We must not be discouraged if the servant tells us “There is Nothing!” Masters see more than servants can, or they would not be masters. “Go again seven times,” as though he said “Do not interrupt me with thy ‘Nothings!’” Come and tell me when there is “Something;” and the seventh time he saw the “little cloud.” Some of us have looked from the hill, over the sea, in a far off tropical land, and have seen that same little cloud many a time, as it spread all over the sky, and soon there was rain enough to stop the traveller.
And so shall it be in Methodism ere long.
If we mistake not, last Sunday’s work among our young people is the result of many earnest prayers, and the sign of coming prosperity.
Some will be ready to say “It is nothing to make a stir about. They were only children.” “A little cloud!” Only the size of a man’s hand. Yes, but what man? “The man Christ Jesus.” “Ahab, get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” We shall not be surprised to hear of Revivals like some we have known, which turned other meetings into soul-converting agencies. Tea Meetings, and Missionary Meetings, where the people have come in crowds, not to applaud eloquence, but to ask—“What must we do to be saved?” We expect news of this sort, and that, ere long. May the hand of the Lord be on Elijah, then shall he run before Ahab, and prayer shall be mightier than the power which moves those who eat and drink!
XIX. A CLEAN TONGUE.
One of the first things the doctor does when he comes to see you, is to ask to look at your tongue, and one glance will tell him how much difficulty he has to contend with. If the tongue is foul, he knows that there is inward mischief, and he must lose no time in cleansing that of which the tongue is but an indicator.
As we pass along our streets our ears are assailed with language of the most horrid description. If one needed any information as to the state of public morals, the foul-mouthed men and boys, aye, and we regret to say, too often, women and girls, would tell of the state of heart into which many thousands of our country people have been corrupted. And in many cases, this has become habitual, and what might be termed natural.
Can nothing be done? Is the name of the Divine Being and that of our Saviour to be profaned constantly without any check? If so, it will grow worse and worse, until we may expect national sin to bring down national punishment, and we shall have to say, “Because of swearing the land mourneth.”
Those who have charge of the education of our children might help, by constantly speaking against bad language,
and by punishing those who continue to offend. Parents, also, should check the slightest tendency in this direction. We have heard of a good woman, who, overhearing one of her boys using what she called “dirty words,” took him to the sink, and washed out his mouth, not sparing the soap! Sometimes when we have heard men defiling their tongues with filthy talk, we have wished their mothers had served them the same.