The Baby in the Cottage [pp. 201-204]

THE BABr IN THE COTTAGE.
the trenchant sword of "the Word," belong the
waving plumes of spiritual joy and the glittering
armor of a heaven-imparted righteousness.
Christianity'is both love and power, and proclaims at the same time both peace and war.
One of the seven wonders of the ancient
world was the Colossus of Rhzodes. It is said
this was a gigantic statue in the form of a man
standing with each foot upon a lofty pedestal,
and towering perhaps hundreds of feet into the
air, so that ships could sail under it, between
the two pedestals, without their masts grazing
any part of the statue. This mighty Colossus
had in one hand a sword, and the other, raised
above the head, held an immense lamp, whose
light in the darkness guided benighted vessels
on their way to harbors of safety. So the genius of the Gospel stands up before the faith of
the Christian world a mighty living and breathing Colossus. Below and round about are the
marts of commerce and the ships laden with
merchandise, cities teeming with life, lands luxuriant with harvests, and oceans tumultuous
wvith tides and tempests; in one hand she grasps
the sword of aggressive conflict, figuring thereby
the persistent purpose to wage an exterminating
war against Satan and sin, while in the other
she holds aloft the lamp of salvation, which
through the convex lens of love divine sends
out the light that guides the benighted to their
desired havens, and shall finally light up the
world with millennial glory.
The sternness of unswerving principle and
the buoyancy of trustful joy are alike beautiful
as seen in the light of Christ and Christianity.
Let Faith, the keen-eyed cherub, and Hope, the
sweet bird of paradise, and Love, the heavenborn, sing day and night, but let their song
cheer thee, brave spirit, for thy duiy! Up, up
to the conflict!
"Let the feeble-hearted pine,
Let the sickly spirit whine,
But to work and win be thine,
While you've life.
God smiles upon the bold;
So when your flag's unrolled
Bear it bravely till you're cold
In the strife!"
Do not be a hinderer but a helper in the cause
of right! Be unmistakably and most determinedly on the side of whatsoever is lovely, pure,
and good. Be a champion for the truth, whether
it be found clothed in a lowly garb or in robes
of princely splendor: and cherish the gift, of
God's grace to fallen man-this flower of celestial growth in the gardens of earthly life-till all
hearts shall feel the charm of its beauty, and
the whole world shall be filled with its fragrance.
THE BABY IN THE COTTAGE.
A SMALL brown cottage stood on the road side, opposite an old mill. From the door
you could see the great wheel slowly turning;
and when the air was still you could hear the
dull rumbling of machinery.
The miller's family lived in the brown cottage.
Shall I tell you how many were in this family?
Just three. Two little girls and a baby. But
where was the mother? you ask.
There was no mother in the miller's brown
cottage; only two little girls and a baby. One
month ago the mother's earthly life had failed
and flickered, as you have seen the light of a
lamp when the oil was consumed. Then it went
out; and there were tears and grief in the brown
cottage.
As for the mother, sorrow and sickness had
made both heart and body weak. For a long
time before she died a great shadow rested on
her life a shadow that grew darker day by day.
But she was loving and pure, and, in his own
good time, the Lord closed her tearful eyes in
this lower world that he might open them in
fleaven. And so she went to dwell with angels,
leaving her helpless baby with only her two little
girls babes almost themselves-to care for him.
It was not her wish to go. Sad as her life was,
she would have clung to it if it had been a tfiousand times sadder, for the sake of her little ones.
But God knew what was best for her and those
she loved, and so took her to himself.
"Where was the baby's father?" I here asked.
"Did he not love and care for it, and for his
two little girls also?"
I said that a shadow rested on the poor mother's heart-a shadow that g,rew darker every
day. Such shadows rest on many hearts. The
miller had once been the kindest of husbands
and the tenderest of fathlers. What had changed
him? Drink! You know too well what that
means.
Once he took a glass of beer only now and
then; not that it made him feel any better, but
really worse, for it produced a heaviness of head
and limbs that was very unpleasant while it
lasted. Sometimes a headache was the consequence. But others drank beer, and he joined
in the useless and unsafe custom.
After a while this unwholesome stuff so
changed the healthy, natural state of his store=
ach, that it began to crave the bitter and stimulating draught. Then lie drank oftener, which,
of course, only made it worse-increasing the
unhealthy condition, and likewise the craving
thirst that could never be satisfied-no, not even
with beer; and so, at times, whisky, gin) an,d4
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