The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1912, Page 66

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66

scribes the heart of man wandering away from God
and into sin, and conceiving vile conceptions of
God, and then wandering away farther, until at
last, ‘thongh they know the judgments of God, that
they who do such things are worthy of death, not
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that
do them,’ the chapter which many tell us is a libel
upon human nature. That chapter was read. ‘The
most intelligent man in the audience, a Brahman,
stepped forward and said to me, ‘Sir, that chapter
must have been written for us Hindus. It describes
us exactly.’ ”

A Faithful Witness.

Several years ago a young Chinese scholar named
Lin-Chin-An came to Wu-Chang to make his ex-
~ amination. On leaving the hall, in common with
the other students, he was presented with a packet
of Christian books. On these occasions the Bible
societies were accustomed to distribute 12,000 such
packets. He took the books home, and through the
reading of them he became interested in the Chris-
tian religion. So he went back to Wu-Chang and
got employment as a teacher of Chinese in connec-
tion with a mission college. After further instruc-
tion he became a Christian, and in 1906 was
baptized.

At the beginning of the next year search was
being made by the heathen officials of China for a
certain Lin-Chin-Yuin who had been reported as
a leader among the revolutionaries, and who was
supposed to be living in Wu-Chang. A large re-
ward was offered for information which would lead
to his capture, and in order to get that reward some
one, moved also with hatred of the Christians, re-
ported Lin-Chin-An as the person wanted, where-
upon he was arrested.

No evidence whatever was brought forward to
connect him with the rebels. The mission went
into his case more thoroughly, and, being satisfied
of his perfect innocence, used what influence they
could to have him set free — but all in vain. <A cer-
tain Mr. Lin was wanted, and having got one, the
heathen officials thought he would answer as well
as any other. So he was sentenced and kept in
prison under the strictest confinement. Neither
friends nor relatives were allowed to see him, or to

minister to his wants in any way.

He had to suffer much also for his Christian
faith. But the more he had to suffer, the brighter
shone his faith. ‘Two of his fellow-prisoners were

The Lutheran Pioneer.

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converted through him, and also two of the guards.
He was allowed to write, and his letters showed a
most sincere trust in Christ as his Savior. He also
composed some beautiful hymns, which showed his
assurance of present salvation and his firm hope of
a life everlasting.

The Christians at the mission were so touched
that an old man proposed to give himself up to the
authorities in his place, thinking that then his
friend might go free. THe said that he was old and
his day nearly done. He could not think of any
better way of using the little that remained of his
life than by sacrificing it in order to secure the free-
dom of one who was young and so devoted to the
cause of Christ. The old man was not permitted
to carry out his scheme, and so Lin-Chin-An re-
mained in prison till death set him free, on June 12,
1911. The faithful witness of Christ suffered great
hardships as well as injustice; yet through all those
miserable years he did not complain, but was often
heard singing in his wretchedness: “My soul doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in

God, my Savior.”
o-oo

A Beautiful Testimony.

The late Lord Cairns, a distinguished jurist
and one of the ablest Lord Chancellors of England,
made an address to workingmen in which he opened
his heart and spoke of his comfort and happiness in
Christ. He spoke thus: —

“As I am a stranger among you, I do not know
that I have any right to intrude my opinion. All
I can do is to tell you how this question affects me
personally. If I could take you to my home, you
would think it a luxurious one, and the food on
my table is abundant. You would say, with all this
I ought to be a happy man. I am indeed a happy
man, but I do not think my furniture and food
have much to do with it. Every day I rise with a
sweet consciousness that God loves me and cares
for me. He has pardoned all my sins for Christ’s
sake, and I look forward to the future with no
dread. His Spirit reveals to me that all this peace:
is only the beginning of joy which is to last through-
out eternity. Suppose it were possible for some
one to convince me that this happiness was alto-
gether a delusion on my part, my home would give
me little repose, and food would often remain upon
the table untasted. I should wake in the morning
with the feeling that it was scarcely worth while to
get up, so little would there be to live for. ‘The sun