The traveller by rail passes a few small places, and may think that between stations there is nothing but a wilderness1, for such it often appears. He would be surprised to learn that one mile from the line, at short intervals2, are large steam-mills with little communities—forty, fifty, and sixty souls.
[172]Here and there are many of the Lord's people, who, overwhelmed by the iniquity3 they see and hear, have hung their harps4 upon the willows5, and have ceased to sing the Lord's song. They feel that if some one could lead, they would follow; and the call for help is imperative6, if we take no higher grounds than that of self-protection. Hundreds of children are growing up in ignorance, and will inevitably7 drift to the cities. It is from these sources that the dangerous classes in them are constantly augmented8.
It is hard to believe that in our day, in Michigan, should be found such a spiritual lack as the following incident reveals. One night just as I was falling asleep, a knock aroused me. A man had come for me to go some five miles through the woods to see a poor woman who was dying. The moon was shining when we started, and we expected soon to reach the place. But we had scarcely reached the forest when a storm broke upon us. The lightning was so vivid that the horse[173] came to a stand. The trees moaned and bent9 under the heavy wind, and threatened to fall on us. No less than seven trees fell in that road some few hours later. Our lantern was with difficulty kept alight, so that we made but little progress; for it was dangerous to drive fast, and, indeed, to go slow, for that matter. We spent two hours in going five miles. As we were fastening the horse, I heard cries and groans10 proceeding11 from the house, and was met at the door with exclamations12 of sorrow, and, "Oh, sir, you are too late, too late!"
This was an old, settled community of farmers; some eight or ten men and women at the house, some of whom have had Christian13 parents, and yet not one to pray with the poor woman or point her to the Lamb of God.
Did they think I could absolve14 her? Did they look upon a minister as a telegraph or a telephone operator, whom they must call to send the message?
We often read of the overworked city[174] pastor15, and the contrast of his busy life with the quiet of his country brother. But the contrast does not apply to the home missionary16 who has a large field, as most of them have. Let me give some incidents of one week of home missionary experience. On Saturday, a funeral service. Sabbath, two Sunday-schools and preaching. Monday, I visited a poor Finnish woman, suddenly bereft17 of her husband, who had been fishing on Sunday in company with three others—a keg of beer which they took with them explained the trouble. Tuesday, attended the funeral, closing the service just in time to catch the train to reach an appointment nine miles off. Friday, received a telegram to come immediately to a village, where a man was killed in the mill. While there, waiting for the relatives, expected on the next train, another telegram came from home, calling me back instantly.
Yet we cannot stop, for the work presses. Did we not know that the Lord[175] is above the water floods, we should be overwhelmed.
I am tempted18 to write a few lines about a family that came to Woodville just before Christmas. It consisted of a mother, son-in-law, three daughters, and two sons. Before they had secured a house their furniture (save a stove and a few chairs) was burned. They were very poor, and moved the few things they had left into two woodsheds, one of which was lower than the other, so that after the end of one was knocked out there was a long step running right across the house. Now, fancy a family of six in here in winter time, with no bedsteads, a table, and some broken chairs and stove, and you can imagine what sort of a home it was. The widow felt very despondent19, hinted about being tired of life, and mentioned poison. One morning, after drinking a great quantity of cold water, she turned in her bed and died. The coroner's jury pronounced it dropsy of the heart, and waived20 a post-mortem examination.
[176]I felt much drawn21 toward the children during the funeral service, and spoke22 mainly to them. They seemed to drink in every word, and I believe understood all.
Three weeks later a daughter lay dying of diphtheria. She called the doctor, and told him she was going home to live with Jesus, and was quite happy. One week from that time a son followed, twelve years of age. He also went quite resigned. I shall never forget the scene presented at this time; the dark room, the extemporized23 bedsteads, the wind playing a dirge24 through the numerous openings, the man worn out with night-work and watching, stretched beside the coffin25, the dead boy on the other bed, two more children sick with the same disease. People seemed afraid to visit them. I gave the little ones some money each time I went. The little four-year-old, a pretty boy, said,—
"You won't have to give any for Willie this time, I have his."
[177]Death seemed to have no terrors for the little ones. I talked to them of Jesus, and told them he was our Elder Brother and God was our Father. The little boy listened as I talked of heaven, and seemed very thoughtful. In another week, to a day, I was there again. The little fellow was going too; and now he said,—
"I want you to buy me a pretty coffin, won't you? and put nice leaves and flowers in it. I am going to heaven, you know, and I shall see my brother. Jesus is my brother, you know."
And so he passed away like one falling to sleep. I could not but think of the glorious change for these little ones, now "safe in the arms of Jesus." From a hut to a mansion26, from hearing the hoarse27, gruff breathing of the mill to the chanting of the heavenly choirs28, from the dark squalor and rags to see the King in his beauty, to hunger no more, to thirst no more, neither to have the sun light on them nor any heat, to be led to living fountains of waters, to have all tears[178] wiped from their eyes—who would wish them back?
I remember in one case a man whose wife had run off with another man, and had left him with two boys, one an idiot. The poor little child was found dead under the feet of the oxen, and when the funeral took place the man with his remaining son came through the woods and across lots to the cemetery29, while a man with the coffin in a cart came by the road. The only ones at the funeral were these two and the carter, with myself.
I visited one home where nine out of eleven were down with diphtheria. Two young girls in a fearful condition were in the upper rooms; nothing but horse-blankets were hung up in the unplastered rooms, but they did not keep out the snow. The father and the man who drove were the only ones beside myself at this funeral. In one family four died before the first was buried.
It made me think of the plague in London,[179] and the man tolling30 the bell and crying, "Bring out your dead." Scarlet31 fever, small-pox, and typhoid were epidemic32 for some time, and it was then the people began to appreciate the services of the minute-man.
Some cases were rather odd, to say the least. One night a boy was lost. I suggested to his mother that he might be drowned, and that the pond ought to be searched. Her reply was amazing: "Well, if he's drownded, he's drownded, and what's the use till morning." Here was philosophy. Yet at the funeral this woman was so punctilious33 about the ceremonies that, seeing a horse which broke into a trot34 for a few steps, she said "it didn't look very well at a funeral to be a-trottin' hosses."
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1
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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2
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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3
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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4
harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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5
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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6
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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7
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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8
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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9
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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10
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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11
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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12
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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13
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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14
absolve
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| v.赦免，解除（责任等） | |
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15
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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17
bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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18
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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19
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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20
waived
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| v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等） | |
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21
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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22
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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23
extemporized
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| v.即兴创作，即席演奏( extemporize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
dirge
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| n.哀乐，挽歌，庄重悲哀的乐曲 | |
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25
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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26
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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28
choirs
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| n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼 | |
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29
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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30
tolling
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| [财]来料加工 | |
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31
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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32
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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33
punctilious
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| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
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34
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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