heart. "Ye can not serve two masters," +and yet you see people who are trying to do it. +So they do not make good Christians, for their hearts +are in the world, and their lives and influence are +not for Christianity, but for the world. Nor do they +get the good and pleasure of a worldly life, for they +are restrained and harassed by their fear of conscience, +God and hell. And Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, +says, "Ye can not serve two masters." Many have +tried it. Some whose histories are given in the Bible +tried it. Saul, the first king of Israel, tried it. When +God sent him to destroy the Amalekites, he obeyed +the command in part, but not altogether. (I. Samuel +xv., 13-25.) But God is not mocked, and because +Saul trifled with Him He rejected Saul, and Saul +went from bad to worse, until at last, in his abandonment +to the power of evil, he committed murder after +murder and finally died a suicide. The rich young +man in the New Testament was another case of divided +mind. He saw the desirableness of being good, and<span class="pagenum">[360]</span> +the safety of being at peace with God, and showed +a zeal in trying to be good; but when Jesus told +him to sell all he had and give it to the poor, he +refused. He wanted to do both, obey God and inherit +the kingdom of heaven and have a fortune for selfish +enjoyment or for miserable greed at the same time. +But he could not do both. King Agrippa said "he +was almost persuaded" to be a Christian. His mind +was divided; he could not do both. He chose to +keep his worldly possessions, and, of course, could +not be a Christian (Acts xxvi., 28). But, on the other +hand, those men who were decided and positive in +their rejection of the pleasures of the world found +no great trouble in serving God. Moses was a man +of this sort (Hebrews xi., 25-27). He deliberately +chose to suffer afflictions with the people of God rather +than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Paul +was another man of this positive character. When +Jesus revealed Himself to Paul his surrender was +immediate and complete. He said, "What wilt thou +have me do?" And to the end of a long and laborious +life, amid persecutions and sufferings and disgraces +and loneliness and bonds, he continually cried, "None +of these things move me." And his Christian life +was victorious and glorious.<span class="pagenum">[361]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">II. TIMOTHY III: 5.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power +thereof; from such turn away."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This text is a description of certain false teachers +who had arisen in the midst of the church, or who +would arise and assume the name of disciples of +Christ, as well as authority to teach. They would +assume the outward form of Christianity and adopt +its expressions and conform to its usage in outward +respects, but would deny that there was any supernatural +power or divine unction in it. And there are +such men to-day. But if Christianity be not attended +by any supernatural agency and energy present in it +and with it, then it is no better than any other of the +so-called religions of the world. If it has only form +and body, without a living and life-giving soul and +divinity in it, it is on a level with the heathen religions, +for they all have these. And, indeed, all men have a +form of religion, and many of them are so devoted to +it that they will suffer and some of them die before +they will give it up. The ancient Jews held to the +forms of their religion, and fought for it in bloody and +bitter wars. And the Pharisees at the time of Christ +were the most careful and scrupulous observers of all +the forms of their religion, and yet Jesus denounced +them as the wickedest sinners of His time. There +are men of this kind in the Christian churches of +to-day, men who go through the forms of religion, who +perform the outward duties of religion, and who would +not give these up for any consideration; and yet they<span class="pagenum">[362]</span> +not only do not experience anything of the power of +inward religion, but they go so far as to deny that +there is any such inward power, and call those who +claim to have it fanatical.</p> + +<p>But read the following passages, and see if we +have not Scripture warrant for this power of religion: +I. Corinthians ii., 4; I. Thessalonians i., 5; II. Timothy +i., 7; Ephesians iii., 16; and our text, II. Timothy iii., 5.</p> + +<p>1. The power of Christianity is shown in the conviction +for sin.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to get men to see and realize the +sinfulness and hatefulness of sin. It is impossible for +any power of men's eloquence to pierce through the +deep native depravity of the heart—through the selfish +motives, desires, ambitions and interests, and get men +to see and feel the nature and danger of sin. Oh, the +impossibility of making men feel guilt and danger by +any human means while they are dead in sin! But +under the power of this force, or, rather, this agent, +who works in and through Christianity, the poor sinner +sees and feels all this. He sees that, of all bitter +and perilous things, sin is the most bitter and perilous +and dreadful. He feels smitten with remorse. He +feels that there is no beauty in the world, or in anything, +because of the blackness and ugliness and foulness +of his own evil heart and life. And he feels that, +above all things, he must get rid of sin, and at whatever +cost, and speedily at that, for the agony is unendurable. +Everything seems as nothing compared with +salvation from sin. "He will go and sell all he has +to buy it," as Jesus says. This sense of sin and +danger produces an earthquake in the spiritual nature<span class="pagenum">[363]</span> +that upheaves the hidden depths of the soul. Like +the pilgrim in Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, he puts +his fingers in his ears and flees from the City of Destruction. +Like the murderers of Jesus when convicted +by this power, he cries out, "What must I do +to be saved?"</p> + +<p>2. It is shown in what we call conversion.</p> + +<p>But this power which belongs to Christianity, not +only produces this awful sense of the guilt and danger +of sin, it also delivers from the guilt and power of +sin, and makes the man a new creature. The awful +sense of condemnation and the fear of a just and endless +retribution are taken away. He may not know +how or just why, but he knows it is so, and he +rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But, +not only so, he finds to his amazement and joy that +his whole inner nature is reversed, re-created, and he +no longer is a slave of sinful habits and passions, but +he is delivered from these, and now loves holiness +and holy people and holy things and holy thoughts. +The whole current of his nature is changed. "Old +things are passed away, and behold all things are +become new," and, instead of the old defilement and +darkness and devilishness, there flows out and on a +life of purity, consecration, self-forgetfulness and holiness. +Now, do you not call that a power which +can bring to pass such effects as this? Do you know +of any other power that can do anything like it?</p> + +<p>And now, my brother, you who profess to be a +follower of Jesus, have you experienced this power, +or have you only the form of godliness without the +power? That is what is the matter with most of the<span class="pagenum">[364]</span> +church members of this day. They have a form of +godliness, but in too many cases only a form. They +do not know anything of the power of which I have +been speaking. But let no one be discouraged who +has not experienced this blessed deliverance from the +power of the enemy, provided you are seeking for it. +You shall not seek long in vain, if you seek it in +earnest. May God reveal Himself to us all now and +here.<span class="pagenum">[365]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">I. CORINTHIANS IX: 26, 27.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I therefore so run not as uncertainly; so fight I, not +as one that beateth the air:</p> + +<p>"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: +lest that by any means, when I have preached to +others, I myself should be a castaway."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This Is the language of St. Paul, the Apostle. +As we have already remarked of Jesus, that He took +the most familiar facts and experiences of every-day +life by which to teach His doctrines, so we may say +of His great Apostle, Paul. The Grecian games, consisting +of running matches and boxing matches, were +well known among the people of St. Paul's day, +and especially so at Corinth, and these furnished him +the illustrations which he frequently used in his letters. +In another place he speaks of laying aside all weights +and running with patience the race set before us. +In this place he speaks both of running and boxing. +His object is to show that, as in these games the +utmost attention and energy and self-denial were +necessary to success, and that these would insure +success, so it is in the Christian race and the Christian +fight. He says: "I, for my part, run not as +uncertainly," that is, I run no risk, I indulge in nothing +that would make it in the least degree uncertain as +to my gaining the desired object; I know what is +required of me, and I know that if I do not fully +observe all that is commanded me and required of +me, I, to that extent, render my success uncertain, +and this I am determined, by the grace of God, not +to do. Then he says: "I fight not as one that beateth<span class="pagenum">[366]</span> +the air." The boxers would frequently take exercise +by striking into the air, as we see men practicing gymnastics +now; but Paul meant to say that he was not +taking exercise—he was facing an earnest and dangerous +foe, and it was a life and death matter to him +to know just what that foe was, and to know just +how to attack it so as to conquer it. And what was +that foe? Hear it, you who think you are safe and +can just go smoothly to heaven as if you were sliding +down hill. Hear what Paul's greatest foe was: It +was his body—yes, his body, with its appetites and +passions, its constant craving for gratification and +pleasure. What! do you mean to say that Paul, +the great Apostle, was in danger of being led away +by the appetites of the body? Well, that is what +he himself says. He was not in danger of falling +because of doubt, for he had had such a wonderful +conversion, and such an actual vision of Christ, that +he could never, never doubt that, nor does he any +where, in any of his epistles, show the slightest wavering +in this respect, but he does show that he knew +and felt there was danger of being, in some unguarded +moment, misled and brought into sin by the +appetites of an unmastered body. So, he says in the +next verse: "I keep under my body and bring it into +subjection, lest that when I have preached to others, +I myself should be lost." He still keeps up the figure +of the boxing matches in the games, and says: "The +foe I have to contend with is my body," and as the +winner in the fist fight of the games beats his foe +black, till he cries "enough!" so do I deny my body +till it ceases to have any desire or disposition toward<span class="pagenum">[367]</span> +the objects of unholy passions, till it meekly gives up, +and I feel that I am perfect master, and it is under my +feet as it were. When the body is fed and gratified +and pampered, its animal appetites and passions are +nursed and become strong. So men who live high and +eat to gluttony and drink wines and liquors are usually +in a perfect strut of sensual passion. I guess that is +why the Lord keeps me so poor, and why I have so +little to live on and so little to feed on. It is that, +by this necessary self-denial, I may keep my poor body +down, out of danger of betraying me into sin.</p> + +<p>David was as great a man in some respects as Paul, +he communed with God in the solitudes of Bethlehem's +sheep pastures, till he became strong enough to overcome +a giant and to put a whole army to flight. He +composed most of the Psalms, the most spiritual songs +in the world. He withstood all the temptations of +honor, and endured, with matchless meekness, the +hatred and persecution of Saul, the king (I. Samuel +xxiv). But his poor body, with its sensual passions, got +the better of him, and he committed the awful sin of +adultery. Doubtless, when he had become king, he +forgot the self-denial which he practiced when he was +a shepherd, and when he was a persecuted and hunted +fugitive, and instead of that he lived high, fed high, +drank high, and so he fell, and fell very low.</p> + +<p>Solomon was a wise man. He knew all the secrets +of the human heart. He wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, +books full of profound knowledge, as well as of +deepest piety. Yet Solomon was led away from God +by indulging in sensuality. And if David and Solomon, +with all their faith and wisdom and power and piety,<span class="pagenum">[368]</span> +found that their bodies, because not kept down, led +them into sin, we need not wonder that Paul saw and +shunned this danger. But how is a man to keep his +body under? By totally abstaining from everything +that heats the blood and inflames passion, as drinking, +etc., and high living; by fleeing from evil conversation, +evil books, evil thoughts; by fasting and abstinence, +frequently practiced. Moses fasted; Elijah, David, +Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jesus, Paul, the early +church and Wesley and the early Methodists—all these +eminent servants of God fasted, and there must be +something good and profitable in it. I am satisfied +it is one of the ways of keeping the body under, +and bringing it into subjection. And may God help +us to use all the means in our power for securing +ourselves from our greatest enemy.<span class="pagenum">[369]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ACTS XX: 21.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Testifying both to the Jews, and also the Greeks, repentance +toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This verse is a part of St. Paul's account of his +own ministry at the city of Ephesus in Asia. He +revisits them after having spent three years of labor +among them, and in his address to them he reminds +them of his manner of life among them, and recounts +the substance of his preaching among them; and the +burden of his preaching was as is stated in the text: +"Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord +Jesus Christ."</p> + +<p>And the first point to be noticed is that St. Paul +made no difference among men; he was no respecter +of persons or classes. You all know the Jews were +the church people of that day. They not only claimed +to be the pious of that day, but they claimed to be the +only pious people, and the only ones qualified to teach +others. But Paul, finding their religion was altogether +outward and formal, as is the religion of many of the +church people to-day, preached to them just as he did +to the vilest of the heathens around them, the necessity +of repentance, of turning from their sins and passions +to God, with self-abhorrence and hope of mercy and +pardon. And in this he has only followed the example +of his Divine Master; for Christ said to Nicodemus, +a ruler of the Jews, a sort of reverend doctor of +divinity, "Except ye be born again, ye can not enter +into the kingdom of God." (John iii., 3.) And so +now it makes no difference if you belong to the Catholic +church or the Episcopal church or the Methodist<span class="pagenum">[370]</span> +church, or any or all others, it will do you absolutely +no good at all if you have not repented of your sins +and evil doings and turned to God in prayer and hope +for grace to enable you to live above the power of sin. +But, in the next place, Paul said he preached "repentance +toward God." It is God, then, whom you +have offended by your sins. As David says in the +fifty-first Psalm, "Against Thee, Thee only, have I +sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight." And because +you have sinned against God, you must repent toward +God, and as in the sight of Him who sees and knows +all, even the secret thoughts and passions and purposes +of the heart. God is judge, and God is a consuming +fire. But what is it to repent? Ordinarily, +when we hear persons speak of repentance, we think +at once about being sorry and of feeling a deep grief +because we have done wrong; and some of us think +it means to weep and moan and to be afflicted with +an awful bitterness of soul because of our sins, when +we hear any one speak of repentance in a religious +sense. And, indeed, this may be the kind of repentance +which many people have, and doubtless do have. +But there <i>may</i> be true repentance without this extreme +sorrow for sin, provided there is enough sorrow for +sin and hatred of sin and dread of sin to turn away +from it, and to at once and forever forsake it. Nor +must you wait for this extreme sorrow, which you +may have heard others speak of, but if you are convinced +of the evil of sin and the baseness of sin and +the ruinousness of sin, then cease to follow it, cease +to practice it, and cease at once, however much it +may cost you to do so. The old prophet, speaking<span class="pagenum">[371]</span> +to the Jews who came with sighs and groans and +tears to God's altar, but without mending their ways, +says, "Cease to do evil, learn to do right, put away +the evil from you." And John the Baptist says, "Bring +forth fruits worthy of repentance," that is, such fruit +as will show that you have indeed and in heart turned +away from evil and from sin. Meanwhile, ask God +to help you repent, tell Him you are nothing but sin +and that you look to Him for grace to repent right +and to turn away from all sin. And as long as you +cleave to one sin, you need not expect to get any +relief. Many give up one thing and another, but +think they can hold on to one sin—one darling sin, +one idolized sin—and that God will excuse this one, +if they give up all others. "But be not deceived; +God is not mocked," nor can you trifle with Him. +Having thus let go your hold of sin, of your secret +darling sins, and turned away from them with hope +of mercy from God, you can trust in Jesus Christ, +His Son crucified for your sins, and in your stead, +and you will surely have peace, and that quickly.</p> + +<p>Observe, Paul says he preached faith, not in God +the Father, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It +is in Jesus that God reconciles the world unto Himself, +And if you do not accept Jesus and trust in God's +mercy, as shown in Jesus, you will get no relief and +no peace. God has promised nothing outside of Jesus. +But He has promised everything to him who accepts +Jesus Christ's suffering and sacrifice as the sufficient +and satisfactory penalty due to his own sins, and +believes that Jesus bore his sins in His body on the +cross. If Jesus satisfied Paul, He ought to satisfy<span class="pagenum">[372]</span> +you, and be worthy of your confidence and trust and +worship. Turn from sin, then, with humility and shame +that you have so long grieved God, and trust in Jesus, +and Jesus alone, and keep doing so for days if necessary, +and you can not, and shall not, fail to obtain +salvation.<span class="pagenum">[373]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ON SELF-DENIAL.</p> + +<p class="h4">LUKE IX: 23.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And He said unto them all, if any man will come after +Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and +follow Me."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Religion depends on this more than on any other +one thing. If we are willing to give up all our own +preferences and to deny all our desires and inclinations, +we shall not have much trouble at any other +point. The greatest hindrance to getting religion +or <i>keeping</i> religion is our own desire for ease, comfort +and self-gratification, and our aversion to enduring +any hardship or privation or suffering. The reason +why self-denial is necessary is that our very nature is +corrupted and diseased and we are blinded by sin. +Once the will of man was the same as the will of +God; but, since the fall, the will of man and that of +God are directly opposed; and if we live according +to God's will, we must go directly against our own.</p> + +<p>Self-denial is necessary in avoiding sin to which +we are inclined and which we find give us pleasure.</p> + +<p>But it is necessary also, when no sin or temptation +is present, to preserve that frame of mind which keeps +us in readiness for temptation and enables us to resist +it when it does come.</p> + +<p>A constant habit of self-denial is necessary to +make us proof against the gradual and unperceived +approach of sin either in the form of coldness and +distaste for religion, or sloth, or a desire to gratify +the flesh. So Paul (I. Cor. ix., 27) said he kept his<span class="pagenum">[374]</span> +body under and brought it into subjection, lest <i>even +he</i>, through the deceitfulness of sin, should become a +castaway.</p> + +<p>It follows that self-denial is absolutely necessary to +growing in grace. We are mistaken if we imagine +we are growing in grace, when we are practicing no +self-denial. Jesus said (Luke ix., 23): "If any man +will come after Me let him deny himself and take up +his cross <i>daily</i>." Now what does that word "daily" +mean in this connection? Indeed growth in piety is +a growing out of self so that self is <i>crucified</i>, as Paul +says he was.</p> + +<p>Self-denial must be practiced then.</p> + +<p>1. In abstaining from sins of all kinds.</p> + +<p>2. In performing all our duties of religion, however +hard and unpleasant they may be, as attending all +church services, ordinances, etc., and giving according +to your ability.</p> + +<p>3. In practicing private prayer however hard and +distasteful it may be at first. Some men have prayed +three hours a day in secret, as, for example, Luther.</p> + +<p>4. In abstinence from food, <i>i.e.</i>, fasting; and sometimes +from sleep when it is necessary to have time +to pray, etc.</p> + +<p>Get the upper hand of your animal nature and +keep it by <i>daily</i> self-denial and you will mount up with +wings as eagles, you will run and not be weary, you +will walk and not faint.<span class="pagenum">[375]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">I. JOHN III: 5.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And ye know that He was manifested to take away our +sins; and in Him is no sin."</p></blockquote> + +<p>These are Christmas days. This is the period of +the year that is celebrated as the anniversary of the +birth of Jesus. I fear that if some stranger from a +foreign land, who knew nothing of the character of +Jesus and His history and nothing of Christianity, were +to happen in our midst during this Christmas time, he +would think, from the character of our festivities and +the kind of our demonstrations, that we were either, by +our bonfires and guns and rockets and fireworks, celebrating +some warlike hero who, in the midst of belching +cannon and blazing musketry, had delivered his country +from peril, or else that we were, by our revelry and +dissipation and debauchery and riot, celebrating some +heathen god of pleasure like Bacchus, the Roman god +of the wine cup. And it is strange—unaccountably +strange—that men should so pervert the sacred Christmas +time into a season of unusual and disgraceful +indulgence in sin. What does our text say? "He was +manifested to take away our sins." "He was manifested;" +what does that mean? Oh, it means more +than you and I will give ourselves time to fully +take in. It is said that the angels desire to look into +the wonderful fact of the condescension of Jesus Christ, +the prince of princes, in becoming man in order to save +sinners. But though <i>angels</i> thus desire, very few of <i>us</i>, +for whom this wonderful humiliation was suffered, give +enough time or attention to it to either understand it or +care much about it. We are too much occupied with<span class="pagenum">[376]</span> +these lower things to take any special interest in things +infinitely higher.</p> + +<p>Paul, in the second chapter of the Philippians, tells +us how Jesus humbled himself. Let us see verse 5: +"Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery +to be equal with God, but made <i>Himself</i> of <i>no reputation</i> +and took on Him the form of a servant, and +humbled Himself and became obedient unto <i>death</i>, yea +even unto the death of the cross."</p> + +<p>Christ, then, was the equal of God, the Father, +worshipped by angels; and yet He consented to become +man, and so be made "a little lower than the angels." +But He not only became man, He became a servant +among men. So His life was one of lowly service and +unremitting toil for others. He once girded Himself +with a towel and washed the feet of His disciples. But +He not only became man and servant to man, He went +to a deeper depth of humiliation than any other ever +descended to: He suffered as an evil-doer, though in +fact He was the only good and pure man that ever lived. +"He was numbered among the transgressors," though +He was guilty of no transgression, and He descended +down to the bottom floor of disgrace—He was nailed +on a cross and left there to die as you hang the worst +criminals by the neck till they are dead.</p> + +<p>Yes, He was born poor; He lived in toil and sorrow +and died in shame: the Prince of Glory did all this. +But, stop and ask, Why did He endure all this when +He might and could have avoided it? Let God answer: +"Surely He hath borne <i>our</i> griefs and carried <i>our</i> sorrows. +He was wounded for <i>our</i> transgressions. He +was bruised for <i>our</i> iniquities; all we like sheep had<span class="pagenum">[377]</span> +gone astray, and the Lord laid on <i>Him</i> the iniquity of +us all." (Isaiah lviii., 4, 6.) Yes, "He was manifested +to take away our transgressions" in the sense that He +suffered in our stead for those transgressions that are +past. But what good would it do to forgive sinners if +they were not changed and renewed, so that they could +have the power in the future to abstain from sin? What +good would it do for God to say to a drunkard, "Your +sins are forgiven" if He did not at the same time so +change that drunkard as to make him able to keep from +drinking in the future? What good to forgive the past +sins of a debauchee or a liar or a gambler or a thief or +a murderer if, at the same time, their hearts were not so +changed that they would and could keep from sinning +again? It would do no good, for they would go +straight into the sins they had been practicing. Well, +does Jesus make provision for this? Yes, He does. +He was manifested not only to take away the guilt of +our transgressions, but also their <i>power</i> over us. Do +we not read in the Scripture that if the Son shall +make us free we shall be free indeed? Jesus promised +a mighty agent which should work in the hearts of men +and renew their natures. I, myself, am as different a +man as if I had been blotted out of existence and born +again a new creature. And these are the very expressions +the Scripture uses for describing the wonderful +change. This, then, is what Jesus was born in poverty, +lived in sorrow and died in shame for, and at this time +of remembrance and rejoicing He makes appeal to you:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That thou mightest ransomed be, and quickened from the dead.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My Father's house of light, my glory-circled throne,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I left, for earthly night, far wanderings, sad and lone.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I've borne it all for thee; what hast thou borne for me?"<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum">[378]</span></div></div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">NEW YEAR'S SERMON.</p> + +<p class="h4">DEUTERONOMY VIII: 2-11.</p> + +<p>The people of Israel had journeyed long and +wearily since leaving Egypt. For forty years they had +wandered and now at last had come to the borders of +the Promised Land. Only the narrow Jordan was +between them and the Canaan of their hopes. They +were encamped upon the eastern bank of this river +and were only awaiting orders to pass over and +possess the goodly land which lay before them. And +Moses, who was not to cross over with them, but to +be buried in the land of Moab, gives this parting +address to them. They were just passing from one +stage of their journey to another and they need to be +reminded of the <i>past</i> and instructed and warned as to +the <i>future</i>.</p> + +<p>So he says:</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt <i>remember</i> all the way which the Lord +hath led thee these forty years."</p> + +<p>1. They were to remember the trials and temptations +they had. The object of these, he says (verse 2), +was to <i>humble</i> them and to <i>prove</i> them that they might +know what was in their hearts. And so, my brother, if +during the past year, or during your past life, you have +had trials and temptations, it was that you might learn +your own weakness, a hard lesson for proud mortals +to learn, and so be humbled to distrust yourself and +seek help from God. And if you have had sorrow or +bereavement it was for the same purpose, that you +might learn to give up seeking perfect happiness in<span class="pagenum">[379]</span> +anything or any creature on earth and seek it in God. +And have not some of you learned this lesson or are +you not beginning to learn it at last? Have not the +sins and the sorrows of your past life humbled you +and at last brought you to feel your <i>need of God</i>? +But another object of these past experiences of trial +was to prove what was in your heart. A man does +not know what there is in his heart till temptation +brings it out. He does not know how bad it is. I +thought I was patient; but when temptation came, +I found my heart had much impatience in it. I +thought I was humble and did not think highly of +myself till people began to praise me and I found I +enjoyed it and loved it and I was not humble.</p> + +<p>2. But they were to remember God's goodness to +them also (see verses 3 and 4). He had fed them +Himself with manna and kept their clothes from wearing +out and their feet from swelling. And so <i>you</i> are +to remember the goodness of God to you during the +past year and during your past life. Remember how +He has spared you in the midst of your wickedness +as He spared me in my neglect of Him <i>for forty +years</i>, and how He has furnished you many blessings +and would have given you more, but you would not. +And if He has allowed your wickedness to bring you +into trouble and distress, it is to cause you to <i>stop</i> and +<i>reflect</i> upon your ways and turn from them unto Him +for deliverance and true happiness. Thus you are to +recall, from the past year and from your past life, your +sins and sorrows, and God's manifold mercies to you.</p> + +<p>II. But, just entering upon this new year, you are +to look ahead also, even as the Israelites were to look<span class="pagenum">[380]</span> +ahead to the goodly land into which the Lord was +going to bring them (see verses 7, 8 and 9).</p> + +<p>1. God <i>promises</i> you much, my brother, on condition +that you follow Him and obey Him. He promises +to bless you temporally and spiritually, and to give you +happiness—a goodly possession—if you, for your part, +give yourself up, <i>unreservedly</i> to His directions. He +has done much for <i>me</i>, since I began to follow and +obey Him years ago.</p> + +<p>2. Moses ends his discourse with a solemn warning +(verse 11). <i>Beware</i> that you forget not the Lord your +God, and go at any time to trusting to yourself or +any earthly help.<span class="pagenum">[381]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ON AFFLICTION AND SUFFERING.</p> + +<p class="h4">LAMENTATIONS, III: 32-33.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"32. But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion +according to the multitude of His mercies.</p> + +<p>"33. For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the +children of men."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There is a vast deal of suffering and of sorrow in +the world, and the most of it, if not all, is due directly +or indirectly to <i>sin</i> as the cause. Sin is followed by +suffering, as for example, intemperance ruins the health +and brings on a slavery worse in some cases than +death; and sensuality is often followed by loathsome +and painful diseases. Thus God declares His feeling +towards sin in these sufferings that result from it. +He has set up a barrier to keep men from the practice +of it. But we will consider how afflictions and +sufferings may all be overruled to the good of the +sufferer and his deliverance from the evil of <i>sin</i>.</p> + +<p>1. Sufferings which are the direct effect of sin have +a tendency to make us turn away from sin. For +example, the poverty and distress of the Prodigal son +were the cause of his returning to his Father. So it +was with Jack Harrington and others whom we know.</p> + +<p>2. But sufferings and misfortunes which are not +the direct effect of sin stir up the memory to a recollection +of past sins, and excite a remorse for them. +For example, a lady who is the wife of a whisky +dealer told her husband she believed that their losses +and misfortunes were judgments sent on them for being +in that business.<span class="pagenum">[382]</span></p> + +<p>3. Sometimes it takes the greatest and most prolonged +suffering to conquer man's stubbornness and +independence of God. But suffering humbles him, +and, his pride being out of the way, he has no more +trouble.</p> + +<p>4. Sorrow that is too great for any earthly consolation +leads the sorrowing one to seek comfort in +God. One of the greatest and best preachers of +Germany was thus led to God by the loss of his +young wife. So parents are brought to God by the +death of children and children by the death of parents.</p> + +<p>5. Sometimes suffering is necessary to wean us +from some idol which we would not otherwise be willing +to give up.</p> + +<p>6. Sometimes when we forget God and become +absorbed in the world, nothing but some affliction will +make us come to ourselves and turn again to God +with repentance and consecration. Read Psalm cxix., +67-75.</p> + +<p>The case of Sister P——, at Portland, was one of +this kind. She was a backslider and put off her +return to God and kept putting it off. But she had +a great sorrow. Her son left home under a cloud, +her son's wife lost her mind and then died, and her +son was put in prison. To this was added her own +bad health. These things broke the spell of the +world, woke her up from her apathy and made her +seek God with all her heart and she found Him again, +and died in great peace and triumph.</p> + +<p>7. Then suffering purifies us and develops us and +prepares us for work we could not otherwise do. +"Tribulation worketh <i>patience</i>." What <i>excellent training</i><span class="pagenum">[383]</span> +I got when I rubbed the engine for a dollar and +a half a day. It brought patience and resignation +and a better preparation for the work I am doing than +any other sort of experience, perhaps, could have +given me.<span class="pagenum">[384]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">REVELATIONS XXI: 3.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, +the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with +them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be +with them, and be their God."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The subject suggested by the text is, the future +and final conquest of the world by the Church of +Christ, and the rest and reward of that church in +Heaven.</p> + +<p>And the Scriptures do teach that, in time, all nations +shall learn righteousness. The time is coming +when neighbor shall not say to neighbor, "Know ye +the Lord," but when all shall know Him, from the least +to the greatest; and the knowledge of God shall cover +the earth, as the waters cover the deep. When this +blessed time is to be, and what are to be the signs of +its approach, are not questions for us to attempt to +discuss here to-day, though we may be allowed to say +that the Gospel is being preached to more people +to-day that at any former period in the history of the +church. There is a missionary zeal in the church to-day +that has not been paralleled in all her history. +There is not only a readiness among heathen people +to hear the Gospel, but there seems to be a positive +hunger for it, and within the last few years the Gospel +has penetrated to the interior of nations and continents +that were previously inaccessible. Certainly the church +is more aggressive and bold in her plans and operations +to-day than ever before. And if it be a prophecy of +the not distant conquest of the world to the reign of +Christ, we take courage, and say: "God speed the +day!" It is well for us to pause now, and to reflect<span class="pagenum">[385]</span> +upon the reward promised to us in the end of our +course. We do not give enough attention to this. +To study about it; to learn what we do not know +concerning it; to realize the unspeakable blessedness +of that state would make us more patient in waiting, +more cheerful in suffering, more earnest and active +and untiring in our efforts to help others to the attainment +and enjoyment of it.</p> + +<p>Heaven, then, is represented in the Bible as a place +of <i>perfect beauty, perfect security, perfect rest and +perfect joy</i>.</p> + +<p>It is so represented as to appeal to the desires +and longings of all classes of people. To the inhabitant +of the city, what could be more pleasing than +the freedom and freshness and beauty of the country? +So heaven is described as having its landscapes, with +its fruit-bearing trees, its crystal rivers and gurgling +fountains. But for the rustic peasant, it is said to be +a resplendent city, with walls of sapphire and gates +of pearl and streets of gold.</p> + +<p>But in some respects we are all alike.</p> + +<p>We want to be free from sin and danger.</p> + +<p>To a Christian heart, sin is the most abhorred +and dreadful of all things. It gives more pain and +causes more darkness than any other cause; and the +fear of it causes more suspense than the fear of all +bodily suffering.</p> + +<p>But in heaven we shall be free from sin, and free +from all fear of sin and all liability to sin. For nothing +that defileth or maketh a lie can ever enter there; +and they who are so happy as to gain heaven shall +go out no more forever.<span class="pagenum">[386]</span></p> + +<p>We all dread sorrow and grief and pain. And +truly we all have our share of it in this life. "Man +is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." "Man +is of few days and full of trouble," but we leave it +all behind when we go in at the gate of the City of +God. "And there shall be no more sorrow nor +crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the +former things are passed away." Christians in this +world feel that they are pilgrims and strangers in a +foreign land, away from their home and their Father's +house. Their hearts have been so changed, and they +have tasted of the powers of the world to come, +and have come into communion with God, so that +neither the pleasures of the world nor the friendships +of earth can content them—their hearts are +not here, but away in heaven.</p> + +<p>I heard a Christian man say, not long ago (though +he has a sweet family and many friends), that he felt +that day an unutterable loneliness, as if he were an +exile. His heart had such a longing for his Father +and his kindred and his home beyond the skies. Oh, +the sympathy and love and tenderness we know we +shall get at home! It makes us all feel a thrill that +responds to the poet's immortal lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And all the sympathy and tenderness of father, mother, +brother and sister are transcended by the sympathy +and tenderness of God, for marvelous to tell it is +said that "God <i>Himself</i> shall wipe away all tears +from our eyes."</p> + +<p>And how we thirst for <i>knowledge</i> here. We know +nothing now. We are surrounded on all sides by<span class="pagenum">[387]</span> +things we do not understand. If we undertake to +investigate, we soon reach the limit of our capacity +and have to stop before we have learned anything. +"But then we shall know as also we are known."</p> + +<p>What it means, when it says we shall "sit down +at the marriage supper of the Lamb" we know not, +nor what it implies when it says we are to "enter +into the joy of our Lord;" nor do we understand that +wonderful saying, "Thou hast been faithful over a +few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." +No, no; now we see through a glass darkly, but then +face to face, and "it doth not yet appear what we +shall be." But we know that "if we suffer with Him, +we shall reign with Him." The suffering comes first, +the humiliation first, the toil and weariness, the <i>cross</i> +first, and then the crown. Peter the Great, of Russia, +during one of his wars, was separated from his army +and lost, and, to escape detection, took off his royal +apparel and dressed in common garb. In his wanderings +he came to a humble cottage, and was kindly +received and ministered unto by the peasant woman, +who knew not who he was. She gave him a home +until danger was passed, and then helped him to get +back to his capital. When the war was ended, Peter +sent for this poor peasant woman, brought her to his +splendid court, and, marrying her, made her the partner +of his throne and his empire. She who had ministered +to him in his sufferings now reigned with him +as Queen Catherine, of Russia.</p> + +<p>So, my brethren, see that you serve Christ, suffer +for Him; spend and be spent for His cause, and <i>then</i>, +oh, then, how sweet to rest and reign forevermore.<span class="pagenum">[388]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">ECCLESIASTES XII: 13.</p> + +<blockquote><p>Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear +God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole +duty of man.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, boys, here is a piece of advice given by the +wisest of men. Can any of you tell me who was the +wisest man? (Solomon.) Well this Solomon was the +son of a king. Can any of you tell me whose son +Solomon was? (David's.) And, of course, Solomon +had all that money could buy from his childhood up; +and when his father died, he became king in his place. +He lived to be an old man and he had a wide experience +of life. In other words he tried everything that +he thought he could get happiness from and his experience +is given in the book of Ecclesiastes. He tried +all sorts of pleasures and he tried them fully, because +there was nothing to hinder or to check him. He +denied himself nothing that his heart desired. He +knew fully the effects of all sorts of enjoyment and +when he had passed through it all he wrote it down +as the lesson of his experience for all boys and young +men to read. And what was it? Does he say "Young +man, you have a long life before you. Now you must +enjoy the pleasures of life while you are young?" +Does he say you must run off from your father's +house and presence like the Prodigal son did, so you +can have a good time in the enjoyment of the pleasures +of the world and then in your after life, when +you get more settled, you can think about your +Creator and death and heaven and hell and eternity? +Was that the lesson which his long and extended<span class="pagenum">[389]</span> +experience taught him? Ah, no. It was a far different +one. He would say this: "Young men, boys, I +have been all over the road you are traveling now. +I have had your feelings, your hopes, your ambitions, +your passions, your temptations. And in one +part of my life I concluded I would give myself up to +the enjoyment of pleasure of every kind and I did so. +And I know all about it and this is what I would say +to you all just starting out. Remember <i>now</i> your +Creator in the days of your <i>youth</i> and give your +hearts <i>and lives</i> to Him, if you want to be happy."</p> + +<p>1. In the first place by so doing you will avoid +wretched poverty. For a man whose heart and life +are given to God can not be a spendthrift. But just +look at some young men how they spend their money +or that of their fathers. However large a fortune they +may have, they soon come to <i>poverty</i>.</p> + +<p>And a man whose life is given to God is industrious +and loves to work. He can not bear to be idle, +for he knows and <i>feels</i> it to be a great sin. Besides +all this God promises to see that those who live for +Him shall not want what is best for them. Jesus in +the Sermon on the Mount declares that if God provides +for sparrows and clothes lilies, He will be sure +to see to the needs of His own children. So the way +to get the best assurance that you will be blessed +with things needful in this life is to give yourself up +to God to be His, through thick and thin.</p> + +<p>2. If you give your heart to God <i>now</i>, you will be +kept from the sins which bring men into <i>disgrace</i>. "A +good name is rather to be chosen than riches." Ah! +you know not into what awful sins your passions will<span class="pagenum">[390]</span> +plunge you, if you do not get the control of yourself, +which only religion can give. You may be led along +little by little, almost without knowing it, till you may +wake up to find that you can not, <i>can not</i>, break off +from your sins—your hated and ruinous sins. But +if you give God your heart to be changed, renewed, +purified <i>now</i>, you will avoid all these awful dangers.</p> + +<p>3. But this verse says "the years will draw nigh +in which thou shalt take no pleasure in these things +that relate to God." My dear young friend, that +is terribly true. The longer you live away from +God the less and less will be your care for Him and +for your soul. How few old men ever turn to God! +Yes, very few, forty years of age and over, ever do so. +I heard Dr. Munhall ask once, in a large congregation, +that all who were converted after seventy years +of age would stand up. Not one stood up. Then +he asked that all who had been converted after they +were sixty years of age would stand up. Not one +stood up. Then he asked all who were converted +after fifty years to stand up. Only one, I believe, +did so. When he asked all who were converted after +forty years to stand up, only three or four did so. +When he asked all converted after thirty years to +stand up, perhaps eight or ten did so. A few more +had been converted after twenty years of age; but +when he asked all who were converted <i>under</i> twenty +years to stand, most of the congregation arose.</p> + +<p>True, I was converted after I was forty years of +age, but it was a bare chance. And oh, how hard it +was for me. And if I had not had the most patient +of friends to sympathize with me, encourage me and<span class="pagenum">[391]</span> +guide me, I should never have gotten along. I beg +you do not follow my example in putting off your +return to God.</p> + +<p>Look at the men <i>whom you know</i>. How little +interest they take in religion and their interest grows +less and less all the time. The years have already +come when they have no pleasure in the things of +God. They have encouraged all their feelings, desires +and ambitions but this, and this has almost died out. +They have devoted all their thought and affections +to making money and enjoying it, to seeking pleasure +and enjoying it, to acquiring fame and enjoying +it, and so their hearts are completely hardened +and insensible to the religion which they cast aside +ten, twenty or thirty years ago. And they will probably +<i>never</i> feel the all-absorbing interest in religion +which is necessary to obtain it. Hence, they will go +on blinder and blinder, colder and colder, more and +more hardened down to old age and to the grave and +to a hopeless eternity. I beg you, my young friends, +all who hear me to put off your return to God not +one day longer.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—The address, of which this is the outline, was delivered on +a Sunday-school occasion and is a specimen of Mr. Holcombe's talks +to young people.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[392]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">MARK II: 15.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his +house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with +Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed +Him."</p></blockquote> + +<p>1. This class of persons <i>feel</i> that they are outcast, +and not recognized by those who are esteemed the +good. Hence, they feel backward, and will not make +advances toward the good for fear of being slighted.</p> + +<p>2. If those who are looked upon and honored as +good and pious and pure, will show that they <i>want</i> to +be friendly and sociable, it will take these persons by +surprise, and will win their feelings—and this is nearly +half the battle.</p> + +<p>3. Besides, if the good, instead of waiting for these +sinners to make advances, which they will not do, +will take pains to show their interest in the welfare +of these, their unfortunate brothers, it will make them +believe that the pious are sincere, and not hypocritical, +and that religion is a reality and not a mere profession. +This is a great step toward gaining them. Most of +this class believe in the Gospel in some vague sense, +but it is too vague to amount to anything. But +when they see the grand principle of the Gospel—<i>Love</i>—embodied +in the Christian, and coming after +them in their lost condition, it makes an impression, +and it moves them to <i>action</i>. You can not drive +men, nor can you convince them by abusing them and +by shutting them out as too vile to be your associates. +This only drives them further away. But all men +have a chord in their natures that can be touched by<span class="pagenum">[393]</span> +love and kindness. It was this gentleness and sympathy +that drew the thousands around John Wesley. +It was this wonderful tenderness that made the publicans +and sinners and harlots, the outcast and the low +and the vile seek the company of the loving Jesus +and press into His presence, even when He was the +guest of the great and noble of His day. They knew +Jesus would never repulse them—they knew He would +love them, help them, save them.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Down in the human heart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Crushed by the Tempter,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Touched by a loving hand, wakened by kindness,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Chords that were broken will vibrate once more."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>4. There has to be such an interest felt for those +of this class as will make you cease to care for what +people will say about your going among them and +working with them. This was the sort of interest +Jesus had for them.</p> + +<p>5. Imagine your own dear son to be one of this +number, and see what feelings you would have, what +earnestness and what planning. These are some of +the ways and means of getting at this class of persons. +For we have to use means and reason in all +things.</p> + +<p>6. But the <i>agent</i>, the only one who can accomplish +anything is <i>God's Holy Spirit</i>, and the Holy Spirit +comes <i>only</i> in answer to prayer and trust. Prayer is +to be first and second and third and everywhere and +always, and then we may hope that our plans will +succeed.<span class="pagenum">[394]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">PREPARATION FOR WINNING SOULS.</p> + +<p>I am sure, my dear brethren, that in the discussion +of this topic we are to be allowed some liberty +and some latitude; and, if I shall speak in a general +way, I trust I shall not be counted out of order. +And, not to detain you with preliminaries, I say that, +to be a winner of souls, a man must have the anointing +of the Holy One, reproducing the mind that was +in Christ, who "though he was rich, yet for our +sakes became poor, that we through His poverty +might become rich," and who "being in the form of +God, thought it not a usurpation to be equal with +God, but He emptied Himself and took upon Him +the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as +a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient as +far as unto death, even death on a cross."</p> + +<p>A sympathy that arises from any other motive, or +comes from any other source, than His divine and +supernatural anointing, will fall short of the mark, +and will be found too shallow and weak to bear with +the hardheartedness, the perversity and the ingratitude +of sinful men.</p> + +<p>This anointing, on the other hand, brings with it +a yearning love and a profound sympathy for those +who are in the blindness and bondage of sin, which +impels one to <i>seek out</i> the lost, to be at patient pains +to save them, and to bear with all their dullness, slothfulness, +selfishness, perverseness and thanklessness, +while they are under training, so to speak.</p> + +<p>It makes a man as ready and anxious to save the +soul of a solitary sinner, however humble and degraded<span class="pagenum">[395]</span> +he may be, as to preach with power to the great +congregations. It was this that made John Wesley +as willing and careful and patient in talking to a +negro servant girl as to a multitude. And it was +this which lead a greater than John Wesley to lead +with patient love along, the poor Samaritan adulteress +whom He met at the well of Jacob.</p> + +<p>But what is more important and imperative for +the immediate work of getting a dead soul to a living +Saviour, this divine anointing imparts that peculiar +and energetic pungency which pierces to the +heart and conscience of a sinner, rouses his fears, +and prepares him for the reception of Christ.</p> + +<p>Not only so, this unction from the Holy One is +accompanied with a practical wisdom and <i>insight</i> +which discerns, if not all things, yet, at least, <i>many +practical things</i>. It enables a man to see that the +first thing to be done in the way of saving a sinner +is to convict him of sin. To get him to admit theoretically +that he is a sinner, is equal to zero, amounts to +nothing. But, in a way not to repel him, he must be +made to <i>feel</i> that he is sinful, and so, wretched. It is +wonderful what tact some men have in this respect. +Here lies, undoubtedly, the secret of Sam Jones' power. +He turns all classes of men, Pharisees in the church +and sinners out of it, inside out, and makes them +see, in spite of all spiritual apathy and all self-deception, +what they are. He shows them secrets which +they thought nobody knew but themselves.</p> + +<p>But a greater than he did the same thing—Jesus +touched the <i>sore spot</i> in the conscience of the Samaritan +woman and compelled her to say: "He told me<span class="pagenum">[396]</span> +all things that I have done." This revealing the +secrets of the heart is a thing that fascinates and +attracts and wins a sinner; and he feels, if you know +so well without being told, all the particulars of his +inner life and all the desperate trouble of his case, +you surely can not make a mistake in pointing out +the way of escape. Just as a patient yields immediate +and unquestioning confidence to the physician +who can tell him all his symptoms and describe his +feelings better than he himself can do it.</p> + +<p>If preaching the love of Christ without convicting +of sin would have saved people, then most people in +the United States would have been saved long ago, +for the love of Christ has been told and retold and +preached and re-preached, and it does not bring sinners +to repentance. To be sure there are some sinners +who have found, by bitter experience, the ripe fruits of +sin, and these may be already prepared to accept a +deliverer and a deliverance as soon as offered to them.</p> + +<p>The possession of this unction presupposes that a +man is correct, upright, holy in his life; for God would +not give it to one who was not so. I believe Mr. +Moody was right when he said: "If a man's life is +not above reproach, the less he says the better." A +friend of mine says he knows a minister who, though +no doubt a good man and a fine talker, will <i>lie</i> now +and then. Of course, he would not call it lying, nor +would his admirers call it lying, but lying it is; and +so he has no power. His preaching is like a sounding +brass and a tinkling cymbal.</p> + +<p>There are some men who have some little success +in soul-saving, but who would have much more<span class="pagenum">[397]</span> +success, if their lives were thoroughly holy, and Christlike. +And indeed some men would not have the success +they do have, if the public knew their secret life. +For example, there are some men who indulge evil +thoughts (if they do not go further) and who are not +chaste in their associations with women; and there +are others who are ill-tempered, cross, fault-finding, +sour and bitter in their home life. If these things +were publicly and generally known, they would lose +what power they have with the people. Brethren, we +can hardly be too careful of these things. But a full +and constant anointing of the Holy One would correct +all these evils at the <i>source</i>, namely, in the heart. +It makes a sober Christian man tremble to know how +little some of the preachers and evangelists of the day +<i>pray</i>. It would be no wonder if under stress of some +sudden and strong temptation, they should fall into +scandalous sin and disgrace themselves and the cause +they represent. There is an old and true saying that +"when a man's life is lightning, his words will be +thunderbolts."</p> + +<p>We are advised to make ourselves familiar with +the Scriptures, to equip ourselves with weapons from +the armory of God's word; and excellent advice it is.</p> + +<p>No man can maintain a spiritual life who does +not habitually and diligently study God's holy word. +No man is prepared to understand the wants of +souls or to deal with them who is not familiar with +the Scriptures. It is a marked characteristic of our +honored brother, D. L. Moody, that he can, not only +discern the deeper, inner spiritual sense of all the +Scriptures, both of the Old Testament and the New,<span class="pagenum">[398]</span> +but he can handle and apply them with a skill, effectiveness +and power that are truly wonderful. And, +what is more, he is peculiarly apt in selecting just +the right passages for any particular case or occasion. +He is truly a masterly handler of the sword of the +spirit, and his success is largely due to this fact.</p> + +<p>But there is a class of workers who seem to think +that it is sufficient to know by heart some Scriptures, +or to have a certain facility in referring to different +passages, and they rely upon this, congratulating +themselves that they are doing well. But it is all +perfunctory and lifeless and dead. There is no +charm, no warmth, no power in it. A man must be +more than a mechanical text-peddler in order to +impress, arouse, comfort and save the souls of men. +You may pitch cold lead at a man all day long and +never break his skin; but let a full charge of ignited +gunpowder drive it out of a well-aimed rifle, and the +effect is terrific. So these text-mongers may throw +Scripture at people all day long, and they laugh at +it. But let the same missile be hurled forth with the +energy of a soul on fire of the Holy Ghost, and the +slain of the Lord will be many.</p> + +<p>So, my brother, there is absolutely no substitute +for this unction of the Holy Spirit. And this unction +is given in answer to self-denying and daily prayer.</p> + +<p>If we would know the secret of power with men, +we <i>must</i> spend much time in secret communion with +God.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—This address is one of two delivered by Mr. Holcombe before +the convention of Christian workers of United States and Canada in +the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, September 21-28, 1887.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[399]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">THE MISSION—PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.</p> + +<p class="h4">I. THE PAST.</p> + +<p>Two years ago I was working in the Fire Department +of the city, because I could get nothing else to +do. The close and slavish confinement, the necessity +of being always at my place, both of nights and +Sundays, and the consequent lack of opportunity to +do anything for the cause of my Master, made it +almost intolerable for me, and several times I made +up my mind I would give up the place, even though +I had nothing else to fall back on for a living for +myself and family. But through the advice of friends +and the help of God, I was kept from that rash step. +However, I determined I must do something for my +Lord and for the men of my acquaintance and former +occupation who would not, I knew, go inside of a +church. So, though I was getting under sixty dollars +a month, and had a large family to support, I determined +to rent a room at my own expense in the +central part of the city for holding Gospel meetings, +and to hire a substitute to take my place in the Fire +Department when I was absent and engaged in the +work of my Lord.</p> + +<p>I made known my plans to my former pastor, and +he became interested and promised to help me. He +was living in the country, and hardly ever attended +the preachers' meeting here on Mondays; but it happened +on the next Monday after I told him of my +purpose that he was at the preachers' meeting, and, on +my name being mentioned by some one present, he took<span class="pagenum">[400]</span> +occasion to speak at length of my conversion, trials, +poverty; my intense yearning to engage entirely in +the work of God, and my immediate purpose to commence +Gospel meetings in entire dependence on God +alone for help. He went so far as to ask the preachers +present to speak of the matter to their members +and make an effort to get assistance from them for +the expenses of my proposed work. But one of the +preachers present, though saying very little at the +time, was moved to lay before his official board a +proposition not to <i>assist</i> in paying the expenses of +such a plan of work, but to take me from the Fire +Department and pay me a regular salary and defray +all the other necessary expenses of such a Mission +work as my heart was set on doing. And his official +members were <i>also moved</i> to agree to his proposition, +and when he came to me and told me of what had +taken place, I was constrained to say: "This is God's +doing, and it is marvelous in my eyes." So the very +thing I desired above all other things; the very thing +I should have chosen if I could have had my wish, +was brought to pass. And I saw that by waiting +God's time, He rewarded me in granting me the desire +of my heart, and meanwhile I had learned lessons +of patience and preparation that I could not have +learned so well anywhere else. (Mr. Holcombe went +on to speak of the beginning of his work in the Tyler +Block, with the assistance and co-operation of Rev. +Mr. Morris; of the results accomplished during that +first period; of the removal of the Mission to Jefferson +street, between Fourth and Fifth streets, and the +results accomplished there, and, lastly, of the removal +to the present building, etc. See his life.)<span class="pagenum">[401]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">II. THE PRESENT.</p> + +<p>At present we have the house on Jefferson street. +We have a Sunday-school of scholars who do not +attend any other school, and would not. It is supplied +with able and devoted teachers, such as Brother +Atmore and others. The devotion of Brother Atmore +is shown by his refusing to leave his class one Sunday +to go to the Masonic Temple during Sam Jones' +meetings. The children show a wonderful improvement +since they have been coming to the Sunday-school. +Brother Atmore's boys were almost unmanageable +at first, but they are now so changed that it +is very noticeable. This Sunday-school feature of the +work is one of the most important and promising +parts of it, and we believe the results to be accomplished +by it <i>alone</i> will amply repay all the outlay of +labor, time and means that has been made in the +enterprise. We have also a reading-room in connection +with the Mission-room, where we have papers, +magazines, books, etc. The words of invitation and +welcome painted on the door have drawn in some +who, but for the reception, sympathy and help which +they found there, might have gone on in their wretchedness +to suicide.</p> + +<p>While we furnish lodging, food, etc., to those who +are destitute, yet it is with a view to their spiritual +welfare and ultimate salvation. And so soon as we +find a man is availing himself of our charity with +no intention or effort to become a Christian, we let +him go.<span class="pagenum">[402]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">III. THE FUTURE.</p> + +<p>In looking at the past, we find there are several +plain and striking results of the work. The most +apparent is the radical and astonishing change for +the better that has taken place in the cases of many +unhappy men and their families. Two years ago +these men "sat in darkness and in the shadow of +death," being bound in affliction and iron, because they +rebelled against the laws of God. Therefore He +brought down their hearts. They fell down and +there was none to help. And none but themselves +and God knew the bitterness of their bondage and +the depth of their dark and unrelieved despair. But +they were brought into contact with a new force and +a new agency by means of the efforts and sympathy +and instructions of those engaged in this work, and +to-day their old life with its bitterness and bondage +and darkness is left behind from one to two years in +a path that, it is hoped, is not to be retraced forever, +and now these men are happy again, and some +of them prosperous in business. And what shall be +said of their families—their wives and children, innocent +sufferers from the vices of husbands and fathers?</p> + +<p>Husband is husband again, father is father again, +and the long dark night of hopeless sorrow and bitter +tears has ended—ended at last, and ended, let us +hope and pray, forever.</p> + +<p>But if it be also true, as He said, who spake as +never man spake, that it profits nothing to gain the +whole world and lose one's own soul; if there is for +the unsaved an undying worm and an unquenchable<span class="pagenum">[403]</span> +fire, and for the saved an inheritance of joy that is +incorruptible and a glory that fadeth never more +away, then where or how shall we <i>begin</i> to compute +the result of this mission work? It is recorded in +eternity, and only the unfolding of eternity can unfold +the good that has thus far been done.</p> + +<p>But aside from these direct results, there is +another one which can not be estimated, namely the +demonstration of the power of the Gospel to do for +helpless, enslaved, lost men what nothing else in the +universe can do. There is naturally in the hearts of +men a doubt as to the divinity of that religion which +fails to do what it proposes to do, and so in times of +religious deadness, men lose faith, and unbelief grows +stronger and more stubborn in proportion as they see +no actual instances of the power of the Gospel to +save bad men. But when bad men have been reached +and quickened and convicted and made holy by the +Gospel, then the tide turns and faith becomes natural +and easy and contagious, not to say necessary. +Many of my old companions were brought to believe +in the Gospel when I was changed by it; and now +when scores of the worst cases in Louisville have +been reached and saved, and have <i>stayed saved</i> so long, +men are brought back from unbelief to faith, and +naturally turn to the Gospel with increasing hope.</p> + +<p>But this return of faith has not only been noticeable +in the case of the unsaved classes, the churches +have seen this work, and have had their faith in +the divine power of the Gospel to save all men +increased, and a corresponding activity is witnessed +among many of the churches in the city. They<span class="pagenum">[404]</span> +have learned also that to save lost men we must, +like Jesus, not wait for them to come to us, but +we must go to them and after them, just as has +been done in this work.</p> + +<p>There is a passage in Malachi which says, "Bring +all the tithes into my storehouse and prove me herewith +if I will not open the windows of heaven and +pour you out such a blessing there shall not be room +enough to receive it."</p> + +<p>This Walnut-street church, led by its devoted +pastor, was willing to accept God's challenge, and +they brought the tithes, they laid down their money, +they made the venture, and God has given them a +great blessing.</p> + +<p>But this is only the pledge of far greater blessings +yet to be given them, if they will continue to +honor God, by the faith that lays upon His altar, sacrifices +that cost something and amount to something.</p> + +<p>Let us not stop to congratulate ourselves upon +what has been done and rest satisfied with that, but +accept it only as an indication of what He will do +for us if we have faith to claim a deep wide-spread +and continuous revival.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—The foregoing is the substance of an address delivered by +request of the Directors of the Mission on the occasion of a reunion +of the converts and mass-meeting of the Christian people of Louisville, +in the Walnut-street Methodist Church, in April, 1886.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum">[405]</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p class="h4">CHRISTIAN WORKERS.</p> + +<blockquote><p>From September 21st to 28th, the second convention of Christian +Workers in the United States and Canada was held in Broadway Tabernacle, +New York City. From the published report of the proceedings, +this speech of the Rev. S. P. Holcombe is taken:</p></blockquote> + +<p>It would be presumptuous in me to stand up here +and say how you should conduct a "Gospel Meeting." +I do not propose to do that; but will simply tell you +how, for six years, I have conducted one at Louisville, +Kentucky, and with some success. I say some success, +for we have succeeded in gaining the confidence +and respect of all classes—preachers, Christians, gamblers, +drunkards and infidels. Not only have we +succeeded in reaching the hearts of the people, but +also their pocket-books.</p> + +<p>Beginning in a basement room, at a rent of twenty +dollars per month, we now own a building of thirty +rooms. As an instance of the respect all classes have +for our work, while we were negotiating for this property +a German Singing Society also wanted it. This +kept the price up above our figures.</p> + +<p>I called on the President of the Club, who is an +infidel, told him I wanted that property for my Mission +work. Said he: "Mr. Holcombe, I am not a +Christian, neither do I believe in the churches, but I +do believe in the kind of work that you are doing. +I shall withdraw until the Holcombe Mission is done." +We soon had the property.</p> + +<p>Since my conversion I have tried to be a man, +just as much as before. As Dr. Pentecost said +the other day: "When I put off the old man, I<span class="pagenum">[406]</span> +did not put on the old woman," and by this I mean +no disrespect to the dear old women, for many of them +have more manhood in them than some of us men, +and my wife is one of them. What I mean is, that +since I have become a Christian I have not lost any +of my manhood.</p> + +<p>When I was a gambler, I had gambling houses all +over the country. The object was to get other +people's money without giving them any equivalent, +in order to gratify my base passion. I could not, of +course, call on the police for protection, as my business +was not legitimate. Hence, I had to protect +myself, which I did at all hazards.</p> + +<p>So, when I opened a house for the Lord, to win +souls for Him, I determined I would take care of it +at any cost. I think some who are engaged in Christian +work are too stilted, others are too lax. I have +tried to be both stiff and limber; when it was a +matter of no consequence, to bend like the willow; +when it was something vital to my Master's cause, +to be as stiff as steel. In other words I have tried +to be "all things to all men" that I might win +some.</p> + +<p>I think all Missions ought to have a leader. Ours +has one. I am the leader of the meetings. Not +that I do all the talking, but I look out for the +details.</p> + +<p>I have a time for opening and a time for closing +the meeting, and I always close at the time. If my +opening time is 7:30, I begin the meeting if there +is no one there but myself, which, however, has +never occurred; and if my closing hour is at 9 o'clock,<span class="pagenum">[407]</span> +I close at 9—not 9:30 or 10. We have in Louisville +a class of poor people who attend the Mission and +who work every day. They must be at their places +of labor at an early hour in the morning. They love +to be at the meeting, and when they know that they +will be dismissed promptly, they will come. I feel +that if I were to keep these men and women up till +10, 11 or 12 o'clock, and let them get up at 5 and +go to a hard day's work, while I lie in bed until 8 or +9, that I would be a robber.</p> + +<p>Now, I do not say that I go home at 9 o'clock; +for if there is a single one anxious enough about +his soul's eternal salvation to stay till the dawning +of the morning, I will remain with him. I simply +say that I have a time for opening and a time for +closing, and I keep promptly to it.</p> + +<p>I have no set way of conducting the meetings. +I try to take advantage of the situation and do the +best I can under the circumstances.</p> + +<p>We always have a Scripture lesson read and a +few remarks by the leader. If I ask him to speak +twenty minutes, I mean twenty minutes; and, if he +is a bishop, I will stop him when his time is up. I +don't ask you to agree that this is right—I am only +telling you how I conduct a Gospel meeting. After +this we have Christians to give their experience, +never allowing more than three minutes, and I make +it my business to know what kind of lives those who +testify are living. If one gets up and begins to talk +about the love of Jesus, who I know has that day +been drinking, or in a house of prostitution, I stop +him right there. I do not allow him to talk, and<span class="pagenum">[408]</span> +injure the cause, and then tell him afterward. I say, +"Brother, we don't want to hear from you to-night," +and so I stop him at once.</p> + +<p>I am very careful as to who testifies in my meetings +and what they say. If a man who is not a +Christian undertakes to exhort others to become +Christians, I stop him, because he is trying to talk +about something of which he knows nothing, and +this is one of the hardest things in the world to do.</p> + +<p>Where everybody is invited to take part in a +meeting, we are apt to have cranks to deal with. +They must be checked and kept down rather than +encouraged. By cranks I mean those who have +eccentric and unsound views, and think that nobody +else can know as well about these things as themselves.</p> + +<p>I was holding a series of Gospel meetings in +Atlanta, Ga., on one occasion, and had been talking +from Acts ii., 38, "And ye shall receive the gift of the +Holy Ghost." In the address I undertook, as best +I could, to show that He, the Holy Ghost, convinces +men of sin, and that He reveals Jesus to poor sinners +as their sin bearer and life giver, and that it is +He that produces that change in men which we call +conversion or regeneration or the new birth; and +that He, the Holy Ghost, is the comforter of God's +people, in their loneliness and trials and conflicts here +in this world of exile, as well as our teacher to guide +us into the truth. When I had gotten through, I +said, "Now we will have short talks from others, and +no one will talk more than three minutes." Up +jumped a street preacher, who began saying that I<span class="pagenum">[409]</span> +had been talking about the Holy Ghost, but I did +not know what I was talking about. He knew all +about Him, and would tell them about Him. (This +was pretty trying, but I kept mum, however.) He +then began a harangue. When his time was up, I +stopped him. "You are going to limit the Holy +Ghost, are you? You are going to take the responsibility +of stopping Him, are you?" "No, but I am +going to stop you, and that at once." And at once +he stopped.</p> + +<p>I never allow those who testify to abuse others. +Some will begin to talk about the gambling hells. I +stop them and say: "No man will go farther to stop +these things than I, but this is not the place for that +kind of talk." Others, as soon as they are converted, +begin to find fault with the churches, and abuse the +ministers. I do not approve of this, and I discourage +it. I am sorry to know that many who are conducting +Gospel meetings are inclined to find fault with +Christians, magnifying themselves and their work and +underrating the churches and the work of their faithful +pastors.</p> + +<p>Some of these Mission workers have spent the +best part of their lives in sin, never looking into the +Bible—have been converted only a short time; have +had a little success; got the big-head, and think they +know better how to do God's work than those dear +men who have been good all their lives and made +a study of God's Word.</p> + +<p>My dear brethren, in the Mission work, we must +remember that all who have ever done any mighty +work for God have been trained for it, and trained<span class="pagenum">[410]</span> +slowly. Moses, you remember, when he was going +to his work down in Egypt, commenced killing people. +He was the great chieftain, and was going to deliver +his brethren by killing his enemies. This was not +the way God wanted it done. God saw that there +was good material in Moses, and that He could use +him, but he must be trained. So He sent him +away to the solitudes of Horeb and Sinai, and kept +him there forty years. Then when God called him +to go down and bring His people out, he had learned +the lesson God wanted him to learn, had gotten down +in the dust, was humbled, and he said: "Who am I, +Lord?" Moses had gotten more of the Holy Ghost. +The more we get of the Holy Ghost the closer we +get to God. The more we see of Him, and the more +we see of God, the less we think of ourselves; the +more insignificant we become in our own eyes.</p> + +<p>The Twelve had a grand work to do, but they +were slowly trained for it. So, then, let us young converts, +whose work God has honored and blessed, be +very careful how we magnify ourselves, and underrate +the regular ministry. These men are doing a noble +work in their respective fields, and they are just as +ready and willing to take hold of the poor outcast as +we Mission workers are.</p> + +<p>There are preachers who are occupying pulpits, +where they are getting twenty-five hundred or three +thousand dollars a year, and they are doing just as +much to save poor drunkards as we ignorant, humble +Mission workers are.</p> + +<p>You who were at the Chicago Convention last year +remember what Dr. Lawrence told us about taking<span class="pagenum">[411]</span> +one of these poor, wretched drunkards to his beautiful +home; how, notwithstanding he was full of vermin, he +had him take a bath, burned his clothes, put clean +ones on him, gave him a bed and took care of him +as a brother. I tell you, my friends, I was touched by +that story as well as taught a valuable lesson. I know +of many instances of the same kind that I might tell.</p> + +<p>You remember Dr. John A. Broadus, a well-known +Baptist minister in Louisville. I know him well. He +has been one of my best friends. Not very long before +I left home, a drunkard came to the Mission and +showed me a note from Dr. Broadus, saying: "This +man has called on me for help. I do not like to give +him any money, as he is under the influence of liquor. +Give him whatever you think best, and I will settle the +bill." I asked the man, as I knew him well: "How +did you happen to go to Dr. Broadus?" "Because I +had heard so many say that he had helped them." I +gave him nothing. My friends, we must not underrate +the willingness of the preachers to help the poor outcast, +for they are much interested in their very welfare.</p> + +<p>I love the Missions and the Mission work. Just +at this present time, the Missions have got a boom +over the country, but if we are not very careful how +we talk and act, the Missions will suffer. And the +only reason some of them have not quit already is +because those who support them, for want of time +to hunt up real results, have had to take printed +reports.</p> + +<p>It is easy for us to find fault with Christians, rich +Christians, and say they are cold and indifferent about +the souls of men, but the history of the church proves<span class="pagenum">[412]</span> +that this is a great mistake. These Missions have to +be supported by rich Christians, and when you find +a man that has got much money, you will find that +he is not a fool. He is generally a man with a long +head and farsightedness. He wants to see where his +money is going, and what is being done with it. If +you use it properly, he will give it liberally. If he +finds that you are one of those fellows that want to +give his money to every beggar that comes along, he +will stop his subscription at once. These are simple +facts. If we want this Mission work to succeed we +have got to be very careful.</p> + +<p>I never allow any begging in my Mission, I don't +care how pitiable the object may be. When tramps +want food, I send them to the wood yard to work +for it. If men will not work, neither shall they +eat of the money intrusted to me for spiritual work.</p> + +<p>I have no indiscriminate praying. When I want +a prayer, I want to know something about the man +or woman who is to make it. I ask some one who, +I have good reason to believe, is a true Christian, +that is, who walks and talks with God. I do not +care about their name or denomination. I feel that +there is a great responsibility in going to God for +these poor sinners, and I want the best man or +woman that I can get to talk to God for them. +I say: "I am going to call on some one to pray. +I don't want you to pray for Africans, Chinese or +any other of the heathen nations here. When you +go home, you can pray for them all night if you +want to, but now we want you to pray for this special +work."<span class="pagenum">[413]</span></p> + +<p>I believe in good singing, and try to have it. I +would like to have a hundred in the choir. I seldom +have over two persons. I suppose the reason is that +I will not allow any one to sit on my platform and +sing these sweet hymns unless I have good reason to +believe they are living pure, holy, consistent Christian +lives. I think the man or woman who sits in +the choir ought to be as good as he who stands in +the pulpit.</p> + +<p>Some will come to me and say: "So-and-so is a +fine singer; has such a fine voice." "What church +does he or she belong to?" "Oh, they are not +members." "Well, then, excuse me, if you please." +"But that might save them!" "I shall not try the +experiment."</p> + +<p>I have polite ushers to welcome the people, and +to shake hands with them as they come in and also +as they go out, and invite them back. They are also +supplied with tracts for distribution, tracts that have +passed under my observation, as I allow nobody to +distribute tracts unless I know what they are.</p> + +<p>I try to keep the run of the converts; in fact, I +try to know all about them. I try to get them into +some church of their choice, that one which they will +feel the most at home in and where they will get +the right sort of care. It is a very easy thing to get +one of these poor drunkards, who hasn't got any +place to sleep or anything to eat, to say, "I am going +to try and be a better man and follow Christ!" It +is a very easy thing, I say, and the poor fellows +mean it. But, oh! my friends, how hard it is to get +them up to the sticking point. They want to be<span class="pagenum">[414]</span> +watched over and given the very best nursing. If I +had not had the very best care and nursing of one +of the most godly of ministers, I do not think I +should be standing before you to-day a Christian +man.</p> + +<p>I try to follow them up and help the pastors to +nurse them. In order to keep track of them we use +a book, something like a bank check-book. When they +want to unite with some church, we give them a certificate +of introduction. In it I ask the pastor to let me +know when it is presented. On the stub I take the +man's name, age, residence, where from, to whom introduced, +with space for remarks as to future career, etc. +If he has a home, we visit him at his home, and if he +has not, I invite him to visit me at my home at any +time, day or night, which is in the same building over +the Mission, and we talk together and pray together.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Question.</span> "Will you please state whether you ever +recommend fasting as a means of keeping the body +under?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Answer.</span> "I think it is a good idea. I think fasting +a good thing to keep the body under. Owing to +my poverty, since I have become a Christian, I have +had little to feed on. This necessary self-denial has +enabled me to keep my poor body down, and from +betraying me into sin. No man was ever a greater +slave to his passions than I. My passion for gambling +was so great I would have committed murder to gratify +it. I was very licentious. I just gave loose reins to +my passions; but to-day, I thank God, I can stand up +before you and say that I am complete master of +myself. I know it is a help to live a plain life.<span class="pagenum">[415]</span>"</p> + +<p>Q. "How many meetings a week do you hold?"</p> + +<p>A. "We have them every night."</p> + +<p>Q. "Do the men go to the churches when you +send them? Do you prepare them?"</p> + +<p>A. "I do not hurry them into the churches. And +yet I don't say they must be converted before they +go in. When a man is sick of sin, willing to give +it up, I think he is about as ready for the church as +we can get him."</p> + +<p>Q. "Do you have much or little Bible reading in +the services?"</p> + +<p>A. "We do not have much Bible reading. I know +that it is the power of God unto salvation; but the +class of men who attend Missions, as a rule, are in +no condition to be profited by a long Bible reading. +The mission of the Missions is to stop these men in +their downward course, put them to thinking, get +them into churches; then have the Bible read and +explained to them by those who are more competent +than I am."</p> + +<p>Q. "How long do you hold service?"</p> + +<p>A. "Exactly one hour and a half; never more, +sometimes a little less. The first half hour is taken +up in prayer and singing, the other hour in exhortation +and testimonies and prayers for the inquirers. +After dismissing, we remain with any anxious ones."</p> + +<p>Q. "When do you have your converts' meeting?"</p> + +<p>A. "Every Sunday morning, beginning at 9:30 +o'clock and closing at 10:30, in time for them to get +to church."</p> + +<p>Q. "Do the churches take good care of the converts?"<span class="pagenum">[416]</span></p> + +<p>A. "As a rule, yes. Some better than others."</p> + +<p>Q. "Do the converts come to your Mission after +they have joined the church?"</p> + +<p>A. "Oh, yes, sir. They feel more at home in the +Mission than they do in church, because it was there +they entered upon the Christian life. Many of our +Christian workers make a great mistake. They find +fault with the churches because they don't receive +these tramps—I must call them tramps—in their filthy +condition and give them the best seats, etc. I want +to say right here that a clean church, where clean +people go, is no place for a body of tramps. We +must remember, my friends, that people who are +clean, who have good clothes and clean homes, also +have some rights to be considered. I say it is not +right to take these people into a fine church, and +put them side by side with the clean ones until they +themselves are thoroughly clean. I took fifty or sixty +of them into a church once, but afterward I was aware +that I had made a great mistake. The Mission is +the place to clean them up, and then send them to a +clean church, and they will feel better themselves, and +be warmly welcomed by the members. I don't like +dirt any better than other folks, but some one has to +do this work, and I am perfectly willing to do it."</p> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted +Gambler, by Rev. Gross Alexander + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STEVE P. 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