THE GLEANER.

Evening Star, Issue 14523, 26 November 1910, Page 9

THE GLEANER.

[By Duncan Wnicnr, Dunedin.] No. 148. IRA D. SANKEY AND OTHERS?. Somo have crossed the river, And some are crossing now. Even if some readers should quietly smile, and others should thoughtlessly sneer, I think of other days-y-bright, happy, gladsome days—when life was young and buoyant. In the sunny morning of life it was a distinct privilege to have seen, to have heard, and to have known the honored evangelists of other days, whoso work was solid, deep, strong, and searching. _ Good old days! Thrice happy memories of fifty years ago! Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pats away; Chang© and decay in all around I see; 0 Thou, who changest not, abide with me.

Among God’s chosen messengers in these days was Duncan Mathieson, the Scottish evangelist, whose work in the Crimea and well over Scotland is not forgotten. His smiling face and round, clear, thundering voice were always welcome. The cultured and devoted Earl Kintore is also remembered.

Special interest clusters round the name of Gordon Forlong, the Scottish; barrister, who also did heroic service both in the North and West of Scotland, as well as in Dunedin and other parts of New Zealand. The General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland did herself honor the day she unreservedly recognised the conspicuous gifts and graces of Browidow North, who was honored to do work amongst the educated classes, and set him apart to do the work of an evangelist. Another honored name was that of Reginald Radcliff, who was (I think) a successful business man in Liverpool, and was associated with W. P. Lockhart, a man of great force and power among young men. As it was my n r " : ' :■ lo be closely associated with Richard Weaver, the converted coal miner, he bulks largely in my remembrances of past years. Except that he had been in God’s school, Weaver was not an educated man, and yet his eloquence thrilled tens of thousands, whether in England, Ireland, or Scotland. There were in those old times no gigantic choirs and grand organs. With wellknown ministers around him, Richard Weaver could not only preach with unction and point, but ho could lead the singing and get thousands to sing with him the good old Methodist hymna which nowadays are in danger of being forgotten. In imagination I can hear him sing : For He’s taken my feet from the miro and the clay, And set them on the Rock of Ages.

It has given great joy to see in this week’s ‘ Outlook ’ a long, detailed account of the life and work of the Rev. E. P. Hammond, who for sixty years did the work of an evangelist. His gift among children was conspicuous, and at present I know of no evangelist in Britain or Amercia who has been as much used to do solid work among boys and girls. In 1861 his mission in Glasgow was the turning point in my own life, and I kept up communication with him to the last, and tried to get him to visit Now Zealand, but now he sleeps the long sleep. The strong, wise messages of D. L. Moody and the sweet songs of Ira D. Sankey can never be forgotten. The memory of the eager throngs remains, and will remain for ever.

Of the venerable Scottish evangelist Rev. Dr Somerville, who in 1878 moved and enthused multitudes in New Zealand, I cannot now write.

But here is my point: All these gifted men now sleep ! All gone! They are gathering homeward from every land One by one ; As their weary feet touch the shining strand, One by one Their brows are bright with a golden crown, Their travel-stained garments are all laid down, And, clothed in white raiment, they rest in the mead Where the Lamb loveth ever His chosen to lead One by one. IRA D. SANKEY’S CREED.

I believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Triune God; these three arc one, and His name is Love. My Hope of Heaven is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness. *#»*♦**

My Heavenly Father gives me songs in the night in the house of my pilgrimage. One of mv two favorites is ‘Saved by grace,’ beginning: Some day the silver cord will break, And I no more as now shall sing, But 0 what joy when I shall wake Within the palace of the King. The other is:

There’ll bo no dark valley when Jesus comes, To gather His loved ones homo. The latter will bo my last song on earth before I join the ransomed in the sides. My bark is on the bounding billows, hut iesus is my Guide and Pilot, and soon I'll cross the bar and anchor in the haven of eternal rest, whore I will take up ray harp again and join with Watts and Wesley, Frances R. Havergal, Philip P. Bliss, Robert Lowry, and many more that I have known and loved, in singing the song of redemption around the throne of God in Heaven.—From ‘Outlook.’ A PUGILIST’S TESTIMONY.

“When I read of Sankey’s death I couldn’t help but think of liis meeting with me, and how hard ho tried to make me do right. I have often wondered what ho would say of me since I have cut out the red stuff and tried to live as he told me. He will get a lot of credit in the hereafter for what he did. He did not fear to face mo in a small room with bare knuckles when I had a ‘rep.’ for swinging hard ones on to anything that bumped. He sat there and bumped me with both hands for all that he had in him. More than that, lie made mo like it. Mr Sankey was a good, game man. When you hoys run across a man like that you want to sib up and take notice. He knows more in a minute than you do in a year. Listen to him, and you’ll be bettor off.”—(From ‘British Weekly.’) QUEEN .MARY AND MR SANKEY.

The ‘ Methodist Recorder ’ quotes the following “ well authenticated ” story about Queen Mary;— While Messrs Moody and Sankey wore holding a service in Edinburgh in 1892 news- arrived of the death of the Duke of Clarence. Lord Overton, who w;ls presiding, asked a lady present to sing an appropriate hymn, and in response she sang ‘ Some time we’ll understand.’ At the close of the service a telegram of sympathy was sent to Princess May, now the Queen, and in the telegram the following verses were quoted: Not now, but in tho coming years, It may bo in the better land, We’ll read the meaning of our tears, j And then some time wo'll understand. We’ll catch the broken threads again, And 'finish what we hero begun; Heav’u will the mysteries explain, And then, ah, then, wo’ll understand. In due course a telegram of thanks arrived, in which special reference was made to the hymn quoted. Some months afterwards Mr Moody was preaching in the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Unknown to him, Princess May—mow Queen Mary—with her mother, the Duchess of Teck, was in tho congregation. Before the service was over she sent a request to tho platform that Mr Sankey would sing the hymn ‘Some time we’ll understand.’ »**«««« “Power” ia the chief word in Paul’s, never-to-ba-forgotten message to the proud men and women of proud Imperial Roma —God’s power. The Gospel in speech, or in sacred, sanctified song, has been, ami is to-day, the.mighty hammer to break hfe

pieces the rock of pride, the rock of prejudice, and the rock of selfishness. And so in history we are told that Bishop Forster was visiting a Hindu temple in India. After watching the ritual of worship, tho Bishop asked a priest: “How long has this worship been going on?”

The answer was: “Four thousand years.” The Bishop pondered for a moment, and then asked ; ‘‘And how much longer will it last?” The Hindu priest replied ; “ Not long.” “And why;” The priest hesitated, and then, raising his band and sweeping the horizon, he said solemnly and simply, “Jesus.”

Was that tho reason why our grandfathers and tho martyrs of Scotland sang among the heather, and in tho dens and caves of the earth, the words : His name forever shall endure, Last like tho sun it shall :

Men shall bo bless’d in Him, and blcss’d All nations shall him call. '*#*#*** And blessed be His glorious name To all eternity : Tho whole earth let His glory fill Amen, so let it be. BUT

many are asking the personal and essentially practical question : “ What must I do to bo a Christian ?” and Dr Chapman’s essentially practical reply’ will help some if the points are grasped with a strong, firm hand : First, recognise the sense of your need : nothing less than God can satisfy you, for you wore made for Him. Second, recognise the fact of sin—your own, not the world’s; your continued sinning ; your very growth in sin—and w hoi her you wish to do it or not, recognise tho fact that yon delight in sin, else you would not practise it. Third, accept the fact of Christ. As someone has said. His message was lo them—“ Live as if I were, then thou shall know that I am.”

Fourth, accept tho statement of the Christian life as given in the New Testament: Towards rulers —“Fear Cod. honor the king.” Towards society—“ Bear vc one another's burdens.” Towards the unfortunate —“Pure religion and mr defiled before God is this ; to visit tinfatherless and widow in their aluictions." Towards tho erring—“ Tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God lor Christ’s sake hath forgiven yon.”

DO IT NOW