The assurances received of the beneficial effects of the earlier volumes of the Faith-Promoting Series encourage the hope and belief that the present volume may be none the less helpful and appreciated. Narratives of personal experience, especially when they relate to people familiar to the reader or the community in which he lives possess a peculiar charm to most people, and especially to the young, and may convey helpful lessons more effectually than homilies or treatises, however carefully written, are apt to. The reason therefor probably is that in the narrative the moral is applied in real experience whereas in the treatise or homily the moral is expressed in the abstract only, and doubt may exist in the mind of the reader as to just how to apply it in real life.
The hope is entertained that not only may the narratives contained in this volume entertain and at the same time tend to promote faith in those who read them, but that they may also incite others in the community whose lives have been fraught with incidents that would be faith-promoting if published to have the same reduced to writing and supply us therewith for use in the Faith-Promoting Series, or else furnish us with the facts and allow us to prepare the same for publication.
G. C. L.
CONTENTS
[ SUFFERING AND SERVICE OF THOMAS BRIGGS.]
Withered Limb Restored to Use—Sister and Mother Instantly Healed—Saints Preserved in Cholera Epidemic—Prophetic Advice to the Briggs Family—Consequences of Failure to Follow it—Voyage to America—The Mother Healed in Answer to Prayer—Satanic Threat Fulfilled in Mother's Death—Sickness and Recovery of Thomas—His Marriage—Premonition of Death—Death of Father.
Thomas' Responsibility—Journey to Wisconsin—Disappointment—A New Home Sought—Strenuous Life—Knee Injured—Intense Suffering—Given Up to Die—Stimulating Vision—Birth of a Daughter—Novel Runaway—Remedy for his Lameness—Sundry Efforts to Earn a Living—Chinch Bugs Threaten Destruction of Crop—Crop Saved by Inspiration.