Mr. J. P. Corben, of Gosport, writes to me:—
On reading October “Message,” “How a Soldier was Saved,” page 159, a “Message from God” used as waste paper! —verily not waste paper!
Many years ago, at Malta, a dear brother was saved and brought to God in a remarkable way. I can never think of him without a deep sense of pity and compassion. He had had not one bit of comfort from his cradle till he was saved. He was brought up by a foster-mother; his father kept a beer-shop in a low part of Woolwich. The language he heard there was awful. He was treated roughly as a boy. When old enough he enlisted in the Army, went to India with his regiment. In God’s providential mercy the regiment was returning to England after a ten years’ stay in Malta. He was so weary of life that he contemplated suicide.
Perhaps, dear Doctor, you will remember the Fort St. Eimo on the right hand of the entrance to the Grand Harbor. He selected the stony beach there as the place where he might accomplish his desire. He seated himself as near the water as he could get, rested his hands upon his knees, looked intently into the water, and was just about to plunge into the sea when he saw something white which attracted his attention. He reached out and took it up. It was a leaf out of the Holy Scriptures, and as he read it he saw God in that precious leaf. It was the means of turning him from his purpose and saving his soul. And many were the happy meetings I had with him and others stationed at Malta at that time. The incident in October “Message from God” brought it to my remembrance.
May we be stirred to far greater effort to bring sinners to Christ. Our days of service are passing very quickly. Our Lord is coming. Tomorrow we may be in heaven. Let us “work while it is called today.”