WHAT A TRACT MAY DO.
Often, as we journey from place to place by rail, we notice with peculiar interest the newsboys at the different stations as they politely inquire, "Paper, sir?" and, as we think what advantages they have of reading the different kinds of papers and books which pass through their hands, we wonder, as we look upon them, what kind of reading they prefer, good or bad; and, from the appearance of many, we fear it is the latter. We know that many young people of both sexes prefer light, foolish, and fictitious books, over which they spend a lot of their precious time, reading made-up tales—things that never occurred—and we say, What a pity that they should thus waste their time in doing worse than nothing, when they might be storing their minds with useful knowledge!
We hope our young friend in the illustration is not one of these, for, as we look upon his open and pleasant countenance, we are inclined to believe he is not, in mind, of such a low order; and, while he may have to carry books and papers which we should advise him never to read, we can but reflect as to the power for good of such an agency, if used for the spread of pure Scriptural truth. Oh, that it were so! Who can tell, if good books and tracts were thus scattered, what good might result therefrom?
We have read with pleasure, and here give to our readers, the following narrative, showing the way the Lord sometimes signally blesses even the giving of a tract to a stranger, and may many be encouraged to "go and do likewise":—
Roger M—— was one of a family resident in the town of D——, where his first days were spent, without anything remarkable taking place to distinguish his boyhood from that of many around him. It was, however, his privilege, though unvalued at the time, to receive religious training in a Sabbath School. It is not known that at this period any particular progress was made by him in any department of useful or of religious knowledge. Indeed, his after-course would rather prove that, like many who have enjoyed similar advantages, he grew up only to show that, by nature, he possessed a heart averse from God, and prone to depart from Him.
In the course of time Roger M—— was placed with a respectable tradesman of his native town, with a fair prospect of becoming acquainted with a business in which he might have obtained an honest livelihood; but he turned his back on his friends and prospects, and enlisted in the marines. From his own lips the subsequent account of himself was derived.
Year after year passed on, and though often engaged in scenes of carnage and bloodshed, he was yet wonderfully preserved both from wounds and death. At length, just on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, he was drafted from his ship to take a part in that fearful and eventful conflict. Amidst wounds and slaughter, and disabled and dying comrades, he stood unscathed; and after the peace which followed on that memorable victory, he was discharged from the service, and took up his residence in the city of E——. Here, however, he only lived to prove how ineffectual, of themselves, are the most terrible scenes savingly to touch the rebellious heart of man, or even to awaken the mind to any just sense of the amazing goodness and long-suffering of God, independently of the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit. He spent his days in a life of dissipation and drunkenness, unmoved by any reflection on the past, or by any regard for the future. Yet was there mercy in store for Roger M——. God's ways are not as our ways, neither His thoughts as our thoughts.
Returning home one evening in a state of intoxication, a lady placed in his hand a religious tract, which, by the mercy of God, he carried home, and the next morning read. It is not easy to describe the state of feeling that arose in his heart from its perusal. His own account of that moment was deeply affecting. Conviction of sin, remorse, alarm of conscience, strong desire after peace and pardon, the cry of the jailor, "What must I do to be saved?"—all, in tumultuous conflict, agitated his spirit. Day after day, week after week, he sought relief to his mind, and direction to his anxious heart, by entering various places of worship in the city. At length in a little chapel he found that which his soul longed for. The word of peace, the glad tidings of salvation through the blood of Christ, came home with power to his heart, and he obtained peace through believing.
Having become "a new creature in Christ Jesus," he next lived a new life, and rendered up himself a living sacrifice to the great Redeemer. As Roger M—— had pursued a course of sin unto death, so now he pursued a course of obedience unto righteousness, the end of which is eternal life. A new life had opened upon him, and as a soldier of the cross he served Jesus Christ, his new Captain, with humble zeal and holy joy.