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diff --git a/37883.txt b/37883.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4269aa1 --- /dev/null +++ b/37883.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11647 @@ +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: ASCII + +*** 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) + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Steve P. Holcombe.] + + + + + STEVE P. HOLCOMBE, + + THE CONVERTED GAMBLER: + + HIS LIFE AND WORK. + + BY REV. GROSS ALEXANDER. + + + INTRODUCTION BY + + _REV. SAM P. JONES._ + + + LOUISVILLE: + + PRESS OF THE COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING COMPANY. + + 1888. + + + COPYRIGHTED, 1888. + + + TO + + Mrs. S. P. Holcombe, + + THE PATIENT WIFE, + + THE FAITHFUL MOTHER, + + THE FRIEND OF PUBLICANS AND SINNERS, + + THIS ACCOUNT OF + + THE LIFE AND WORK OF HER HUSBAND + + IS DEDICATED. + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTION BY SAM. P. JONES + LETTER FROM DR. J. A. BROADUS + LIFE AND WORK OF STEVE P. HOLCOMBE-- + CHAPTER I + CHAPTER II + CHAPTER III + CHAPTER IV + CHAPTER V + CHAPTER VI + LETTERS TESTIMONIALS OF CONVERTS + SERMONS + + + + +PREFACE. + + +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? + +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. + +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 _to_ him are selected out of +several hundred of like character to show how he touches all classes of +people. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + AUGUST, 1888. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +BY REV. SAM P. JONES. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +I bespeak for the book a circulation which will put it into the library +of all pastors and into thousands of homes. + + SAM P. JONES. + + CARTERSVILLE, GA., October 18, 1888. + + + + +LETTER FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS. + + +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 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. + + JOHN A. BROADUS. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., September 25, 1888. + + + + +LIFE AND WORK. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +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 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. + +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 +the rushing waters dash, with eddying whirl, against the rocky shores of +their island. + +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." + +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. +"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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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 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. + +[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF MR. HOLCOMBE. SHIPPINGSPORT.] + +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: + +"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 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 years of age, and spending his +unoccupied time in gambling with either white men or negroes, as he +found opportunity. + +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. + +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. + +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 _feel_ it. While, however, he could not +get the feeling, he _determined_ 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 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." + +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. + +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 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. "Now," says +Mr. Holcombe, speaking of this incident, "I can not understand how a man +could do so cruel a thing, but _then_ I felt I must have revenge some +way, and _I could not keep from it_." + +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. + +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 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 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." + +[Illustration: THE OLD MILL AT SHIPPINGSPORT.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +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." + +He promised her that he would try to be a better man and _she_, as well +as _he, believed it_, 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. + +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 _through_ him, but I never loved +_him_ 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." + +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 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. + +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 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 her due. Then marriage becomes tyranny on the one side and slavery +on the other. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +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. + +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 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. + +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, 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 _keep very busy_ in a career of sin, however, to _keep from_ +thinking about it, and that is exactly the second alternative of the two +described above. + +"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 +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." + +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 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. + +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 _you_ would leave me." + +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 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." + +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 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." + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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: + +"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. 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. + +"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 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 _was_ the life +of that same Steve Holcombe who now for eleven years has been a pattern +of Christian usefulness and zeal. + +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. _At any rate for the +first time in his life he thought of saving a little money_, and he did +so, investing it in some houses in the West End. Poor man! he had +wandered _nearly_ 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 _prepared_ 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 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. + +So _he thought_ 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 _more_ 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." + +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, +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 _would_ 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. + +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 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." + +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 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. + +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 will never play another card_." + +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." + +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." + +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 +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. + +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." + +"Yes," said he, "I have." + +"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." + +Mr. Holcombe replied: "I am rather pressed for money now myself, but +maybe we can make a trade. What is your business?" + +"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." + +"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." + +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: + +"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?" + +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: + +"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." + +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. + +"Then," said he, "may I join your church?" + +"You are welcome, and more than welcome," replied the minister, and the +people wondered. + +"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." + +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 _vice versa_. 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: + +"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." + +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 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 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: + + "Well reported of for good works; + If she have brought up children, + If she have lodged strangers, + If she have washed the saints' feet, + If she have relieved the afflicted, + If she have diligently followed every good work." + +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. 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +"But," said the pastor, "how are you going to get there?" + +"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." + +"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." + +He accepted it with tears, left a few dollars of it with his wife and, +with the rest, started for Leadville. + +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." + +Mr. Holcombe replied: "Yes, John; but I am a Christian now, and can not +deal faro." + +"I know," said the man, "you were a Christian in Louisville, but you are +a long ways from there." + +"Yes," Mr. Holcombe said, "but a true Christian is a Christian +everywhere." + +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. + +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." + +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 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. + +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 _at a salary of twenty-five dollars +a month_. He entered at once upon his duties. To his great surprise he +found several Louisville gentlemen stopping 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. + +During his stay at Silver Cliff he did not neglect any opportunity of +doing good to others. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 _terra firma_" 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 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. + + +DIARY. + +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, + + "Those blessed feet + Which, eighteen hundred years ago, were nailed + For our advantage on the bitter cross." + +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 +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 of socks. My feet were soaking wet. At bedtime I +read Romans, second chapter. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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 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. + +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 A. M. 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. + + SUPPER--BILL OF FARE. + + _Fried Rabbit, Fried Bread, + Potatoes, Coffee._ + +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. + +Friday, June 6.--Bright morning. Fine appetite. Good breakfast. Read +Romans ix. We moved from 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +Wednesday, June 11.--Another beautiful Colorado morning. Read 1 Cor., i. +Started for Silver Cliff about 7:00 A. M. I carried White's pistol. On +the way I killed two doves. Had them for dinner about 3:00 P. M. How +sweet they did taste! Arrived at Silver Cliff about dark. + +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. + +Friday, June 13.--Arrived at Pueblo about 2:00 P. M. 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 commons, on the edge of the city, and, with other tramps, +went to sleep on the cold ground. + +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. + +Sunday, June 15.--Got up early. Had a little breakfast. Started about +6:00 A. M. 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +I left Sedalia feeling comfortable. Walked about four miles. Hall was +about done. He could go no 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 P. M., without one cent, nothing to eat, no +place to go. Slept that night in a stable-yard under Jennings' wagon. + +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. + +Here the diary of the prospecting tour and the tramp to Denver ends. + +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 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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +[Illustration: ENGINE HOUSE.] + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +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. + +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 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. + +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 were saved at that +time and place were Mr. Ben Harney, son of the distinguished editor of +the old _Louisville Democrat_, 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. + +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 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. + +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: + + "KANSAS CITY, MO., August 14, 1888. + + "_My Dear Brother_: + + "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 work for God and souls. + Praying God to bless you and your work, I am, + + "Yours affectionately, + + "JAMES C. MORRIS." + +"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 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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"At length we found a vacant storeroom on Jefferson street, between +Third and Fourth, and as we 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. + +"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. + +"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 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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +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 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 case is taken from one of the +Louisville daily papers and will illustrate what has been said: + +[Illustration: JAMES WILLIAMS AS HE WAS.] + + + DRUNK TWENTY-THREE YEARS. + + REMARKABLE STORY OF "WHISKY JIM'S" WASTED LIFE AND FINAL + CONVERSION. HOW THE WORK WAS EFFECTED. + +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. + +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. + +The story of his life and reformation as related to a _Times_ reporter +is very interesting. He had asked Mr. Holcombe when his protege 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 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. + +"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 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. + +"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. + +"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 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. + +"I went to church yesterday for the first time since I was a boy. Heard +Dr. Eaton preach. + +"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." + +[Illustration: JAMES WILLIAMS, AS HE IS] + +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 +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. + +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. + +[Illustration: THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. 1. CUTTING GARMENTS. 2. BOYS +MAKING CARPETS. 3. GIRLS SEWING.] + + +THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AND THE KINDERGARTEN. + +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 + + Mrs. J. R. Clark, Superintendent; + Mrs. L. G. Herndon, Assistant Superintendent; + Miss Ella Downing, Secretary; + Miss Ella Harding, Treasurer. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The school meets every Saturday morning at 9:15. The opening services +consist of-- + +1. Singing (Gospel Hymns). + +2. Responsive recitation of a Psalm, or the Beatitudes or the Ten +Commandments. + +3. Prayer. + +4. Distribution of work-baskets. + +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-- + +5. Singing. + +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. + +7. The Lord's Prayer is recited in concert. + +8. Dismissal. + +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. + +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." + +Many when they began to attend did not even know the little prayer +beginning: + + "Now I lay me down to sleep." + +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: + +"Oh, I'm so glad you have come, Mrs. Clark. I want you to pray with me." + +Mrs. Clark said, "Can't you pray yourself?" + +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." + +"But can't you say 'Our Father who art in heaven?'" asked Mrs. Clark. + +"No; not all of it, I know only a little of it." + +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. + +[Illustration: KINDERGARTEN, THANKSGIVING DAY] + +Perhaps a score of similar instances could be cited. + +The sewing school closed May 12, 1888, with the annual picnic. The +following is the report for the year just past: + +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. + +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. + + +THE KINDERGARTEN. + +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. + +The interest increased till February, 1886, when the board of directors +of the Holcombe Mission consented 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. + +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 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. + +[Illustration: MRS. J. M. CLARK.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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: + + LOUISVILLE, KY., February 3, 1886. + + _Dear Brother Dalton_: + + Your welcome and encouraging letter is just received. I + acknowledge your claim, so gently urged, to something better + than a hasty postal in reply. 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. + + 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 + + Your brother, + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + +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. + +[Illustration: THE WAYFARER'S REST. 1. EXTERIOR. 2. OFFICE. 3. SLEEPING +APARTMENT. 4. TAKING MEALS. 5. AT WORK. 6. ON THE LEVEE.] + +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. + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +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. + +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 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. + +[Illustration: MRS. S. P. HOLCOMBE.] + +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 _might_ say with Simeon, the _Nunc dimittis_, "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. + +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. + +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. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., May 29, 1888. + + My Dear Wife: + + 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. + Yours in life, yours in death, + + STEVE P. HOLCOMBE. + +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 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 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: + +"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 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." + +The tribute which the people of Louisville paid to the work and worth of +Steve Holcombe _before_ his death was hardly less. + +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." + +This, then, was the first compensation and blessing. + +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. + +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 _enough_, +and that he was, therefore, liable to be overtaken by some sudden +temptation and be betrayed into sin. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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: + + + "SICK BED, January 18, 1887. + + "_Dear Christian Friend_: + + "I send you some lines which have been a great blessing to me: + + "'I can not say, + Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day, + I joy in these; + But I _can_ say + That I _had rather_ walk this rugged way + If Him it please. + + "'I can not feel + That all is well, when darkening clouds conceal + The shining sun; + But then I know + God lives and loves, and say, since that is so, + "Thy will be done." + + "'I can not speak + In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek + Show I am sad; + But I _can_ speak + _Of grace to suffer_ with submission meek, + Until made glad. + + "'I do not see + Why God should e'en permit _some things_ to be; + When He is Love; + But I _can_ see, + Though often dimly, through the mystery, + His hand above. + + "'I do not know + Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow + With greatest care; + But I shall know + The meaning of each waiting hour below + Sometime, somewhere.' + + "Selected with tender sympathy. + + "Your friend, + "JENNIE CASSEDAY." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +In conclusion it will not be out of place to glance for a moment +backward and to call attention definitely to some plain facts. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +Such he _was_. The preceding pages have described in part what he _is_. +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. + +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, 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 _that_ side. + +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. + +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 and desire to rise again. And through his +instrumentality many a one _has_ risen again, and to many a mother, +wife, sister, family, has come through him a resurrection of buried hope +and joy. + +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: + + LOUISVILLE, KY., August 13, 1888. + _Rev. Gross Alexander_: + + DEAR SIR: 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. + + Very respectfully yours, + A. M. WADDILL. + +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. + +He has the confidence and esteem of the officers both of the city and +State, and he has a large influence with them. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +their thought, awakened inquiry and revived their faith, and many of +these have been saved. + +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." + +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." + +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 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." + +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. + +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 _told_ 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 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.[1] + +[1] 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. + +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. + +Whatever men may say, the fact remains that when the Gospel is preached +on apostolic conditions, it has still apostolic success. + +In 1886, when Rev. Sam P. Jones was holding a meeting in Cincinnati, he +said of Mr. Holcombe: + +"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 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.' + +"There are mighty few men like Steve Holcombe to take hold of poor +fellows and bring them back to a purer and better life." + +In 1888, during a great temperance meeting in Louisville, Mr. Francis +Murphy said of Mr. Holcombe: + +"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." + +Mr. D. L. Moody, during his great meeting in Louisville, in the months +of January and February, 1888, said of Mr. Holcombe: + +"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 to take care of the wrecks. Steve Holcombe +rescues them. Let us help him all we can." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +[Illustration: THE UNION GOSPEL MISSION.] + + + + +LETTERS. + + + TO HIS FIRST PASTOR. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., November 6, 1883. + + _My Dear Brother_: + + 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. + + Yours, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + + TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., November 19, 1883. + + _Dear Brother_: + + 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. + + Yours truly, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + + TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., November 21, 1883. + + _Dear Brother_: + + 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. + + Yours truly, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + + TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., February 3, 1884. + + _Dear Brother_: + + 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 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. + + Yours truly, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + + TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., February 7, 1884. + + _Dear Brother_: + + 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. + + 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 so much. The two hours I spend + here seem so short." + + 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." + + I said: "You will have to watch the devil or he will get you in + his power again." + + "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." + + Pray for me, that I may make no mistake in my difficult work. + Yours, as ever, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., February 13, 1884. + +_Dear Brother_: + + I did just what you suggested; though I was disappointed I did + not show it. God is helping me to give up my preferences. I am + trusting in the Lord, and sweetly singing + + "Oh, to be nothing, nothing, + Only as led by His hand; + A messenger at His gateway, + Only waiting for His command." + +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. + +So you heard that I am improving in preaching. Well, I do believe that I +shall yet learn how to preach. + +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. Yours, etc., + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + + TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., May 1, 1884. + + _Dear Brother_: + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + God grant you may have good health, length of days and all of + this world's goods that may be good for you. + + S. P. H. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., May 23, 1884. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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 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. + + 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 + + Your friend and brother, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 23, 1884. + + _My Dear Brother:_ + + Yours received this A. M. 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 _taking time_ to study. I am getting much better acquainted + with God and the better I know him the more I love him. + + Yours in love, + + S. P. H. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 25, 1884. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + The men are all doing tolerably well. The attendance at the + meetings is increasing. Sunday-school 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. + + Yours, etc., S. P. H. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 30, 1884. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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. + + Brother Davidson has gone to housekeeping. He has his son and + daughter with him. Oh, the love and power of God. Praise His + name! + + S. P. H. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + CHICAGO, ILL., September 5, 1884. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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. + + 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. + + I am having a royal time, sailing on the lake, riding on + street-cars, taking in the town. I wish you were here. + + God bless you always. STEVE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 1, 1885. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + Yours of June 25th received. I do hope you will get Brother + C.[2] 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. + + Yours, S. P. H. + +[2] A converted gambler. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., May 15, 1885. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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. 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. + + Yours, + + STEVE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., December 20, 1887. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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, + + Your friend and brother in Christ, + + STEVE P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., December 29, 1887. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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. + + Yours, + + S. P. H. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., January 26, 1888. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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 first, self; second, self; and + almost all for self in one way or another. May God deliver me + from self. + + Yours as ever, + + STEVE P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 10, 1888. + + _Dear Brother:_ + + 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 _one true friend_. 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. + + Your friend and brother in Christ, + + STEVE P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO S. P. DALTON (one of the converts). + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 17, 1883. + + _My Dear Brother Dalton:_ + + 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. + + 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 _suffer_ with Him, we + shall also reign with Him. The suffering comes first, the + humiliation first, the toil and weariness first. Yes, we may + _expect_ 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, + + Your brother in Christ, + + STEVE HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 23, 1885. + + _Dear Brother Dalton:_ + + 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. + + Your friend and brother in Christ, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., April 17, 1886. + + _Dear Brother Dalton:_ + + 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 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. + + Yours, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., November 15, 1886. + + _Dear Brother Dalton:_ + + 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. + + 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. + + Yours, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., January 6, 1887. + + _Dear Brother Dalton:_ + + 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. + + Hope to see you soon. + + Yours, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., October 28, 1887. + + _S.P. Dalton, Cleveland, Ohio:_ + + DEAR BROTHER DALTON: 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. + + I believe you will render a good account of your stewardship. + The main thing for you to guard against is _care_. 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." + + 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 are now making from fifty to two hundred dollars a + month. + + Your friend and brother in Christ, + + S. P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., May 11, 1888. + + _Dear Brother Dalton:_ + + 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. + + 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. + + Good-bye, + + STEVE P. HOLCOMBE. + + * * * * * + +[3]LETTERS TO MR. HOLCOMBE. + +[3] A few of the letters to Mr. Holcombe have been selected out of +several hundreds. + + _Mr. Holcombe:_ + + 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 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? + + Believe me, most earnestly, your co-worker in prayer for his + salvation. + + MRS. H. + + * * * * * + + BIRMINGHAM, ALA., May 12, 1888. + + _Dear Brother Holcombe:_ + + 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, 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. + + Mrs. P. + + * * * * * + + LOUISVILLE, KY., December 3d. + + _Brother Holcombe:_ + + 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 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. + + A SUFFERING MOTHER. + + * * * * * + + BOWLING GREEN, November 10, 1884. + + _Mr. Holcombe:_ + + 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, _danger awaits him_. 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 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 _will hear your prayer_ and + help you to save him. Yours with a mother's aching heart for her + boy, + + ---- ---- + + * * * * * + + CHICAGO, May 24th. + + _Rev. Steve Holcombe:_ + + MY DEAR FRIEND: 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, + + MRS. P. W. M. + + * * * * * + + WEDNESDAY NIGHT. + + _Dear Mr. Holcombe:_ + + 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. + + Sincerely your friend, + + MRS. L. + + * * * * * + + LOUISVILLE, KY., April 12, 1888. + + _Rev. S. P. Holcombe:_ + + DEAR BROTHER: 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. He will not know that I have sent for you. Oh, help me + to pray that God will help my husband. + + Your friend, + + MRS. L. + + * * * * * + + OCTOBER 28TH. + + _Friend Holcombe:_ + + 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. + + Truly, ---- ---- + + * * * * * + + CITY WORK-HOUSE, November 1, 1882. + + _Rev. Stephen P. Holcombe:_ + + DEAR SIR: 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. + + Truly, ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + CITY WORK-HOUSE, November 2, 1882. + + _Friend Holcombe:_ + + 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 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.[4] Hence this cramped writing. Come + and see me, and do not give me up as hopeless. + + Truly, ---- ----. + +[4] He means the rock-pile. + + * * * * * + + BOWLING GREEN, KY., March 27, 1888. + + _Rev. Steve Holcombe:_ + + DEAR SIR: 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, + + ----. + + * * * * * + + SICK BED, February 5th. + + _Dear Christian Brother:_ + + 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 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. + + In bonds of Christian friendship, + + JENNIE CASSEDAY. + + * * * * * + + ALEXANDER'S HOTEL, + LOUISVILLE, KY., May 30, 1888. + + _My Dear Mr. Holcombe:_ + + 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. + + ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + OCTOBER 16, 1887. + + _My Dear Steve:_ + + 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 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. + + Your friend, ---- ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + NOVEMBER 2, 1887. + + _My Dear Steve:_ + + 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 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, + + Your friend, + + ---- ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + DECEMBER 10, 1887. + + _My Dear Steve:_ + + 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 + _Courier-Journal_ 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. 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. + + Very truly your friend, ---- ----. + + * * * * * + +FROM A CONVERT. + + KANSAS CITY, MO., May 30, 1888. + + _Rev. Steve P. Holcombe, Louisville, Ky.:_ + + 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 + 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. + + Your friend and brother, + + HARRY CHAPMAN. + + * * * * * + +FROM A CONVERT. + + CHICAGO, July 21, 1884. + + _My Dear Brother Steve:_ + + Your kind postal of the 21st to hand this P. M. 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. 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--_my_ 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. + + Your brother in Christ, + + FRED ROPKE. + +Remember me to Mrs. Holcombe and the rest of the family, as well as to +all inquiring friends. + + * * * * * + +FROM THE SAME. + + CHICAGO, August 3, 1884. + + _Dear Steve:_ + + 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 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, + + FRED ROPKE. + + * * * * * + + FROM A CONVERT. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., September 12, 1887. + + _Rev, S. P. Holcombe, New York City:_ + + MY DEAR OLD FRIEND: 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 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. + + Your sincere friend, + + P. B. + + * * * * * + + FROM A CONVERT. + + ATLANTA, GA., February 3, 1885. + + _Dear Brother Holcombe:_ + + 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 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. + + Yours truly, ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + FROM AN OFFENDED GENTLEMAN. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., January 13, 1887. + + _My Dear Sir:_ + + 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 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 + _even_ my own indiscretions. Very truly, + + To Rev. Steve P. Holcombe. ----- -----. + + * * * * * + + FROM A GAMBLER. + + FEBRUARY 4, 1884. + + _Mr. Steve Holcombe, Esq., Lewisville, Ky.:_ + + DEAR FRIEND: 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, + + DAVID W. MILLER, + + _Ridgeville, Randolph Co., Ind._ + + * * * * * + + 849 SEVENTH ST., LOUISVILLE, May 28, 1888. + + _Rev. Steve Holcombe:_ + + DEAR SIR: 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 Christian instrumentality and kindness that my + dear son embraced his Saviour and died a Christian. + + Hoping that God will add many stars to your crown, I am your + sincere friend, + + HANNAH GILL. + + Two more Bibles will be given you by the same hand for + distribution. + + H. G. + + * * * * * + + FROM A CHRISTIAN BROTHER. + + MEMPHIS, TENN., May 6, 1887. + + _My Dear Friend and Brother Holcombe:_ + + 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 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 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. + + Your true friend, + ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + FROM SAM P. JONES. + + CHICAGO, ILL., March 16, 1886. + + _Rev. Steve Holcombe, Louisville, Ky.:_ + + DEAR BROTHER HOLCOMBE: 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. + + I enclose an article, which you can take to the + _Courier-Journal_ if you like. + + Kindest regards to your loved ones and all the brethren, and may + God's blessing be upon your work. + + Fraternally yours, + + SAM P. JONES. + + * * * * * + + FROM THE SAME. + + GIBSON HOUSE, + CINCINNATI, OHIO, June 13, 1886. + + _My Dear Brother Holcombe:_ + + 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, + + SAM P. JONES. + + * * * * * + + FROM REV. DR. WILLITS (Warren Memorial Church). + + _Mr. Steve Holcombe:_ + + DEAR SIR: 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. + + Truly yours, + + A. A. WILLITS. + + * * * * * + + FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS. + + MARCH 23, 1885. + + _Dear Brother Holcombe_: + + The bearer is Mr. B., once a merchant in Richmond, Va., fallen + by drinking habits, separated from wife and children, _lost_. 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. + + Your friend and brother, + + JOHN A. BROADUS. + + * * * * * + + 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. + + LOUISVILLE, KY., January 28, 1884. + + _Rev. G. Alexander_: + +DEAR SIR AND BROTHER: 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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + + Very truly yours, + + FRED ROPKE. + + + + +TESTIMONIALS. + + +CAPTAIN EGBERT J. MARTIN. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. 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. + +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. + +But after a short stay in Virginia I had an offer to return to New York +and go to work, and went to New 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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 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 _something_ 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 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + + NOTE.--Captain Martin is now engaged in business in the house + of Bayless Bros. & Co., Louisville. + + +R. N. DENNY. + +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. + +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. + +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 _chef_ 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. + +At the close of the Exposition, it was on the verge of winter, and times +were very dull. I was behind with my 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 it to anybody else. +If a man had called me a drunkard, I would have called him a liar. + +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. + +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 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 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. + +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 _chef_ 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. + +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 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. + +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. + + NOTE.--Mr. Denny is at present the joint-proprietor, with Mr. + Ropke, of a thriving restaurant on Third street, between + Jefferson and Green, Louisville. + +[Illustration: B. F. DAVIDSON.] + + +B. F. DAVIDSON. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I had left home very early in life. My mother was the best Christian +woman I had ever seen. She 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. + +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 manoeuvring for anything of that kind, I would get out of town at +once, and they would not know where I had gone. + +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. + +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 _Post_. I +accepted a position on the _Post_ 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. + +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. + +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." + +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 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. + +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." + +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 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. + +[Illustration: H. C. PRICE.] + + +H. CLAY PRICE. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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, you must say your prayer." She said, "I can not pray +like you do." But she did the best she could. + +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." + +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 _can_ 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?" 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." + +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. + + NOTE.--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. + + +MILES TURPIN. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. _Now_, 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. + +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 badly by him. I deserted him and put my +faith in God, where I intend to remain the remainder of my life. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + + +FRED ROPKE. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +What brought me to realize my condition more than anything else, took +place just before the time I 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +[Illustration: J. T. HOCKER.] + + +JAMES THOMPSON HOCKER. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + + NOTE.--Mr. Hocker is at present engaged in business in one of + the large clothing houses of Louisville. + +[Illustration: S. P. DALTON.] + + +SAMUEL P. DALTON. + +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. + +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. + +One day while in this unhappy condition my attention was called to a +crowd of people on Jefferson 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. + +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. + +I went, then, to Brother Holcombe's Mission, and remained with him for +about two years, working there 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + + +COLONEL MOSES GIBSON. + +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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +In the fall of 1883 I thought I would call a halt. I quit drinking in +October, 1883, of my own will, and I 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. + +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. + +I kept that thing up, and on the first of January I was walking down the +street. I had gone to bed 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. + +They put me to bed, and I was totally unconscious until I woke up the +next morning at five o'clock. It 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. + +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. + +Finally I came up here to Mr. Holcombe's and found him here, and we got +to talking the matter 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 that +night I had never prayed in public. The only prayer I would say was, +"Our Father Who Art In Heaven." + +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." + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +I have had more strength since then. I have not had the least desire for +liquor. Last night was the first 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. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN N. B. PECK.] + + +CAPTAIN BEN PECK. + +I have had rather an eventful life; but I don't know that it would be +interesting to the public. + +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. + +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. + +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. I +was notorious throughout the command as a reckless, bad boy from the +beginning. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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 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. + +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. + +Somebody met me about four o'clock in the evening, and asked: "Where are +you going?" I said: "I 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. + +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, 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." + +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 much as it is possible for a sinful mortal like me to +do. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Just about ten days after I joined the church, I was in the Phoenix +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 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. + +[Illustration: J. C. WILSON.] + + +JAMES C. WILSON. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +child in the new life, I think I would to-day be in hell. I never will +forget Brother Holcombe. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + NOTE.--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. + +[Illustration: WM. BIERLY.] + + +WILLIAM BIERLY. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +[Illustration: MAC. PITTMAN.] + + +CAPTAIN MAC PITTMAN. + +I was born in Baltimore in 1834. My ancestors were driven away from +Arcadia by the English, on account of their Roman Catholic proclivities. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _News_. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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, and I have not taken anything +intoxicating from that day to this. + +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. + + 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: + + LOUISVILLE, KY., July 24, 1888. + + _Rev. Gross Alexander_: + + MY DEAR BROTHER--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." + + Most sincerely, + + ---- ----. + + * * * * * + + LOUISVILLE, KY., August 2, 1888. + + _Dear Brother Alexander_: + + Your kind letter was received several days ago, but I have + delayed answering, in the expectation of seeing you here in + person. + + 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 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 _he_ 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. + + Yours truly, + + ---- ----. + +[Illustration: A NIGHT MEETING--MR. HOLCOMBE PREACHING.] + + + + +SERMONS. + +MARK 1: 15. + + "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel." + + +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 _urged_ 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." + +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 _here--here to-day +and now_; and if you _will_, you may enter it and be saved. + +But what are men told to do in order that they may enter? + +How are they to enter? + +1. They are to _repent_. + +And what is it to repent? + +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 are not truly penitent. Now, +it is true that some people have _all these_ 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 _will_ leave +off sin and practice righteousness. It will show itself by its _fruits_. +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 _main thing_ is to have +such a feeling concerning sin as to turn _forever_ 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 _at once and keep it up_, and the longer you keep at it the more +you will feel that you must go on with it. + +2. But there is another thing to be done. The Lord says: + +"Repent and _believe_ the Gospel." + +So you are to _believe_. You are to believe that God _does_ accept you +now through Jesus Christ _just because He says_ He accepts and saves +those who believe in His Son. You may not receive the evidence of +acceptance _at once_ 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. + +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. + +The kingdom of God is here to-night. Will you come in? + + "Come humble sinner in whose breast," etc. + +Come, angels invite you, we invite you, and, best of all, Christ invites +you. O, do not, by your own actions, 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. + + "Just as I am, without one plea, + But that Thy blood was shed for me, + And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, + O! Lamb of God I come. + + "Just as I am, tho' tossed about, + With many a conflict, many a doubt, + Fightings and fears within, without, + O! Lamb of God I come." + + +JOHN III: 16 + + "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." + +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, AEneas 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _gave_ His only begotten Son. + +3. And the way to get this friendship of God and profit by this love is +merely to _believe_ 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 _believe_ it, even if it is +hard to believe it. + +4. But this glad tidings is for you and you and you--for _every one of +you_. It is for _whosoever_, and that means everybody--everybody. A +certain believing man in England said, "I rather it would _be +whosoever_ 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 _whosoever, I know it includes me_." + +5. It is to save us from _perishing_. + +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 +_perish_. + +But Christ was given that you might _not perish_. 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? + +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 _perishing_ 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. + +6. But He not only saves from perishing, He gives them eternal _life_, + +What does that mean? Oh, I know not--only I 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? + + +TITUS II: 14. + + "Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all + iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of + good works." + +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. + +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. + +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 _for +us_." + +Now, I will ask you, could God show His concern for us in a more +striking and convincing way than in the _giving_ 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 _giving Himself_ 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 would throw them on Him; He +would fill us with His spirit, and with power, if we would trust Him and +believe His promise. + +But did He give Himself for us that we might remain _in sin_, and yet +not be punished? This is what the Universalists say. But no! He gave +Himself for us that He might redeem us _from_ iniquity, and from _all_ +iniquity at that. He was manifested to deliver us from the _guilt_ 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. + +And that man who thinks he has been pardoned for past sins is mistaken, +unless he also has been saved from the _power_ of sin, so as no longer +to be led captive by the devil. + +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. + +If some who are here could have _all_ 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 _desire_ 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 passions and habits. What do you say? Do you want to +be redeemed from all iniquity to-night? + +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." + +Now, you who have been saved here, I want to ask you: What are you doing +for others? If you do _not_ abound in good works, and do not try to save +others, it will be difficult or _impossible_ to keep yourself saved. +Jesus said: "Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away."--John +XV: 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. + + +ISAIAH LV: 6-7. + + "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." + +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. + +1. _Seek_ ye the Lord. + +Now, you know what it means when it says _seek_. 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 _necessity_ upon +him. He _must_ 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 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. + +_How_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +Seeking Him by putting out of the way those things which are +_hindrances_. 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." + +The forsaking of sin is the main feature of what we call _repentance_. + +You can not come to God unless you come giving up your sins entirely or +crying to God for help to give them up. + +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. + +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. + +2. You must give up _all_ sin, your besetting sin, the sin that has the +most power over you. + +3. Give up all sin _now_. + +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. + +4. Give up all sin, give it up _now_, and give it up _forever_. 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. + +And look to God for help, for present help, for all-sufficient strength. + +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. + +My text says, God will have mercy on you and will _abundantly_ pardon +you. + + +THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. + +LUKE VIII: 5-15. + +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. + +He divides the hearers of the word into four classes: be ready then to +decide in which class _you_ are, for you are certainly in one. + +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. + +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 _thought_; nor +their hearts, and produce any _feeling_. + +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 _they +do not try to be_. + +But in the twelfth verse we find who is the cause of this astonishing +indifference and hardness--it is the _devil_ who causes them at once and +forever to forget all that is said "lest they should _believe_ and _be +saved_." + +There is an unseen adversary, then, who keeps us from thinking about +religion all he can. If you do not think about it much, that is a proof +that you are under his influence. + +2. The next class consists of those who from impulse become religious +without counting the cost. + +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. + +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 _long season_, but +are little by little, and in an unperceived way, drawn away from their +first love, and then on to perdition. + +Three things are here mentioned as drawing them gradually away from +their devotion to Christ: + +(_a_) _Cares._ + +They have so much to attend to, they do not _have_ time or _take_ 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 +_disposition_ for religion. All this care may be about things that are +lawful, as making a living, for example. + +(_b_) _Riches._ + +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 _we see_. +John Wesley said, "As wealth increases, religion decreases," and he was +right. + +(_c._) _Pleasure._ + +The pleasure of fine, rich living, fashionable life, fine dress, +theater-going, balls, parties, flirtations, the admiration and praise of +others etc., etc. + +4. The last class are those who _count the cost_, go in with their eyes +open, who _won't_ let cares, riches or pleasures draw them off, but who +work, and serve, and pray with _patience_ even unto the end. + + +II. CORINTHIANS, II: 11. + + "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not + ignorant of his devices." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 artful fisherman of hell. And he is all the more +dangerous because we can not see him and realize always his ultimate +purpose. + +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. + +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. + +And now, what are some of his devices? + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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 _not_ +converted, but still in the flesh, the devil would tempt you to believe +you _were_ converted, in order to make you rest satisfied and deceived +with your unsaved condition. As he _does_ 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. + +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. + +And if a man's temptation is to believe he is _not_ converted, it is one +proof that he _is_ converted. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _not_ by slackening your +carefulness and experimenting with worldly pleasure to see how far you +can go therein. + +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. + +In other words, a sort of reaction comes, and a dangerous thing it often +proves to be. Now, the temptation is to give up the regular and rigid +performance of duty because you don't _feel_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +I have heard of a man who _for years_ 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. + +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. + +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. + + +COMPARISON OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. + +PSALM I: 1-2. + +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. + +1. It tells what he does _not_ 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. + +But did you observe the word _walk_ 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. + +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 _sinners, in the way_ with evil +doers, violators of law, criminals against God and man. And now observe +he takes a "_stand_." It is no longer "walk," for the restlessness and +uneasiness have about passed away, and he takes a deliberate _stand_ +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 _beginning_ in the way of evil. + +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 sinners, evil doers, as one of +their number; and now it is _sitting down_ in the seat of the +_scornful_. 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 _look on_. They would have _feared_ 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. + +2. In the next place, this Psalm tells what a _good_ 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. + +But where can we find God, and how? Not in nature; for there is nothing +clear enough in nature 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 +_always_ 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 _every day_ to prayerfully read and study into His +word, always asking His guidance and help. + +And it will soon come to pass that, as the text says, you will +"_delight_ 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 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 +_patiently_ read some every day. You will then find your desire for sin +and sinful associations leaving you. + + +PSALM I: 3-6. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +"_The ungodly are not so._" 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 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. + +"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. + +How I do pity the poor man who does not know or care what he is living +for, and just pursues every day what _happens_ to take his mind for that +day. + +And because the ungodly are not steadfast and fixed in their devotion to +God, neither shall they be able to _stand_ in the _judgment_. + +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? + +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 _stand_; no, +you could not _stand_. + +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? + + +GOD'S LOVE FOR SINNERS. + +ROMANS V: 8. + + "But God commendeth His love for us in that while we were yet + sinners, Christ died for us." + +There are many of us who _feel_ that we are _sinners_, 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 _we_ were good, He would _then_ 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. + +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 _exceedingly_ 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. + +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 _believe_ +in God's love for you. + +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. + +The great proof of it is the life and death of Jesus Christ, His Son. + +Have you read about it in the Gospel? + +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 _all_," 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. + +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. + +"I came not to call the righteous but _sinners_ to repentance." + +Why does God, in so many ways, express His love for sinners? + +Because He wants to touch their hearts and melt them by tenderness. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + +GODLINESS PROFITABLE FOR THIS LIFE. + +I. TIMOTHY IV: 8. + + "But godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise + of the life that now is and of that which is to come." + +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. + +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 _this life_, they can not see. + +1. But godliness is a help to a man in making a living. + +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, _is_ honest, industrious, careful, temperate, trustworthy and +conscientious, because he works 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. + +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 +_try_ and to show their value, their employers will not give them up. + +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. + +The Christian man has the _promise of God_ that he shall be provided +for--Matthew vi.: 32, 33--while the godless man has no such assurances +at all. + +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. + +3. Religion keeps men also from those crimes which bring men into ruin +and disgrace and bitter remorse. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Thus have I tried to show you that, regardless of the future, godliness +is profitable for this life. But if 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. + +O man, what will you do with eternity, _eternity_, 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. + +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. + +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. + +O then, come to Jesus Christ and have all these things and heaven +beside. + + +PROVERBS XII: 15. + + "The way of transgressors is hard." + +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. + +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. + +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 _hospital_ to die! + +3. In destroying one's good name and alienating one's friends, it +becomes the cause of poverty and want. + +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. + +5. It often produces insanity. + +6. It produces remorse, uneasiness of mind, shame, hatred of self. + +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. + + "The sting of death is sin." + +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. + +But there is a remedy for sin, there is a fountain opened in the house +of King David for sin and uncleanness. Yes + + "There is a fountain filled with blood + Drawn from Immanuel's veins, + And sinners plunged beneath that flood + Lose all their guilty stains. + + "The dying thief rejoiced to see + That fountain in his day, + And there may _you_, though vile as he, + Wash all your sins away." + +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 _free_ salvation. + +How much better to accept Christ while you are in health and let your +life of holiness and purity and devotion _prove_ that the work is a +genuine work and that you really have been saved. I have almost _no_ +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 _now_ 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. + + NOTE.--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.--ED. + + +ROMANS XIV: 17. + + "The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness + and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." + +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. + +1. In the first place, he tells them that religion does _not_ 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. + +So now we (or some of us) have fallen into the notion that religion +consists in certain outward things. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 who it is, if they have no more than a performance of +outward duties, ceremonies and services, they _are not_ members of the +kingdom of God. + +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." + +And, first, it is _righteousness_. + +In another place it is said that, "The wisdom that cometh from above is +first _pure_." + +The object and aim of the Christian religion is to make men holy. That +is _first_. 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. + +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 demand, is righteousness, and if +you have the _will_ He gives the _grace_ to attain it. + +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. + + +MATTHEW XI: 28. + + "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will + give you rest." + +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 _toil_ for it day and night, year in and year out. + +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. + +It is for this that they plow and sow and reap and gather into barns. + +It is for this that they blow the bellows and swing the heavy hammers +from morn until night. + +It is for this they buy and sell and buy again to sell again. + +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. + +It is for this that they will leave wife and children to try their +fortunes in some distant California or Australia. + +It is for this they will abandon their homes in time of war to brave the +dangers of the battle-field. + +It is for this that they will worry away the hours of night in games to +get each other's money. + +It is for this they will devise schemes and lay plans to entrap their +fellows, some times going to the length of committing murder. + +It is for this that women will toil with the needle and bend over the +sewing machine. + +It is for this they will stand for weary hours behind counters measuring +off goods or waiting for customers to buy. + +It is for this that they work over the hot stove or wear out their hands +in the wash-tub. + +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. + +We are a race of _toilers_. All over the world it is the same. We see it +here in Louisville, It is work, work, work, go, go, go. + +And are we happy? Have we rest? + +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. + +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 communion of friendship which all +human hearts so crave and which they find to be the best part of what +this life can give. + +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. + +Ah, yes; no doubt some of _you_ 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. + +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. + +Then, again, some of you are bowed down by the recollection of your past +life and its dissipation and crimes. + +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 +brutality and heartlessness. You may have driven your children to +desperation and crime by your coldness and hardness to them. + +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. + +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. + +But you are the very ones whom Jesus addresses and invites in this +tender appeal. Do you believe it? + +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. + +3. Lastly, consider what this rest means which Jesus offers to you +burdened and toiling ones. + +1. It is rest from sin, both its guilt and power. + +2. It is rest from all care. For He has said, we should cast all our +care upon Him because He cares for us. + + +MATTHEW V: 3. + + "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of + heaven." + +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 _knowledge_ but in +the _disposition_ of the _mind and heart_. + +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 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. + +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 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 _answer_ it. + +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, _is now_, the +kingdom of heaven." Read it again. Will you believe it? + +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 +_such a welcome_ 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. + +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 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 _you_ do not want it. + +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. + + +MATTHEW V: 4-5. + + "4. Blessed _are_ they that mourn; for they shall be + comforted." + + "5. Blessed _are_ the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." + +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 +_mourn_, for they shall be _comforted_." Of course, those who are poor +in spirit and broken in heart _will mourn_. 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. + +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, _are_ doing so now? + +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, "_Blessed_ +are they." + +There, now, you are already comforted a little bit, are you not? + +But what is the rest of this sentence of Jesus? "For they _shall_ be +comforted." And, indeed, the fact that you _mourn_ 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. + +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. + +And the next verse comes right along to fill out the one we are +considering. "Blessed are the _meek_." + +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 _his honor_ and his rights. But +he will have the opposite feelings exactly. + +He feels his unworthiness so deeply and keenly that he is willing to +give up his own rights and to prefer others before himself. And Jesus +adds, "the meek shall inherit the earth." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +A man who is always sour and bitter because things don't go to suit him +is the opposite of a _meek_ man. And one of the loveliest and most +attractive and winning qualities of human character is this unfailing +resignation, this _cheerful_ 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." + +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 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. + +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 _more convincing_ to men if, _in the midst_ of bad health and +nervousness, we should have a meek, quiet, patient, bright and cheerful +spirit. + +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. + + +MATTHEW V: 13. + + "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." + +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. + +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. + +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 hope because it declares that +this God loves men, as sinners, and so it gets hold of men by the heart. + +If man will only compare those nations that are Christian with those +that are not, he will find out what a difference there is. + +But the text refers to the holy lives of Christians as being the salt of +the earth. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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 +_won't_ 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 _can't_ do so +because they can't read or reason, and we _force_ 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." + +How can we get and keep this savour, this divine unction which produces +such a life? Only by much communion with God. + +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 +_lose this savour_. + +And that is what the text says. Let us read it again. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + "Brightly beams our Father's mercy + From _His_ lighthouse evermore, + But to _us_ He gives the keeping + Of the lights along the shore." + + +THE PRODIGAL SON, + +HIS SIN, HIS WRETCHEDNESS AND HIS RECOVERY. + +LUKE XV: 11-24. + +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 +_you_? + +2. The father did not _compel_ 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. + +3. "He _wasted_ 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. + +"_And he began to be in want._" + +That is what sin brings a man to--want, want, want and wretchedness, +wretchedness, wretchedness. Has not sin done this for _you_? + +4. And it was this very wretchedness which brought him to his +senses--"he came to himself" (verse 17). + +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 +_humblest_ and _meanest_ place, if he can only get back to that home he +was, a short time before, so eager to leave. Nor does he offer _any +excuse_, he calls his sin by the right name and confesses it without +trying to excuse it or justify it. + +5. And how did his father receive him? + +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 _best_ robe and put it on him." +So, though we may go to God expecting to _work as servants_ for Him and +for His favor, He gives us far more than we ask and He makes us His own +_sons_. And, poor wretched sinners, I come now with this message for +_you_, bruised and sore and despairing and wretched as you are on +account of your sins. May God help you believe it. + + +II. PETER I: 5-6. + + "5. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith + virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; + + "6. And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; + and to patience, godliness." + +I want to say something to you to-night about how to _grow_ 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 _feel_. No, no; feelings and preferences and all must be +overlooked and forgotten; for they know that work must be done that +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 _make up our minds_ by God's +grace to live a life of consecration and activity. + +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, 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 _reformed_; but they +are too chicken-hearted to say that they have humbled themselves, +surrendered their pride and become _Christians_. 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +But what is the next thing, to be added? It is _temperance_. 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 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, _patience_. + +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 _make it their chief business_ 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 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 _sure_ of everlasting life, and escape the hell +which we all fear more than all things else combined. + + "Since I must fight if I would reign, + Increase my courage, Lord; + I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, + Supported by Thy word." + + +ECCLESIASTES XII: 13. + + "Let us bear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and + keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." + +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. + +1. Fear God. + +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. + +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. + +3. And we are told that to do this is the _whole purpose_ 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. + +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." + + +HEBREWS XII: 1, 2. + + "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. + + "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." + +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, and +to go on, because others having tried it were conquerors. + +He exhorts to three things: + +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 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 +_willing_ to do so, God will see that you have the _power_ 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. + +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. + +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? + + "Would you lose your load of sin? + Fix your eyes upon Jesus. + Would you have God's peace within? + Fix your eyes upon Jesus." + + +ACTS II: 38. + + "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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +He it is who produces that change in men which we call conversion or +regeneration or new birth. You 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + + +LUKE V: 32. + + "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." + +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 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, 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 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." + + +JAMES I: 25, 26. + + "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. + + "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." + +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 _doing_ at once, without waiting even till to-morrow. "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 _you doing_, as well as +_hearing_ 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 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. + +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 _you_, they, will +hurt others. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + + +JAMES I: 8. + + "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." + +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, 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, _they miss both_, 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 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 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. + + +II. TIMOTHY III: 5. + + "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; + from such turn away." + +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 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. + +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. + +1. The power of Christianity is shown in the conviction for sin. + +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 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?" + +2. It is shown in what we call conversion. + +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? + +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 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. + + +I. CORINTHIANS IX: 26, 27. + + "I therefore so run not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one + that beateth the air: + + "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." + +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 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 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. + +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. + +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, 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. + + +ACTS XX: 21. + + "Testifying both to the Jews, and also the Greeks, repentance + toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." + +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." + +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 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 _may_ 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 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. + +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 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. + + +ON SELF-DENIAL. + +LUKE IX: 23. + + "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." + +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 _keeping_ 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. + +Self-denial is necessary in avoiding sin to which we are inclined and +which we find give us pleasure. + +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. + +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 body under and +brought it into subjection, lest _even he_, through the deceitfulness of +sin, should become a castaway. + +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 _daily_." Now +what does that word "daily" mean in this connection? Indeed growth in +piety is a growing out of self so that self is _crucified_, as Paul says +he was. + +Self-denial must be practiced then. + +1. In abstaining from sins of all kinds. + +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. + +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. + +4. In abstinence from food, _i.e._, fasting; and sometimes from sleep +when it is necessary to have time to pray, etc. + +Get the upper hand of your animal nature and keep it by _daily_ +self-denial and you will mount up with wings as eagles, you will run and +not be weary, you will walk and not faint. + + +I. JOHN III: 5. + + "And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and + in Him is no sin." + +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 _angels_ thus desire, very few of +_us_, 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 these lower things to take any special interest +in things infinitely higher. + +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 _Himself_ of _no +reputation_ and took on Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself +and became obedient unto _death_, yea even unto the death of the cross." + +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. + +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 _our_ griefs and carried _our_ sorrows. He was +wounded for _our_ transgressions. He was bruised for _our_ iniquities; +all we like sheep had gone astray, and the Lord laid on _Him_ 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 _power_ 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: + + "I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed + That thou mightest ransomed be, and quickened from the dead. + My Father's house of light, my glory-circled throne, + I left, for earthly night, far wanderings, sad and lone. + I've borne it all for thee; what hast thou borne for me?" + + +NEW YEAR'S SERMON. + +DEUTERONOMY VIII: 2-11. + +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 _past_ and instructed and +warned as to the _future_. + +So he says: + +"Thou shalt _remember_ all the way which the Lord hath led thee these +forty years." + +1. They were to remember the trials and temptations they had. The object +of these, he says (verse 2), was to _humble_ them and to _prove_ 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 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 _need of +God_? 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. + +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 _you_ 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 _for forty years_, 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 _stop_ and _reflect_ 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. + +II. But, just entering upon this new year, you are to look ahead also, +even as the Israelites were to look ahead to the goodly land into which +the Lord was going to bring them (see verses 7, 8 and 9). + +1. God _promises_ 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, _unreservedly_ to His directions. He has done much for +_me_, since I began to follow and obey Him years ago. + +2. Moses ends his discourse with a solemn warning (verse 11). _Beware_ +that you forget not the Lord your God, and go at any time to trusting to +yourself or any earthly help. + + +ON AFFLICTION AND SUFFERING. + +LAMENTATIONS, III: 32-33. + + "32. But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion + according to the multitude of His mercies. + + "33. For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children + of men." + +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 _sin_ 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 _sin_. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +5. Sometimes suffering is necessary to wean us from some idol which we +would not otherwise be willing to give up. + +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. + +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. + +7. Then suffering purifies us and develops us and prepares us for work +we could not otherwise do. "Tribulation worketh _patience_." What +_excellent training_ 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. + + +REVELATIONS XXI: 3. + + "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." + +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. + +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 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. + +Heaven, then, is represented in the Bible as a place of _perfect beauty, +perfect security, perfect rest and perfect joy_. + +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. + +But in some respects we are all alike. + +We want to be free from sin and danger. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + + "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." + +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 _Himself_ shall wipe away all +tears from our eyes." + +And how we thirst for _knowledge_ here. We know nothing now. We are +surrounded on all sides by 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." + +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 _cross_ 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. + +So, my brethren, see that you serve Christ, suffer for Him; spend and be +spent for His cause, and _then_, oh, then, how sweet to rest and reign +forevermore. + + +ECCLESIASTES XII: 13. + + Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and + keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. + +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 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 _now_ your +Creator in the days of your _youth_ and give your hearts _and lives_ to +Him, if you want to be happy." + +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 +_poverty_. + +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 _feels_ 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. + +2. If you give your heart to God _now_, you will be kept from the sins +which bring men into _disgrace_. "A good name is rather to be chosen +than riches." Ah! you know not into what awful sins your passions will +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, _can not_, +break off from your sins--your hated and ruinous sins. But if you give +God your heart to be changed, renewed, purified _now_, you will avoid +all these awful dangers. + +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 _under_ twenty years to stand, most of the congregation arose. + +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 guide me, I +should never have gotten along. I beg you do not follow my example in +putting off your return to God. + +Look at the men _whom you know_. 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 _never_ 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. + + NOTE.--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.--ED. + + +MARK II: 15. + + "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." + +1. This class of persons _feel_ 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. + +2. If those who are looked upon and honored as good and pious and pure, +will show that they _want_ to be friendly and sociable, it will take +these persons by surprise, and will win their feelings--and this is +nearly half the battle. + +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--_Love_--embodied in the +Christian, and coming after them in their lost condition, it makes an +impression, and it moves them to _action_. 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 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. + + "Down in the human heart + Crushed by the Tempter, + Feelings lie buried that grace can restore; + Touched by a loving hand, wakened by kindness, + Chords that were broken will vibrate once more." + +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. + +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. + +6. But the _agent_, the only one who can accomplish anything is _God's +Holy Spirit_, and the Holy Spirit comes _only_ 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. + + +PREPARATION FOR WINNING SOULS. + +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." + +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. + +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 _seek out_ 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. + +It makes a man as ready and anxious to save the soul of a solitary +sinner, however humble and degraded 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. + +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. + +Not only so, this unction from the Holy One is accompanied with a +practical wisdom and _insight_ which discerns, if not all things, yet, +at least, _many practical things_. 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 _feel_ 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. + +But a greater than he did the same thing--Jesus touched the _sore spot_ +in the conscience of the Samaritan woman and compelled her to say: "He +told me 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. + +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. + +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 +_lie_ 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. + +There are some men who have some little success in soul-saving, but who +would have much more 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 _source_, namely, in the heart. It makes +a sober Christian man tremble to know how little some of the preachers +and evangelists of the day _pray_. 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." + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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. + +If we would know the secret of power with men, we _must_ spend much time +in secret communion with God. + + NOTE.--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.--ED. + + +THE MISSION--PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. + +I. THE PAST. + +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. + +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 +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 _assist_ 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 +_also moved_ 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.) + + +II. THE PRESENT. + +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 _alone_ 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. + +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. + + +III. THE FUTURE. + +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? + +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. + +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 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 _begin_ 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. + +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 _stayed saved_ so +long, men are brought back from unbelief to faith, and naturally turn to +the Gospel with increasing hope. + +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 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + + NOTE.--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.--ED. + + +CHRISTIAN WORKERS. + + 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: + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +You who were at the Chicago Convention last year remember what Dr. +Lawrence told us about taking 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +QUESTION. "Will you please state whether you ever recommend fasting as a +means of keeping the body under?" + +ANSWER. "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." + +Q. "How many meetings a week do you hold?" + +A. "We have them every night." + +Q. "Do the men go to the churches when you send them? Do you prepare +them?" + +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." + +Q. "Do you have much or little Bible reading in the services?" + +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." + +Q. "How long do you hold service?" + +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." + +Q. "When do you have your converts' meeting?" + +A. "Every Sunday morning, beginning at 9:30 o'clock and closing at +10:30, in time for them to get to church." + +Q. "Do the churches take good care of the converts?" + +A. "As a rule, yes. Some better than others." + +Q. "Do the converts come to your Mission after they have joined the +church?" + +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." + + + + + +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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