By the Editor
I HAVE just been reading again “The Dairyman’s Daughter,” by Legh Richmond. In one of the letters Elizabeth wrote to Mr. Richmond, the flowing very solemn passages occur. She had been speaking of the duties of the Christian life―the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that if we lived more by faith in the Son of God we should endeavor to get all we could to seek after God. But now I will let her own words speak: ―
“These thoughts have been much on my mind since the death of―. I trust the Lord will pardon me for neglect. I thought it was my duty to speak or write to him; you remember what I, said to you respecting it. But I still delayed till a more convenient season. Oh! how I was struck when I heard the Lord had taken him so suddenly. I was filled with sorrow and shame for having neglected what I so often resolved to do. But now the time of speaking for God to him is over.... Now the night of death has come upon him. No more work to be done. If I hid done all that lay in my power to proclaim reconciliation by Christ to his soul whether be had heard or no, should have been clear of his blood. But I cannot recall the time that is past, nor him from the grave. Had I known the Lord would have called him so suddenly; how diligent I should have been to warn him of his danger!”
How affecting are these words; and how they speak to us today. “Had known.” Do we know? Do we realize the awful nearness of death to our loved ones these awful days? Have we done all that lies in our power for them? Are we clear of their blood? The night of death is coming for thousands of them, and when that night comes no man can work. We cannot follow the dead with our prayers, or speak of Christ to those who can no longer hear. For all eternity we shall never be able to recall the time that is past, or call them from their graves to speak of that eternity and the salvation of their souls. What a wail of sorrow are these words of hers: “But now the time of speaking for God to him is over.” Over forever! Did I tell my husband about his Saviour before he left me for the Front? Did I kneel beside my boy and beg him to put God first in all his life and trust in his Redeemer? Did I put the Testament in his hand and beg him to read it day by day? And when the “bad news from the Front” desolated my home and broke my heart, could I feel and know that I should meet again my loved in Christ to part no more?
I would press upon my own soul and upon the souls of all my Christian readers the deep necessities of today. I am going to give you a few letters from the Front; a few taken from hundreds I receive, showing how the soldiers value the Word of God. They give vivid pictures of their lives, their thoughts and their needs. Oh! how my heart goes out to them as I read. I wish they knew how I loved them, but what is ten thousand times more important, I wish they all knew how Christ loves them.