The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1899, Page 35

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The Lutheran Pioneer. ; 35:

An Indian’s Advice. cent or two in Mrs. Farris’ contribution box
as you go by.’ -

_ “As I went along I kept thinking; my
mother said a cent or two. I wished she had
told me to put in one cent or two cents, but
there it was: ‘Perhaps, Cyrus, you will put
in a cent or two.’ AsI turned it over in my
mind during the first mile of my walk, I
thought, ‘Well, I will put in two cents.’
Then I began to reason with myself, ‘How
would that look? Two cents for the heathen
and five cents for gingerbread.’ It did not
satisfy my ideas very well, because we al-
ways read the missionary news at our house
and my conscience was tender on the subject.
Two cents did not look right, and so I thought
I would put three cents into the box.

“I went along for a time very comfortably
after I had come to this decision. But by-
and-by the old reasoning came back to me,
‘Four cents for gingerbread and three cents
for the souls of the heathen.’ How was I to
get rid of that? I thought I would change it
for four for the heathen and three for ginger-
bread. Nobody could complain of that. Then
I thought of the other boys who would be sure
to ask: ‘How many cents have you got to
spend?’ and I should be ashamed if I only
had three cents. I wished mother had given
me six cents or eight cents. Then I could
have divided it evenly, but now I did not
know what to do.

“I got to Mrs. Farris’ house and went in.
I remember just how I felt. I got hold of my
seven cents and thought, ‘I might as well drop
them all in and then there will be no trouble,’
and so I did.

‘After that I was well satisfied with what
I had done, but about noon I began to be
hungry. I kept shy of the gingerbread stand.
I went off where the soldiers were having their
dinner, and wished somebody would throw me
a bone.

“J stood it without a mouthful till four
o’clock, and then started for home. As I
reached-home I cried, ‘I am as hungry as a
bear; I have not eaten a mouthful all day.’
‘coWhy Cyrus, where is the money I gave
you?’ :

‘<OMother, you did not give it to me right.
If you had given me six cents or eight cents, I
could have divided it; but I could not divide
seven cents and so I put it all in the mis-
sionary box.’”’

——__—>—- oa 0 a

that in another fifty years, Bibles, churches,
and piety, would be things of the wornout
past. ‘‘They say,’’ he said fiercely, ‘“‘that
their Christianity shall become a mountain,
and fill the whole earth. A stone growing.
Yes, it will grow as much as any other stone,”’
and so on. He looked about for the effect of
his words and met the eyes of a lady whose
whole face expressed horror. He said flip-
pantly: ‘‘Miss, I seem to have alarmed you;
you look frightened.”’

~“T am,’’ she responded promptly, “for
you.’’. ‘Whosoever shall fall on this stone
shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powdet?.’”’

She did not wait for the effect of her words.
They were spoken, not too loud, but with ter-
rible intensity. With the last syllable, she
sauntered out of the saloon. A profound
silence fell on the-company, and during this
our loud blasphemer slipped into his state-
room.

Later in the evening I heard one gentleman
say to another: ‘‘‘Grind him to powder!”
what a fearful expression! And how true!
All history confirms it. Where are Egypt,
Assyria, Chaldea, Greece, Rome— all the na-
tions that forgot God? e

‘Where are the bold blasphemers, from
Pharaoh and Sennacherib to Julian and’ Ju-
das, the apostates ; ‘and down to Voltaire-and
Tom Paine? :

‘««Ground to powder!’ And yet men dare
to follow in their steps.’’ — Selected.

' An American Indian gave the following ad-
vice to missionaries, by one of whom he was
Jed to Christ and converted:

“Brethren,’’ said he, ‘‘I have grown old
among the heathen; therefore I know how
the heathen think. Once a preacher came
and began to explain to us that there is a
God. We answered, ‘Dost thou think us so
ignorant as not to know that? Go back to
the place whence thou camest.’

“Then again another preacher came and
began to teach us, and to say, ‘You must not
steal, nor lie, nor get drunk.’ We answered,
‘Thou fool! dost thou think we don’t know
that? Learn first thyself, and then teach the
people to whom thou belongest, to leave off
these things; for who steals, or lies, or is
more drunken than thine own people?’ And
thus we dismissed him.

“After some time Brother Christian Henry
Rauch came into my hut and sat down by me.
He spoke to me nearly as follows: ‘I come to
you in the name of the God of heaven and
earth. He wants to let you know that He will
make you happy, and deliver you from the
misery in which you lie at present. To this
end He became a man, gave His life a ransom
for man, and shed His blood for him on the
cross!’ When he had finished his discourse,
he lay down upon a board, fatigued by the
journey, and fell into a sound sleep. I then
thought: ‘See how he lies and sleeps! I might
kill him and throw him out into the woods, and
who would regard it? But this gives him no
concern.’

“However, I could not forget his words.
They constantly recurred to my mind. Even
when I was asleep, I dreamed of the blood of
Christ shed for us. I found this to be differ-
ent from what I had ever heard, and I inter-
preted Christian Henry’s words to the other
Indians. Thus, through the grace of God, an
awakening took place among us.

“J say, therefore, brethren, preach Christ,
our Saviour, and His sufferings and death,
if you would have your words gain entrance
among the heathen.’’ — 2x.

——. - <a oe

Postscript to a Prayer.

On the banks of the Illinois River lived
little Emma Kay, with her widowed mother,
and two brothers, Alfred and Albert. In the
course of time, Alfred, who was lame, went
to New England, to learn a trade, leaving
only three at home.

Every evening before retiring to rest, and
every morning before going to the work of
the day, this little girl would kneel down and
repeat her prayer, in which she remembered
her absent brother, and asked God to watch
over him also.

One morning after breakfast she suddenly
left her play, and came to her mother with
this question: :

“Mother, would it be wrong to add a post-
script to a prayer ?”’

“Why, Emma, dear, what makes you ask
such a question ?””

‘Because, mother, in my prayer this morn-
ing, I forgot to pray for Alfred.”

“Then, my child, it will be perfectly proper
to do so.”” : ;

And off the little girl ran to add her post-
script to her prayer for her brother. ,

Are all the children who read this paper
as conscientious, and. do they pray to their
heavenly; father: every: night and’ morning, as:
did this little Illinois girl? = =

—_>-. oa o>

A Young Missionary.

The following story, which is a true one, is
told by Cyrus Hamlin, a Christian mission-
ary in Syria, and shows how in early life he
showed a missionary spirit.

‘In my boyhood days the greatest event of
the season was the autumn muster. Every
boy who went to the muster had his money to
buy gingerbread on that great day.

“It was a bright September morning. My
mother gave me seven cents to buy ginger-
bread, and a cent then would buy a pretty
large piece. I was. thinking how. I. could
spend all’ that money in one day, when my
mother said, “Perhaps,;Cyrus,, you Will. put. a.

Ground To Powder.

A gentleman once told me of an incident
that happened on the St. Lawrence River.
Among the passengers on the boat was a loud
and fluent talker who set up for an atheist.
He cared more for disseminating his opinions
than for viewing the scenery ;: but especially
broke forth at dinner and occupied the time,
to the-disgust of most of his hearers, assert-
ing, among other things, that religion was an
exploded superstition that: men had outgrown;.