{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37883/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37883","id":"gutenberg_37883","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37883","summary":null,"tags":["Category: American Literature","Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Holcombe, Steve P., 1835-","Methodists -- United States -- Biography"],"text":"Produced by David Garcia, Matthew Wheaton and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Kentuckiana Digital Library)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Steve P. Holcombe.]\n\n\n\n\n  STEVE P. HOLCOMBE,\n\n  THE CONVERTED GAMBLER:\n\n  HIS LIFE AND WORK.\n\n  BY REV. GROSS ALEXANDER.\n\n\n  INTRODUCTION BY\n\n  _REV. SAM P. JONES._\n\n\n  LOUISVILLE:\n\n  PRESS OF THE COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING COMPANY.\n\n  1888.\n\n\n   COPYRIGHTED, 1888.\n\n\n  TO\n\n  Mrs. S. P. Holcombe,\n\n  THE PATIENT WIFE,\n\n  THE FAITHFUL MOTHER,\n\n  THE FRIEND OF PUBLICANS AND SINNERS,\n\n  THIS ACCOUNT OF\n\n  THE LIFE AND WORK OF HER HUSBAND\n\n  IS DEDICATED.\n\n\n\n\n  TABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\n\n  INTRODUCTION BY SAM. P. JONES\n  LETTER FROM DR. J. A. BROADUS\n  LIFE AND WORK OF STEVE P. HOLCOMBE--\n    CHAPTER I\n    CHAPTER II\n    CHAPTER III\n    CHAPTER IV\n    CHAPTER V\n    CHAPTER VI\n  LETTERS TESTIMONIALS OF CONVERTS\n  SERMONS\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIt has been thought and suggested by some of those having knowledge of\nMr. Holcombe's history, that an account of his life and work in\nbook-form would multiply his usefulness and do good. And since the\nnarration of his experiences by himself has been of such great benefit\nto those who have been privileged to hear him, why may not others also\nbe benefited by reading some account of his uncommon career?\n\nIt is hoped that it will be of interest to the general reader as a\nrevelation and record of the workings and struggles of some human hearts\nand the wretchedness and blessedness of some human lives. It is a sort\nof luxury to read about and sympathize with wretchedness, as it is a joy\nto see that wretchedness turned to blessedness. It will show to those\nwho are unwillingly the slaves of sin what God has done for such as\nthey. It will possibly interest and encourage those who are engaged in\nChristian work. It may furnish suggestions as to practical methods to be\npursued in working among poor and needy classes, whether in towns or\ncities. Even ministers of the Gospel may find encouragement and\ninstruction in the experience of Mr. Holcombe's life and the methods and\nsuccesses of his work.\n\nWhat few letters of Mr. Holcombe's could be found are put in as showing\nphases of this interesting character that could be shown as well no\nother way, and some letters written _to_ him are selected out of\nseveral hundred of like character to show how he touches all classes of\npeople.\n\nThe \"Testimonies\" are from men who have been rescued under Mr.\nHolcombe's ministry, and will give some idea of the work that is being\ndone. These are only a few of the men who have been brought to a better\nand happier life through Mr. Holcombe's efforts. If any should feel that\nthere is a sameness in these testimonies, which it is believed very few\nwill do, perhaps others will feel the cumulative effect of line upon\nline, example upon example.\n\nThe sermons or addresses are inserted because they have been the means\nof awakening and guiding many to salvation, and they may be of interest\nand possibly of benefit to some who have not heard Mr. Holcombe. They\ncontain much of the history of his inner life in statements of\nexperience introduced by way of illustration. They are given in outline\nonly, as will be seen.\n\nThe book lays no claim to literary excellence. The position and work of\nthe man make his life worth writing and reading apart from the style of\nthe book.\n\nThe accounts here given of Mr. Holcombe's character and work are not\nwritten for the purpose of glorifying him. Many of these pages are\nprofoundly painful and humiliating to him. But they are written that\nthose who read them may know from what depths he has been brought, and\nto what blessedness he has been raised, through Jesus Christ, to whose\nname the glory is given and to whose blessing the book is commended.\n\n     AUGUST, 1888.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nBY REV. SAM P. JONES.\n\n\nThe author of this volume, the Rev. Gross Alexander, Professor of\nTheology in Vanderbilt University, was surely the man to give to the\nworld the Life of Steve Holcombe. The warm heart and clear head of the\nauthor, and the consecrated, self-denying life of the subject of the\nvolume, assure the reader ample compensation for the time given to the\nbook.\n\nMr. Alexander has known Brother Holcombe from the beginning of his\nChristian life, and tells the story of his fidelity to Christ and\nloyalty to duty as no other could.\n\nI first met Brother Holcombe at Louisville, in the year 1882, when I was\npreaching in the church of his pastor, Rev. J. C. Morris. It was from\nBrother Morris that I learned of this consecrated layman. He often told\nme with joy of many incidents connected with the conversion and work of\nBrother Holcombe. My acquaintance with him soon grew into a warm\nfriendship. It has always been an inspiration to me to talk with him,\nand a source of gratitude to me to know that I have his affection and\nprayers.\n\nThe work he is doing now in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, is very\nmuch like Jerry Macauley's work in New York City years ago. No man has\nexperienced more vividly the power of Christ to save, and no man has a\nstronger faith in Christ's ability to save. Brother Holcombe's humility\nand fidelity have made him a power in the work of rescuing the\nperishing and saving the fallen. I have been charmed by the purity of\nsoul manifested by him on all occasions, and his continual efforts to\nbring back those who have been overtaken in a fault. Hundreds of men who\nhave felt his sympathizing arms about them and listened to his brotherly\nwords have grown strong, because they had a friend and brother in Steve\nHolcombe, who, in spite of their failures and faults, has clung to them\nwith a love like that which Christ Himself manifested toward those who\nwere as bruised reeds and smoking flax.\n\nBrother Holcombe, rescued himself by the loving hand of Christ, has\nextended the hand from a heart full of love for Christ and men, and has\ndone his best to save all who have come under his influence.\n\nThis volume will be especially instructive to those who are interested\nin the salvation of the non-churchgoers of the great cities. For surely\nBrother Holcombe's Mission is a place where the worst sinners hear of\nChrist's power to save, and where they see, in Brother Holcombe himself,\nwith his rich experience, one of the greatest triumphs of the Gospel.\n\nI heartily commend this volume to all Christian people, because it tells\nof the life of a saved man. It tells also what a saved man can do for\nothers, and it will inspire many hearts with sympathy for such work and\nprepare many hands to help in it. I heartily commend this book because\nit is the biography of one whom I love and whom all men would love, if\nthey knew him in his devotion to God and duty. Brother Holcombe has\nfrequently been with me in my meetings and in my private room; I have\nfrequently been with him in his Mission, in his family circle, on the\nstreets of the great cities, and he is one man of whom it may be said:\n\"His conversation is in heaven.\" I frequently feel that my own life\nwould have been more successful with such a fervent consecration to my\nwork as Brother Steve Holcombe exemplifies.\n\nThe sermons contained in this volume will be read with interest. They\nare his sermons. They come from his heart, and they have reached the\nhearts of hundreds and thousands who have heard him gladly.\n\nI bespeak for the book a circulation which will put it into the library\nof all pastors and into thousands of homes.\n\n     SAM P. JONES.\n\n     CARTERSVILLE, GA., October 18, 1888.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS.\n\n\nI have read with very great interest the \"Life of Steve Holcombe,\" and\nhave carefully looked through the letters, testimonies and sermons to be\nincluded in the proposed volume, and I rejoice that it is to be\npublished. Professor Alexander, who was Mr. Holcombe's first pastor, has\nwritten the life with the best use of his fine literary gifts, and with\nsound judgment and good taste. It is a wonderful story. I have long felt\ninterest in Mr. Holcombe and his work, for after beginning his Mission\nhe attended my seminary lessons in the New Testament through a session\nand more; but this record of his life warms my heart still more toward\nhim and his remarkable labors of love. I think the book will be very\nwidely read. It will stir Christians to more hopeful efforts to save the\nmost wicked. It will encourage many a desperate wanderer to seek the\ngrace of God in the Gospel. Such a book makes a real addition to the\n\"evidences of Christianity.\" No one can read it without feeling that\nChristian piety is something real and powerful and delightful. Much may\nbe learned from Mr. Holcombe's recorded methods and discourses, and from\nthe testimonies of his converts, as to the best means of carrying on\nreligious work of many kinds. The book will, doubtless, lead to the\nestablishment of like Missions in other cities, and put new heart and\nhope into the pastors, missionaries and every class of Christian\nworkers. It will show that zeal and love and faith must be supported by\nample common sense and force of character, as in Mr. Holcombe's case,\nif great results are to hoped for. Many persons can be induced to read\nhis brief outline sermons who would never look at more elaborate\ndiscourses. As to two or three slight touches of doctrinal statement,\nsome of us might not agree with the speaker, but all must see that his\nsermons are very practical, pervaded by good sense and true feeling, and\nadapted to do much good.\n\n     JOHN A. BROADUS.\n\n     LOUISVILLE, KY., September 25, 1888.\n\n\n\n\nLIFE AND WORK.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nSteve P. Holcombe, known in former years as a gambler and doer of all\nevil, no less known in these latter days as a preacher of the Gospel and\ndoer of all good, was born at Shippingsport, Kentucky, in 1835. The\nplace, as well as the man, has an interesting history. An odd,\nstraggling, tired, little old town, it looks as if it had been left\nbehind and had long ago given up all hope of ever catching up. It is in\nthis and other respects in striking contrast with its surroundings. The\ntriangular island, upon which it is situated, lies lazily between the\nOhio river, which flows like a torrent around two sides of it, and the\nLouisville canal, which stretches straight as an arrow along the third.\nOn its northeast side it commands a view of the most picturesque part of\nLa Belle Riviere. This part embraces the rapids, or \"Falls,\" opposite\nthe city of Louisville, which gets its surname of \"Falls City\" from this\ncircumstance. In the midst of the rapids a lone, little island of bare\nrocks rises sheer out of the dashing waters to the height of several\nfeet, and across the wide expanse, on the other side of the river, loom\nup the wooded banks of the Indiana side, indented with many a romantic\ncove, and sweeping around with a graceful curve, while the chimneys and\ntowers and spires of Jeffersonville and New Albany rise in the\ndistance, with the blue Indiana \"Knobs\" in the deep background beyond.\nFrom this same point on the island, and forming part of the same\nextensive view, one may see the two majestic bridges, each a mile in\nlength, one of which spans the river directly over the Falls and\nconnects the city of Louisville with Jeffersonville, Indiana, while the\nother joins the western portion of Louisville with the thriving city of\nNew Albany. Across the canal from the island, on the south, lies the\ncity of Louisville with its near 200,000 population, its broad avenues,\nits palatial buildings.\n\nIn the very midst of all this profusion of beauty and all this hum and\nbuzz and rush of commercial and social life, lies the dingy, sleepy old\ntown of Shippingsport with its three hundred or four hundred people, all\nunheeded and unheeding, uncared for and uncaring. There are five or six\nfairly good houses, and all the rest are poor. There is a good brick\nschool-house, built and kept up by the city of Louisville, of which,\nsince 1842, Shippingsport is an incorporated part. There is one\ndilapidated, sad looking, little old brick church, which seldom suffers\nany sort of disturbance. On the northeast shore of the island directly\nover the rushing waters stands the picturesque old mill built by\nTarascon in the early part of the century. It utilizes the fine\nwater-power of the \"Falls\" in making the famous Louisville cement. Part\nof the inhabitants are employed as laborers in this mill, and part of\nthem derive their support from fishing in the river, for which there are\nexceptional opportunities all the year around in the shallows, where\nthe rushing waters dash, with eddying whirl, against the rocky shores of\ntheir island.\n\nThere are, at this time, some excellent people in Shippingsport, who\nfaithfully maintain spiritual life and good moral character amid\nsurrounding apathy and immorality. \"For except the Lord had left unto\nthem a very small remnant, they should have been as Sodom, and they\nshould have been like unto Gomorrah.\"\n\nAnd yet, Shippingsport was not always what it is now. Time was when it\nboasted the aristocracy of the Falls. \"The house is still standing,\"\nsays a recent writer in Harper's Monthly Magazine, \"where in the early\npart of the century the Frenchman, Tarascon, offered border hospitality\nto many distinguished guests, among whom were Aaron Burr and\nBlennerhasset, and General Wilkinson, then in command of the armies of\nthe United States.\" He might have added that Shippingsport was once\nhonored with a visit from LaFayette, and later also from President\nJackson. But in other respects also Shippingsport was, in former years,\nfar different from what it is to-day. In business importance it rivaled\nthe city of Louisville itself. In that early day, before the building of\nthe canal, steamboats could not, on account of the Falls, pass up the\nriver except during high water, so that for about nine months in the\nyear Shippingsport was the head of navigation. Naturally, it became a\nplace of considerable commercial importance, as the shrewd Frenchman who\nfirst settled there saw it was bound to be. Very soon it attracted a\npopulation of some hundreds, and grew into a very busy little mart.\n\"Every day,\" says one of the old citizens still living, \"steamboats were\nlanding with products and passengers from the South, or leaving with\nproducts and passengers from Kentucky and the upper country.\" The\nfreight which was landed at Shippingsport was carried by wagons and\ndrays to Louisville, Lexington and other places in Kentucky and Indiana.\nThis same old citizen, Mr. Alex. Folwell, declares that he has seen as\nmany as five hundred wagons in one day in and around the place. There\nwere three large warehouses and several stores, and what seems hard to\nbelieve, land sold in some instances for $100 per foot.\n\nThe canal was begun in 1824, the first spadeful of dirt being taken out\nby DeWitt Clinton, of New York. During the next six years from five\nhundred to a thousand men were employed on it. They were, as a general\nthing, a rough set. Sometimes, while steamboats were lying at the place,\nthe unemployed hands would annoy the workmen on the canal so that\ngradually there grew up a feeling of enmity between the two classes\nwhich broke out occasionally in regular battles.\n\nIn 1830, when the canal was finished, the days of Shippingsport's\nprosperity were numbered. Thenceforth steamboats, independent of\nobstructions in the river, passed on up through the canal, and\nShippingsport found her occupation was gone. The better classes lost no\ntime in removing to other places, and only the poorer and rougher\nclasses remained. Many of the workmen who had been engaged in building\nthe canal settled down there to live; unemployed and broken-down\nsteamboatmen gravitated to the place where they always had such good\ntimes; shiftless and thriftless poor people from other places came\nflocking in as to a poor man's paradise. Within easy reach of\nLouisville, the place became a resort for the immoral young men, the\ngamblers and all the rough characters of that growing city.\n\nSuch was the place to which Steve Holcombe's parents removed from\nCentral Kentucky in 1835, the year of his birth; and, though coming into\nthe midst of surroundings so full of moral perils, they did not bring\nthat strength of moral character, that fixedness of moral habit and that\nsteadfastness of moral purpose which were necessary to guard against the\ntemptations of every sort which were awaiting them.\n\nThe father, though an honest and well disposed sort of man and very kind\nto his family, was already a drunkard. His son says of him: \"My poor\nfather had gotten to be a confirmed drunkard before I was born, and\nafter he had settled at Shippingsport, my mother would not let him stay\nabout the house, so that most of his time was spent in lying around\nbar-rooms or out on the commons, where he usually slept all times of the\nyear.\" It is not surprising that as a consequence of such dissipation\nand such exposure he died at the early age of thirty-three, when his son\nSteve was eleven years old. Dead, he sleeps in an unmarked grave on the\ncommons where formerly he slept when drunk and shut out by his wife from\nhis home.\n\nMrs. Holcombe, the mother of Steve, a woman five feet ten inches in\nheight and one hundred and ninety pounds in weight, was as strong in\npassion as in physical power. \"When aroused,\" says her son, \"she was as\nfierce as a tigress and fearless of God, man or devil, although she was\na woman of quick sympathy and impulsive kindheartedness toward those who\nwere in distress, and would go further to help such than almost any one\nI have ever known.\" She was a woman of more than ordinary mind, though\nentirely without education. In the government of her children she was\nextremely severe. \"Though my father,\" says Mr. Holcombe, \"never whipped\nme but once in my life, and that slightly, my mother has whipped me\nhundreds of times, I suppose, and with as great severity as frequency.\nShe has, at times, almost beaten me to death. She would use a switch, a\ncane, a broom-stick or a club, whichever happened to be at hand when she\nbecame provoked. She whipped me oftener for going swimming than for\nanything else, I believe. If I told her a lie about it she would whip\nme, and if I told her the truth, she would whip me.\"\n\nFrom neglect and other causes little Steve was very sickly and puny in\nhis babyhood, so that he did not walk till he was four years old; but\nfrom the beginning his temper was as violent as his body was weak, and\nfrom his earliest recollection, he says, he loved to fight. At the same\ntime he had his mother's tenderheartedness for those who were in\ndistress. Once a stranger stopped for a few days at the tavern in\nShippingsport, and the roughs of the place caught him out on one\noccasion and beat him so severely that he was left for dead; but he\ncrawled afterward into an old shed where little Holcombe, between five\nand six years old, found him and took him food every day for about two\nweeks.\n\nThe boys with whom he associated in childhood were addicted to petty\nstealing, and he learned from them to practice the same. When about\nseven years old his mother, on account of their poverty, provided him\nwith a supply of cakes, pies and fruits to peddle out on the steamers\nwhile they were detained in passing the locks of the canal. Instead of\nreturning the money to his mother, however, he would often lose it in\ngambling with the bad boys of the place, and sometimes even with his\nhalf-brothers, so that he seldom got home with his money, but always got\nhis beating.\n\nAt eight years of age he played cards for money in bar-rooms with grown\nmen. At ten he began to explore those parts of the river about the\nfalls, in a skiff alone looking for articles of various kinds lost in\nwrecks, that he might get means for gambling. This, together with the\nfact that his hair was very light in color, gained for him the\ndistinction of the \"Little White-headed Pirate.\"\n\nIn 1842 Shippingsport was taken into the city of Louisville, and a\nschool was established, which he attended about three months during this\nperiod of his life, and he never attended school afterward. The\nbrown-haired, black-eyed little girl who afterward became his wife,\nattended this school at the same time. Her parents had lately removed to\nShippingsport from Jeffersonville, Indiana. They were people of\nexcellent character and were so careful of their children that they\nwould not allow them to associate with the children of Shippingsport any\nfarther than was necessary and unavoidable. But, notwithstanding these\nrestrictions, their little Mary saw just enough of Steve Holcombe in\nschool to form a strange liking for him, as he did also for her--an\nattachment which has lasted through many and varying experiences up to\nthe present. At that time he had grown to be \"a heavy set little boy,\"\nas Mrs. Holcombe describes him, and was \"very good looking,\" indeed,\n\"very handsome,\" as she goes on to say, \"with his deep blue eyes and his\ngolden hair.\" She did not know that she was in love with a boy who was\nto become one of the worst of men in all forms of wickedness, and as\nlittle did she know that she was in love with a boy who was to become\none of the best of men in all forms of goodness and usefulness. Nor did\nhe foresee that he was forming an attachment then and there for one who\nwas to love him devotedly and serve him patiently through all phases of\ninfidelity and wickedness, and through years of almost unexampled trials\nand sufferings, who was to cling to him amid numberless perils and\nscandals, who was to train and restrain his children so as to lead them\nin ways of purity and goodness in spite of the father's bad example, who\nwas to endure for his sake forms of ill treatment that have killed many\na woman, and who was in long distant years to be his most patient\nencourager and helper in a singularly blessed and successful work for\nGod and the most abandoned and hopeless class of sinful men, and to\ndevelop, amid all and in spite of all and by means of all, one of the\ntruest and strongest and most devoted of female characters. A singular\nthing it seems, indeed, that an attachment begun so early and tested so\nseverely should have lasted so late. And yet it is perhaps at this\nmoment stronger than ever it was before.\n\n[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF MR. HOLCOMBE. SHIPPINGSPORT.]\n\nNotwithstanding young Holcombe's lack of religious instruction and his\nextraordinary maturity in wickedness, he declares that at times he had,\neven before his tenth year, very serious thoughts. He says:\n\n\"I always believed there was a God and that the Bible was from God, but\nfor the most part my belief was very vague and took hold of nothing\ndefinite. Hence, nearly all my thoughts were evil, only evil and evil\ncontinually. I am sure, however, that I believed there was a hell. When\na child, I used to dream, it seems to me, almost every night, that the\ndevil had me, and sometimes my dreams were so real that I would say to\nmyself while dreaming, 'Now this is no dream; he has got me this time,\nsure enough.' I remember that one text which I heard a preacher read\ntroubled me more than anything else, when I thought about dying and\ngoing to judgment. It was this: 'And they hid themselves in the dens and\nrocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us\nand hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne.' I always\nhad a fear of death and a dread of the future. The rattling of clods on\na coffin filled me with awe and dread. When I thought about my soul, I\nwould always say to myself, 'I am going to get good before I go into the\npresence of God; but now I want to keep these thoughts out of mind so I\ncan do as I please and not have to suffer and struggle and fight against\nsin--till I get consumption. When I get consumption I will have plenty\nof warning as to death's approach and plenty of time to prepare for it.'\nBut I had gotten such an admiration for gamblers and such a passion for\ngambling that I had a consuming ambition to become a regular blackleg,\nas gamblers were called in those days. I made up my mind that this was\nto be my business, and I began to look about for some way to get loose\nfrom everything else, so I could do nothing but gamble, with nobody to\nmolest or make me afraid.\"\n\nIt is hard enough for a boy to keep from doing wrong and to do right\nalways, even when he has inherited a good disposition, enjoyed good\nadvantages and had the best of training. But our little friend, Steve\nHolcombe, poor fellow, inherited from his father an appetite for drink\nand from his mother a savage temper. To balance these, he had none of\nthe safeguards of a careful, moral or religious education, and none of\nthose sweet and helpful home associations which follow a man through\nlife and hold him back from wrong doing.\n\nThus unprepared, unshielded, unguarded, at the tender age of eleven\nyears he left home to work his own way in the world. No mother's prayers\nhad hitherto helped him, and no mother's prayers from henceforth\nfollowed him. No hallowed home influences had blessed and sweetened his\nmiserable childhood and no tender recollections of sanctified home life\nwere to follow him into the great wicked world. On the contrary, he was\nfleeing from his home to find some refuge, he knew not what, he knew not\nwhere. He was going out, boy as he was, loaded down with the vices and\nhungry with the passions of a man. He did not seek employment among\npeople that were good or in circumstances encouraging to goodness, but\njust where of all places he would find most vice and learn most\nwickedness--on a steamboat. One knowing his antecedents and looking out\ninto his future could easily have foreseen his career in vice and\ncrime, but would hardly have predicted for him that life of goodness and\nusefulness which now for eleven wonderful years he has been leading.\n\nHe was employed on a steamboat which ran on the Tennessee river, and his\nfirst trip was to Florence, Alabama. His mother did not know what had\nbecome of him. He was employed in some service about the kitchen. He\nslept on deck with the hands and ate with the servants. Hungry as he was\nfor some word or look of sympathy which, given him and followed up,\nmight have made him a different character, nobody showed him any\nkindness. The steward of the boat on the contrary showed him some\nunkindness, and was in the act of kicking him on one occasion for\nsomething, when young Holcombe jumped at him like an enraged animal and\nfrightened him so badly that he was glad to drop the matter for the\npresent and to respect the boy for the future. On this trip he found\nfive dollars in money on the boat, and was honest enough to take it to\nthe steward for the owner.\n\nWhen he returned home from this trip, strange to say, his mother so far\nfrom giving him a severer beating than usual, as might have been\nexpected, did not punish him at all. She was probably too glad to get\nhim back and too afraid of driving him away again. But nothing could\nrestrain him now that he had once seen the world and made the successful\nexperiment of getting on in the world without anybody's help. So that he\nsoon went on another trip and so continued, going on four or five long\nsteamboat runs before he was fourteen years of age, and spending his\nunoccupied time in gambling with either white men or negroes, as he\nfound opportunity.\n\nAfter he was fourteen years old he went on the upper Mississippi river\nand traveled to and from St. Louis. On the Mississippi steamers of those\ndays gambling was common, not only among the servants and deck-hands, it\nwas the pastime or the business of some of the first-class passengers\nalso. Sometimes when a rich planter had lost all his ready money in\ngambling, he would put up a slave, male or female, that he might happen\nto have with him, and after losing, would borrow money to win or buy\nagain the slave. Professional gamblers, luxuriously dressed and living\nlike princes, frequented the steamers of those days for the purpose of\nentrapping and fleecing the passengers. All this only increased the\nfascination of gambling for young Holcombe, and he studied and practiced\nit with increasing zeal.\n\nAbout this time, when he was in the neighborhood of fourteen years of\nage, his mother, awaking all too late to his peril and to her duty, got\nhim a situation as office-boy in the office of Dr. Mandeville Thum, of\nLouisville, hoping to keep him at home and rescue him from the perilous\nlife he had entered upon. Dr. Thum was much pleased with him, took great\ninterest in him, and treated him with unusual kindness. He even began\nhimself to teach him algebra, with the intention of making a civil\nengineer of the boy. And he was making encouraging progress in his\nstudies and would, doubtless, have done well, had he continued.\n\nDuring the time he spent in the service of Dr. Thum, he attended a\nrevival meeting held by the Rev. Mr. Crenshaw, at Shippingsport, and was\nmuch impressed by what he heard. He became so awakened and interested\nthat he responded to the appeals that were made by this devoted and\nzealous preacher and sought interviews with him. He tried his level\nbest, as he expresses it, to work himself up to a point where he could\nfeel that he was converted, a not rare, but very wrong, view of this\nsolemn matter. But he could not _feel_ it. While, however, he could not\nget the feeling, he _determined_ to be a Christian, anyhow, a rarer and\nbetter, but not altogether correct, view of the subject either. For a\nweek or ten days he succeeded in overcoming evil impulses, and in living\nright, but he was led away by evil companions. Soon after this he tried\nit again, and this time he succeeded for a longer time than before in\nresisting temptations and following his sense of right, but was one day\npersuaded to go on a Sunday steamboat-excursion to New Albany, with some\nyoung folks from Shippingsport, which proved the occasion of his fall.\nOn returning home he and two other boys went part of the way on foot.\nThey heard a man, not far away, crying for water, and Holcombe's quick\nimpulse of sympathy led him to propose to go to the relief of the\nsufferer. When they found he was not so bad off as they thought, the two\nother boys began to abuse and mistreat the stranger. He was an unequal\nmatch for the two, however, and as he was about to get the best of them,\nyoung Holcombe knocked the poor man down, and they all kicked him so\nseverely over the head and face that when they left him he was nearly\ndead. Holcombe went back the next day, and half a mile away he found the\ncoroner holding an inquest over the man. He was preparing to flee to\nIndiana when he heard that the verdict of the jury was: \"Death from\nexposure to the sun.\"\n\nThis cowardly and wicked deed wrought in him such shame, such\nself-loathing and such discouragement that he abandoned all hope and\npurpose of living a better life. With a sort of feeling of desperation\nand of revenge against his better nature for allowing him to yield and\nstoop to such meanness, he left his position in Louisville and shipped\non a steamboat again for St. Louis. While the boat was lying at the\nwharf at St. Louis he got into a difficulty with one of the deck-hands\nwho applied to him a very disgraceful name. Instantly young Holcombe\nseized a heavy meat-cleaver and would have split the man's head in two\nif the cook had not caught his arm as he swung it back for the stroke.\nFrom St. Louis he went up the Missouri river to Omaha, engaging, as\nusual, in gambling and other nameless vices.\n\nOn his second trip from Omaha to St. Louis he innocently provoked the\nanger of the steward of the boat, who abused him in such a way that\nHolcombe ran at him with an ice-pick, when the terrified man rushed into\nthe office and took refuge behind the captain. It was decided that\nHolcombe should be discharged and put ashore. When the clerk called him\nup to pay him off, he volunteered some reproof and abuse of the\nseventeen-year-old boy. But, upon finding he was dealing with one who,\nwhen aroused, knew neither fear nor self-control, he was glad to quiet\ndown and pay him his dues, as Holcombe remarked: \"You may discharge me\nand put me ashore, but you shall not abuse me.\" And they put him ashore\nat Kansas City, then a small village. While waiting at Kansas City for\nthe next boat to St. Louis (all traveling being done in those days and\nregions by water), he spent his time around bar-rooms and\ngambling-houses. There he saw a different and more extensive kind of\ngaming than he had ever seen before. Great quantities of money were on\nthe tables before the players, greater than he had ever seen, and he saw\nit change hands and pass from one to another. Such a sight increased his\ndesire to follow such a life. So he put up his money, the wages of his\nlabor on the boat, and lost it--all. He spent the remainder of his stay\nin Kansas City wandering around, destitute, hungry, lonely, with various\nreflections on the fortunes and misfortunes of a gambler's life, till at\nlast he got deck-passage on a boat to St. Louis, and paid his fare by\nsawing wood. During this trip his violent and revengeful temper led him\nto commit an act that nearly resulted in murder. One of the deck-hands\nthrew down some wood which he had piled up, and Holcombe protested,\nwhereupon the deck-hand cursed him and said: \"You little rat, I will\nthrow you overboard!\" Mr. Holcombe replied: \"I guess you won't,\" and\nsaid nothing more at the time. After the man had lain down and gone to\nsleep, Mr. Holcombe got a cord-stick, slipped upon him, and hit him on\nthe skull with all his might, completely stunning the man. \"Now,\" says\nMr. Holcombe, speaking of this incident, \"I can not understand how a man\ncould do so cruel a thing, but _then_ I felt I must have revenge some\nway, and _I could not keep from it_.\"\n\nAt St. Louis he got a position on a boat for New Orleans, and soon after\narriving in that city he shipped on board a steamship for Galveston,\nTexas, but returned immediately to New Orleans. Here, however, he soon\nlost, in gambling, all the money he had made on the trip, and was so\nentirely without friends or acquaintances that he could find no place to\nsleep, and wandered about on the levee until one or two o'clock in the\nmorning. To add to the loneliness and dismalness of his situation, it\nwas during an epidemic of yellow fever in the city, and people were\ndying so fast they could not bury them, but had to plow trenches and\nthrow the corpses in, as they bury soldiers on a battle-field. About one\nor two o'clock, a colored man, on a steamboat seeing him walking around\nalone, called him, and finding out his condition, took him on board the\nsteamer and gave him a bed. But Holcombe was so afraid the negro had\nsome design upon him, as there were no others on board, that he stole\naway from the boat and wandered around, alone, all the rest of the\nnight.\n\nOn that awful night the great deep of his heart was broken up and he\nfelt a sense of loneliness that he had never felt before in his life. He\nwas in a strange city among a strange people. He had no friends, he had\nno means. He had not where to lay his head. The darkness of the night\nshut off the sight of those objects which in the day would have diverted\nhis mind and relieved his painful reflections; and the awful stillness,\nbroken only by the rattling of wheels that bore away the dead, made it\nseem to him as if his thoughts were spoken to him by some audible voice.\nHis past life came up before him, but there was in it nothing pleasant\nfor him to remember. It had been from his earliest recollection one\nconstant experience of pain and sin. He was uneasy about himself. He was\nfrightened at the past, and the recollection of his hard, but vain,\nstruggle to get his evil nature changed and bettered, cast a dark cloud\nover his future. What could he do? Where could he go? Who was there\ncould help him? Who was there that loved him? At his own home, if home\nit could be called, there was nothing but strife and cruelty and sin.\nFather, he had none. He that was his father had lived a drunkard's life,\nhad died a drunkard's death and was buried in a drunkard's grave. And\nhis mother--she had no power to help him or even love him as most\nmothers love their children, and as on that lone dismal night he would\nhave given the world to be loved. Of God's mercy and love he did not\nknow, he thought only of his wrath, nor had he learned how to approach\nhim in prayer. Alone, alone, he felt himself to be shut up between a\npast that was full of sin and crime and a future that promised nothing\nbetter. But he did think of one who had loved him and who had said she\nwould always love him and he felt there was truth in her soul and in her\nwords. It was the brown-haired, sweet-faced, strong-hearted little girl\nhe had left in Shippingsport. He would go back to her. She alone of all\npeople in the world seemed able to help him and this seemed his last,\nhis only hope. If she had remained true to him, and if she would love\nhim, the world would not seem so dreary and the future would not seem so\ndark, and maybe she could help him to be a better man. \"On the next\nday,\" says Mr. Holcombe, \"an acquaintance of mine from Louisville ran\nacross me as I was strolling about the streets, took me aboard a steamer\nand made me go home with him.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE OLD MILL AT SHIPPINGSPORT.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nAs has already been said, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, the parents of Mrs.\nHolcombe, were people of excellent moral character and were so careful\nof their children that as long as they could prevent it, they did not\nallow them to associate freely with the Shippingsport children. But of\nSteve Holcombe, the worst of them all, they had a special dread. Mr.\nEvans could not endure to see him or to hear his name called. And yet,\nthis same Steve Holcombe was in love with their own precious child, and\nhad now come home to ask her to marry him. Of course, he did not visit\nher at her own home but he managed to see her elsewhere. He found that\nshe had not wavered during his absence, but that the bond of their\nchildhood had grown with her womanhood. And yet she knew full well his\npast career and his present character. She went into it \"with her eyes\nopen,\" to quote her own words. Against the will of her parents and\nagainst the advice of her friends she adhered to her purpose to marry\nSteve Holcombe when the time should come. Even his own mother, moved\nwith pity at the thought of the sufferings and wretchedness which this\nmarriage would bring the poor girl, tried to dissuade her from it and\nwarned her that she was going to marry \"the very devil.\" She replied\nthat she knew all about it, and when asked why she then did it, her\nsimple answer was \"because I love him.\"\n\nHe promised her that he would try to be a better man and _she_, as well\nas _he, believed it_, though not because she expected he would some time\nbecome a Christian and not because she had the Christian's faith and\nhope. Her simple belief was that the outcome of her love would be his\nreformation and return to a better life. It was not thus definitely\nstated to herself by herself. It was an unconscious process of reasoning\nor rather it was the deep instinct of her strong and deeply-rooted love.\n\nMrs. Holcombe was recently asked if, during all the years of her\nhusband's recklessness and disgraceful dissipation, his sins and crimes,\nhis cruel neglect and heartless mistreatment of herself, her love ever\nfaltered? She answered: \"No; never. There never was a time, even when\nMr. Holcombe was at his worst, that I did not love him. It pained me, of\ncourse, that some things should come _through_ him, but I never loved\n_him_ any less.\" A rare and wonderful love it surely was. When she was\nasked if during those dark and bitter years she ever gave up her belief\nthat her husband would change his life and become a good man, she\nanswered, \"No; I never gave it up.\" A woman of deep Insight, of large\nreading and wide observation, on hearing these replies of Mrs. Holcombe,\nsaid: \"It is the most wonderful case of love and patience and faith I\nhave ever known.\"\n\nHe had come home then to marry Mary Evans. He met her at the house of a\nmutual friend and proposed an elopement. She was frightened and refused.\nBut he pleaded and besought her, and, wounded and vexed at what seemed a\ndisregard of his feelings and rights, he ended by saying, \"It must be\nto-night or never.\" Whereupon she consented, though with great\nreluctance, and they went together to the house of his mother, in the\ncity of Louisville. But his own mother would not consent to their\nmarriage under such circumstances until she could first go and see if\nshe could get the consent of the girl's parents. Accordingly, she went\nat once to Shippingsport, night as it was, and laid the case before\nthem. They did not consent, but saw it would do no good to undertake to\nput a stop to it. So that, at the house of his mother in Louisville,\nthey were married, Steve Holcombe and Mary Evans, the hardened gambler\nand the timid girl.\n\nAfter his marriage he quit running on the river, settled down at\nShippingsport and went to fishing for a living. And it did seem for a\ntime that his hope was to be realized and that through the helpful\ninfluences of his young wife he was to become a better man. He grew\nsteadily toward better purposes and toward a higher standard of\ncharacter, and within two or three months after their marriage they\njoined the church together. Mrs. Holcombe says, however, that she does\nnot now believe that she was a Christian at the time. They thought in a\ngeneral way that it was right to join the church, and that it would do\nthem good and somehow help them to be good. If they had had some one,\nwise and patient and faithful, to teach them and advise them and\nsympathize with them at this time of awakening and of honest endeavor\nafter a spiritual life, they would probably have gone on happily and\nhelpfully together in it. But alas! as is true in so many, many cases\nto-day, nobody understood or seemed to understand them, nobody tried or\ncared to understand them; nobody cared for their souls. It was taken for\ngranted, then as now, that when people are gotten into the church,\nnothing special is to be done for them any further, though, in fact, the\nmost difficult and delicate part of training a soul and developing\nChristian character comes after conversion and after joining the church.\nMr. Holcombe attributes his present success in the helping and guidance\nof inquiring and struggling souls to his lack on the one hand of careful\nand sympathetic training in his earlier efforts to be a Christian and on\nthe other hand to the great benefit of such training in his later\nefforts. In such a nature as his, especially, no mere form of religion\nand no external bond of union with the church was sufficient. The\nstrength of his will, the tenacity of his old habits, the intensity of\nhis nature and the violence of his passions were such that only an\nextraordinary power would suffice to bring him under control. It was not\nlong, therefore, before he was overcome by his evil nature, and he soon\ngave over the ineffectual struggle and fell back into his old ways. His\npoor wife soon found to her sorrow that reforming a bad man was a\ngreater undertaking than she had dreamed of, and was often reminded of\nher mother-in-law's remark that she had married \"the very devil.\" And\nMr. Holcombe found out, too, that his wife, good as she was, could not\nmake him good. Some men there are so hungry-hearted and so dependent,\nthat they can not endure life without the supreme and faithful and\nsubmissive affection of a wife, but who know not how to appreciate or\ntreat a wife and soon lose that consideration and love for her which\nare her due. Then marriage becomes tyranny on the one side and slavery\non the other.\n\nPerhaps the reader will conclude later that this description applies all\ntoo well to the married life of Steve Holcombe and his faithful and\nbrave-hearted young wife; for it was not long before he returned, in\nspite of all his solemn vows and his earnest resolutions, to his old\nhabit of gambling and to all his evil ways. On a certain occasion not\nlong after he married, in company with a friend, who is at this moment\nlying in the jail in Louisville for the violation of the law against\ngambling, he went on a fishing excursion to Mound City, Illinois. Having\nreturned to the landing one night about midnight they found a\nfierce-looking man sitting on the wharf-boat who said to them on\nentering, \"I understand there are some gamblers here and I have come to\nplay them, and I can whip any two men on the Ohio river,\" at the same\ntime exposing a large knife which he carried in his boot. He was\nevidently a bully who thought he could intimidate these strangers and in\nsome underhanded way get from them their money. Mr. Holcombe did not\nreply but waited till the next morning when he \"sized up the man\" and\ndetermined to play against him. After they had been playing some time\nMr. Holcombe discovered that the man was \"holding cards out of the pack\"\non him. He said nothing, however, till the man had gotten out all the\ncards he wanted, when Mr. Holcombe made a bet. The other man \"raised\nhim,\" that is, offered to increase the amount. Mr. Holcombe raised him\nback and so on till each one had put up all the money he had. Then the\nman \"showed down his hand\" as the saying is, and he had the four aces.\nMr. Holcombe replied \"That is a good hand, but here is a better one;\"\nand with that struck him a quick heavy blow that sent the man to the\nfloor, Mr. Holcombe took all the money and the other man began to cry\nlike a child and beg for it. Mr. Holcombe was instantly touched with\npity and wanted to give him back his money but his partner objected. He\ndid, however, give the man enough for his immediate wants and left him\nsome the wiser for his loss of the rest.\n\nAt the same place the owner of the storeboat left a young man in charge,\nwho, during the absence of his proprietor, offered to play against Mr.\nHolcombe and lost all the money he had. Then he insisted on Mr.\nHolcombe's playing for the clothing which he had in the store and Mr.\nHolcombe won all that from him, leaving him a sadder, but it is to be\nhoped a wiser, man.\n\nHaving thus once again felt the fascination of gambling and the\nintoxication of success, Mr. Holcombe was impelled by these and by his\nnaturally restless disposition to give up altogether his legitimate\nbusiness and to return to the old life. So without returning to visit\nhis wife and child or even informing them of his whereabouts, he shipped\non a steamer for Memphis and thence to New Orleans.\n\nOn his return trip from New Orleans he played poker and won several\nhundred dollars. On landing in Louisville, his half-brother, Mr. Wm.\nSowders, the largest fish and oyster dealer in Louisville, gave him a\npartnership in his business, but they soon fell out and he quit the\nfirm.\n\nHe removed to Nashville, Tennessee, and opened a business of the same\nkind there in connection with his brother's house in Louisville, Mr.\nHolcombe shipping his vegetables and produce in return for fish and\noysters. This was early in 1860. It was a great trial for his young wife\nto be taken from among her relatives and friends and put down among\npeople who were entire strangers, especially that she had found out in\nfour or five years of married life that her husband had grown away from\nher, that his heart and life were in other people than his family, in\nother places than his home and in others pleasures than his duty. She\nknew that she could not now count on having his companionship day or\nnight, in sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth. And to make\nthe outlook all the more gloomy for her, she had just passed through one\nof the severest trials that had come into her life.\n\nWhen an intense woman finds that she is deceived and disappointed in her\nhusband, and the hopes of married bliss are brought to naught, she finds\nsome compensation and relief in the love of her children. So it was with\nMrs. Holcombe. But just before the time came for them to remove to\nNashville, death came and took from her arms her second-born child. This\nmade it all the harder to leave her home to go among strangers. But\nalready, as a wife, she had learned that charity which suffereth long\nand is kind, which seeketh not her own and which endureth all things.\n\nMr. Holcombe's business in Nashville was very profitable and he made\nsometimes as much as fifty dollars a day, so that in a short time he had\naccumulated a considerable amount of money. But his passion for\ngambling remained. His wife had hoped that the sufferings and death of\ntheir little child might soften his heart and lead him to a better life.\nBut it seemed to have no effect on him whatever. Though he did not\nfollow gambling as a profession, he engaged in it at night and in a\nprivate way with business men.\n\nWhen the active hostilities of the war came on, his communication with\nLouisville was cut off and so his business was at an end. Leaving his\nwife and only remaining child alone in Nashville he went to Clarksville\nand engaged in the ice business. While he was there, the Kentucky\ntroops, who were encamped near that place, moved up to Bowling Green,\nKentucky. The sound of fife and drum and the sight of moving columns of\nsoldiers stirred either his patriotism or his enthusiasm so that he got\nrid of his business and followed them on up to Green river in Kentucky,\nand went into camp with them where he spent some time, without, however,\nbeing sworn into service. But this short time sufficed for him and he\nbecame satisfied that \"lugging knap-sack, box and gun was harder work\nthan\" gambling.\n\nHe quit the camp, settled down at Bowling Green, and opened a grocery\nand restaurant, doing a very prosperous business. While there, he had a\nsevere spell of sickness and came near dying, but did not send for his\nwife and child, who were still alone in Nashville. Just before the\nFederal troops took possession of Bowling Green, he sold his grocery for\na large claim on the Confederate Government which a party held for some\nguns sold to the Confederacy. He then rode horseback from Bowling Green\nto Nashville, where he rejoined his wife and child. After another\nsevere spell of sickness through which his wife nursed him, he left his\nfamily again in those trying and fearful times and went South to collect\nhis claim on the Confederate Government. Having succeeded in getting it\nhe returned to Nashville with a large sum of money.\n\nAs he had no legitimate business to occupy his time and his mind, he\nreturned to gambling and this is his own account of it: \"Then I began\nplaying poker with business men in private rooms; and one of those\nbusiness men being familiar with faro banks, roped us around to a faro\nroom to play poker; and while we were playing, the faro dealer, who had\ncappers around, opened up a brace game, and the game of poker broke up,\nand I drifted over to the faro table, and did not look on long until I\nbegan to bet, and soon lost two or three hundred dollars which I had in\nmy pockets, and lost a little on credit, which I paid the next morning.\nI lost what I had the next day, and kept up that same racket until I was\nbroke. During this time I had been very liberal with the gamblers,\ntreated them to oyster stews and other good things; and when I got broke\nI got to sitting around the gambling-house, and heard them say to each\nother, 'We will have to make Steve one of the boys,' and thus it was I\nbecame familiar with faro.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe initiation of Mr. Holcombe into the game of faro was an epoch in his\nlife. He was so fascinated with it, and saw so much money in it, that he\nnow finally and deliberately gave up all attempts at any other business\nor occupation, and, removing again to Louisville, in partnership with a\ngambling friend he \"opened up a game\" or established a house of his own\nfor playing faro in that city. He sent for his family thinking he was\nsettled for life. Alas! how little he knew of that heart of his that\nknew so little of God. He found out later what St. Augustine has so\nbeautifully said for all humanity: \"Thou hast made us for Thyself and\nour hearts find no repose till they repose in Thee.\" It was not long\nbefore he had lost all his money and was \"dead broke\" again. It was\nabout this time and during this residence at Louisville, that,\nuncontrolled by the grace and power of God, and untouched by the love\nthat can forgive as it hopes to be forgiven, he committed the greatest\ncrime of his life.\n\nA young man was visiting and courting a half-sister of his at\nShippingsport, and, under promise of marriage, had deceived her. When\nMr. Holcombe found it out, he felt enraged, and thought it his duty to\ncompel him to marry her. But knowing himself so well, and being afraid\nto trust himself to speak to the young man about it, he asked his two\nolder half-brothers to see him and get the affair settled. They refused\nto do so. Mr. Holcombe then got a pistol and looked the man up with the\ndeliberate intention of having the affair settled according to his\nnotion of what was right, or killing him. He met him at Shippingsport,\nnear the bank of the canal, and told him who he was--for they scarcely\nknew each other. Then he reminded him of what had occurred, and said\nthat the only thing to be done was to marry the girl. This the man\ndeclined to do, saying: \"We are as good as married now.\" He had scarcely\nuttered the words when Mr. Holcombe drew his derringer and shot him.\nWhen he fell, Mr. Holcombe put his hand under the poor man's neck,\nraised him up and held him until a doctor could be called. He was\ntouched with a great feeling of pity for his victim, and would have done\nanything in his power for him. But all his pity and repentance could not\nbring back the dying man. He went into a neighboring house and washed\nthe blood from his hands, but he could not wash the blood from his\nconscience. In after years the cry of another murderer, \"Deliver me from\nblood-guiltiness, O, God!\" was to burst from his lips, and faith in the\nblood of a murdered Christ was to bring the answer of peace to his long\ntroubled soul. But alas! alas! he was to add crime to crime and multiply\nguilt manifold before that time should come.\n\nHe was soon arrested and taken to jail, where, after some hours, he was\ninformed that the man was dead. Some time afterward he was tried by a\njury and acquitted, though the Commonwealth's Attorney, assisted by\npaid counsel, did all he could to procure his conviction. But no human\nsentence or approval of public opinion can quiet a guilty human\nconscience when awakened by the God whose sole prerogative of executing\njustice is guarded by His own solemn and awful words, \"Vengeance is\nmine; I will repay,\" saith the Lord. When the conscience is pressed with\na great sense of guilt, it seeks relief by the way of contrition and\nrepentance, or it seeks relief by a deeper plunge into sin and guilt, as\nif the antidote to a poison were a larger dose of poison. There is no\nmiddle ground unless it be insanity. Nor did Mr. Holcombe find any\nmiddle ground, though he declares that he never allowed himself to think\nabout the killing of Martin Mohler, and could not bear to hear his name.\nHe had to _keep very busy_ in a career of sin, however, to _keep from_\nthinking about it, and that is exactly the second alternative of the two\ndescribed above.\n\n\"After this,\" says Mr. Holcombe, \"I continued gambling, traveling around\nfrom place to place, and at last I settled down at Nashville and dealt\nfaro there. I took my family with me to Nashville. I gambled there for\nawhile, and then came back to Louisville, where I opened a game for\nworking men. But when I looked at their hard hands and thought of their\nsuffering families, I could not bear to take their money. Then I turned\nmy steps toward the South and landed in Augusta, Georgia. I went to\nAugusta in 1869 in connection with a man named Dennis McCarty. We opened\nthere a big game of faro, where I did some of the biggest gambling I\never did in my life. On one occasion I played seven-up with a man and\nbeat him out of five thousand dollars, which broke him up entirely.\"\n\nLet us now take a peep into his home-life: Mrs. Holcombe says that in\nAugusta he was in the habit of staying out for several days and nights\nat a time, a thing which he had never done before. They lived in Augusta\nsomething over two years, and during all that time she had not one day\nof peace. He was more reckless than he had ever been before. She\nsuffered most from his drunkenness and his ungovernable temper.\nSometimes he would come into the house in a bad humor and proceed to\nvent his wrath on her and the furniture; for he was never harsh to his\nchildren, but on the contrary, excessively indulgent, especially to his\nsons. During his outbursts of anger, Mrs. Holcombe always sat perfectly\nstill, not in fear, but in grief; for she knew as little of fear as he.\nMany a time he has come into the house in a bad humor and proceeded to\nupset the dining-table, emptying all the food onto the floor and\nbreaking all the dishes. On one occasion he came home angry and found\nhis wife sitting on a sofa in the parlor. He began to complain of her\nand to find fault with her, and as her silence seemed to provoke him, he\nbegan to curse her; and as she sat and wept in silence, he grew worse\nand worse, using the most dreadful oaths she ever heard. When he had\nfully vented his passion, he walked out and stood awhile at the front\ngate as if in a study. Then he walked back into the house where she sat,\nstill weeping, and said, in a mild and gentle tone: \"Well, Mary, I was\npretty mad awhile ago, wasn't I?\" Then he began to apologize and to\ntell her how sorry he was for having talked to her so harshly, and wound\nup by petting her. He was at times almost insanely jealous of his wife,\nand if he saw her even talking with a man, no matter whom, it put him in\na rage which ended only when he had vented it in the most abusive\nlanguage to her.\n\nOn another occasion, while they were living in Augusta, an incident\noccurred which illustrates at once her unexampled devotion and his\nunexampled depravity. On the night in question she had gone to bed, but\nnot to sleep. About midnight he came staggering in and fell full length\non the floor at the foot of the stairway. She tried to help him up, but\nhe was so dead drunk she could not lift him. She left him lying at the\nfoot of the stairway and went back to bed. But, though she was very\ntired, she could not endure the thought of lying in a comfortable bed\nwhile her husband was on the floor. She got up, therefore, and went down\nstairs again and sat on the floor beside him in her night-dress till\nmorning. Then she left him and went up stairs to dress, that she might\nbe prepared for the duties of the day. When, some time afterward, she\ncame back to where he was lying, he abused and cursed her for leaving\nhim alone, and, before his tirade was ended he was sorry, and tried to\nsmooth it over by saying: \"I did not think _you_ would leave me.\"\n\nMrs. Holcombe says concerning her life at this period: \"I usually walked\nthe floor, after the children were in bed, till past midnight waiting\nfor him to come home. One night in particular, between eleven and\ntwelve o'clock, I heard a shot fired and I heard a man cry out not far\nfrom the house. I thought it was Mr. Holcombe, and my agony was almost\nmore than I could bear while waiting for day to come, for I was sure\nsomebody had shot him. But between three and four o'clock In the morning\nhe came in, and his coming brought me great relief.\" \"Then another\ntime,\" she goes on to say, \"I was sitting by the window when an express\nwagon drove up with a coffin in it. The driver said to me, 'Does this\ncoffin belong here?' I understood him to say, 'Does Mr. Holcombe live\nhere?' I thought it was Mr. Holcombe and that he had been killed and\nsent home to me in his coffin. The driver repeated his question twice,\nbut I was so paralyzed I could not answer him a word.\"\n\nFrom Augusta Mr. Holcombe removed with his family to Atlanta, where he\nmade a good deal of money. Mrs. Holcombe says concerning their stay in\nAtlanta, \"My life at Atlanta was no better than it had been at Augusta.\nMuch of my time was spent in walking the floor and grieving. Often in my\nloneliness and sorrow my lips would cry out, 'How can I endure this life\nany longer?' I had not then become a Christian and did not know what I\ndo now about taking troubles and burdens to God. And yet I believe that\nit was God who comforted my heart more than once when my sorrow was more\nthan I could bear. I cried to Him without knowing Him. All these years I\ntried to raise my children right, and I taught them to respect their\nfather. I hid his sins from them when I could, and when I could not, I\nalways excused him to them the best I could.\" But Mr. Holcombe instead\nof aiding his wife's efforts to bring up their children in the right\npath, often perversely put obstacles in her way and increased her\ndifficulties, though he did try to conceal his drinking from them, and\nwould never allow his boys to have or handle cards. So in many things he\nwas a combination of contradictions. He could not endure, however, for\nhis wife to punish the children, and especially the boys. On one\noccasion he came home and the younger son was still crying from the\npunishment inflicted by his mother for wading in a pond of water with\nhis shoes on. Mr. Holcombe asked him what was the matter, and when he\nfound out, he was so angry he made the boy go and wade in the pond again\nwith his shoes on. And yet Mrs. Holcombe's love for her husband \"never\nwavered,\" and she loved him \"when he was at his worst.\"\n\nWhile Mr. Holcombe was living in Atlanta he attended the races in\nNashville, and while there, two men came along that had a new thing on\ncards, and they beat him out of five or six thousand dollars--broke him,\nin fact. After he was broke, he went to one of the men by the name of\nBuchanan and said, \"I see that you have got a new trick on cards, and as\nI am well acquainted through the South, if you will give it away to me,\nwe can go together and make money.\" The man, after some hesitation,\nagreed to do so. They went in partnership and traveled through the South\nas far as Key West, Florida, stopping at the principal cities and making\nmoney everywhere. At Key West he and his partner had a split and\nseparated. From Key West Mr. Holcombe crossed over to Cuba, and spent\nsome time in Havana. In seeking adventures in that strange city he made\nsome very narrow escapes, and was glad to get away. On landing at New\nOrleans, though he had a good deal of money, the accumulations of his\nwinnings on his late tour through the South, he got to playing against\nfaro bank and lost all he had. But he fell in with a young man about\ntwenty years of age, from Georgia, on his way to Texas, and became very\nintimate with him. Finding that this young man had a draft for $1,050,\nby the most adroit piece of maneuvering he got another man, a third\nparty, to win it from him for himself, and gave this third party $50 for\ndoing it. Then he took charge of the young man in his destitution and\ndistress, paid his bill for a day or two at a hotel in New Orleans, and\ngave him enough to pay his way on to Texas. The young man departed\nthinking Mr. Holcombe was one of the kindest men he had ever met. The\ngentle reader, if he be a young man who thinks himself wise enough to be\nintimate with strangers, might learn a useful little lesson from this\nyoung Georgian's experience as herein detailed.\n\nFrom New Orleans, Mr. Holcombe went by river to Shreveport, Louisiana,\nwhere he met again with his former partner, Buchanan. They made up their\ndifferences and went into partnership again, and were successful in\nwinning a good deal of money together. But afterward their fortunes\nchanged and they both lost all they had. This soured Buchanan, who had\nnever cordially liked Holcombe since their quarrel and separation at Key\nWest. Mr. Holcombe himself shall narrate what took place afterward:\n\"During this time we had been sleeping in a room together. Buchanan knew\nthat I had two derringer pistols. He got Phil Spangler to borrow one,\nand I feel satisfied he had snaked the other. A friend of mine, John\nNorton, asked me to deal faro bank, and I got broke, and the night that\nI did, I put the box in the drawer pretty roughly, and made some pretty\nrough remarks. Buchanan was present, but took no exception to what I\nsaid that night. The next morning, however, in the bar-room he began to\nabuse me, and we abused each other backward and forward until I had\nbacked clear across the street. During this time I had my derringer\npistol out in my hand. He had a big stick in his hand and a knife in his\nbosom. When we got across the street I made this remark, 'Mr. Buchanan,\nI do not want to kill you,' He was then about ten feet from me, and made\na step toward me. I took deliberate aim at his heart and pulled the\ntrigger, but the pistol snapped. He walked away from me then. I ran up\nto the hotel where Aleck Doran was, knowing that his six-shooter was\nalways in good condition. I borrowed it and started to hunt Buchanan up,\nand when I found him, he came up to me with his hand out. We made up and\nhave been good friends ever since. After we left there, these parties\nwith whom we had been playing, got to quarreling among themselves about\nthe different games, and the result was that John Norton killed Phil\nSpangler and another one of the men. And such is the life of the\ngambler.\" And such is too often, alas! the death of the gambler.\n\nFrom Shreveport he went back to Atlanta where his family, consisting now\nof his wife, two sons and two daughters, had remained. But he could not\nbe contented at any one place. It seemed impossible for him to be\nquiet, no matter how much money he was making. Indeed, the more he got\nthe more disquieted he seemed, and yet it was his passion to win money.\nSometimes he would go to his home with his pockets full of it and would\npour it out on the floor and tell the children to take what they wanted.\nHe was so restless when he had won largely that he could not sleep; and\nhis wife says she has known him to get up after having retired late and\nwalk back to the city to his gambling house to find somebody to play\nwith. He seemed to want to lose his money again. In fact, he seemed\nhappier when he was entirely without money than when he had a great\ndeal.\n\nNot contented, then, at Atlanta, he went from there to Beaufort, South\nCarolina, to gamble with the officers of the navy. He got into a game of\npoker with some of them and won all the money. Then he was ready to quit\nand leave the place, but he got into a difficulty with a man there whose\ndiamond pin he had in pawn for money lent him, and though it be at the\nrisk of taxing the reader's patience with these details, yet, in order\nto show vividly what a gambler's life is, we shall let Mr. Holcombe give\nhis own account of the affair:\n\n\"This man was the bully of the place. I had his diamond pin in pawn for\nseventy-five dollars, and another little fellow owed me eighteen\ndollars, or something like that, and I wanted him to pay me. Instead of\npaying me, however, he began to curse and abuse me; and I hit him on the\nnose, knocked him over and bloodied it, and he was bleeding like\neverything. He got over into the crowd; and under the excitement of the\nmoment, I drew my pistol and started toward him. This big bully caught\nme gently by the vest, and asked me quietly to put up my pistol. I did\nso. Then he said, 'You can't shoot anybody here,' I said 'I do not want\nto shoot anybody.' I then asked him to turn me loose. He again said 'You\ncan't shoot anybody here.' I then said, 'What is the matter with you?\nAre we not friends?' And he said 'No,' and made the remark, 'I will take\nyour pistol away from you and beat your brains out.' I struck him and\nknocked him over on a lounge, but he rose up and came at me, and we had\nquite a tussle around the room. The others all ran and left the house,\nand the barkeeper hid.\n\n\"When we separated, the big fellow had quite a head on him; was all\nbeaten up. He then went into the other room and sat down, and the\nbarkeeper came in where I was. I was willing to do or say anything to\nreconcile this man, and I said to the barkeeper that I was sorry of the\ndifficulty, as I liked the man, which was a lie, and a square one, for I\nhated him from the moment I saw him. When he heard what I said, he came\nsauntering into the room, and I said to him, 'I am sorry this occurred,\nbut you called me such a name that I was compelled to do as I did. You\nknow that you are a brave man; and if any man had called you such a\nname, you would have done just as I did.' He called me a liar, and at it\nwe went again. We separated ourselves every time. I got the best of the\nround. After that he stepped up to the sideboard and got a tumbler; but\nI looked him in the eye so closely that he could not throw it at me, and\nhe put it down. After a little more conversation, he started to lift up\na heavy spittoon of iron. I stepped back a foot or two, drew my pistol,\nand told him if he did not put that down, I would kill him. He put it\ndown. I then told the barkeeper he must come in there and witness this\nthing, because I expected to have to kill him. After the barkeeper came\nin, the man went out, saying, 'You had a gun on me to-night, and I will\nhave one on you to-morrow.' Feeling satisfied if I remained, one of us\nwould have to be killed; and feeling that I did not want to kill him,\nneither did I want to get killed on a cold collar, I concluded to walk\nout of the place. I got the barkeeper to promise to ship my trunk to\nAtlanta, and walked through the swamps to a station fourteen miles away,\narriving there some time next day.\" Other such experiences Mr. Holcombe\nhad enough to fill a volume perhaps, but these are sufficient to give an\nimpression of what a gambler's life is and to show what _was_ the life\nof that same Steve Holcombe who now for eleven years has been a pattern\nof Christian usefulness and zeal.\n\nAfter spending a short time at Atlanta, he went to Hot Springs,\nArkansas, and then again to Louisville, where he opened a faro bank and\nonce more settled down for life, as he thought. _At any rate for the\nfirst time in his life he thought of saving a little money_, and he did\nso, investing it in some houses in the West End. Poor man! he had\nwandered _nearly_ enough. He had almost found that rest can not be\nfound, at least in the way he was seeking it, and the time was\napproaching when he would be _prepared_ to hear of another sort and\nsource of rest. Until he should be prepared, it would be vain to send\nhim the message. To give the truth to some people to-day would be to\ncast pearls before swine, to give it to them to-morrow may be\nre-clothing banished princes with due tokens of welcome and of royalty.\nTo have told Steve Holcombe of Christ yet awhile would probably have\nexcited his wonder and disgust; to tell him a little later will be to\nwelcome a long-lost, long-enslaved and perishing child to his Father's\nhouse and to all the liberty of the sons of God.\n\nSo _he thought_ of saving a little money and of investing in some\ncottages in the west end of Louisville. And God was thinking, too, and\nHe was thinking thoughts of kindness and of love for the poor wicked\noutcast. He was _more_ than thinking, He was getting things ready. But\nthe time was not yet. A few more wanderings and the sinning one,\nfoot-sore, heart-sore and weary will be willing to come to the Father's\nhouse and rest. Truth and God are always ready, but man is not always\nready. \"I have many things to say to you, but you can not bear them\nnow.\"\n\nHis income at Louisville at this time was between five and seven\nthousand dollars a year. He had a large interest in the bank and some\nnights he would take in hundreds of dollars. But he could not be\ncontented. The roving passion seized him again, and in company with a\nyoung man of fine family in Louisville, who had just inherited five\nthousand dollars, he set out on a circuit of the races. But in\nLexington, the very first place they visited, they lost all they had,\nincluding the young man's jewelry, watch and diamond pin. They got more\nmoney and other partners and started again on the circuit and they made\nmoney. At Kalamazoo, Michigan, Mr. Holcombe withdrew from the party,\njust for the sake of change, just because he was tired of them; and in\nplaying against the faro banks at Kalamazoo he lost all he had again.\nThen he traveled around to different places playing against faro banks\nand \"catching on\" when he could. He visited Fort Wayne, Cleveland,\nUtica, Saratoga and New York. At New York he was broke and he had become\nso disgusted with traveling around and so weary of the world that he\ndetermined he _would_ go back to Louisville and settle down for life. He\ndid return to Louisville and got an interest in two gambling houses,\nmaking for him an income again of five thousand dollars a year.\n\nDuring all these years his faithful wife, though not professing to be a\nChristian herself, endeavored in all possible ways to lead her children\nto become Christians. She taught them to pray the best she could, and\nsent them to Sunday-school. After her first child was born she gave up\nthose worldly amusements which before she had, to please her husband,\nparticipated in with him--a good example for Christian mothers. She was\nin continual dread lest the children should grow up to follow the\nfather's example. She always tried to conceal from them the fact of his\nbeing a gambler. The two daughters, Mamie and Irene, did not, when\ngood-sized girls and going to school, know their father's business. They\nwere asked at school what his occupation was, and could not tell. More\nthan once they asked their mother, but she evaded the question by\nsaying, \"He isn't engaged in any work just now,\" or in some such way.\nMrs. Holcombe begged her husband again and again not to continue\ngambling. She says, \"I told him I was willing to live on bread and\nwater, if he would quit it.\" And she would not lay up any of the money\nhe would give her, nor use any more of it than was necessary for herself\nand the children, for she felt that it was not rightly gotten. And\nbecause she would neither lay it up nor use it lavishly, she had nothing\nto do but let the children take it to play with and to give away. Under\nthe training of such a mother with such patience, love and faith, it is\nno great marvel, and yet perhaps it is a great marvel, that Willie, the\neldest child, notwithstanding the father's example, grew up to discern\ngood, to desire good and to be good. While he was still a child, when\nhis father came home drunk, the wounded and wondering child would beg\nhim not to drink any more. Mrs. Holcombe says of him further, \"When\nWillie would see his father on the street drinking, I have seen him,\nwhen twelve years old, jump off the car, go to his father and beg him\nwith tears to go home with him. And I never saw Mr. Holcombe refuse to\ngo.\"\n\nIn this way the boy grew up with a disgust and horror of drunkenness and\ndrinking, and when in the year 1877 the great temperance movement was\nrolling over the country and meetings were held everywhere, and in\nLouisville also, though the boy had never drunk any intoxicating liquor\nin his life, he signed the pledge. He took his card home with his name\nsigned to it, and when his father saw it, he was very angry about it.\nAnd yet, strange to say, on that very evening the father himself\nattended the meeting; and on the next evening he went again, in company\nwith his wife. During the progress of the meeting he turned to his wife\nand said, \"Mary, shall I go up and sign the pledge?\" Concealing her\nemotions as best she could, lest the show of it might disgust and repel\nhim, she replied, \"Yes, Steve, Willie and I would be very glad if you\nwould,\" and he did so.\n\nSome time after that, Willie asked his father and mother if they would\naccompany him to the Broadway Baptist church in the city to see him\nbaptized. While witnessing the baptism of his son, Mr. Holcombe made up\nhis mind that he would quit gambling, and as he went out of the church,\nhe said to his wife, \"_I will never play another card_.\"\n\nSome friend of his who overhead the remark said to him, \"Steve, you had\nbetter study about that.\" He answered, \"No, I have made up my mind. I\nwish you would tell the boys for me that they may count me out. They may\nstop my interest in the banks. I am done.\"\n\nHis wife, who was hanging on his arm, could no longer now conceal her\nemotions, nor did she try. She laughed and cried for joy. God was saying\nto her, \"Mary, thy toils and tears, thy sufferings and patience have\ncome up for a memorial before me, and I will send a man who will tell\nthee what thou oughtest to do, and speak to thee words whereby thou and\nall thy house shall be saved.\"\n\nMr. Holcombe was as good as his word. He did give up gambling from that\ntime. But he had had so little experience in business that he was at a\ngreat loss what to do. Finally, however, he decided to go into the\nproduce and commission business as he had had some experience in that\nline years before in Nashville, and as that required no great outlay of\nmoney for a beginning. All the money he had was tied up in the houses\nwhich he had bought in Portland, the western suburb of Louisville. He\nwas living in one of these himself, but he now determined to rent it out\nand to remove to the city that he might be nearer his business.\n\nOne day in October, 1877, a stranger entered his place of business, on\nMain street, and, calling for Mr. Holcombe, said: \"I see you have a\nhouse for rent in Portland.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said he, \"I have.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the stranger, \"I like your house; but as my income is not\nlarge, I should be glad to get it at as low a rent as you can allow.\"\n\nMr. Holcombe replied: \"I am rather pressed for money now myself, but\nmaybe we can make a trade. What is your business?\"\n\n\"I am a Methodist minister, and am just sent to the church in Portland,\nand you know it can not pay very much of a salary.\"\n\n\"That settles it then, sir,\" said Mr. Holcombe, with that abruptness and\npositiveness which are so characteristic of him, \"I am a notorious\ngambler, and, of course, you would not want to live in a house of mine.\"\n\nHe expected that would be the end of the matter, and he looked to see\nthe minister shrink from him and leave at once his presence and his\nhouse. On the contrary, the minister, though knowing nothing of Mr.\nHolcombe's recent reformation, yet seeing his sensitiveness, admiring\nhis candor and hoping to be able to do him some good, laid his hand\nkindly on his shoulder and said:\n\n\"Oh no, my brother; I do not object to living in your house; and who\nknows but that this interview will result in good to us both, in more\nways than one?\"\n\nMr. Holcombe's impression was that ministers of the Gospel were, in\ntheir own estimation, and in fact, too good for gamblers to touch the\nhem of their garments, and that ministers had, for this reason, as\nlittle use and as great contempt for gamblers as the average gambler\nhas, on the very same account, for ministers. But he found, to his\namazement, that he was mistaken, and when the minister invited him to\ncome to his church he said, not to the minister, yet he said:\n\n\"Yes, I will go, I never had a good man to call me 'brother' before. And\nhe knows what I am, for I told him. I am so tired; I am so spent. Maybe\nhe can tell me what to do and how to go. If Sunday ever comes, I will go\nto that man's church.\"\n\nAnd when Sunday came the minister and the gambler faced each other\nagain. With a great sense of his responsibility and insufficiency the\npreacher declared the message of his Lord, not as he wished, but as he\ncould. To the usual invitation to join the church nobody responded.\nAfter the benediction, however, Mr. Holcombe walked down the aisle to\nthe pulpit and said to the minister: \"How does a man join the church?\"\nHe had not attended church for twenty-three years, and had been engaged\nin such a life that he had forgotten what little he knew. The minister\ninformed him.\n\n\"Then,\" said he, \"may I join your church?\"\n\n\"You are welcome, and more than welcome,\" replied the minister, and the\npeople wondered.\n\n\"From the day I joined his church,\" says Mr. Holcombe, \"that minister\nseemed to understand me better than I understood myself. He seemed to\nknow and did tell me my own secrets. He led me into an understanding of\nmyself and my situation. I saw now what had been the cause of my\nrestlessness, my wanderings, my weariness and my woe. I saw what it was\nI needed, and I prayed as earnestly as I knew how from that time. I\nattended all the services--preaching, Sunday-school, prayer-meeting,\nclass-meeting in any and all kinds of weather, walking frequently all\nthe way from Second street to Portland, a distance of three miles,\nbecause I was making too little to allow me to ride on the street-cars.\nBut with all this, I felt something was yet wanting. I began to see that\nI could not make any advance in goodness and happiness so long as I was\nburdened with the unforgiven guilt of forty years of sin and crime. It\ngrew worse and heavier until I felt I must have relief, if relief could\nbe had. One day I went in the back office of my business house, after\nthe others had all gone home, and shut myself up and determined to stay\nthere and pray until I should find relief. The room was dark, and I had\nprayed, I know not how long, when such a great sense of relief and\ngladness and joy came to me that it seemed to me as if a light had\nflooded the room, and the only words I could utter or think of were\nthese three: 'Jesus of Nazareth.' It seemed to me they were the sweetest\nwords I had ever heard. Never, till then, did the feeling of\nblood-guiltiness leave me. It was only the blood of Christ that could\nwash from my conscience the blood of my fellowman.\"\n\nAs in his case, so always, in proportion as a man is in earnest about\nforsaking sin, will he desire the assurance of the forgiveness of past\nsins, and _vice versa_. But Mr. Holcombe did not find this an end of\ndifficulty and trial and conflict--far from it. Indeed, it was the\npreparation for conflict, and the entrance upon it. Hitherto, in his old\nlife, he had made no resistance to his evil nature, and there was no\nconflict with the world, the flesh and the devil. But such a nature as\nhis was not to be conquered and subjected to entire and easy control in\na day. His passions would revive, his old habits would re-assert\nthemselves, poverty pinched him, people misunderstood him, failure after\nfailure in business discouraged him. Hence, he needed constant and\ncareful guidance and an unfailing sympathy. And he thus refers to the\nhelp he received from his pastor in those trying days:\n\n\"Seeing the great necessity of giving me much attention and making me\nfeel at home in his presence and in the presence of his wife, he spent\nmuch time in my company, and with loving patience bore with my\nignorance, dullness and slowness. In this way I became so much attached\nto him that I had no need or desire for my old associations. He led me\nalong till I was entirely weaned from all desire for my old sinful life\nand habits. I think he gave me this close attention for about two years,\nwhen he felt that it was best for me to lean more upon God and less upon\nhim.\"\n\nMr. Holcombe received continual kindness and encouragement from the\nminister's wife also, who not only had for him always a cordial greeting\nand a kindly word of cheer, but who took great pleasure in entertaining\nhim frequently in their home. It was a perpetual benediction to him to\nknow her, to see the daily beauty of her faithful life, to feel the\ninfluence of her heavenly spirit. With quick intuition she recognized\nthe sincerity and intensity of Mr. Holcombe's desires and efforts to be\na Christian man; with ready insight she comprehended the situation and\nsaw his difficulties and needs, and with a very Christlike\nself-forgetfulness and joy she ministered to this struggling soul. Not\nonly Mr. Holcombe, but all who ever knew her, whether in adversity or\nprosperity, whether in sickness or in health, admired the beauty and\nfelt the quiet unconscious power of her character. As for Mr. Holcombe\nhimself, his mingled feeling of reverence for her saintliness and of\ngratitude for her sisterliness led him always to speak of her in terms\nthat he did not apply to any other person whom he knew. He could never\ncease to marvel that one of her education, position and tender\nwomanliness should take such pains and have such pleasure in helping,\nentertaining and serving such as he. A few years only was he blessed\nwith the helpfulness of her friendship. In 1885, when she was just past\nthe age of thirty-one, her tender feet grew so tired that she could go\nno further in this rough world, and Christ took her away. Few were more\ndeeply bereaved than the poor converted gambler, and when he was asked\nif he would serve as one of the pallbearers on the occasion of her\nfuneral, he burst into tears and replied, \"I am not worthy, I am not\nworthy.\" If those who knew her--little children of tender years, young\nmen and women, perplexed on life's threshold and desiring to enter in\nat the strait gate, people of rank and wealth, people in poverty and\nignorance, worldly-minded people whom she had unconsciously attracted,\nexperienced Christians whom she unconsciously helped, and, most of all,\nher husband and children who knew her best--if all these should be\nasked, all these would agree that St. Paul has written her fitting\nepitaph:\n\n    \"Well reported of for good works;\n    If she have brought up children,\n    If she have lodged strangers,\n    If she have washed the saints' feet,\n    If she have relieved the afflicted,\n    If she have diligently followed every good work.\"\n\nIt was not long after Mr. Holcombe's conversion before his entire family\nbecame members of the church. Though this was to him cause of\nunspeakable joy and gratitude, it did not mark the limit of his love and\nzeal. From the time of his conversion he had a deep and brotherly\nsympathy for all who were without the knowledge and joy he had come into\nthe possession of, but he felt a special interest in the salvation of\nthe wretched and the outcast, and of the men of his own class and former\noccupation who were as ignorant as he was of these higher things and as\nshut out from opportunities of knowing them. So that from the very\nbeginning of his Christian life he undertook to help others, and when\nthey were in need, not stopping to think of any other way, he took them\nto his own house. This, with the support of his own family, increased\nthe cost of his living to such an extent that he was soon surprised and\npained to find that he could not carry on his business. He had taken to\nhis home, also, the father of his wife, whom he cared for till his\ndeath. And in a short time he was so pressed for means that he had to\nmortgage his property for money to go into another kind of business.\n\nWhen it was first reported that Steve Holcombe, one of the most\nsuccessful, daring and famous gamblers in the South, had been converted\nand had joined the church, the usual predictions were made that in less\nthan three months, etc., he would see his mistake or yield to\ndiscouragements and return to his old life of self-indulgence and ease.\nBut when men passed and repassed the corner where this man had a little\nfruit store and was trying to make an honest living for his family,\ntheir thoughts became more serious and their questions deepen Steve had\ngot something or something had got him. He was not the man of former\ntimes. And most of his friends, the gamblers included, when they saw\nthis, were glad, and while they wondered wished him well. But there was\none man engaged in business just across the street from the little fruit\nstore, who with a patronizing air bought little fruits from Mr.\nHolcombe, and then spent his leisure in discussions and arguments to\nprove not only that he had made a big blunder in becoming a Christian,\nbut that religion was all a sham, the Bible a not very cunningly devised\nfable and that Mr. Ingersoll was the greatest man of the day, because he\nhad shattered these delusions. Mr. Holcombe patiently heard it all, and\nperhaps did not frame as cogent or logical an answer to this man's\nsophistries as he could do now, but he felt in his own heart and he saw\nin his own life that he was a new man. He felt a profound pity for his\nfriend who knew not nor cared for any of these things, and he lived on\nhis humble, patient, uncomplaining Christian life. It may not be out of\nplace to add as the sequel of this little episode that the testimony of\nthis man across the way, who was such an unbeliever and scoffer, is\ngiven elsewhere in this volume, and doubtless will be recognized by the\nreader. Mr. Holcombe's life was too much for his logic.\n\nWhen Mr. Holcombe had failed in every kind of business that he\nundertook, his property was forced on the market and nothing was left\nhim from the sale of it. Christian men of means might have helped him\nand ought to have helped him, but for reasons known to themselves they\ndid not. Perhaps they were afraid to take hold of so tough a case as\nSteve Holcombe was known to have been, perhaps they saw he was not an\nexperienced business man, perhaps they felt indisposed to help a man who\nwas so incapable of economy and so generous in entertaining his friends\nand helping the needy. Greatly pressed, he went at last to his\nhalf-brother with whom in former years he had been associated as partner\nin business, and putting his case and condition before him asked for\nemployment. But his half-brother declined on the spot, giving as his\nshort and sole reason that he believed Mr. Holcombe was a hypocrite and\nwas making believe that he was a Christian for some sinister purpose.\n\nThis was \"the most unkindest cut\" of all and for days the poor wounded\nman felt the iron in his soul. During his former life he would have\ncared nothing for such treatment. A ruined character is benumbed like a\nparalyzed limb, but a revived and repentant soul is full of sensitive\nnerves and feels the slightest slight or the smallest wound. He found\nout months afterward, however, that his half-brother was already losing\nhis mind and was not responsible for this extraordinary behavior. He\ntried and his friends tried everywhere and every way to find employment\nfor him, but he could get nothing to do. His money was all gone, his\nproperty was all gone, he sold his piano, he sold his Brussels carpets,\nhe removed from place to place, following cheaper rent till at last he\ntook his family to a garret. It was now two years since his conversion.\nDuring these two years he had done nothing to bring reproach on his\nprofession or to give ground for a doubt of his sincerity. He had not\nonly lived a consistent life himself, he had striven earnestly to help\nothers to do so. He assisted in holding meetings in Shippingsport, and\nthe people marveled and magnified the grace of God in him. But he was\nwith his family on the point of starvation. When at last everything had\nbeen tried and no relief was found, in his desperation he thought of the\nimprobable possibility of finding something, at least something to do,\nin the West, and he decided to go to Colorado.\n\nIn Louisville, where he was suffering and where his family was\nsuffering, he could have returned to gambling and have been independent\nin a month. He could have been living in a comfortable house; he could\nhave had, as he was wont, the best the market afforded for his table, he\ncould have decked himself with jewelry and diamonds, he could soon have\nbeen once more in position to spend, as he had regularly done, from two\nto ten dollars a day for the mere luxuries of life. He could have done\nall this and he could do all this even yet; for even yet he is in the\nprime of life and power. But he did not, and he does not. He did not\nturn Christian because he had played out as a gambler. He did not turn\nto Christianity because fortune had turned away from him. But he turned\naway himself from fortune when he was fortune's pet, in order to turn to\na better and worthier life.\n\nWhen he had decided to go to Colorado, he went to his pastor and told\nhim. The pastor was astonished, alarmed. After two years and more of\nfaithful and self-denying service was his friend and brother about to\ngive away? Was this a plan to get away into a \"far country\" where he\nmight turn again to sin? He reasoned with him, he appealed to him, he\nbesought him. He tried to picture the perils of the journey and the\nperils of the place. He reminded Mr. Holcombe of the condition, as far\nas he knew it, of his family. But all to no purpose. He committed his\nfriend trustfully to God and gave it up.\n\n\"But,\" said the pastor, \"how are you going to get there?\"\n\n\"I am going to walk from place to place and work my way out. I can not\nstay here, I can get nothing to do and I must try elsewhere. I am\ndesperate.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said the pastor, \"if your mind is made up and you are going, I\ncan let you have some money. I have about sixty-one dollars in bank\nwhich I laid aside when a single man, to use for Christ, and if that\nwill pay your way out, you can have it. Christ has called for his own.\"\n\nHe accepted it with tears, left a few dollars of it with his wife and,\nwith the rest, started for Leadville.\n\nWhen he first landed at Denver, he met an old friend, John Chisholm,\nwith whom he had gambled in Atlanta. This man had left Atlanta on\naccount of having killed somebody there, and had made a considerable\namount of money in California. He had now come to Denver and opened a\ngame of faro. When he saw Mr. Holcombe on the street, he said: \"You are\njust the man I want. I have opened a game of faro here, and I am afraid\nI can not protect myself. I will give you a good interest if you will go\nin with me.\"\n\nMr. Holcombe replied: \"Yes, John; but I am a Christian now, and can not\ndeal faro.\"\n\n\"I know,\" said the man, \"you were a Christian in Louisville, but you are\na long ways from there.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Mr. Holcombe said, \"but a true Christian is a Christian\neverywhere.\"\n\nNotwithstanding, he insisted on Mr. Holcombe's going to his room to see\nanother old Atlanta friend. He did so, but felt so much out of place\nthere that he did not remain ten minutes.\n\nFrom Denver he concluded to go to Silver Cliff instead of Leadville.\nWhen he arrived in that strange village, his money was all gone and he\nlacked fifteen cents of having enough to pay the stage-driver. \"It was\nabout sundown,\" says he, \"when I got there. I did not know a living\nsoul. I had not a cent of money. My courage failed me. I broke down and\nwept like a child.\"\n\nHaving a good trunk he knew he would not be asked to pay in advance, and\nhe went to a hotel and spent the night. In the morning he walked out\nafter breakfast to see what sort of a place he had gotten into. As he\nstood at the post-office, he saw across the street what he recognized as\na gambling-house, \"everything wide open,\" no attempt at concealment or\nprivacy. He asked some one out of curiosity who was the proprietor, and\nfound that two of his old acquaintances were running the house. He could\neasily, and at once, have gotten a situation with them, and could soon\nhave had money to relieve his own wants and the wants of his family. But\nhe had already stood severe tests, and had now arrived at a point where\nhe had no inclination whatever to gamble and felt no temptation to\nprocure money in that way or from that source. He did not even look for\nthe proprietors of the establishment or let them know he was in the\nvillage. But while he was standing there, thinking of his condition and\nwondering what he should do, he overheard a man say that a dining-room\nwaiter was wanted at the Carbonate hotel, the one at which he had spent\nthe night. He went at once to the hotel, made application for the place,\nand was accepted at a salary of twenty-five dollars a month and board.\n\nHe was filled with thankfulness and joy, and he has declared since, that\nthough, on one night during his gambling life, he had won three thousand\ndollars in money, the satisfaction which he felt then could not be\ncompared with that which he felt now when the hotel-proprietor gave him\nthis position of dining-room waiter _at a salary of twenty-five dollars\na month_. He entered at once upon his duties. To his great surprise he\nfound several Louisville gentlemen stopping at the hotel, some of whom\nhad known him in other days and circumstances, and whom he had boarded\nwith at hotels where he paid five dollars a day, with two to four\ndollars a day, extra, for wine and cigars. But, notwithstanding that, he\nwas not ashamed of his present position. On the contrary, he was very\nthankful for it and happy in it. He did such faithful service there that\nthe proprietor became interested in him and showed him much kindness.\n\nDuring his stay at Silver Cliff he did not neglect any opportunity of\ndoing good to others.\n\nOne day, when he was standing in the door of the post-office, a man,\nwhose name he afterward found to be James Lewis, came in, got a letter\nand sat down on the step right under Mr. Holcombe to read it. As he read\nit, he was much affected and tears were running down his hardened face.\nMr. Holcombe became so interested that he read the man's letter over his\nshoulder. It was from his wife, who, with her three children, had left\nher husband on account of his drunkenness. Mr. Holcombe made up his mind\nhe would see if he could do something for the poor man to better his\ncondition, and, if possible, bring about the reunion of the family. He\ndid not like to approach him then and there. He watched him till he got\nup and moved away and started down through an alley. As he emerged from\nthe alley, at the farther end, Mr. Holcombe, who had gone around another\nway, met him. Little did the man suspect that the stranger who accosted\nhim knew his trouble and his family secrets. Mr. Holcombe, with that\ntact which his knowledge of men had given him, spoke to him kindly, but\nin a way that would not arouse his suspicions. He told him, after a\nlittle while, his own condition in that far-off land away from his\nfamily and friends. He found out from the man where he stayed. He went\nto see him, found that he slept in a stable, provided him with some\nthings he needed, and then got down on his knees there in the stable and\nprayed for him.\n\nFinally, when the proper time had come, Mr. Holcombe showed him a Murphy\npledge and asked him if he would not sign it. He told him what he\nhimself had been before, and what he had become, since signing that\npledge. The man gave Mr. Holcombe his confidence, unbosomed himself to\nhim and eagerly sought counsel. He signed the pledge also and said he\nwould, by God's help, give up his sins that had separated him from a\nloving wife, and would try to live a better life. Mr. Holcombe wrote to\nthe man's wife informing her of the change in her husband and the effort\nhe was making to do right. She came at once to Silver Cliff and Mr.\nHolcombe had the pleasure of seeing them reunited and ate with them in\ntheir humble cabin.\n\nWhen he had been some time at the Carbonate hotel, he found a position\nwhere he could make more money and worked there till he had saved enough\nto buy an outfit for \"prospecting\" in the mountains. This outfit\nconsisted of a little donkey, several \"agricultural implements for\nsubverting _terra firma_\" such as spade, pick, etc., and provisions for\ntwo or three weeks. Having procured these and packed his burro, as the\ndonkey is called out West, he and his partner started for the\nmountains. Mr. Holcombe kept a sort of diary of this part of his Western\ntrip, and we give it here, including the time from his leaving Silver\nCliff to his return to Denver.\n\n\nDIARY.\n\nTuesday, May 27, 1879.--I entered into partnership with a man by the\nname of J. E. White from Wisconsin for prospecting in the mountains. He\nhad some blankets at Oak Creek, a distance of thirty miles from Silver\nCliff. We walked out there one day and returned the next. The road was\nvery full of dust and gravel. My shoes would get full of it. Every\nlittle mountain stream we came to I would stop and wash my feet, which\nwas very refreshing. This made me think of the blessed Son of God and\nwhy, when he was a guest at different places, they brought him water for\nhis feet,\n\n    \"Those blessed feet\n    Which, eighteen hundred years ago, were nailed\n    For our advantage on the bitter cross.\"\n\nWednesday, May 28.--After having bought a burro and a two weeks'\ngrub-stake, J. E. White and myself started for the Sangre de Christo\nmountain, a wild, high range of the Rockies. We paid for our burro\ntwenty-one dollars, and for our grub seven dollars. It consisted of\nflour, coffee, sugar, bacon, salt, pepper, potatoes and baking powder.\nWe had a coffee-pot, frying-pan, tin cups. We used our pocket-knives\ninstead of table-knives. We had a butcher-knife and some teaspoons. With\nthese and some other things we packed our burro and started. It was a\nfunny sight. It all looked like a house on top of the poor little\nanimal which was not much larger than a good sized Newfoundland dog. But\nit was strong, faithful and sure-footed and could go anywhere in the\nmountains that a man could. We traveled this first day about ten miles\nand camped in a gulch at night. Had a hard storm. Our only shelter was a\nhut made of boughs of trees, Indian fashion.\n\nThursday, May 29.--We moved up the gulch as far as we could for the\nsnow. Did some little prospecting of which neither of us knew very much,\nand, of course, we found nothing. Every once in awhile, White would pick\nup a rock, look at it wisely and say \"This is good float. I think there\nis a paying lode up on this mountain somewhere.\" Up the mountain we go\nabout 9,000 feet above the sea level. We turned over all the stones and\ndug up the earth every now and then and toward night we went to work to\nmake our hut which we got about half finished. During the night snow\nfell about three inches. We were on the side of the mountain. Could\nhardly keep the fire from rolling down the side of the mountain. Could\nhardly keep our victuals from upsetting. This and the snow made me\nweaken considerably, and I did say in my heart I wished I was back home.\n\nFriday, May 30.--We prospected the second ridge, south of Horn's Peak,\ngoing up about 300 feet above timber line, or about 12,000 feet above\nthe sea-level. There were no indications of minerals. About five miles\noff we could see a beautiful lake. I was very anxious to go to it, but\nWhite objected. Said it would be dangerous, might be caught in a\nsnow-storm. The sun was shining brightly. Weather was very pleasant. I\ncould not conceive of a snow-storm on the 30th of May. So I persuaded\nhim to go. After we had gone some distance, all of a sudden it began to\nblow up cold and in a little while to snow. We turned our faces toward\ncamp. Just then we saw one of those beautiful Rocky mountain spotted\ngrouse. We were so hungry for something fresh to eat, we took several\nshots at it with White's pistol. But the blinding snow made it\nimpossible for us to hit it. We had no grouse for supper.\n\nIt grew cold very rapidly and in a very short time it seemed to me as\ncold as I ever felt it in my life. My moustache froze stiff. At last the\nstorm got so heavy, and, the evening coming on, we could hardly see our\nway. The side of the mountain was full of dead timber, which was slick\nlike glass and, as everything was covered with snow, we could not always\nsee where to put our feet down, and to have slipped would have been\nalmost certain death. Once White did slip and but for having the pick\nand sticking it in a soft place, he would have been killed. We got lost\nand wandered about over the mountain side till late in the evening when\nwe providentially struck on our camp. We were hungry, tired and wet. Our\nbedding was covered with snow. Before going to bed I read the first\nchapter of Romans.\n\nSaturday, May 31.--Cloudy morning. Four inches of snow. No wind. Felt\nvery well. We moved our camp. Stopped at a deserted cabin. Found a\ngrindstone and ground our hatchet. We pitched camp about three miles\nSouth-east. Built a hut of boughs. We got wet. I had but one pair of\npants and one pair of socks. My feet were soaking wet. At bedtime I\nread Romans, second chapter.\n\nSunday, June 1, 1879.--Snowed Saturday night. When I awoke our blankets\nwere wet. I had symptoms of rheumatism in knees and wrists. I read\nRomans, third chapter, and we had prayer together. White sang \"Tell Me\nthe Old, Old Story\" and \"Safe in the Arms of Jesus.\" It made me think of\nmy family so far away, of my dear pastor, Brother----, and the dear old\nPortland church, and the tears streamed down my face. Spent the day in\ncamp.\n\nMonday, June 2.--Woke up very cold. Our hut of pine boughs was not\nsufficient to keep us warm. So much snow on the mountains that we\nprospected the foot-hills and found what we thought were indications of\nmineral. At night read Romans, fourth chapter. Much encouraged by\nAbraham's faith. So cold I had to get my hat in the night and put it on\nmy head to keep warm. Dreamed that I was at home with my precious wife.\nTried to wake her up, but she was dead. What awful feelings!\n\nTuesday, June 3.--A beautiful bright morning. Read Romans v. Partner\nwanted to go deer hunting with a pistol. Seemed to me so foolish I would\nnot go. I stayed at camp and was very lonesome.\n\nWednesday, June 4.--Bright, clear morning. Read Romans vi. Had our\nbreakfast, bread, bacon, coffee and potatoes, early, so as to prospect\non third mountain south of Horn's Peak. Started for the mountains. Went\nup above timber line. Ate lunch up there. Too much snow to go any\nhigher. Found what we thought were indications of mineral. Saw a gray\neagle sailing around. It looked very grand away up above that lonely\nmountain. Suppose its nest was near. In evening returned to camp very\ntired. Read Romans vii., and it did me a great deal of good.\n\nThursday, June 5.--Clear morning. Prospected some around the foot-hills.\nFound nothing. Began to get disgusted with prospecting. Struck camp\nabout ten or eleven o'clock A. M. Packed our burro and crossed valley\nabout fifteen miles. Very hot crossing. Pack slipped out of place\nseveral times. Very troublesome. White got out of humor. Was inclined to\nquarrel, but I would not quarrel with him. After getting across the\nvalley we had trouble finding a place to camp convenient to water, but\nfound it at last. While we were unpacking a big rabbit jumped up. White\nfired three or four shots at him with his revolver. Followed him up the\nside of the mountain. At last he killed him. He came down the mountain\nswinging old Brer Rabbit, and I think he was as happy looking a man as I\never saw. No doubt a smile of satisfaction might have been seen on your\nUncle Remus' face, too, when I saw that rabbit. That was the first thing\nin shape of fresh meat we had had for about ten days.\n\n    SUPPER--BILL OF FARE.\n\n    _Fried Rabbit,              Fried Bread,\n             Potatoes,    Coffee._\n\nAfter supper we raised a few poles and threw our blankets over them for\nshelter. Read Romans viii., and went to sleep, feeling satisfied that if\nI died before morning, I would wake up in heaven.\n\nFriday, June 6.--Bright morning. Fine appetite. Good breakfast. Read\nRomans ix. We moved from the foot-hills and went up into the mountain.\nWhite went prospecting while I built us a hut for the night. When he\ncame back he said he had found some very good float. Very cold night.\nOur burro got loose in the night and made considerable noise moving\naround. We were sure it was a mountain lion, but, of course, we were not\nafraid. I had my hatchet under my head and he had his pistols. Of\ncourse, we were not afraid.\n\nSaturday, June 7.--Very cold morning. Prospected. Found a lode of black\nrock. Felt sure we had struck it rich. Dug a whole in the ground and\nstaked a claim. Read Romans x, at night. Slept cold. Got to thinking.\nThought it was easier to find a needle in a haystack than a paying mine\nin the Rocky mountains.\n\nSunday, June 8.--Morning clear and bright. Owing to the disagreeable\nplace in which we were camped, we thought our health justified us in\nmoving even on the Lord's day. Found an old cabin. It was worse than any\nhorse stable, but we cleaned it out. Made a bed of poles, which we cut\nand carried some distance. This was on the Pueblo and Rosita road.\n\nMonday, June 9.--Bright, cold morning. Ice on the spring branch. After\nbreakfast we started prospecting. Found nothing, except another old\ndeserted cabin of the Arkansaw Traveler's style. Returned to camp in the\nevening. Read Romans xii. and xiii. and slept like a prince.\n\nTuesday, June 10--Another bright, clear, cold morning. We prospected\nsome. Staked off a claim, more in fun than anything else, for we knew it\nwas worth nothing. The locality is called Hardscrabble. And it was the\nright name. Our provisions had about given out, and it was a hard\nscrabble for us to get along. Concluded to return to Silver Cliff, go to\nwork, get another grub stake, and take another fresh start. In the\nafternoon we rested. Read Romans xiv., xv. and xvi.\n\nWednesday, June 11.--Another beautiful Colorado morning. Read 1 Cor., i.\nStarted for Silver Cliff about 7:00 A. M. I carried White's pistol. On\nthe way I killed two doves. Had them for dinner about 3:00 P. M. How\nsweet they did taste! Arrived at Silver Cliff about dark.\n\nThursday, June 12.--Concluded the best thing I could do was to get home\nas soon as possible. We sold our burro for $15.00, and with my part\n($7.50) I started with a friend by the name of Hall for home. We got a\ncheap ride in a freight wagon from Silver Cliff to Pueblo. The country\nthrough which we passed is the wildest and grandest I ever saw anywhere\nin my life. Hardscrabble canon is one of the most picturesque in the\nworld, and then the beautiful mountain stream all the way, winding like\na serpent down the valley. We crossed and re-crossed it several times.\nThat night we slept in the wagon. I never neglected praying any day\nwhile I was on the prospecting tour.\n\nFriday, June 13.--Arrived at Pueblo about 2:00 P. M. Had a little money.\nGot a bite to eat. At that time there was a railroad war. Men were\nkilling each other for three dollars a day for corporations. The\nexcitement about this, and the moving bodies of men all anxious for\nnews, kept me from thinking of my condition till night. At night I went\nout to the commons, on the edge of the city, and, with other tramps,\nwent to sleep on the cold ground.\n\nSaturday, June 14.--Had a little money. Some others of the tramps had a\nlittle. We pooled it, bought a little grub, and at 12:00 o'clock started\non a tramp to Denver, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five\nmiles. I felt fresh and strong. We walked about six miles and slept on\nthe ground at night.\n\nSunday, June 15.--Got up early. Had a little breakfast. Started about\n6:00 A. M. Walked about three miles when, two of our party having such\nsore feet, we stopped. I had a voracious appetite. Went to cooking. We\nhad some canned tomatoes and canned syrup. I cooked some tomatoes and\nate them. Then I went to a ranch, bought a nickel's worth of milk, fried\nsome cakes, ate them with the syrup, drank the milk and was--sick. Did\nnot feel strong again all the time. I had had no experience in tramping\nand tried to carry too much luggage. My feet got sore. Every day's tramp\nafter that was a drag. One of the party left us and went on ahead by\nhimself. We never saw him again. Another was so broken down we had to\nleave him. Hall and I went on sick and tired. About dark we went up to\nthe house of a ranchman, and I told him my story. He took us in. I found\nout he was a professing Christian. I read Romans vii., and prayed with\nthe family. His name is John Irvine, El Paso, Colorado.\n\nMonday, June 16.--Left John Irvine's soon after breakfast. Walked five\nmiles to a water-tank where the train had to stop for water. We waited\ntill the train came along, and boarded her. The conductor did not see\nus till we had passed Colorado Springs some distance. When he did see\nus, I made the appeal of my life on account of myself and my friend,\nwhose feet were so sore he could, with difficulty, hobble along. I told\nthe conductor my own condition, and of my anxiety to get home to a\nsuffering family. When I saw he would not believe what I said, I offered\nhim my pocket-knife, a very fine and costly one, to let us ride a short\ndistance further, but he was like a stone. At the next stop he put us\noff without a cent of money or a bite to eat. We walked about six miles,\nlay down on the ground, with the sky for a covering, and slept like\nlogs.\n\nTuesday, June 17.--We started about daybreak, without anything to eat.\nWalked about eight miles to a little place called Sedalia. Saw a German\nboarding house. Sent Hall in to see if we could get anything to eat. Had\nno money, but told him to tell her I would give her a butcher-knife and\na silver teaspoon, which I had brought from home, for something to eat.\n\nShe said to him so I could hear her: \"Breakfast is over, but I will give\nyou what I have.\" That was enough for me. In I went. Sat down to a real\nGerman lunch, and never did a breakfast taste sweeter to me than that.\nGod bless that good old German woman, not only for her good breakfast,\nbut for her kind, motherly words to two strangers in want. It taught me\na lesson which I have not forgotten yet, and I pray God I never may.\n\nI left Sedalia feeling comfortable. Walked about four miles. Hall was\nabout done. He could go no further. While we were sitting there, a\nChristian man by the name of Jennings came along, took pity on us, took\nus in his wagon, gave us something to eat and brought us to Denver. We\narrived there about 6:00 P. M., without one cent, nothing to eat, no\nplace to go. Slept that night in a stable-yard under Jennings' wagon.\n\nWednesday, June 18.--Got up next morning about daybreak. Had a little\ncold breakfast with Jennings. Knocked about town a little. Had a baker's\nblackberry pie and a cup of water for dinner.\n\nHere the diary of the prospecting tour and the tramp to Denver ends.\n\nMr. Holcombe continued the next day to knock about town, not knowing\nwhat to do, when his old friend, Frank Jones, by nature one of the\nkindest-hearted men in the world, chanced to meet him and insisted on\nsharing his room with him. As his friend Jones, however, was himself\nbroke, he could render Mr. Holcombe no further assistance and it was\nnecessary for Mr. Holcombe to look about for something to do. He spent a\nweek in this occupation, or want of occupation, and at the end of that\ntime found employment in a brickyard. But the work was so hard, at the\nend of three weeks, he had to give it up. After some time what little\nmoney he had was expended and again he was destitute. And at one time he\nwas so pressed that he went into a grocery store and offered his fine\npocket-knife again for something to eat, but it was refused. Several\ntimes he passed the Young Men's Christian Association rooms. Each time\nhe stopped, looked wistfully in and debated with himself whether they\nwould probably believe him and help him if he ventured to go in and\nmake his condition known. But he had never been used to asking favors,\nand he did not know how to approach Christian people, and so his heart\nfailed him.\n\nAt that time and in that condition he was assailed by a sore temptation.\nThe devil, he says, suggested these thoughts to him: \"This is a fine\ncondition for Steve Holcombe to be in. Before you heard of God and this\nreligion, you could stop at first-class hotels, wear fine clothes, live\nlike a gentleman, have a good home and all that money could buy for your\nfamily. Now, you say you are serving God. You say He is your father and\nthat He owns everything in the world. Yet here you are without food and\nclothing and your family is at home in want. You have not enough to buy\na meal for them or for yourself. Can you afford to trust and serve such\na master as that?\"\n\nBut he had not been serving God two years and more for naught. He had\nlearned some things in that time. One of them was that trials and\nprivations are a part of the Christian's heritage, and that if any man\nwill live godly in this present world, he must expect to suffer. So his\nreply was ready and he met the temptation with decision. \"Yea, and\nthough He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.\" And the sequel will show\nwhether he made a mistake in trusting Him.\n\nWhen he saw it was useless for him to remain longer away from home, he\ninformed his friend, Mr. Jones, of his purpose to leave at once for\nLouisville. Mr. Jones got him money enough to buy a ticket to Kansas\nCity, and there the great temperance lecturer, Francis Murphy, having\nfound out his character and condition, gave him enough to get home.\n\nWhether God can or not, at any rate He does not pour wisdom into a man\nas we pour water into a bottle. He does not so favor even His own\nchildren, if favor it could be called. But He gives a man opportunities\nof self-discipline, and if, aided by His divine help and grace, the man\nis willing to go through the process, he comes out with larger knowledge\nand better equipment for life and service and usefulness.\n\nWithout the experiences and lessons of this Colorado trip, Mr. Holcombe\ncould not have been the efficient man he is to-day. That season of\nloneliness and self-searching and severe testing and humiliation was to\nhim, though a painful, yet a helpful, and perhaps necessary, stage in\nhis Christian life.\n\nIndeed, all the trying experiences that had come to him since his\nconversion were helpful to him in one way or another. He needed to learn\npatience, he needed to learn economy, he needed to learn self-control.\nThe disposition to practice all these was given him at the time of his\nconversion, he needed now to be put to the test and to \"learn obedience,\npractically, by the things which he suffered.\" Moreover, if he was to\nserve efficiently the poor and the tempted, he needed to become\nacquainted with their condition, their sorrows, their conflicts, by\npassing through them himself.\n\nThe endurance of the evils which give occasion for the exercise of\nself-denial and for the acquisition of self-control is a far less evil\nthan the want of self-denial and of self-control. So Mr. Holcombe was\nwilling to suffer all these things rather than to decline them and be\nwithout the blessing which comes through them. This reflection justified\nhis past sufferings and prepared him for any that might come in the\nfuture. He knew what he had been and he had learned that he was to be\npurified by fire. So he felt that if God would be patient with him, he\nwould be patient with God's dealings. When he arrived at home he found\nhis family in a very needy condition. Shortly after his departure for\nColorado, his wife had to remove from the house she was occupying,\nbecause she could not pay the rent. She had never taken care of herself\nbefore or done any sort of work, for he always provided well for his\nfamily; but now she saw it was necessary for her to support the family.\nAccordingly, she took in sewing, and in that way did support them till\nMr. Holcombe's return. For six weeks after his return he could find\nnothing to do, and Mrs. Holcombe, brave, noble woman, continued to\nsupport the family with her needle. The time of her full deliverance was\ncoming, but it was not yet. Nor did she know when it would come, or that\nit would ever come. But all the same she waited, and while she waited,\nshe served, and with a glad heart, too, for had not her husband turned\nhis face heavenward? And poverty seemed now a small thing.\n\nSome time after Mr. Holcombe's return, his friend, Major Ed Hughes, was\nelected Chief of the Fire Department in Louisville, and he made\napplication to him at once for a position. Major Hughes gave it to him\nunhesitatingly; but, as Mr. Holcombe was entirely without experience, it\nhad to be a subordinate one, in which the salary was not large, being\nonly a dollar and a half per day. It was impossible for him to support\nhis family on so little, and though Mrs. Holcombe undertook to help him\nout by keeping boarders and doing all the work herself, they got\nbehind all the time he was in the fire department. Finding that keeping\nboarders after Mrs. Holcombe's liberal fashion was entirely\nunprofitable, she gave that up and commenced taking in sewing again. She\neven learned to make coats for clothing stores in Louisville, and\ncontinued that for some time.\n\n[Illustration: ENGINE HOUSE.]\n\nMeanwhile, he was having a hard time in his subordinate position in the\nfire department. In the first place he was required to be at the\nengine-house night and day and Sundays, with the bare exception of a\nhalf hour or such a matter at meal time. For a man of his nature and\nhabits this confinement was almost intolerable, and would have been\nquite so, if he had not been radically changed. In the second place he\nwas subject to the orders of his superiors, though he had never been\nobliged to obey anybody, and as a matter of fact never had obeyed\nanybody since he was a mere infant. In the third place, notwithstanding\nhis experience, his knowledge of the world and his capacity for higher\nwork, he was required to do work which a well-trained idiot might have\ndone just as well. One of his duties was to rub the engine and keep it\npolished. In order to clean some parts of it, he would have to lie down\non the floor under it flat on his back; and in order to clean other more\ndelicate parts of the machinery, he had to work in such places that he\nwas always bruising and skinning his hands.\n\nIf repeated failure in business in Louisville was hard, if starving in\nColorado was harder, the confinement and drudgery of his position at the\nengine-house were hardest. It would require some effort to think of a\nposition more thoroughly disagreeable and trying than this one which Mr.\nHolcombe filled to the satisfaction of his superiors for two mortal\nyears. But he was learning some things he needed to know. He was passing\nthrough a necessary apprenticeship, though he did not know it, for\nsomething vastly higher. It perhaps should be added that Mr. Holcombe\nwas practically isolated and alone at the engine-house, for none of the\nmen there employed were congenial companions. However, to their credit,\nbe it said, they showed great respect for him and for his Christian\nprofession; they quit gambling, they refrained from using obscene or\nprofane language in his presence, and, in general, were very kind to\nhim.\n\nNothing could lessen Mr. Holcombe's sympathy for the outcast and the\nlost, and nothing destroy his zeal for their salvation. Though he was\nnot allowed to leave his post even on Sunday, without hiring, at his own\nexpense, a substitute, yet he frequently went to Shippingsport and other\nplaces to hold services among the poor \"with the hope,\" as he says, \"of\nhelping and blessing them.\" He incurred the expense of a substitute that\nhe might, once in awhile, go out bearing light and blessing to others,\nand he even took to his own home men who were trying to reform and live\nbetter lives. In view of the condition of his family, this was doubtless\nmore than he ought to have done, and in after years he saw it was a\nmistake, but such was his insatiable longing to help and bless others,\nhe let his zeal, perhaps, go beyond his prudence in that single\nparticular. Most of us err very far on the other side. He did not\nhesitate to take to his home in some instances men who had gone in\ntheir dissipation to the extent of delirium tremens. One such case was\nthat of a fine young fellow who belonged to an excellent family in\nLouisville, but who through drink had gone down, down, down, until he\nhad struck bottom. During his drinking sprees he was the most forlorn\nand wretched looking man in Louisville. He was at this time, by Mr.\nHolcombe's invitation, staying at his house. He ate there, he slept\nthere; it was his home. But on one occasion, some time after midnight,\nhe was attacked with a frightful spell of delirium tremens, or, as he\nsaid, the devils got after him. They told him, he said, that if he did\nnot kill Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe and their baby, they would kill him. He\nheard them. They told him to go and get his razor, and he did it. Then\nthey advanced on him and he backed from them, his razor in hand. As they\nadvanced he retreated. He opened Mr. Holcombe's door (for he had hired a\nsubstitute and remained at home on the night in question in order to\nhelp his man through his spell). He backed to the bed in which Mr. and\nMrs. Holcombe were sleeping. He struck the bed as he retreated from the\ndevils, and Mrs. Holcombe awoke to find a demonized man standing over\nthem with a drawn razor. She woke her husband. He jumped out of bed,\ncaught the man's arm and took the razor from him. After that Mr.\nHolcombe sat up with him the remainder of the night, and during most of\nthe time the man was talking to imaginary devils. About daylight he\nsnatched up a brickbat out of the hearth and rushed toward the door\nsaying there were three big men out there who had come to kill him. Mr.\nHolcombe kept him with himself all next day. The next night while they\nwere walking together in the open air, the man imagined that a woman\nwhom he knew to be dead was choking him to death, and he was on the\npoint of dying with suffocation when Mr. Holcombe called a physician to\nhis aid.\n\nSuch was the kind of men Mr. Holcombe, even in those days of poverty and\ndiscouragement, was trying to help and rescue, and such were his efforts\nand trials and perils in rescuing them.\n\nWhen Mr. Holcombe's pastor saw the grace of God that abounded in him, it\nwas plain to him that he might, in future, when a suitable opening\nshould come, make a very useful helper in the work of the church. In\norder, therefore, that Mr. Holcombe might be prepared for an enlarged\nsphere, if it should ever come, the pastor proposed to teach him in\ncertain lines and did so, visiting him regularly at the engine house for\nthat purpose. Mr. Holcombe studied very industriously, but it was with\nextreme difficulty that he could apply himself to books at that time.\nLater, however, he overcame to a great extent this difficulty and has\ngotten now to be quite a student. He has attended also, for two years,\nwith great profit, the lectures of Dr. Broadus in the Baptist Seminary\nin Louisville.\n\nAs has been said elsewhere, Mr. Holcombe remained in the fire department\nfor two years, enduring the confinement, performing the drudgery and\ntrying, as best he could, to help and bless others. Four years and more\nhad now elapsed since his conversion. It was a long stretch and at times\na heavy strain. But he endured it, and grew strong.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nThe time had now come for such an extraordinary career and such an\nextraordinary man to be recognized, and he was. He had made an\nimpression and his work, humble as it was, had made an impression.\nMoreover, Mr. Holcombe himself was now growing impatient to get into a\nposition more favorable to his usefulness. It was not the selfish\nimpatience that could not longer endure the humiliation and manifold\ndisagreeablenesses of his position at the engine house. He had overcome\nall that. It was the noble impatience of love and zeal. Oh, how he did\nlong to get into a place where he could help somebody and serve somebody\nand love somebody.\n\nHe had been very kindly treated by his old friends, the gamblers, during\nall this time; and though he was loath to allow it and at first declined\nit, yet fearing lest his refusal might alienate them, he had, more than\nonce, accepted substantial help from one or two particular friends among\nthem. Encouraged by assurances from some of these and by the promise of\nall the help his pastor could possibly give him, financially and\notherwise, he had made up his mind to rent a room in the central part of\nthe city and to open a meeting for the outcast classes. But on the very\nday when he was engaged in making these arrangements, his remarkable\nconversion and character and career were the subject of discussion at\nthe Methodist Ministers' meeting. The result was that before the week\nhad passed, the Rev. Jas. C. Morris, pastor of the Walnut-street\nMethodist church, visited him at the engine-house and informed him that\nthe Official Board of his church had authorized him to take measures for\nthe establishment of a mission in the central part of the city and to\nemploy Mr. Holcombe to take charge of it at an assured salary sufficient\nto meet the wants of his family. He at once accepted it as a call from\nGod and gave up his position in the fire department, with no great\ndegree of reluctance.\n\nA vacant store in the Tyler Block, on Jefferson street between Third and\nFourth, was offered free of rent. Regular noon-day meetings were held\nthere in charge of Rev. Mr. Morris and Mr. Holcombe. It was a\nphenomenon. Within two blocks of the two faro banks which Steve Holcombe\nused to own and run, he was now every day at high noon declaring the\nGospel of the grace of God. The people came to see and hear. They found\nit was no mushroom fanatic, but a man who for forty years was a leader\nin wickedness and for four years had been almost a pattern of\nrighteousness. He spoke no hot words of excitement, but narrated facts\nwith truth and soberness. Many of his old time friends, the gamblers,\ntheir timidity overcome by their curiosity, joined the crowd and heard\nthe man. Poor drunkards, too far gone for timidity or curiosity, dragged\nthemselves to the place where the famous gambler was telling about his\nconversion and his new life. And the power of God was present to heal,\nand great grace was upon them all. Among those who were saved at that\ntime and place were Mr. Ben Harney, son of the distinguished editor of\nthe old _Louisville Democrat_, who lives again in happiness and\nprosperity with his beloved family, and Mr. D. C. Chaudoin, at one time\na Main-street merchant, who remained faithful until death.\n\nWhen the supporters of the movement saw that it promised so much, they\ntook steps at once to make larger provision for it and to secure its\npermanence. They sought a suitable house in a convenient place, and\nfinally decided to take the room at No. 436 Jefferson street, between\nFourth and Fifth streets, which had formerly been used as a\ngambling-house. Mr. Holcombe took possession of it, and found some of\nthe gambling implements still there. A Board of Managers was elected,\nconsisting of John L. Wheat, James G. Carter, P. H. Tapp, C. P. Atmore\nand George W. Wicks. Some friends from the Walnut-street church and\nothers volunteered as singers; the room was supplied with hymn-books, an\norgan was secured, and the meetings commenced under the most promising\ncircumstances. At first, meetings were held three nights in the week,\nand the attendance was large. Soon after, meetings were held every night\nand on Sundays. People of all classes came. The services consisted of\nsinging, prayers, reading of Scripture, a short, earnest address from\nMr. Holcombe, and sometimes testimonies from the men who had been helped\nand saved--among whom were drunkards, gamblers, pick-pockets, thieves,\nburglars, tramps, men who had fallen from high positions in business and\nsocial circles, and in short, men of all classes and kinds. Many of\nthese gave unquestionable proofs of conversion, \"of whom the greater\npart remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep,\" faithful\nunto death. Among those who were converted during that period were\nRobert Denny, Fred Ropke, Captain B. F. Davidson and Charles Wilson,\nwhose testimonies will be found elsewhere in this book--besides others,\nsome of whom are residents of Louisville and some of other places.\n\nBy request, the Rev. James C. Morris, D. D., now of Kansas City, Mo.,\nhas written a brief account of Mr. Holcombe's work from the beginning to\nthe point which we have now reached in this narrative. And, as no part\nof it can well be omitted or changed for the better, it is here\nintroduced entire, with a part of the genial letter which accompanied\nit:\n\n    \"KANSAS CITY, MO., August 14, 1888.\n\n    \"_My Dear Brother_:\n\n    \"I inclose the notes for which you ask. You see they are in a\n    crude state. But do not judge from that that I have no interest\n    in the work you have in hand. My Father in heaven knows I keep\n    it very near my heart. I felt it would be sufficient for me to\n    furnish you the matter in a crude state, and let you work it\n    into your plan rather than give it any literary shape myself.\n    Besides, I am pressed, pressed to my utmost, and I therefore\n    send you this imperfect sketch with an apology. I am glad you\n    are doing the work. It will surely do good. Brother Holcombe's\n    work ought to be known. I wish in my heart of hearts that every\n    city and town had such a man in it to work for God and souls.\n    Praying God to bless you and your work, I am,\n\n    \"Yours affectionately,\n\n    \"JAMES C. MORRIS.\"\n\n\"In the year 1881, while I was pastor of the Walnut-street Methodist\nchurch, in Louisville, Ky., I heard of Steve Holcombe, the converted\ngambler; of his remarkable career; of his remarkable conversion, and of\nhis unusual devotion and zeal in the cause of religion. I heard also of\nhis efforts in the line of Christian work and of his desire for better\nopportunities. I mentioned his case to the Official Board of the\nWalnut-street church, and suggested that he might be usefully employed\nby our churches in the city in doing missionary work. The matter was\nkindly received, but the suggestion took no practical shape. As I walked\nhome from the meeting one of the stewards said to me: 'Why could not we,\nof the Walnut-street church, employ Brother Holcombe ourselves?' This\nquestion put me upon a course of thought about the work we might be able\nto do, and at the next meeting of the Board I made the suggestion that\nwe organize some work of the kind and employ Brother Holcombe to take\ncharge of it. They unanimously accepted the suggestion and directed me\nto investigate the case. If anything could be done, they were ready to\nenter upon the work and support it. I lost no time in seeing Brother\nHolcombe. He was then employed at the engine-house, on Portland avenue.\nI found him rubbing the engine. It took but a moment to introduce\nmyself, and in a short time we were up-stairs, alone, talking about\nreligion and work for Christ. He told me how his heart was drawn out in\nsolicitude for the classes who never attended church--the gamblers,\ndrunkards and the like. It was easy to see that the movement\ncontemplated was of God. We talked and rejoiced together; we knelt down\nand prayed together for God's guidance in all our plans and\nundertakings. I then told him how I came to call on him, and laid before\nhim our plan. His eyes filled with tears--tears of joy--at the thought\nof having an opportunity to do the work that was on his heart.\n\n\"At once I reported to the Board, and recommended that Brother Holcombe\nbe at once employed and the work set on foot without delay. God breathed\non them the same spirit that he had breathed on us together at the\nengine-house. With unanimity and enthusiasm they entered into the plan\nand pledged their support. They fixed his salary at nine hundred dollars\na year and authorized me to do all that was necessary to carry the plan\ninto effect.\n\n\"Early the next morning Brother Holcombe gave up his place at the\nengine-house, and we went out to look for a house in which to domicile\nour work. I can never forget that day. What joy there was in that heart\nthat had waited so long and prayed so fervently for an open door of\nopportunity. Now the door was opened wide, and a song was put in his\nheart and in his mouth. We walked miles to find a suitable place, while\nwe talked much by the way as our hearts burned within us.\n\n\"At length we found a vacant storeroom on Jefferson street, between\nThird and Fourth, and as we looked in the window, we said: 'This\nwould make a grand place to begin in.' We went to see Mr. Isaac Tyler,\nthe owner, and he gave us a favorable answer and the key. The next day\nwe began a meeting which continued through three months. And who can\nwrite the history of that work? Only the All-seeing God; and He has the\nrecord of it in His book. We had a noon-day service every day, except\nSunday, and a Saturday evening service every week.\n\n\"The services were advertised and men stationed at the door invited the\npasser-by to come in. At the meetings all classes of men were\nrepresented. There were strong, wise, honorable business-men and there\nwere tramps and drunkards with all the classes that lie between these\ntwo. No man was slighted. Many a man was brought in who was too drunk to\nsit alone in his seat. Many were there who had not slept in a bed for\nmonths. There were gamblers and drunkards and outcast men from every\nquarter of the city. The gathering looked more like that in the police\ncourts of a great city on Monday morning than like a religious meeting.\nThe workers did literally go out into the highways and into the lowways\nand compel them to come in. And marvelous things took place there.\n\n\"Steve Holcombe was known all over the city, and such a work done by\nsuch a man who had lately been a noted gambler in the community drew men\nwho, for years, had had no thought of attending church. The old\ncompanions of his worldly life came, the worst elements of the city\ncame, good men from all the churches came. Brother Holcombe was in his\nelement. His soul was as free to the work as that of an Apostle. Daily\nhe trod the streets inviting people to come, and daily, as they came, he\nspoke words of deep feeling to them, urging them to be saved. No man\never had a more respectful hearing than he had. No man ever devoted\nhimself more fully in the spirit of the Master to doing men good than\ndid he. His devotion to the poor outcast who showed any willingness to\nlisten or any wish to be saved was as marvelous as his own conversion. I\nnever saw such in any other worker for Christ.\n\n\"In the progress of the work we often spoke of keeping a record of those\nwho professed conversion there. I am sorry it was not done. Hardly a day\npassed without some case of exceptional interest. Men were saved who had\nbeen for years in the very lowest stages of dissipation and vagrancy.\nNot a few of those who were thus saved were men who had belonged to the\nvery best social, and business circles of the city. Many of them are\nbright and blessed lights in Christian circles to-day. Many homes were\nbuilt up out of wrecks where only ashes and tears remained. Many\nscattered families were brought together after long separation. God only\nknows the results of that three months' work. I remember some\nconversions that were as marvelous as that of Saul of Tarsus. I could\ntell of some of them but perhaps this is not the place.\n\n\"This meeting in the Tyler block was a feature of a meeting which was in\nprogress at the Walnut-street church and to this it was tributary. In\nthe evening those who had been reached by the services at the mission\nwere invited to the church. They were largely of a class not often seen\nin the church but they came, and when they came the church welcomed\nthem.\n\n\"Then there was rejoicing in the presence of the angels, for many\nsinners were repenting and returning. I saw the Gospel net dragged to\nthe shore enclosing fish that no one would have been willing to take out\nof the net except Steve Holcombe. But it is far different with them\nto-day. Changed by the power of God, these repulsive creatures are\nhonored members of the various churches, heads of happy families and\nrespected and useful citizens of the community.\n\n\"At the end of three months the meetings in the storeroom were\ndiscontinued. Mr. Holcombe had won thousands of friends, hundreds had\nbeen put in the way of a new life and the whole city was in sympathy\nwith the work.\n\n\"We were now to select and secure a suitable place for the permanent\nhome of the mission. Another search brought us to the room on the south\nside of Jefferson between Fourth and Fifth streets, No. 436. It had been\noccupied as a gambling room, and the gambling apparatus was still there\nwhen we took possession of it. In a few days the house was fitted up and\nthe 'Gospel-Mission' was opened.\n\n\"The work was now thoroughly organized. There was, in addition to the\nregular services, a Sunday-school for the children whose parents never\nwent to church. Colonel C. P. Atmore was superintendent. The 'Industrial\nSchool' also was organized, where Christian women taught the girls to\nsew, furnishing them the materials and giving them the finished\ngarments. It is especially worthy of remark that the old associates of\nMr. Holcombe, the gamblers, contributed more than $500 toward the\nexpenses of this work.\n\n\"This house became an open home for any weary, foot-sore wanderer who\nwas willing to come in, and through the years many were the hearts made\nhappy in a new life.\n\n\"The year following the organization of the work, Rev. Sam P. Jones\nconducted a meeting at the Walnut-street church, and his heart was\nstrangely drawn to that mission. He himself conducted many services\nthere and he was more impressed with the character of the work and of\nthe man who was in charge of it than with any Christian work he had ever\nseen. During this meeting of Mr. Jones a programme of street-preaching\nwas carried out by Mr. Holcombe and his fellow-workers. Mr. Holcombe\nhimself preached several times on the courthouse steps, and, even in the\nmidst of the tumult, souls were converted to God.\"\n\nThis is the end of Dr. Morris' account of the beginnings of Mr.\nHolcombe's work, though the reader will probably wish it were longer,\nand even more circumstantial.\n\nMr. Holcombe's family lived in the same building, over the mission room,\nand whenever men in need or distress applied, he gave them board and\nlodging. Mrs. Holcombe says that for three months they had never less\nthan twenty men eating two meals a day. Of course, among so many there\nwere, doubtless, some imposters, but it took a pretty keen man to play\nimposter without being spotted by the keen man who was in charge of the\nenterprise. Mr. Holcombe had mixed with men long enough to know them. He\nhad spent most of his life among bad men. He had studied their ways and\nhe knew their tricks. And it is not necessary to say to the reader who\nhas perused the foregoing pages, that Mr. Holcombe was not afraid of any\nman. His former experience in sin and his former association with\nsinners of every sort led him to see that it was necessary for him\nrigidly to protect the work he was now engaged in and he determined to\ndo so. Men would come into the meetings, sometimes, in a state of\nintoxication; sometimes lewd fellows of the baser sort would come in for\nthe purpose of interrupting the service and still others for other\npurposes; but when Mr. Holcombe had put a few of them out, they saw that\nthis man in getting religion had lost neither common sense nor courage,\nand that Steve Holcombe, the converted gambler, was not a man to be\nfooled with any more than Steve Holcombe, the unconverted gambler; so\nthat all such interruptions soon ceased. But nobody should get the\nimpression that Mr. Holcombe was harsh or unsympathetic. On the\ncontrary, he is one of the most tenderhearted of men, and few men living\nwould go farther, do more or make greater sacrifices to save a drunkard\nor a gambler or an outcast of any sort, than Steve Holcombe. For days he\nhas gone without meat for himself and his family that he might have\nsomething to help a poor drunkard who was trying to reform. Indeed, his\npitying love for wretched men and women of every class and degree,\nmanifested in his efforts to look them up and to do them good in any\npossible way, is the chief secret of his wonderful success in dealing\nwith hardened and apparently inaccessible cases. The following account\nof his last and perhaps most desperate case is taken from one of the\nLouisville daily papers and will illustrate what has been said:\n\n[Illustration: JAMES WILLIAMS AS HE WAS.]\n\n\n    DRUNK TWENTY-THREE YEARS.\n\n    REMARKABLE STORY OF \"WHISKY JIM'S\" WASTED LIFE AND FINAL\n    CONVERSION. HOW THE WORK WAS EFFECTED.\n\nThe work that Steve Holcombe is doing is well known, in a general way,\nbut the public understand but little of the wonderful good that man is\ndoing. The reformations he has brought about may be numbered by the\nhundred, and the drunkards he has reclaimed would make a regiment.\n\nBut of all the wonderful and truly startling examples of what Mr.\nHolcombe is doing, the case of James Williams is the climax. Williams\nhas been known for years as \"Whisky Jim\" and \"Old Hoss,\" and there is\nnot a more familiar character in the city. Until the last two or three\nweeks no man in Louisville ever remembers to have seen Jim free from the\ninfluence of liquor. He was always drunk, and was looked upon as an\nabsolutely hopeless case, that would be able to stand the terrible life\nhe was leading but a year or two longer.\n\nThe story of his life and reformation as related to a _Times_ reporter\nis very interesting. He had asked Mr. Holcombe when his protege could be\nseen, and was told at nine o'clock at the mission. Williams was seen\ncoming up the steps, his face clean shaven, his eyes bright and his gait\nsteady. Mr. Holcombe said: \"There he is now, God bless him; I could just\nkiss him. I knew he'd be here. One thing I've learned about Jim is, that\nhe is an honest man, and another is that he will not tell a lie. I feel\nthat I can trust him. He has had the hardest struggle to overcome the\ndrinking habit I ever saw, and I feel sure that he has gained the\nvictory. I began on him quietly about one month ago and got him to\nattend our meetings. But here he is.\" The reporter was introduced, and\nMr. Williams readily consented to tell anything concerning himself that\nwould be of interest to the public and calculated to do good in the\ncause of temperance. He said: \"I was born in Paducah, Ky., and am\nforty-eight years old. My father's name was Rufus A. Williams. While a\nboy I was sent to school, and picked up a little education. I was put at\nwork in a tobacco manufactory, and am a tobacco-twister by trade. My\nfather died when I was nine years old, after which our family consisted\nof my mother, now seventy-five years of age, my sister and myself. We\nnow live on the east side of Floyd street, near Market. Shortly after I\ngrew up I found work on the river and have been employed on nearly every\nboat between Louisville and New Orleans. That is what downed me. I began\nto drink little by little, and the appetite and habit began to grow on\nme until I gave up all idea of resistance. Up to yesterday a week ago, I\ncan truthfully say that I have been drunk twenty-three years, day and\nnight.\n\n\"In 1862 I got a job on the 'Science,' Number 2, a little Government\nboat running the Ohio and Cumberland rivers. Coming down the Cumberland\non one trip I was too sick to work, and the boat put me ashore about\ntwenty miles above Clarksville. The woods where I was dumped out were\nfull of guerrillas, but I managed to secure a little canoe in which I\npaddled down to Clarksville. There I sold it for three dollars and with\nthe small sum I had already I came to this city, where we were then\nliving. I then drank up every cent I could rake and scrape. I could get\nall sorts of work, but could keep no job because I couldn't keep sober.\nI finally depended on getting odd jobs along the river front, such as\nloading and unloading freight, etc. But the work was so hard I could\nscarcely do it, and finally I had to give that up, especially after\nfalling and breaking my leg while at work on the old 'United States'\nseveral years ago. That accident laid me up in the Marine Hospital for\nseveral months, and just as I felt able to get out I broke the same leg\nagain at the same place. After recovering I yielded entirely to the\nappetite for strong drink and cared for nothing else. As I say, for\ntwenty-three years I have not known what it is to be sober until a few\ndays ago.\n\n\"For the past six years I have earned my drinks and some free lunch by\npicking up old boxes and barrel staves which I would dispose of to the\nsaloon-keepers along the river front who knew me. I did not often ask\nany one for money with which to buy whisky, for I could always earn it\nin this manner. I usually slept at my mother's house. As to eating I did\nnot eat much and was getting so I could scarcely eat at all. I am\ngetting over that now, and have a good appetite, as Mr. Holcombe can\ntestify.\n\n\"Well, about one month ago Mr. Holcombe came to me and gave me a little\ntalk. He did not say much, but he set me to thinking as far as I was\ncapable of thinking. He saw me the second time, and then several times.\nOf course, I was always drunk but I understood him. Finally he said\nto me 'Jim, if you're bound to have whisky, come around to the Mission\nand let me give it to you.' I promised him I'd come around, and I did\nso, for I wanted some o' the liquor. After I had gone around several\ntimes and he had given me a few drinks, not to make me drunk, of course,\nbut to help me get sober, if possible; he invited me to go in and attend\nthe religious services. I did so and he invited me to come again, which\nI did. At last he insisted that I should take my meals at the mission,\nand I have been doing so for some days. Finally I made up my mind to\nquit drinking altogether, and I intend to stick to the pledge I have\ntaken. I was full last Sunday week for the last time. I was trying to\ntaper off then, but a saloon-keeper on Market, just below Jackson,\nknowing my condition and knowing that I was trying to quit, gave me a\nbucket of bock beer. I knew he meant no good to me, but I couldn't help\ndrinking it. Other saloon-keepers have been trying to get me to drink\nagain, and I think they are trying to get me to do a great wrong.\n\n\"I went to church yesterday for the first time since I was a boy. Heard\nDr. Eaton preach.\n\n\"My poor old mother is greatly rejoiced at the change in me, for I have\ngiven her a great deal of torment and misery. As soon as the Murphy\nmeetings are over Mr. Holcombe and I will spend a couple of weeks at\nFrench Lick Springs.\"\n\n[Illustration: JAMES WILLIAMS, AS HE IS]\n\nDuring this period, when the mission occupied rooms at No. 436 Jefferson\nstreet, the meetings were not confined to that single place, but\nservices were held in other parts of the city, on the streets and even\non the courthouse steps. Many strangers, as well as citizens of\nLouisville, attended these, and some were so powerfully impressed that\nafter going away to their distant homes they wrote back to Mr. Holcombe\nacknowledging the good they had received, and in some instances giving\nan account of their conviction, repentance and conversion. The Holcombe\nMission became one of the \"sights\" of the city, so that strangers\nvisiting the city would look it up and attend services there.\n\nIn 1884 a new feature was added which, in turn, added much to the\nefficiency and usefulness of the mission. It was suggested by the sight\nof the poorly clad children who attended the mission with their parents,\nand who seemed willing and anxious themselves to do better and be\nbetter. This new feature was the Industrial School, an account of the\norigin, history and methods of which is furnished by Mrs. Clark, the\nSuperintendent. A Sunday-school was organized also, with C. P. Atmore,\nEsq., as Superintendent, and some of the most earnest Christian people\nof the city as teachers and helpers. A little later the Kindergarten was\nalso organized and is now in successful operation.\n\n[Illustration: THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. 1. CUTTING GARMENTS. 2. BOYS\nMAKING CARPETS. 3. GIRLS SEWING.]\n\n\nTHE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AND THE KINDERGARTEN.\n\nIn order to enlarge the mission work and better reach the homes of the\nneedy, both spiritually and temporally, the Union Gospel Industrial\nSchool was opened in April, 1884, with six little girls and three\nteachers in attendance. In May following it was formally organized as\nThe Union Gospel Mission Industrial School with\n\n    Mrs. J. R. Clark, Superintendent;\n    Mrs. L. G. Herndon, Assistant Superintendent;\n    Miss Ella Downing, Secretary;\n    Miss Ella Harding, Treasurer.\n\nIn June, 1884, it closed for the summer with twenty-two pupils and five\nteachers. In September following it opened for the fall and winter term\nwith the same teachers and a small increase in the number of pupils, all\nfrom the neglected classes. The school was organized in the old mission\nroom, at No. 436 Jefferson street, between Fourth and Fifth, and\ncontinued there for three winters. The children came, however, from all\nparts of the city, some of them from garrets and cellars. Their ages\nranged from five to eighteen years.\n\nIn May, 1886, the school was removed to its present spacious rooms in\nthe Union Gospel Mission building on Jefferson street, above First. The\nwork has steadily increased, each year bringing in a larger number of\nthe neglected children. Those who come are so interested and benefited,\nthey become missionaries, so to speak, to other poor and neglected\nchildren. There is one class of girls, however, who are not\ncharity-scholars, but come for the purpose of learning to sew. Their\nwork is done, not for themselves, but for the younger children of the\npoorer class who are not yet old enough to sew. For this reason, the\nclass just mentioned is called The Missionary Class, and it is one of\nwhich the school is justly proud. They not only do their work for\nothers, they do good in other ways and in general exert a good influence\nover the other children who are less fortunate.\n\nThe children are first taught all the different stitches that are used\nin sewing. Then work is cut out for them by a committee of ladies who\nattend for that purpose, and the children are taught to make all kinds\nof garments. When the garment is completed and passes examination, it is\ngiven to the child who made it.\n\nThere is a class of boys, sixty in number, ranging from five to twelve\nyears of age. These are first taught to sew on buttons and to mend rents\nin their own clothes and then other things follow. They are at present\nengaged in making a carpet for Mr. Holcombe's office. The teachers in\ncharge of them endeavor to train them to habits of industry,\nself-reliance, cleanliness, truthfulness, etc. Some of the boys are very\nbright and promising and some of them seem hopelessly cowed and broken.\nTheir histories would, doubtless, be full of pathos and of pain, if they\nwere known.\n\nThe school meets every Saturday morning at 9:15. The opening services\nconsist of--\n\n1. Singing (Gospel Hymns).\n\n2. Responsive recitation of a Psalm, or the Beatitudes or the Ten\nCommandments.\n\n3. Prayer.\n\n4. Distribution of work-baskets.\n\nThe sewing continues for one hour and a half, then, at the tap of the\nbell, the work is folded nicely, replaced in the basket and taken to\nanother room. The children then return to the large room and join in the\nclosing exercises, which consist of--\n\n5. Singing.\n\n6. Repeating of Scripture texts, each teacher and child repeating a\nverse; or this is sometimes replaced with a chalk-talk, sometimes with a\nshort address on the Sunday-school lesson for the following Sunday,\nsometimes with a short earnest appeal to the children by some visitor\nwho is known to be an effective speaker for such occasions.\n\n7. The Lord's Prayer is recited in concert.\n\n8. Dismissal.\n\nThe teachers, besides instructing the children in the art of sewing,\nconverse with them on pleasant and profitable topics and upon the\nsubject of religion in seasonable times and ways.\n\nQuite a number of families have been brought under Christian influence\nthrough the pupils of the Industrial School. Several parents as well as\nchildren have been converted. Mr. Robert Denny, the account of whose\nconversion is given by himself in another part of this volume, was\ninduced to attend the meetings of the Holcombe Mission by what his\nchildren told him of the things they learned at the Industrial School.\nOne of the members of the first class of six and her mother are now\nacceptable members of the First Presbyterian church. The daughter has\nbecome an artist and is employed in retouching pictures in one of the\ncity photograph galleries. Three or four of the girls connected with the\nschool have died. Two of them, one aged twelve and the other fourteen,\ngave every evidence of being Christians. One of these when asked when\nshe learned to love God and to pray, answered, \"At the sewing school;\nJesus is always there.\"\n\nMany when they began to attend did not even know the little prayer\nbeginning:\n\n    \"Now I lay me down to sleep.\"\n\nThe ignorance of these poor children led the superintendent to open a\n\"Mothers' Meeting,\" for the mothers of these children and any others who\nmight wish to attend. The results have been wonderful. So many homes\nhave become changed, and are now neat, clean, orderly and happy. In the\nrounds of the superintendent's visits she found a very sick woman who\nsaid to her:\n\n\"Oh, I'm so glad you have come, Mrs. Clark. I want you to pray with me.\"\n\nMrs. Clark said, \"Can't you pray yourself?\"\n\nShe replied, \"I don't know what to say. I did not know 'Now I lay me\ndown to sleep,' till my little Jennie learned it at the sewing school,\nand I learned it from her.\"\n\n\"But can't you say 'Our Father who art in heaven?'\" asked Mrs. Clark.\n\n\"No; not all of it, I know only a little of it.\"\n\nMrs. Clark was much moved at the ignorance, helplessness and need of the\npoor woman, and was praying with her when the husband came in. She\ntalked with him and he was deeply impressed, and before she left\npromised he would try to live a better life. A position as street car\ndriver was gotten for him, and for a while he did well, but after a time\nhe fell into his old ways and was dismissed. But, through the\nintervention of the friends who had helped him before, he was restored\nto his place, and to-day he is a sober industrious man and a member of\nthe First Christian church in the city.\n\n[Illustration: KINDERGARTEN, THANKSGIVING DAY]\n\nPerhaps a score of similar instances could be cited.\n\nThe sewing school closed May 12, 1888, with the annual picnic. The\nfollowing is the report for the year just past:\n\nAverage weekly attendance of girls, 162; average weekly attendance of\nboys, 21; total average attendance of pupils, 183; average attendance of\nofficers and teachers, 32; average attendance of visitors, 4; total\naverage attendance, 219; total number of garments made by, and given to,\nthe children, 848.\n\nThe officers for the past year were as follows: Mrs. J. R. Clark,\nsuperintendent; Miss Mary L. Graham, assistant superintendent; Mrs. L.\nG. Herndon, superintendent of work; Miss Lithgow, treasurer; Miss Ella\nGardiner, secretary.\n\n\nTHE KINDERGARTEN.\n\nIn January, 1885, there were so many little boys and girls between the\nages of three and five years that the teachers did not know what to do\nwith them. The superintendent, who had some knowledge of the\nkindergarten system, believed that its introduction here was what was\nneeded. She could not see her way clear, however, to incur any more\nexpense. But in answer to prayer the way was opened. Money was given for\nthe appliances and Miss Graham, an excellent teacher, offered her\nservices freely. The class at first averaged twenty-four pupils, met\neach Saturday morning in connection with the sewing school, and was\ncalled the Kindergarten class.\n\nThe interest increased till February, 1886, when the board of directors\nof the Holcombe Mission consented that the superintendent should open a\nregular kindergarten for every day in the week except Saturday. More\nmoney was raised and a trained kindergarten teacher from Cincinnati was\nemployed. In June, 1886, the school closed with sixty little children in\nattendance and four young ladies training for kindergarten teachers.\nArrangements were made for the following year and several hundred\ndollars pledged. In September, 1887, the kindergarten was re-opened with\nMiss Bryan, of Chicago, as teacher of training class and superintendent\nof the school. In the following October a large and enthusiastic meeting\nwas held in the Warren Memorial church and the Free Kindergarten\nAssociation was formally organized. In February, 1888, a second free\nkindergarten was opened in another part of the city. The year's work\nclosed in June, 1888, five young ladies graduating as kindergarten\nteachers. The number of children enrolled for the year was one hundred.\nThe kindergarten, it will be noticed, is thus distinct from the\nindustrial school.\n\nIn 1885, another department still was added to meet a want which had\nbeen developed in the progress of the work. The great number of\nbroken-down men and tramps that came to Mr. Holcombe for food and help\nof one sort or another made it impossible for him to give them lodging\nin the mission rooms or board in his own family. And it encouraged\nindolence in unworthy men to feed and lodge them as a mere charity. And\nyet, if anything was to be done for their souls, they had for a time to\nbe cared for. Mr. Holcombe conceived the idea, therefore, of\nestablishing some sort of a place in connection with his work, where\nthese men might earn their food and lodging by the sweat of their brows\nand at the same time be brought under the powerful religious influences\nof the Mission.\n\n[Illustration: MRS. J. M. CLARK.]\n\nThe result was the establishment of the \"Wayfarers' Rest.\" Mayor Reed\nand Chief of Police Whallen gave Mr. Holcombe a police station building\nfree of rent and Mr. J. T. Burghard gave the money to furnish it with\nbunks, stove, cooking utensils, facilities for bathing, etc., and it\nbecame at once an established feature, and a very admirable one, of the\nUnion Gospel Mission.\n\nWhen Mayor Jacob came into office he gladly continued the use of the\nbuilding free of rent, and the institution has continued in successful\noperation up to the present time--a space of three years.\n\nThe rooms are arranged for the accommodation of sixty men. All who come\nare required to do some sort of work for whatever they receive, whether\nit be food or lodging. The men do various kinds of work, according to\ntheir several ability, but the chief employment is sawing kindling wood\nout of material provided by the superintendent. Each man is required to\nwork an hour for one night's lodging or for a meal. The kindling wood is\nsold all over the city, and under the excellent management of Mr. W. H.\nBlack, the present superintendent, the enterprise has become more than\nself-supporting, bringing in enough to pay the salary of the\nsuperintendent and the book-keeper, and leaving a surplus. It should,\nperhaps, in justice be added, that donations of food are made daily and\nhave been from the beginning, by the Alexander Hotel Company.\n\nDuring the winter of 1887 Mr. Black fed and lodged an average of fifty\nmen a day. He has never turned one away. The average income per day from\nthe sale of kindling wood is, in winter, ten dollars. The rules for the\ngovernment of the inmates requiring registration, cleanliness, bathing,\netc., are wisely conceived and strictly carried out.\n\nThis institution has proved in Louisville the solution of the vexed\nquestion as to the proper treatment of tramps and beggars. The citizens,\ninstead of encouraging indolence and pauperism by feeding tramps at\ntheir houses, some of whom are burglars in disguise, can now send them\nto the Wayfarers' Rest, where they are always sure of finding food and\nlodging, and, what is better, the opportunity of earning what they get\nby honest work. And Mr. Holcombe's experience as a tramp in Colorado\nleads him to take a brotherly interest in all these unfortunate men.\n\nIn 1886, the work had expanded beyond its quarters and beyond all\nexpectations. It was predicted that Steve Holcombe would hold out three\nmonths. He had now held out three times three years, and that through\nunprecedented trials and discouragements. During these nine years he had\nhelped many and many a man, almost as bad as he, into the blessed life\nthat he was living. He had established a unique institution in the city\nof Louisville which had been the means of helping and uplifting and\nblessing men and women and whole families. But the end was not yet. The\nman and his work had so won the confidence of the people of the city\nthat in 1886, a formal request was made by the Evangelical churches of\nthe city that they be allowed to share with the Walnut-street Methodist\nchurch in the expense and the care and the usefulness of the Mission. It\nwas changed then into a Union Mission, and representatives from the\nPresbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, Christian and Lutheran churches were\nadded to the board of directors.\n\nIn the same year, when Mr. Holcombe was feeling the need of more\nspacious quarters for his expanding work, the large and elegant house on\nJefferson street above First, known as the \"Smith Property,\" was\nadvertised for sale. Mr. Holcombe saw it and liked it. It was the very\nsort of a building he needed for his work and all its various\ndepartments.\n\nHe procured the keys and went through the building alone, from cellar to\ngarret, stopping in every room to pray that, in some way, God would put\nit into his hands, with a firm persuasion, moreover, that his prayer\nwould be answered. An interesting letter written by Mr. Holcombe in\nFebruary, 1886, contains a reference to the project of purchasing the\nnew house. It is addressed to one of the converts of the Mission, Mr. S.\nP. Dalton, of Cleveland, Ohio, and, as it shows also Mr. Holcombe's\ninterest in his spiritual children, it is given entire:\n\n     LOUISVILLE, KY., February 3, 1886.\n\n     _Dear Brother Dalton_:\n\n     Your welcome and encouraging letter is just received. I\n     acknowledge your claim, so gently urged, to something better\n     than a hasty postal in reply. When I write you briefly, it is\n     because my work compels it. My soul delights to commune with\n     spirits like yours, consecrated to God, and with brothers who\n     live in my memory as associates in our humble work here. Our\n     mission is being abundantly blessed of God, although meeting,\n     from time to time, with those drawbacks which remind us of our\n     dependence and the need of constant prayer. We are having good\n     meetings and conversions are numerous, and, as a rule, of such\n     a character as to make us believe they are genuine and\n     permanent. As I write, our friends are canvassing the city for\n     the collection of means to purchase the old Smith mansion on\n     Jefferson street, for our use, and believing all our work to be\n     of God I have no doubt that it will be ours within a week. Then\n     shall we do a great work for Louisville and for souls. Our\n     sewing-school and our Sunday-school, having outgrown our\n     present quarters, will be greatly enlarged, and every\n     department of our work also.\n\n     I am truly glad you are having such opportunities of doing\n     good in Cleveland. May God bless you and your dear wife, my\n     dear brother, and in His own time bring you back to us and to\n     the work which always needs such help, is the prayer of\n\n     Your brother,\n     S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n\nAn incident that occurred in connection with the purchase of this\nelegant property will show how Mr. Holcombe and his work were looked\nupon in Louisville even by those who were not Christians.\n\n[Illustration: THE WAYFARER'S REST. 1. EXTERIOR. 2. OFFICE. 3. SLEEPING\nAPARTMENT. 4. TAKING MEALS. 5. AT WORK. 6. ON THE LEVEE.]\n\nA German singing society was negotiating for the building at the same\ntime, and had offered a higher price than the friends of the Mission\nthought they could give. Mr. Holcombe went to the leader of the society\nand told him he desired the building for the Mission, and, though the\nman was an unbeliever, he said: \"Mr. Holcombe, though I am not a\nChristian and do not believe in Christianity, I do believe in the work\nyou are doing. I will not be in the way of your getting that building.\"\nHe withdrew his bid at once, and the Directors of the Holcombe Mission\npurchased it for $12,500.\n\nMr. Holcombe at once took possession. He fitted up the rooms of the\nlower floor for the various departments of the mission work. The large\nand elegant double-parlors were thrown into one and arranged for the\naudience-room. This has a seating capacity of two hundred or more. The\nother rooms of the lower floor are used, one for Mr. Holcombe's office,\ntwo others for the Kindergarten, another for a cloak-room, and so on.\nThe second floor, with its seven large, bright, airy rooms, is occupied\nby Mr. Holcombe's family, and, for the first time since his conversion,\nthey are in comfortable quarters.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nAt last after years of love and faith and faithfulness Mrs. Holcombe has\nher full reward and joy. The long twenty-five years of sorrow and\nsuspense passed by and her husband is what she unconsciously believed\nher love had the power of waiting for him to become--a good man. And\nmore than a good man. He is consumed with the desire and somehow clothed\nwith the power of making other men good, of making bad men good, of\nmaking the worst of bad men good. This he has now been doing, by God's\ngrace, for seven faithful years and more--and continues to do. Her\nhusband is honored and beloved for his character, his work and his\nusefulness--no man, no minister in Louisville more so.\n\nAll her children are members of the church even down to little Pearl,\nthe latest-born. Her oldest son, her Willie, is happily married,\noccupies the position of book-keeper with the Sievers Hardware Company\non Main street, and is an efficient officer of the church of God. Her\nsecond daughter is happily married to a Christian man, \"one of the best\nof husbands,\" who is book-keeper in the old Kentucky Woolen Mills, of\nLouisville. Her oldest daughter is a devoted Christian and serves with\nequal efficiency as organist of the Mission and teacher in the\nKindergarten. Her baby-boy now eighteen years old and the rise of six\nfeet in height is a member of the church and a good boy. He also is\nin business with the Sievers Hardware Company on Main street. And Pearl,\nthe blue-eyed, golden-haired, eight-year-old girl baby is, nobody dare\nquestion, the flower of the flock. Her dead children are in heaven all,\nfor they died before they knew sin, and her living children are on the\nway to heaven, all, for they trust in and serve Him who was manifested\nto take away sin.\n\n[Illustration: MRS. S. P. HOLCOMBE.]\n\nMrs. Holcombe helps her husband in his noble work and the \"converts\"\nlook on her as their spiritual mother as they regard him as their\nspiritual father. She _might_ say with Simeon, the _Nunc dimittis_, \"Now\nlettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy\nsalvation;\" but instead of that she says with St. Paul, \"Nevertheless to\nabide in the flesh is more needful\" for my husband, my children and the\nwork of Christ.\n\nMrs. Holcombe still has trials, but they are few and small, while her\nblessings are many and great. She still has faults, perhaps, as most of\nmortals have; but they are few and small, while her virtues are very\nmany and very great. Many daughters have done virtuously but few have\nexcelled this one in those qualities which constitute a noble womanly\ncharacter.\n\nThe following letter, written to her by her husband during a short visit\nin the country, will show how that after so long a time of waiting, the\nhope of her earliest love is realized at last.\n\n     LOUISVILLE, KY., May 29, 1888.\n\n     My Dear Wife:\n\n     Your letter to hand. I am so happy to know that you are having\n     a good time. Isn't God good to us? When we look back over our\n     past lives and see how good God has been to us, how thankful we\n     should be. Very little sickness in our immediate family and no\n     death in thirty years. The two babes that we lost thirty years\n     ago are safe in the arms of Jesus, and all the living ones are\n     sweetly trusting in Him. Let us from this hour be more earnest\n     and untiring in our efforts to save the children of others.\n     Kiss Mamie for me and then look in the glass and kiss yourself\n     a thousand times for him who loves you with a true, deep love.\n     Yours in life, yours in death,\n\n     STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.\n\nThose who are familiar with Mr. Holcombe's career as a Christian worker\nwould regard any sketch of his life incomplete which did not contain\nsome account of the assault made upon him by three strange men in the\nwinter of 1887. A few months after his removal to the new quarters that\nhad been purchased by the Mission, he was attacked by three men in his\nown house and severely injured. On a Sunday afternoon in January, 1887,\nhe heard some one walking in the hall on the second floor of the\nbuilding, and went out to see who it was. He found a man there whom he\nhad never seen before, and asked him who he was and what he wanted. The\nman replied in an insolent, manner that he had come to visit a servant\ngirl who was at the time working in Mr. Holcombe's family. When Mr.\nHolcombe asked him why he came into his private family apartments, the\nman became more impudent and defiant, and gave utterance to some abusive\nlanguage. Already provoked at the man's audacity and alarmed at the\nthought of what such a ruffian might have done to some one of his family\nif he had been absent, Mr. Holcombe's quick nature now became so\nexasperated that he forgot himself for a moment and thrust the man\nviolently down the stairway and out of the house. The man left the place\nand Mr. Holcombe thought that was the end of it. But an hour or two\nlater some one knocked at his room door on the same floor, and as he\nopened it, he saw himself confronted by three men, one of whom he\nrecognized as the man he had put out of the house. The two others\nprofessed to be policemen who had come to arrest Mr. Holcombe, but when\nhe asked to see their badges of authority they seized him. One against\nthree, he resisted them with all his might, uttering no cry of distress\nor call for help. In the struggle Mr. Holcombe's leg was broken, both\nbones of it, and as he fell, with all his weight, the men thought he was\nbadly hurt and fled, leaving him lying helpless on the floor. He was\ntaken up by those whom he called and laid on his bed. Physicians were\nsent for. The news spread in a few minutes all over the neighborhood,\nand before night, all over the city. The Chief of Police, Colonel\nWhallen, set his detectives to work looking for the men, and many\ncitizens, self-constituted detectives, inquired concerning the\nappearance of the men and kept a sharp lookout for them. But they\nsucceeded in escaping, and it was, perhaps, well for them they did.\nBefore night Mr. Holcombe's room was crowded with friends filled with\nsympathy and indignation. Drs. Kelly and Alexander set the broken limb\nand gave Mr. Holcombe the unwelcome bit of information that he would\nhave to lie in his bed for some five or six weeks, a sore trial to his\nrestless spirit; but by the help of God he accepted it and settled down\nto endure it, not knowing, however, what good he was to get out of it.\nIt was an opportunity for the people of Louisville to show their\nestimation and appreciation of him, and it is safe to say that no man in\nLouisville would have received the attentions and favors which this poor\nconverted gambler, Steve Holcombe, did receive. It reminds one of a\npassage in Dr. Prime's account of the funeral of Jerry McAuley in the\nBroadway Tabernacle in New York. Dr. Prime himself was to conduct the\nfuneral service, and this is what he says:\n\n\"We are going to-day to the tabernacle to talk of what Jerry McAuley was\nand what he has done, to the little congregation that will gather there.\nIf it were Dr. Taylor, the beloved and honored pastor, the house would\nbe crowded and the streets full of mourners, but poor Jerry, he is dead\nand who will be there to weep with us over his remains? Ah, how little\ndid I know the place poor Jerry held in the hearts of the people of this\nvast city! I was to conduct the funeral and went early to complete all\narrangements. As I turned down from Fifth avenue through Thirty-fourth\nstreet, I saw a vast multitude standing in the sunshine, filling the\nstreets and the square in front of the tabernacle. Astonished at the\nspectacle and wondering why they did not go and take seats in the\nchurch, I soon found that the house was packed with people so that it\nwas impossible for me to get within the door. Proclamation was made that\nthe clergy who were to officiate were on the outside, and a passage was\nmade for us to enter. What could be more impressive and what more\nexpressive of the estimate set upon the man and his work? There is no\nother Christian worker in the city who would have called out these\nuncounted thousands in a last tribute of love and in honor of his\nmemory.\"\n\nThe tribute which the people of Louisville paid to the work and worth of\nSteve Holcombe _before_ his death was hardly less.\n\nOn Monday, the day following his misfortune, Mr. Holcombe's room was,\nnearly all the day long, full of people of every grade, from the mayor\nand the richest and finest people on Broadway and Fourth avenue, down to\nthe poor drunkard and outcast, who forgot his shabby dress and pressed\nin among those fine people in order to see \"Brother Holcombe,\" and find\nout how he was. The ministers of the leading churches of every\nProtestant denomination came with words of sympathy and prayer. Fine\nladies came in their carriages, bringing baskets of fruit and all sorts\nof delicacies. Those who could not go sent letters and messages. And Mr.\nHolcombe lay in his bed and wept--not for pain, but for gratitude and\nhumble joy. \"Why,\" said he, \"I would be willing to have half a dozen\nlegs broken to know that these people think so much of me and of my poor\nefforts to be useful.\"\n\nThis, then, was the first compensation and blessing.\n\nHe learned also that it would be absolutely necessary for him to watch\nmore closely his impulsive and fiery temper, and get a better control of\nit. For he does not deny that he was inexcusably hasty and severe in his\ntreatment of the impudent intruder.\n\nAnd then he was temporarily relieved from the incessant demands and the\nconstant strain of his daily activity and his nightly anxiety. He had\ntime and opportunity, as far as the importunity and kindness of his\nfriends would allow, to get calmed, to look down into his own heart, to\nanalyze his motives, to study his own nature, to see his own faults, to\nfind out his own needs and to pray. He had been told by one of his\nfriends, that while he did not work too much, he did not pray _enough_,\nand that he was, therefore, liable to be overtaken by some sudden\ntemptation and be betrayed into sin.\n\nThat same friend, in conducting service in one of the churches of the\ncity on that very Sunday morning, had offered special public prayer for\nMr. Holcombe and his work. He prayed specifically that if Brother\nHolcombe needed a thorn in the flesh, to keep him humble, God would send\nit. It was thought to be a special and speedy answer, that before\nsundown of that very day, Mr. Holcombe did receive almost literally a\nthorn in the flesh; a messenger of Satan it was withal to buffet him.\nAnd Mr. Holcombe was the first to acknowledge that he needed this trial\nand the threefold blessing which came with it.\n\nThe perpetrators of the cowardly deed were, some time afterward, caught\nand imprisoned--every one of them. One of them has been pardoned and\nreleased, and through Mr. Holcombe's kindly intervention the other two\nprobably will be, while through his friendly counsels one of them has\nbeen brought to realize his own sinfulness, and has promised to live a\nbetter life.\n\nIt would be out of the question to reproduce here all the written\nmessages of sympathy which Mr. Holcombe received during his confinement\nfrom the injury he received. But one of them is too touching and\nbeautiful to be left out. It was written by Miss Jennie Casseday, a lady\nof culture and refinement, who has, for eighteen years, been confined to\nher \"sick bed.\" She is well known as the originator of the \"Flower\nMissions,\" which, all over this country, have been the bearers of\nblessing to many unblessed and unloved ones:\n\n\n    \"SICK BED, January 18, 1887.\n\n     \"_Dear Christian Friend_:\n\n     \"I send you some lines which have been a great blessing to me:\n\n            \"'I can not say,\n    Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day,\n            I joy in these;\n            But I _can_ say\n    That I _had rather_ walk this rugged way\n            If Him it please.\n\n           \"'I can not feel\n    That all is well, when darkening clouds conceal\n            The shining sun;\n            But then I know\n    God lives and loves, and say, since that is so,\n            \"Thy will be done.\"\n\n            \"'I can not speak\n    In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek\n            Show I am sad;\n            But I _can_ speak\n    _Of grace to suffer_ with submission meek,\n            Until made glad.\n\n            \"'I do not see\n    Why God should e'en permit _some things_ to be;\n            When He is Love;\n            But I _can_ see,\n    Though often dimly, through the mystery,\n            His hand above.\n\n            \"'I do not know\n    Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow\n            With greatest care;\n            But I shall know\n    The meaning of each waiting hour below\n            Sometime, somewhere.'\n\n     \"Selected with tender sympathy.\n\n    \"Your friend,\n    \"JENNIE CASSEDAY.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\nIn conclusion it will not be out of place to glance for a moment\nbackward and to call attention definitely to some plain facts.\n\nMr. Holcombe inherited from his parents a diversely perverse and bad\nnature. Already in his childhood he was cross, irritable, spiteful. In\nhis boyhood his temper was savage and revengful. In his manhood he took\nthe life of a fellowman. He inherited the love of drink from his father,\nwho was a confirmed drunkard before the child was born; and the child\nhimself was drunk before he was twelve years old. He was given to\nsensuality from his boyhood.\n\nHis education was not good--as far as the educating power of daily\nexample goes, it was bad, positively bad, continually bad. His\nassociations outside of home were, for the most part, of the worst sort.\nHis boyish companions were given to gambling, pilfering, fighting, and\nin all these things they called him chief. But the companionship of boys\ndid not long satisfy him and already before he was fifteen, he drank and\ngambled with grown men in the bar-rooms of the village.\n\nHe had an impulsive sympathy for helpless suffering when it was before\nhis eyes. He had a vague, faint fear of the Power that makes for\nrighteousness, so that in his youth he made three or four ineffectual\nefforts to get the mastery of his evil nature and to become better. He\nprovided well for his family in meat and drink and the like. He was\ngenerous to his friends. When this is said, about all is said on that\nside. Apart from these things he gave himself up for forty years to the\nindulgence of all his passions without let or hinderance from parental\nauthority, domestic bonds, fear of God or regard for man. So that the\nadverse power of evil habit, strengthened by forty years of indulgence,\nwas superimposed upon the moral helplessness of an inherited bad nature\nmade worse by bad education and bad associations.\n\nSuch he _was_. The preceding pages have described in part what he _is_.\nAnd only in part. The uttermost details of the purity of his life since\nOctober, 1877, could not be stated without violating delicacy any more\nthan the uttermost details of his sinful life could be uncurtained\nwithout injuring the innocent and offending the public. The candid\nreader will bridge for himself the past and present of Mr. Holcombe's\nlife. These are the facts. And these facts are freely and fully\nrecognized by all classes of the community in which he lives his daily\nlife. Thousands of eyes have watched him for years and no one has\ndetected any immoral practice or act or found any fault of a serious\nnature in him.\n\nCandor requires us to say that he is sometimes over-sensitive, that he\nhas his own views as to the best methods of conducting his work and is\nsometimes a little domineering in carrying them out; that he sometimes\nuses unnecessary harshness in his public addresses in dealing with the\nsins and shortcomings of people, especially of the converts of the\nMission, a thing which is probably due to his over-anxiety for them;\nthat he has not yet learned economy and the best way of conducting his\nfinancial affairs, and that owing to his own former wicked life he would\nbe a trifle too severe in the control of his family but for the good\nsense and prudent firmness of his wife. But these are minor matters and\nwhen they are said, about all is said on _that_ side.\n\nAnd Mr. Holcombe has come to occupy a unique and commanding position in\nthe city of Louisville. All classes respect him, all classes look up to\nhim and people from all classes seek his counsel and aid in certain\nemergencies.\n\nMothers in distress over the sins of their sons, sisters in sorrow over\nthe dissipation of their brothers, wives in despair over the wickedness\nof their husbands, all these go to Steve Holcombe for advice, comfort,\nencouragement and help; and when they can not go, they write; sometimes\nfrom distant places, as far away as Canada. The ministers of Louisville\nrefer to him those extreme cases which they meet with in their ministry,\nand which they feel his experience and his knowledge of the ways and\ntemptations of dissipated men enable him to handle, as a letter from Dr.\nBroadus and one from Dr. Willits, elsewhere reproduced, will show. And\nthe dissipated men themselves, the drunkards, the gamblers, the outcast,\nthe lost--all these feel that Steve Holcombe is their friend, a friend\nwho has the willingness and the power to help them up, and they go to\nhim when they are in distress or when they awake to a sense of their\nwretched condition and desire to rise again. And through his\ninstrumentality many a one _has_ risen again, and to many a mother,\nwife, sister, family, has come through him a resurrection of buried hope\nand joy.\n\nAnd those gamblers who have never yet come to distress or to religion\nregard him with admiration and affection. The following letter from Mr.\nA. M. Waddill, one of the leading sporting men of the South, was written\nin answer to an inquiry as to how Mr. Holcombe is looked upon by the\ngamblers:\n\n     LOUISVILLE, KY., August 13, 1888.\n     _Rev. Gross Alexander_:\n\n     DEAR SIR: In writing of my friend, Steve P. Holcombe, I will\n     say that his adoption of the pulpit has not lowered him in the\n     esteem of his former associates--the gamblers. Far from it.\n     They are his admirers and his friends, and, when they have the\n     funds, are as willing supporters of his work as any. They can\n     not show him too much respect and can not exhibit a more\n     profound love than is shown him every day by some one of his\n     old companions. He has wielded a wonderful influence over them\n     for good, both here and elsewhere, and has made many converts\n     from their ranks, who could not have been influenced probably\n     by any other minister of the Gospel. I myself have been, I am\n     happy to say, wonderfully benefited by the influence of his\n     benevolent character.\n\n     Very respectfully yours,\n     A. M. WADDILL.\n\nThe esteem in which he is held by the leading business men of the city\nis shown by the fact that the Board of Directors of the Mission is\ncomposed of such men as John A. Carter, J. P. Torbitt, L. Richardson, J.\nB. McFerran, R. J. Menefee, J. T. Burghard, H. V. Loving, Arthur Peter,\nJohn T. Moore, J. K. Goodloe, P. Meguiar, C. McClarty, W. T. Rolph, John\nFinzer, with P. H. Tapp as Treasurer.\n\nHe has the confidence and esteem of the officers both of the city and\nState, and he has a large influence with them.\n\nThe Mayor, the Chief of Police, and the Judges of the Courts recognize\nhis usefulness, his ability and his efficiency by co-operating with him,\nas far as may be, and by adopting his views and suggestions as to the\ntreatment of criminals charged with lesser crimes and misdemeanors.\n\nThe Governor, J. Proctor Knott, readily granted pardon to the only man\nfor whom Mr. Holcombe ever asked it, and the testimony of this now happy\nman is given in this volume.\n\nNot only is Mr. Holcombe thus in honor and demand at home; he is in\ndemand all over the country. Until it came to be known that he would not\nleave his own work in Louisville, he was constantly receiving requests\nto attend or conduct meetings of one sort or another in all parts of\nKentucky and in several other States.\n\nYear before last, in the summer of 1886, he was, by appointment of the\nGovernor of the State, a Commissioner from Kentucky in the National\nConvention of Corrections and Charities at Washington.\n\nIn the fall of 1887 he attended, by request, the Convention of Christian\nWorkers of the United States and Canada, in the Broadway Tabernacle in\nNew York City, and made two addresses, both of which are printed among\nhis sermons in this book. He was appointed a member of the Executive\nCommittee of that body, in which capacity he now serves.\n\nBut not only in direct results has the power of God been manifested\nthrough this instrument. Mr. Holcombe's conversion and work have had the\neffect of quickening the faith and zeal of all the churches of the city.\nIt has not only drawn them nearer together in fostering and furthering a\ncommon enterprise into which they entered of their own motion, and\nwithout solicitation, but it has revived the languishing faith of all\nclasses. Not only has the Gospel saved Steve Holcombe and others, he\n(let it be said reverently and understood rightly) has, in one sense,\nsaved the Gospel. Many had lost faith in it. They thought it was an old,\nworn-out story. It had lost its novelty and vitality, and it had not the\npower it claimed to have. Its achievements were not equal to its\npretensions. Some of the men who have been brought to a better life\nthrough Mr. Holcombe's instrumentality have said that, though they did\nnot, out of respect for other people, publish the fact, they had lost\nall faith and were, at heart, utter infidels. Some of them continued to\nattend church and to give to the church of their means, and to give\nrespectful attention to the preaching, but it was out of deference to\nrelatives or respect for custom, or for mere Sunday pastime. But the\nconversion of Steve Holcombe, and the life he was living, arrested\ntheir thought, awakened inquiry and revived their faith, and many of\nthese have been saved.\n\nThe conversion of these has in turn resulted in the conviction of others\nand so the stream has broadened and deepened. As Mr. Holcombe says in\none of his addresses, \"There is naturally in the minds of men a doubt as\nto the truth and divinity of the religion which fails to do what it\nproposes to do, and so in times of religious deadness men lose faith and\nunbelief gets stronger and more stubborn while they see no examples of\nthe power of the Gospel to save bad men. But when bad men have been\nreached and quickened and made better through the Gospel, and this\ncontinues year after year, then the tide turns, and faith becomes\nnatural and easy not to say contagious and inevitable.\"\n\nThese effects have demonstrated the reality of conversion in opposition\nto the view that it is an effect of the excitement of the imagination.\n\"One hears,\" it is said, \"the narration of the experience of others who\nclaim to be converted, and he works at himself till he works himself up\nto the persuasion that he also has got it.\" But, as one of the converts\nin narrating his experience said, \"Imagination could not take the whisky\nhabit out of a man. It never did take it out of me. But the power of\nthis Gospel which Steve Holcombe preaches has taken it out root and\nbranch.\"\n\nAnother thing is shown also by the history of this work. A distinguished\nminister said once, \"We must get the top of society converted and then\nwe may expect to reach the lower classes.\" Mr. Holcombe, on the\ncontrary, in accordance with the example and words of Jesus and of Paul,\nof Luther and of Wesley, has given his time and labor primarily and\nlargely to the lower classes and the lost classes, and through these he\nhas reached also the higher classes, exemplifying again what was said by\nthe most apostolic man since the Apostles, that the Gospel \"works not\nfrom the top down but from the bottom up.\"\n\nIf you should ask what is the explanation of Mr. Holcombe's success, it\nmay be answered that it is due to three things. The extraordinary change\nwhich has taken place in his character and in his life arrests attention\nand produces conviction.\n\nIn the second place is his intense and pitying love for those who are\nnot saved, and especially for those who, besides being most utterly\nlost, are, either by their own suspicions and fears or by the customs\nand coldheartedness of society, or both, shut out from all sympathy and\nopportunity. He has a very mother's love for poor, sinful, struggling\nsouls, and he shows this not in words only or chiefly, but in service.\nSome account has already been given from one of the Louisville papers\nconcerning his rescue of a man who had been drunk continuously for\ntwenty-three years. To have preached temperance and morality and duty to\nthis wild and degraded man would have been useless, to have _told_ him\nof the love of God would, perhaps, have been no better. But when this\nfar off love of God took concrete form in the person of Steve Holcombe\nand was brought nigh and made real in his brotherliness and gentleness\nand patience and service, it proved stronger than a twenty-three years'\nwhisky habit and to-day this man, who lately dwelt apart from men like\nthe man among the tombs and who was possessed by the demon of drink so\nthat no man could bind him with bonds of morality or duty--this man is\nto-day clothed and in his right mind. And though he has not fully\napprehended the way of salvation, he says, yet a transfiguration has\ntaken place in him which is little short of miraculous. He says also\nthat he has got some light on the question of personal religion. He is\nthoroughly honest and will not claim or profess what he has not. He says\na man who has always gone slow in everything else can't go fast in\ngetting religion.[1]\n\n[1] This man has, since the above was written, been brought into a clear\nexperience of conversion, and is now a clean and happy Christian man.\n\nIn the third place, Mr Holcombe's success is due to the character of his\npreaching. It is the simple Gospel, wherein two points are continually\nmade and emphasized, the reality and tenderness of God's love for sinful\nmen, even the worst, and the absolute necessity of regeneration and a\nholy life. Both these great truths he illustrates with fitness and force\nfrom his own life and that of the men who have been converted under his\nministry. His sermons are so striking in their directness and\nsimplicity, and so helpful withal, that some of them have been\nreproduced in outline in the present volume, and the reader who has\nnever heard him may get some idea of his preaching from these, and, it\nis hoped, some profit as well.\n\nWhatever men may say, the fact remains that when the Gospel is preached\non apostolic conditions, it has still apostolic success.\n\nIn 1886, when Rev. Sam P. Jones was holding a meeting in Cincinnati, he\nsaid of Mr. Holcombe:\n\n\"Mr. Holcombe's work is finer than anything done since the death of\nJerry McAuley. He is fully consecrated to the work of rescuing the\nperishing and saving the fallen. Hundreds of men, dug by him from the\ndeepest depths of dissipation and degradation, are to-day clothed in\ntheir right minds. Some of the most efficient Christian men have passed\nthrough his Mission, at No. 436 Jefferson street, in Louisville. I feel\nthat in helping Steve Holcombe, I shall be able to say, at least: 'Lord,\nif I did not do much when I was on earth, I did what I could to help\nSteve Holcombe, the converted gambler, in his mission work among men who\nnever hear preaching, and to whom a helping hand is never extended.'\n\n\"There are mighty few men like Steve Holcombe to take hold of poor\nfellows and bring them back to a purer and better life.\"\n\nIn 1888, during a great temperance meeting in Louisville, Mr. Francis\nMurphy said of Mr. Holcombe:\n\n\"Of all the noble men I know, he is one of the noblest, and Louisville\nmay well be proud of the grand, big-hearted Christian man, who, in his\nquiet, unassuming manner is doing such a world of good here.\"\n\nMr. D. L. Moody, during his great meeting in Louisville, in the months\nof January and February, 1888, said of Mr. Holcombe:\n\n\"I have got very much interested in a work in your city conducted by a\nman you call Steve Holcombe. I don't know when I met a man who so struck\nmy heart. I went up and saw his headquarters and how he works. He is\ndoing the noblest work I know of. I want you to help him with money and\nwords of cheer. Remember, here in Louisville you make so many drunkards\nthat you must have a place to take care of the wrecks. Steve Holcombe\nrescues them. Let us help him all we can.\"\n\nAnd Mr. Holcombe's work is not done. He is in the vigor of life, with\nfifteen or twenty years of life and service, God willing, before him. He\nis only beginning to reap the results of these ten years of study and\nthese ten years of Christian living and working. He knows the Gospel\nbetter than he ever did before, and he preaches it better. He knows\nhimself and God better than he ever did before, and he lives nearer the\nSource of Power. He knows men good and bad, better than he ever did\nbefore, and he deals with them in all states and stages more wisely and\nsuccessfully.\n\nHe is of that nervous and Intense temperament which can not rest without\ngetting something done, and he is always doing something to advance his\nwork. And though so intensely in earnest, he is singularly, it is not at\nall too strong to say, entirely free from fanaticism. He is in high\nesteem, with large influence at home and abroad, and this he does not\nprostitute to selfishness, but uses for usefulness.\n\nAnd, best of all, he has tokens, not a few, in the form of discipline on\nthe one hand, and success on the other, that God is guarding and guiding\nhis Life and Work.\n\n[Illustration: THE UNION GOSPEL MISSION.]\n\n\n\n\nLETTERS.\n\n\n    TO HIS FIRST PASTOR.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., November 6, 1883.\n\n    _My Dear Brother_:\n\n    Our meetings continue in interest. Last night the Holy Ghost was\n    with us in great power. At the close of the talk, we invited\n    backsliders to come forward and kneel. Six responded. Then we\n    invited all others who wanted to become Christians to come\n    forward and nine others responded, most of them the most\n    hardened sinners in the city. I am sure nothing but the power of\n    God could have lifted them from their seats. Men who have fought\n    each other actually embraced last night. Continue to pray for\n    us.\n\n    Yours,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    TO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., November 19, 1883.\n\n    _Dear Brother_:\n\n    Last night about two hundred persons were present, most of them\n    non-churchgoers. About forty stood up for prayers. And oh, such\n    good testimonies, no harangues but living testimonies as to what\n    God can and will do for those who will let him.\n\n    Yours truly,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    TO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., November 21, 1883.\n\n    _Dear Brother_:\n\n    How grateful I am to you for all your kindness God alone knows.\n    I may and do lack education and refinement, but I will not allow\n    myself under any circumstances to lack gratitude. The results of\n    our meetings prove to me that it is the work of the Holy Ghost.\n    Of course, I could hardly believe you would come to Louisville\n    even for a little while and not come to see me, one who has cost\n    you so much of time and care. There was a time when I could not\n    have stood it. But thanks to God I am now above letting small\n    things or great things upset me. Give my love to your dear\n    family.\n\n    Yours truly,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    TO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., February 3, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother_:\n\n    How I do wish you could have been where you could have looked in\n    on us last night. The room was full. They had to be turned away\n    from the door. And they were so anxious to hear the glad\n    tidings. No carpet, nothing to deaden the sound and yet you\n    could have heard a pin drop. All the churches are feeling the\n    results of our work. Yesterday G. H. joined the Christian\n    church. He seems to be a thoroughly converted man, if I know\n    one. P. D., whom you know, came in here about a week ago under\n    the influence of liquor. Said \"I am an infidel and a drunkard.\n    Pray for me.\" We did pray for him. He has been coming ever\n    since. He is now perfectly sober and says he was never so moved\n    before. These are two out of many cases.\n\n    Yours truly,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    TO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., February 7, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother_:\n\n    Your kind favor received. P. D. comes every night and sometimes\n    speaks. He is not drinking. He says he can not believe. He does\n    so pitifully and pleadingly ask for the prayers of Christian\n    people. He is in earnest. Pray for him.\n\n    C. T. testified last night. He was a schoolmate of yours. He\n    said: \"For the last five years, when I would meet Brother\n    Holcombe, I would say to myself: 'I wish he would say good day,\n    and pass on.' But he would not. He generally had something to\n    say about the way I was living. Of late, every time he has met\n    me he has invited me to the Mission. I would promise to go, but\n    went, instead, to some bar-room, until I wound up by losing my\n    position, being sent to the work-house, and being left by a\n    loving wife. Two weeks ago he met me again, and this time I kept\n    my promise. I have been coming every night since, and have not\n    touched liquor since, and by God's help I do not expect to do so\n    any more. I enjoy the meetings so much. The two hours I spend\n    here seem so short.\"\n\n    G. H. never misses a night. He is in the room with me now\n    singing, \"Happy Day, When Jesus Washed My Sins Away.\" And he is\n    happy. Although in the last four years he has spent thirty\n    thousand dollars in riotous living, and although his wife has\n    left him, he said to me: \"Brother Holcombe, I believe I am as\n    happy as I ever was in my life.\" I asked him, why? He said:\n    \"Because I have something which I never had when I had wife,\n    child and money. I have the forgiveness of sins and the\n    friendship of God.\"\n\n    I said: \"You will have to watch the devil or he will get you in\n    his power again.\"\n\n    \"Yes,\" he replied, \"the devil told me when I first began to come\n    to this Mission that I was too mean, and my heart was too dead\n    ever to get religion; but I fought him on my knees and I got the\n    victory. I know how hard it was to get, and by the help of God I\n    am going to keep it, whether I ever have wife or child or money\n    again.\"\n\n    Pray for me, that I may make no mistake in my difficult work.\n    Yours, as ever,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., February 13, 1884.\n\n_Dear Brother_:\n\n    I did just what you suggested; though I was disappointed I did\n    not show it. God is helping me to give up my preferences. I am\n    trusting in the Lord, and sweetly singing\n\n    \"Oh, to be nothing, nothing,\n      Only as led by His hand;\n    A messenger at His gateway,\n      Only waiting for His command.\"\n\nI am willing to preach on the streets, at the Mission, at Walnut-street\nchurch, or I am willing to be door-keeper--anything for Christ.\n\nSo you heard that I am improving in preaching. Well, I do believe that I\nshall yet learn how to preach.\n\nI had a letter requesting me to go to Nicholasville to preach. But I can\nnot go. I feel I have a little, humble work to do in Louisville, and I\nam going to do it. The mission men are all doing well. Though to you I\nmay seem very weak, I am to them what you are to me. Yours, etc.,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    TO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., May 1, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother_:\n\n    Yours to hand. I do not think you negligent. I know you love me,\n    and I know you love the cause of Christ for which I am laboring,\n    and I know you will do all you can to help me to help it. I am\n    surprised, not at what you don't do, but at what you do do.\n\n    I suppose you saw in the paper what a handsome thing they did\n    for us in the way of giving us a fifty-dollar parlor set, a fine\n    Brussels carpet, a large walnut book-case and many other\n    articles, including a fine portrait of dear Brother Morris.\n\n    Even for this donation and for all the love shown me by these\n    good people I am indebted to you. \"Jesus must needs go through\n    Samaria\" to save the woman at the well. You must needs be sent\n    to Portland church to save and instruct and guide Steve\n    Holcombe. This morning I prayed nearly an hour before breakfast,\n    and it was lucky for me I did. Something came up at noon that\n    would have completely upset me, but I was fortified and\n    withstood the temptation successfully.\n\n    I am improving every way. My health is better, my memory is\n    better. I can read my Bible more profitably than ever and I can\n    pray better.\n\n    God grant you may have good health, length of days and all of\n    this world's goods that may be good for you.\n\n    S. P. H.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., May 23, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Yours of the 16th to hand. God is so good to me. Certain\n    temptations have come to me lately and I could not have borne\n    them but for His help. I talked at the church last Sunday night\n    in the absence of Dr. Messick. I felt so humble, it seemed a\n    privilege to be treated shamefully that I might have an\n    opportunity of showing that a Christian can give up his own\n    rights for the good of others. I have grown in grace since you\n    showed me the necessity of secret prayer and of getting so well\n    acquainted with God that he would become more real to me than my\n    own father ever was.\n\n    You have seen in the papers poor D. T.'s attempt at suicide. But\n    God has spared him yet another season. He will recover. Pray for\n    him. May God bless you and strengthen you and keep you is the\n    prayer of\n\n    Your friend and brother,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 23, 1884.\n\n    _My Dear Brother:_\n\n    Yours received this A. M. I am so pressed for means I can not\n    now buy the book you speak of, but will do so as soon as I can.\n    I am _taking time_ to study. I am getting much better acquainted\n    with God and the better I know him the more I love him.\n\n    Yours in love,\n\n    S. P. H.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 25, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    The men are all doing tolerably well. The attendance at the\n    meetings is increasing. Sunday-school holds up well. My great\n    desire now is to be able to study the Bible better. The more I\n    think of what you have been to me, the more grateful I feel. I\n    wish I could in some substantial way show you how I appreciate\n    your care. But God will reward you.\n\n    Yours, etc.,  S. P. H.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 30, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    The Bible is becoming very sweet to me. I can study it all day\n    long and not get tired. I am sure the Holy Ghost is helping me.\n    I have read the book you gave me. It is very helpful.\n\n    Brother Davidson has gone to housekeeping. He has his son and\n    daughter with him. Oh, the love and power of God. Praise His\n    name!\n\n    S. P. H.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    CHICAGO, ILL., September 5, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Yours of the 2d to hand. Think of you? The sun may forget to\n    shine, but poor Steve Holcombe can never forget the man who has\n    done so much for his soul. Never has a day passed since my\n    conversion that I have not prayed God's blessing on you, your\n    family and your work.\n\n    Well, Chicago is a great city, a grand field for Christian work.\n    I find many earnest Christian men and women laboring for the\n    Master. I am not idle either. I talked four times last\n    Sunday--three times on the street and once at a Mission.\n\n    I am having a royal time, sailing on the lake, riding on\n    street-cars, taking in the town. I wish you were here.\n\n    God bless you always. STEVE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 1, 1885.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Yours of June 25th received. I do hope you will get Brother\n    C.[2] those books to sell. These men must have employment. They\n    can not live, as some Christian people seem to think, on\n    promises. It is all right to say, \"Oh, let go and trust in the\n    Lord,\" to a man who knows the way, but it is all not right when\n    it is said to a poor struggling gambler, who, in faith, is as\n    weak as a baby. I know of Brother L.'s troubles. My heart goes\n    out to him. All well.\n\n    Yours,  S. P. H.\n\n[2] A converted gambler.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., May 15, 1885.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Since writing my card this morning I have learned that D. McC.,\n    the boss Nashville gambler, and an old partner of mine, is\n    attending Sam Jones' meetings. I want you to go to see him.\n    Don't be afraid to go right up to him and introduce yourself.\n    Tell him you and I are old friends, and that I love him, and\n    requested you to see him. But you know better how to approach\n    him than I can tell you. But you must see him. Take Sam Jones to\n    see him. Visit him at his home, with Sam Jones. He is worthy of\n    concentration. If you can get him converted, he will be a power\n    for good. Most of your members know him, I guess. If you don't\n    like to call on him, alone, get some of them to go along and\n    introduce you. May God help us save poor D. McC.\n\n    Yours,\n\n    STEVE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., December 20, 1887.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Your favor to hand. I have had a terrible battle with self, but\n    by the grace of God I have come out conquerer. I praise God now\n    that I had the struggle, because it has enabled me to realize\n    the emptiness of all that is earthly. It has convinced me that\n    to depend on men is \"like a foot out of joint.\" I make more\n    miles toward my haven of rest during a night of storm than in\n    days of calm weather. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy\n    New Year, I am as ever,\n\n    Your friend and brother in Christ,\n\n    STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., December 29, 1887.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Yours was received a few days ago. Yes, I thank God I am almost\n    rid of my love of praise. I am willing to do the dirty and\n    disagreeable work and let others have the picnics and the\n    praise. \"Who am I that I should be a leader of the Lord's\n    people?\" But I confess I did not get to this point without a\n    struggle. How I did have to wrestle with God. He showed me the\n    envy that was in my heart, that is my jealousy of any one who\n    did more work or had more attention paid them than I had. But\n    glory to God I hope I am rid of it at last.\n\n    Yours,\n\n    S. P. H.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., January 26, 1888.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Yours just received. I hardly think it would be worth while to\n    ask Mr. Moody to visit our Mission, as his time is so completely\n    occupied. I think our work is as much thought of as ever. It is\n    quiet but I think deep. I have kept it out of the papers,\n    because too much newspaper notoriety is calculated to cause a\n    poor little-brained fellow to exaggerate his own importance. And\n    then there is such sweetness in the work when you are sure it is\n    not for praise but for Christ. I am afraid that many of us on\n    analyzing our hearts will find first, self; second, self; and\n    almost all for self in one way or another. May God deliver me\n    from self.\n\n    Yours as ever,\n\n    STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 10, 1888.\n\n    _Dear Brother:_\n\n    Your letter to hand. There is nothing so comforting as true\n    friendship. Alas! how little of it there is in this world. Happy\n    the man who can claim _one true friend_. I know a man that has a\n    true friend. I am that man and you are that friend. How do I\n    know it? You are so faithful in telling me the truth about\n    myself and showing me my faults and mistakes. Who but a true\n    friend that had your best interest at heart would have written\n    such a letter as this last one from you? I want you to know that\n    while I loved you much before, I love you more now. I have been\n    going through the fire lately, but I think I shall come out all\n    right. Doesn't God sift a fellow? I believe I can say I rejoice\n    in tribulation. I find I can not expect to be understood in this\n    world or always have sympathy, but I do expect, if \"I meekly\n    wait and murmur not,\" to find it is all right in my Father's\n    house.\n\n    Your friend and brother in Christ,\n\n    STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO S. P. DALTON (one of the converts).\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 17, 1883.\n\n    _My Dear Brother Dalton:_\n\n    Your good letter to hand. It is, as you say, so sweet to be\n    bound together by the ties of Christian love, and there is no\n    tie which binds men more closely than the religion of Christ. It\n    breaks down every barrier, and all are alike to the true\n    Christian man; rich, poor, halt, lame, blind, there is no\n    difference. And the Christian is happiest when he is denying\n    himself to help others.\n\n    In order to convince the world of the truth and power of our\n    religion, our own standard must be very high. We must deny\n    ourselves of things which in themselves would be innocent, but\n    which, if practiced by us, would lessen our influence for good.\n    And how comforting to think that if we _suffer_ with Him, we\n    shall also reign with Him. The suffering comes first, the\n    humiliation first, the toil and weariness first. Yes, we may\n    _expect_ troubles and crosses here, but we leave it all behind\n    when we enter within the gates into the city. I thank God that\n    your heart has been changed and that you have tasted of the\n    powers of the world to come. I am glad you find more pleasure in\n    my poor company and lame words than in the follies and\n    friendships of the world. Hoping for you all good things, I am\n    with much love,\n\n    Your brother in Christ,\n\n    STEVE HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 23, 1885.\n\n    _Dear Brother Dalton:_\n\n    Your letter from the great Falls is to hand. It is very\n    gratifying to me to know that in the midst of so much excitement\n    you could and did think of one so humble and obscure as myself.\n    I have been at the Falls and have seen many wonderful and grand\n    things, but the most beautiful thing I have ever seen is an old\n    hardened sinner picking up his grip-sack and bidding the devil\n    farewell forever. And, praise the Lord, that is my privilege\n    almost daily in the dear old mission. Though the weather is very\n    hot, we have glorious meetings; new converts testifying almost\n    nightly. Two professional gamblers have just been converted. One\n    of them was one of the sweetest conversions I ever saw. The old\n    converts are nearly all doing well. Don't grow, cold, but be in\n    some work for the Master every day, and you will not miss the\n    time or regret the service. God bless you.\n\n    Your friend and brother in Christ,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., April 17, 1886.\n\n    _Dear Brother Dalton:_\n\n    Yours of the 6th to hand. We have purchased the property for our\n    new home, and we shall move in in about a month. Our work is\n    moving like a thing of life. It was never so prosperous before.\n    I wish you could be here to work with us. Sister Clark is in her\n    glory. She is one of the grandest Christian women I have ever\n    seen. Nearly all the converts are doing well.\n\n    Yours,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., November 15, 1886.\n\n    _Dear Brother Dalton:_\n\n    I receive no letters that touch my heart more deeply than those\n    I receive from you. Our work is more quiet now. The papers do\n    not notice it so much, but we are doing a good work. It is now\n    more among the unfortunate business men of the city some of\n    whom, were fallen very low. Some who have recently been\n    reclaimed are now first-class business men. The old converts are\n    all right and doing well, but they don't stand by me in the work\n    as I wish they would. Oh, for \"consecration and concentration.\"\n    That is my motto.\n\n    My married daughter has got one of the best of husbands and I\n    think they are the happiest couple I know. The rest are all\n    well. I hope you will be blown back this way by some favoring\n    breeze, so we can have your help in our work.\n\n    Yours,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., January 6, 1887.\n\n    _Dear Brother Dalton:_\n\n    Our work is going on grandly again. You can see from the papers\n    I am kept as busy as a bee. You must know from the number that\n    come that my time is all taken up in nursing them. Hence, I can\n    not write long letters, however much I would like to.\n\n    Hope to see you soon.\n\n    Yours,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., October 28, 1887.\n\n    _S.P. Dalton, Cleveland, Ohio:_\n\n    DEAR BROTHER DALTON: Yours of the 17th is received. I am glad\n    you are an active worker in the church, and that they have shown\n    their appreciation of you by making you a steward in the church.\n\n    I believe you will render a good account of your stewardship.\n    The main thing for you to guard against is _care_. Remember,\n    always when you think you are too busy to pray in secret, read\n    the Bible, go to the meetings, etc., what Jesus said to Martha:\n    \"Thou art careful and troubled about many things.\"\n\n    I am trying to be a faithful servant. God is blessing my humble\n    efforts. The converts are sticking and the work is growing. Most\n    of the converts are prospering in business. Some that were in\n    the gutter are now making from fifty to two hundred dollars a\n    month.\n\n    Your friend and brother in Christ,\n\n    S. P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTO THE SAME.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., May 11, 1888.\n\n    _Dear Brother Dalton:_\n\n    Yours of the 9th to hand. Glad to hear of your continued success\n    in business. You are a great man, but a man who is so prosperous\n    in business must keep his eyes open.\n\n    Remember to give to the Lord all that belongs to Him of every\n    dollar you earn. John Wesley's motto is hard to improve on:\n    \"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.\" And oh!\n    what sweetness there is in giving. Never get too busy to do some\n    Christian work. We have just had Murphy at Louisville, for a\n    month.\n\n    Good-bye,\n\n    STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[3]LETTERS TO MR. HOLCOMBE.\n\n[3] A few of the letters to Mr. Holcombe have been selected out of\nseveral hundreds.\n\n    _Mr. Holcombe:_\n\n    I have heard and read so much of your influence and prayers for\n    men leading dissolute lives, that I am going to ask you if you\n    won't find my husband and stay and pray with him until he is\n    saved. The other night, when he was drinking very hard, he\n    appealed to me to send for you to pray for him. He has much\n    confidence in your prayers, and believes in your life; I have\n    often heard him say so. He has a noble, loving disposition, and\n    forgiving; so you need not be afraid of offending him. His whole\n    heart would forever offer thanksgivings for his delivery from\n    drink; for it is that that he prays for. I have thought that,\n    perhaps, God intended salvation to come to him through you; and\n    how earnestly I pray that it may. So much has been done, and so\n    many prayers offered for him, won't you please, at your next\n    opportunity, find him and talk and pray with him? You would make\n    a miserable, lonely woman's life happy again. We have been so\n    happy together, so congenial, so well mated; and if God will\n    answer all our united prayers, happiness will return to our\n    hearts tenfold. Oh, Mr. Holcombe, pray the prayer of faith, and\n    my heart will ever turn in grateful acknowledgment to God for\n    making you the humble instrument of my much-loved husband's\n    salvation. Won't you go now immediately and wrestle for and with\n    him in prayer?\n\n    Believe me, most earnestly, your co-worker in prayer for his\n    salvation.\n\n    MRS. H.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    BIRMINGHAM, ALA., May 12, 1888.\n\n    _Dear Brother Holcombe:_\n\n    I hope you will not think hard of me for asking you to write\n    once more to my husband. I feel so confident it will stir up a\n    remembrance of his conversion. Oh, brother, don't give up\n    helping me. Try to save my husband. It nearly kills me to see\n    him come home full of the destroying thing called whisky; and it\n    seems to have such a strong hold on him. All the imploring I can\n    do will not change him at all. I have grieved until my life is\n    almost grieved away. But oh, God will surely hear my cry after a\n    while. If I could give my life to save my husband's soul, I\n    would willingly, yes, gladly, do it. Brother Holcombe, what do\n    you think about this plan? If you can get one of the converts\n    whom my husband knows, and one who has been a great drunkard, to\n    write a friendly, brotherly letter to him, don't you think that\n    might do some good? Oh, I have thought of so many plans and ways\n    to try and get him back to the Lord. I am sorry to say that the\n    city of Birmingham is the most wicked place I have ever seen; so\n    few Christians, and they are not working. I do fervently hope\n    God will send some one here who is like yourself, not ashamed to\n    work for the lost. I hope you will write, Brother Holcombe. Pray\n    for me; and oh, do ask all the friends there to pray for my\n    husband.\n\n    Mrs. P.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., December 3d.\n\n    _Brother Holcombe:_\n\n    Will you ask the prayers of your people in behalf of my\n    skeptical son-in-law. He is a talented man, but he is using his\n    influence against his best friend. My poor child is suffering\n    the penalty for marrying an infidel. If I dared tell you how\n    desperate the case, I am sure your heart would be troubled to\n    its depths. Do pray that this man may be led into the light of\n    the Gospel, and become a better husband, father and citizen.\n\n    A SUFFERING MOTHER.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    BOWLING GREEN, November 10, 1884.\n\n    _Mr. Holcombe:_\n\n    Will you please go and see my son L., and try to persuade him to\n    live a better life? He has great faith in what you say. When you\n    wrote to him last spring he seemed very much affected, and said\n    to me. \"That is one of the best men in the world.\" Oh, for\n    heaven's sake, pray for him. If you can go and talk to him,\n    advise him to leave Kentucky and go away off and reform his\n    life. If he comes back here, _danger awaits him_. I feel sure\n    you can influence him, for he believes you are sincere. He is\n    not mean and sinful at heart, but oh, the accursed demon Drink\n    causes him all his trouble. If he could get some respectable\n    work and some one to encourage him and lift him above his\n    darkened life, I believe he would be all right. He has relatives\n    there, but they are the last to apply to for assistance. He is\n    in jail in your city now. God only knows the pang it causes me\n    to say he is in jail. He was such a good Sunday-school boy and a\n    good Templar. Is it possible that he is to be lost? I can't yet\n    give up all hope. While my Father in heaven has so sorely\n    afflicted me, I can't help believing that after awhile the\n    change will come. Oh, how I wish Brother Morris could go to him\n    to-day. He took more interest in him than any one else ever did.\n    Please do what you can. I know God _will hear your prayer_ and\n    help you to save him. Yours with a mother's aching heart for her\n    boy,\n\n    ---- ----\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    CHICAGO, May 24th.\n\n    _Rev. Steve Holcombe:_\n\n    MY DEAR FRIEND: I have just received a letter from my son, who\n    has almost ruined himself and broken my heart by his\n    intemperance. I have been always praying for his reformation,\n    but felt almost hopeless, as he would not go to church and\n    seemed hardened, and I know very well he could not rely on his\n    own strength and would not look to a stronger arm for help. Do\n    you know when I received a letter from him to-day making a full\n    confession of all his past course, and saying he had been to\n    hear you and asked for your prayers, I could not realize it? How\n    we are surprised when God hears us. I write this to thank you\n    for anything you may have said to help him, and to beg you to\n    follow him with your prayers and advice. Oh, won't you try to\n    help him all you can? It will be a hard battle with him, poor\n    fellow, as he has been for some time indulging freely. Will you\n    look after him as much as you can and if he should fall, help\n    him up? I am praying for you and your work, and have been doing\n    so for a long time. Your friend,\n\n    MRS. P. W. M.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    WEDNESDAY NIGHT.\n\n    _Dear Mr. Holcombe:_\n\n    Will you please come out to my home on Third street in the\n    morning as early as you can? I dislike to trouble you in this\n    way; but I am in great trouble with Mr. L. He has been drinking,\n    and I feel that you can be the means of bringing him back to\n    God. I have prayed with him, and done all I could for him. I\n    feel crushed to the earth with this deep sorrow and\n    mortification. Don't let him know that I sent for you. He is\n    quite sick to-night. Pray that God may sustain us and lift us\n    out of this deep dark sorrow, and cast out the demon that seems\n    to possess my poor dear husband. God bless you, our dear good\n    friend, and keep us all this night.\n\n    Sincerely your friend,\n\n    MRS. L.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., April 12, 1888.\n\n    _Rev. S. P. Holcombe:_\n\n    DEAR BROTHER: It is with grief in my heart I must write you\n    again. Mr. L. went on a business trip three weeks since, but\n    fell into bad company, and has been on a protracted spree. He\n    came home last night utterly discouraged--will not even try to\n    pray again. I am almost discouraged myself; can only wait and\n    trust. I think if you could make it convenient to call to see\n    him to-day, perhaps God will put words into your mouth that will\n    help him. I leave it with you; and would not ask you to leave\n    your duties, except I know your willingness to work for the\n    Master. He will not know that I have sent for you. Oh, help me\n    to pray that God will help my husband.\n\n    Your friend,\n\n    MRS. L.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    OCTOBER 28TH.\n\n    _Friend Holcombe:_\n\n    I am locked up, and go to the work-house this morning. Oh, can\n    anything be done to help me; I want to become a different man.\n    Try and save me.\n\n    Truly, ---- ----\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    CITY WORK-HOUSE, November 1, 1882.\n\n    _Rev. Stephen P. Holcombe:_\n\n    DEAR SIR: You kindly requested me to write you in event I\n    reached the conclusion that under a change of condition I might\n    become a different man. My knowledge of your own career inspires\n    me with more confidence than anything that has ever fallen under\n    my notice. Coupled with the impression made upon me by the\n    sermon on Sunday afternoon, I firmly believe if you will come\n    and see me, and allow me to state to you fully my convictions as\n    to your ability to make a sober man of me, you will do one of\n    the greatest and noblest acts of your life; and, in keeping me\n    from the slavery of drink, rescue one who has suffered, and who\n    has caused, and now is causing, much suffering to others. I\n    stand ready to unite with you in any manner you may suggest, and\n    pray God Almighty to bless you.\n\n    Truly, ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    CITY WORK-HOUSE, November 2, 1882.\n\n    _Friend Holcombe:_\n\n    When I penned the few lines to you yesterday, I had to do it in\n    so short a space of time, that in all probability I omitted to\n    state specifically why I desired to see you. Heretofore, I have\n    never entertained any settled plan of operations to restrain my\n    appetite for liquor other than the mere will power I deemed in\n    my own possession and control, and, as a result, would\n    invariably find myself in the very midst of violating every\n    previously conceived resolution. Your kindness in pointing out a\n    course of discipline and conduct, and extending to me a welcome\n    among those who have made, and who are making, successful battle\n    against the great destroyer of happiness, awakened within me an\n    entirely different current of thought; and when I stated I would\n    unite with you in any manner you would suggest, to effect the\n    object in view, I meant it with all my heart and mind; and I\n    appeal to an all-wise and merciful Creator to attest the\n    sincerity of my declaration in this matter. Again, my resolve is\n    to attend strictly to any suggestions you may make. The accursed\n    appetite has beggared me. I do not ask charity from any mortal\n    toward me. I am not deserving of either sympathy or pity; and\n    while the embracing of the cause of religion and temperance can\n    not of itself work reformation, it places a man in a position\n    where he can climb upward and go forward, instead of forever\n    traveling the broad way that leads to destruction. Holcombe, I\n    want to redeem myself. I only crave this one last opportunity,\n    and if God will help me no man shall ever know of me using\n    either intoxicating drink or profane language as long as breath\n    is in my body. When released, I do not want to be idle a day. I\n    have mouths to feed whose entry into this troubled life is\n    chargeable solely to me. I will work for a dollar a day to do my\n    duty towards them. Judge W. L. Jackson, Judge H. H. Bruee, Gary\n    B. Blackburn or Major Tom Hays, would, I am sure, put in a good\n    word for me; and Judge Price himself, I think has some hope for\n    me. I had a violent chill to-day, and am in the hospital\n    department, and my fingers are somewhat stiff from researches in\n    the geological department.[4] Hence this cramped writing. Come\n    and see me, and do not give me up as hopeless.\n\n    Truly, ---- ----.\n\n[4] He means the rock-pile.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    BOWLING GREEN, KY., March 27, 1888.\n\n    _Rev. Steve Holcombe:_\n\n    DEAR SIR: I am so much obliged to you for the kind letter you\n    were pleased to write me. You no doubt think ere this that the\n    seed has fallen on stony ground, and, perhaps, among thorns; but\n    I can assure you that I made up my mind when in your city to\n    lead a different life, and to devote the remainder of my life to\n    the service of my God. I have so often thought of you, and have\n    wished to see you. Pray for me, and I do hope we may meet again.\n    If ever convenient, call and see me. Our doors will be open,\n    yes, wide open, to you. Thanking you again for your remembrance\n    of me, I am, yours truly,\n\n    ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    SICK BED, February 5th.\n\n    _Dear Christian Brother:_\n\n    I have a tenant in a little house, a grocery, on Sixth street,\n    right next to the First Presbyterian church, who is a fearfully\n    wicked man, a common drunkard, and steeped in sin; and I come to\n    you to-day to beg you to seek him out and try to rescue him. He\n    has four or five little motherless children, whose lives are\n    full of the bitterest sorrow; they are so dirty and unkempt that\n    the public school teacher had to send them home. They are under\n    no control; have no one to train them for God, and ought to be\n    where some one would save them from themselves and ruin. When I\n    leased my house to him, he was a very handsome, well-to-do man;\n    young, apparently honest, paid his rent regularly, and had a\n    very nice little wife, who has since died--I think with a broken\n    heart. Will you not look him up at once? Or, if you are too full\n    of other cases, will you not get some one of your workers to try\n    to lead him back to good paths? He is a very desperate case, I\n    know, and seems almost past saving now; but you know God's grace\n    can reach any heart. I would lay this poor dissolute creature,\n    lost to all sense of honor, shame or manliness, on your soul, my\n    brother, and beseech you, for Christ's sake, for the sake of\n    these poor motherless children, whose souls are worth saving for\n    Christ, do try to bring your influence and your prayers for\n    God's help, to this miserable man's case, and see if you can\n    help. If he is past God's mercy--and I can not believe\n    that--will you not see what can be done for the little ones?\n    The oldest boy is a bright little fellow, and may become a great\n    light in our Father's work. I hear that this man has been to\n    hear Mr. Moody. I do not know if it helped him. Will you not\n    send after him, and try to get him to go to-night? I will meet\n    you in prayer there for him.\n\n    In bonds of Christian friendship,\n\n    JENNIE CASSEDAY.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    ALEXANDER'S HOTEL,\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., May 30, 1888.\n\n    _My Dear Mr. Holcombe:_\n\n    I am struggling as hard as ever a poor wretch did against my\n    appetite for liquor. I have asked the good Lord to help me\n    overcome the habit, but I feel that my prayers amount to\n    nothing. May I ask you to ask the Great Controller of us all to\n    give me strength to overcome this habit? Save me, or help save\n    me, I beg and implore you. Please give me your prayers.\n\n    ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    OCTOBER 16, 1887.\n\n    _My Dear Steve:_\n\n    Your kind favor of the 7th instant reached me in due time. I\n    was, of course, delighted to hear from you, and inexpressibly\n    glad to hear of the improved state of your health. I also note\n    with much pleasure what you say in regard to the pleasant and\n    extensive trip that you have just finished. It gratifies and\n    pleases me beyond expression to know that the people of\n    Louisville are at last awakened to your worth, and are willing\n    to manifest some substantial recognition of the same. \"All\n    things work well for those who love the Lord.\" I believe the\n    quotation is correct. Oh, had I continued in the way you pointed\n    out to me, how different my situation and circumstances would\n    be. Instead of being broken in health and bankrupt in purse,\n    separated from all that I love and hold most dear, I would be, I\n    am sure, what I was while I was endeavoring to lead a Christian\n    life--a happy husband and father and a respectable citizen. Oh,\n    Steve, my dear friend, I am wretched, miserable, broken hearted.\n    When I reflect upon what I was and what I might have been, and\n    consider what I am and how little I have to look forward to, I\n    simply get desperate. But I will not weary you with my troubles.\n    As regards myself and habits, I may say, without exaggeration,\n    that I am in better health and my mode of living is plainer and\n    more regular than it has ever been. I rise every morning between\n    four and five o'clock, and retire between eight and nine. My\n    food is of the plainest and coarsest kind. My companions are, I\n    regret to say, cowboys. You know, I presume, what they are, so I\n    will say nothing about them. I neither drink nor smoke; I chew\n    tobacco very moderately, and expect to quit that. I suffer\n    terribly at times for the want of congenial company. You must\n    excuse this effort, as I am surrounded by a lot of boys who are\n    making a terrible lot of noise. Give my love to all of your\n    family. God bless you, my dear Steve. Pray for me and mine.\n\n    Your friend, ---- ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    NOVEMBER 2, 1887.\n\n    _My Dear Steve:_\n\n    Your letter of the 27th is before me. It is just such a letter\n    as I expected--so full of sympathy, love and good, wholesome\n    advice. I wish it were possible, or, rather, expedient, to\n    listen to your advice and return home, for I am heartily sick\n    and tired of the life I am now living. Don't you know that my\n    life out here reminds me, in a measure, of your western\n    experience? Of course, I am not subjected to the hardships and\n    deprivations that you were forced to undergo. But, as far as\n    bodily comfort and companionship are concerned, I must say that\n    your experience must have been rather \"tough,\" if it was worse\n    than mine. Now, don't misunderstand me, I have plenty to eat,\n    such as it is, I have a fairly good bed, in a fairly good room.\n    My companions are, as you know, cowboys. That they are rough and\n    all that, goes without saying, but let me tell you, my dear\n    friend, I have received better treatment and more consideration\n    from these wild, half-civilized cowboys, upon whom I have no\n    earthly claim, than I ever received from some from whom I had a\n    right to expect, if not fair treatment, at least some\n    consideration. The people one meets out here are always willing\n    to give a fellow a \"white man's chance.\" When you write, tell me\n    something about the dear old Mission and its workers. What has\n    become of Davidson, Peck, Booker and all of the boys? I would be\n    extremely sorry to hear that any of them had forsaken the narrow\n    for the broad way. The dear old Mission! What a train of happy\n    memories is connected with it. I almost forgot to inquire about\n    Clay Price. Tell me about all of them. I am about to change my\n    quarters. Don't know where I will go. You had better wait until\n    you hear from me again before answering. With much love to\n    yourself and family, I am, as ever,\n\n    Your friend,\n\n    ---- ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    DECEMBER 10, 1887.\n\n    _My Dear Steve:_\n\n    Your letter, or rather note, of November 29th, reached me in due\n    course. You advise me to keep up a brave heart. Steve, old\n    fellow, my heart is broken. I know you will smile and shake your\n    head; but I honestly believe that if there is such a thing as a\n    broken heart, mine is broken. Haven't I suffered enough? Well,\n    how is the Mission getting along? I noticed in the\n    _Courier-Journal_ the other day that George Kerr had been\n    reclaimed. Well, well, who would have thought it? I know him\n    well. He is a fellow of some parts. If he can only keep sober,\n    he is abundantly qualified to do well. Write me something about\n    the boys. I would be mighty glad to hear good reports of them.\n    Have you seen the ----s lately. Give them my regards when you\n    see them; and remind them for me, that they are in debt to me a\n    letter. They and you, old fellow, are about all the friends I\n    have left. What a sad commentary upon human nature is the\n    mutability of so-called friendship! When I was prosperous, I had\n    all the friends I wanted, and more, too. Now, I can count them\n    upon the fingers of one hand. Ah, well, I suppose it has been\n    the same time out of mind; I am not an exception. Now, Steve,\n    write me a long letter, and tell me all the news.\n\n    Very truly your friend, ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFROM A CONVERT.\n\n    KANSAS CITY, MO., May 30, 1888.\n\n    _Rev. Steve P. Holcombe, Louisville, Ky.:_\n\n    Yours received. Would have written sooner but I have been away\n    and busy. I have been at Fulton, Mo., since the tenth instant.\n    Brother Jones left Monday morning. I tell you I just had a\n    glorious time. Steve, I love the work! and God is blessing me\n    wonderfully; everything is prosperous; business is getting\n    better; my health is getting better. In short, everything is\n    just glorious. Of course, I feel gloomy sometimes; but, blessed\n    be God, he will not allow us to be tempted above that we are\n    able to bear; and, with every temptation there is a way of\n    escape. I feel just that way. Every time temptation comes to me,\n    I flee to God for help, and I never yet failed. I have gone into\n    this for life; and, God helping me, I will stick. I have not\n    tasted drink of any kind since about January 9th, and I tell you\n    I was a slave to it. I never think of drinking now; my thought\n    is all in a different channel; bless God for it. Our little\n    mission is gradually growing, and we hope for grand things from\n    it. Pray for us. Brother Morris wishes to be remembered to\n    yourself and family. I am a member of his church, and I love\n    him. He is a grand man. I am going to Chillicothe, Missouri, the\n    12th of June--Brother Jones will be there for ten days. Give my\n    regards to all who know me; and tell them I am trusting Jesus\n    for everything. May God bless you in your good work. I shall\n    never forget you. Write as soon as convenient.\n\n    Your friend and brother,\n\n    HARRY CHAPMAN.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFROM A CONVERT.\n\n    CHICAGO, July 21, 1884.\n\n    _My Dear Brother Steve:_\n\n    Your kind postal of the 21st to hand this P. M. I must really\n    beg your pardon for having neglected your cards; but I have no\n    excuse to offer. It has been nothing but carelessness. I was\n    absent from Chicago a week with my friend D., and had a very\n    pleasant time. It is probable that he will start into business\n    in Chicago. He will know in the next few weeks. The Lord has\n    taken wonderfully good care of me since I have been here,\n    although on one or two occasions I have had to do with only one\n    meal a day. He has blessed me all the time. He has kept me\n    cheerful through all, and I feel to-day that I am nearer to Him\n    than I have ever been. I have put myself into His hands\n    unreservedly, and I feel that He is taking care of me. Yesterday\n    I got a letter from my brother. He asked me to pray for him, and\n    I shall certainly continue to do so as long as I live. Whenever\n    you see him, speak to him about the salvation of his soul. I\n    have written to him about it, and he wants to try and become a\n    Christian. Pray for him. Sunday I saw Dr. S. He is better\n    dressed than I ever saw him. I notice he wears the Murphy ribbon\n    in his button-hole. I am glad he is looking so well. This was\n    the first time I had seen him for weeks. Steve, there is only\n    one thing lacking to make my happiness complete, and that is to\n    have my mother think more favorably of my reformation. I have\n    written to her twice, and she has not even deigned to answer. I\n    feel, however, that the Lord will bring this about all right. As\n    to my getting into a situation, it will be some time yet, as\n    business hardly ever starts up here until about September. Then\n    the Lord will put me into something permanent, I know. The\n    captain is indeed happy with his family reunited with him. He\n    ought to shout God's praises from morning till night; but he is\n    not the only one that can shout--_my_ heart is forever full.\n    Neither hard times, nor anything else, can keep me down as long\n    as I have Jesus with me. I must close; it is time to go to\n    convert's meeting. My prayers are for you and the Mission. I\n    humbly ask you, as well as all the good Christians there, to\n    pray for me. May God bless you and yours.\n\n    Your brother in Christ,\n\n    FRED ROPKE.\n\nRemember me to Mrs. Holcombe and the rest of the family, as well as to\nall inquiring friends.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFROM THE SAME.\n\n    CHICAGO, August 3, 1884.\n\n    _Dear Steve:_\n\n    Your kind letter to hand. I feel ashamed of myself for not\n    answering your letters more promptly. It does my heart good to\n    think that you at last have confidence in me, and that my going\n    to Chicago must not necessarily round up in my going to hell. It\n    seems to me, although I have not been in the service of our\n    glorious Master as long as you have, yet I have, or rather had,\n    more faith in His power to keep me than you had; but your remark\n    has often been recalled to my mind. Do you remember saying \"that\n    if I went to Chicago, I was certainly bound for hell?\" Was this\n    charity or placing much faith in God's word? Well, let the\n    matter drop. I have just come home from a glorious meeting. Oh,\n    how I thank God this morning for a lightness of heart and a\n    buoyancy of spirit that lift me above surrounding trials and\n    troubles! I am poor in purse; but, bless His holy name, I am\n    rich in promises and faith. My temporal affairs are not in a\n    very prosperous condition, but notwithstanding all this, I have\n    the confidence He will take care of me. He has done this in a\n    wonderful manner to this time, and He certainly has not changed\n    since I have become one of His. Captain Davidson keeps me pretty\n    well posted as to your meetings. I am glad they are well\n    attended. The Lord willing, I will be with you on a visit this\n    coming winter, and I will bring a friend. You will then see in\n    what style they conduct their meetings here in Chicago. I have\n    as yet received no answer to my long letter to H., but I praise\n    God that my humble words have set him to thinking. My prayers\n    ascend to heaven daily that he may be saved. Your friend, Frank\n    Jones, is here in Chicago. I saw him once on Clark street, but\n    had no chance to talk to him. This has been some two weeks ago.\n    Remember me in Christian love to the Millers, Captain Denny,\n    Dalton, Ben Harney, Tom Watts--in fact, all; but especially give\n    my regards to Mrs. Holcombe. Don't forget Mulligan, and my\n    prayers are that God may bless you as abundantly as he is\n    blessing your brother in Christ,\n\n    FRED ROPKE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM A CONVERT.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., September 12, 1887.\n\n    _Rev, S. P. Holcombe, New York City:_\n\n    MY DEAR OLD FRIEND: You do not know the pleasure your letter\n    gave me, I have wanted to write you ever since my return, but\n    did not know where a letter would reach you, nor do I know where\n    to direct this, but suppose I can get your address from Will. I\n    was at the Mission last night, and missed you sadly. We all\n    missed you in many ways. Your good, hard, common horse sense is\n    sadly needed. It is the same old story; we never appreciate a\n    man until it is too late. I used to think I could pick many\n    flaws in your management of the mission work, but I have now\n    come to the conclusion that you can't be downed in that line,\n    and hereafter I shall not even think a thought against your\n    management. Last night we had some ignoramus to preach, and his\n    grammar and ways of expressing himself were (to say the least)\n    tiresome; but we had testimonies afterward, and I said to\n    myself, \"Well, Brother Steve is away, and I have been on the\n    quiet lay for a long time; I think, for the sake of Christ and\n    old Steve, I will give a red-hot testimony right from the\n    shoulder,\" and I did. I was followed by Hocker in a like strain,\n    and others chiming in, we made the welkin ring from turret to\n    foundation-stone. But the banner-bearer was not there; so the\n    good intended to be done fell short. Only one stood up for\n    prayer. But never mind, we will have our old veteran leader with\n    us soon, when we will unfurl our battle-flag anew and carry\n    terror and dismay into old Beelzebub's camp. I think if our\n    winter campaign is well organized, there will be no \"Indians on\n    the warpath next spring.\" I miss you and want to see you so bad,\n    that you may give me a hundred lectures and I won't shirk. Your\n    true blues are all holding fast. Your Old Guard is a true and\n    tried one. I think they all can be depended on both on dress\n    parade and under fire. Your family are all well. May our\n    heavenly Father bless you, my dear friend, both here and\n    hereafter. Your sins have been great; but oh, what would I not\n    give to know that, after life's fitful fever is over, I would be\n    permitted to occupy a seat in the beautiful land of the blest\n    alongside of you. Truly your faith has made you whole. Good-bye,\n    and once more, God bless you.\n\n    Your sincere friend,\n\n    P. B.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM A CONVERT.\n\n    ATLANTA, GA., February 3, 1885.\n\n    _Dear Brother Holcombe:_\n\n    Your letter of December 17th was received in due time. Your\n    postal card was also received a few days ago. I have no lawful\n    excuse to offer but pure procrastination, from time to time, for\n    not answering. You are not forgotten by me or my wife and\n    daughter. We often speak of you, and the question is often\n    asked, \"Will he come and see us this year and hold another\n    mission meeting?\" You did so much good in Atlanta. The meetings\n    were kept up until the bad weather broke us up; they were well\n    attended nearly every night, and the good seed you sowed\n    germinated; and, by Brother Barclay's good tilling and the\n    assistance and the goodness of God, has brought forth much fruit\n    of repentance; and, thank God, we all bless the day He sent you\n    to us. If your Mission managers could see the great good you\n    accomplished while with us, I do not think they would say no to\n    your making Atlanta another visit; and we look forward to the\n    day as not being far distant when you will do so. I am trying my\n    best to live right. I know I am changed; I feel very different\n    from what I did before you visited us. You have known me fifteen\n    years; and you know how bad and sinful I was, and how\n    dissipated. I have not even wanted a drink of anything since\n    your visit. You know I told you I had put my foot on the serpent\n    and I intended to keep it there. I do not go with any of my old\n    associates who drink or who visit bar rooms. I select good\n    company; I keep up the family altar, and we are a happy little\n    family now. Can you appreciate that you saved one of your old\n    lost friends by your good work? When I met you and saw and heard\n    of the great blessing God had bestowed upon you and your dear\n    family, I set about obtaining the like blessing for myself; and\n    I feel in my heart that I have received it. God has been very\n    merciful to me and blesses all my undertakings and I am so\n    thankful for all of His kind mercies. Brother Barclay told me he\n    wrote you a few days ago, and I suppose he gave you all the\n    news. I have not been to the mission Sunday-school for some time\n    on account of the bad weather, and you know I live a long way\n    off. But, God willing, I shall go next Sunday. My wife and\n    daughter join in much love to you and your family, and wish you\n    a happy and successful year in the Master's cause.\n\n    Yours truly, ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM AN OFFENDED GENTLEMAN.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., January 13, 1887.\n\n    _My Dear Sir:_\n\n    Your letter surprises me. You came to me unintroduced; I was\n    glad to see you, and, I hope, treated you with the consideration\n    which I think your merit demands. You again approached me\n    to-day. Tonight I received a letter from you which is to me\n    offensive and impolite. I am not coming to your place, and I\n    will thank you to abate your interest in my behalf. I believe in\n    your work, and wish you success; but I hope you will let me\n    alone. My self-constituted friends have done me more injury than\n    _even_ my own indiscretions. Very truly,\n\n    To Rev. Steve P. Holcombe. ----- -----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM A GAMBLER.\n\n    FEBRUARY 4, 1884.\n\n    _Mr. Steve Holcombe, Esq., Lewisville, Ky.:_\n\n    DEAR FRIEND: I take my pen in hand to drop you a few lines, as I\n    haven't heard of you for a long time, I learnt from a friend, of\n    your whereabouts, and that you had forever Retired from\n    Gambling, I want to accumulate a few hundred dollars and Retire\n    from the Business in the future, and as we have long Been\n    friends, I hope you will not Refuse giving me your sure system\n    of winning at the Game of Poker. From your friend,\n\n    DAVID W. MILLER,\n\n    _Ridgeville, Randolph Co., Ind._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    849 SEVENTH ST., LOUISVILLE, May 28, 1888.\n\n    _Rev. Steve Holcombe:_\n\n    DEAR SIR: I have a large family Bible, which has been in my\n    family a number of years. You will do me a personal favor by\n    accepting it as a souvenir of my late son, Charles A. Gill. It\n    was through your Christian instrumentality and kindness that my\n    dear son embraced his Saviour and died a Christian.\n\n    Hoping that God will add many stars to your crown, I am your\n    sincere friend,\n\n    HANNAH GILL.\n\n    Two more Bibles will be given you by the same hand for\n    distribution.\n\n    H. G.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM A CHRISTIAN BROTHER.\n\n    MEMPHIS, TENN., May 6, 1887.\n\n    _My Dear Friend and Brother Holcombe:_\n\n    Your card well received, but I have been so busy that I have\n    waited for a time to write to you. I am in good health and have\n    a good situation, thank God. Am always alone. My children in\n    Switzerland are well. When I passed through Louisville, as I\n    wrote you from New York, I wished I had been able to stop for\n    twenty-four hours, but had a through sleeper to Memphis, and\n    could not stay over. I heard of your great trial lately. Hope\n    God did sustain you, and that good will come out of it for your\n    soul. The more I live, the more I am separated from this world.\n    My body is in it, but my mind and spirit are longing for a\n    better state, where evil shall not be present, within or\n    without. The Bible becomes clearer to my soul every day, and\n    with the grace of God I hope to come to the end a faithful and\n    obedient child of the Almighty Father in heaven. I suffer very\n    much mentally; it is a constant agony. I am absolutely,\n    completely broken down in my own will; have given up entirely\n    all worldly pleasures; have no pleasure except in doing the will\n    of God the best I can. My old enemy, myself, with my passions\n    and self-indulgence, I pay no more attention to. May God use me\n    according to His good will, and make me so as to be worthy of\n    His service. Everything of this world has been taken away from\n    me; \"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity\" is my daily bread. I\n    often wish to be in Louisville. Maybe I shall return there\n    later, to have some Christian friends around me. I have here\n    $150.00 a month, and the finest situation that can be wished in\n    my line of business. What are you doing? I suppose always the\n    same--taking care of the lost and neglected. Your reward shall\n    be great, as you come nearer fulfilling the Master's teaching\n    than brilliant preachers who do not touch the burdens of poor\n    sinners. How is your family, especially your sweet little\n    daughter? I hope you are all well. This world is nothing but a\n    tremendous deception to all who are attached to it; everything\n    is corrupt, and has the sting of death and sin. It is a constant\n    warfare with evil and evil forces around you. It is only worth\n    living for the good we can do to others. I can not understand at\n    all the joy that some find in it, except in doing entirely, to\n    the best of your ability, the will of God. There is surely no\n    other source of life in the universe. I am writing now to dear\n    Brother A. A few months ago he wrote to me. He, also, has had\n    great sorrows. It is very strange that alone pain and suffering\n    can make us wise and pure in heart. How antagonistic are the\n    ways of God and those of men? Absolutely opposed in all things.\n    Oh, let us be true to God, even unto death, cutting mercilessly\n    all that is worldly and carnal, so as to live for the spirit and\n    not lose eternal life. My dear brother, please do pray for your\n    lonely brother, that God may bring His presence into my worried\n    soul and help me in the battle. The enemy is very powerful, and\n    shows no mercy. His mission is to destroy and to lie, and he\n    knows how to do it. May God bless you and keep you forever.\n\n    Your true friend,\n    ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM SAM P. JONES.\n\n    CHICAGO, ILL., March 16, 1886.\n\n    _Rev. Steve Holcombe, Louisville, Ky.:_\n\n    DEAR BROTHER HOLCOMBE: Yours of March 10th received. I thought\n    you were wise enough to know, when you wanted to plant yourself\n    in permanent quarters, that the devil would do his best to\n    prevent it. The devil don't like you anyway; but keep your\n    equilibrium--God is with you; and He is more than all that can\n    be against you. I have just passed through the most terrific\n    storm of criticism almost of my life; and thank God I have\n    witnessed in Chicago, within the last twenty-four hours, the\n    grandest triumph of the Gospel I ever saw. I wish you could be\n    here a few days and see the power of God, and rejoice with us in\n    the work.\n\n    I enclose an article, which you can take to the\n    _Courier-Journal_ if you like.\n\n    Kindest regards to your loved ones and all the brethren, and may\n    God's blessing be upon your work.\n\n    Fraternally yours,\n\n    SAM P. JONES.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM THE SAME.\n\n    GIBSON HOUSE,\n    CINCINNATI, OHIO, June 13, 1886.\n\n    _My Dear Brother Holcombe:_\n\n    I received your message sent by Brother Cleveland. I would like\n    you to come over about the middle of next week. I think we will\n    have some of the slain of the Lord for you to look after by that\n    time. Our meeting moves off gloriously. I have never seen a\n    better start anywhere. Thank God for the prospect of a glorious\n    victory in this wicked city. The house is packed day and night,\n    and the preachers and people stand shoulder to shoulder with me.\n    Love to your family. Affectionately,\n\n    SAM P. JONES.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM REV. DR. WILLITS (Warren Memorial Church).\n\n    _Mr. Steve Holcombe:_\n\n    DEAR SIR: The bearer, Ch. H., is a stranger to me; but he will\n    tell you his story. It is the old story of fight with appetite,\n    and you will be better able to advise him than myself.\n\n    Truly yours,\n\n    A. A. WILLITS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    FROM DR. JOHN A. BROADUS.\n\n    MARCH 23, 1885.\n\n    _Dear Brother Holcombe_:\n\n    The bearer is Mr. B., once a merchant in Richmond, Va., fallen\n    by drinking habits, separated from wife and children, _lost_. He\n    spoke to me after sermon yesterday morning, and came to my house\n    this morning. He does not ask immediate relief, having some\n    money; but wants to find employment, and thinks he can stop\n    drinking. He is evidently an intelligent man, and earnestly\n    desirous of regaining himself. He used to be an Episcopal\n    communicant. Now, if you can in any way help Mr. B., I shall be\n    exceedingly glad.\n\n    Your friend and brother,\n\n    JOHN A. BROADUS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n     The following letter is from one of the converts whose\n     testimony is given elsewhere, but it is interesting as an\n     independent account given soon after his conversion.\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., January 28, 1884.\n\n    _Rev. G. Alexander_:\n\nDEAR SIR AND BROTHER: The few brotherly words you spoke to me during our\nshort acquaintance, and your kindness toward me, a poor drunken outcast\nat the time, will ever be remembered. Often I make inquiries of Brother\nHolcombe regarding you and your health. At his suggestion, I write you\nand give a brief history of my life, in hope it may encourage some poor\nfellow whom you are seeking to save for a better life, and give him\nrenewed courage to battle against sin; and for the glory of our Saviour\nJesus Christ.\n\nMy father, as a wealthy man, determined to give his children the benefit\nof a good education. With this end in view, he left my younger brother\nand myself in Germany in 1864, after a visit there with the family. We\nstayed until 1867, when we returned to Louisville, I to enter the\nbanking house of Theodore Schwartz & Co. With them I stayed until 1869,\nwhen my father became bondsman for the sheriff, Captain John A. Martin.\nOut of courtesy, Captain Martin made me, although only nineteen years of\nage, one of his deputies. From that time I date my downfall. Money\nflowed in freely; and, being young and inexperienced, I spent it just as\nfreely, if not more so. In two years, at the age of twenty-one, I was\nconsidered about as reckless a young man as there was in the city. My\nfather was always proud of his oldest son, and indulged me in almost\neverything. The habit of intemperance was gaining a sure hold; and when\nhe died, in 1872, I was considered by some a confirmed drunkard.\n\nGradually I sank lower and lower, until I became what I was when you\nfirst saw me eight months ago--a poor miserable outcast from society,\nand a burden to myself and friends. I was forsaken and despised by all.\nI shudder to think that my life should ever flow in the same channel\nagain. During all these years of dissipation I wandered all over this\ncountry--from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic almost\nto the Pacific. I drifted aimlessly with no other object in view but to\ngratify a terrible longing for strong drink. I had been in the city but\na short while when I heard of Brother Holcombe's efforts to redeem the\nfallen. Having known him before his conversion, curiosity led me to\nlisten to him. During all this time I knew and felt that a day of\nreckoning would come, but whenever such thoughts entered my mind, I\ndismissed them, as they made me tremble at the very idea of having to\ngive an account of the misdeeds of a wasted life. On the 25th of last\nJune I was passing up Jefferson street, and heard singing in the\nbasement at No. 436. My first impulse was to turn and go away, as I was\nin no suitable dress to go into a place of worship. Then the thought\ncame into my mind, \"This is Steve Holcombe's place; I'll go in and see\nwhat it looks like.\" Thank God, I did go in. The songs of those\nSunday-school children awakened chords in my heart which I thought had\ndied long ago. Tears came into my eyes, and then and there I vowed, if\nby God's help salvation was possible for me, I certainly would make the\ntrial. Glorious have been the results. That evening I heard Brother\nHolcombe once more; introduced myself to him and promised him I would\nattend evening service, which I did.\n\nFrom that day to this I have been growing in grace. The Lord has blessed\nme wonderfully. My worldly affairs have prospered; and, what is worth\nmore than all the world to me, I am continually happy. Nothing disturbs\nmy peace, and I allow nothing to interfere with it. My trust is in my\nSaviour; He has promised to care for those who trust Him, and I have\nimplicit faith in that promise. My old appetite and desires are all\ntaken away and I find pleasure and joy in things that in former years I\nconsidered ridiculous.\n\n    Very truly yours,\n\n    FRED ROPKE.\n\n\n\n\nTESTIMONIALS.\n\n\nCAPTAIN EGBERT J. MARTIN.\n\nI was born in Louisville in 1842; was educated in New York and Virginia;\nserved in General Lee's army during the war on the staff of my uncle,\nGeneral Edward Johnson. The only commission I received was received on\nthe third day of July, 1863, at the battle of Gettysburg.\n\nMy first drinking commenced in Georgia, where I was planting rice with\nGeneral Gordon. That was in 1867. I did not drink during the war at all\nexcept that I might have taken a drink occasionally when I met with\nfriends. My uncle would not permit liquor about his headquarters. On\nleaving Georgia, I went to New York, and went into business. I acquired\nquite a reputation there, and had a good income. My periodical drinking\ncontinued, however, and each year became greater and greater. Nothing\nwas said about it for seven years and a half. I would not drink around\nmy place of business. When I felt the spell coming on me, I would quit\nand go off, and be gone seven or eight days, and be back to business\nagain when I had straightened up, and nothing was said about it; but the\nthing will increase on a man, and, of course, with each succeeding year\nthe habit became stronger, and the intervals shorter.\n\nI conceived the idea that a change of climate would do me good. Visits\nto the mountains seemed to benefit me, and I thought I would go West,\nand the change would effect a cure. I went to Colorado, made friends\nthere, went into business, and was successful. I was married to my wife\nin Denver, Colorado. I believed as my wife did, that my drinking was a\nmatter under my control. I had been leading an aimless life, with no\nfamily ties; and after I was married, I thought a strong effort on my\npart would stop it. I wanted to get back to salt water again, and have\neverything in my favor; and the next morning after we were married, I\nstarted for California. I was very successful there. I was in a short\ntime made special agent of the California Electric Light Company, at a\nsalary of three thousand dollars a year. They wanted to make a contract\nwith me for five years, giving me three thousand dollars a year, if I\nwould bind myself not to drink during the five years. I found it was not\nsuch an easy thing to quit drinking. I consulted physicians there. There\nwas a doctor in Oakland who said he had a specific for drunkenness; and\nhe gave it to me. The result was that when I wanted a drink, I threw the\nmedicine away and got the drink. What I always wanted, and tried to get,\nwas something to take away the appetite for drink. There were times when\nI had no more desire for drink than you or any other man; but when it\nseized me, it seized me in an uncontrollable way, and I would drink for\nthe deliberate purpose of making myself sick and getting over it as\nquick as possible. I knew it had to be gone through with, and I drank\nuntil I made myself sick.\n\nI never attended to business when I drank liquor. I never mixed up my\nbusiness affairs with my drinking. Everybody I had anything to do with\nknew I was thoroughly reliable. I never lied about being drunk. I never\nsaid I was sick or had the cholera infantum or anything of that sort.\nEverybody who employed me knew as much about it as I did.\n\nWhen my little boy was born, I felt a sacred duty was imposed upon me;\nand I tried to encourage my ideas of morality. I had always been a moral\nman, and, although an infidel, had never sought to break down the\nreligious opinions of any one, because I had nothing to give them\ninstead. My rationalism satisfied me. It was a belief, an opinion, with\nwhich I was willing to face my Maker, because I believed I was right. I\nbelieved in the existence of a Supreme Being, but I did not believe that\nthe great Ruler of the universe thought enough of us insignificant human\nbeings to interest Himself in our affairs. I did not believe in the\nChristians' God. There in Virginia I had been surrounded by members of\nthe church. Everybody was either a Baptist, a Methodist, or a member of\nsome other denomination; drunkards and saloon-keepers and all belonged\nto the church. They could do wrong and afterward go straight to church.\nThat kind of religion disgusted me, and that kind of religion confirmed\nmy skepticism. I wanted to get away and I even planned to go to\nAustralia. After my little boy was born, I stayed sober for six months,\nand then I commenced drinking again. I did not conceal the truth from\nmyself. I said, \"You are false to everything that is manly; you are a\ndisgrace to yourself.\" I decided to go back to Virginia (my wife had\nnever been there) and settle up a lawsuit I had pending in the courts.\n\nBut after a short stay in Virginia I had an offer to return to New York\nand go to work, and went to New York; and after I had been there a\nmonth, I received a dispatch stating that a compromise had been agreed\nupon without consulting me at all. I went back to Richmond and rejected\nthe compromise.\n\nA decision was made in my favor, but the case was taken to the Court of\nAppeals. I had used up everything I had in litigation; and when, at\nlast, I got a telegram that the Court of Appeals had reversed the case,\nand we had lost everything, it just broke me down. It took me more than\na month to realize that it was a fact--I could not get it into my head;\nand it broke me down completely. I loved my wife and I loved my child,\nand was troubled about them, and for the two years I was fighting these\nVirginia gentlemen I was in a state of high excitement. I had nothing to\ndo except to worry, and I drank more than ever in my life. I said, \"My\nGod! it is awful. I have lost everything. I know I am a drunkard; it is\nno use denying it, because the appetite is on me all the time.\" And many\na time I threw myself down in the woods and sobbed aloud if Fate would\nhave mercy on me. I had given up all hope. I thought the good fortune\nwhich had followed me all my life would never return. I had sent my wife\noff; so I had lost her, too. She went to her sister's, in Ohio; and I\narranged that my mother should remain at the old place. I wrote to a\ncousin of mine whom I had not met since the war. He used, frequently, to\ncome to our home, a delightful and healthful place, thirteen miles from\nRichmond. I thought I would write him that I desired to get out of\nVirginia, and had not the means, and would make Louisville my objective\npoint. So I wrote him, but received no reply. I wrote to another man,\nstating the circumstances--that I wanted to get out of Virginia and go\nto work; but I received no answer from him; and I came to the conclusion\nif I wanted to get out of Virginia I would have to walk. I had secured\nmy wife and child, and as for myself it little mattered what befell me\nor how I fared.\n\nI was walking through the woods one day and saw a man getting out\nrailroad ties. He told me of a place near by, called the \"Lost Land.\" A\nyear before that, my uncle's executor gave me a deed that was taken from\nthe old house at my oldest uncle's death. It was for a little slip of\nland--an avenue--that my grandfather had bought in 1815. Well, I thought\nnothing of it. I told the old negro woman that when everything was\nsettled up, I was going to give her that land; and I put the deed away\nwith other papers and forgot all about it. When I was worrying about the\nmeans, and making efforts to get the means to get out of Virginia, this\nman, who was hewing in the woods, told me about the little piece of\nwoodland that had so much sill timber on it, and he spoke of it as the\n\"Lost Land,\" and his speaking of the \"Lost Land\" reminded me of this\ndeed, and I hurried home, found the deed, and saw that it located the\nland at about where he mentioned. I went to the County Surveyor, who had\nsucceeded his father and grandfather in the office, and we found that\nthe property of which this formed a part had been sold in large lots,\nand it was there between the lines of the other property, unclaimed by\nany one, and for seventy-three years had escaped taxation, because the\ndeed conveying it had never been recorded in the county books, and it\nwas supposed by the county officials that all of the original tract had\nbeen divided off in the larger subdivisions. We found it, ran the lines\naround it, and I sold ten acres for one hundred dollars--enough to pay a\ngrocery bill, buy me a suit of clothes and land me in Louisville.\n\nI had loved the old place--loved it all my life, because I had spent\nmany days there when a happy, careless boy. My mother was born there, my\ngrandmother and my great-grandfather lie buried there. It was bought in\n1782 by my great-grandfather, who was not only a gentleman but a\nscholar. He graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at\nEdinburgh, and afterward spent seven years in Europe. I was very much\nattached to the old place, and on leaving it I drank to deaden the pain.\n\nI came here to Louisville, and I drank after I got here to keep from\nthinking. I tell you things looked blue, and I tell you the fact, the\nliquor I drank every day made me feel worse and worse, and my brain was\naffected from the excitement I had passed through. I found myself in a\nsecond or third-class hotel which stood nearly on the spot where I was\nborn. I lay in my room for three days. I came to the conclusion there\nwas no use kicking; the end was at hand. Fate had brought me back here,\nwhere I was born, to die. I even said it to myself, \"Destiny has brought\nyou back here, to the city where you were born, to die; and to die by\nyour own hands. You have no respect for yourself, nor have others\nrespect for you. You know by living you will bring further disgrace upon\nthe wife and child you love so well. If you will commit suicide people\nwill say, 'He was an unfortunate man, but a brave one; his only fault\nwas his drinking.'\" I tried to shut out all thoughts of my wife and\nchild, but I could not. I said to myself, \"I was born here; I have not\noutraged the law; I have done nothing dishonorable; nothing why any man\nrelated to me should shun me. But I have lost everything; I am accursed;\nI am alone here. My wife's people know I am here, but do not communicate\nwith me. And they tell me there is a God.\" A man came to my room in the\nhotel and said they wanted the room. \"You say you have no money and no\nfriends, so we can not keep you here any longer. You must give us the\nroom.\" Under these circumstances I was coming nearer and nearer the\nfinal determination to commit suicide when a man, a stranger, came into\nmy room who was himself a drunkard. I told him my condition and my\ndetermination. He said, \"Wait till I send that man Holcombe down to see\nyou. Maybe he can help you.\" Mr. Holcombe dropped everything and came to\nme at once. I did not know who he was. He said, \"My name is Holcombe: I\nam from the Mission.\" Well, sir, if he had commenced at me as most\npreachers would have done, and told me in a sort of mechanical way that\nI had brought it all on myself, I would have said, \"I am much obliged to\nyou for your politeness and your well-meant efforts, but it does me no\ngood, and I am very much distressed and would much prefer to be alone.\"\nHe said, \"There is no use trusting in yourself; you can not save\nyourself.\" That struck me at once as a correct diagnosis of my case, and\nI said, \"That is just the conclusion I have come to myself.\" Then he\ntold me what had been done for him, and he got down on his knees and\nprayed. And when he prayed for me and my wife and child, that is what\nreached my heart. I said \"There is _something_ in that man's religion at\nany rate. I do not believe in this stuff I have seen in the churches;\nbut there is something in that sort of religion. It is the last straw I\nhave to catch at. I will try it.\" I got up out of bed where I had been\nfor three wretched days, and came up to the Mission. There I came in\ncontact with some influence I had never felt before. I came to the\nconclusion that there was truth in the Christian religion, and I said,\n\"That is all right, but that is not what I want. I want that inward\nconsciousness that I am not going to drink.\" I might get up and say, \"I\nam ready to confess I am wrong; I believe religion is right; I have seen\nevidences of it; I believe you are right and I am wrong. But I had no\ninward consciousness of any change in me, and I did not feel secure or\nin any way protected against the habit of drinking.\" I knew if there was\nanything in religion, there must be something a man would be conscious\nof. I said, \"There is something in this religion, but I have not got the\nhang of it.\" It occurred to me that perhaps after all, my chief motive\nand desire in all this was the welfare of my wife and child and the\nrecovery of our domestic happiness. And lying on that bed I said, \"I am\nwilling to do anything. There is nothing that I am not willing to do, if\nI can only get rid of this appetite. I will get up and state that I was\na drunkard; I will acknowledge every tramp as my brother; and, although\nI have no desire to do it, I will go out and preach. Just let me know\nthat I am free from this thing and that I can go on in life;\" and all at\nonce--I could not connect the thought and result together--there came\nupon me a perfect sense of relief. I was just as conscious then of\ndivine interposition as I ever was afterward; and I said to myself,\n\"This is what they call regeneration,\" and turned over and went to\nsleep. From that time I commenced a new sober life; and I never have\nwanted liquor; I never have had a desire for it since, and it is now\ngoing on two years.\n\nI think many men are called, but few are chosen. There are a great many\nmen who get far enough in the surrender to feel good and change their\nopinions; but they do not get down to the bed-rock of regeneration. I do\nnot believe in any change, or in any doctrine that says there is\nregeneration through anything except a complete surrender. Men are ready\nto believe that Christ was the son of God, but go straight home and\ncontinue their old way of life. They must say, \"I will not only quit\nserving the devil, but I will commence serving God.\" \"Thou shall love\nthe Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy\nstrength.\"\n\nI do not let theological opinions disturb me now. My simple faith and\ntheology is this: That I have the peace of God and He keeps me. I have\nknowledge of God's power and mercy, and feel that God keeps me.\n\nMy wife and child have come back and are now with me, and are as happy\nas they can be; and there is not a man in this country with less money\nand more happiness than I. I am happier than I ever was in my life.\n\n     NOTE.--Captain Martin is now engaged in business in the house\n     of Bayless Bros. & Co., Louisville.\n\n\nR. N. DENNY.\n\nI was born in 1846 in the State of Illinois. At that time, before there\nwere many railroads, it was a comparatively backwoods country where I\nwas raised. Our nearest market was St. Louis, sixty miles from where we\nlived. My father kept a country store there, and hauled his produce to\nSt. Louis. My father was a professed Christian, so also was my\ngrandfather, yet each of them kept a demijohn of whisky in the house.\nThey would prepare roots and whisky, and herbs and whisky, which was\nused for all kinds of medical purposes and for all kinds of ills that\nflesh is heir to; and I believe at that time I got the appetite for\nwhisky, if I did not inherit it. I have drunk whisky as far back as I\ncan remember. I had a great many relatives who were Christians; but I\ngloried in my obstinacy and would have nothing to do with Christianity.\n\nIn my seventeenth year I went into the army. Of course, being among the\nRomans, I had to be a Roman, too; and consequently, the drinking habit\ngrew upon me; and I acquired also a passion for gambling. After the war\nI did not do much good. I drifted about from place to place for\nsomething over a year, and then joined the regular army. I belonged to\nthe Seventh Regular Cavalry, Custer's command, which was massacred on\nthe Little Big Horn. At that time I did not belong to the command, as my\ntime had expired some time before.\n\nI came to Louisville in 1871, and commenced working as a restaurant and\nhotel cook. I was very apt at the business, and was soon able to command\nthe best situations to be had, having been _chef_ at the Galt House.\nDuring all this time I had been a drunkard in different stages. I was\nwhat is called a \"periodical drunkard.\" I often braced up and went\nwithout a drink for six months or a year--something like that length of\ntime--and always had work when I was not drinking; but I became so\nunreliable, that I could get no employment when another man could be\nhad. It was said of me everywhere, \"Denny is a good man, but he drinks.\"\nAbout 1873 I got married, and up to 1883 I had four children. Of course,\nmy drinking, and everything of that kind, brought my family to want--in\nfact, to beggary. For a long time I always took my wages home on\npay-day, and my wife, in her good-heartedness, always offered me money;\nwould often ask me of a morning if I did not feel bad, and would give me\nfifteen cents or a quarter, not knowing that she was giving me money for\nmy own damnation, until the year of the first Exposition here--1882. I\nhad a position there at twelve dollars a week. I stayed there ten weeks;\nand I do not believe I got home with five dollars in the whole ten\nweeks. The man with whom I worked had a bar attachment to his\nrestaurant, and I could get what credit I wanted there; and on Saturday\nnight when I found my wages were short, I would get drunk, and conclude\nto try and win something at gambling, but I invariably lost.\n\nAt the close of the Exposition, it was on the verge of winter, and times\nwere very dull. I was behind with my rent and in debt to everybody I\ncould get in debt to, my family were without decent clothing, had no\nfire, and I was almost naked myself, with no prospects of a situation. A\nshort time afterward I got a position on a steamboat, which paid me\nfairly well, and which I believe I kept two, maybe three, weeks, and got\ndrunk as usual. I failed to take my money home, and, of course, told my\nwife some lie. I had to say something. Sometimes my wife believed me,\nand sometimes she did not. At that time it was winter, it must have been\nin December, and very cold. My children were barefooted, and I was just\nabout to be set out on the street because I had not paid my rent. I woke\nup one very cold morning very early, and we had not a morsel of food in\nthe house or coal to make a fire with. I walked down toward the river\nand met the same man I had been working with a few weeks before. He\nstopped and asked me if I did not want to go back on the boat. I told\nhim I would be glad to go back. He asked me how long before I would get\ndrunk; and I said, as I had said a thousand times before, \"I will never\ndrink again.\" I made one trip, which was three days, and got drunk. It\nwas on the second day of January, 1883, that I shipped, and I came back\non the fifth, which was the coldest day I ever saw in Louisville. The\nthermometer was twenty-six degrees below zero between New Albany and the\nmouth of Salt river. There were during these dark days a few charitable\npeople that used to give my family some of the necessaries of life--and\nbut for that I can not see how they would have kept from starvation. I\nappreciated my situation nearly all the time, knew how wrong I was\ndoing, would admit it to myself but would not admit it to anybody else.\nIf a man had called me a drunkard, I would have called him a liar.\n\nIn the providence of God the Fifth and Walnut-street church established\nthe Holcombe Mission near where I lived, and among other waifs picked up\non the street and taken to the Sunday-school were my children. While I\nhad always been pretty bad myself, I had always tried to teach my\nchildren better. I shuddered at the thought of my boys going on in the\nway that I was going. When they went to Sunday-school and learned the\nsongs there and came home and sang them, it broke me all to pieces. I\nhad nothing left to do but to go and get drunk in self-defense. The\nSunday-school teacher (Mrs. J. R. Clarke), who taught my children, had\nbeen trying to find me for a long time. She must have thought from\nseeing my children at Sunday-school that there was some good in me; and\nafter awhile she sent me a Bible with a great many passages marked in\nit. She was looking for me and had sent for me to come and see her, and\nI had been trying to keep out of her way for a long time. Finally she\nfound me at home one day, and would take no excuse, but insisted that I\nmust come to Holcombe's Mission; and, of course, I promised to go,\nbecause I could not help myself. I could not get out of it; and if I had\na redeeming trait in the world, it was that I would not break a positive\npromise.\n\nI promised her to come, and that day I did go. They were holding\nnoon-day meetings at the time. I do not remember just now that I was\nvery deeply impressed. I was of a skeptical turn of mind and very\ncritical. I well remember I criticised all the testimonies given there;\nbut the thing was so strange to me, so different from anything that I\nwas used to, that I was very considerably impressed in a strange kind of\nway, which is unaccountable to me even now. I had taken a seat near the\ndoor, so that I might get out very quick; but Brother Holcombe headed me\noff, and caught me before I got to the door. I did not know him\npersonally at that time, but had known of him for a long time. Of\ncourse, I could not get out of the Mission without promising to come\nagain. After having come two or three times, I was asked to say\nsomething, but did not feel like saying anything. Finally I stood up one\nday, perhaps the third or fourth day I was there. It was not a time when\nthey were asking people if they wanted an interest in their prayers. I\ngot up and said I wanted an interest in their prayers that I might be\nsaved from myself. I had known for a long time that I was helpless, so\nfar as delivering myself from drink was concerned. I knew nothing about\nChristianity, in fact, I did not care much about it, because I had not\nstudied on the subject, and would not study on the subject. For many\nyears I had not dared to stop and think seriously about such a subject,\nbut when I heard that the Gospel of Christ was able to deliver such a\nman as I, I heard it gladly, because I had found there was no earthly\npower that could deliver such a man as I was. In the meantime, I had\nbeen reading my Bible, and had committed some of it to memory; and there\nwas a good deal of mystery attached to the whole thing--things that I\ncould not understand. When they asked me to speak, I quoted a passage\nfrom the Bible. One day I quoted the passage about a man having put his\nhand to the plow and looking back, not being worthy of the kingdom of\nGod. Brother Messick, pastor of the church which I afterward joined,\nprayed directly afterward, and in his prayer he quoted this passage of\nScripture, and prayed in such an encouraging and helpful way, that I\nrose from my knees satisfied in my heart that I was changed.\n\nWell, from that time until now I have never drunk anything. That was in\nJanuary or February, 1883. I have never had a desire for liquor but once\nsince. Last summer I went to Crab Orchard. I was _chef_ down there, and\nI had to handle very choice wines and liquors in my business, and I\nhandled one brand of wine that I was particularly fond of in old times.\nI was tempted that time to drink wine. It seemed the tempter said to me:\n\"You are way down here where nobody knows anything about you. It is\ngood, and you know it won't hurt you. It don't cost you anything and it\nis nothing but wine, and you need not take too much.\" At that time I\ncould get all the liquor I wanted. If I wanted it, I could order a\nhogshead of it just by a scratch of the pen. With that single exception,\nI have never had a temptation to drink. I don't know that I had an\nappetite to drink then. It was a clear cut temptation from without, and\nnot from within.\n\nI have had no trouble about getting positions since my conversion and\ndeliverance from the appetite for drink. My family are well housed, well\nclothed and well fed, and have everything they need, and have had since\nthe time I became a Christian man. They themselves are the greatest\nevidences in the world of what Christianity can do for a man. A short\ntime ago--six months ago--I established myself in business, and have\nbeen doing a thriving, prosperous business from that time until now.\n\nI might say something about my going to the work-house: Two years ago,\nor a little over, I was asked to go to the work-house one Sunday\nevening. I was very much impressed with the necessity for working for\nthe poor men there. I was at that time identified with the Mission work,\nand the services at the work-house were all under the auspices of the Y.\nM. C. A. I continued going to the work-house for some length of\ntime--three or four months. The Y. M. C. A. very kindly divided time\nwith me and other Mission workers. After having gone to the work-house\nthree or four months, I stopped going. The Chairman of the Devotional\nCommittee of the Y. M. C. A. sent for me and gave me charge of the\nwork-house and jail, which, of course, I accepted in the name of the\nMission; and from that time until now both of them have been under\nMission workers. I was very anxious to return to the work-house, but our\nhead decided that I should take the jail, where I have continued to go\nfor a year and a half--I suppose about that length of time--every Sunday\nwhen I was in the city, with possibly one or two exceptions.\n\n     NOTE.--Mr. Denny is at present the joint-proprietor, with Mr.\n     Ropke, of a thriving restaurant on Third street, between\n     Jefferson and Green, Louisville.\n\n[Illustration: B. F. DAVIDSON.]\n\n\nB. F. DAVIDSON.\n\nTwenty years ago I resided in the city of Cincinnati; was President of a\nBoatman's Insurance Company, proprietor of a ship chandlery, and\ninterested largely in some twenty odd steamboats; and also interested\nlargely in other insurance companies, and was rated as worth half a\nmillion of dollars. Through depreciation in property, bad debts, and\nindorsing for other parties largely, in four years I had lost all my\nmoney. To retrieve my fortune, I then started West, not being willing,\nof course, to accept a position where I had been a proprietor. While\nthere, associating with the miners and Western people generally, I\ncontracted the habit of drinking. This grew upon me and was continued,\nwith short intermissions of soberness, up to four years ago--about last\nJanuary. I was brought very low as a consequence of my dissipation, and\nI have traveled as a tramp from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from\nthe lakes to the Gulf, spending my time in alternately fighting and\nyielding to the demon of drink. For five years previous to my coming to\nLouisville, I had given up all hope of ever being able to make anything\nof myself, as I had tried, in vain, every known remedy to cure me of the\nappetite. My pride was effectually humbled, and I was in despair.\n\nFrom the time that I went West--which was in 1872--until my arrival in\n1884, my children, a daughter and son, knew not whether I was dead or\nalive--knew nothing of me whatever. After I took to drink, I lost all\ninterest in them and everything else.\n\nAs soon as I got off the ferry-boat in Louisville, in as sad a plight as\nany wretched man was ever in, I met an old friend, who had known me in\nyears previous, and who handed me two dollars, requesting me to call at\nhis office the next morning, when he would give me such assistance as I\nneeded. The two dollars I spent that day for whisky. That night I begged\na quarter to pay for my lodging. The next day, by begging, I filled up\npretty well on whisky again. Toward evening I went into a Main-street\nhouse and asked a gentleman for a quarter to pay for a night's lodging,\nI had lost all pride, all self-respect, and could beg with a brazen\nface. The gentleman handed me a card of Holcombe's Mission. As I did not\nknow or care anything about missions or churches, I merely stuck the\ncard in my pocket and went on my way. After walking around for some time\nI heard the remark: \"There goes that old man now.\" Upon looking up I\nrecognized the gentleman whom I last asked for a quarter to pay for a\nnight's lodging, and another man, engaged in conversation. The other\ngentleman, who proved to be the Rev. Steve Holcombe, of Holcombe's\nMission, took me by the hand and invited me up to the Mission rooms,\nwhere I told him my story. He asked me if I ever had asked God through\nJesus Christ to assist me in my endeavors to become a sober man. I told\nhim I had not, as I had made up my mind years ago that God had no use\nfor me. I felt as though I had sinned beyond redemption.\n\nI had left home very early in life. My mother was the best Christian\nwoman I had ever seen. She was a Methodist, but she never could preach\nChristianity to me--I fell back on my own righteousness. I did not\ndrink, I did not smoke, I did not chew, I did not swear, I did not run\nafter women, I did not loaf around saloons like other young men. When my\nmother was after me to join the church, I told her that would not make\nme any better: \"Look at your church members; is that man any better than\nI am?\" My sister, along toward the last, having joined the Episcopal\nchurch, I took two pews in that church; was a lay member, but I did not\nattend it. That was in Newport--St. Paul's Episcopal church, Newport.\nWhen the minister insisted on my going to church, I told him that while\nhe would be preaching sermons I would be building steamboats, so his\nsermons would not do me any good.\n\nAfter I got to drinking, my poor daughter did not see me. I did not go\nto my children at all. I never got but one letter from them during that\ntime, from 1872 to 1884, and that was a letter that went to Cincinnati,\nand they held it there, I believe, for two years. I was at Cincinnati a\ngood many times; but they could never get me to stay there long enough\nto get my children down to see me. As soon as I had an idea that they\nwere manoeuvring for anything of that kind, I would get out of town at\nonce, and they would not know where I had gone.\n\nDuring my life as a tramp, there is no kind of work that can be thought\nof that I did not work at more or less, and the money I\nearned--sometimes I earned as much as eight dollars a day--eventually\nwent to the barkeepers; I could not even buy my clothes.\n\nAfter a long talk with Brother Holcombe, I told him that, having tried\neverything else, I was perfectly willing to try God. That night I went\nto church, and went up to be prayed for. There was no regular meeting at\nthe Mission then, from the fact that the church that was running the\nMission had a revival. So, with Brother Holcombe, I went around to the\nrevival meeting at the Fifth and Walnut-street church. When the\ninvitation was given for those who wanted to be prayed for to come\nforward, I was among the first to accept it, and went up clothed in all\nmy rags. After prayer I felt much better than I had for many years. That\nnight I went back and lay on the floor in the Mission, having refused an\ninvitation from Brother Holcombe to go to a boarding-house, telling him\nif God, in His mercy, would take from me the appetite for strong drink,\nI had still strength and will enough left to make my own living. The\nnext morning I asked Brother Holcombe to go with me to the paper-mill of\nBremaker-Moore Company, where they were building a dam to prevent an\noverflow from stopping the engines in the paper-mill. I secured a\nposition there, at a dollar and a quarter a day, to shovel mud. As soon\nas the river commenced to fall that occupation was gone; but the\nsuperintendent of the mill, becoming in the meantime somewhat acquainted\nwith my history, offered me a situation inside, which I held for three\nweeks, when I was sent for to see the business manager of the _Post_. I\naccepted a position on the _Post_ as advertising solicitor at fifteen\ndollars a week, which was afterward increased to twenty-five. I was then\nmade business manager, at thirty dollars, which position I now hold.\n\nI can say this: That while I had an abundance of means to find\nhappiness, pleasure and contentment, and had sought it in every possible\nway that a man could, I failed to find it until I accepted Christ as my\nSaviour, and gave myself into His hands. Since then I have had a\nhappiness I never knew before. My life has been one of constant peace\nand uninterrupted prosperity. My children are both happily married, and\nI have married myself.\n\nThough I was before so proud that I could not accept my mother's\nteaching, I was at a point where I would have accepted anything. They\nwould tell me that doctor so-and-so would cure me; which was no kindness\nto me, because it kept me from asking God's help. But nothing would do\nme any good. So I said, \"God, here I am; accept me. If there is any good\nin me, bring it out. I am down, down, down; I can not help myself.\"\n\nBrother Holcombe had told me what God had done for him. I had confidence\nin him from the start, from the fact of his having told me he was a\ngambler so long; and when he told me God had redeemed him from the\ndesire for gambling, I thought he might take away the appetite for drink\nfrom me; and He has done so, I am very thankful to say. I expect I was\nthe worst-looking sight you ever saw, but I do not take a back seat now\nfor any one--I look as well as anybody. As I told a man last week: \"With\nthe Lord on my side, I do not fear anything!\" I had had charge of men,\nand had succeeded in managing them. I did not accept religion because I\nwas a weak-minded man. As evidence of that, I have proved it since as I\nhad proved it before. I proved that when I was trying to be a good man\nin my own way. I have proved since that I was not a weak-minded man\nfrom the responsible positions I have held and do hold.\n\nBut, as I was going to say, I had not shaved for two years, and had not\nhad my hair cut, I am satisfied, for one year. My hair was hanging down\non my shoulders; my face, of course, not very clean; my clothes were\nrags. My shoes were simply tops, and the gentleman who gave me these two\ndollars, told me: \"Captain, you are the hardest-looking man I ever saw\nin my life. I do not know how I recognized you.\" I said: \"This is the\ncondition I am in, and drinking has brought me to it.\"\n\nI have been asked by several prominent men how it is I get up night\nafter night and tell people how bad I have been. I told them it was like\nthis; if they had been sick nigh unto death and were going to die, and a\nphysician came and gave them some medicine and made whole men out of\nthem, would they not be going around the streets telling people about\nthat physician? I said that is the reason I get up every night and tell\npeople about it. Christ was the physician that healed me. That is the\nremedy I have for all evil now--the blood of Jesus Christ. It was\nutterly impossible for a man to exist and be in a worse condition than I\nwas. I was physically and mentally a wreck; and now by accepting\nChrist--becoming a Christian--I am physically, morally, mentally and\nspiritually restored and well. That is the reason why I do not hesitate\nto tell anybody--even people coming into my office. An editor of a paper\nsaid to me: \"Is it possible you were a tramp?\" I told him it was; and he\nwas talking something about attacking me through his paper, about what\nI had been. I said, \"Blaze away; it won't hurt me. I do not deny having\nbeen a tramp and a drunkard--everything that was mean. But what am I\nnow?\" I do not care what they bring back of my past record; they can not\nhurt me, for I do not deny it. It is what I am now. I think now that I\nwas as bad and mean as a man could possibly be. But I am no longer what\nI was, by the grace of Him who called me out of the former darkness into\nHis light.\n\n[Illustration: H. C. PRICE.]\n\n\nH. CLAY PRICE.\n\nI used to know Brother Holcombe in those days; knew him to be a gambler.\nHe was considered one of the best of gamblers, but I always looked upon\nhim as being an honorable gambler, so far as I have heard. I knew him\neven before he was a gambler.\n\nWell, my father and mother were very pious, my mother especially. She\nwas a praying woman, and everybody knew her by the name of \"Aunt\nKittie,\" and my father as \"Uncle Billy.\" My father did not think it was\nany harm to play cards in the parlor every night. When I was young he\nloved to play whist. I had a sister older than I, sixteen or seventeen\nyears old, and she used to invite young men, and father used to invite\nthem, to come there and play cards; and the moment they commenced to fix\nthe table, my father beckoned his head to me, and I knew what that\nmeant--to get out. We had a young negro that used to wait on the ladies\nin the parlor, and he told me one time, \"You steal a deck of cards and I\nwill show you how to play cards.\" And I stole a deck of cards from the\nhouse and we went back in the stable; and that is the way I came to\nlearn how to play cards. I was twelve or fifteen years old at that\ntime--not any older than that--and I commenced playing cards for money,\nand I kept on playing cards for money with the boys; for money or for\nanything. I was sent off to school--to St. Mary's College, and we got to\nplaying cards there for money, and we were caught, and the oldest one\nwas expelled from school, and I promised never to do it any more, and\nthe other boys promised not to do it any more, and they did not. But I\nkept on and I was caught playing cards, and I was expelled from school.\nAfter that my father sent me to St. Joseph's College in Ohio. I ran off\nfrom that school and came home, and I was appointed a Deputy Marshal by\nmy brother-in-law, W. S. D. McGowen; and I got to gambling then sure\nenough and running after women; and about that time the war came on, and\nI went off with my brother-in-law into the army, and I gambled all\nthrough the army--everywhere I could get five cents to play with. All I\nhad I gambled away. I came back home and I gambled here; played in the\nfaro banks all the time. And a proprietor of a gambling house by the\nname of Jo. Croxton came to me and said, \"You are too good a man to be\ngambling around. I will give you an interest, and you can take charge of\nmy house.\" I did not know much about gambling, but I knew how to take\ncare of his house. He gave me the bank roll; and I went on down and\ndown.\n\nI was married then and had a faithful, gentle and devoted wife, but I\nthought I was smarter than anybody about gambling, and I thought I could\nmake big money, and so I would leave my wife, devoted and dependent as\nshe was, and I kept traveling on around the country, going to different\ntowns. I went to Nashville; from there I went to New Orleans. I came\nback to Nashville. I left Nashville and went to Huntsville, Ala.; came\nback here and went to St. Louis; then to Chicago and Lexington. After\nthat I went back to Nashville again. I made a good deal of money if I\ncould have kept it; but the Lord would not let me have it. I averaged\nhere for years and years $500 a month. Sometimes I made more--made as\nmuch as $1,700 a month, and once I went up as high as $2,100 a\nmonth--made big winnings. As fast as I got this money I could not keep\nit--threw it away on women all the time and gambling against the bank\nand poker; would spit at a mark for money. I have lost hundreds and\nhundreds of dollars without getting off of my seat, with men I knew were\nrobbing me all the time. It was a passion I had to gamble and I'd not\nstop. In one game of poker that I was in I bet and lost $900 on one\nhand, and I have never played at poker since that time.\n\nWhen the gambling-houses were broken up here in Louisville, I concluded\nI would go off to Chicago. I had some money and I went to Chicago; and\nas soon as I got there, I got broke, lost all the money I had. I was\namong strangers and I was dead broke. Finally I got another situation,\nand worked there for some time. I then got hold of some money again, and\nI came home and remained some time. My wife was begging me all the time\nnot to go away--did not think I ought to go away; she said that I could\nstay here and get some work to do, and make an honest living. But I\nthought I had better go back to Chicago and make some money; and I made\nsome money as soon as I got there by playing faro bank; and I did very\nwell at that time, made a good deal of money; and you know how a man\nfeels when he has five hundred dollars in his pocket; and yet all that\ntime I did not send my wife anything. I thought I would get about one\nthousand dollars and open some kind of a bar-room or cigar shop, or\nsomething of the kind. But the day before Christmas I got to playing\nagainst the faro bank, and got broke; and I was the most miserable man\nin the world, to think that I had lost the last chance I had. The day\nbefore Christmas my wife wrote me, \"Why don't you come home? I had\nrather see you home than there again making money,\" I said, \"Yesterday I\ngot broke--I played to win. I had nothing to eat all day.\" But\naccidentally I found a twenty-five cent piece in my pocket; and I got up\nand went and bought a ten-cent dinner, and paid fifteen cents for a\ncigar. I have done that many times, I suppose, bought a quarter dinner\nand given the other quarter for a cigar. I just got to studying about\nit, studying about what I was to do. I said, \"If I come back to\nLouisville, I will starve. I am not competent to keep a set of books, or\nclerk anywhere; but,\" I said, \"I will go back if I do starve.\" So I\nwrote to my patient wife: \"I have lost every cent I had in the world, I\nhave got to work one week longer to make enough money to come home on,\nand I am coming. You may look for me the first of next week.\" As soon as\nthey paid me off that evening I jumped on the cars and came home, having\njust the money to pay my fare.\n\nBefore this Brother Holcombe had met me time and again after he had been\nconverted. He used to come after me; and every time he would see me, may\nbe I would be looking at something in the street--he would hit me on the\nshoulder and say, \"How do you do, old boy?\" and then he would talk to me\nabout my salvation, and about Jesus Christ. I used to hide from him;\nbut it looked like every time he came around he would nail me, and talk\nto me about Jesus. That was when I was gambling here and prosperous. He\ntold me about my mother and told me I ought to quit gambling. I said,\n\"Brother Holcombe, what shall I do if I quit gambling? I have no way to\nmake a living.\" He said, \"Look to God, and He will help you.\" I went\naway about that time; and as soon as I came back, every time he would\nsee me he would nail me again. After awhile I got interested in him. I\nwould look for him and when I would catch him, I would say, \"You can not\nget away from me now.\" That was after I came from Chicago. I had nowhere\nto go except to visit bar-rooms. So I began to go down around the old\nMission every night. I heard the singing and praying down there. One\nnight I said, \"I am going to see Brother Holcombe.\" The clock struck\neight, and I said \"I am not going in to-night, it is too late. I will go\nto-morrow;\" and to-morrow night came and I went down there and went in\nvery early, before they commenced singing; and they sang and prayed and\nBrother Holcombe preached, and the next night I went, and the next night\nI went, and I went every night. And then they moved up here on Jefferson\nstreet and after they moved up here, I stayed away a week, and then I\ncommenced coming again; and here I am now, thank God. I think God has\nbeen my friend all the way through. To think He has let me go as far as\nHe could, and at last brought me home. I tell you it is a great thing\nfor a man that has been living the life I have, to get up and say that\nhe is now a child of God.\n\nIt came gradually, a little bit of it at a time, but when I was down in\nthe Mission that night, God came to me in full power, I felt that I did\nnot care what happened to me. I was willing to go if God called on me.\nWhatever He said I was willing to do. After my conversion I got a place\nwhere I was making a dollar a day, at Robinson's, on Ninth, between\nBroadway and York streets, and I worked there until I went up on a new\nrailroad. They promised to give me forty-five dollars a month. I thought\nat the time, and so did Brother Holcombe, I would get forty-five dollars\na month. He said, \"You will get forty-five dollars a month, and it is so\nmuch easier than the work you are doing.\" I thought they would pay all\nmy expenses and I worked up there at forty-five dollars and I had to pay\nall my own expenses; and all I received was not a cent more or less than\nthirteen dollars a month. But I was happier a thousand times--I will say\na hundred thousand times--than I was with six or seven hundred dollars a\nmonth.\n\nYou may think gamblers are happy, and it looks like it; but they are\nnot--they are miserable. Just to look back in our lives and think what\nwe have done with all the money! It is nothing to be compared with the\nlife of a Christian. If I could go back to-morrow and make a million\ndollars gambling, I would not do it. I would say, \"Take your million of\ndollars. I will stay where I am.\" My wife is the best woman in the\nworld. I leave her at home and she is reading the Bible. You can not go\nin there any time, when she is not at work, that she is not either\nsinging or reading the Bible. She was raised a Catholic. She is now\ntrying to help me along. She has joined the Methodist church; she is\nwith me. I do not think she was a Christian before we came in contact\nwith Brother Holcombe. It was just her interest in me, and her patient,\nlong-suffering love. She never went to church nor prayed nor knelt down.\nShe prayed after she went to bed like I did, for I said prayers every\nday even then. I always said, \"If I forget, God will forget me.\" Every\nday of my life I prayed; and if I forgot it, I asked the Lord to forgive\nme; but I never would kneel down. I prayed after I went to bed; but now\nI get down on my knees and pray. Do you know how we do at night? We get\ndown on our knees and say the Lord's prayer; and after we get through, I\npray; and after I get through, the old lady prays. You see the old lady\nwas raising our little girl up to be a Catholic; and I said to her,\nafter we were converted--maybe a month afterward--\"I don't know whether\nI am right or wrong--I want you to say--do you not think it is right to\nteach Kittie to do the way we do in our prayers? I think it would be a\nsin to try to teach her any other way. Now, let us set her an example,\nand she will come over gradually and gradually until she will be one of\nus.\" She has asked her mother about Jesus. She said to her mother one\nday, \"I can't pray like you all can.\" The old lady said to her, \"You\nwill learn after awhile.\" Last night I was out late, and when I came\nhome she said, \"We will all kneel down and pray.\" We started off, \"Our\nFather, who art in heaven,\" and Kittie went along with us, repeating it.\nShe knows all that, you know. After we were done saying that, I prayed;\nand after I got through the old lady prayed; and after we had prayed I\nsaid, \"Kittie, you must say your prayer.\" She said, \"I can not pray\nlike you do.\" But she did the best she could.\n\nIf you ask me how I came to change my life, it was this way: I knew that\nBrother Holcombe was a good man, and knew that he was reformed and I had\nso much faith in him, and I studied about that so much that I just\nthought if he could be such a good man, why could not I be a good man;\nand that is the way it came. I tell you, backwardness is a fault with a\ngood many preachers. If I was a preacher and I saw a man on the street\nthat I saw was going wrong, I would go right up to him and touch him on\nthe shoulder. I do it now--I never let him get away; I never let a\nfriend of mine get away, I do not care who he is. I go to him and tell\nhim what God has done for me. I say, \"Why don't you come up to the\nMission? Don't you know Brother Holcombe?\" If he says \"No; I don't live\nhere,\" I say, \"If you come up there, we will be pleased to see you. You\ndon't know what good it might do your soul.\"\n\nI do wish I had an education. I reckon there has been more money spent\non me than on all the rest of my family. I went to three colleges; was\nexpelled from one and ran away from the other two. I was the worst boy\non earth; there is no use talking. I would rather fight that eat; but no\nmore fighting for me; I am done. You know that I have been trying to get\nwork to do, and at last I have found a place. I am earnestly praying\nevery day more and more--I _can_ pray now. A man asked me the other\nday--I don't know whether I answered him right or not--he asked me, \"Do\nyou ever expect to go back to gambling?\" I said, \"I would starve to\ndeath before I would gamble any more.\" He said, \"What about your\nwife--if you knew your wife was going to starve, would you gamble?\" I\nsaid, \"Before I would let my wife and child starve, I would gamble--I\nwould gamble to get them something to eat; but,\" I said, \"there is no\ndanger of their starving. But you put that question to me so strong.\" I\nsaid, \"I know that God would not censure me for that, but there is no\ndanger of it.\"\n\nI wish I could say more. I know I mean what I have said, God knows I do,\nand it is all true as near as I can remember.\n\n     NOTE.--Mr. Price is a brother of the late Hon. J. Hop Price,\n     for many years a well-known lawyer and judge in Louisville. He\n     is now engaged as night watchman on Main street.\n\n\nMILES TURPIN.\n\nI had the example of Christian parents, and, of course, I had the\nbenefit of a Christian education; but, like all young men, I was rather\ninclined to be wild; and after I had served four years in the\nConfederate army, my habits were formed rather for the worse. After I\nhad returned home, being without avocation, I naturally resorted to what\nall idle men do; that was the beginning. I contracted the habit of\nfrolicing, gambling and drinking, in that early period of my life, which\nhas followed me through all these years, up to March 14, 1886, when,\nafter considerable journeying through North America and portions of\nMexico, I happened in Cincinnati, and heard a great many times about\nSteve Holcombe's conversion. Having known Steve in his gambling days, it\noccurred to me, like all persons in pursuit of happiness, going from\nplace to place and not finding it, that if there was such a change and\nimprovement in Steve as the newspapers described, I would come to\nLouisville and see for myself concluding that if religion had done so\nmuch for him, it might do something for me. I was a dissipated\nman--dissipated in the extreme. I had contracted this habit of drinking,\nand was rarely ever sober. I have some capacity, as a business man, and\nI have had a great many positions, but I had to give them up from this\nhabit of drinking. While a man would express his deep friendship for me,\nhe would say his business would not tolerate my drinking; consequently,\nI have been frequently but politely dismissed.\n\nI had lived in I don't know how many places in the United States, I had\nlived in New Orleans, Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S. C., Birmingham,\nMontgomery, Selma, Vidalia, La., Cincinnati, Louisville, Ky., Macon,\nGa., Pensacola, Fla., Fernandina, Fla., throughout the length and\nbreadth of Western Mexico, Lower California and the Pacific coast, and\nthrough the State of Texas, end to end. In all these tortuous windings I\nwas searching for happiness; but a man who is more or less full of\nwhisky and without the religion of Jesus Christ is of necessity unhappy,\nin himself, and, in consequence, shunned by his fellowmen. No man can\nwander around the world in that condition without feeling a void which\nhuman wisdom can not fill; and I was forced to this conclusion by a\ncareful survey of my past career. The desperation of the case was such,\nthat I resolved if I could not find employment, and if I could not find\nhappiness, which I then knew nothing about, I would destroy myself. I\nhave contemplated suicide many times with the utmost seriousness; and I\ncertainly in my sinful life was not afraid of death. But then it was\nbecause I was in despair.\n\nI was in Cincinnati; had previously held a political position there,\nwhich paid me quite a handsome sum; but in the change of politics my\npecuniary condition changed, and I found myself alone, poor and full of\nrum and corruption; as vile a sinner as ever lived. It was at that time\nthat I heard of Steve. I was in a deplorable condition; I knew not where\nto turn for comfort, and it occurred to me that if I could go to\nLouisville and have these assertions verified about Steve's regeneration\nand if I could see and satisfy myself. I would do so, as vile as I was,\nand ask God to have mercy upon me. Of course, I was an infidel (at\nleast, I imagined myself an infidel), an atheist, if you please, and my\nchief delight was deriding all Christian work, and ridiculing the Bible;\nand to more thoroughly uphold my atheistical notions I went so far as to\ndefame the Saviour of mankind, not in vulgar language or profane, but by\na mode of expression that was plain and unmistakable. _Now_, I do not\nsee how a man can be an infidel. When a man says he is an atheist, I\nbelieve he is a liar. A man must be insane who does not recognize a\nSupreme Power and the Master-hand that made the world, and who does not\nrely upon and give obedience to that Higher Power. I do not believe that\nany atheist is honest in the announcement that he does not believe in\nGod or a Creator. I believe now, since my conversion, that no man is in\nhis right mind unless he has the habit of prayer.\n\nAll nature points to the existence of a Creator--every action of life,\nevery hair of the head shows an unseen hand. If it is a mistake, it is a\nmistake man can never fathom; but if not and if, as we are told by the\nword of faith, you believe, you shall be saved. If you cast your burden\nupon Him, and there is a possibility of a hereafter, you lose nothing in\nthis world. A man is wiser, purer, more companionable, more affectionate\nand more charitable. There must be immortality of the soul; there must\nbe a future reward. Reflection upon these great facts induced me to\nbecome a Christian man. As I had served the devil so long as one of his\nallies, and had been treated so badly by him. I deserted him and put my\nfaith in God, where I intend to remain the remainder of my life.\n\nI got to Louisville a little over a year ago, the 15th of March, and\nwent immediately to find Mr. Holcombe. He was sitting by the fire. He\nknew me at once. I shook hands with him and sat down by the fire, and\nhad a conversation with him. He immediately entered upon the subject of\nreligion, and I told him my condition. I told him what I wanted to do--I\nwanted to see for myself if it was possible for a man like him to become\nregenerated--if it was possible for such a great scoundrel as I knew him\nto be to become a Christian man. I wanted to see for myself if it were\npossible to make, out of so vile a creature, such a good man as he was\nsaid to be. As I said last night, I came, like the conqueror of old, and\nsaw, but, unlike the conqueror of old, I was conquered. I made up my\nmind that I was done with the old life. Steve's appearance convinced me\nthat he was cured, and I confessed then and there that I was convinced.\nThat was the starting point. There was only one thing I have never been\nthoroughly satisfied about; I find that the Christian influence grows\ngradually on me, and becomes stronger and stronger the longer I live. I\nconfess myself, when I first became a Christian man, with the exception\nof drinking whisky, I was like I was before; but, encouraged by my\nexperiences in the beginning, I gradually began to see that it was a\nbetter life. A man was purer, and there was some hope a man could be\nchanged through and through, and take his place among men; and from that\ntime forward I was continually growing in grace. From the very moment I\nresolved to quit, I did not drink any more. After I saw Steve, I did\nnot take a drop, though I had tried before to quit it many a time. I had\noftentimes joined temperance societies, and made resolutions, which were\nof no avail. A man in that case was bound by no tie except his\nassertion--by his word: and might break it just as a man allows a note\nto be protested in bank. The moment I determined to change my life, this\nappetite for whisky left me. It was because my ideas were changed.\n\nI used to think that no drunken man could become a Christian; but now I\nhope, by the grace of God, I am a Christian, I could not explain it; I\ndo not believe any man can explain it. He may attempt it, but he can not\ndo it. A man who lives a Christian life can hardly calculate the\nadvantages; it is a matter of impossibility. In the first place, his\nassociates put an entirely different estimate on him. His ambitions are\nentirely changed, and certainly his hope is. It makes him a more\ncharitable man, a more forbearing man with the faults of his neighbors,\nmakes him a more tolerant man, makes him a better citizen; and if he\nwere a politician--though it is scarcely within the bounds of\npossibility--it would make him an honest politician.\n\nI have had no trouble to get along in business since my conversion. Just\nas soon as I tried to get business, when I was once really in earnest\nabout it, I had a number of offers. I have still a number of offers.\nWhen I became a Christian man I determined, in my own mind, I would live\nup to Christianity so far as I could in every particular, humbly and\nconscientiously. The opinions of man have no weight with me now. All I\nam I hold by the grace of God, through Jesus Christ.\n\n\nFRED ROPKE.\n\nI think it was on the 25th of June, 1883, I was stopping at Fifth and\nJefferson. Previous to that time I had been tramping the country for\nabout eight years, from 1874 until the middle of 1883. My father was a\nLouisville man. He gave me all the advantages that wealth could command.\nHe sent me to Germany in 1864, where I remained three years at school.\nIn 1869 or 1870, I went into the sheriff's office here in Louisville.\nPrevious to that time I had been with Theodore Schwartz & Co. I went\nfrom Theodore Schwartz & Co. into the sheriff's office. I got that\nposition from courtesy of the sheriff to my father, who was his\nbondsman. I contracted the habit of drinking right there, through the\nassociations. And, being ashamed to remain among my friends as a\ndrunkard, I went then from pillar to post all over the country.\n\nI left home just after my father's death, in 1872, not knowing whither I\nwas going. I dragged around the country from that time until the summer\nof 1883--eleven years; and if there ever was a man sick and tired, it\nwas I. I beat my way through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee,\nArkansas, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois,\nIndiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.\n\nThe box car was my home the greater part of the time. Of course, during\nthose years, I came home off and on; but nothing could stop me in my\ndownward course. As soon as I lost self-control I persuaded myself\nthere was no hereafter, no God and no devil. I took to that idea to\nconsole myself for what I was doing more than for anything else; and I\nhad a perfect indifference as to what became of me, except at times when\nI was alone and sober and thoughtful. But I never had any aim; no\nambition at all; in fact, I had given up all hope. I do not know what I\nwandered for. I would come home and stay for a month or so, and I would\nget drunk and get ashamed of myself and go away. I would walk all night\nto get out of Louisville.\n\nI had been brought up by religious parents. My father was a very\nreligious man. He was considered by people as a fanatic because he was\nmaking money in the whisky business, and sold out rather than continue\nit. He lost money by selling out during the war. He saw what it was\ndrifting to, and sold out. After that there was not a drop of whisky\nhandled in his house on Main street until after his death. My mother\nalso was a very religious woman, so that I had a careful religious\ntraining. But I had read a good deal of Ingersoll and Tom Paine. I heard\nIngersoll lecture on one or two occasions; I wanted to get all the proof\nI could to sustain me. I wanted some consolation; I knew where I was\ndrifting; there was a consciousness all this time that I was wrong; and\nI trembled at the thought of one day giving an account for the misdeeds\nof a wasted life; but I could not possibly help myself. From the mental\nanxiety I went through it is a wonder my hair is not gray to-day. It was\nterrible. I had two attacks of delirium tremens.\n\nWhat brought me to realize my condition more than anything else, took\nplace just before the time I first met Brother Holcombe. I was out on\nSecond street mending umbrellas; for that was the way I made my living.\nI had become thoroughly hardened. I would have cut my throat, only\ncowardice kept me from it. Well, I was mending umbrellas out on Second\nstreet, and Mrs. Werne heard me as I was calling out, and knowing that\nHenry, her husband, and I had been to school together--had been boys\ntogether, she called me and said, \"Fred, I want you to come in.\" She\ninsisted on my coming to their house to dinner the next day. \"Fix up,\"\nshe said, \"and come to dinner with us;\" but I do not believe I had a\nstitch of clothes except what was on my back. She insisted however, on\nmy coming; some of my friends would be there. That brought me to realize\nto what depths I had fallen.\n\nThe next week I went to New Albany; and I was told to leave the town,\nand I left the town under the escort of two policemen. To such abject\nwretchedness was I reduced, I could not endure to stay among friends,\nand I was in such a plight strangers could not endure me among them. But\nonce I was coming down the street, and heard the singing in the Holcombe\nMission; and I was considerably touched to think that I had come through\nthe religious training of a Christian home and of church and\nSunday-school; and that is all it amounted to. I went that evening to\nthe courthouse steps, and heard Mr. Holcombe preach there; and from that\nday to this I have not drank a single drop; and it is only through God's\ngrace that I realize that I am able to resist temptation. I felt that I\nwas not worth anything; I felt that there was no power in myself. My\nskepticism all melted away. The view I took of it was that if God could\nhelp Holcombe, he could and would help such a one as I. I knew Mr.\nHolcombe very well. When I was deputy sheriff, I had a warrant for his\narrest one time from Franklin county, and went there armed, knowing his\ndangerous reputation. I thought if Holcombe could be saved, there\ncertainly was some hope for me, and under the inspiration of that hope I\nturned to God. It was my last and only hope. But it was not\ndisappointed, for He has saved me.\n\nI remember the first time I went up to be prayed for; I felt that I\nwould from that time have strength--I had no doubt that I would have it\nfrom that time on. It was in the back room of the old mission. I felt--I\ndon't know why it was--I felt then and there that, by God's help, I\nwould make a man of myself; and I went out with that feeling, although I\nhad been under the influence of liquor for months before. I can not say\nthat I had no appetite for it, but I had strength to resist it. That was\nthe 25th of June, 1883.\n\nI would do anything for whisky when I wandered around. I did not gamble,\nbut I was licentious. I lived for nothing else; I had no other aim in\nlife but to gratify my passions, and I would adopt any extreme to do it,\nand did do it. I left nothing untouched--I would sell my coat to gratify\nmy passions. If I wanted a drink of whisky and my hat would pay for it,\nI would let it go. Once, on coming back from New Orleans, my mother gave\nme a suit of clothes; and I did not keep that suit of clothes three\ndays. All of the time I was tramping around, my mother was living in\nLouisville, worth seventy-five thousand dollars. She was willing to do\nanything for me, and suffered much because of my wicked ways. I remember\non one occasion, when I left her to go to Denver, Colorado, she begged\nme to stay at home, and reminded me how she would suffer from anxiety\nabout me, day and night, till I should return. But I had just been\nreleased from jail for drunkenness and I did not want to stay in\nLouisville. So I left my mother in sorrow and despair.\n\nOne thing I am thankful for to-day; that after my conversion I did not\nget into anything right away; that I made a bare living with my\numbrellas; and that continued two years before I got into a permanent\nsituation. I believe those were the two happiest years of my life. I had\na tough time to get something to eat sometimes, but that was good for\nme. I pegged away at an old umbrella for twenty-five or thirty cents\ndown in the old mission; and I was thankful to get them to fix. It\nseemed to me it was sweeter; I enjoyed it more.\n\nThere is no comparison between the new life and the old. I thought at\none time that I was enjoying myself; but I have had to suffer in my new\nlife for all the enjoyment that I had in the old--I have to suffer\nphysically--even yet. I am an old man before my time. Even to-day on my\ncoming in contact with it the influence of the old association will crop\nout. Sometimes my passions worry me considerably. The only relief I find\nis by keeping close to God. I realize that from day to day if I do not\ndo that--pay strict attention to my religious duties--I will fall. I\nknow that if I neglect them for one week, I get away off. I am happy in\nbeing placed where I am. My place is a kind of rendezvous for religious\npeople; and their society and conversation help to strengthen me. Since\nmy conversion, I was offered a position in a liquor house, but I would\nnot take it, because I was afraid of it, and the very next day I\nobtained a situation with the Finzer Brothers. I went to a minister and\nmade it the subject of prayer as to whether I should accept the\nsituation; and finally decided to decline it, and the next day I got a\nsituation that I had filled in years gone by, with Finzer Brothers in\nthis city. It is now the height of my ambition to have the opportunity\nto convince the people who were and are my friends in Louisville that\nthere is something in me, and by the grace of God I am no longer the\nfailure I was.\n\n[Illustration: J. T. HOCKER.]\n\n\nJAMES THOMPSON HOCKER.\n\nI was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1837, and no man had better\nadvantages for being a Christian or becoming one than I had. I had a\npious mother and father, and all the influences of my home were of that\ncharacter. My father and mother were both members of the Baptist church,\nand I recollect that they used to have me go to Sunday-school, but I\nthink now I went there because they asked me to go. Thinking over my\ncondition, I did not have any other incentive at that time than to obey\nmy mother's request. At about the age of fifteen I left my home, and it\nseems to me now when I did do so I left behind me all good impulses and\nall good feeling, and any religious inclination I might have had seemed\nto leave me when I stepped over the threshold; and I think the devil\njoined me then and told me he would keep me company all the rest of my\nlife, and he did do it pretty closely for thirty years. I do not suppose\nthat he had a better servant, or one who did his behests more faithfully\nthan I.\n\nWhether I inherited the appetite for drink has been a question with me.\nOn both sides of my house--the Old Virginia stock--I had several\nrelatives who drank to excess; and it seems to me that the appetite must\nhave passed through our family to me. I remember the first drink I ever\ntook in my life; it was whisky, and I liked it. Most people don't like\nthe first drink.\n\nWhen I came to this city I went into business as a clerk. The devil\nand I dropped into company as hail fellows well met. He persuaded me to\nthink it was proper for young men to take a drink before calling on\ntheir lady friends. He prompted me to go in with the boys. \"This is the\nright way for you to do,\" he would say, \"I am your friend.\" I had the\nusual compunctions of conscience that the young man feels when he goes\ninto bar-rooms. I took wine at first, but the devil said: \"That is not\nthe thing; whisky is better.\" I obeyed him; I took whisky, until whisky\npretty nearly took me forever.\n\nAlong in 1871--March, 1871--I was working at a clothing house, and I\nmarried a lady who was thoroughly conversant with all my habits; who\nknew that the habit for drink had fastened itself on me; but who, with a\nwoman's faithful, trusting heart, married me, hoping, as they generally\ndo, that her influence might reform me. Perhaps for a year or so the\ndevil and I rather separated, but he had me in sight all the while. This\ncontinued for six or seven months, until, on one occasion, I went out to\na fishing party. We carried two or three gallons of whisky, and two or\nthree pounds of solid food. I went fishing with two or three personal\nacquaintances, who prevailed on me to indulge with them in drinking, and\nfrom this time forward, until about one year ago, I was as fully devoted\nto my old ways as ever.\n\nThe appetite for drink was on me, and dragged me down day by day, deeper\nand deeper into the mire; and still, through all this, my wife's loyal\nheart never faltered, unwavering as she was in her trust in me, that I\nwould yet reform. She still, when others failed me, remained my faithful\nfriend. My wife was forced, however, by my conduct, to return to her\nmother's home, because, instead of supporting her, I was spending all my\nearnings for whisky and in debauchery of other kinds.\n\nI shall have to go back a little in my story. About eight years ago I\nwas working in a clothing house at the corner of Third and Market\nstreets. I noticed across the street, one morning, a man whom I knew\nsetting out on the sidewalk a lot of vegetables, apples, etc. I looked\nat him, and recognized him as Steve Holcombe, a man who had recently\nreformed his way of living, and abandoned his old life. In the meantime,\nI had become an infidel, I had begun to doubt the divinity of Christ,\nand even doubted that there was a God. I read all of Ingersoll's books,\nand went back and read Paine's essay on Reason and Common Sense. I was\nthoroughly fortified with all the infidel batteries that I could bring\nto bear on Christian people. As soon as I laid eyes on Brother Holcombe\nI started across the street and opened on him; and I kept this up for\nmonths. I fortified myself with a couple of drinks, so as to be very\nbrave, and went over and tackled him regularly every morning.\n\nAt last, I stood and watched him one morning. I reasoned this way:\n\"There is a man I have known for twenty-five years. I know of no man who\nwas more thoroughly steeped in wickedness, who was a more persistent\nsinner, and I have tried to batter him down with my infidel batteries\nfor months, and he is as solid as a stone wall;\" and all this led me to\nthink that there was something in the religion of Jesus Christ; and,\nthinking this way, I rather refrained from my attacks upon him and his\nposition; but I often thought of him afterward, and the thought occurred\nto me, there must be something in this thing, for no power living, or\nanything that I know of, could sustain that man in his position. It must\nbe something beyond human.\n\nThe 20th day of last April I was on a protracted debauch; had been for\nthree weeks. My brain was thoroughly stunned with the effects of the\nliquor I had drunk. I was sitting in a bar-room at seven o'clock in the\nevening, as far as my memory now serves me, and I appeared to see the\nface of my wife and child; and then one of my boon companions said,\n\"Join us in a drink.\" Just then I could no more have taken that drink\nthan I could have transformed myself into an angel of light. At that\nmoment I thought some impending calamity that neither I nor any human\npower could avert was about to crush me. The next thing that came into\nmy mind was that I must see Mr. Holcombe; and I went out of that saloon\ninto the night, scarcely knowing what I did, feeling that some terrible\naccident was going to happen; but still this impulse moved me to go to\nthe man I had fought so long and so persistently. I happened to find him\nbefore the old Mission, on Jefferson street, near Fifth. He seemed to\nthink that I had now some other object in view than to attack him as\nformerly, because, the first time in all my career, he was the only man\nwho did reach out his hand and said, \"God bless you, my brother.\" I\nsaid: \"I want to talk to you; I want you to pray for me.\" He said, \"God\nbless you, I am the happiest man to meet you that I know of.\" He asked\nme to walk down to the Mission. The services were about to commence. I\nstayed with him that evening. In the morning he made a special prayer\nfor me; and during all my wanderings, I had felt that, perhaps, the\nprayers of my mother and father would, in the end, reach the throne of\ngrace; and I had never lost my faith in the efficacy of prayer. When he\nprayed for me, I felt my mother's hand on my head and heard her saying,\n\"God bless and keep my boy.\" When I left him he said, \"Won't you go to\nyour room to-night and pray?\" I had no room. He loaned me the money to\nget a room. I went to the hotel and procured lodging. He said to me,\n\"Say any prayer you think of.\" The only prayer I could recall was one I\nhad heard in my childhood, \"Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner!\" When I\nmade that prayer before the Christian's God, I did it with fear and\ntrembling, for it seemed profanity for a wretch like me, who had defied\nGod's laws, to prostrate himself at His feet and ask the Christian's God\nto have mercy on him; but I kept up that prayer in my weak, broken way.\nAnd to-day, having tried this life one year, you don't know of a man\nhappier than I am. My wife, no longer broken-hearted as in those years\nof darkness and sorrow, now daily bids me welcome to our happy home. And\nwe recognize together that nothing but this religion of Jesus Christ\ncould have brought this about. I know, from the experiences I have had,\nthat God has forgiven me, the sinner.\n\nI had from a child been the most inveterate swearer. Since my conversion\nI have not sworn an oath; I never have taken a drop of beer or anything\nthat might intoxicate me, and I have never had a return of the\nappetite. And I hope, by God's mercy, that when the last call shall come\nI shall be found fighting for God; and I feel I want to fall with \"my\nback to the field and my feet to the foe.\" Immediately after my\nconversion I attached myself to the Fifth and Walnut-street church; and\nif you inquire of those who know me, they will tell you that, since I\nstepped out of the old life into this, I have walked consistently.\n\nI have told you a true story. I can think of no more to say. I may add,\nhowever, that since I have come into this new life, under God's mercy, I\nhave been the humble instrument of bringing into the light three of my\nacquaintances, of whose conversion I know personally. I was the only\nwandering, wayward, prodigal son in my father's family; and there is\nprobably not now a happier household in the State.\n\n     NOTE.--Mr. Hocker is at present engaged in business in one of\n     the large clothing houses of Louisville.\n\n[Illustration: S. P. DALTON.]\n\n\nSAMUEL P. DALTON.\n\nI was born in Shelbyville, Tenn., January 20, 1849, and am, therefore,\nthirty-nine years of age. My father and mother were both members of the\nchurch; and they tried to bring me up as a Christian. I went to\nSunday-school and church almost all my life. My father has been dead\ntwenty odd years. My mother is still living. As I say, I was brought up\na Christian, and I was converted when I was about seventeen years of\nage, while a boy clerking in a brickyard alone. I was licensed soon\nafterward to exhort in the Methodist church. After that I married; I\nremoved to Paducah, Ky., and I was a member of the church there for\nseveral years. After that I lost my wife, broke up housekeeping and went\nto traveling. I traveled awhile, and then moved to Louisville. I lived\nhere seven years.\n\nIn the meantime, I became indifferent to Christianity and formed the\nhabit of moderate drinking; I was a moderate drinker for a couple of\nyears, and gradually I drifted farther and farther away till at last I\ncame to believe in Ingersoll's teachings. I formed this idea, that the\nworld was made to enjoy, and that we had a right to enjoy it in any way\nwe wished. I never would go to church and I would avoid meeting any of\nmy church friends as much as possible. I became very unhappy and\nmiserable in my irreligious life, and found that serving the devil was\nhard.\n\nOne day while in this unhappy condition my attention was called to a\ncrowd of people on Jefferson street, near the courthouse. Going over\nto satisfy my curiosity, I found they were a Christian band from the\nHolcombe Mission preaching the Gospel. Of course, I would not go to\nchurch, and when I went over there to see what they were doing, I looked\nupon them as so many cranks; but there was one prayer that touched my\nheart. It was this: \"Oh Lord, if there are any persons in this audience\nwho are miserable or unhappy on account of their sins, I pray Thee to\ngive them no peace until they give their hearts to God.\" And God\nanswered the prayer in my case. I had no peace until I gave my heart to\nGod and renewed my vows to the church. After hearing this prayer I went\nhome very miserable and unhappy, and fought the feeling for six months\nafterward--tried to drive it away by drinking; but could not do so.\nFinally one night about midnight, in my room, I gave my heart to God and\nmade new vows. I was again brought back to God on the 15th of October,\n1882.\n\nThen I went to see Brother Morris, pastor of the Fifth and Walnut-street\nMethodist church, and told him what I had done. Of course, he met me\nwith open arms, and invited me to the church, and on the following\nSunday I joined the Methodist church. Directly afterward Mr. Morris\nintroduced me to Brother Holcombe. He said: \"Brother Dalton, here is a\nman you ought to know and be with. His Mission is the place for you to\ndo Christian work.\" He saw, I suppose, that I ought to be doing some\ngood, and he wanted me right there.\n\nI went, then, to Brother Holcombe's Mission, and remained with him for\nabout two years, working there almost every night for these two years,\nkeeping door, and doing, to the best of my ability, all the good I\ncould. I can say that my connection with the Mission, I have no doubt,\nhas had all to do with strengthening me in the Christian life and\nleading me into usefulness, giving me strength and energy to engage in\nsaving others, and confirming myself in Christian character.\n\nI have witnessed some of the most remarkable conversions at Holcombe's\nMission that I think ever were known anywhere, and I regard Holcombe as\none of the most remarkable men on earth for mission work. It seems that\nhe can use more means to put men to thinking than any other man that I\nknow of.\n\nI was always fond of going to the theater. After I had become a\nChristian, I had an idea that I could still continue going to theaters,\nand so stated to Brother Holcombe and Brother Alexander. They simply\nsaid this: \"Brother Dalton, if you get the love of God in your heart you\nwill find a great deal more pleasure in God's service than you will in\nattending theaters;\" and from my own experience I have found it true. I\nhave no desire to go to theaters; my own pleasure is in Christian work;\nand I do not think a man can make a practice of attending theaters\nregularly and exert the same influence for the salvation of others as if\nhe did not attend.\n\nI believe as firmly as I do anything, that when I was a boy, God called\nme to some kind of Christian work; and I was the most miserable man in\nthe world when I lost my religion. After meeting with Brother Holcombe,\nhe seemed to be a great wall of protection to me--and he does yet. He\nhas infused into my life more Christian zeal than I ever had before. I\nam of a temperament that is easily led off--easily influenced; and I\nfeel that God, in His wisdom, leads me into Christian work in order to\nsave my own soul as well as others. Since I have been away from\nLouisville, in Cleveland, Ohio, in business, I think there has not been\na day or night but what I have thought of Brother Holcombe and the\nMission. It seems to have such an everlasting effect on me, that at all\ntimes I feel a restraining influence which comes out from that Mission.\nIf at any time I am tempted to become discouraged, the remembrance of\nhim and the mission work that he is engaged in, seems to be a\nprotection, something that upholds me in my Christian faith; and I have\nlearned to love Brother Holcombe as I never loved any man on earth who\nwas no kin to me. He is a man whom I have watched very closely, and\nunderstand thoroughly; and believe he is one of the most honest, earnest\nand upright Christian men that I ever met in all my life, and one who\nwill do more, and endure more, to lead a man to Christ than any one I\never knew.\n\nThe result of that Christian experience which I had while associated\nwith Brother Holcombe has been the means of my seeking an opportunity\nfor Christian work in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, where I am now\nresiding. I joined the Franklin-avenue Methodist church, of Cleveland, a\ngrand body of Christians, too, about 650 members; and it seemed that the\nLord had opened the way into this church to harness me into Christian\nwork there. Being a man from the South, I hardly expected them to\nreceive me as cordially as they did; but it seemed that, after watching\nme, and knowing me, when I was not expecting it, I was elected one of\nthe stewards of that church a very short time after joining it; and I\nhave been put on different committees, and have been treated as well as\na Christian gentleman could possibly desire to be treated, and I have\nlearned to love them. My aim and object in life now is to do all the\ngood I possibly can in this new field of labor.\n\nThe Lord has been very good to me since I reentered His service, and I\nhave found complete happiness and contentment in this Christian life,\nand no man on earth is happier than I when I am doing Christian work,\nand I am quite unhappy when I am not, being fully convinced that the\nLord has a Christian work of some kind for me to engage in, and always\nbeing blest in the least effort I make for the salvation of others.\n\nGod has prospered me in business, too. I have been very successful in my\nbusiness life, not getting rich, but making a good, honest living,\nhaving the confidence and respect of my employers, and the full\nconfidence of those who work for me. I have endeavored, to the best of\nmy ability, to use every means within my power to exert as good an\ninfluence over the men in my employ as I possibly can under the\ncircumstances. I correspond with Brother Holcombe regularly, and have\nfor the last three years, and I very often use his letters in\nendeavoring to bring others to Christ; and frequently in my talks and\nChristian work I take a great pride in referring to the Mission in\nLouisville, and believe there has been some good done in simply telling\nof these remarkable conversions that I have witnessed there, convincing\nme that the Mission is not only exerting a good influence in the city of\nLouisville, but is being felt all over this country.\n\nAfter being away a little over three years, I returned to Kentucky on a\nvisit to my mother and family in Paducah, and also to Brother Holcombe\nand my friends in Louisville, and stopped with Brother Holcombe. Of\ncourse, he received me with open arms and a hearty welcome, and I had\nthe pleasure of meeting many of those men whom I had known when they\nwere in their sinful lives, bound by the power of strong drink, and it\ndid my heart good to look into their happy, shining faces, sober as they\nare, and active in business, and engaged in Christian work, thereby\nreceiving new strength and stronger faith in the Blessed Gospel of\nChrist. I am fully persuaded there is no other power under heaven that\nwould save men from these terrible habits except the religion of the\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nComing into the presence of Brother Holcombe seemed to have a peculiar\neffect upon me. It seemed that I received a new baptism of the Holy\nGhost. I do not know what it is; I know that God's blessing is just as\nrich and precious in Cleveland as it is in Louisville, but having been\nassociated with Brother Holcombe in this Christian work, and witnessing\nsuch wonderful conversions, and God's blessings having been bestowed\nupon us so richly, it seems that the place is precious to my soul, and\nthe remembrance of those things so cheers my heart that it gives me new\nstrength and new zeal, and I never could, under any circumstances, in my\nfuture life, doubt the reality of the Christian religion.\n\n\nCOLONEL MOSES GIBSON.\n\nMy birthplace was Bowling Green, Rappahannock county, Virginia. I was\nborn May 7, 1837. My ancestors were Quakers, and my grandfather a\nHicksite Quaker. He married a Methodist, and was, consequently, turned\nout of the church. The family originally came from the north of Ireland,\nopposite Glasgow; non-conformists. They came to this country about the\ntime Penn did, and got over into Loudon county, Virginia. On my mother's\nside I am descended from Nathaniel Pendleton, who is a brother of Edmund\nPendleton, and aid-de-camp of General Green during the Revolutionary\nwar. On both sides a considerable number of the men were in both legal\nand literary pursuits. My mother was raised in the Presbyterian\nchurch--joined the Presbyterian church. I was baptized by the Rev. Dr.\nFoot, one of the corner-stones of the old school church. My father was\nnever a member of any church until very late in life. My mother had me\nbaptized by the Rev. Dr. Foot when I was six years old.\n\nI was always, as a boy, religiously inclined; and never cared for those\nenjoyments and pleasures that boys indulge in so much, like playing\nball, hunting and fishing, tobogganing, coasting and all such kind of\nsport. I was more of a house boy. I liked to stay at home and read, and\nwas very affectionate in my disposition. Very early in life I started\nout in the world, and when I was fourteen years old I was a store boy;\nand even with all that, my early training, to a certain extent, kept me\nout of bad company, although I slept in the store, and was really under\nno restraint from the time I was about fourteen. I generally, when I\nfound I was too far gone, pulled up stakes and went somewhere else; and\nin that way I grew up. I very rarely failed to go to church twice every\nSunday; and I looked upon religion more as a pleasure and a matter of\npride for the respectability of it. I liked the church, even after I\ngrew up to be a man. But during the latter part of the war, I became\nimpressed. I believe it was in October, 1864, I professed religion in a\nlittle church in New Market, Virginia; and after the war, I went to\nBaltimore, and united myself there with the Episcopal church. I never\nwas confirmed, however, until some time in 1868, here in Calvary church\nin Louisville. But I always considered myself a member of the church,\nwent to Sunday-school, and attended to my duties very particularly. I\nnever drank anything, and never kept bad company. My association was\nalways the most refined, principally that of ladies. I was fond of\nsociety, parties, theaters and things of that kind, which our church\nnever objected to very particularly, but I kept myself in bounds.\n\nIt was only about 1874 or 1875 that I became associated with some\ngentlemen here who were very learned, and who were very earnest men; and\nwe got into the study of the Bible in search of truth. We got all the\nbooks of modern thought on the subject that we could. We conversed\ntogether and talked together a great deal. We got all the modern\nauthors, and studied them very thoroughly; and studied so much, that we\nfinally studied ourselves into infidelity. We studied Draper, Max\nMuller, Ledyard, Bishop Colenzo and Judge Strange. Judge Strange's was\nthe most powerful book, to me, of any. It was a reference to the Old\nTestament legends and the miracles of the New. I gradually by the\nassociation, and by reading these modern treatises on theology, etc.,\ndrifted into that thoughtful infidelity, which is the worst sort in the\nworld, because I had a great respect for religion, but did not believe\nit. I believed in a God, but could not consistently believe that he was\nthe God of the Bible, or that the Bible itself could be an inspired\nbook, because so much of it was inconsistent with demands of human\nreason.\n\nFollowing these convictions, I gradually drifted into the most complete\ninfidelity that a man ever did on earth. I did not believe anything,\nstill I did not attempt in any way to have my associates and friends\nbelieve that I was an infidel. I never boasted of it, I never made light\nof religion. I continued to go to church, continued to keep in the\nchurch; and when Ingersoll was here I would not go to hear him. I was\nsatisfied that Ingersoll's teachings were, to a great extent, what I\nbelieved; but I did not like to hear a man get up and ridicule my\nmother's God; and my answer to those who wanted me to go was that I\nwould not listen to any man who tried to ridicule the religion of my\nmother.\n\nAbout 1878 I commenced drinking. I was then about forty-one years old. I\ngot to taking a drink here and there, but do not suppose I took over a\nhundred drinks during the year. In 1879 I got to drinking a little\nmore. In 1880 I got to drinking pretty hard. During the year 1879 I took\nrarely less than three, and very often six to eight drinks, a day, and\nin 1881 I was a confirmed, genteel tippler. I rarely took less than\nthree or more than I could stand, but in a genteel way and in a genteel\nsaloon.\n\nI sold out my business and traveled seven or eight months for pleasure,\nand kept up the same thing everywhere. I seldom gambled. I played poker\nfor twenty-five cents ante, and bet on horse races. I never was a\nprofane man except when I was intoxicated; then I would be a little\nprofane. I always remembered more than anything else the early teachings\nof my mother; they clung to me. I had respect not only for the church\nbut respect for the ministry and respect for Christian people.\n\nAfter I commenced drinking I would have given anything in the world if I\ncould have stopped. I would get up in the morning and I would feel a\nlassitude--feel debilitated. I would not care to eat anything--a biscuit\nand a cup of coffee--and by eleven o'clock that was all emptied, and my\nstomach would crave something. Probably if I had sat down at a\nrestaurant and made a good dinner it would have helped me; but it was so\nmuch easier to get a toddy, and that toddy did away with the craving,\nand probably in an hour and a half I would want the same thing, and,\ninstead of going to dinner, I would take another drink, and about three\no'clock I would want this toning of the stomach again.\n\nIn the fall of 1883 I thought I would call a halt. I quit drinking in\nOctober, 1883, of my own will, and I did not drink a drop of anything\nuntil July, 1884; and then I got at it in the same old way. I got to\ntaking a toddy a day, and then I got to taking two, and for two months I\nwas taking a toddy before every meal; and then my stomach got so I did\nnot care to eat--I took the toddy without the dinner; and in the course\nof the year--probably by the first of October--I had got to drinking all\nthe way from six drinks a day to about a dozen. I kept that up until I\ngot to being genteelly intoxicated--always genteel, but always going to\nbed being pretty well intoxicated. When I got to bed, I would lie down\nand sleep; and when I got up in the morning I would have a toddy.\n\nAbout October we sold out our business here. The winter was beginning,\nand I had no money. I began to be a little reckless; and I commenced\ndrinking the first of October, and I was full until the first of\nJanuary. I do not think from the first of October, 1884, until the first\nof January, 1887, there was a day that I did not take six drinks, and\ngenerally ten or twelve--pretty stiff drinks, too. I generally drank\nabout two ounces of whisky. It never affected my health at all. It\nstimulated my mind; it made me bright--exceedingly so--so much so that\nif there was anybody about the bar-room I was the center of attraction.\nI could discourse upon any subject; but I was very bright and vivacious.\nI never was afraid of anything on the face of the earth; I guess there\nnever was a man more fearless than I was when under the influence of\nwhisky; otherwise, I was very timid.\n\nI kept that thing up, and on the first of January I was walking down the\nstreet. I had gone to bed pretty sober on the night before; and I got\nup on the morning of the first of January and dressed myself up nicely,\nintending to go to church. I met a friend of mine, who said he was going\naround to the office, and asked me to go with him. I said I would. On\nthe way around there he suggested we should have a pint of whisky. I\nsaid, \"I believe I will quit; I am getting tired of whisky.\" \"Well,\" he\nsaid, \"let us have a bottle anyway; it is the first of January.\" \"Yes,\"\nI said, \"as it is the first of January.\" We sat there and drank that,\nand sent out and got another pint and drank that. After that, I went\ndown to Louis Roderer's and sat there, and some gentlemen came in and\nthey got to throwing dice for the drinks, and I was invited to join\nthem, and I did; and I took six drinks there with them. The weather was\ncold; the pavement covered with ice. As long as I stayed in the house,\nthe liquor did not affect me, but as soon as I got out of the door, the\ncold coming right into contact with it, seemed to throw all the\nundigested alcohol into my brain. I went back to this friend of mine. He\nwas not there. I walked up Market street, and went to my room and went\nto bed. It was there, I suppose, I mashed my nose and cut my face badly.\nThe servant girl came up stairs and found me lying on the floor. She\nwent down and got help, and they bathed my face, and they both together\nput me to bed. I had been unconscious from the moment I left the\nbar-room and was so up to five o'clock the next morning.\n\nThey put me to bed, and I was totally unconscious until I woke up the\nnext morning at five o'clock. It occurred to me that something was the\nmatter; I felt the wound on my face. I got up and lighted the candle and\nlooked into the glass, and saw that my face was all bruised and bloody.\nI said, \"I suppose I ran against something and mashed my face last\nnight.\" The next morning I heard this servant girl in the next room. I\nheard her saying, \"Poor man, poor man.\" Pretty soon she came in and\nsaid, \"What in the world is the matter with you? How did you hurt your\nface?\" She then told me the condition they had found me in; and if they\nhad not found me I would have frozen to death. I said, \"If this thing is\ngoing to work that way on me, I must call a halt.\" I could not eat\nanything but some milk. I lay in bed all day.\n\nI could not pray. I had got into that frame of mind I could not pray. I\ndid not believe in the efficacy of prayer. I had lost sight of Christ as\nGod, but I had great respect for Christ as a teacher. I lay there all\nthat day, Monday. I was then thoroughly sober; and I said, \"I will just\nsee if there is any efficacy in religion, anyhow. I believe I will try\nit.\" I had gotten up and dressed myself. I had not eaten any breakfast.\nI drank some coffee. Not having taken anything to eat, I felt pretty\nweak, and I said, \"I believe I will take a drink.\" I went around to a\nfriend of mine on First street, and he was not there. Then I walked\naround to a saloon on Third street. Several gentlemen were there that I\nused to drink with. I stood around there for awhile, hoping that some\none would ask me to take a drink, but nobody asked me.\n\nFinally I came up here to Mr. Holcombe's and found him here, and we got\nto talking the matter over. I told him that I was tired of this kind of\nlife. I wanted to take a pledge. \"I do not give pledges to anybody to\nstop drinking.\" He said there was but one remedy--reliance upon Christ;\nthat Christ was all--Christ and the love of God. If I determined to live\nup to the teachings of the Bible, if I was willing about it, that he\nbelieved I would be cured. Well, I told him that I thought that my mind\nwas sufficiently prepared; that I had made up my mind to quit if I\npossibly could; that if the Lord wanted to take me the way I was, I had\nmade up my mind to believe; that I had not believed anything for a long\ntime, and that if I did believe I would have to take it by faith, and\nnot by reason.\n\nFinally, after talking it over, Mr. Holcombe prayed, and after prayer I\nsaid I had better go down to my boarding-house. \"No,\" he said, \"you stay\nwith me awhile.\" I said I could not do that; I had to go down to my\nboarding-house. He said, \"No!\" he thought I had better stay awhile; that\nI could stay with him just the same, as I was around there; that I might\nget out and get to drinking; that I was not strong enough. I concluded I\nwould stay with him, and I stayed with him for three weeks.\n\nI went down stairs to the Mission meeting that night, and stood up for\nprayer. After the prayer, I felt a great deal better--in fact, I felt as\nmuch converted as I am now. Since then, I have had no trouble.\n\nI never had made a prayer in public in my life; I never had talked\nreligion in my life, and I got up a week afterward and preached a sermon\nan hour long. The second or third night I made a prayer. Before that\nnight I had never prayed in public. The only prayer I would say was,\n\"Our Father Who Art In Heaven.\"\n\nI have never taken a drink since then, and I do not now chew tobacco. I\nhad either a cigar or a chew of tobacco in my mouth all the time during\nthe last year. From the time I was fifteen years old, I used to smoke\nfrom three to a dozen cigars a day. My general average of cigars was six\na day. I have not chewed tobacco, I have not smoked a cigar, I have not\ntaken a drink of liquor since January. A man talking to me the other day\nsaid: \"You have the strongest will power on earth. If I had the will\npower you have, I could do anything I wanted.\" I said, \"I do not think\nso. I do not believe I ever would have stopped smoking and chewing\nwithout the change which has been produced in me through faith and\nprayer.\"\n\nI will tell you what broke me of chewing tobacco. It was Monday that I\ncame here to the Mission, the 3d of January, and on Tuesday night I\nprofessed conversion. Wednesday morning I went out to see Mr.\nMinnegerode, and had my name again placed on the church record as a\nmember of Calvary church. The first Sunday in the month was our\ncommunion, and I was very anxious that I should perform all the\nobligations necessary to fill out the measure of my conversion, and to\ndo it as soon as possible; and I happened to be down in Cyrus Young's\noffice, and he told me that they were going to have communion. They had\nquarterly meeting at the Broadway Methodist church. Dr. Brewer preached,\nand there I took my first communion. From there I went over to the house\nof a friend of mine, who has since died, named Lewis. I took dinner\nwith him, and stayed there until half-past three o'clock. Well, I took a\nchew of tobacco going down the street, and when I had just commenced\nchewing it, I said: \"You are a pretty kind of a Christian. You have got\nyour mouth full of that stuff that a hog would not eat, and immediately\nafter taking the bread and wine commemorative of the death of Christ. It\nis not right for a Christian to take that after having partaken of these\nemblems.\" And I spit it out of my mouth. For two or three days it\nbothered me a great deal--much more than drinking. I never had a desire\nto take a drink since that Monday, although I have been asked\nrepeatedly. I was down at a hotel with two or three gentlemen the other\nday, and somebody got up and suggested taking a drink. I said, \"No; I\nhave joined the church; I am a Christian, and I do not believe in\nChristians or church members drinking.\" Shortly after that they offered\nme a cigar, which I refused.\n\nI have now charge of a chapel, and have preached two sermons up there\nthis week, one Sunday night and one Thursday night. I preached on the\nProdigal Son the other night. I have held seven or eight services up\nthere. I hold forth here at the Mission one night in the week--that is\nTuesday night. I never killed anybody; have never won a thousand dollars\nat cards; and I never was in the gutter. I was a refined tippler. I was\na leader of society all these years, as everybody who knows me is aware.\nI was prominent in social life and prominent in church life before I was\nan infidel, previous to 1874, and a member of the vestry of Advent\nchurch here. I kept up my acquaintances. All the drinking I did was\nwith the tony men, at the high-typed, tony saloons. I am now a\ncommunicant of Calvary church. I am a lay reader, and, for the present,\nhave charge of Campbell-street chapel. I go up there two nights a week.\nI was going up to Campbell street, the other evening, to hold service\nand I met Bishop Dudley, who was going up to Trinity to confirm a class,\nand he asked me where I was going. I told him I was going over to\nCampbell street to hold service. He asked me who did my singing. I said\nI did all the preaching and singing myself.\n\nThe sum of it is, I felt that mine was a bad case; I had been struggling\nfor two years and a half to rid myself of this appetite, by making to\nmyself all kinds of promises day after day, but was unable to do it; I\nsaid to myself, \"Mine is a bad case--an aggravated case--and it needs\nheroic treatment. I can say I will quit drinking. I can go and kneel\ndown and feel very well about it; but the question is, whether I would\nnot go back to the same old way of living; and I reflected that I might\nbe renewed or regenerated--if the Lord created me, He could re-create\nme--to the man He had made and created in His own image, if he believed,\nHe could give back his manhood; would re-create him and give him a new\nbirth.\" I felt that, and felt that I must make a public confession. Mine\nwas a bad case, and there was only one way to cure me--a public\nconfession before God and the world, and a prayer for strength to make\nme live up to that profession--and when I made that profession, I felt\nrelieved.\n\nI have had more strength since then. I have not had the least desire for\nliquor. Last night was the first time I ever dreamed about drinking\nsince; and then I dreamed that I wanted a lemonade very badly and went\nto the saloon to get it; and my conscience pricked me even in my sleep\nfor the desire for a lemonade and going into a saloon to get it. Before,\nI used to dream about going into drinking saloons. Instead of having a\ndesire for a drink of whisky, I give you my word and honor, it was\nnauseating to me. That was not a qualm of conscience, but a physical\nsensation. It came when I picked up a glass that had had whisky in it. I\nsmelled it, and set it down. And, by the grace of God, I am determined\nthat I have drunk my last drop of intoxicating liquor.\n\n[Illustration: CAPTAIN N. B. PECK.]\n\n\nCAPTAIN BEN PECK.\n\nI have had rather an eventful life; but I don't know that it would be\ninteresting to the public.\n\nI certainly had less reason to be a bad boy, and worse man, than almost\nanybody ever had. I was surrounded by the very best Christian\ninfluences. My father was a prominent minister of the Baptist\ndenomination in this State. He died, though, when I was quite young. My\nmother's people had been Christian people very far back. The male\nmembers on my father's side were Baptist ministers as far as I could\ntrace it. I lost my father when I was about eight years old. My mother\ntried to raise me right--taught me right; but we were living out here in\na little town--Hodgensville--and I was wild from the start. I was not\nworse than any other boys, but I was in all sorts of mischief. I was\nlooked upon as a bad boy, and regarded as no exception to the general\nrule, that preacher's boys are worse than other boys.\n\nWhen about twelve years old, I joined the church at a revival. I believe\nI was truly converted, and for a short while I lived up to the duties of\nmy church; but I soon neglected going to church--first I neglected going\nto prayer-meeting--and I got back so far that I would not be picked out\nas a Christian by any means.\n\nThe war came up when I was fourteen years old, and I went into it; and\nthe first night out I got to drinking and playing cards; and I suppose I\nwas known as the leader in all the mischief got up in the brigade. I\nwas notorious throughout the command as a reckless, bad boy from the\nbeginning.\n\nMy mother had been opposed to my going into the army at all; but, if I\nwas going, she would have preferred my serving on the other side. I\nnever shall forget one thing she said to me at starting. When the time\ncame to go, I would not have hesitated to back out if she had given me\nany encouragement at all. She said, \"My son, you have determined; you\nhave cast your lot with the South. I had rather you would do your duty\nand be a brave soldier.\" But she continued to pray for me.\n\nAfter the war I came back home, and found that our property was all\ngone. My mother had sent me to Georgetown college before the war, and my\nidea was to educate myself for a lawyer. When I came home the property\nwas dissipated, and I did not have enough to finish my education; and\nthe question was, what would be the best for me to do. I came here to\nLouisville and went to drumming; met with phenomenal success from the\nstart; went up and up; was hail fellow, well met, with everybody;\nsituations offered me on every side. But I continued to drink and play\ncards as I did in the army, and gambled all the time, although not a\nprofessional gambler. I played against Holcombe's bank many a time. I\nwent from bad to worse. I continued to dissipate and gamble; and eleven\nyears ago my health was very much shattered from my excesses, and I\nbecame soured with myself and everybody. I was as miserable as a man\ncould be, in that condition, as a matter of course; and a gentleman who\nhad been a comrade in the army with me, and had taken a great deal of\ninterest in me, Captain Cross, in a conversation with me, insisted that\nI should go with him to Texas, where he was doing a flourishing\nbusiness. I had tried, time and again, to reform, always in my own\nstrength, and got further away from God all the time. I tried to believe\nthat Christ was not the Son of God; that he was not inspired; I denied\nthe divinity of Christ, although I never denied that there was a Supreme\nRuler. Captain Cross wanted me to go to Texas, thinking that if I got\naway from the surroundings here, it would help me. Accordingly, I went\nto Texas with him, where I made plenty of money.\n\nBut I soon fell into the old ways, and found gambling houses as numerous\nthere as they are here; I found dance-houses more accessible than the\nchurches. I led a reckless life; and frequently did not hear from my\nfamily and friends for months at a time. Finally I drank until I drank\nmyself into delirium tremens; tried to kill myself; went and bought\nmorphine. But fortunately for me, they were watching me. That was in\nParis, Texas. I was in bed for two or three weeks; and when I got up\nfrom that, I felt like I did not want to stay in Texas any longer.\n\nI went to St. Louis and went into business there; had success as a\nsalesman; had a big trade; and I went there with a determination not to\ndrink any more whisky; but I was there only a few days before I was\ndrinking and playing cards--my old life, in fact. Finally I got into a\ndifficulty with a man, shot him and got shot myself. I got into a great\ndeal of trouble on account of it. It cost me a great deal of money and\nmy mother a great deal of sorrow. One time I went to Mexico to get out\nof the way, where I led a reckless life; went into the army; played\ncards and drank whisky. I neglected business for whisky a great deal of\nthe time. Then I came here to Louisville, and kept up the same practice;\nwent to Cincinnati and did the same thing there. I let up for a little\nwhile when I went to new places. When I got back from St. Louis, I met\nSteve Holcombe and shook hands with him. The first thing he said to me\nwas, \"I have changed my life.\" I had not heard anything of it. I asked\nhim what he was doing. He said he was serving the Lord instead of the\ndevil; that he had a little mission somewhere. I did not pay any\nattention to it. But one Sunday I was passing down Jefferson street, and\nthere was a crowd on the courthouse steps, and I saw Steve talking to\nthem. I listened to him, and after the crowd went away I asked him how\nhe was getting along and he told me.\n\nI kept on drinking, however. Sometimes I had a situation and sometimes I\ndid not. People did not want me; they did not know when I would be\nsober. If I got a situation, it was in the busy season. After the busy\nseason was over, they would reduce my salary and give me to understand\nthey wanted me to get a new place.\n\nOne time I was drunk for a week or ten days, and as I passed I heard\nthem singing in the Mission down stairs and went in. I thought that\nwould be a good place to rest. I went back a night or two; and one night\nMr. Holcombe delivered a powerful testimony and mentioned some\ncircumstances that had occurred in his life, at some of which I had\nbeen present--I don't know that he had particular reference to me. I\nwent back the next night and went up for prayer. I went again sober; but\nI did not see my way clear. I went back and took \"a nip,\" as he said. I\nsank lower and lower; but I still went to that Mission. Something\nimpelled me, I know now what it was. I got a situation, and was\ntraveling; but whenever I got off a trip the spirit of the Lord impelled\nme to go to that Mission. I talked with Steve frequently, and promised\nhim that I was going to try and reform; but I did not, and toward the\nlast, in fact, I had almost quit going to the Mission. I said, \"It is\nnot for me, it is for these other men. I have gone too far.\"\n\nI went in there in November. I was going away on a trip, and the next\nday I started. I met a friend on the street, and he asked me for a\nquarter. He wanted to get a drink and lunch. I told him it was about my\ntime to get a drink, too, and we would go and get one together before I\nleft. I was telling him about going to the Mission, and he hooted at the\nidea of a man of my sense going to the Mission. About two o'clock in the\nafternoon I was going down the street to take the boat, and I met\nanother friend, and he certainly was the worst looking case I ever saw.\nI did not think he would live two weeks. He was a physical wreck, and\nalmost a total mental wreck. After talking to him for a few minutes he\nasked me where I was going. I told him. And I told him, too, I did not\ncare whether I ever got back or not. I told him it would be a relief to\nme if I never got back off of that trip. I had a family, saw them\noccasionally, and sent them money when I could; but I never lived with\nthem. After talking with him a little while, I said my time was up, and\nasked him if he would not go and take a parting drink with me. We went\ninto the Opera House down there and took a drink. I never expected to\nsee my friend alive again, even if I got back from that trip myself.\nThat was the 30th day of November. I got back here the 18th day of\nDecember.\n\nThe most of the night of the 18th I spent down here at the Grand\nCentral--\"made a night of it.\" The next morning, when I got up, the very\nfirst man I saw asked me if I had seen a certain friend of mine. I told\nhim, \"No.\" He said: \"You would not know him.\" I said: \"What is the\nmatter with him?\" He said: \"He is reformed; he is a Christian, and he\nlooks twenty years younger than you ever saw him.\" I said: \"You are a\nliar.\" He said: \"I am not a liar. You won't know him. He looks like a\ngentleman.\" I said: \"It is pretty funny if he can look like a gentleman\nin this short time.\" I had not gone another square before some one asked\nme if I had seen another friend of mine. I said: \"No.\" \"Well,\" he said,\n\"you ought to see him. He has quit drinking, and looks like he used to\nlook.\" I said \"What is the matter with him?\" He said: \"He has joined the\nchurch.\" I took a drink, and thought about this thing; went down to the\nstore, and knocked around there all day long, thinking about those two\nmen. But here I was, drunk and wretched and trying to get sober, but\ncould not.\n\nSomebody met me about four o'clock in the evening, and asked: \"Where are\nyou going?\" I said: \"I am going around here to get a drink.\" He said:\n\"How are you going to drink when your partners have quit drinking?\" I\nasked him where they could be found; that I wanted to take a look at\nthem. He told me that I could find them at the Mission. I concluded I\nwould come up to the Mission, and did so, pretty full; and, honestly, I\nwould not have known either of these men on the street. I never saw such\na transformation as in them. After the services were over they came up\nand shook hands with me, and treated me as kindly as they used to do\nwhen we were drinking together. And I made up my mind if Christ could\nsave them, I wanted some of it for myself.\n\nI came to the Mission, and stood up for prayers all the time, but came\nhalf drunk for four or five nights, but still with the determination to\nhave salvation if it was to be found; but the more I came the darker the\nway grew. I think (on the 29th of December) Mrs. Clark came and talked\nto me, and Mr. Atmore came and talked to me, I was sober--comparatively\nso. I told them that I had given up all hope; that I had sinned away my\nday of grace, and there was no hope for me. They cheered me, and I\npromised them I would pray that night. I went out of the Mission and got\nblind, staving drunk; was hardly able to get up stairs to my bed at\neleven o'clock, at night. I did it out of despair. The doctors had told\nme before that unless I quit drinking whisky I would go dead. I was\ntired of life, but afraid to commit suicide. I concluded that the sooner\nI died, the better. I got up at three o'clock in the morning to come\ndown stairs and get a drink. The barkeeper was absent from his bar, and\nI concluded that I would wash myself before I took a drink. I said to\nmyself while I was washing: \"You promised yourself you would not drink,\nand the very first night you get drunk, and get up in the morning to\ntake another drink, and if you take it you will be drunk before night.\"\nI concluded I would stop. I took a seat by the stove, and very soon the\nbarkeeper came back. He looked at me and said: \"Are you broke this\nmorning, or too stingy to drink, or what is the matter?\" He added: \"Come\non. If you are too stingy to take a drink yourself, take one with me.\" I\nwas just dying for a drink. I was shaking--suffering physically and\nmentally. I got up two or three times to go to that bar to take a drink,\nbut I argued to myself: \"If you can not keep from taking a drink, you\nhad better go up stairs and kill yourself.\" After awhile the boys\ncommenced dropping in, and, as was the custom, said: \"Come on, Peck, and\ntake a drink.\" I told them, \"No; I have quit.\"\n\nI went around to the Mission that night, and went up to the front. I had\na talk with some Christian people there about the matter, and talked\nwith one of my converted friends. He said there was only one way to\ndo--to give myself to God. I went to bed immediately after I left. I\ncould not sleep. I continued to pray until somewhere along about three\no'clock in the morning of the 2d of January; and the way was made clear\nfor me. I don't know that there was any particular vision. I made up my\nmind that I would go and make my arrangements to join the church, and\nask God's direction from that time on, and to lead another life--lead a\nChristian life as much as it is possible for a sinful mortal like me to\ndo.\n\nI came up to the Mission that night, and told Sister Clark and Brother\nHolcombe that I was as happy as I could be; I had found what I was\nseeking for, and I felt that I could trust God. The next Wednesday night\nI went down to the Fourth and Walnut-street Baptist church, and put\nmyself under the care of the church. Since that time I have been leading\na different life. I am in perfect peace and rest. Everything, of course,\nhas not gone to suit me exactly; but I always have been able to say: \"I\nknow it is for the best.\" My faith grows stronger and my future brighter\nday by day. I think these people who have been moral and religious all\nof their lives can not enjoy religion like a hard customer, as I was--if\nthey do, they do not show it.\n\nFriends and relatives who had forsaken and avoided me came to me at once\nand upheld and encouraged me. Business came to me without seeking it. I\nwas encouraged on every hand. People that I thought despised me, I found\ndid not. I had every encouragement, so far as this life is concerned,\nand I am, to-day, in a better fix, a long ways, than I have been for\nyears.\n\nMy appetite for whisky has troubled me three or four times since I came\nto Christ, but all I have to do is to get down on my knees, and ask for\nstrength to resist it. And before I get through praying I forget about\nit. I have confidence that God will keep me to the end, and my\nconfidence grows stronger every day. Things that were a great trial to\nme at first are no longer so.\n\nA very remarkable thing in my case is, that the thing that I expected to\ngive me the most trouble has given me the least. I was certainly one of\nthe most profane men that ever lived, and I was always afraid that the\nsin that I would have to guard against most would be profanity. But, if\nI have ever sworn an oath, it has been unconsciously, and I do not have\nto think about it--I do not have to guard against it; it horrifies me to\nhear a man swear now. I thought I could fight whisky easier than I could\nthat. Strange to say, it has not bothered me in the least, but whisky\nhas, on three or four occasions. A craving came on me yesterday. It was\na terrible, miserable, bleak, rainy day. I was sitting in my room,\nwriting, and all at once I concluded that I must have a stimulant. I\nhave not recovered, and will not for months, from the effects of whisky.\nI said: \"It is a cold, damp, miserable day. Go up there to the\ndrug-store and get some port wine as a medicine. Do not go into a\nbar-room. There will be no harm in going there to get a little port\nwine. Bring it into your room. It will be the best thing you can do.\" I\ngot up and put on my overcoat and my overshoes, and it struck me that it\nwould not be the best thing for me; and I got down on my knees and\nprayed to God, and before I got through praying I forgot all about it.\nThe devil had tempted me previously, but he put it that day in the shape\nof the port wine.\n\nJust about ten days after I joined the church, I was in the Phoenix\nhotel. A friend of mine, a man that I had gambled and drunk with all my\nlife, or at least, for a number of years, said to me, \"You are not\ndrinking much from the way you look.\" I said, \"No, I am not.\" He said he\nthought he would beckon me out, because he did not like to make that\nstatement before the crowd, and had I been drinking as I did the last\ntime he saw me, he would not have asked me. He wanted me to come in and\ntake a drink with him. I said whisky had once got the upper hand of me,\nand he must excuse me. He said he knew I was a man, and could take a\ndrink without getting drunk, and he wanted me to take it socially. I\ntold him that might all be true. I might take the drink without getting\ndrunk, and I might take it without its being a sin in his sight, or in\nthe sight of other people; but that I had promised God that I would\nfollow Him all my life, and walk in the way He wanted me to go; that I\nhad joined the church, and our church rules forbade drinking. He then\nbegged my pardon, with tears in his eyes, for having asked me, and bade\nme God speed.\n\n[Illustration: J. C. WILSON.]\n\n\nJAMES C. WILSON.\n\nI started out in gambling during the war--about 1862. That was in New\nYork State. I was born and raised there. I will be forty-five years of\nage the next eighth of July. I started out in New York in 1862. My\nfather kept a shoe store there then. He was pretty well to do. Having\nmoney, I cared nothing about getting any kind of business. I got in with\na man by the name of Captain Brown, who was one of the principal\ngamblers there; and I began to be expert in short cards at first.\n\nFrom there I went into the army during the war, and stayed there until\n1865, and then went to Texas. At Austin, Texas, I got into trouble in\n1866, on account of my gambling. I believe it was about the 20th of\nJanuary. Myself and a man by the name of Ryan had been playing together,\nand I had beaten him, which made him mad. He called me very insulting\nnames. He slapped me and hit me, and I drew my pistol on him. I first\nstruck him once and then shot him, and killed him instantly. I was put\nin jail. I had not been there long and was a stranger. The thing\noccurred down near the Colorado river. A mob assembled, and came down\nwith ropes to hang me. But the sheriff and his posse, in order to save\nme, carried me out of the city, and ran me up to San Antonio. I stayed\nin jail six months and was tried; but there was nothing done with\nme--the witnesses testified that I was justified in doing what I did.\n\nAfter that I went to Rochester, New York, and from there to Toronto,\nCanada. I made my living by gambling; and, of course, gambled in all\nthese places. I got broke very often, but always managed to get hold of\na stake. I went from Canada back to New York City; and used to play on\nthe falls steamers--Fisk's boats. I stayed there until I came to\nLouisville in 1870, when I went into the army again. I was here in the\nTaylor barracks with General Custer. I went out West with him, and was\nthere discharged from the army, and went to gambling at Bismarck,\nDakota. When I had got out of the army, I had made about six thousand\ndollars, and went to St. Paul, and from there to Chicago. I gambled\nthere for awhile, and was unsuccessful; and from there I came to\nLouisville again.\n\nI have been here since 1873, I believe. Shortly after I commenced\ngambling here, the gambling houses were closed, but were re-opened in\n1874 again, and I commenced gambling again, opening at the Richmond, the\nhouse on the South-west corner of Fifth and Market streets. Brother\nHolcombe before that, I think, was interested in the Richmond. That was\nthe last house I dealt in, or worked in, until I opened for myself,\nwhich was at \"84\" Fifth street, between Main and Market. I was very\nunsuccessful there; had men working for me who did not attend to their\nbusiness.\n\nDuring all this time I had a wife and family, whom I really loved but\nwhom I neglected and allowed to suffer greatly through my passion for\ngambling, the uncertainty of making a living and my wanderings from\nplace to place. About this time I used to think of Holcombe; and we\ngamblers used to remark among ourselves how it was that he had become\nreligious. I used to get to studying to myself how he got along, and ask\nmyself how a man could be a Christian who had been a gambler so long as\nhe had.\n\nAbout this time I met Dr. Jno. B. Richardson and Mr. Samuel B.\nRichardson. They talked with me in regard to swearing and gambling and\nthe life I was leading. They influenced me as best they could and\nadvised me to see Brother Holcombe, and together with Brother Holcombe\nthey watched over my spiritual condition for a couple of years. I had\nbecome disgusted with the life I was leading; and came to Brother\nHolcombe for advice. I had quit \"84\" and was broke. I had some money\nwhen I quit, and bought the house which I am living in yet. I said to\nBrother Holcombe: \"I am getting tired of this infernal gambling. How can\nI quit it? Show me something to do. How can I get out of this life?\" He\nsaid, \"Brother Wilson, come up stairs.\" He talked with me and prayed\nwith me. He said, \"Do not be discouraged. Take my advice. The first\nthing you do, commit yourself; take a stand and after that every night,\nand during the day, ask God for strength and help, and come to this\nmission and,\" he said, \"I will help you to get something to do in every\nway I can.\" I never will forget the first night I got down on my knees\nand prayed. I laughed at myself, which showed how the devil was after me\nto lead me back to my old life. I actually laughed to think I was trying\nto pray in earnest. I came to the mission and told Steve. Brother\nHolcombe said, \"Keep on in that way, anyhow. Pray to God and ask for\nstrength all the time. Keep away from gamblers and bad company, and do\nnot mix with them,\" and I did so--I took his advice, and I began to get\nstrength from Almighty God; He was helping me; He opened a way for me,\nthough everything was new to me for awhile.\n\nWhen I least expected it, I got a situation with the Louisville City\nRailway Company, which I still hold. I am happy and my family are happy,\nand all my surroundings are good; and I know, with the help of God, I\nwill never touch a card again. If we trust in God, I know we are kept\nfrom all temptation. When any temptation comes to me, I always look to\nGod for help; and the help comes as naturally as my pay does when\npay-day comes. I feel that the number of friends I have made, and\neverything I have, I owe to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and\nBrother Holcombe; and I trust I may be kept and continue in the life I\nam leading. I am happy and contented and all my surroundings are happy;\nand I hope all good people will pray for me that I may continue the life\nI am now leading.\n\nI belong to the First Presbyterian Church, Dr. Witherspoon's church, and\nI am sorry I can not attend more regularly. My business occupies me so\nconstantly that I can not get away.\n\nI get only a dollar and a half a day. When I was a gambler, some months\nI would make three or four thousand dollars, and sometimes five thousand\ndollars; and some months I believe I have made more than that, so far as\nthat is concerned; but a gambler, you know, has his ups and downs, I\nhave been so hard up that I have been tempted to commit murder for\nmoney. In Texas I looked for a man to kill him for his money, but when I\nfound him I did not have the heart to do it. It seemed as if I could not\nuse my hands.\n\nIt would take me from now until to-morrow morning to tell all of my\nexperiences. I have been in Europe, California, Old and New Mexico, and\nI believe that God was with me even when I was wicked. I have a bad\ntemper to this day, but, by God's grace, I can control it.\n\nMy parents were church members--Presbyterians, and I was raised in the\nchurch. My father died when I was fifteen years old, and my mother died\nwhen I was eight years old. If I had been put to hard work, and had had\nsomething to do, it might have been different with me; but my father was\nwell-to-do, and I had too much money to spend. My parents tried to give\nme a good education, and I went to school; but when I got to gambling I\ncould not get anything in my head but cards. I did not care for anything\nelse. But, thank God, it is now just the reverse; it just gives me the\nchills to think of playing cards.\n\nThree years ago, if a man had told me that I would quit gambling, I\nwould have told him that he was crazy. I thank God and Brother Holcombe\nfor what has been done for me. I am truly thankful there was such a man.\nI know if it had not been for him I would have been right in hell\nto-day. If I had not been helped and lifted up, just like a little\nchild in the new life, I think I would to-day be in hell. I never will\nforget Brother Holcombe.\n\nI drank liquor, but was not a regular drunkard, because it made me too\nsick. I used to drink and get drunk, but I would get so sick I could not\nstand it. The habit was there, but the constitution could not endure it.\n\nI have no trouble now; I am perfectly happy; I do not know what trouble\nis any more. Of course, we all have ups and downs; we can not have\neverything our own way; but I praise God and Brother Holcombe that I am\nable to bear them.\n\nYou must show that you are willing for the Lord to help you before He\nwill do so. It is like a man teaching his children; if the child keeps\nshoving him off, the parent can not help the child, and so it is with\nGod. But when a man has seen and felt the effects of sin, and his pride\nis broken down so that he is willing, then God will help him and save\nhim, no matter how far he has gone in wickedness.\n\n     NOTE.--Mr. Wilson is employed by the Louisville City Railway\n     Company, at the corner of Eighteenth and Chestnut streets,\n     where, day after day, for years, he has faithfully discharged\n     his duties, and he has the respect and esteem of his employers\n     and of all who know him.\n\n[Illustration: WM. BIERLY.]\n\n\nWILLIAM BIERLY.\n\nI am thirty-two years of age. I was born at Louisville in 1856. My\nfather was a Catholic then, but he is not now. My mother died when I was\nso small that I don't know what she was. I will tell you how it was: My\nmother died when I was quite young, my father went into the war, and I\nwas kicked and cuffed about from one place to another, here and there,\ntill I had no respect for myself, and felt that I was nobody.\n\nI was with my father in the soldiers' hospital for a long time. He was\nnurse in the soldiers' hospital. At this time I would drink whisky\nwhenever I could get it, which appetite did not leave me until I was\nabout eighteen years old.\n\nWhen I was about eleven years old I got to being bad--got to stealing.\nMy father was a strictly honest man himself, and my pilfering was\nabhorrent to him; so he had me put in the house of refuge when I was\neleven years old. I was to remain in the house of refuge until I was\ntwenty-one years old, but I got out before I was twenty-one. When I was\nnineteen I got to be a guard there. But I got to misbehaving, and got\ndischarged from there before I was twenty-one.\n\nWhen I came out of the house of refuge I boarded around at different\nplaces, first at one place and then another; and sometimes I had no\nplace to board at all, and sometimes I could almost lie down on the\nground and eat grass. I did not go to my father's, but knocked about\nfrom one place to another. I got to stealing again, and I kept that up\nall the time. I never had a desire to do anything else wrong, but I\nalways had the desire to steal; and while a boy I would steal anything I\ncame across. I would go down to the river and steal a bag of peanuts, or\nburst in the head of a barrel of apples and take apples out--many a time\nhave I done that. I worked in a tobacco shop for awhile, and would steal\ntobacco--I would steal anything.\n\nI never was arrested when I was a boy. The first time I ever was\narrested I was sent to the work-house, and Mr. Steve Holcombe got me\nout. After I got out of the work-house I attended the Mission, and there\nwas a good religious impression made on me. That was the first time I\never had any religious impression.\n\nI lived pretty straight for awhile, and after awhile my old desire to\nsteal came back on me. Thank the Lord it does not bother me any more\nnow, I was watching at the Louisville Exposition during the first year\nof the exposition, 1883, and I was boarding where there were some street\ncar drivers boarding, and they had all their money boxes there at the\nboarding house. I was tempted to take a few of their boxes, and I did\ntake two of them. I was arrested for it, tried, convicted and sentenced\nto six years in the penitentiary.\n\nWhile I was in the penitentiary it seemed that everything turned around\nthe other way with me; it seemed like I had got enough of it. I saw so\nmany bad men there, I got disgusted. It seemed to me if ever I got out\nand got my liberty any more, I would try to do right if it took my head\noff.\n\nDuring the time--two years--that I was in the penitentiary, I kept up a\ncorrespondence all the time with Mr. Holcombe; and Mr. Holcombe's\nChristian letters touched my heart, and I made up my mind by the grace\nof God I would lead a Christian life in the future. At the expiration of\nabout two years, Mr. Holcombe, to my great surprise and delight, brought\nme a pardon from Governor Knott.\n\nSince I have been out of the penitentiary I have been leading a\nChristian life, and have had no inclination to steal. I have been at\nwork for Hegan Brothers, as engineer and fireman, for some time, have\ngot married to a sweet girl, and am now living happily in the Lord; and\nI shall never cease to be grateful to God and Mr. Holcombe. I never go\nto sleep at night without thanking the Lord--and my wife joins me in\nit.\n\n[Illustration: MAC. PITTMAN.]\n\n\nCAPTAIN MAC PITTMAN.\n\nI was born in Baltimore in 1834. My ancestors were driven away from\nArcadia by the English, on account of their Roman Catholic proclivities.\n\nI was educated at two Catholic colleges, St. Mary's, at Baltimore; and\nSt. Mary's at Wilmington, Delaware. At eighteen years of age, on account\nof the tyranny of my father, I ran away from home, and shipped in the\nUnited States Navy as a common sailor. I went around to San Francisco,\nand there joined \"the gray-eyed man of destiny,\" General Walker.\n\nI joined his expedition in September, 1885, and arrived in Nicaragua in\nOctober, the following month--the third day of October. There was a\ncivil war then in progress in Nicaragua; and the pretense of this\nexpedition was that we were hired by one of the parties to take part in\nit. Walker was to furnish three hundred Americans, who were to get one\nhundred dollars a month and five hundred acres of land, and their\nclothes and rations, of course. When I first arrived there, we were to\nescort specie trains across the isthmus--there are but twelve miles of\nland from water to water--from San Juan del Sur to Virgin Bay. I was one\nof the guard over the celebrated State prisoners, General Coral and the\nSecretary of War, whose name I forget, who were both executed. I was\ninside of the seventieth man who joined this expedition; when I joined\nhim, Walker had but sixty men. The re-enforcements that came over\nmade just one hundred men. He had sixty men, I think, and we numbered\nforty. With this one hundred men we took the city of Grenada, which had\na population of twelve thousand, on the morning of October 13, 1855. A\nsmall division of men was sent to the town of Leon on the Pacific coast.\nThe natives of that section of the country were all in favor of Walker;\nthat part--the western part--is the Democratic part of the country. On\nour return to Grenada, on the 11th day of April, 1856, we went into the\nBattle of Rivas, after marching sixty-five miles. We fought from eight\no'clock in the morning until two the next morning, by the flash of guns.\nI lost my arm that morning; and was promoted from the rank of sergeant\nto that of first lieutenant for taking a cannon in advance of the army.\nI returned to Grenada, and lay there for several months, and then\nreturned to America. I went back with the re-enforcements from New York\nin the following August. In October, 1856, I resigned, and came back to\nAmerica.\n\nAt the breaking out of the civil war, on the first call for troops, I\nrefused a commission in the Federal army, and joined the Confederate\nforces.\n\nIn 1861 we formed the First Maryland regiment. The last six months of\nthe war I spent as a prisoner in Fort Delaware, charged with the murder\nof the eleven men who were killed in Baltimore during the riot, on the\n19th of April, 1861. I was court-martialed in Washington City, in the\nlatter part of 1864, and was sent in irons to Fort Delaware, and\nremained there until May, 1865, when I was released.\n\nFrom Fort Delaware I went to New York, and from there went to Virginia,\nwhere I married the great granddaughter of the illustrious patriot,\nPatrick Henry, at Danville. In January, 1866, I migrated to Texas, where\nI spent the little patrimony my grandfather had given me. When I left\nthere, I took the position of commercial and marine editor of the\nSavannah _News_.\n\nI never had given a thought to religion or my hereafter before this\ntime. To illustrate this: When they amputated my arm, they asked me\ndistinctly if I had any religion. They told me afterward they expected\nme to die. I said: \"Yes, I have been raised a Catholic.\" They wanted to\nsend for a priest. I said: \"No, I do not want you to send for a priest.\"\nThey asked me why? \"Well,\" I said, \"as I have lived, thus will I die; I\ndon't have much faith in the hereafter business.\" I did not have much\nfaith in hell, I meant.\n\nI was interested, directly and indirectly, in several gambling\nestablishments, and my proclivities were in that direction. The passion\nof gambling controlled me to such an extent that I was capable of all\nsins and crimes to indulge in it. It was one day up, one day down; one\nday with plenty, another day without a cent.\n\nI continued in this wild, reckless career, until fate turned my\nfootsteps toward the city of Louisville. For it was fate, sure enough,\nor I don't know what it was. I was sitting one Sunday in front of the\nold Willard Hotel, Steve Holcombe was preaching that Sunday on the\ncourthouse steps. His remarks were such as to elicit my closest\nattention; so impressive were they that he seemed to picture before me a\npanorama of my whole life, in referring to his own career. When he got\nthrough with his sermon, I walked up to him, and said: \"Mr. Holcombe,\nyou are the first man that I ever heard in my life who impressed me with\nthe importance of preparing for death and meeting God.\" I then commenced\nattending the Mission, on Jefferson street, near Fifth, daily. I was\nthere nearly every day.\n\nI then went South, to New Orleans, and fell from grace again--commenced\ngoing through the same old routine--gambling, drinking, spreeing. In\nfact, I was a fearful periodical spreer; if I took one drink, I had to\nkeep drinking for a month. As long as I kept away from it I was all\nright. I was very abusive when I was drinking; I would knock a man down\nwith a club. I have been arrested, I guess, fifty times for fighting and\ndrunken brawls.\n\nFrom New Orleans I again came back to Louisville, the 6th of August a\nyear ago, still going on in the same reckless manner, getting drunk, and\nbeing drunk, as usual, a week at a time--sometimes a month; in fact, I\nlived in bar-rooms here. One night, while Mr. Murphy was here--I do not\nrecollect the night, but at one of Mr. Murphy's meetings--he appealed to\nus all to try and reform and be sober men. I met Mr. Werne and Miles\nTurpin there, and while there, Mr. Werne asked me if I did not intend to\nreform, or something like that--that was the substance of the\nconversation of himself and his wife with me--and he told me that Miles\nTurpin had reformed. I said: \"If Miles Turpin has reformed, I can, too.\nFrom this day henceforth I will be a sober man.\" And I signed the Murphy\npledge a short time afterward, and I have not taken anything\nintoxicating from that day to this.\n\nMr. Werne then asked me to come up to the Mission, and I have not missed\nattending this Mission but three nights since, and the benefits that I\nhave derived--the satisfaction, the happiness of mind, the contentment\nof spirit--I would not exchange for my old life for anything in the\nworld. I mean I would not exchange my present life for the old one for\nany earthly consideration. I attribute this reformation to the strong\npersonal interest that Mr. Holcombe has taken in my welfare, and if he\ndoes not save but one soul, as he says, it would pay him for all the\ntrouble he has gone through within the last ten years or more.\n\n     The two following letters, though in the nature of testimonies,\n     are from men of high standing in the community, who preferred,\n     on account of others, not to give their testimonies in the form\n     in which the foregoing are given:\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., July 24, 1888.\n\n    _Rev. Gross Alexander_:\n\n    MY DEAR BROTHER--Yours of 21st is just received. I can not see\n    how a sketch of my life can do \"The Life of Brother Holcombe\"\n    any good. As I understand it, you are writing the life and\n    conversion of Steve Holcombe and not of others. My past history\n    is sufficiently sad and regretful without having it paraded\n    before the public in book form. I am far from being proud of it.\n    I am exceedingly anxious it should sink into the shades of\n    forgetfulness. Having marked out a new and brighter life, I am\n    only too glad to let \"the dead past bury its dead.\"\n\n    Most sincerely,\n\n    ---- ----.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    LOUISVILLE, KY., August 2, 1888.\n\n    _Dear Brother Alexander_:\n\n    Your kind letter was received several days ago, but I have\n    delayed answering, in the expectation of seeing you here in\n    person.\n\n    I am now anxious for the successful issue of the book, on\n    account of the great moral influence it will have upon all\n    classes of the community. But I can not consent to what you\n    propose. I am endeavoring every day to blot out and forget the\n    dark and cloudy past of my life, keeping always a bright future\n    in view. There are dark and painful episodes in the life of\n    every man and though _he_ may be willing to expose them to the\n    eyes of the public, there are those who are bound to him by the\n    ties of blood and relationship, who would blush at the recital.\n    This is the position I occupy. I hope to see you here soon.\n\n    Yours truly,\n\n    ---- ----.\n\n[Illustration: A NIGHT MEETING--MR. HOLCOMBE PREACHING.]\n\n\n\n\nSERMONS.\n\nMARK 1: 15.\n\n     \"The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel.\"\n\n\nVerse 14 says, the Lord Jesus came into Galilee preaching; and this was\nthe announcement which He made, namely, that the kingdom of God was at\nhand and they were to enter it by repentance and faith. The kingdom was\nbrought to them; they did not have to go and search for it. It was\nbrought to them, opened for them and they were _urged_ to go in and\nbecome members of it. And so it is now. God's messengers are sent\neverywhere to find sinners, and when they are found, to say to them:\n\"Ho! everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and drink, come buy\nand eat without money and without price\" (Isaiah 55), and to cry, \"All\nthings are now ready; come ye, therefore, to the feast.\"\n\nAnd so it is to-day, God sends the same message of good news, of glad\ntidings to you--even to you. The kingdom of God is _here--here to-day\nand now_; and if you _will_, you may enter it and be saved.\n\nBut what are men told to do in order that they may enter?\n\nHow are they to enter?\n\n1. They are to _repent_.\n\nAnd what is it to repent?\n\nSome think that great sorrow of heart is a necessary part of repentance;\nand that tears and groans of agony must be a part of every repentance\nthat is genuine, and they think that unless we feel deeply and keenly\nthe baseness of our ingratitude to God we are not truly penitent. Now,\nit is true that some people have _all these_ marks of repentance, and it\nis very well to have them, but some men can not have them and never can\nget them. So that if all men are commanded to repent and can repent,\nthese things are not an essential part of true repentance. To repent,\nthen, is to turn unto God with the feeling that sin is wrong, and that,\nif we do not get rid of it, it will ruin us; and with the resolution and\nhope, by the help of God, to keep from sin and to live for Him during\nthe rest of our lives. And if our repentance is genuine, we _will_ leave\noff sin and practice righteousness. It will show itself by its _fruits_.\nPretending or professing to repent without turning away from our sins\nand abandoning them is, as some one has said, like trying to pump the\nwater out of a boat without stopping the leaks. If you have sorrow and\nregrets and tears, they are all right; but the _main thing_ is to have\nsuch a feeling concerning sin as to turn _forever_ away from it to God\nand to a life of righteousness. And if your repentance is genuine, you\nwill not wait until you are converted before you begin to leave off all\nsin and to do all the good of every kind in your power. No; you will\nbegin _at once and keep it up_, and the longer you keep at it the more\nyou will feel that you must go on with it.\n\n2. But there is another thing to be done. The Lord says:\n\n\"Repent and _believe_ the Gospel.\"\n\nSo you are to _believe_. You are to believe that God _does_ accept you\nnow through Jesus Christ _just because He says_ He accepts and saves\nthose who believe in His Son. You may not receive the evidence of\nacceptance _at once_ and so you are to hold on by faith till He does\ngive you the evidence of your acceptance, even the witness of His spirit\nthat your sins are forgiven and you made a child of God.\n\nYou must not let the difficulty of believing without feeling keep you\nback from believing and you must not let the remembrance of your great\nsins keep you from believing. Poor, unhappy men, you who are bruised and\nsore on account of your sins, I beg you cease from your evil ways. Why\nwill you die? \"What fearful thing is there in Heaven which makes you\nflee from that world? What fascinating object in hell, that excites such\nfrenzied exertion to break every band, and overleap every bound, and\nforce your way downward to the chambers of death?\" Stop, I beseech you,\nand repent, and Jesus Christ shall blot out your sins, and remember your\ntransgressions no more. Stop, and the host who follow your steps shall\nturn, and take hold on the path of life. Stop, and the wide waste of sin\nshall cease, and the song of the angels shall be heard again, \"glory to\nGod in the highest; on earth, peace, good will to men.\" Stop, and\ninstead of wailing with the lost, you shall join the multitude which no\nman can number, in the ascription of blessing and honor, and glory, and\npower, to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and\nforever.\n\nThe kingdom of God is here to-night. Will you come in?\n\n     \"Come humble sinner in whose breast,\" etc.\n\nCome, angels invite you, we invite you, and, best of all, Christ invites\nyou. O, do not, by your own actions, bar this door forever against your\nimmortal soul. What a fearful thing it will be to wake up in eternity to\nfind this door, which to-day hangs wide open, barred against you and\nhung with crape. O, how fearful will be those words, too late! too late!\nAll is lost.\n\n    \"Just as I am, without one plea,\n    But that Thy blood was shed for me,\n    And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,\n    O! Lamb of God I come.\n\n    \"Just as I am, tho' tossed about,\n    With many a conflict, many a doubt,\n    Fightings and fears within, without,\n    O! Lamb of God I come.\"\n\n\nJOHN III: 16\n\n     \"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son\n     that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have\n     everlasting life.\"\n\nMany of the glorious truths of the Gospel are both above the conception\nof man and altogether contrary to what his unrenewed nature would desire\nto publish. Heathen writers could tell of the cruelty and vengeful wrath\nof their imaginary gods. They could tell of deeds of daring, the\nexploits of Hercules, Hector, AEneas and others; but it was foreign to\ntheir nature to write: \"God so loved the world as to give His only\nbegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but\nhave everlasting life.\"\n\n1. The Gospel is glad tidings. It is the news that God is reconciled and\nwants to be at peace with man. Is this not good news? Have you never\nheard good news that made your heart leap for joy? Well, this is better\nnews than any you have ever heard. God, not angry with you, but loving\nyou, so as, at a great sacrifice, to make a way for the salvation of the\nworld.\n\n2. What was that sacrifice? It was the gift of His own Son. Think of it,\noh sinner! God consenteth to give up His Son, to leave His glory and\ncome as a stranger into the world, and to be born in great poverty, and\nwith all the conditions of us poor mortals. Think of God looking down on\nJesus, His Son, living this poor earthly life, here among strangers who\ndid not recognize His divinity--nay, who became jealous of Him, and\npersecuted Him trying to kill him; and at last, after unheard-of\ntortures inflicted upon Him, did kill Him. Now, think of God giving up\nHis Son to endure all this, and watching all this lonely and\nmisunderstood and persecuted life of His only begotten Son, watching it\nand enduring it for thirty-three years, and then ask yourself how much\nGod sacrificed to show His love for us sinners. Have you a son? If you\nhave, don't you know how it stings you deeper for a man to mistreat or\nstrike him than yourself? If a man should beat my little Pearl it would\nbe harder for me to bear than anything, and yet this is what God endured\nfor long years to show His love for you and me.\n\nThink of the arrest of Jesus, His being tied, handcuffed, beaten more\nthan once with fearful lashes, knocked in the face, spit on, and then\nnailed with spikes to a cross with thieves, and think of God looking at\nall this while it was going on, and you have some idea of what it means\nwhen it says God _gave_ His only begotten Son.\n\n3. And the way to get this friendship of God and profit by this love is\nmerely to _believe_ with all your heart on Jesus. It is hard to believe\nthat God loves, really loves, such sinners as you are, and yet I am a\nliving witness that He does; for I was as bad as any of you, and if God\ndid not love me and take hold of me and save me, then I don't know what\nhas happened to me, certain. So you must _believe_ it, even if it is\nhard to believe it.\n\n4. But this glad tidings is for you and you and you--for _every one of\nyou_. It is for _whosoever_, and that means everybody--everybody. A\ncertain believing man in England said, \"I rather it would _be\nwhosoever_ than to have my name there. For if my name was there, I\ncould say there might be another man of my name in the world, but when\nit says _whosoever, I know it includes me_.\"\n\n5. It is to save us from _perishing_.\n\nOh, what an awful word is that, and what an awful thing it must be to\nperish. You have a taste of it now in your sins, and their saddening,\ndarkening, hardening effect on you. You once had tender consciences. You\nonce loved things and people that were pure and good and true, and you\nloved a Christian mother, wife, father or sister; but sin has so\nhardened you, that you care for none of these things now. Is it not so?\nWell, this is a little taste of what it is to finally and forever\n_perish_.\n\nBut Christ was given that you might _not perish_. What, can Christ save\nme from my hardness of heart, from my black sins, from my uncleanness\nand debauchery, and from my awful darkness of mind and conscience?\n\nYes; He can, glory to His name. I am a living witness. He has saved me.\nHe can save others like me from all these awful effects of sin, even\nafter they have lived in it for scores of years, as I did. Yes, and He\nsaves from that awful _perishing_ which comes after this little, short\nlife is over, whatever it is. Yes; Jesus can shut and bar the door of\nhell, and no soul can enter there who believes in Him and lives for Him.\n\n6. But He not only saves from perishing, He gives them eternal _life_,\n\nWhat does that mean? Oh, I know not--only I know it means life forever\nwithout death or decay or sickness or pain or sorrow or weakness or\ntiredness or parting or fear or anxiety. But what else it means I know\nnot. This eternal life, this life forever in heaven, I expect--I fully\nexpect--to get, though I was a poor gambler and swearer and adulterer,\nand all that I could be that was sinful, for forty years. Yes; I expect\nto get it. I know I am on my way thither, though I am not perfect. Won't\nyou come and go with us? Oh, won't you come?\n\n\nTITUS II: 14.\n\n     \"Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all\n     iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of\n     good works.\"\n\nThis verse contains a comprehensive statement of the Gospel in few\nwords. Let us ask God that His Holy Spirit may give us wisdom and\ninsight to understand and profit by what we are here told.\n\nIn the first place, we are told that the ground of our salvation is\nthrough the self-surrender of Himself by Jesus, the Son of God.\n\nWe saw, in a passage of Scripture a week or two ago, how great the\ncondescension of Jesus Christ was. Though He was equal with God, yet He\ntook upon himself the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as a\nman, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death--the death of the\nCross. Our text now teaches us what this was for. \"He gave Himself _for\nus_.\"\n\nNow, I will ask you, could God show His concern for us in a more\nstriking and convincing way than in the _giving_ of His Son to ignominy\nand death? Could Jesus, the Son of God, show His love for men in any\nmore convincing way than in _giving Himself_ for their recovery and\nsalvation? Then, surely we ought to lay aside our habitual way of\nthinking of God as our enemy, and think of Him as our best friend. For\nno human friend ever did for us what God has done for us. And if we\njudge of one's love for us by the sacrifices he makes for us, then must\nwe give the crown to Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh. He bore\nour sins; He would bear our burdens, if we would throw them on Him; He\nwould fill us with His spirit, and with power, if we would trust Him and\nbelieve His promise.\n\nBut did He give Himself for us that we might remain _in sin_, and yet\nnot be punished? This is what the Universalists say. But no! He gave\nHimself for us that He might redeem us _from_ iniquity, and from _all_\niniquity at that. He was manifested to deliver us from the _guilt_ of\nour past sins; and, second, to deliver us from the dominion and power of\nsin, that being free from sin, we might live unto God.\n\nAnd that man who thinks he has been pardoned for past sins is mistaken,\nunless he also has been saved from the _power_ of sin, so as no longer\nto be led captive by the devil.\n\nLet not what I say discourage anybody. If you have not been saved from\nthe power of evil and of evil habits, you may be saved, and that here\nand now. The fact is, many of us are so selfish, we just want to be\ndelivered from the danger, but not from the practice, of sin. Some of us\nenjoy sin.\n\nIf some who are here could have _all_ desire for liquor utterly taken\naway by raising a hand, they would, perhaps, not raise a hand, because\nthey love liquor too well. If some could be utterly and forever freed\nfrom lust by bowing their heads, they would not be willing to bow their\nheads, because they find so much pleasure in lust and in lewd thoughts,\nfeelings and acts, that they do not _desire_ to be freed from that which\ngives them this low, animal pleasure. And yet these same men will\nprofess to have great desires to be cleansed from their sins. But, if\nyou are willing, Christ is ready and able to deliver you from all these\nbase and beastly passions and habits. What do you say? Do you want to\nbe redeemed from all iniquity to-night?\n\nAnd when thus delivered from all iniquity, your soul being pure will\ndesire nothing but to do good, and to bring other poor soiled and\nenslaved souls into the same liberty and purity. Since my conversion I\nhave had no other desire and no other care but to do good and save\nothers. And that is what the text says: \"Zealous of good works.\"\n\nNow, you who have been saved here, I want to ask you: What are you doing\nfor others? If you do _not_ abound in good works, and do not try to save\nothers, it will be difficult or _impossible_ to keep yourself saved.\nJesus said: \"Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away.\"--John\nXV: 1. And you will find your supply of grace running short and your\nfaith growing weak and tottering, if you do not make it a point and\nbusiness to do good to others--to their bodies and their souls. What do\nyou say? Has anybody else heard from your lips of your great blessing\nand salvation? Do you tell your family and your friends about it? Do you\ntell others of their sins and their danger? Do you pray for others? Do\nyou give your time (part of it at least) and your money in doing good to\nothers? If you do, you will find your own cup gets fuller, your own\nfaith stronger, your own heart more joyful. It is God's law and God's\nplan that you should give out to others. In so doing He will increase\nyour own supply. Do you feel your weakness? It is right you should do\nso. But do the work, speak the word, and leave it to God who giveth the\nincrease, and it shall abound to the salvation of others, the joy of\nyour heart, and the glory of His blessed name.\n\n\nISAIAH LV: 6-7.\n\n     \"Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while\n     He is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way and let him\n     return unto the Lord and He will abundantly pardon.\"\n\nIf a father were to write a letter to a dissipated and rebellious son,\nfar away from home, to persuade him to return, and to assure him of a\ncordial welcome, he could hardly fill it fuller of expressions of\ntenderness and love, expressions to inspire confidence, than the Bible\nis of such expressions from the great God. This chapter contains an\ninvitation to seek God, and a precious promise of forgiveness to any who\nwill do so.\n\n1. _Seek_ ye the Lord.\n\nNow, you know what it means when it says _seek_. You know what it means\nwhen a man says he is seeking employment. He goes from place to place,\nfrom man to man, and he does this from day to day, and from week to week\nif he does not succeed; and the reason is, there is a _necessity_ upon\nhim. He _must_ have employment, or himself and family are without bread,\nwithout clothing, without shelter. So when we talk about a man seeking\nthe Lord, we mean that he searches diligently for Him, and from day to\nday, and from week to week, because there is something worse than\nstarvation to suffer if he does not find God. I tell you when a man has\nsoul-hunger, it is worse than body-hunger if he does not find God. When\na man is sick of sin and feels his loneliness and orphanage, and that he\nis without God and without hope in the world, and that he dare not go\ninto eternity in his condition of guilt and uncleanness, it is more\nfearful than hunger of the body, and it will make him seek for God with\nall his soul.\n\n_How_ am I to seek God? you say. Well, seek Him by prayer. \"Call upon\nHim,\" as the text says. \"Ask and it shall be given you.\" Go off to\nyourself. Shut out everybody. Be entirely alone. Then get down upon your\nknees and call upon God. Plead His promises. Tell Him you have heard\nthat He receives and saves sinners, and that you are a sinner, and that\nyou do not mean to let Him go until He blesses you.\n\nSeek Him by reading good, religious books and papers, and especially the\nBible; and don't read any other sort of reading unless it is necessary\ntill you find Him. Keep your mind on God all the time.\n\nSeek Him by going with good, Christian people, pious, godly men and\nwomen who walk with God, no matter what their name or denomination may\nbe. If you say you don't know where to find such, come to our Mission\nrooms, to the Walnut-street church, to all our meetings, preaching,\nprayer-meeting, Sunday-school, class-meetings, ask us questions, use us\nin any way we can help you to find God.\n\nSeeking Him by putting out of the way those things which are\n_hindrances_. The text refers to this. It says, \"Let the wicked forsake\nhis ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts and thus let him return\nunto God.\"\n\nThe forsaking of sin is the main feature of what we call _repentance_.\n\nYou can not come to God unless you come giving up your sins entirely or\ncrying to God for help to give them up.\n\nYou can, by God's grace, give up all your sins and all your sinful and\nslavish habits. A proof of this is my own deliverance from evil habits,\nas whisky, tobacco and evil passions, as lewdness, licentiousness.\n\n1. You must give up sin. You can not expect to retain it and please God\nor serve God. Do not question this. You must give up sin. There is no\nescape. Turn away from it with all your heart and soul.\n\n2. You must give up _all_ sin, your besetting sin, the sin that has the\nmost power over you.\n\n3. Give up all sin _now_.\n\nDo not wait. God will help you. You know not that you will be living\nto-morrow or next Sunday; and if you are, it will not be any easier then\nthan it is to-day. Now is the day of salvation.\n\n4. Give up all sin, give it up _now_, and give it up _forever_. You can\nnot give it up for awhile and then turn to it again. That will do you no\ngood. You might as well not give it up at all as to turn back to it\nagain.\n\nAnd look to God for help, for present help, for all-sufficient strength.\n\nTell Him by His help you mean to be His, no matter what it costs; and\nbelieve on Jesus Christ, His Son, as the bearer of your past sins and\nthe giver of the Holy Spirit, and very soon you will be happier than the\nmen who own these hotels and business houses and Broadway palaces and\nhundreds of thousands of dollars. Yes; you will. I know from my\nexperience and that of others.\n\nMy text says, God will have mercy on you and will _abundantly_ pardon\nyou.\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.\n\nLUKE VIII: 5-15.\n\nJesus may have seen a farmer sowing seed, and, directing the attention\nof the people to him, uttered this parable. He took the commonest and\nmost familiar facts and occurrences and made them the means of\nexpressing the great truths of His kingdom. So His ministers should try\nto do now--teach the truth of God in language easily understood by the\nmen addressed.\n\nHe divides the hearers of the word into four classes: be ready then to\ndecide in which class _you_ are, for you are certainly in one.\n\n1. The seed which fell on the hard beaten path is the word preached to\nmen who do not receive any impression at all from hearing it.\n\nThey have forgotten it by the time the sound of the preacher's voice has\ndied away. It does not enter their minds and produce any _thought_; nor\ntheir hearts, and produce any _feeling_.\n\nAre there not thousands of people who go to church, who hear preaching\nconstantly, and yet it produces no effect? They are no better, and _they\ndo not try to be_.\n\nBut in the twelfth verse we find who is the cause of this astonishing\nindifference and hardness--it is the _devil_ who causes them at once and\nforever to forget all that is said \"lest they should _believe_ and _be\nsaved_.\"\n\nThere is an unseen adversary, then, who keeps us from thinking about\nreligion all he can. If you do not think about it much, that is a proof\nthat you are under his influence.\n\n2. The next class consists of those who from impulse become religious\nwithout counting the cost.\n\nThey do not stop to reflect that to be godly requires self-denial,\nhumility, patience, crucifying the flesh with all its lusts. And so,\nwhen temptation comes or trial, they give up in disgust. They are like\nPliable in Bunyan's Pilgrims' Progress--easily persuaded to start on the\nway to heaven, but just as easily discouraged and disgusted. There are\nlots of such people now. They lack stability.\n\n3. The next class are those who hear, believe, receive and practice the\nword of God--who run well for a season, maybe for a _long season_, but\nare little by little, and in an unperceived way, drawn away from their\nfirst love, and then on to perdition.\n\nThree things are here mentioned as drawing them gradually away from\ntheir devotion to Christ:\n\n(_a_) _Cares._\n\nThey have so much to attend to, they do not _have_ time or _take_ time\nfor their religious duties, as prayer, going to meetings, etc., and\nmissing these, they soon grow cold, and they are so occupied and worried\nwith the multitude of things to be attended to, they have no\n_disposition_ for religion. All this care may be about things that are\nlawful, as making a living, for example.\n\n(_b_) _Riches._\n\nOh, how deceitful riches are. We think we don't love them, but let us be\nasked to part with them, as Christ asked the young man, and _we see_.\nJohn Wesley said, \"As wealth increases, religion decreases,\" and he was\nright.\n\n(_c._) _Pleasure._\n\nThe pleasure of fine, rich living, fashionable life, fine dress,\ntheater-going, balls, parties, flirtations, the admiration and praise of\nothers etc., etc.\n\n4. The last class are those who _count the cost_, go in with their eyes\nopen, who _won't_ let cares, riches or pleasures draw them off, but who\nwork, and serve, and pray with _patience_ even unto the end.\n\n\nII. CORINTHIANS, II: 11.\n\n     \"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not\n     ignorant of his devices.\"\n\nThe New Testament everywhere teaches that there is a personal evil\nspirit of wonderful cunning and deep malignity toward God and the human\nrace. Hence, our conflict is not with flesh and blood; not against our\nown inclinations to evil, nor against sin in the abstract, but it is\nagainst the god of this world, the spirit that now worketh in the\nchildren of disobedience.\n\nTherefore, yielding to sin is no small matter, for it is yielding to an\nenemy of unfathomable hatred toward us, and of the deepest cunning, who,\nin everything, has for his purpose our ruin and God's disappointment,\nand who, however lightly he may let his chains lie upon us while we are\nled captive by him, at his will, always draws them so tight, when we\nattempt to escape from him, that only Almighty God can break them off\nand set us free.\n\nIt makes a vast difference whether sin is only the indulgence of a\npassion which can have no intelligent design to damage and to ruin us,\nand which passes away when it is gratified, to trouble us no more, or\nwhether it is the means adopted by an invisible but awfully real and\nhellish foe to lure us to an unforeseen ruin.\n\nYes, sin is not a mere pleasure whose effects are ended when the\nenjoyment is over, but it is the bait that hides the cruel hook thrown\nout for us by the artful fisherman of hell. And he is all the more\ndangerous because we can not see him and realize always his ultimate\npurpose.\n\nThe skillful fisherman keeps himself out of sight and lets the fish see\nonly the tempting bait, and so the poor, deceived creature is lured by a\nharmless looking pleasure on to agony and death.\n\nAnd Satan not only controls the world, but he continually tempts\nChristians; those who have just recently escaped out of his snares and\nare on their way to heaven.\n\nAnd now, what are some of his devices?\n\n1. He makes a grand effort to persuade young Christians that they have\nnever been converted. He almost invariably attacks them with this\ntemptation. He sometimes pursues them for years with this fear, that\nthey have never really experienced a change of heart. And, if he\nsucceeds in persuading them of this, he has gained a grand point toward\ntheir fall. For to find that one is mistaken in the belief that he has\npassed from death unto life, is the most discouraging, disheartening\nthing he could experience.\n\nI have known old ministers of the Gospel say that the first thing Satan\never tempted them with was this suggestion, that they were mistaken in\nbelieving that they had passed through that wonderful change which makes\na sinner an heir of God, and fits him for heaven.\n\nSo, my brother, you are in the line of God's true servants if the enemy\nhas troubled you with this temptation. Don't, therefore, let it\ndiscourage you. And do not, by any means, give up to it. Say to your\ntempter that your Lord says he is a liar from the beginning, and that\nyou can not believe him, but you prefer to believe God.\n\nAnd the very fact that you are strongly tempted to believe you are not\nconverted is one proof that you are. For if you were really _not_\nconverted, but still in the flesh, the devil would tempt you to believe\nyou _were_ converted, in order to make you rest satisfied and deceived\nwith your unsaved condition. As he _does_ tempt many worldly-minded\nchurch members to believe they are changed enough to be safe, and so\nthey rest satisfied in their unsaved condition, and perish.\n\nSo, there are many church members who become irreconcilably offended if\nyou dare to suggest to them that you don't believe they are really\nchildren of God. Their temptation then is to believe the falsehood, that\nthey are really converted and in a safe condition.\n\nAnd if a man's temptation is to believe he is _not_ converted, it is one\nproof that he _is_ converted.\n\nBesides, if the devil tempts you to believe you are not converted, you\ncan cut the matter short by saying: \"Well, then, I can be in a moment.\nFor whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ hath everlasting life,\nand I do here and now believe on Him, and will hold on to Him by faith\nin spite of earth and hell.\" Old Brother Bottomly, a preacher in the\nLouisville Conference, was tempted to doubt his conversion the night\nafter it occurred, as he was lying on his bed. He recognized Satan at\nonce as the author of his temptation, and he said: \"Well, Satan, if I\nhave not been converted, as you say, I will be.\" And he got out of his\nbed, and down on his knees, and he gave himself to God, and he believed\non Jesus, and prayed, and soon he was rejoicing in full assurance, and\nthe devil fled away out of hearing with his harassing temptation.\n\n2. He tries to make them believe and feel, after the glow of the first\nlove has subsided a little, that the service of God is hard and trying,\nand that it has nothing in it to satisfy the heart and to compensate for\nthe pleasure of sin, which they have given up.\n\nAnd if you begin to yield and to slacken your earnestness or zeal, he\ngets a great advantage and you lose the joy of religion by letting\nyourself lag away at a doubting distance from Christ, and then it does\nseem like the devil is telling the truth, because you don't keep close\nenough to Christ and put soul and will enough into His service to get\nthe joy of it. Christ says: \"My yoke is easy and my burden is light.\"\nAnd if your heart or your enemy says the contrary, tell them that they\nare false.\n\nBut don't allow yourself to be tempted to try if you can not find an\neasy way to heaven. It will get sweet and easy by a patient and\nwhole-souled perseverance in it, but _not_ by slackening your\ncarefulness and experimenting with worldly pleasure to see how far you\ncan go therein.\n\n3. But his grand scheme for ruining young Christians, and the one he\ngenerally succeeds with, is the suggestion that there is no need of\nbeing so particular and so regular in everything and so rigid in the\nperformance of duty and in the avoiding of all appearances of evil.\n\nIn other words, a sort of reaction comes, and a dangerous thing it often\nproves to be. Now, the temptation is to give up the regular and rigid\nperformance of duty because you don't _feel_ as much like doing it as\nyou did at first, or because some of your well-meaning, but unrenewed,\nfriends say they can't see the need of being so particular and strict.\nThere's no use of going to prayer-meeting every time, no use going to\nchurch twice every Sunday, no use having prayer at home every day, etc.\n\nBut if you miss any duty once it will be much easier to miss it the\nsecond time and you will be much more likely to neglect it again. And\nyou can't afford to take such a dangerous risk in so important a matter.\n\nAnd then we begin to think that there is no use being so particular\nabout abstaining from the very beginnings of evil, or else we persuade\nourselves that we have grown so strong and have been so changed we can\nbe men now and enjoy things in moderation which formerly we could not\nuse without going to excess.\n\nAh, brother, you are walking right into one of Satan's unseen traps. O,\nbeware! For your happiness' sake, beware! for your family's sake,\nbeware! Satan says, \"It's no harm to take a dram if you don't get drunk;\nno harm to go to the race track if you don't bet; no harm to go to the\nball-room if you don't dance,\" etc.\n\nBut we know that even in case of a youth who has never been in the habit\nof indulging in sins, they have a growing charm and power over him if he\nyields once or twice; how much greater the danger for one who has been\nthe slave of these sins and has only recently broken off from them!\n\nI heard a recently converted man say to a friend who was starting away\non a trip, \"Dunc, don't let the devil say to you 'Now, just take one\ndrink and then stop.' For I tell you, if you take one drink you are\ngone.\" Now, this man understood the case and the danger.\n\nThere is no possibility of compromise. No possible middle ground in\nthese things, especially for us who were once the slaves of our evil\npassions.\n\nI have heard of a man who _for years_ had abstained from drinking and\nhis father, thinking he was safe, invited him to drink toddies with him.\nThe son did so, and he went back to his old habit of drunkenness, had\ndelirium tremens, forced his wife to get a divorce and brought distress\nand disgrace and anguish on his family as well as himself. That was a\nMr. D., who has several times been to our Mission.\n\nSo, my brother, though you may think you would be safe to trifle with\nsin, and try to practice moderation, it is such an awful, awful risk you\nhad better not make the experiment. Remember, it is only the bait of\nSatan to lure you to certain ruin.\n\nFor your sake, for your father's sake, for your mother's sake, for your\nwife's sake, for your children's sake, for Christ's sake, don't do it.\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED.\n\nPSALM I: 1-2.\n\nAll Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and hence it is profitable\nfor instruction and assistance to those who will attentively consider\nit. This Psalm is a part of the Scripture, and we may expect to find it\ninstructive and helpful. It contains a description of the righteous man.\n\n1. It tells what he does _not_ do. He does not walk in the counsel of\nthe ungodly. This is the beginning of an evil life--to go among those\nwho are ungodly and to listen to their opinions and views and counsels.\nThere is no sin, our evil hearts suggest to us, in merely going with\nworldly people, if we do not pattern after their ways and do as they do.\nWe can go with them and yet not do as they do. But the history, the sad\nhistory, of many a struggling soul, shows that this is a great mistake.\nWe can't go with bad associates and not be harmed by them. The very fact\nthat we want to go with wicked people shows that there is in us an\ninclination toward sin which is dangerous, and which ought to be\nseverely watched and kept down rather than encouraged. More men have\nbeen ruined by their associations than by any other one cause. And let\nme say by way of warning that if any of you, my friends, are purposing\nand trying to lead a new life, you will have to give up the associations\nof your old life and choose new ones, as I had to do, and did do.\n\nBut did you observe the word _walk_ here in this verse? That word is\nintended to show that in the first part of a sinful life there is\nrestlessness and uneasiness. The man who is just beginning to sin\nagainst light and conscience and God is uneasy about it. He can not be\nstill. It is something new and strange, and his conscience rises up\nagainst his conduct; and till he goes on to the deadening of his\nconscience, it gives him distress and anxiety.\n\nBut it says, the good man does not \"stand in the way of sinners.\" This\nis the second stage. When a man passes through the first stage and gets\nto this second one, then he not only listens to the conversation and\ncounsel of those who are ungodly--that is, who make no professions of\nreligion--but he goes now with open _sinners, in the way_ with evil\ndoers, violators of law, criminals against God and man. And now observe\nhe takes a \"_stand_.\" It is no longer \"walk,\" for the restlessness and\nuneasiness have about passed away, and he takes a deliberate _stand_\namong wicked men, who do not fear to commit any sort of crime. And, my\nyoung friend, this is always the way with sin. It grows upon a man; and\nbefore he is aware of it, he has grown fond of it, sees no evil or\ndanger in it, and deliberately chooses it as his course of life. Beware,\nthen, of _beginning_ in the way of evil.\n\nBut it says, in the third place, that he does not \"sit in the seat of\nthe scornful.\" Ah, here we have the third stage of the downward course\nof sin. First, there was a restlessness in even associating with ungodly\npeople; second, a deliberate stand among sinners, evil doers, as one of\ntheir number; and now it is _sitting down_ in the seat of the\n_scornful_. When men have silenced the voice of conscience, and spent\nyears in the practice of evil, they come at last to lose faith in\neverything--in God, in man, in virtue, in goodness; and they become cold\nand sneering scorners of everything that is called good. Have you not\nknown men who have gone through this downward road? Nay, do you not know\nnow some who are traveling this ruinous pathway? I have known young men\nto go among gamblers just to _look on_. They would have _feared_ to\ntouch the implements of sin, but they became familiarized with the\nsight, and then took part; and from bad to worse, have gone on and on,\ntill it makes me shudder to know what they are to-day. I tell you, my\nfriends, the course of sin is down, down, down. You may as soon expect\nto get in a boat on the current of Niagara above the falls and stand\nstill, as to expect that you can launch yourself on the current of sin\nand not go down toward swift and certain ruin. Beware then! Hear the\nvoice of warning before you have gone too far ever to return.\n\n2. In the next place, this Psalm tells what a _good_ man does. His\ndelight is in the law of the Lord. He is satisfied that in sin there is\nonly ruin; and turning with fear and dread away from sin, he yearns to\nfind God, who alone can deliver him from sin and keep him from it and\nfurnish him a satisfying portion instead of it.\n\nBut where can we find God, and how? Not in nature; for there is nothing\nclear enough in nature to teach anything about God or how to come to\nHis presence. But he can expect to find God in that revelation which God\nhas made of Himself in His word. So he goes to that, and he finds there\nencouragement and instruction and tender invitations and promises of\nmercy and help; and the more he seeks the more he finds to draw him on,\nto satisfy his yearning heart and to charm his poor soul away from the\nlove of sin. As he practices what he finds in God's word, he realizes\nthe blessedness of it. It brings peace, purity, deliverance from\ndarkness, uncertainty and fear; and so he longs to know more and more of\nit and he studies into it. Do you know that to one whose heart is\nchanged the word of God is like a whole California of gold mines? He is\n_always_ finding treasures there. Every time he reads it there is\nsomething new and rich and blessed. The deepest and most devout students\nof God's word say that there is no end to its wealth of instruction and\nconsolation. If you want to know God and His salvation, you ought to set\napart a certain time _every day_ to prayerfully read and study into His\nword, always asking His guidance and help.\n\nAnd it will soon come to pass that, as the text says, you will\n\"_delight_ in the law of God.\" Do you ever deliberately, carefully,\nstudiously, humbly and prayerfully read the Bible? You say, \"No.\" Then\nhow can you expect to know anything of God? How can a physician know\nanything of the nature of the human body unless he studies into it? And\nhow can you know anything of God and His wonderful mercy unless you go\nand search where God has revealed this for man? There are some men who\nwill not read the Bible because they can't understand it. Of course they\ncan't understand it all, but, if they can understand one verse in a\nchapter, let them take that and study on it and believe it, and keep\nreading, and soon more and more will open out to their understanding,\nand it will be a constant surprise and delight to find the undreamed-of\nbeauties and comforts of the word of God. Promise God now that you will\n_patiently_ read some every day. You will then find your desire for sin\nand sinful associations leaving you.\n\n\nPSALM I: 3-6.\n\nWe propose to-day a continuance of the study of the first Psalm, which\nwe begun Sunday last. Then we saw the downward course of sin and of the\nsinner, and of the great transformation of the nature of men when they\nare converted or become righteous.\n\nAnd now the inspired writer goes on to speak of the fruitfulness of such\nmen. \"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that\nbringeth forth its fruit in its season.\" You know a tree planted by a\nriver draws moisture from below, and does not depend on the uncertain\nrains that may or may not come. And so in time of drought it shall bear\nits fruit at its proper season.\n\nSo the man who is born of God, whose nature is transformed and made\nholy, is fruitful in good deeds, in benevolent works. Having himself\nbeen translated from the kingdom of darkness into the light, he has a\ndesire, a strong desire, an unquenchable desire, that all others should\nknow the same happiness, and he works by all means to persuade them, to\nget their good will and their confidence. He will feed and clothe them,\ntake them up out of filth and rags and reclothe them and befriend them\n(as we are trying to do at the Mission) in order to get their good will\nand direct them to Christ.\n\nNot only so, but when a man has truly the Spirit of God, he has an\ninexpressible pity for his poor brother mortals, and a tender sympathy\nfor their sufferings and sorrows. His heart is a fountain of compassion\nfor those who are in distress; and this leads him to labor that he may\nin some way, and in all possible ways, bring them relief and comfort.\n\nAnd, as the tree on the river is supplied with moisture from an unseen\nsource, and without the showers, so the man whose heart is in communion\nwith God never suffers a drought. When the benevolence of worldly men\nfails, his goes on and never fails. Men wonder that he does not get\ntired or grow weary or disappointed and discouraged. But no! he never\ndoes. His zeal not depending on changing influences from without, but\nsupplied from an unseen and never-failing source--that is, God--never\ngives out. So he is always bearing fruit. Other men may be cold and\nselfish, and panics and famines may shut up their feelings of sympathy,\nbut the man of God goes on working and bearing fruit in panics and\nfamines, in cold and hot, in wet and dry, in plenty or in poverty,\nalways and ever.\n\n\"_The ungodly are not so._\" No; the ungodly greedily devour all they can\nget, and crave all they can't get. They want selfish pleasure no matter\nwhat sacrifice or pain it may cost others. They want the property of\nother people, though it leave a widow in poverty and orphans in want.\nThey want honor and promotion and fame, if it be built on the downfall\nof their neighbors and fellows. They want the passing animal pleasure of\nlicentiousness, if it blight the life and ruin the soul of an innocent\nbeing and turn a happy home into a very hell of anguish. Self! Self!\nSelf! always and ever! and if there be some semblance of benevolence, it\nis for the higher selfishness of getting the honor that men bestow on\ncharity, or to appease an angry and tormenting conscience, that lashes\nthem with fury for their misdeeds done in secret.\n\n\"The ungodly are like the chaff.\" They have no stability, no\nsteadfastness, no fixed purpose or plan in life--nothing to tie to; and\nso they are the victims of circumstances and changes and moods and\ntempers, and are driven hither and thither by every passing breeze.\n\nHow I do pity the poor man who does not know or care what he is living\nfor, and just pursues every day what _happens_ to take his mind for that\nday.\n\nAnd because the ungodly are not steadfast and fixed in their devotion to\nGod, neither shall they be able to _stand_ in the _judgment_.\n\nThen, there is a judgment coming, is there? Oh, yes! All these things\nthat men are doing are not done and then put away forever and forgotten.\nNo! no! no! they are all to be brought into review again and exposed\nbefore God and all men assembled in judgment. All the midnight meanness\nyou have done will then be brought to light. Where were you last night?\nWhat were you doing?\n\nHow would you like for me to tell right here before all this crowd all\nthe mean and filthy things you have done in the last week and kept them\nhidden from father, mother, wife, children and every other mortal except\nthe accomplices of your guilt and shame? Ah! you could not _stand_; no,\nyou could not _stand_.\n\nThen, how do you expect to stand when God is reciting to you all the\nmisdoings of all the midnights of your whole lives before your father,\nmother, sisters, wife, neighbors and all the world?\n\n\nGOD'S LOVE FOR SINNERS.\n\nROMANS V: 8.\n\n     \"But God commendeth His love for us in that while we were yet\n     sinners, Christ died for us.\"\n\nThere are many of us who _feel_ that we are _sinners_, who know it, and\nwho do not want any proof of it; but we can't be persuaded to believe\nthat God has any love for us or interest in us. We have gotten to be\nsuch wicked sinners that maybe our friends have forsaken us, and we can\nnot believe that God has any feeling of tenderness for us. We are\nwilling to admit that God loves good people, those who are obedient, and\nthat if _we_ were good, He would _then_ love us; but as it is, He can\nnot love us, and there is no reason why He should love us. And then we\ngo back and try to call up all our sins; all the times when we rejected\nChrist and the truth, and we find plenty of arguments to prove that God\ndoes not love us.\n\nBut stop! You are judging the great God by yourself. You know you would\nnot love one who would have treated you as you have treated God, and so\nyou conclude He does not love you. You find it _exceedingly_ hard to\nbelieve in the love of God. This is one of the sad effects of sin. It\ndarkens our hearts and separates us far, far from God, so that when we\ncome to feel our need of Him we have no confidence that He will accept\nus or help us.\n\nBesides, by your long service of sin, you have put yourself in the power\nof an enemy who makes it as difficult as possible for you to _believe_\nin God's love for you.\n\nBut I come to you to-day with a declaration and assurance from God's own\nword, that though you have been a sinner all your life, and still feel\nthat you are the greatest of sinners, the great God loves you with a\ntrue, deep, warm and yearning love.\n\nThe great proof of it is the life and death of Jesus Christ, His Son.\n\nHave you read about it in the Gospel?\n\nAh, if you had, and had seen Him delighting to be with the poor and the\noutcast, eating with them, choosing them for His friends, speaking words\nof heavenly cheer to them, pronouncing their sins forgiven and promising\nthem heaven, then you would be moved and attracted and convinced. And\nthen if you had read the pathetic story of His awful sufferings and\ndeath, and had reflected that \"He was wounded for our transgressions; He\nwas bruised for our iniquities; all we like sheep have gone astray, and\nthe Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us _all_,\" then hope would\nbegin to dawn in your breast, and faith in His love would not be so\ndifficult. But you have neglected to read and reflect about it, and so I\nam come to bring the glad tidings to you where you are, and to beg you\nto believe it for your own sake.\n\nAnd now, here are some of the ways God has taken to tell you of His\nlove: Psalm ciii., 13; Isaiah xlix., 15; Luke xi., 13; Luke xviii., 13,\n14; Luke xv., 7, 10; Prodigal Son; Luke vii., 36 to end.\n\n\"I came not to call the righteous but _sinners_ to repentance.\"\n\nWhy does God, in so many ways, express His love for sinners?\n\nBecause He wants to touch their hearts and melt them by tenderness.\n\nA father whose son had gone away to California, and was a gambler in San\nFrancisco, sent him word by a friend: \"Your father loves you still.\" And\nit made him ashamed; it broke his heart; he repented, returned home and\nwas saved.\n\nSo God sends me to-day to say to you: \"Your Father loves you still.\"\nWill you not believe it and come to Him for safety? He will not abuse\nyou for your sins; He will save you from your sins, and make you as\nhappy as you were when you were little children at your mother's knee.\n\nYou know it is true that parents are more troubled about a wandering\nboy, and take more pains with him than with the good boys, and think\nmore about him and pray more for him, because he is in danger and must\nbe rescued or perish. So it is with God. Because you are lost, away from\nHim, on the road to ruin, He sends after you and He begs you to be\nreconciled.\n\n\nGODLINESS PROFITABLE FOR THIS LIFE.\n\nI. TIMOTHY IV: 8.\n\n     \"But godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise\n     of the life that now is and of that which is to come.\"\n\nThere are not many who think this. Nearly everybody admits that religion\nis a good thing to have when he is about to die and to enter upon the\nfuture life; and all men, however hardened in vice, wickedness and\ncrime, have a sure expectation and firm intention of making some\npreparation for death and what may follow death. They fully intend to\nmake amends to conscience for the violations of it, of which they have\nbeen guilty.\n\nThere are men here to-day who know that this is true of themselves, who\nfeel that the coffin and the grave and the unknown future beyond are the\nmost fearful of realities, and who are firmly persuaded that a day of\nreckoning is coming, maybe slowly, but surely, and they do mean to make\npeace in some way with conscience before that time draws near. And so I\nsay all men agree that religion is good for death and what is to follow;\nbut how it can be an advantage to one in _this life_, they can not see.\n\n1. But godliness is a help to a man in making a living.\n\nIf a man is honest, industrious, faithful and conscientious, he will be\nin demand. Such men are always in demand; and, when they are known, can\nget employment and can keep employment; but a man who is a true\nChristian, _is_ honest, industrious, careful, temperate, trustworthy and\nconscientious, because he works and lives not to please men but God.\nHence, such a one is always wanted. Employers, rather than give up such\nmen, will increase their salaries and offer them extra inducements. A\nMain-street merchant found he could not do without Willie Holcombe\nconveniently, so he raised his salary twenty dollars a month rather than\nlose him.\n\nAnd, even if they are among strangers, and not known, yet God will turn\nthe hearts of strangers toward them, as he turned the heart of the\nprison-keeper in Egypt toward Joseph. And when they have a chance to\n_try_ and to show their value, their employers will not give them up.\n\nBut then if a man is in business for himself, he will get a large custom\nif people find out that he does business as a Christian--that is, he\ndoes not charge an unjust and exorbitant price, his goods are only what\nhe says they are, he gives full and honest measure, his word can be\ntrusted, he will correct mistakes and take back an article if it is\nfound not to be good. Show people such a man and they will all want to\npatronize him. William Kendrick was such a man here in Louisville.\n\nThe Christian man has the _promise of God_ that he shall be provided\nfor--Matthew vi.: 32, 33--while the godless man has no such assurances\nat all.\n\n2. But religion keeps a man from those vices which destroy the\nhealth--as dissipation, debauchery, intemperance, etc.--and health is\none of the chief elements in human happiness.\n\n3. Religion keeps men also from those crimes which bring men into ruin\nand disgrace and bitter remorse.\n\nMany a man has come to the jail or penitentiary or gallows who would\nhave escaped it all if he had had religion to protect and shield and\nrestrain and assist him. And many a good and happy man there is who\nmight have been a guilty criminal and a wretched convict but for the\ngrace of God and the lessons and blessings of true religion. He might\ngradually have been led off and on and on till he would have become\ncapable of committing any crime.\n\nI might have been a drunkard or a murderer still, if God had not changed\nmy heart and helped me mightily and constantly by His grace.\n\n4. But religion takes away the fear of death and the dread of the future\nand gives inward and constant peace--a heart happiness which poverty and\ndisappointment and trials can not destroy. And nothing else can do this\nbut true religion.\n\n5. Religion can release a man from the power of those evil habits which\nmake a man's life miserable--from acquired appetites, as drinking, opium\neating, debauchery, licentiousness, swearing, gambling and even from\ntobacco.\n\n6. Religion makes a good father, a good mother, a good husband, a good\nwife, good children, it makes the family happy, and the home bright,\ncheerful, joyous.\n\n7. It makes a man a good citizen. So he can get along in peace with his\nneighbors and even become a peace-maker among them when they quarrel.\n\nThus have I tried to show you that, regardless of the future, godliness\nis profitable for this life. But if this were not so, if the life of a\nChristian were an uninterrupted experience of pains and disappointments\nand sorrows, yet, in view of the interests of the soul, and the\npossibilities of the future, and the length of eternity, it would be the\nhighest wisdom to cheerfully accept all these and endure them to the\nbitter end, in order to depart out of this world with a peaceful and\nunaccusing conscience and a sure preparation for heaven.\n\nO man, what will you do with eternity, _eternity_, if you go thither\nunprepared? Did you ever try to think of eternity? As John Wesley says,\n\"If a bird were to come once in a million of years and take away one\ngrain of the earth, when it had taken the whole earth away, that would\nnot be eternity, nor the beginning of eternity.\" And it is certain that\neternity is the period of the desolation and confusion and remorse and\nsuffering of the lost.\n\n8. But even if we had to live in misery all this life, it would be\nbetter to do it and have religion; for it alone fits us for happiness in\nthe life to come.\n\nTake away property, comforts, friends, family, reputation, health, but\ngive me religion, and I shall have a passport into the kingdom of heaven\nand an eternity of rest and blessedness.\n\nO then, come to Jesus Christ and have all these things and heaven\nbeside.\n\n\nPROVERBS XII: 15.\n\n     \"The way of transgressors is hard.\"\n\nOur friend's career affords a striking example of the truth of the text.\nMost people do not think the text is true. But the Bible reverses nearly\nall of our notions about things, and when, in the light of experience\nand honest thought, we come to examine the Bible, we find it contains\nthe truth on all subjects. The natural effects of a life of sin are\ninjurious and destructive in every particular.\n\n1. In the first place, vice destroys health. If a man indulges in\ngluttony, he brings on dyspepsia with its accompanying pains and\ndistress and torture. All this is increased by a life of idleness,\nlaziness and inactivity. If he indulges in intemperance, he soon becomes\na wretched slave, and is consumed by inward fires till delirium tremens\nends the miserable career. If he indulges in sensuality, he is likely to\ncontract loathsome and painful diseases--diseases which make life a\nburden that can hardly be borne; diseases which poison the blood and can\nnot, by any art or remedy, be expelled from the system, but which are\ntransmitted to the innocent offspring, if there be any.\n\n2. It brings disgrace and drives away friends who would otherwise rally\naround and help. This poor man spent two terms in the penitentiary, lost\nall his friends, and had to go to a _hospital_ to die!\n\n3. In destroying one's good name and alienating one's friends, it\nbecomes the cause of poverty and want.\n\n4. It destroys the happiness of families, and in this way adds to the\nwretchedness of the one who does all this mischief and damage.\n\n5. It often produces insanity.\n\n6. It produces remorse, uneasiness of mind, shame, hatred of self.\n\n7. It is what makes men shudder and shiver like convicts under the\ngallows, when they think of death and come near death. My own fear of\ndeath was something terrible.\n\n     \"The sting of death is sin.\"\n\n8. But this fear of death, this awful lashing of conscience on the verge\nof the grave, is but the intimation and the beginning of those awful\nexperiences in the future world which the Bible describes in words of\nsuch dark and fearful import.\n\nBut there is a remedy for sin, there is a fountain opened in the house\nof King David for sin and uncleanness. Yes\n\n    \"There is a fountain filled with blood\n    Drawn from Immanuel's veins,\n    And sinners plunged beneath that flood\n    Lose all their guilty stains.\n\n    \"The dying thief rejoiced to see\n    That fountain in his day,\n    And there may _you_, though vile as he,\n    Wash all your sins away.\"\n\nAnd beside that, when He gives salvation from the guilt of sin, He\nsends, also, the power to keep you from sin in the future. It is a full\nsalvation and a _free_ salvation.\n\nHow much better to accept Christ while you are in health and let your\nlife of holiness and purity and devotion _prove_ that the work is a\ngenuine work and that you really have been saved. I have almost _no_\nfaith in death-bed repentances and conversions. Hardly one in a hundred\nis genuine. And then there is no way of testing the genuineness of it;\nbut if you turn to Christ _now_ you can have time and opportunity to\nexemplify and manifest the fruits of regeneration in your life. Christ\nhas power to forgive sins, to give peace and to keep from sin and sinful\nhabits. An experience of five years on my part enables me to speak\nboldly and confidently on this point. God grant some of you may turn to\nHim to-day.\n\n     NOTE.--This was delivered at the funeral of some man who died\n     unsaved in a hospital. Mr. Holcombe is frequently called on to\n     officiate at the funeral of such men, and of gamblers, and of\n     strangers and unknown persons.--ED.\n\n\nROMANS XIV: 17.\n\n     \"The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness\n     and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nWe heard some time ago of the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Christ,\nat His coming, brought it near and proclaimed it to the people. At the\ntime when our text was written, the kingdom had been set up, established\namong men, and many, very many, had entered into it. And now, St. Paul,\nfinding that some of these had fallen into wrong notions as to what\nconstituted citizenship in that kingdom, corrects these wrong notions,\nand sets before them the right and proper notions about the matter.\n\n1. In the first place, he tells them that religion does _not_ consist in\ncertain things. They had gotten into the notion that they must, as a\nmatter of great importance, attend to certain outward things. But it is\nnot so. They thought, as the Jews, from whose nation Jesus, the founder\nof the kingdom, arose, observed certain customs as to eating and\ndrinking and keeping certain seasons and days, they also had to do the\nsame; and gradually they allowed these outward things to become more\nimportant to them than the inward spiritual life.\n\nSo now we (or some of us) have fallen into the notion that religion\nconsists in certain outward things.\n\nThere are those who believe that it consists in connecting one's self\nwith some certain church, and that the sanctity and virtue of that\nchurch will be imparted to them as members, and they will be saved. But\nthis is not true.\n\nAgain, there are some who believe that some outward ceremony, and\nespecially that of baptism by the proper authorities and in the proper\nmode, will procure salvation, and that it constitutes a man a member of\nthe kingdom of heaven.\n\nAgain, some think their own morality and effort to do and live justly\nwill give them a place among those who are in the pale of the kingdom,\nforgetting that God, Himself, says that the righteousness of us\nmiserable sinners is but as filthy rags in His sight.\n\nAnd there are many, very many, who think that if they are decent in\ntheir outward lives and attend the services of the house of God and\ncontribute to the support of His church, they do all any man can require\nof them, and that, therefore, they may claim that they are also\nfellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of faith.\n\nBut no, none of these outward things can make a man a new creature. He\nmay comply with any one or all of these, and yet be really a bad man at\nheart, a rebel against God and His government. And the fact that there\nare many such in the church calling themselves Christians and performing\nthe outward duties of religion, while those who see them every day and\nknow their private walk see that they are not really better than many\noutsiders, is a great stumbling-block to serious and honest inquirers\noutside of the church. We admit it, and we are sorry for it, though, of\ncourse, it is no valid excuse for them, and will not stand in the trying\nhour of death or the ordeal of the judgment. But I want to say to you\nto-day, no matter who it is, if they have no more than a performance of\noutward duties, ceremonies and services, they _are not_ members of the\nkingdom of God.\n\n2. But, in the second place, the Apostle does tell us what true religion\nconsists in, in the latter part of the text. \"It is righteousness and\njoy and peace in the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nAnd, first, it is _righteousness_.\n\nIn another place it is said that, \"The wisdom that cometh from above is\nfirst _pure_.\"\n\nThe object and aim of the Christian religion is to make men holy. That\nis _first_. The righteousness mentioned in the text is put first--before\nthe joy and peace. And this is what the world demands of people who\nprofess to be Christians, no less than God's law demands it. The world\nhas no use or respect for Christians who are not righteous or for a\nChristianity that does not make men righteous.\n\nWhen God comes into a human heart, He comes with power, with the power\nof God, and that is greater than all other power, and before it all\nopposing forces fall. The sins of men, such as avarice, or love of\nmoney; the lust of the flesh, such as gluttony, licentiousness, the\nhatred of fellowmen and the hatred of God, all these are broken and\ndriven out when the spirit and power of God come in. There is not only\nthis demand of God, then, for righteousness, but also ample supply of\nstrength to meet it, and to meet it fully. Come, then, to God, you who\nare in bondage to evil habits, and who have striven in vain to deliver\nyourselves. You can not retain your evil practices and be a child of\nGod. His first demand, His imperative demand, is righteousness, and if\nyou have the _will_ He gives the _grace_ to attain it.\n\nBut this is not all. When you believe with your heart in Christ, the\nHoly Ghost is given you, and He brings, with the righteousness and\nholiness which God requires, also joy and peace. Yes, when you surrender\nto Christ, He makes you happy.\n\n\nMATTHEW XI: 28.\n\n     \"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will\n     give you rest.\"\n\n1. The cry of all hearts is for rest, for contentment. Not only does the\nheart of humanity cry out for rest, rest, rest; their busy and tired\nhands and feet _toil_ for it day and night, year in and year out.\n\nIt is for this that men labor through the days and weeks of summer's\nheat and expose themselves to the severities of winter's cold.\n\nIt is for this that they plow and sow and reap and gather into barns.\n\nIt is for this that they blow the bellows and swing the heavy hammers\nfrom morn until night.\n\nIt is for this they buy and sell and buy again to sell again.\n\nIt is for this that men will spend years of toil in schools and\ncolleges, burning the midnight lamp till the eye is heavy and the brain\nis tired.\n\nIt is for this that they will leave wife and children to try their\nfortunes in some distant California or Australia.\n\nIt is for this they will abandon their homes in time of war to brave the\ndangers of the battle-field.\n\nIt is for this that they will worry away the hours of night in games to\nget each other's money.\n\nIt is for this they will devise schemes and lay plans to entrap their\nfellows, some times going to the length of committing murder.\n\nIt is for this that women will toil with the needle and bend over the\nsewing machine.\n\nIt is for this they will stand for weary hours behind counters measuring\noff goods or waiting for customers to buy.\n\nIt is for this that they work over the hot stove or wear out their hands\nin the wash-tub.\n\nYes, it is for this that some of them, weary of work-life, will venture\non the slippery paths of pleasure, turn their thoughts toward the gilded\nchambers of licentiousness, sell virtue and abandon home and family to\ngo in the ways that in the end take hold on death and hell.\n\nWe are a race of _toilers_. All over the world it is the same. We see it\nhere in Louisville, It is work, work, work, go, go, go.\n\nAnd are we happy? Have we rest?\n\nBut not only are we toiling, some in one way, some in another; some by\ninnocent means, some by wicked means; some by what does no harm to\nourselves or our neighbor, and some by what does harm to both, in order\nto obtain rest and happiness; it is also true that most of us are heavy\nladen, oppressed and saddened beneath burdens that we can not shake off,\ncan not get rid of.\n\nSome of us are bowed down under our poverty. No good house to live in,\nno comfortable home to turn into after the battles and toils of outside\nlife, no comfortable shelter for our families. No assurance as to where\nwe are to get to-morrow's bread. No comfortable and respectable clothes\nto wear, and, of course, no friends. For when a poor fellow gets poor\nand shabby, his friends drop off and pass by on the other side. No\nfriends, none of that sympathy and communion of friendship which all\nhuman hearts so crave and which they find to be the best part of what\nthis life can give.\n\nYes; some of us have this burden to bear. And then some of us are bowed\ndown beneath some great sorrow, which may be one thing in one case and\nanother in another. In some cases it is domestic trouble, continual jars\nand broils in the family, no peace, no quiet, no love. Ah, if we could\nsee into all the homes in this city, I fear we should find in many of\nthem family trouble of some sort. Or it may be some dear one of yours is\ngiven to drink or to gambling and is wearing out his life as fast as\nvice can eat it away, with no hope beyond the grave.\n\nAh, yes; no doubt some of _you_ are yourselves the slaves of evil habits\nwhich you hate and would do anything to break off. You have tried by\nresolving and promising and all to no purpose; you have felt ashamed and\ndegraded because you had no power to do what you felt you ought to do\nand what you knew would be infinitely better for you.\n\nDo you not know men who would willingly give a right arm for deliverance\nfrom some degrading and ruinous habit? But giving a right arm avails\nnothing, nor any human effort or means.\n\nThen, again, some of you are bowed down by the recollection of your past\nlife and its dissipation and crimes.\n\nYou may have mistreated father, mother, sister, and may have broken\nhearts by your cruelty that would gladly have bled for you. You may have\ncrushed a loving and faithful wife by your selfishness and your\nbrutality and heartlessness. You may have driven your children to\ndesperation and crime by your coldness and hardness to them.\n\nAnd may be some life, innocent until you came upon it with your hellish\nart, has been corrupted and embittered and darkened by your base\npassions and lusts.\n\nMay be your hands have gone to that last extreme of human crime and have\ndeprived a fellowman of life. And, oh, if any of these things be true,\nwhat must be the burden of remorse, remorse, remorse, that weighs upon\nyour heart.\n\nBut you are the very ones whom Jesus addresses and invites in this\ntender appeal. Do you believe it?\n\n2. In the second place, consider who it is that offers you rest. It is\none who knows you and who knows what you need and one who has all power\nin heaven and in earth to give what you need.\n\n3. Lastly, consider what this rest means which Jesus offers to you\nburdened and toiling ones.\n\n1. It is rest from sin, both its guilt and power.\n\n2. It is rest from all care. For He has said, we should cast all our\ncare upon Him because He cares for us.\n\n\nMATTHEW V: 3.\n\n     \"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of\n     heaven.\"\n\nThese words, as you know, are the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount\nas it is called. This Sermon on the Mount is the full exposition of the\ncharacter of those who are members of Christ's kingdom. It is one of the\nmost important parts of the Bible. At the time of Christ there were in\nthe world many teachers and many schools of philosophy all trying to\nfind what was best for men; or, thinking they had found it, were\nteaching their views to others. But, of course, none of them knew the\ntruth and nearly every one taught a different thing from the others.\nThere was no certainty. It all seemed like guess-work, and while the\nphilosophers were guessing at what was best for men or trying to prove\nthe views of each other to be false, the poor people were perishing in\nuncertainty and ignorance. But into this age of uncertainty and darkness\nand hunger, there came a Teacher from God Himself, who knew all things\nand who could without arguing or guessing tell with authority the simple\nand certain truth. What then does the Teacher say? He does not say that\nblessedness consists in any certain kind or degree of _knowledge_ but in\nthe _disposition_ of the _mind and heart_.\n\nListen then and hear and be prepared to believe and accept with all your\nheart what this Instructor from God says. Remember He makes no mistakes.\nHe knows the end from the beginning. He knows eternity as well as time.\nHe knows the future as well as the past and present. He knows God as\nwell as He knows man. He has been all through eternity and knows the\nnature and purposes of God. He then is competent to say what is good for\nman, what is best for man. Will you hear it? And, having heard it, will\nyou believe it? \"Blessed\"--ah, what a sweet word to begin with!\n\"Blessed.\" But who are blessed? It may be blessed are the great or the\npowerful or the good and some of us are sadly conscious that we are not\ngreat or good. But no, troubled heart, poor fearing heart, it is for\nyou. \"Blessed are the poor in spirit.\" That is what the Divine Teacher\nsays. He brings it right down and home to your poor heart and leaves\nblessedness at your very door.\n\nAnd what is it to be poor in spirit? No doubt some of you poor sinners\nare ready to say \"I know what it is, for I am so wretchedly poor that I\nfeel unworthy to set my polluted foot down anywhere in God's universe.\"\nYes, that is it--you are dissatisfied with yourself, disgusted with\nyourself, weary of yourself; and you know you can not make your\ncondition any better, for you have tried it and failed till you are\nheart-sick and hopeless. You are satisfied that neither your education,\nnor your wisdom, nor your shrewdness, nor your money, if you have any,\nnor your family, nor your friends, nor your strength, nor your will, nor\nall these put together and multiplied a thousand times can deliver you\nfrom soul-bondage and soul-darkness and satisfy your aching and breaking\nheart. Is that your feeling, my brother? Then you are the one I am\ntalking to; nay, you are the one my Divine Master is talking to. But\nGod said the same thing in other words away back yonder one thousand\nyears before Jesus came to earth. Read it in Psalm xxxiv: 18: \"The Lord\nis nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a\ncontrite spirit.\" Have your sins broken your heart? Does the\nrecollection of them cast down your spirit? You are not far from the\nkingdom of God then. Only believe on Jesus Christ who was not only\nDivine Teacher but also sin-bearer, and see God's willingness to save\nsinners, in the scene enacted on Calvary's trembling summit. What did\nJesus suffer for if not for you and your sins? Say, what for, if not for\nyou and all sinners? Answer that question. Do not turn it away or put it\noff but _answer_ it.\n\nDid I say you were not far from the kingdom of heaven? My text says, if\nyou have the spirit I have described that \"yours is, _is now_, the\nkingdom of heaven.\" Read it again. Will you believe it?\n\nOh, are you afraid to venture? Is it too good to be true? Well, I tell\nyou I ventured and that with forty-two years of sin and crime on my\nheart to press me down and keep me back. Yes; I ventured and I found\n_such a welcome_ that I was constrained in the joy of my heart to give\nup all other employment and spend my whole time and energy in telling of\nit to others who are in the condition I was in.\n\nBut if there are any here who are satisfied with themselves, who do not\nfeel their need of help and cleansing and deliverance, then this message\nof comfort is not for you. If you think you know enough about eternity\nto risk going into it as you are, if you think you know enough about\nGod to meet him as you are, then we have no message of consolation for\nyou. It is not because we do not want you to have a message of\nconsolation and salvation, but because _you_ do not want it.\n\nIt is said in one place that the \"Word of God is a discerner of the\nthoughts and intents of the heart.\" And now I am sure this text of ours\nhas to-night found you out and shown you to yourself. Where do you\nstand? And even if you are persuaded, the suggestion to put it off till\nto-morrow or next week will knock it all in the head.\n\n\nMATTHEW V: 4-5.\n\n     \"4. Blessed _are_ they that mourn; for they shall be\n     comforted.\"\n\n     \"5. Blessed _are_ the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.\"\n\nOur talk to-night follows right along in the line of the one preceding.\nWe shall continue to speak of that wonderful address of Jesus which is\ncalled the Sermon on the Mount and which we began to speak of before. We\nwere speaking of those who are poor in spirit and tried to describe\nsuch. Now we go on and we find the next words of Jesus, the Divine\nTeacher, just suited to those who are poor in spirit, who are\ndissatisfied with themselves and their condition, and who are wretched\nbecause they have not the grace and favor of God, and who, as the Psalm\nsays, have a \"broken heart and a contrite spirit.\" (Psalm xxxiv., 18.)\nAnd what are these comforting words of Jesus? \"Blessed are they that\n_mourn_, for they shall be _comforted_.\" Of course, those who are poor\nin spirit and broken in heart _will mourn_. They are comfortless and\nthey will mourn for comfort. They are in darkness and they will mourn\nfor light. They are in sin and under condemnation and they will mourn\ntill the power of sin is destroyed and they are set free and until the\nvoice of forgiving love assures them that there is henceforth nothing\nagainst them. Ah, yes, when a man is under conviction for sin he is,\nabove all men, a mourner. There is hardly any sorrow that strikes deeper\nor any suspense that is more intense or awful.\n\nBut is there no one here who knows all about this, not because they have\nheard me describe it, but because they have felt it and groaned under it\nor, may be, _are_ doing so now?\n\nWell, let me assure you, on the authority of Jesus, there is comfort for\nyou as surely as Jesus will not lie. Does He say \"Cursed are they who\nmourn?\" Or \"To be pitied are they that mourn?\" No, He says, \"_Blessed_\nare they.\"\n\nThere, now, you are already comforted a little bit, are you not?\n\nBut what is the rest of this sentence of Jesus? \"For they _shall_ be\ncomforted.\" And, indeed, the fact that you _mourn_ for a better\ncondition and a better life and for God, is itself a ground for you to\nsurely expect comfort. For only God's spirit could make you dissatisfied\nwith yourself, tired of your sins and eager to find God.\n\nAnd if He began the work He will carry it on to completion, assuredly,\nif you do not hinder him by your turning back to sin or going with the\nvicious or refusing to have faith in Jesus as Saviour.\n\nAnd the next verse comes right along to fill out the one we are\nconsidering. \"Blessed are the _meek_.\"\n\nIf a man is truly poor in spirit, mourning because of his sins and his\nignorance of God and his insecurity in view of death, then he will not\nbe egotistic and ambitious and greedy of praise and pompous and\nself-sufficient and disposed to stand on _his honor_ and his rights. But\nhe will have the opposite feelings exactly.\n\nHe feels his unworthiness so deeply and keenly that he is willing to\ngive up his own rights and to prefer others before himself. And Jesus\nadds, \"the meek shall inherit the earth.\"\n\nA man who has this spirit of humility, deep consciousness of his\nunworthiness and a disposition to bear all things rather than be\ncontentious, will win everybody and they will want to give up to him.\n\nYou have perhaps read of the man who went to his neighbor to claim a\npiece of ground in his possession, and, contrary to his expectation,\nthat neighbor said, \"Well, then, if it is yours, I will not have a\nstrife about it. I will move in my fence and let you have it.\" This\ngentle answer and this meek spirit made the other man so ashamed and so\ncompletely melted and won him that he said he would not take the land,\nand he went back home leaving it as it was.\n\nAnd so if you have this meek and yielding spirit, and this patient and\nforgiving spirit, you will make even your enemies to be at peace with\nyou. But this meekness of spirit includes, also, cheerful submission to\nall the hard and disappointing and trying experiences of life, and\nperfect contentment with one's lot.\n\nA man who is always sour and bitter because things don't go to suit him\nis the opposite of a _meek_ man. And one of the loveliest and most\nattractive and winning qualities of human character is this unfailing\nresignation, this _cheerful_ acceptance of all that comes upon us. If\nthe church were full of people of this description, they would soon win\nthe world, and, as Jesus said, they would \"inherit the earth.\"\n\nNow, let me ask, have we all who profess to be Christians this meek\nspirit and character? Are we gentle and cheerful at home and abroad,\nwhen we are disappointed as well as when we are gratified, when we are\ntreated with ingratitude and injury as well as when we are treated with\nkindness, consideration and honor? Or are we crabbed and cross and\ndiscontented and complaining against those who cross our wills and\nagainst the lot that God has given to us in life? If we are of this last\nsort we shall not draw many to Jesus and to the acceptance of our\nreligion. You can't catch flies with vinegar.\n\nHow disposed are we to lay our crossness and roughness to the charge of\nour health, our dyspepsia or neuralgia or nervousness. But it would be\nall the _more convincing_ to men if, _in the midst_ of bad health and\nnervousness, we should have a meek, quiet, patient, bright and cheerful\nspirit.\n\nAnd if you haven't it, the way to get it is to be filled with God's\nspirit, and the way to do that is to pray, to commune with God in\nsecret, to patiently wait for Him, as David did (Psalms xl, 1), and to\nbe with Him so much that He shall become more real to you than the\nobjects of sight and sound and feeling that surround you.\n\n\nMATTHEW V: 13.\n\n     \"Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its\n     savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for\n     nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of\n     men.\"\n\nJesus takes the most familiar facts and objects to convey the truths and\ndoctrines which He wished to communicate. Here he uses for illustration\nan object, with the properties and uses of which everybody is\nfamiliar--namely, salt. It is good to prevent corruption and to preserve\nlife. Without it life could not continue. I have heard of a party of\ntravelers whose supply of salt almost gave out; and not having enough\nfor themselves and their horses, the horses grew weak, would stagger,\nand finally fall and die, though they had food for them. Yet the lack of\nsalt could not be supplied by any amount of food.\n\nSo it is with Christianity. It prevents corruption, moral corruption, in\nthe individual, and so prevents social corruption, political corruption,\nnational corruption, and is the means of purification in all these\nrespects. But it not only prevents corruption, it imparts spiritual life\nand vigor and sends its possessors on their way filled with an energy\nthat goes out after others.\n\nChristianity is suited to be the salt of the earth. It demands a perfect\nmorality, a perfect righteousness, and offers the highest motives to men\nto attain this. It teaches, with assurance, that there is a righteous\nGod who demands holiness on our part, and, at the same time, it\nencourages men and inspires them with hope because it declares that\nthis God loves men, as sinners, and so it gets hold of men by the heart.\n\nIf man will only compare those nations that are Christian with those\nthat are not, he will find out what a difference there is.\n\nBut the text refers to the holy lives of Christians as being the salt of\nthe earth.\n\nThe savor of Christians is an unction from the spirit of God that\nproduces purity, humility, patience, long-suffering, self-denial,\ntenderness, sympathy and unselfish love.\n\nAnd when men see a person whose daily life presents all these beauties,\nthey are forced to pause and regard it. It is such an unnatural and such\nan unearthly thing that they can not help it. And it is far more\nconvincing and eloquent than all logic and rhetoric put together. There\nis no way of getting around it. Men know that a gifted orator can dress\nthings up so as to make any cause seem a fair and plausible one, but men\nknow also that neither a gifted orator nor any one less than God can\nmake men humble, pure, patient, gentle, long-suffering, unselfish and\nglad to spend and be spent for others than themselves.\n\nWhen men see such a life, they seek to know how it is realized, and\nfinding that Christianity has done it, that faith in Jesus has done it,\nthey are constrained to say: \"We know that Christianity is from God. For\nnothing could do such wonderful miracles except God be in it,\" as\nNicodemus said to Jesus.\n\nThere are so many men who are anxiously inquiring about spiritual things\nand about God and a future life. And they say: \"Show us something that\nChristianity can do.\" And if we are living such lives, they find what\nthey are seeking for and are satisfied. But there are many men who\n_won't_ search the Bible to find out if it is true--and many who don't\ndo so for want of time and of opportunity--and some who _can't_ do so\nbecause they can't read or reason, and we _force_ Christianity upon\ntheir attention by the beauty and unearthliness of holy Christian lives.\nInstead of waiting for them to come inquire and into Christianity, which\nthey might never do, we carry it before their eyes in its loveliest and\nmost attractive and powerful form when we live holy lives before them.\nAnd when men see many people living thus, it turns the tide of their\nfeelings, reverses the current of their thoughts, and makes it easy\ninstead of difficult to believe. Oh, that we had more of these entirely\nconsecrated lives! They would do far more good than the preaching. When\npeople see these consecrated women doing the work they do for the poor\nneglected children, they say: \"Ah, now, that looks like something, sure\nenough, and we believe in that sort of religion.\" John Wesley said:\n\"Give me one hundred men who love nothing but God, and who fear nothing\nbut sin, and we will soon lay England at Jesus' feet.\"\n\nHow can we get and keep this savour, this divine unction which produces\nsuch a life? Only by much communion with God.\n\nDavid knew no fear when he went to meet Goliath because he had communed\nso much with God in the sheep pastures that God was more of a reality to\nhim than Goliath was. So it must be with us, my dear brothers, or we\n_lose this savour_.\n\nAnd that is what the text says. Let us read it again.\n\nYou may retain outward forms of religion and perform outward duties, but\nthe unction and zeal and power will be gone and men will find it out and\nsee it and say that you are no better than they are.\n\nSo the text says, \"Good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under\nfoot of men.\" And sad it is that more harm is done to the cause of\nChristianity by hypocritical or wicked or inconsistent professors of it\nthan by all the Ingersolls in the world. Men look at the church to see\nwhat Christianity can do; and seeing it does nothing extraordinary in\nthe way of making men better, they say it must be false. So it is the\nwicked and worldly professors of religion that make more infidels than\nanything else. Oh, let us be sure that we are not the darkness of the\nworld. For if we are not its light, we become darkness.\n\nThe light in the lighthouse may be burning, but if the lights along the\nshore are not burning, too, the poor sailors may be lost.\n\n    \"Brightly beams our Father's mercy\n      From _His_ lighthouse evermore,\n    But to _us_ He gives the keeping\n      Of the lights along the shore.\"\n\n\nTHE PRODIGAL SON,\n\nHIS SIN, HIS WRETCHEDNESS AND HIS RECOVERY.\n\nLUKE XV: 11-24.\n\n1. This younger son thought he was wiser than his father and wanted to\nmanage his own affairs. So it is with men who think they can manage\ntheir own affairs without God. And as this young man wanted to get as\nfar from his father's presence as possible (see verse 13, \"into a far\ncountry\") so the sinner, when he determines to give himself up to\npleasure and sin, wants to get as far from God as possible. He does not\nwant to hear about Him or even think about Him. Was not this so with\n_you_?\n\n2. The father did not _compel_ the son to stay at home. He allowed him\nto choose what he preferred. So it is with God. He does not compel us to\nobedience. For my part I wish He did. But he lets us go and pursue sin\nwith all our hearts, if we choose that above the innocence and joy of\ndwelling with Him.\n\n3. \"He _wasted_ his substance with riotous living,\" verse 13, and so it\nis with the sinner--in the service of sin and Satan he wastes and\ndestroys his property, his health, his reputation, his intellect, his\nconscience--all.\n\n\"_And he began to be in want._\"\n\nThat is what sin brings a man to--want, want, want and wretchedness,\nwretchedness, wretchedness. Has not sin done this for _you_?\n\n4. And it was this very wretchedness which brought him to his\nsenses--\"he came to himself\" (verse 17).\n\nAnd when he does come to himself he can think of only one place where he\ncan hope to find relief and he bravely determines to go straight to the\nvery father he had so shamefully abandoned and to make a full confession\nof his sin and throw himself on that father's mercy with the hope of\nbeing taken back as a hired servant. He is willing to take the\n_humblest_ and _meanest_ place, if he can only get back to that home he\nwas, a short time before, so eager to leave. Nor does he offer _any\nexcuse_, he calls his sin by the right name and confesses it without\ntrying to excuse it or justify it.\n\n5. And how did his father receive him?\n\nWhy, he did not wait till his poor, ragged, worn and wasted boy got in\nand made his confession but he saw him a great way off (verse 20) and he\nknew what had passed in the poor boy's heart and life, and, moved with\ncompassion toward him, he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him a glad\nwelcome back to his heart and his home. But the son goes on to make his\nconfession and his offer to be a hired servant anyhow, and yet the\nfather says, \"No! no! bring forth the _best_ robe and put it on him.\"\nSo, though we may go to God expecting to _work as servants_ for Him and\nfor His favor, He gives us far more than we ask and He makes us His own\n_sons_. And, poor wretched sinners, I come now with this message for\n_you_, bruised and sore and despairing and wretched as you are on\naccount of your sins. May God help you believe it.\n\n\nII. PETER I: 5-6.\n\n     \"5. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith\n     virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;\n\n     \"6. And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience;\n     and to patience, godliness.\"\n\nI want to say something to you to-night about how to _grow_ in the\nChristian life, and how to secure yourself from falling. And now, let me\nbegin by saying what you, no doubt, have heard before, that there is no\nsuch thing as standing still in the Christian life. If you are not going\nforward, you are losing ground. See the Apostle here speaks of giving\nall diligence, to be adding something all the time. And why not exercise\ndiligence in making sure of the salvation of your souls? Men use\nastonishing diligence in the affairs and pursuits of this life. The men\nof all professions and occupations use diligence and industry and toil\nand self-denial in order to make a little money or to gain a little\nhonor. Why, you know there are thousands of men in this city who get up\nearly in wet weather or dry, in summer's heat or winter's cold, and go\nhurrying up and down these streets to be at their places at the\nprescribed hour for beginning their day's toil; and they work, work,\nwork, sometimes with tired hands and feet and weary hearts, till the sun\ngoes down, because they know they must do it in order to get bread and\nmeat and clothing for themselves and their families. They do not stop to\nthink how they _feel_. No, no; feelings and preferences and all must be\noverlooked and forgotten; for they know that work must be done that\nbread may be won. And we do not hear many complaining of this. They\naccept it as a matter of course. Why, I know how the gamblers will sit\nup late and do without sleep, and rack their brains, in order to devise\nsome means of finding a poor victim and getting his money. Then why\nshould not Christians, who are striving to avoid the danger and sorrow\nof sin and to gain eternal rest and reward--why should not they exercise\ndiligence and self-denial and watchfulness also? And we are told in the\ntext how to succeed in this. We are to _make up our minds_ by God's\ngrace to live a life of consecration and activity.\n\nYou have begun with faith, have you not? If any man here has been truly\nconverted, he knows what faith is. He came to Christ as a hell-deserving\nsinner, and believed in Christ's mercy for forgiveness and salvation. So\nfaith is the first step; faith is the foundation. And let me stop to say\nto any one here who is not yet saved, that, if he wants to be, he must\nthrow himself as a sinner on the mercy of God in Christ; and God will\nsave him at once, if he will do so. But, having exercised faith and\nreceived forgiveness and strength, you must add virtue, which means\ncourage or boldness. It is sometimes very hard for a man who has lived a\nsinner and taken pride in it, to come out before the world, and\nespecially before his old companions, and let them know that henceforth\nand forever he is a humble follower of Jesus Christ. But it is\nnecessary. No middle ground is safe at all. If you try to meet the world\nas a reformed man, concealing the fact that you are a Christian, you\nwill weaken, and give the devil a great advantage, and probably fall. I\ntold gamblers in Denver I was a Christian, and they let me alone. But,\nnot only that, you must be bold enough to try to persuade others to\nbecome Christians. There are some poor cowards who are not ashamed to\nlet their friends and the world know that they have _reformed_; but they\nare too chicken-hearted to say that they have humbled themselves,\nsurrendered their pride and become _Christians_. I know more than one of\nthat sort. And, again, there are some men who are content to be saved\nthemselves, but are afraid of being called fanatics if they are bold\nenough to go to talking and trying to persuade others to be so. Boldness\nin going out after others strengthened me and kept me from many a\ntemptation.\n\nBut, having this godly boldness, you must go on striving to get\nknowledge--knowledge of your own deceitful heart, knowledge of human\nnature, knowledge of the fullness of the gospel way of salvation. When a\nman is first converted, he is almost like a baby. Everything is new, and\nhe hardly knows anything. So it was with me, but I trust I have grown in\nknowledge of myself and others and of the word of God and of the plan of\nsalvation. Your knowledge will increase of itself if you are in earnest\nand if you will use all the means of growing better and stronger.\nConversation with older Christians, when you get into a tight place,\nwill help you. Earnest prayer to God will result in increase of\nknowledge. Reading His precious word, and studying short portions of it\nat a time, with prayer for guidance, will wonderfully enlighten you and\nincrease your knowledge. You will gain knowledge also by reading good\nbooks--the lives of very pious people, and the sermons of such men as\nWesley, Spurgeon, etc. Why not have some good books to read? Could you\ninvest your money to better advantage? In this way, having your mind\nalways occupied with the subject of religion, you will have neither time\nnor temptation for sin or thoughts of sin.\n\nThere are some selfish men who, when they find themselves delivered from\ntheir evil appetites and raised up again to respectability and their\nright mind, begin to think of reading all sorts of worldly and profane\nliterature, and want to cultivate their \"literary taste\" and prepare to\nshine in society. Such men forget the pit from which they were taken,\nand in their selfishness and worldliness and pride become blind to the\nawful peril to which they expose themselves in neglecting to keep their\nminds occupied with religious thoughts and subjects as far as is\npracticable. Some of our converts have fallen in this way.\n\nBut what is the next thing, to be added? It is _temperance_. This means\nentire self-control in things that are, in themselves, innocent and\nlawful. Of course, men understand that in things that are wrong and\ndangerous nothing is right or safe but an utter abstinence from them and\nabhorrence of them, (Read Romans xii., 9, second clause: \"Abhor that\nwhich is evil.\") Temperance means here what we spoke about when we\nconsidered Paul's saying that he kept his body under, and brought it\ninto subjection, lest he should be a castaway (1 Corinthians, ix: 27).\nAnd as you grow in experience and in knowledge of yourself you will\nfind it absolutely necessary to keep down your body by denying it, and\nby asserting your entire mastery of it, through God's grace. Oh, be\ncareful and be prayerful, and be self-denying, or some day, when you\nthink all is secure, some sudden temptation will come and find you\nself-indulgent and careless, and, like David, you will fall before you\nare aware of it, and then, maybe, have not the heart and hope to ever\ntry to be a Christian again. Men who have been addicted to bad habits\nbefore are especially in danger if they do not practice the strictest\nself-control in all things. But, with all this, you will often be\nprovoked, and find your temper very troublesome. It troubled me long\nafter conversion and troubles me now more than anything else. So it is\nnecessary to bear all things, however unreasonable and provoking they\nmay be; and this is exactly the next thing the Apostle puts\ndown--namely, _patience_.\n\nOh, how I tremble for some of these men who are converted here. They do\nnot know how necessary it is to keep right down in the dust, and not\nonly to give diligence, but to _make it their chief business_ for some\ntime to watch and guard their thoughts and ways, and to pray always, and\nby all the means we have spoken of try to keep away--far, far away from\ntemptation. I beg you to make up your minds to bear anything and\neverything. Always be ready for a disappointment, and determine not to\nlet your contentment and happiness depend upon anything or anybody in\nthis world. Then it won't make any difference what happens to you; it\nwill come like water on a duck's back, and won't hurt you. Remember how\nhumble you had to get before you could get forgiveness and strength to\nresist your appetites. And did it kill you or did it damage you in any\nway? No! It killed your wretched sins, but not you. It robbed you of\nyour bondage and darkness and despair and wretchedness. But it did not\nrob you of any good, did it? Then it won't hurt you to keep humble and\nin that same state of mind till you die. And you can afford to do so.\nHow would you like to get back into bondage and darkness where you were?\nYou say: \"Not for the world!\" But, if you knew you could, by diligence\nand watchfulness, gain the world, you would be diligent and watchful.\nAnd yet, by this diligence, you not only keep yourself secure from\nfalling back, you make your family happy, you bless many others--and,\nbest of all, you make _sure_ of everlasting life, and escape the hell\nwhich we all fear more than all things else combined.\n\n    \"Since I must fight if I would reign,\n      Increase my courage, Lord;\n    I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,\n      Supported by Thy word.\"\n\n\nECCLESIASTES XII: 13.\n\n     \"Let us bear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and\n     keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.\"\n\nThe book of Ecclesiastes contains the experience of a man who had tried\nevery phase of life, who had tasted every kind of pleasure, and who,\nalso, had experience in the service of God, with its consolations and\nits sacrifices; and he had also made a study of the great questions that\ncome up in considering the affairs of the world about him. And after his\nlong and thorough experience, and his deep and life-long study of the\nfacts of human life and history, he at last reaches a conclusion\nconcerning it all, and this conclusion he has recorded in the text I\nhave read, \"Fear God and keep His commandments,\" etc.\n\n1. Fear God.\n\nThe fear of God is natural to man until, by false teaching and evil\nassociation, it is destroyed. The severe things we see in nature about\nus lead us to have a dread of Him who is the author of all these things.\nAnd, then, death is an awful and a fear-inspiring thing, and the thought\nof what is to come after death, in that unknown country from which no\ntraveler has ever returned to tell us of it, fills us with awe and\nsobers us whenever it comes to us. And most men even that are in their\nlives wicked, and seemingly have no thought of God or fear of Him, are\noften troubled with the fear of death and what is to come after death.\nThis was my own experience.\n\n2. But merely to have this fear of God is not sufficient, and will do no\ngood if it does not lead a man to obey God and keep His commandments, as\nthe text says. For example, I knew a fireman in an engine-house here who\nhad this fear of God; but he lived a swearing, drinking man, and, of\ncourse, he was not at all benefited by his fear of God. No doubt this\nfear of God was created in the human mind in order to lead men to keep\nGod's commandments. But how are we to know His commandments? Why, my\nbrothers, they are given with great plainness in His Holy Word--so plain\nthat the wayfaring man, though he be a fool, need not miss them if only\nhe is willing to know them and to do them. And, as St. John says, \"His\ncommandments are not grievous.\" They only require of us what is most\njust and reasonably due to Him who is the giver, the free and bountiful\ngiver, of all the good things of this life, and the gracious promiser of\nperfect blessedness in the life to come. And, on the human side, His\ncommandments require of us only that we keep from doing to others what\nthey ought not do to us, and that we do for others that which they ought\nto do for us. In other words, the commandments of God are all embraced\nin two sentences, \"Love God with all your heart, because He first loved\nyou,\" and \"Love your fellowmen, because they are commanded to love you,\"\nand when you submit to God's Spirit, and become renewed in mind and\nheart, born again, made a new creature, you will see the reasonableness\nof keeping God's commandments, and the desirableness of it, in such a\nlight that you will go on in His ways with delight, desiring to know\nmore and more of Him.\n\n3. And we are told that to do this is the _whole purpose_ of man's\nexistence, and when he does this he has fully answered the end of his\nexistence, met all that is required of him and is secure amid the\nproblems of life and the possibilities of the unknown future.\n\nThis, also, brings rest to the human heart, a rest to be found nowhere\nelse. I am in a position to speak with some confidence and positiveness\non this point; for, like the man who uttered the text, I have tried life\nin all its phases. I have had all the kinds of pleasure, and I have\ntested them to the bottom. I have found out all there is in them. For\nforty years I gave myself to seeking and enjoying worldly pleasure, and\nI ought to know what it can do for a human soul. But I have another\nadvantage, too; I have tried the doctrine of my text. I have surrendered\nmyself, my life, my prospects, my all, to God, and live only to keep His\ncommandments and to please Him. My mind has been renewed, transformed,\nmy life entirely turned around. I have passed through the struggle and\nthe sacrifice that were involved in becoming a Christian, and I have\nbeen passing through those that belong to the life of a Christian. But\nyou may say I speak thus because it is a novelty to me. No, sir; it is\nno longer a novelty. I have been trying it now for ten years--surely a\nlong enough time to know pretty well how it compares with the old life;\nand my testimony, from forty years' experience of the old life and ten\nyears of the new life, is that of the writer of my text, \"Fear God and\nkeep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.\"\n\n\nHEBREWS XII: 1, 2.\n\n     \"1. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great\n     a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the\n     sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience\n     the race that is set before us.\n\n     \"2. Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith;\n     who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,\n     despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the\n     throne of God.\"\n\nThe Apostle here speaks of a great number of witnesses, who, having\ntried God and His ways, are competent to testify as to what God can do\nfor those who trust Him and serve Him. In the chapter just preceding he\nhas spoken of Abraham and Joseph and Moses, and many others, and they,\nhaving lived the life of faith, were prepared to say whether it was a\ndisappointment or not to trust God and to walk in His ways. And they\nwere not disappointed. They obtained a good report, held fast to their\nfaith in God, and were content to endure all sorts of trials and\nsufferings for the comfort and compensation of their religion. And so\nnow there are witnesses, not a few, who have tested this matter, and\ntested it under circumstances the most adverse and trying, and they give\nno uncertain testimony as to the desirableness of religion. There are\npeople who have none of the good things of this world; none of its\nhonors; none of its pleasures; none of its wealth, and not many of its\ncomforts, and yet they are contented, and even happy. Yes, far happier\nthan many who have the best that this world can give. I am one of this\nclass myself. Then the Apostle goes on to exhort them to hold fast, and\nto go on, because others having tried it were conquerors.\n\nHe exhorts to three things:\n\n1. To lay aside every weight, and especially every besetting sin that\nmight have especial attraction and special power. And it is impossible\nto serve God and have peace of conscience and to overcome sin while the\nmind is divided and undecided. A man can not expect to win a race if he\nties heavy weights upon his person; be must be unencumbered and free.\nSo, in running the Christian race, we must free ourselves from\neverything we find to be a hindrance, no matter how desirable or how\ndear it may be to the flesh. So Jesus Himself says: \"If anything so dear\nas a right arm or a right eye becomes a hindrance to to us, it must be\ngiven up.\" There are men who say they want to serve God, and expect to\ndo so, but then they enjoy certain things they know to be wrong and\nhurtful, and they will indulge in them just a little, not enough to\ncause them to get clear away from God. I know and you know men who think\nthey can enjoy sin just a little, or once in awhile. In the first place,\nthis is ungrateful and mean. It is the same as to say: \"I want to be\njust religious enough to escape hell, and yet I want to enjoy all the\npleasure I can from sin, too.\" Such a feeling dishonors God. And, in the\nsecond place, it is exceedingly dangerous. It shows that the heart is\nnot right. While you are trifling thus with sin, you may become so\nfascinated by it and led away as to be enslaved before you know it, and\nlose all your taste for heavenly things. Besides, God will not long bear\nwith a man who has no better heart and no more self-sacrificing spirit\nthan that. For myself, I should tremble and shudder if I were so far\ngone as to feel that I could go and deliberately indulge in some\npleasant sin for awhile and then come back to resume the service of God\nwhen I had satiated my evil desires. Be assured, you can not serve God\nand sin. They are as opposite as light and darkness; you must give up\none or the other. \"But,\" you say, \"how can I give up sin?\" If you are\n_willing_ to do so, God will see that you have the _power_ to do it.\nGive it up if it gives you pain--yes, if it breaks your heart! God\nHimself will pour in the oil of comfort and joy, and heal all your\nwounds.\n\n2. The Apostle exhorts to run with patience the race set before us. It\nis easy to do well for awhile; to abstain from sin while the excitement\nof novelty in the religious life is upon us; and how many there are who\nbegan well and did well for awhile, but when the novelty wore away, and\nthe excitement of the change was gone, they grew weary and sought the\nold pleasures of sin again. Some have thus done in connection with our\nwork here in this mission. Make up your mind before hand that when the\ntime of temptation and loneliness comes, you will endure it and go\nthrough with it patiently, waiting for the removal of the temptation and\nthe return of joy. And when temptation does come, pray, oh pray. Go\nalone and ask God to restore to you the joy of His salvation and trust\nHim until he does it. Go work for others; go mingle with Christian\npeople, whether you feel like it or not, and you will soon find how to\nmeet the enemy, and how to defeat his plans and purposes.\n\n3. But his last exhortation is to look to Jesus. He bore our sins on the\ncross, and therefore we are released from them, if we trust Him and\naccept Him as our sin-bearer. He is alive forevermore; and when\nearnestly asked, He gives spiritual life and joy and strength by sending\nthe Holy Spirit into our hearts. Then again, His life is the pattern of\npatience in loneliness and trials, which you and I are to follow; and\ncan we desire or aspire to be or to do any better than did He?\n\n    \"Would you lose your load of sin?\n      Fix your eyes upon Jesus.\n    Would you have God's peace within?\n      Fix your eyes upon Jesus.\"\n\n\nACTS II: 38.\n\n     \"Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of\n     you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and\n     ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nWe may not be able to understand how it is, but these inspired\nScriptures represent the work of salvation as applied to human hearts by\nthe Holy Spirit. We do not hear enough of the Holy Spirit. We do not\nknow Him and speak of Him and pray for His help and guidance and power,\nas the Scriptures teach us to do. These Scriptures are our guide; what\nthey say we do not question, nor can we subtract from them or add to\nthem. Let us see, then, what they teach us as to the Holy Spirit. In the\n14th, 15th and 16th chapters of St. John's Gospel Jesus distinctly\npromises His disciples that upon His departure He would send to them and\nto the world a divine agent whom He calls the Spirit of Truth, the\nComforter, etc., and He tells them what that divine agent would do. Let\nus, then, fix our minds now intently on what He says, and be prepared to\nbelieve it.\n\nHe said that this Spirit of Truth should \"convince men of sin.\" Well,\nthe fact is, we do see men convinced of sin as sin, and not merely\nbecause it is damaging and ruinous. But we see this only in connection\nwith the Christian religion. So it must be by means of some power that\nbelongs to the Christian religion. And if any of you here to-night see\nyour sins and feel them to be, not only damaging and destructive, but\nmean and hateful and crimes against the good Father who has borne with\nyou and blessed you through all these years of sin, then you may know\nthat it is God's Holy Spirit that has produced that feeling in you; and\nespecially so if you feel that your ingratitude to God, who has provided\nfor you a way of salvation at such great cost, and your cold and\nheartless neglect of Jesus Christ through all these years of sin are the\nmost aggravated part of your guilt. And you may be sure if God is\nwilling to begin a good work in you He is willing to carry it on to\ncompletion, and will do so if you do not hinder Him. \"Work out your\nsalvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you.\"\nAnd since it is He who has begun this work, beware that you do not\nhinder it or stop it by your coldness, carelessness or sin.\n\nBut, in the second place, Jesus says the Holy Spirit should reveal Him\nto sinners as their sin-bearer and life-giver. So the promise is to you.\nHold on in prayer and patient expectation. You can not be disappointed,\nfor God can not lie. I was ignorant of Christ to an astonishing and\nshameful degree; but I was told to pray and I did so. I shut myself up\nin my back room one evening and told God I was going to stay there until\nHe blessed me, and I was blessed, and the only three words I uttered\nwere \"Jesus of Nazareth.\" By some power I was so illuminated and changed\nthat I saw Jesus as the dearest and loveliest being I ever thought of.\nWas not this a fulfillment to me of the promise made in John xvi.: 14?\nAnd having received grace from my God, I continue to this day witnessing\nto small and to great the things I have experienced since becoming a\nChristian. Now, let us inquire what else this gracious divine agent\nworking in man is to do.\n\nHe it is who produces that change in men which we call conversion or\nregeneration or new birth. You remember in John (3d chapter) the\nexpression, \"Born of the Spirit,\" and again in Titus iii.: 5, it is said\nwe are saved by the \"renewing of the Holy Ghost.\" When we know, then,\nthat these changes are the immediate effect of the inworking of this\ndivine agent, we need not be surprised that they are so sudden and so\nthorough as we see them to be in some cases that we know of. Let me say\nto those who have not yet experienced this wonderful deliverance from\nthe power and love of sin and this inner revolution, that many of us\nhave tested this matter who were in the deepest depths of sin and\ndarkness, and God will do to depend on. Go ahead, go ahead; keep on\npraying and keep on hoping and trust yourself to Jesus, and you shall\nreceive the gift of the Holy Ghost.\n\nBut, after we have experienced this change which we call conversion,\nGod's spirit abides with us and keeps on doing great things for us when\nwe are converted. We are not made angels or gods, but are still human,\nand, though delivered from the guilt and power of sin, we are hampered\nby ignorance and depressed by sorrow and encompassed with temptations.\nBut just anticipating these needs of ours, the Holy Spirit is to be our\nteacher and to guide us into the truth. So we need not fear if we are\nonly humble and honest and teachable; we shall not go dangerously\nastray, for God Himself will thus open to our minds the wonderful things\nof Scripture, and cause us to understand as much of it as we need.\n\nBut He, the Holy Spirit, is to be the comforter of God's people in their\nloneliness and trials and conflicts in this world of exile. I have been\nsustained by unseen power in my trials as a Christian. But He enables\nthem to overcome, and be more than conquerors, when they are assailed by\ntemptation to sin. \"He strengthens with might in the inner man\"\n(Ephesians iii.: 16), and gives joy and peace; so that the soul, being\ncontent with these, does not need or desire the poor pleasures of sin.\nThis has been my experience.\n\nHe sanctifies God's people; He makes them holier and holier; He produces\nthe fruit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,\nmeekness, temperance, faith; and He gives power to reach, by our poor\nwords, the hearts and consciences of others, though they be dead in sin.\nJesus says, \"Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon\nyou.\" (Acts 1.: 8.) There are some men who have this power to reach and\nawaken and interest sinners in the salvation of their souls. And they do\nhave power to bring sinners into this new life of peace and purity and\njoy. And you and I might have this power, and far more of it than we do,\nif, like the Apostle, we would wait before God in patient, believing\nprayer till the Holy Spirit should come in fullness and power. Pentecost\nwas a display of this power, and we may have another Pentecost when we\nare willing to wait for it and pray for it as did the little company in\nthe upper room at Jerusalem.\n\n\nLUKE V: 32.\n\n     \"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.\"\n\nThese words of Jesus were spoken to the Scribes and Pharisees, and\ncombine in themselves a defense of His own course in mingling with\nsinners, and a keen rebuke of the spirit of those who brought against\nhim an accusation of associating with sinners, as well as the\ndeclaration of the object of His mission into this poor darkened world.\nAnd does it not seem strange that a man should be required to defend\nhimself for going to spend and be spent for the good of those who are\nmost sorely in need of help and relief? But it has always been so. Men\nare so selfish, so utterly without concern for the interests of others\nthat they want to monopolize and swallow up everything that is good. So\nwhen Jesus of Nazareth was revealed to the Jewish people, and made\nHimself conspicuous and famous by the daily performance of astonishing\nmiracles, the Scribes and Pharisees, who thought that everything ought\nto be subservient to their own personal interests and aggrandizement,\nfell out with Jesus because He did not fall in with notions of what He\nought to be and do. They did not care a baubee for the people, the\nrabble, the mob, the human cattle. Indeed they utterly despised them,\nand would have nothing to do with them. They might perish and rot so far\nas the Scribes and Pharisees were concerned, provided these latter could\nhold the places of honor and gain. And so utterly possessed were they by\nthis feeling of all-consuming selfishness, that when they saw this\nJesus of Nazareth going with sinners, talking with sinners and eating\nwith sinners, they set it down as a conclusion they would never give up\nthat He was not, and could not be, and should not be, their Messiah. So\nthat Jesus was thus forced to reason with them, and to make His defense\nbefore these self-constituted judges of His, and tell them why it was\nthat He pursued the course He did. So it was in the time of John Wesley\nin England. He went among sinners, talked with them, taught them, and\ndrew them by the magic force of his great love to follow him wherever he\nwent to preach; and they so crowded the churches to hear the words of\ngrace and tenderness that fell from his lips, that the doors were shut\nupon him, and he had to go out on the commons and into the fields\nbeneath the sky of that God and Father whose words he was preaching, and\nwhose lost children he was trying to save. This has been the experience\nof other zealous and earnest ministers of Christ. And they, too, have\nhad to defend themselves for such a course. Our dear Brother Morris felt\nhimself pressed to say why he went to the courthouse steps to try to\nlift up the fallen and save the wretched and the lost. But the words of\nJesus contain also a scathing rebuke of the self-righteous spirit of\nthose hard-headed, hard-hearted Scribes and Pharisees. It was the same\nas saying, \"you claim that you are the righteous of the world. You are\nnot willing to be classed with sinners, or to be called sinners, or to\nbelieve yourselves sinners. Therefore you have no need of me, and I have\nnothing for you; for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to\nrepentance.\" Let us beware then, my dear friends and brethren, of\nthinking or feeling that we are better than others, or that we are not\nsinners. Now, need I stop here to prove that any of you are sinners?\nDoes any one here need to have arguments worked out and laid before him\nto prove to him that he is a poor, miserable, blind sinner? If there is\nany one here who thinks and feels that he is not, then he has no\nbusiness here, he has no business with Christ, and we have nothing to\ntell him or give him here. We bid him farewell, and turn away from him,\nto work for and to talk to others. If I were to go to see a sick man\nconcerned about his soul, and he were to begin to tell about his good\ndeeds and his freedom from sins and vices, I would get my hat and tell\nhim good-bye; that I knew nothing about salvation for anybody but\nsinners. But for sinners I have and hold up a Saviour, a divine Saviour,\nwho, blessed be God, is able to save to the uttermost all who come to\nhim, and to save them here and now. If you want to see a specimen of\nChrist's interest in sinners and feeling for sinners, look at His life.\nIn the beginning of His ministry He chooses Matthew, one of the despised\nclass of publicans, to be one of His disciples--nay, one of His\nApostles. Then He went to Matthew's house to dinner. It was as if some\nleading minister of the Gospel here to-day would be seen walking down\nthe street with some leading gambler, on his way to take dinner and\nspend the afternoon with him. It was as if Mr. Moody should come to\nLouisville to conduct one of his great meetings, and, instead of\nstopping with Mr. Carley or Mr. Carter or Judge Bullock, should stop\nwith John Young or Harry Johnson, and be his willing guest. So Jesus\nwent to the house of another big gambler, so to speak, in his day. It\nwas the publican Zaccheus (Luke xix., 1-10), and Jesus not only went\nthere to dinner, but took salvation with Him to Zaccheus' house. So by\nHis tenderness and grace, Jesus drew to Him the poor outcast women of\nHis day. One wretched sinner of this class was so won by His concern for\nsinners, that she pressed her way into a rich man's house where Jesus\nwas dining, and going to Him washed His feet with her tears, and\nanointed them with costly perfume, Jesus not only not forbidding her,\nbut defending her for it (Luke 7). And Jesus spoke the parables of the\nLost Sheep, the Lost Piece of Silver, the Lost Prodigal Son, and\nsaid--oh, hear it--\"There is joy in heaven over one sinner that\nrepenteth.\"\n\n\nJAMES I: 25, 26.\n\n     \"25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and\n     continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer\n     of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.\n\n     \"26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth\n     not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's\n     religion is vain.\"\n\nJames, the writer of this language, is that inspired servant of God, who\ngets impatient with mere professions of piety, and who wants to see\naction, action! not mere words, not dead faith, but also action. He\nspeaks, in the text, of \"forgetful hearers of the Word.\" Now, do you not\nknow all about what that means? Have you not, many a time, read the\nBible, or heard a sermon from it that, like a mirror, held up to your\nheart, showed you yourself even better than you knew yourself? And have\nyou not said: \"Well, I will change; that picture is true, and it is too\ndark to be endured any longer?\" But, instead of carrying out your\npurpose and doing what you say, you went away and forgot all about it,\nand soon you were as dead as ever. And, instead of continuing to read\nthe Bible and see yourself there; and instead of continuing to go where\nfaithful ministers would uncover your poor, wicked heart and life to\nyour eyes, you went on your accustomed ways of business or pleasure, and\nbecame a \"forgetful hearer of the Word,\" and it did you no good. How,\nthen, in the name of God, can a man keep himself from forgetting the\nthings he reads or hears from the Bible? Why, it is very simple--to go\nto _doing_ at once, without waiting even till to-morrow. \"Do what?\" you\nsay. Why, go to praying. Cut yourself off from retreat by coming out on\nthe side of Christ and taking your place among those who are seeking His\nmercy and salvation, till you can take your place among those who have\nthat salvation. But I want to say a very solemn word to those who\nprofess to have already obtained salvation. Are _you doing_, as well as\n_hearing_ the Word of God? Does your life exemplify \"holiness to the\nLord,\" and does it abound in good works and good words? Do you abstain\nfrom evil and keep yourself from evil associations? Do you turn away\nfrom dangerous and suspicious places and people? Do you obey readily and\nheartily what you find to be commanded in God's Word? If you do not do\nthe things you hear, then you, too, will soon become \"forgetful\nhearers,\" and little by little the world will re-assert its power over\nyou, and the flesh will get the upper hand, and at the last you may wind\nup as our poor friend Eicheler did. Doing is as important a part of the\nGospel as hearing. Read the last part of the Sermon on the Mount\n(Matthew vii., 24-27). Notice that Jesus says the man who does His\nsayings is like one who buildeth on a solid and enduring foundation that\ncan stand storms and temptations. Now, do you not find that if you do\nwhat you find in the Bible, then the Bible becomes sweeter and sweeter\nto you? You do not shut it up then and shove it aside for fear of\nfinding yourself condemned, for when you do its biddings it will not\ncondemn you, but commend you, and that makes you love it and keeps you\nfrom forgetting it. And thus you grow stronger and stronger, and sin\nwill grow weaker and weaker, and you will surely find that you have\nbuilt on a strong foundation. But, in the last part of the text is a\nsubject I want to talk about. Read verse 26. It is the tongue. If any\nman seems to be religious, and fails to control his tongue, then he is\nmistaken. Oh, have you not found your tongue to be one of the most\ntroublesome things you have to contend with? If you want to see James'\nidea of the tongue, read chapter iii., 1-10. Do you watch your\nconversation? Do you guard the door of your lips? Do you? I am in\nearnest.\n\nDo you ever indulge in the least obscenity? Some so-called Christians\ndo, and it is sickening and disgusting to others; and while it shows\nwhat their thoughts dwell on, it does themselves great harm, for it\nkeeps temptation before their minds, and makes it a great deal more\ndifficult to resist temptations when they come in their lives. Do you\nmean it only as innocent fun? It is not innocent. For if you are so\nhardened as to unclean thoughts, that they don't hurt _you_, they, will\nhurt others.\n\nWhat about swearing? If the devil can get you to swear a few times, then\nhe will say: \"Oh, you might as well confess that you are no Christian,\nand give up this hypocritical business.\" There is one of the Ten\nCommandments forbidding to take God's name in vain; the Sermon on the\nMount forbids it still more strongly, and James, in chapter v., 12,\ncondemns it in the strongest language. And yet there are some church\nmembers who practice it, especially when they get mad. That man's heart\nis not right, and he is treading on very dangerous ground who is not\nchanged enough to avoid swearing. And if a man, by God's grace, will\nturn away from it and from the thought of it, he will soon become so\nthat it will make him shudder to hear others swear. I know this from my\nown experience.\n\nIf you do not watch yourself in conversation, you will tell things that\nare not true; and so, in trying to be polite, you will have to watch or\nyour tongue will tell a falsehood, and you will recollect it with shame\nand lose strength of faith in God.\n\nAnd then that tongue often indulges in gossip about your acquaintances\nthat does them great harm. And have you not, in moments of temper and\npassion, said cruel and, perhaps, false things to your dear ones; to\nthose who have worked for you, and maybe would die for you? It cut them\nto the heart, and you have not made acknowledgment of your sin to them.\n\n\nJAMES I: 8.\n\n     \"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.\"\n\nOne of the commonest and greatest faults and weaknesses of men is this\nthat I am going to speak about to you to-night, and that is indecision.\nIt is not only a weakness and a fault and a great hindrance in regard to\nreligion, but in any and all the affairs of life. Do you not know men of\ncompetent ability and of good advantages and education who amount to\nvery little in the world? And when you ask yourself why it is, is it not\nbecause they have not enough decision of character to keep at any one\nthing long enough to master the difficulties with which it is beset and\nto win success in spite of obstacles? Some of them are confused by the\ngreat number of ways that seem to open before them and are not decided\nas to which one they will pursue. And after embarking in one pursuit and\ncontinuing in it for awhile, they conclude they could do better at\nsomething else; and before they have studied and labored long enough to\nobtain success in this second enterprise, they conclude they could do\nbetter by changing for a third or going back to the first. And so,\nbecause study and time and labor are necessary to success in any\noccupation or profession and they do not bestow these, they do not\nsucceed, and, in the nature of the case, can not succeed. Or, if they\nare not embarrassed by the number of openings before them, they are\ndivided in their minds between a life of ease, indulgence and pleasure\nand a life of labor and self-denial, and, though they would be something\nand are not without ambition, yet a life of indolence and rest offers\nso many inducements that they prefer it to a life of hard work and of\ndiscouragements and battles and anxieties, or, at least, if they do not\npositively prefer such a life, yet they hanker after it; and in their\neffort to have ease and pleasure and, at the same time, to pursue some\nhonorable and profitable calling, _they miss both_, and have no\nsatisfaction, but only a consciousness of their own weakness and\nuselessness and a contempt for themselves. But maybe I need not ask you\nif you know persons of this sort. You who listen to me to-night may be\nof just that kind. Possibly--nay, probably--there are men here to-night\nwhose lives have been failures just because of the miserable weakness I\nhave been trying to describe. But if this weakness of character is the\ncause of many failures and the utter disappointment that many lives have\nended in, in worldly matters, how much more so is it in religious\nconcerns and interests. If concentration of thought and fixedness of\npurpose and firmness of will are necessary to overcome obstacles and to\nmaster success in business or in the learned professions, they are more\nso in the matter of religion. If indecision and dividedness of mind and\nwavering of purpose cause men to fail in worldly matters, much more so\nwill they cause men to fail in religion. Some men are forever wavering\nbetween accepting and rejecting Christianity. To-day they are satisfied\nthat Christianity is true, and to-morrow they say they have found proof\nthat Christianity is false. Then, again, they get into trouble and find\nthat nothing can help them but Christianity, and they believe it until\nsome man comes along and argues against it, and away they go off after\nhim. So they never believe in Christianity long enough at any time to\nget any good from it, and they will not utterly and finally reject it so\nas to be no longer troubled by it. But the trouble with most of the\npeople who are in this wretched state of indecision is that they believe\nin Christianity, and are persuaded that it is far better to be a\nChristian and safer, but they love the world and the ways of the world\nand the honors of the world and the pleasures of the world; and it is\nimpossible to love the world and partake of the pleasures of the world\nand at the same time to serve God with your whole heart. \"Ye can not\nserve two masters,\" and yet you see people who are trying to do it. So\nthey do not make good Christians, for their hearts are in the world, and\ntheir lives and influence are not for Christianity, but for the world.\nNor do they get the good and pleasure of a worldly life, for they are\nrestrained and harassed by their fear of conscience, God and hell. And\nJesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says, \"Ye can not serve two masters.\"\nMany have tried it. Some whose histories are given in the Bible tried\nit. Saul, the first king of Israel, tried it. When God sent him to\ndestroy the Amalekites, he obeyed the command in part, but not\naltogether. (I. Samuel xv., 13-25.) But God is not mocked, and because\nSaul trifled with Him He rejected Saul, and Saul went from bad to worse,\nuntil at last, in his abandonment to the power of evil, he committed\nmurder after murder and finally died a suicide. The rich young man in\nthe New Testament was another case of divided mind. He saw the\ndesirableness of being good, and the safety of being at peace with God,\nand showed a zeal in trying to be good; but when Jesus told him to sell\nall he had and give it to the poor, he refused. He wanted to do both,\nobey God and inherit the kingdom of heaven and have a fortune for\nselfish enjoyment or for miserable greed at the same time. But he could\nnot do both. King Agrippa said \"he was almost persuaded\" to be a\nChristian. His mind was divided; he could not do both. He chose to keep\nhis worldly possessions, and, of course, could not be a Christian (Acts\nxxvi., 28). But, on the other hand, those men who were decided and\npositive in their rejection of the pleasures of the world found no great\ntrouble in serving God. Moses was a man of this sort (Hebrews xi.,\n25-27). He deliberately chose to suffer afflictions with the people of\nGod rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Paul was\nanother man of this positive character. When Jesus revealed Himself to\nPaul his surrender was immediate and complete. He said, \"What wilt thou\nhave me do?\" And to the end of a long and laborious life, amid\npersecutions and sufferings and disgraces and loneliness and bonds, he\ncontinually cried, \"None of these things move me.\" And his Christian\nlife was victorious and glorious.\n\n\nII. TIMOTHY III: 5.\n\n     \"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof;\n     from such turn away.\"\n\nThis text is a description of certain false teachers who had arisen in\nthe midst of the church, or who would arise and assume the name of\ndisciples of Christ, as well as authority to teach. They would assume\nthe outward form of Christianity and adopt its expressions and conform\nto its usage in outward respects, but would deny that there was any\nsupernatural power or divine unction in it. And there are such men\nto-day. But if Christianity be not attended by any supernatural agency\nand energy present in it and with it, then it is no better than any\nother of the so-called religions of the world. If it has only form and\nbody, without a living and life-giving soul and divinity in it, it is on\na level with the heathen religions, for they all have these. And,\nindeed, all men have a form of religion, and many of them are so devoted\nto it that they will suffer and some of them die before they will give\nit up. The ancient Jews held to the forms of their religion, and fought\nfor it in bloody and bitter wars. And the Pharisees at the time of\nChrist were the most careful and scrupulous observers of all the forms\nof their religion, and yet Jesus denounced them as the wickedest sinners\nof His time. There are men of this kind in the Christian churches of\nto-day, men who go through the forms of religion, who perform the\noutward duties of religion, and who would not give these up for any\nconsideration; and yet they not only do not experience anything of the\npower of inward religion, but they go so far as to deny that there is\nany such inward power, and call those who claim to have it fanatical.\n\nBut read the following passages, and see if we have not Scripture\nwarrant for this power of religion: I. Corinthians ii., 4; I.\nThessalonians i., 5; II. Timothy i., 7; Ephesians iii., 16; and our\ntext, II. Timothy iii., 5.\n\n1. The power of Christianity is shown in the conviction for sin.\n\nIt is impossible to get men to see and realize the sinfulness and\nhatefulness of sin. It is impossible for any power of men's eloquence to\npierce through the deep native depravity of the heart--through the\nselfish motives, desires, ambitions and interests, and get men to see\nand feel the nature and danger of sin. Oh, the impossibility of making\nmen feel guilt and danger by any human means while they are dead in sin!\nBut under the power of this force, or, rather, this agent, who works in\nand through Christianity, the poor sinner sees and feels all this. He\nsees that, of all bitter and perilous things, sin is the most bitter and\nperilous and dreadful. He feels smitten with remorse. He feels that\nthere is no beauty in the world, or in anything, because of the\nblackness and ugliness and foulness of his own evil heart and life. And\nhe feels that, above all things, he must get rid of sin, and at whatever\ncost, and speedily at that, for the agony is unendurable. Everything\nseems as nothing compared with salvation from sin. \"He will go and sell\nall he has to buy it,\" as Jesus says. This sense of sin and danger\nproduces an earthquake in the spiritual nature that upheaves the hidden\ndepths of the soul. Like the pilgrim in Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, he\nputs his fingers in his ears and flees from the City of Destruction.\nLike the murderers of Jesus when convicted by this power, he cries out,\n\"What must I do to be saved?\"\n\n2. It is shown in what we call conversion.\n\nBut this power which belongs to Christianity, not only produces this\nawful sense of the guilt and danger of sin, it also delivers from the\nguilt and power of sin, and makes the man a new creature. The awful\nsense of condemnation and the fear of a just and endless retribution are\ntaken away. He may not know how or just why, but he knows it is so, and\nhe rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But, not only so, he\nfinds to his amazement and joy that his whole inner nature is reversed,\nre-created, and he no longer is a slave of sinful habits and passions,\nbut he is delivered from these, and now loves holiness and holy people\nand holy things and holy thoughts. The whole current of his nature is\nchanged. \"Old things are passed away, and behold all things are become\nnew,\" and, instead of the old defilement and darkness and\ndevilishness, there flows out and on a life of purity, consecration,\nself-forgetfulness and holiness. Now, do you not call that a power which\ncan bring to pass such effects as this? Do you know of any other power\nthat can do anything like it?\n\nAnd now, my brother, you who profess to be a follower of Jesus, have you\nexperienced this power, or have you only the form of godliness without\nthe power? That is what is the matter with most of the church members\nof this day. They have a form of godliness, but in too many cases only a\nform. They do not know anything of the power of which I have been\nspeaking. But let no one be discouraged who has not experienced this\nblessed deliverance from the power of the enemy, provided you are\nseeking for it. You shall not seek long in vain, if you seek it in\nearnest. May God reveal Himself to us all now and here.\n\n\nI. CORINTHIANS IX: 26, 27.\n\n     \"I therefore so run not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one\n     that beateth the air:\n\n     \"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest\n     that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself\n     should be a castaway.\"\n\nThis Is the language of St. Paul, the Apostle. As we have already\nremarked of Jesus, that He took the most familiar facts and experiences\nof every-day life by which to teach His doctrines, so we may say of His\ngreat Apostle, Paul. The Grecian games, consisting of running matches\nand boxing matches, were well known among the people of St. Paul's day,\nand especially so at Corinth, and these furnished him the illustrations\nwhich he frequently used in his letters. In another place he speaks of\nlaying aside all weights and running with patience the race set before\nus. In this place he speaks both of running and boxing. His object is to\nshow that, as in these games the utmost attention and energy and\nself-denial were necessary to success, and that these would insure\nsuccess, so it is in the Christian race and the Christian fight. He\nsays: \"I, for my part, run not as uncertainly,\" that is, I run no risk,\nI indulge in nothing that would make it in the least degree uncertain as\nto my gaining the desired object; I know what is required of me, and I\nknow that if I do not fully observe all that is commanded me and\nrequired of me, I, to that extent, render my success uncertain, and this\nI am determined, by the grace of God, not to do. Then he says: \"I fight\nnot as one that beateth the air.\" The boxers would frequently take\nexercise by striking into the air, as we see men practicing gymnastics\nnow; but Paul meant to say that he was not taking exercise--he was\nfacing an earnest and dangerous foe, and it was a life and death matter\nto him to know just what that foe was, and to know just how to attack it\nso as to conquer it. And what was that foe? Hear it, you who think you\nare safe and can just go smoothly to heaven as if you were sliding down\nhill. Hear what Paul's greatest foe was: It was his body--yes, his body,\nwith its appetites and passions, its constant craving for gratification\nand pleasure. What! do you mean to say that Paul, the great Apostle, was\nin danger of being led away by the appetites of the body? Well, that is\nwhat he himself says. He was not in danger of falling because of doubt,\nfor he had had such a wonderful conversion, and such an actual vision of\nChrist, that he could never, never doubt that, nor does he any where, in\nany of his epistles, show the slightest wavering in this respect, but he\ndoes show that he knew and felt there was danger of being, in some\nunguarded moment, misled and brought into sin by the appetites of an\nunmastered body. So, he says in the next verse: \"I keep under my body\nand bring it into subjection, lest that when I have preached to others,\nI myself should be lost.\" He still keeps up the figure of the boxing\nmatches in the games, and says: \"The foe I have to contend with is my\nbody,\" and as the winner in the fist fight of the games beats his foe\nblack, till he cries \"enough!\" so do I deny my body till it ceases to\nhave any desire or disposition toward the objects of unholy passions,\ntill it meekly gives up, and I feel that I am perfect master, and it is\nunder my feet as it were. When the body is fed and gratified and\npampered, its animal appetites and passions are nursed and become\nstrong. So men who live high and eat to gluttony and drink wines and\nliquors are usually in a perfect strut of sensual passion. I guess that\nis why the Lord keeps me so poor, and why I have so little to live on\nand so little to feed on. It is that, by this necessary self-denial, I\nmay keep my poor body down, out of danger of betraying me into sin.\n\nDavid was as great a man in some respects as Paul, he communed with God\nin the solitudes of Bethlehem's sheep pastures, till he became strong\nenough to overcome a giant and to put a whole army to flight. He\ncomposed most of the Psalms, the most spiritual songs in the world. He\nwithstood all the temptations of honor, and endured, with matchless\nmeekness, the hatred and persecution of Saul, the king (I. Samuel xxiv).\nBut his poor body, with its sensual passions, got the better of him, and\nhe committed the awful sin of adultery. Doubtless, when he had become\nking, he forgot the self-denial which he practiced when he was a\nshepherd, and when he was a persecuted and hunted fugitive, and instead\nof that he lived high, fed high, drank high, and so he fell, and fell\nvery low.\n\nSolomon was a wise man. He knew all the secrets of the human heart. He\nwrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, books full of profound knowledge, as\nwell as of deepest piety. Yet Solomon was led away from God by indulging\nin sensuality. And if David and Solomon, with all their faith and wisdom\nand power and piety, found that their bodies, because not kept down,\nled them into sin, we need not wonder that Paul saw and shunned this\ndanger. But how is a man to keep his body under? By totally abstaining\nfrom everything that heats the blood and inflames passion, as drinking,\netc., and high living; by fleeing from evil conversation, evil books,\nevil thoughts; by fasting and abstinence, frequently practiced. Moses\nfasted; Elijah, David, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jesus, Paul, the\nearly church and Wesley and the early Methodists--all these eminent\nservants of God fasted, and there must be something good and profitable\nin it. I am satisfied it is one of the ways of keeping the body under,\nand bringing it into subjection. And may God help us to use all the\nmeans in our power for securing ourselves from our greatest enemy.\n\n\nACTS XX: 21.\n\n     \"Testifying both to the Jews, and also the Greeks, repentance\n     toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\nThis verse is a part of St. Paul's account of his own ministry at the\ncity of Ephesus in Asia. He revisits them after having spent three years\nof labor among them, and in his address to them he reminds them of his\nmanner of life among them, and recounts the substance of his preaching\namong them; and the burden of his preaching was as is stated in the\ntext: \"Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\nAnd the first point to be noticed is that St. Paul made no difference\namong men; he was no respecter of persons or classes. You all know the\nJews were the church people of that day. They not only claimed to be the\npious of that day, but they claimed to be the only pious people, and the\nonly ones qualified to teach others. But Paul, finding their religion\nwas altogether outward and formal, as is the religion of many of the\nchurch people to-day, preached to them just as he did to the vilest of\nthe heathens around them, the necessity of repentance, of turning from\ntheir sins and passions to God, with self-abhorrence and hope of mercy\nand pardon. And in this he has only followed the example of his Divine\nMaster; for Christ said to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a sort of\nreverend doctor of divinity, \"Except ye be born again, ye can not enter\ninto the kingdom of God.\" (John iii., 3.) And so now it makes no\ndifference if you belong to the Catholic church or the Episcopal church\nor the Methodist church, or any or all others, it will do you\nabsolutely no good at all if you have not repented of your sins and evil\ndoings and turned to God in prayer and hope for grace to enable you to\nlive above the power of sin. But, in the next place, Paul said he\npreached \"repentance toward God.\" It is God, then, whom you have\noffended by your sins. As David says in the fifty-first Psalm, \"Against\nThee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.\" And\nbecause you have sinned against God, you must repent toward God, and as\nin the sight of Him who sees and knows all, even the secret thoughts and\npassions and purposes of the heart. God is judge, and God is a consuming\nfire. But what is it to repent? Ordinarily, when we hear persons speak\nof repentance, we think at once about being sorry and of feeling a deep\ngrief because we have done wrong; and some of us think it means to weep\nand moan and to be afflicted with an awful bitterness of soul because of\nour sins, when we hear any one speak of repentance in a religious sense.\nAnd, indeed, this may be the kind of repentance which many people have,\nand doubtless do have. But there _may_ be true repentance without this\nextreme sorrow for sin, provided there is enough sorrow for sin and\nhatred of sin and dread of sin to turn away from it, and to at once and\nforever forsake it. Nor must you wait for this extreme sorrow, which you\nmay have heard others speak of, but if you are convinced of the evil of\nsin and the baseness of sin and the ruinousness of sin, then cease to\nfollow it, cease to practice it, and cease at once, however much it may\ncost you to do so. The old prophet, speaking to the Jews who came with\nsighs and groans and tears to God's altar, but without mending their\nways, says, \"Cease to do evil, learn to do right, put away the evil from\nyou.\" And John the Baptist says, \"Bring forth fruits worthy of\nrepentance,\" that is, such fruit as will show that you have indeed and\nin heart turned away from evil and from sin. Meanwhile, ask God to help\nyou repent, tell Him you are nothing but sin and that you look to Him\nfor grace to repent right and to turn away from all sin. And as long as\nyou cleave to one sin, you need not expect to get any relief. Many give\nup one thing and another, but think they can hold on to one sin--one\ndarling sin, one idolized sin--and that God will excuse this one, if\nthey give up all others. \"But be not deceived; God is not mocked,\" nor\ncan you trifle with Him. Having thus let go your hold of sin, of your\nsecret darling sins, and turned away from them with hope of mercy from\nGod, you can trust in Jesus Christ, His Son crucified for your sins, and\nin your stead, and you will surely have peace, and that quickly.\n\nObserve, Paul says he preached faith, not in God the Father, but faith\nin the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that God reconciles the world\nunto Himself, And if you do not accept Jesus and trust in God's mercy,\nas shown in Jesus, you will get no relief and no peace. God has promised\nnothing outside of Jesus. But He has promised everything to him who\naccepts Jesus Christ's suffering and sacrifice as the sufficient and\nsatisfactory penalty due to his own sins, and believes that Jesus bore\nhis sins in His body on the cross. If Jesus satisfied Paul, He ought to\nsatisfy you, and be worthy of your confidence and trust and worship.\nTurn from sin, then, with humility and shame that you have so long\ngrieved God, and trust in Jesus, and Jesus alone, and keep doing so for\ndays if necessary, and you can not, and shall not, fail to obtain\nsalvation.\n\n\nON SELF-DENIAL.\n\nLUKE IX: 23.\n\n     \"And He said unto them all, if any man will come after Me, let\n     him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.\"\n\nReligion depends on this more than on any other one thing. If we are\nwilling to give up all our own preferences and to deny all our desires\nand inclinations, we shall not have much trouble at any other point. The\ngreatest hindrance to getting religion or _keeping_ religion is our own\ndesire for ease, comfort and self-gratification, and our aversion to\nenduring any hardship or privation or suffering. The reason why\nself-denial is necessary is that our very nature is corrupted and\ndiseased and we are blinded by sin. Once the will of man was the same as\nthe will of God; but, since the fall, the will of man and that of God\nare directly opposed; and if we live according to God's will, we must go\ndirectly against our own.\n\nSelf-denial is necessary in avoiding sin to which we are inclined and\nwhich we find give us pleasure.\n\nBut it is necessary also, when no sin or temptation is present, to\npreserve that frame of mind which keeps us in readiness for temptation\nand enables us to resist it when it does come.\n\nA constant habit of self-denial is necessary to make us proof against\nthe gradual and unperceived approach of sin either in the form of\ncoldness and distaste for religion, or sloth, or a desire to gratify the\nflesh. So Paul (I. Cor. ix., 27) said he kept his body under and\nbrought it into subjection, lest _even he_, through the deceitfulness of\nsin, should become a castaway.\n\nIt follows that self-denial is absolutely necessary to growing in grace.\nWe are mistaken if we imagine we are growing in grace, when we are\npracticing no self-denial. Jesus said (Luke ix., 23): \"If any man will\ncome after Me let him deny himself and take up his cross _daily_.\" Now\nwhat does that word \"daily\" mean in this connection? Indeed growth in\npiety is a growing out of self so that self is _crucified_, as Paul says\nhe was.\n\nSelf-denial must be practiced then.\n\n1. In abstaining from sins of all kinds.\n\n2. In performing all our duties of religion, however hard and unpleasant\nthey may be, as attending all church services, ordinances, etc., and\ngiving according to your ability.\n\n3. In practicing private prayer however hard and distasteful it may be\nat first. Some men have prayed three hours a day in secret, as, for\nexample, Luther.\n\n4. In abstinence from food, _i.e._, fasting; and sometimes from sleep\nwhen it is necessary to have time to pray, etc.\n\nGet the upper hand of your animal nature and keep it by _daily_\nself-denial and you will mount up with wings as eagles, you will run and\nnot be weary, you will walk and not faint.\n\n\nI. JOHN III: 5.\n\n     \"And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and\n     in Him is no sin.\"\n\nThese are Christmas days. This is the period of the year that is\ncelebrated as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus. I fear that if some\nstranger from a foreign land, who knew nothing of the character of Jesus\nand His history and nothing of Christianity, were to happen in our midst\nduring this Christmas time, he would think, from the character of our\nfestivities and the kind of our demonstrations, that we were either, by\nour bonfires and guns and rockets and fireworks, celebrating some\nwarlike hero who, in the midst of belching cannon and blazing musketry,\nhad delivered his country from peril, or else that we were, by our\nrevelry and dissipation and debauchery and riot, celebrating some\nheathen god of pleasure like Bacchus, the Roman god of the wine cup. And\nit is strange--unaccountably strange--that men should so pervert the\nsacred Christmas time into a season of unusual and disgraceful\nindulgence in sin. What does our text say? \"He was manifested to take\naway our sins.\" \"He was manifested;\" what does that mean? Oh, it means\nmore than you and I will give ourselves time to fully take in. It is\nsaid that the angels desire to look into the wonderful fact of the\ncondescension of Jesus Christ, the prince of princes, in becoming man in\norder to save sinners. But though _angels_ thus desire, very few of\n_us_, for whom this wonderful humiliation was suffered, give enough time\nor attention to it to either understand it or care much about it. We are\ntoo much occupied with these lower things to take any special interest\nin things infinitely higher.\n\nPaul, in the second chapter of the Philippians, tells us how Jesus\nhumbled himself. Let us see verse 5: \"Who being in the form of God,\nthought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made _Himself_ of _no\nreputation_ and took on Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself\nand became obedient unto _death_, yea even unto the death of the cross.\"\n\nChrist, then, was the equal of God, the Father, worshipped by angels;\nand yet He consented to become man, and so be made \"a little lower than\nthe angels.\" But He not only became man, He became a servant among men.\nSo His life was one of lowly service and unremitting toil for others. He\nonce girded Himself with a towel and washed the feet of His disciples.\nBut He not only became man and servant to man, He went to a deeper depth\nof humiliation than any other ever descended to: He suffered as an\nevil-doer, though in fact He was the only good and pure man that ever\nlived. \"He was numbered among the transgressors,\" though He was guilty\nof no transgression, and He descended down to the bottom floor of\ndisgrace--He was nailed on a cross and left there to die as you hang the\nworst criminals by the neck till they are dead.\n\nYes, He was born poor; He lived in toil and sorrow and died in shame:\nthe Prince of Glory did all this. But, stop and ask, Why did He endure\nall this when He might and could have avoided it? Let God answer:\n\"Surely He hath borne _our_ griefs and carried _our_ sorrows. He was\nwounded for _our_ transgressions. He was bruised for _our_ iniquities;\nall we like sheep had gone astray, and the Lord laid on _Him_ the\niniquity of us all.\" (Isaiah lviii., 4, 6.) Yes, \"He was manifested to\ntake away our transgressions\" in the sense that He suffered in our stead\nfor those transgressions that are past. But what good would it do to\nforgive sinners if they were not changed and renewed, so that they could\nhave the power in the future to abstain from sin? What good would it do\nfor God to say to a drunkard, \"Your sins are forgiven\" if He did not at\nthe same time so change that drunkard as to make him able to keep from\ndrinking in the future? What good to forgive the past sins of a\ndebauchee or a liar or a gambler or a thief or a murderer if, at the\nsame time, their hearts were not so changed that they would and could\nkeep from sinning again? It would do no good, for they would go straight\ninto the sins they had been practicing. Well, does Jesus make provision\nfor this? Yes, He does. He was manifested not only to take away the\nguilt of our transgressions, but also their _power_ over us. Do we not\nread in the Scripture that if the Son shall make us free we shall be\nfree indeed? Jesus promised a mighty agent which should work in the\nhearts of men and renew their natures. I, myself, am as different a man\nas if I had been blotted out of existence and born again a new creature.\nAnd these are the very expressions the Scripture uses for describing the\nwonderful change. This, then, is what Jesus was born in poverty, lived\nin sorrow and died in shame for, and at this time of remembrance and\nrejoicing He makes appeal to you:\n\n    \"I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed\n    That thou mightest ransomed be, and quickened from the dead.\n    My Father's house of light, my glory-circled throne,\n    I left, for earthly night, far wanderings, sad and lone.\n    I've borne it all for thee; what hast thou borne for me?\"\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S SERMON.\n\nDEUTERONOMY VIII: 2-11.\n\nThe people of Israel had journeyed long and wearily since leaving Egypt.\nFor forty years they had wandered and now at last had come to the\nborders of the Promised Land. Only the narrow Jordan was between them\nand the Canaan of their hopes. They were encamped upon the eastern bank\nof this river and were only awaiting orders to pass over and possess the\ngoodly land which lay before them. And Moses, who was not to cross over\nwith them, but to be buried in the land of Moab, gives this parting\naddress to them. They were just passing from one stage of their journey\nto another and they need to be reminded of the _past_ and instructed and\nwarned as to the _future_.\n\nSo he says:\n\n\"Thou shalt _remember_ all the way which the Lord hath led thee these\nforty years.\"\n\n1. They were to remember the trials and temptations they had. The object\nof these, he says (verse 2), was to _humble_ them and to _prove_ them\nthat they might know what was in their hearts. And so, my brother, if\nduring the past year, or during your past life, you have had trials and\ntemptations, it was that you might learn your own weakness, a hard\nlesson for proud mortals to learn, and so be humbled to distrust\nyourself and seek help from God. And if you have had sorrow or\nbereavement it was for the same purpose, that you might learn to give up\nseeking perfect happiness in anything or any creature on earth and seek\nit in God. And have not some of you learned this lesson or are you not\nbeginning to learn it at last? Have not the sins and the sorrows of your\npast life humbled you and at last brought you to feel your _need of\nGod_? But another object of these past experiences of trial was to prove\nwhat was in your heart. A man does not know what there is in his heart\ntill temptation brings it out. He does not know how bad it is. I thought\nI was patient; but when temptation came, I found my heart had much\nimpatience in it. I thought I was humble and did not think highly of\nmyself till people began to praise me and I found I enjoyed it and loved\nit and I was not humble.\n\n2. But they were to remember God's goodness to them also (see verses 3\nand 4). He had fed them Himself with manna and kept their clothes from\nwearing out and their feet from swelling. And so _you_ are to remember\nthe goodness of God to you during the past year and during your past\nlife. Remember how He has spared you in the midst of your wickedness as\nHe spared me in my neglect of Him _for forty years_, and how He has\nfurnished you many blessings and would have given you more, but you\nwould not. And if He has allowed your wickedness to bring you into\ntrouble and distress, it is to cause you to _stop_ and _reflect_ upon\nyour ways and turn from them unto Him for deliverance and true\nhappiness. Thus you are to recall, from the past year and from your past\nlife, your sins and sorrows, and God's manifold mercies to you.\n\nII. But, just entering upon this new year, you are to look ahead also,\neven as the Israelites were to look ahead to the goodly land into which\nthe Lord was going to bring them (see verses 7, 8 and 9).\n\n1. God _promises_ you much, my brother, on condition that you follow Him\nand obey Him. He promises to bless you temporally and spiritually, and\nto give you happiness--a goodly possession--if you, for your part, give\nyourself up, _unreservedly_ to His directions. He has done much for\n_me_, since I began to follow and obey Him years ago.\n\n2. Moses ends his discourse with a solemn warning (verse 11). _Beware_\nthat you forget not the Lord your God, and go at any time to trusting to\nyourself or any earthly help.\n\n\nON AFFLICTION AND SUFFERING.\n\nLAMENTATIONS, III: 32-33.\n\n     \"32. But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion\n     according to the multitude of His mercies.\n\n     \"33. For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children\n     of men.\"\n\nThere is a vast deal of suffering and of sorrow in the world, and the\nmost of it, if not all, is due directly or indirectly to _sin_ as the\ncause. Sin is followed by suffering, as for example, intemperance ruins\nthe health and brings on a slavery worse in some cases than death; and\nsensuality is often followed by loathsome and painful diseases. Thus God\ndeclares His feeling towards sin in these sufferings that result from\nit. He has set up a barrier to keep men from the practice of it. But we\nwill consider how afflictions and sufferings may all be overruled to the\ngood of the sufferer and his deliverance from the evil of _sin_.\n\n1. Sufferings which are the direct effect of sin have a tendency to make\nus turn away from sin. For example, the poverty and distress of the\nProdigal son were the cause of his returning to his Father. So it was\nwith Jack Harrington and others whom we know.\n\n2. But sufferings and misfortunes which are not the direct effect of sin\nstir up the memory to a recollection of past sins, and excite a remorse\nfor them. For example, a lady who is the wife of a whisky dealer told\nher husband she believed that their losses and misfortunes were\njudgments sent on them for being in that business.\n\n3. Sometimes it takes the greatest and most prolonged suffering to\nconquer man's stubbornness and independence of God. But suffering\nhumbles him, and, his pride being out of the way, he has no more\ntrouble.\n\n4. Sorrow that is too great for any earthly consolation leads the\nsorrowing one to seek comfort in God. One of the greatest and best\npreachers of Germany was thus led to God by the loss of his young wife.\nSo parents are brought to God by the death of children and children by\nthe death of parents.\n\n5. Sometimes suffering is necessary to wean us from some idol which we\nwould not otherwise be willing to give up.\n\n6. Sometimes when we forget God and become absorbed in the world,\nnothing but some affliction will make us come to ourselves and turn\nagain to God with repentance and consecration. Read Psalm cxix., 67-75.\n\nThe case of Sister P----, at Portland, was one of this kind. She was a\nbackslider and put off her return to God and kept putting it off. But\nshe had a great sorrow. Her son left home under a cloud, her son's wife\nlost her mind and then died, and her son was put in prison. To this was\nadded her own bad health. These things broke the spell of the world,\nwoke her up from her apathy and made her seek God with all her heart and\nshe found Him again, and died in great peace and triumph.\n\n7. Then suffering purifies us and develops us and prepares us for work\nwe could not otherwise do. \"Tribulation worketh _patience_.\" What\n_excellent training_ I got when I rubbed the engine for a dollar and a\nhalf a day. It brought patience and resignation and a better preparation\nfor the work I am doing than any other sort of experience, perhaps,\ncould have given me.\n\n\nREVELATIONS XXI: 3.\n\n     \"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the\n     tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and\n     they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them,\n     and be their God.\"\n\nThe subject suggested by the text is, the future and final conquest of\nthe world by the Church of Christ, and the rest and reward of that\nchurch in Heaven.\n\nAnd the Scriptures do teach that, in time, all nations shall learn\nrighteousness. The time is coming when neighbor shall not say to\nneighbor, \"Know ye the Lord,\" but when all shall know Him, from the\nleast to the greatest; and the knowledge of God shall cover the earth,\nas the waters cover the deep. When this blessed time is to be, and what\nare to be the signs of its approach, are not questions for us to attempt\nto discuss here to-day, though we may be allowed to say that the Gospel\nis being preached to more people to-day that at any former period in the\nhistory of the church. There is a missionary zeal in the church to-day\nthat has not been paralleled in all her history. There is not only a\nreadiness among heathen people to hear the Gospel, but there seems to be\na positive hunger for it, and within the last few years the Gospel has\npenetrated to the interior of nations and continents that were\npreviously inaccessible. Certainly the church is more aggressive and\nbold in her plans and operations to-day than ever before. And if it be a\nprophecy of the not distant conquest of the world to the reign of\nChrist, we take courage, and say: \"God speed the day!\" It is well for us\nto pause now, and to reflect upon the reward promised to us in the end\nof our course. We do not give enough attention to this. To study about\nit; to learn what we do not know concerning it; to realize the\nunspeakable blessedness of that state would make us more patient in\nwaiting, more cheerful in suffering, more earnest and active and\nuntiring in our efforts to help others to the attainment and enjoyment\nof it.\n\nHeaven, then, is represented in the Bible as a place of _perfect beauty,\nperfect security, perfect rest and perfect joy_.\n\nIt is so represented as to appeal to the desires and longings of all\nclasses of people. To the inhabitant of the city, what could be more\npleasing than the freedom and freshness and beauty of the country? So\nheaven is described as having its landscapes, with its fruit-bearing\ntrees, its crystal rivers and gurgling fountains. But for the rustic\npeasant, it is said to be a resplendent city, with walls of sapphire and\ngates of pearl and streets of gold.\n\nBut in some respects we are all alike.\n\nWe want to be free from sin and danger.\n\nTo a Christian heart, sin is the most abhorred and dreadful of all\nthings. It gives more pain and causes more darkness than any other\ncause; and the fear of it causes more suspense than the fear of all\nbodily suffering.\n\nBut in heaven we shall be free from sin, and free from all fear of sin\nand all liability to sin. For nothing that defileth or maketh a lie can\never enter there; and they who are so happy as to gain heaven shall go\nout no more forever.\n\nWe all dread sorrow and grief and pain. And truly we all have our share\nof it in this life. \"Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.\"\n\"Man is of few days and full of trouble,\" but we leave it all behind\nwhen we go in at the gate of the City of God. \"And there shall be no\nmore sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the\nformer things are passed away.\" Christians in this world feel that they\nare pilgrims and strangers in a foreign land, away from their home and\ntheir Father's house. Their hearts have been so changed, and they have\ntasted of the powers of the world to come, and have come into communion\nwith God, so that neither the pleasures of the world nor the friendships\nof earth can content them--their hearts are not here, but away in\nheaven.\n\nI heard a Christian man say, not long ago (though he has a sweet family\nand many friends), that he felt that day an unutterable loneliness, as\nif he were an exile. His heart had such a longing for his Father and his\nkindred and his home beyond the skies. Oh, the sympathy and love and\ntenderness we know we shall get at home! It makes us all feel a thrill\nthat responds to the poet's immortal lines:\n\n    \"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.\"\n\nAnd all the sympathy and tenderness of father, mother, brother and\nsister are transcended by the sympathy and tenderness of God, for\nmarvelous to tell it is said that \"God _Himself_ shall wipe away all\ntears from our eyes.\"\n\nAnd how we thirst for _knowledge_ here. We know nothing now. We are\nsurrounded on all sides by things we do not understand. If we undertake\nto investigate, we soon reach the limit of our capacity and have to stop\nbefore we have learned anything. \"But then we shall know as also we are\nknown.\"\n\nWhat it means, when it says we shall \"sit down at the marriage supper of\nthe Lamb\" we know not, nor what it implies when it says we are to \"enter\ninto the joy of our Lord;\" nor do we understand that wonderful saying,\n\"Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over\nmany things.\" No, no; now we see through a glass darkly, but then face\nto face, and \"it doth not yet appear what we shall be.\" But we know that\n\"if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him.\" The suffering comes\nfirst, the humiliation first, the toil and weariness, the _cross_ first,\nand then the crown. Peter the Great, of Russia, during one of his wars,\nwas separated from his army and lost, and, to escape detection, took off\nhis royal apparel and dressed in common garb. In his wanderings he came\nto a humble cottage, and was kindly received and ministered unto by the\npeasant woman, who knew not who he was. She gave him a home until danger\nwas passed, and then helped him to get back to his capital. When the war\nwas ended, Peter sent for this poor peasant woman, brought her to his\nsplendid court, and, marrying her, made her the partner of his throne\nand his empire. She who had ministered to him in his sufferings now\nreigned with him as Queen Catherine, of Russia.\n\nSo, my brethren, see that you serve Christ, suffer for Him; spend and be\nspent for His cause, and _then_, oh, then, how sweet to rest and reign\nforevermore.\n\n\nECCLESIASTES XII: 13.\n\n     Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and\n     keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.\n\nNow, boys, here is a piece of advice given by the wisest of men. Can any\nof you tell me who was the wisest man? (Solomon.) Well this Solomon was\nthe son of a king. Can any of you tell me whose son Solomon was?\n(David's.) And, of course, Solomon had all that money could buy from his\nchildhood up; and when his father died, he became king in his place. He\nlived to be an old man and he had a wide experience of life. In other\nwords he tried everything that he thought he could get happiness from\nand his experience is given in the book of Ecclesiastes. He tried all\nsorts of pleasures and he tried them fully, because there was nothing to\nhinder or to check him. He denied himself nothing that his heart\ndesired. He knew fully the effects of all sorts of enjoyment and when he\nhad passed through it all he wrote it down as the lesson of his\nexperience for all boys and young men to read. And what was it? Does he\nsay \"Young man, you have a long life before you. Now you must enjoy the\npleasures of life while you are young?\" Does he say you must run off\nfrom your father's house and presence like the Prodigal son did, so you\ncan have a good time in the enjoyment of the pleasures of the world and\nthen in your after life, when you get more settled, you can think about\nyour Creator and death and heaven and hell and eternity? Was that the\nlesson which his long and extended experience taught him? Ah, no. It\nwas a far different one. He would say this: \"Young men, boys, I have\nbeen all over the road you are traveling now. I have had your feelings,\nyour hopes, your ambitions, your passions, your temptations. And in one\npart of my life I concluded I would give myself up to the enjoyment of\npleasure of every kind and I did so. And I know all about it and this is\nwhat I would say to you all just starting out. Remember _now_ your\nCreator in the days of your _youth_ and give your hearts _and lives_ to\nHim, if you want to be happy.\"\n\n1. In the first place by so doing you will avoid wretched poverty. For a\nman whose heart and life are given to God can not be a spendthrift. But\njust look at some young men how they spend their money or that of their\nfathers. However large a fortune they may have, they soon come to\n_poverty_.\n\nAnd a man whose life is given to God is industrious and loves to work.\nHe can not bear to be idle, for he knows and _feels_ it to be a great\nsin. Besides all this God promises to see that those who live for Him\nshall not want what is best for them. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount\ndeclares that if God provides for sparrows and clothes lilies, He will\nbe sure to see to the needs of His own children. So the way to get the\nbest assurance that you will be blessed with things needful in this life\nis to give yourself up to God to be His, through thick and thin.\n\n2. If you give your heart to God _now_, you will be kept from the sins\nwhich bring men into _disgrace_. \"A good name is rather to be chosen\nthan riches.\" Ah! you know not into what awful sins your passions will\nplunge you, if you do not get the control of yourself, which only\nreligion can give. You may be led along little by little, almost without\nknowing it, till you may wake up to find that you can not, _can not_,\nbreak off from your sins--your hated and ruinous sins. But if you give\nGod your heart to be changed, renewed, purified _now_, you will avoid\nall these awful dangers.\n\n3. But this verse says \"the years will draw nigh in which thou shalt\ntake no pleasure in these things that relate to God.\" My dear young\nfriend, that is terribly true. The longer you live away from God the\nless and less will be your care for Him and for your soul. How few old\nmen ever turn to God! Yes, very few, forty years of age and over, ever\ndo so. I heard Dr. Munhall ask once, in a large congregation, that all\nwho were converted after seventy years of age would stand up. Not one\nstood up. Then he asked that all who had been converted after they were\nsixty years of age would stand up. Not one stood up. Then he asked all\nwho were converted after fifty years to stand up. Only one, I believe,\ndid so. When he asked all who were converted after forty years to stand\nup, only three or four did so. When he asked all converted after thirty\nyears to stand up, perhaps eight or ten did so. A few more had been\nconverted after twenty years of age; but when he asked all who were\nconverted _under_ twenty years to stand, most of the congregation arose.\n\nTrue, I was converted after I was forty years of age, but it was a bare\nchance. And oh, how hard it was for me. And if I had not had the most\npatient of friends to sympathize with me, encourage me and guide me, I\nshould never have gotten along. I beg you do not follow my example in\nputting off your return to God.\n\nLook at the men _whom you know_. How little interest they take in\nreligion and their interest grows less and less all the time. The years\nhave already come when they have no pleasure in the things of God. They\nhave encouraged all their feelings, desires and ambitions but this, and\nthis has almost died out. They have devoted all their thought and\naffections to making money and enjoying it, to seeking pleasure and\nenjoying it, to acquiring fame and enjoying it, and so their hearts are\ncompletely hardened and insensible to the religion which they cast aside\nten, twenty or thirty years ago. And they will probably _never_ feel the\nall-absorbing interest in religion which is necessary to obtain it.\nHence, they will go on blinder and blinder, colder and colder, more and\nmore hardened down to old age and to the grave and to a hopeless\neternity. I beg you, my young friends, all who hear me to put off your\nreturn to God not one day longer.\n\n     NOTE.--The address, of which this is the outline, was delivered\n     on a Sunday-school occasion and is a specimen of Mr. Holcombe's\n     talks to young people.--ED.\n\n\nMARK II: 15.\n\n     \"And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house,\n     many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and His\n     disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.\"\n\n1. This class of persons _feel_ that they are outcast, and not\nrecognized by those who are esteemed the good. Hence, they feel\nbackward, and will not make advances toward the good for fear of being\nslighted.\n\n2. If those who are looked upon and honored as good and pious and pure,\nwill show that they _want_ to be friendly and sociable, it will take\nthese persons by surprise, and will win their feelings--and this is\nnearly half the battle.\n\n3. Besides, if the good, instead of waiting for these sinners to make\nadvances, which they will not do, will take pains to show their interest\nin the welfare of these, their unfortunate brothers, it will make them\nbelieve that the pious are sincere, and not hypocritical, and that\nreligion is a reality and not a mere profession. This is a great step\ntoward gaining them. Most of this class believe in the Gospel in some\nvague sense, but it is too vague to amount to anything. But when they\nsee the grand principle of the Gospel--_Love_--embodied in the\nChristian, and coming after them in their lost condition, it makes an\nimpression, and it moves them to _action_. You can not drive men, nor\ncan you convince them by abusing them and by shutting them out as too\nvile to be your associates. This only drives them further away. But all\nmen have a chord in their natures that can be touched by love and\nkindness. It was this gentleness and sympathy that drew the thousands\naround John Wesley. It was this wonderful tenderness that made the\npublicans and sinners and harlots, the outcast and the low and the vile\nseek the company of the loving Jesus and press into His presence, even\nwhen He was the guest of the great and noble of His day. They knew Jesus\nwould never repulse them--they knew He would love them, help them, save\nthem.\n\n    \"Down in the human heart\n    Crushed by the Tempter,\n    Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;\n    Touched by a loving hand, wakened by kindness,\n    Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.\"\n\n4. There has to be such an interest felt for those of this class as will\nmake you cease to care for what people will say about your going among\nthem and working with them. This was the sort of interest Jesus had for\nthem.\n\n5. Imagine your own dear son to be one of this number, and see what\nfeelings you would have, what earnestness and what planning. These are\nsome of the ways and means of getting at this class of persons. For we\nhave to use means and reason in all things.\n\n6. But the _agent_, the only one who can accomplish anything is _God's\nHoly Spirit_, and the Holy Spirit comes _only_ in answer to prayer and\ntrust. Prayer is to be first and second and third and everywhere and\nalways, and then we may hope that our plans will succeed.\n\n\nPREPARATION FOR WINNING SOULS.\n\nI am sure, my dear brethren, that in the discussion of this topic we are\nto be allowed some liberty and some latitude; and, if I shall speak in a\ngeneral way, I trust I shall not be counted out of order. And, not to\ndetain you with preliminaries, I say that, to be a winner of souls, a\nman must have the anointing of the Holy One, reproducing the mind that\nwas in Christ, who \"though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor,\nthat we through His poverty might become rich,\" and who \"being in the\nform of God, thought it not a usurpation to be equal with God, but He\nemptied Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant; and being found\nin fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient as far as\nunto death, even death on a cross.\"\n\nA sympathy that arises from any other motive, or comes from any other\nsource, than His divine and supernatural anointing, will fall short of\nthe mark, and will be found too shallow and weak to bear with the\nhardheartedness, the perversity and the ingratitude of sinful men.\n\nThis anointing, on the other hand, brings with it a yearning love and a\nprofound sympathy for those who are in the blindness and bondage of sin,\nwhich impels one to _seek out_ the lost, to be at patient pains to save\nthem, and to bear with all their dullness, slothfulness, selfishness,\nperverseness and thanklessness, while they are under training, so to\nspeak.\n\nIt makes a man as ready and anxious to save the soul of a solitary\nsinner, however humble and degraded he may be, as to preach with power\nto the great congregations. It was this that made John Wesley as willing\nand careful and patient in talking to a negro servant girl as to a\nmultitude. And it was this which lead a greater than John Wesley to lead\nwith patient love along, the poor Samaritan adulteress whom He met at\nthe well of Jacob.\n\nBut what is more important and imperative for the immediate work of\ngetting a dead soul to a living Saviour, this divine anointing imparts\nthat peculiar and energetic pungency which pierces to the heart and\nconscience of a sinner, rouses his fears, and prepares him for the\nreception of Christ.\n\nNot only so, this unction from the Holy One is accompanied with a\npractical wisdom and _insight_ which discerns, if not all things, yet,\nat least, _many practical things_. It enables a man to see that the\nfirst thing to be done in the way of saving a sinner is to convict him\nof sin. To get him to admit theoretically that he is a sinner, is equal\nto zero, amounts to nothing. But, in a way not to repel him, he must be\nmade to _feel_ that he is sinful, and so, wretched. It is wonderful what\ntact some men have in this respect. Here lies, undoubtedly, the secret\nof Sam Jones' power. He turns all classes of men, Pharisees in the\nchurch and sinners out of it, inside out, and makes them see, in spite\nof all spiritual apathy and all self-deception, what they are. He shows\nthem secrets which they thought nobody knew but themselves.\n\nBut a greater than he did the same thing--Jesus touched the _sore spot_\nin the conscience of the Samaritan woman and compelled her to say: \"He\ntold me all things that I have done.\" This revealing the secrets of the\nheart is a thing that fascinates and attracts and wins a sinner; and he\nfeels, if you know so well without being told, all the particulars of\nhis inner life and all the desperate trouble of his case, you surely can\nnot make a mistake in pointing out the way of escape. Just as a patient\nyields immediate and unquestioning confidence to the physician who can\ntell him all his symptoms and describe his feelings better than he\nhimself can do it.\n\nIf preaching the love of Christ without convicting of sin would have\nsaved people, then most people in the United States would have been\nsaved long ago, for the love of Christ has been told and retold and\npreached and re-preached, and it does not bring sinners to repentance.\nTo be sure there are some sinners who have found, by bitter experience,\nthe ripe fruits of sin, and these may be already prepared to accept a\ndeliverer and a deliverance as soon as offered to them.\n\nThe possession of this unction presupposes that a man is correct,\nupright, holy in his life; for God would not give it to one who was not\nso. I believe Mr. Moody was right when he said: \"If a man's life is not\nabove reproach, the less he says the better.\" A friend of mine says he\nknows a minister who, though no doubt a good man and a fine talker, will\n_lie_ now and then. Of course, he would not call it lying, nor would his\nadmirers call it lying, but lying it is; and so he has no power. His\npreaching is like a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.\n\nThere are some men who have some little success in soul-saving, but who\nwould have much more success, if their lives were thoroughly holy, and\nChristlike. And indeed some men would not have the success they do have,\nif the public knew their secret life. For example, there are some men\nwho indulge evil thoughts (if they do not go further) and who are not\nchaste in their associations with women; and there are others who are\nill-tempered, cross, fault-finding, sour and bitter in their home life.\nIf these things were publicly and generally known, they would lose what\npower they have with the people. Brethren, we can hardly be too careful\nof these things. But a full and constant anointing of the Holy One would\ncorrect all these evils at the _source_, namely, in the heart. It makes\na sober Christian man tremble to know how little some of the preachers\nand evangelists of the day _pray_. It would be no wonder if under stress\nof some sudden and strong temptation, they should fall into scandalous\nsin and disgrace themselves and the cause they represent. There is an\nold and true saying that \"when a man's life is lightning, his words will\nbe thunderbolts.\"\n\nWe are advised to make ourselves familiar with the Scriptures, to equip\nourselves with weapons from the armory of God's word; and excellent\nadvice it is.\n\nNo man can maintain a spiritual life who does not habitually and\ndiligently study God's holy word. No man is prepared to understand the\nwants of souls or to deal with them who is not familiar with the\nScriptures. It is a marked characteristic of our honored brother, D. L.\nMoody, that he can, not only discern the deeper, inner spiritual sense\nof all the Scriptures, both of the Old Testament and the New, but he\ncan handle and apply them with a skill, effectiveness and power that are\ntruly wonderful. And, what is more, he is peculiarly apt in selecting\njust the right passages for any particular case or occasion. He is truly\na masterly handler of the sword of the spirit, and his success is\nlargely due to this fact.\n\nBut there is a class of workers who seem to think that it is sufficient\nto know by heart some Scriptures, or to have a certain facility in\nreferring to different passages, and they rely upon this, congratulating\nthemselves that they are doing well. But it is all perfunctory and\nlifeless and dead. There is no charm, no warmth, no power in it. A man\nmust be more than a mechanical text-peddler in order to impress, arouse,\ncomfort and save the souls of men. You may pitch cold lead at a man all\nday long and never break his skin; but let a full charge of ignited\ngunpowder drive it out of a well-aimed rifle, and the effect is\nterrific. So these text-mongers may throw Scripture at people all day\nlong, and they laugh at it. But let the same missile be hurled forth\nwith the energy of a soul on fire of the Holy Ghost, and the slain of\nthe Lord will be many.\n\nSo, my brother, there is absolutely no substitute for this unction of\nthe Holy Spirit. And this unction is given in answer to self-denying and\ndaily prayer.\n\nIf we would know the secret of power with men, we _must_ spend much time\nin secret communion with God.\n\n     NOTE.--This address is one of two delivered by Mr. Holcombe\n     before the convention of Christian workers of United States and\n     Canada in the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, September 21-28,\n     1887.--ED.\n\n\nTHE MISSION--PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.\n\nI. THE PAST.\n\nTwo years ago I was working in the Fire Department of the city, because\nI could get nothing else to do. The close and slavish confinement, the\nnecessity of being always at my place, both of nights and Sundays, and\nthe consequent lack of opportunity to do anything for the cause of my\nMaster, made it almost intolerable for me, and several times I made up\nmy mind I would give up the place, even though I had nothing else to\nfall back on for a living for myself and family. But through the advice\nof friends and the help of God, I was kept from that rash step. However,\nI determined I must do something for my Lord and for the men of my\nacquaintance and former occupation who would not, I knew, go inside of a\nchurch. So, though I was getting under sixty dollars a month, and had a\nlarge family to support, I determined to rent a room at my own expense\nin the central part of the city for holding Gospel meetings, and to hire\na substitute to take my place in the Fire Department when I was absent\nand engaged in the work of my Lord.\n\nI made known my plans to my former pastor, and he became interested and\npromised to help me. He was living in the country, and hardly ever\nattended the preachers' meeting here on Mondays; but it happened on the\nnext Monday after I told him of my purpose that he was at the preachers'\nmeeting, and, on my name being mentioned by some one present, he took\noccasion to speak at length of my conversion, trials, poverty; my\nintense yearning to engage entirely in the work of God, and my immediate\npurpose to commence Gospel meetings in entire dependence on God alone\nfor help. He went so far as to ask the preachers present to speak of the\nmatter to their members and make an effort to get assistance from them\nfor the expenses of my proposed work. But one of the preachers present,\nthough saying very little at the time, was moved to lay before his\nofficial board a proposition not to _assist_ in paying the expenses of\nsuch a plan of work, but to take me from the Fire Department and pay me\na regular salary and defray all the other necessary expenses of such a\nMission work as my heart was set on doing. And his official members were\n_also moved_ to agree to his proposition, and when he came to me and\ntold me of what had taken place, I was constrained to say: \"This is\nGod's doing, and it is marvelous in my eyes.\" So the very thing I\ndesired above all other things; the very thing I should have chosen if I\ncould have had my wish, was brought to pass. And I saw that by waiting\nGod's time, He rewarded me in granting me the desire of my heart, and\nmeanwhile I had learned lessons of patience and preparation that I could\nnot have learned so well anywhere else. (Mr. Holcombe went on to speak\nof the beginning of his work in the Tyler Block, with the assistance and\nco-operation of Rev. Mr. Morris; of the results accomplished during that\nfirst period; of the removal of the Mission to Jefferson street, between\nFourth and Fifth streets, and the results accomplished there, and,\nlastly, of the removal to the present building, etc. See his life.)\n\n\nII. THE PRESENT.\n\nAt present we have the house on Jefferson street. We have a\nSunday-school of scholars who do not attend any other school, and would\nnot. It is supplied with able and devoted teachers, such as Brother\nAtmore and others. The devotion of Brother Atmore is shown by his\nrefusing to leave his class one Sunday to go to the Masonic Temple\nduring Sam Jones' meetings. The children show a wonderful improvement\nsince they have been coming to the Sunday-school. Brother Atmore's boys\nwere almost unmanageable at first, but they are now so changed that it\nis very noticeable. This Sunday-school feature of the work is one of the\nmost important and promising parts of it, and we believe the results to\nbe accomplished by it _alone_ will amply repay all the outlay of labor,\ntime and means that has been made in the enterprise. We have also a\nreading-room in connection with the Mission-room, where we have papers,\nmagazines, books, etc. The words of invitation and welcome painted on\nthe door have drawn in some who, but for the reception, sympathy and\nhelp which they found there, might have gone on in their wretchedness to\nsuicide.\n\nWhile we furnish lodging, food, etc., to those who are destitute, yet it\nis with a view to their spiritual welfare and ultimate salvation. And so\nsoon as we find a man is availing himself of our charity with no\nintention or effort to become a Christian, we let him go.\n\n\nIII. THE FUTURE.\n\nIn looking at the past, we find there are several plain and striking\nresults of the work. The most apparent is the radical and astonishing\nchange for the better that has taken place in the cases of many unhappy\nmen and their families. Two years ago these men \"sat in darkness and in\nthe shadow of death,\" being bound in affliction and iron, because they\nrebelled against the laws of God. Therefore He brought down their\nhearts. They fell down and there was none to help. And none but\nthemselves and God knew the bitterness of their bondage and the depth of\ntheir dark and unrelieved despair. But they were brought into contact\nwith a new force and a new agency by means of the efforts and sympathy\nand instructions of those engaged in this work, and to-day their old\nlife with its bitterness and bondage and darkness is left behind from\none to two years in a path that, it is hoped, is not to be retraced\nforever, and now these men are happy again, and some of them prosperous\nin business. And what shall be said of their families--their wives and\nchildren, innocent sufferers from the vices of husbands and fathers?\n\nHusband is husband again, father is father again, and the long dark\nnight of hopeless sorrow and bitter tears has ended--ended at last, and\nended, let us hope and pray, forever.\n\nBut if it be also true, as He said, who spake as never man spake, that\nit profits nothing to gain the whole world and lose one's own soul; if\nthere is for the unsaved an undying worm and an unquenchable fire, and\nfor the saved an inheritance of joy that is incorruptible and a glory\nthat fadeth never more away, then where or how shall we _begin_ to\ncompute the result of this mission work? It is recorded in eternity, and\nonly the unfolding of eternity can unfold the good that has thus far\nbeen done.\n\nBut aside from these direct results, there is another one which can not\nbe estimated, namely the demonstration of the power of the Gospel to do\nfor helpless, enslaved, lost men what nothing else in the universe can\ndo. There is naturally in the hearts of men a doubt as to the divinity\nof that religion which fails to do what it proposes to do, and so in\ntimes of religious deadness, men lose faith, and unbelief grows stronger\nand more stubborn in proportion as they see no actual instances of the\npower of the Gospel to save bad men. But when bad men have been reached\nand quickened and convicted and made holy by the Gospel, then the tide\nturns and faith becomes natural and easy and contagious, not to say\nnecessary. Many of my old companions were brought to believe in the\nGospel when I was changed by it; and now when scores of the worst cases\nin Louisville have been reached and saved, and have _stayed saved_ so\nlong, men are brought back from unbelief to faith, and naturally turn to\nthe Gospel with increasing hope.\n\nBut this return of faith has not only been noticeable in the case of the\nunsaved classes, the churches have seen this work, and have had their\nfaith in the divine power of the Gospel to save all men increased, and a\ncorresponding activity is witnessed among many of the churches in the\ncity. They have learned also that to save lost men we must, like Jesus,\nnot wait for them to come to us, but we must go to them and after them,\njust as has been done in this work.\n\nThere is a passage in Malachi which says, \"Bring all the tithes into my\nstorehouse and prove me herewith if I will not open the windows of\nheaven and pour you out such a blessing there shall not be room enough\nto receive it.\"\n\nThis Walnut-street church, led by its devoted pastor, was willing to\naccept God's challenge, and they brought the tithes, they laid down\ntheir money, they made the venture, and God has given them a great\nblessing.\n\nBut this is only the pledge of far greater blessings yet to be given\nthem, if they will continue to honor God, by the faith that lays upon\nHis altar, sacrifices that cost something and amount to something.\n\nLet us not stop to congratulate ourselves upon what has been done and\nrest satisfied with that, but accept it only as an indication of what He\nwill do for us if we have faith to claim a deep wide-spread and\ncontinuous revival.\n\n     NOTE.--The foregoing is the substance of an address delivered\n     by request of the Directors of the Mission on the occasion of a\n     reunion of the converts and mass-meeting of the Christian\n     people of Louisville, in the Walnut-street Methodist Church, in\n     April, 1886.--ED.\n\n\nCHRISTIAN WORKERS.\n\n     From September 21st to 28th, the second convention of Christian\n     Workers in the United States and Canada was held in Broadway\n     Tabernacle, New York City. From the published report of the\n     proceedings, this speech of the Rev. S. P. Holcombe is taken:\n\nIt would be presumptuous in me to stand up here and say how you should\nconduct a \"Gospel Meeting.\" I do not propose to do that; but will simply\ntell you how, for six years, I have conducted one at Louisville,\nKentucky, and with some success. I say some success, for we\nhave succeeded in gaining the confidence and respect of all\nclasses--preachers, Christians, gamblers, drunkards and infidels. Not\nonly have we succeeded in reaching the hearts of the people, but also\ntheir pocket-books.\n\nBeginning in a basement room, at a rent of twenty dollars per month, we\nnow own a building of thirty rooms. As an instance of the respect all\nclasses have for our work, while we were negotiating for this property a\nGerman Singing Society also wanted it. This kept the price up above our\nfigures.\n\nI called on the President of the Club, who is an infidel, told him I\nwanted that property for my Mission work. Said he: \"Mr. Holcombe, I am\nnot a Christian, neither do I believe in the churches, but I do believe\nin the kind of work that you are doing. I shall withdraw until the\nHolcombe Mission is done.\" We soon had the property.\n\nSince my conversion I have tried to be a man, just as much as before. As\nDr. Pentecost said the other day: \"When I put off the old man, I did\nnot put on the old woman,\" and by this I mean no disrespect to the dear\nold women, for many of them have more manhood in them than some of us\nmen, and my wife is one of them. What I mean is, that since I have\nbecome a Christian I have not lost any of my manhood.\n\nWhen I was a gambler, I had gambling houses all over the country. The\nobject was to get other people's money without giving them any\nequivalent, in order to gratify my base passion. I could not, of course,\ncall on the police for protection, as my business was not legitimate.\nHence, I had to protect myself, which I did at all hazards.\n\nSo, when I opened a house for the Lord, to win souls for Him, I\ndetermined I would take care of it at any cost. I think some who are\nengaged in Christian work are too stilted, others are too lax. I have\ntried to be both stiff and limber; when it was a matter of no\nconsequence, to bend like the willow; when it was something vital to my\nMaster's cause, to be as stiff as steel. In other words I have tried to\nbe \"all things to all men\" that I might win some.\n\nI think all Missions ought to have a leader. Ours has one. I am the\nleader of the meetings. Not that I do all the talking, but I look out\nfor the details.\n\nI have a time for opening and a time for closing the meeting, and I\nalways close at the time. If my opening time is 7:30, I begin the\nmeeting if there is no one there but myself, which, however, has never\noccurred; and if my closing hour is at 9 o'clock, I close at 9--not\n9:30 or 10. We have in Louisville a class of poor people who attend the\nMission and who work every day. They must be at their places of labor at\nan early hour in the morning. They love to be at the meeting, and when\nthey know that they will be dismissed promptly, they will come. I feel\nthat if I were to keep these men and women up till 10, 11 or 12 o'clock,\nand let them get up at 5 and go to a hard day's work, while I lie in bed\nuntil 8 or 9, that I would be a robber.\n\nNow, I do not say that I go home at 9 o'clock; for if there is a single\none anxious enough about his soul's eternal salvation to stay till the\ndawning of the morning, I will remain with him. I simply say that I have\na time for opening and a time for closing, and I keep promptly to it.\n\nI have no set way of conducting the meetings. I try to take advantage of\nthe situation and do the best I can under the circumstances.\n\nWe always have a Scripture lesson read and a few remarks by the leader.\nIf I ask him to speak twenty minutes, I mean twenty minutes; and, if he\nis a bishop, I will stop him when his time is up. I don't ask you to\nagree that this is right--I am only telling you how I conduct a Gospel\nmeeting. After this we have Christians to give their experience, never\nallowing more than three minutes, and I make it my business to know what\nkind of lives those who testify are living. If one gets up and begins to\ntalk about the love of Jesus, who I know has that day been drinking, or\nin a house of prostitution, I stop him right there. I do not allow him\nto talk, and injure the cause, and then tell him afterward. I say,\n\"Brother, we don't want to hear from you to-night,\" and so I stop him at\nonce.\n\nI am very careful as to who testifies in my meetings and what they say.\nIf a man who is not a Christian undertakes to exhort others to become\nChristians, I stop him, because he is trying to talk about something of\nwhich he knows nothing, and this is one of the hardest things in the\nworld to do.\n\nWhere everybody is invited to take part in a meeting, we are apt to have\ncranks to deal with. They must be checked and kept down rather than\nencouraged. By cranks I mean those who have eccentric and unsound views,\nand think that nobody else can know as well about these things as\nthemselves.\n\nI was holding a series of Gospel meetings in Atlanta, Ga., on one\noccasion, and had been talking from Acts ii., 38, \"And ye shall receive\nthe gift of the Holy Ghost.\" In the address I undertook, as best I\ncould, to show that He, the Holy Ghost, convinces men of sin, and that\nHe reveals Jesus to poor sinners as their sin bearer and life giver, and\nthat it is He that produces that change in men which we call conversion\nor regeneration or the new birth; and that He, the Holy Ghost, is the\ncomforter of God's people, in their loneliness and trials and conflicts\nhere in this world of exile, as well as our teacher to guide us into the\ntruth. When I had gotten through, I said, \"Now we will have short talks\nfrom others, and no one will talk more than three minutes.\" Up jumped a\nstreet preacher, who began saying that I had been talking about the\nHoly Ghost, but I did not know what I was talking about. He knew all\nabout Him, and would tell them about Him. (This was pretty trying, but I\nkept mum, however.) He then began a harangue. When his time was up, I\nstopped him. \"You are going to limit the Holy Ghost, are you? You are\ngoing to take the responsibility of stopping Him, are you?\" \"No, but I\nam going to stop you, and that at once.\" And at once he stopped.\n\nI never allow those who testify to abuse others. Some will begin to talk\nabout the gambling hells. I stop them and say: \"No man will go farther\nto stop these things than I, but this is not the place for that kind of\ntalk.\" Others, as soon as they are converted, begin to find fault with\nthe churches, and abuse the ministers. I do not approve of this, and I\ndiscourage it. I am sorry to know that many who are conducting Gospel\nmeetings are inclined to find fault with Christians, magnifying\nthemselves and their work and underrating the churches and the work of\ntheir faithful pastors.\n\nSome of these Mission workers have spent the best part of their lives in\nsin, never looking into the Bible--have been converted only a short\ntime; have had a little success; got the big-head, and think they know\nbetter how to do God's work than those dear men who have been good all\ntheir lives and made a study of God's Word.\n\nMy dear brethren, in the Mission work, we must remember that all who\nhave ever done any mighty work for God have been trained for it, and\ntrained slowly. Moses, you remember, when he was going to his work down\nin Egypt, commenced killing people. He was the great chieftain, and was\ngoing to deliver his brethren by killing his enemies. This was not the\nway God wanted it done. God saw that there was good material in Moses,\nand that He could use him, but he must be trained. So He sent him away\nto the solitudes of Horeb and Sinai, and kept him there forty years.\nThen when God called him to go down and bring His people out, he had\nlearned the lesson God wanted him to learn, had gotten down in the dust,\nwas humbled, and he said: \"Who am I, Lord?\" Moses had gotten more of the\nHoly Ghost. The more we get of the Holy Ghost the closer we get to God.\nThe more we see of Him, and the more we see of God, the less we think of\nourselves; the more insignificant we become in our own eyes.\n\nThe Twelve had a grand work to do, but they were slowly trained for it.\nSo, then, let us young converts, whose work God has honored and blessed,\nbe very careful how we magnify ourselves, and underrate the regular\nministry. These men are doing a noble work in their respective fields,\nand they are just as ready and willing to take hold of the poor outcast\nas we Mission workers are.\n\nThere are preachers who are occupying pulpits, where they are getting\ntwenty-five hundred or three thousand dollars a year, and they are doing\njust as much to save poor drunkards as we ignorant, humble Mission\nworkers are.\n\nYou who were at the Chicago Convention last year remember what Dr.\nLawrence told us about taking one of these poor, wretched drunkards to\nhis beautiful home; how, notwithstanding he was full of vermin, he had\nhim take a bath, burned his clothes, put clean ones on him, gave him a\nbed and took care of him as a brother. I tell you, my friends, I was\ntouched by that story as well as taught a valuable lesson. I know of\nmany instances of the same kind that I might tell.\n\nYou remember Dr. John A. Broadus, a well-known Baptist minister in\nLouisville. I know him well. He has been one of my best friends. Not\nvery long before I left home, a drunkard came to the Mission and showed\nme a note from Dr. Broadus, saying: \"This man has called on me for help.\nI do not like to give him any money, as he is under the influence of\nliquor. Give him whatever you think best, and I will settle the bill.\" I\nasked the man, as I knew him well: \"How did you happen to go to Dr.\nBroadus?\" \"Because I had heard so many say that he had helped them.\" I\ngave him nothing. My friends, we must not underrate the willingness of\nthe preachers to help the poor outcast, for they are much interested in\ntheir very welfare.\n\nI love the Missions and the Mission work. Just at this present time, the\nMissions have got a boom over the country, but if we are not very\ncareful how we talk and act, the Missions will suffer. And the only\nreason some of them have not quit already is because those who support\nthem, for want of time to hunt up real results, have had to take printed\nreports.\n\nIt is easy for us to find fault with Christians, rich Christians, and\nsay they are cold and indifferent about the souls of men, but the\nhistory of the church proves that this is a great mistake. These\nMissions have to be supported by rich Christians, and when you find a\nman that has got much money, you will find that he is not a fool. He is\ngenerally a man with a long head and farsightedness. He wants to see\nwhere his money is going, and what is being done with it. If you use it\nproperly, he will give it liberally. If he finds that you are one of\nthose fellows that want to give his money to every beggar that comes\nalong, he will stop his subscription at once. These are simple facts. If\nwe want this Mission work to succeed we have got to be very careful.\n\nI never allow any begging in my Mission, I don't care how pitiable the\nobject may be. When tramps want food, I send them to the wood yard to\nwork for it. If men will not work, neither shall they eat of the money\nintrusted to me for spiritual work.\n\nI have no indiscriminate praying. When I want a prayer, I want to know\nsomething about the man or woman who is to make it. I ask some one who,\nI have good reason to believe, is a true Christian, that is, who walks\nand talks with God. I do not care about their name or denomination. I\nfeel that there is a great responsibility in going to God for these poor\nsinners, and I want the best man or woman that I can get to talk to God\nfor them. I say: \"I am going to call on some one to pray. I don't want\nyou to pray for Africans, Chinese or any other of the heathen nations\nhere. When you go home, you can pray for them all night if you want to,\nbut now we want you to pray for this special work.\"\n\nI believe in good singing, and try to have it. I would like to have a\nhundred in the choir. I seldom have over two persons. I suppose the\nreason is that I will not allow any one to sit on my platform and sing\nthese sweet hymns unless I have good reason to believe they are living\npure, holy, consistent Christian lives. I think the man or woman who\nsits in the choir ought to be as good as he who stands in the pulpit.\n\nSome will come to me and say: \"So-and-so is a fine singer; has such a\nfine voice.\" \"What church does he or she belong to?\" \"Oh, they are not\nmembers.\" \"Well, then, excuse me, if you please.\" \"But that might save\nthem!\" \"I shall not try the experiment.\"\n\nI have polite ushers to welcome the people, and to shake hands with them\nas they come in and also as they go out, and invite them back. They are\nalso supplied with tracts for distribution, tracts that have passed\nunder my observation, as I allow nobody to distribute tracts unless I\nknow what they are.\n\nI try to keep the run of the converts; in fact, I try to know all about\nthem. I try to get them into some church of their choice, that one which\nthey will feel the most at home in and where they will get the right\nsort of care. It is a very easy thing to get one of these poor\ndrunkards, who hasn't got any place to sleep or anything to eat, to say,\n\"I am going to try and be a better man and follow Christ!\" It is a very\neasy thing, I say, and the poor fellows mean it. But, oh! my friends,\nhow hard it is to get them up to the sticking point. They want to be\nwatched over and given the very best nursing. If I had not had the very\nbest care and nursing of one of the most godly of ministers, I do not\nthink I should be standing before you to-day a Christian man.\n\nI try to follow them up and help the pastors to nurse them. In order to\nkeep track of them we use a book, something like a bank check-book. When\nthey want to unite with some church, we give them a certificate of\nintroduction. In it I ask the pastor to let me know when it is\npresented. On the stub I take the man's name, age, residence, where\nfrom, to whom introduced, with space for remarks as to future career,\netc. If he has a home, we visit him at his home, and if he has not, I\ninvite him to visit me at my home at any time, day or night, which is in\nthe same building over the Mission, and we talk together and pray\ntogether.\n\nQUESTION. \"Will you please state whether you ever recommend fasting as a\nmeans of keeping the body under?\"\n\nANSWER. \"I think it is a good idea. I think fasting a good thing to keep\nthe body under. Owing to my poverty, since I have become a Christian, I\nhave had little to feed on. This necessary self-denial has enabled me to\nkeep my poor body down, and from betraying me into sin. No man was ever\na greater slave to his passions than I. My passion for gambling was so\ngreat I would have committed murder to gratify it. I was very\nlicentious. I just gave loose reins to my passions; but to-day, I thank\nGod, I can stand up before you and say that I am complete master of\nmyself. I know it is a help to live a plain life.\"\n\nQ. \"How many meetings a week do you hold?\"\n\nA. \"We have them every night.\"\n\nQ. \"Do the men go to the churches when you send them? Do you prepare\nthem?\"\n\nA. \"I do not hurry them into the churches. And yet I don't say they must\nbe converted before they go in. When a man is sick of sin, willing to\ngive it up, I think he is about as ready for the church as we can get\nhim.\"\n\nQ. \"Do you have much or little Bible reading in the services?\"\n\nA. \"We do not have much Bible reading. I know that it is the power of\nGod unto salvation; but the class of men who attend Missions, as a rule,\nare in no condition to be profited by a long Bible reading. The mission\nof the Missions is to stop these men in their downward course, put them\nto thinking, get them into churches; then have the Bible read and\nexplained to them by those who are more competent than I am.\"\n\nQ. \"How long do you hold service?\"\n\nA. \"Exactly one hour and a half; never more, sometimes a little less.\nThe first half hour is taken up in prayer and singing, the other hour in\nexhortation and testimonies and prayers for the inquirers. After\ndismissing, we remain with any anxious ones.\"\n\nQ. \"When do you have your converts' meeting?\"\n\nA. \"Every Sunday morning, beginning at 9:30 o'clock and closing at\n10:30, in time for them to get to church.\"\n\nQ. \"Do the churches take good care of the converts?\"\n\nA. \"As a rule, yes. Some better than others.\"\n\nQ. \"Do the converts come to your Mission after they have joined the\nchurch?\"\n\nA. \"Oh, yes, sir. They feel more at home in the Mission than they do in\nchurch, because it was there they entered upon the Christian life. Many\nof our Christian workers make a great mistake. They find fault with the\nchurches because they don't receive these tramps--I must call them\ntramps--in their filthy condition and give them the best seats, etc. I\nwant to say right here that a clean church, where clean people go, is no\nplace for a body of tramps. We must remember, my friends, that people\nwho are clean, who have good clothes and clean homes, also have some\nrights to be considered. I say it is not right to take these people into\na fine church, and put them side by side with the clean ones until they\nthemselves are thoroughly clean. I took fifty or sixty of them into a\nchurch once, but afterward I was aware that I had made a great mistake.\nThe Mission is the place to clean them up, and then send them to a clean\nchurch, and they will feel better themselves, and be warmly welcomed by\nthe members. I don't like dirt any better than other folks, but some one\nhas to do this work, and I am perfectly willing to do it.\"","title":"Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted Gambler: His Life and Work","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":115521}