Chapter XIII
IN the 1 8th of February, Frank wrote home: “There is a little hope at last for our class. I was talking this afternoon with an earnest Christian, and found he just felt the need of this life; so I lent him father’s book on ‘Holiness through Faith,’ and thy ‘Word to the Wavering Ones,’ and he seemed very glad to get them. He is really in earnest, so now we have agreed to have a little private prayer-meeting every First-day afternoon up in my room. We can only think of six fellows who are enough in earnest to join in it; but, oh, we do want so to be thoroughly stirred up. Do pray for our little private prayer-meeting, that it may tend to bind the few who come more together, and that it may be the means of great blessing to us all. Now please, do not tell this all around; principally, because every one everywhere always comes and praises me, whenever they hear of anything of the kind, and I dislike this intensely.
‘’This fellow I spoke of seemed delighted at the idea of having father to come here and talk to us, and thinks we could get several to come up, especially if they knew long enough beforehand to prepare their
lessons.”
On the 25th, he wrote to his father:
*’ Dearest Father:
‘*...! heard mother’s Bible lesson while I was at home last week, and was deeply interested. I want to begin a deeper study of the Bible for myself; because a truth coming to me directly from the Bible would be so much more vivid than if I had to read it out of some theological work.
*’We had our little meeting this afternoon, and a truly sweet time it was. Every one felt the need of a closer walk, and of more earnestness among us Christians; and so, according to thy suggestion, I proposed that we make our next meeting a time for especially looking into the Bible, and seeing if the life thee told us about when thee was here, is possible, and, if so, to enter into it. Do write and tell me a forcible way to present it. I want all the Christians, in our little band at least, to be made perfectly right, and then we can begin to do outside work. We have appointed seven o’clock every morning to pray for each other by name, and for some one erring Christian whom we may pick out. If we are only strong in the Lord ourselves, we can help other weaker Christians so much better. We thought it best for the present to have only those up here to our little meeting, who we are sure are in earnest, and seeking after the right way. As we get stronger, we will invite others in. What does thee think?
‘’ I am so glad we have some definite way of working now. For instance, we agreed that we would all endeavor not to let our class prayer-meetings flag in interest. And we agreed to help each other on once m a while by a comforting word.”
In reply to .this letter, Frank’s father wrote:
“Boston, February 27th, 1872.
“My dearly loved Son:
*’Thy letter is most welcome. I see the hand of God in your being drawn together to seek His full salvation, — I see it in the meeting for self-consecration, which He will wonderfully bless. I look with prayerful hope to a circle, (small at first,) entering into an experience of the joy and power of soul-union with Christ; I see how yNwtVi you are thus right before Him, He can open the very windows of Heaven upon you, and then draw in many to share your blessings; and that from the running over of your cup, many shall be led to taste of the water of life, and be saved. I see it all in vision as it were, and feel deeply the importance of your whole-hearted consecration, and accompanying faith. God could work without instruments, but he rarely does so; He makes us responsible in a most important degree. You may so reflect Christ in the college through your faith as to leave His impress upon thousands directly and indirectly. God grant it! is my cry to Him. I have studied the Bible by subjects, — with the Concordance almost my only commentary. Take ‘pure,’ for instance — Can / be pure; may / ’ call on God out of a pure heart, ’ etc: Or take ’ victory, ’ — or ’ dead to sin, ’ — or ’ holy, ’ — or ’ sanctification ‘; and study them prayerfully, earnestly to ascertain what our Lord proposes to do for US. Use the Englishman’s Greek Concordance in preference to the English Co’icordance.
‘’Oh my son, how thy father’s heart is filled with thanksgiving — (I have been praising God aloud, as I passed along the Boston streets to-day) — that his boy is seeking to walk with God! ‘I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth,’ as St. John says.
‘’Thy loving, praying father,
“RoBT. Pearsall Smith.”
In reference to the work in the class prayer-meetings, which Frank referred to in this letter to his father, we have received since his death a testimony from his room-mate, a member of the Junior class, which shows us how faithfully our dear boy carried out the resolution here expressed.
Rewrites: “Frank was very highly esteemed by his class, and was a favorite with all, especially the Christians. I have been told that he was the life of the class prayer-meeting, the burden of which chiefly fell on him: and that whenever there was a pause or apparent lack of interest, he was the one to sustain the meeting.”
To his friend, C. H., he wrote about this time:
“We have just started a meeting in my room here, something like the one we had at Haverford last year. There are about seven of us, all in earnest to do some work for Christ; and we have just got together to find how best to do i’:. How is your little meeting coming on? I pray for you all. Oh, Charlie! if you and I can only do some work for Christ! We had such a good start together at Haverford; do let us keep on together. I do so want to be a good, strong, earnest, firm Christian, resting only on Christ, and not at all on myself.”
To me he wrote, after their first little meeting: “Dearest Mother:
“We have had our meeting, and it was really a very sweet time. All who came were very much in earnest. Various plans were set on foot, as how to work for the unconverted, and to help erring Christians; but we all agreed that we had better get right ourselves first. We are going to make ‘Holiness ’ the subject of our next meeting, and inquire and see from Scripture, whether there is such a thing as a close walk with God; and, if so, how to attain it. I do long for us to be completely given up to the service of Christ.
“The fellow I walk with is going to study the Bible with me, and I also want to do it alone. Can thee give me some hints as to how best to study it, the way thee did? It seems to me a great deal of one’s power would lie in having studied the Bible for one’s self, and not having been satisfied with some other person’s thoughts. I want to give at least half an hour a day to this, and I think it will do me more good than simply reading without study; and I have an especial desire too, that P. should be clear and fresh in his knowledge of the truth, as he is going to be a minister. I am sure, it is much better for us to get the truths out for ourselves, than to have to take the opinions of theologians.”
^tal. 17.] THE RECORD OF A HAPPY LIFE.
In my reply to this letter, I wrote:
As to studying the Bible, the very best plan is to have a blank-book, ruled in columns, with headings of all the different subjects you are interested in; and then, whenever you come across a text that refers to any one of these subjects, note it down under its respective head. In this way you get subjects thoroughly looked up, and, moreover, have the texts all ready for use. Sometimes, if you want to look up a subject all at once, you can take the * Concordance,* and take some words that are keys to the subjects, and look at all the texts containing these words. The marginal references also are a great help. It is to my Text-book, arranged on this plan, that I owe most of my knowledge of Scripture. I will send thee a sample-page.
“HOLINESS.
Prayers for Holiness.
Commands to be
Holy.
HOW to be Holy.
Heb. xiii. 20, 21.
Phil. ii. 13. Ps.xliv.
Phil. i. 9-1 1. Col.
Cor. vii. I. I Pet.
3. Rom.viii 2-4.
i. 9-14. Eph. i.
i. 13-16. Eph.
Phil. iv. 13. John
15-20. I Thess.
iv. 1-3. Phil. ii.
XV. 4-7. I John
V. 23, 24. Col.
I4> 15. 2 Cor. vi.
iii. 6. Gal. ii.19-
iv. 12. Eph. iii.
14-18. I Thess.
21. Gal. V. 24.
14-21. 2 Thess.
iv. 1-4, 7. Heb.
i. II, 12. I Thess.
xii. 14, 15. I Pet.
John V. 4, 5. 2
iii. 9-13. I Pet.
ii. 21, 22. Rom.
Co:-. X. 3-5. Gal.
V. 10, II.
vi. 11-14. Col.
iii. 1-5. Gal. v. 5,
iii. 1-5. Eph. iv.
6. Phil. iii. 8-10.
17, 22-24. Eph.
Rom. X. 3,4. Ps.
V. 1-4 Rom. vi.
cxliv. I, 2.
1-4. I Tim. vi.
11-14. 2 Pet. iii.
“Any one who will study the Bible in this way cannot fail to become deeply interested in it and will find that they learn many wondrous things out of God’s law.”
On the 3d of March, Frank replied:
^’Dearest Mother:
“Thy letter was very acceptable, thee may be sure, and I commend thy promptness. I have tried thy plan of studying the Bible, and I find it very interesting. I hope to keep it up regularly.
*’ We had our meeting again this morning, and it is doing a great deal for us, I hope. I tried to press the necessity of not putting off the entering into this experience of the higher Christian life, but most people seem to look upon it as something to be obtained in the dim and distant future.
“It was ever so nice to see father last night, and I am sure his talk did some good. Several of the fellows have spoken to me about it, and how much interested they were. It stirred them up considerably. What a wonderful help Christian sympathy is. I find it far easier to trust in Christ now, since we have started our meeting, than I did before. I want to take each one of our company and try to impress him individually with the necessity of a consistent walk. Do pray that I may be helped, and that they may be made to feel it necessary. Oh! I do wish we could all get thoroughly melted together in a bond of Christian love!”
Frank’s intellectual life was growing rapidly, along with his spiritual, during this last winter, and he says, writing to us, about this time:
“Princeton has been, and is now, a wonderful thing for me. I am getting more and more earnest every day to improve my mind. I have found another student who feels just as I do about it, and we are reading together daily. He is a Christian, a jolly fellow, smart, has good common sense, and altogether is the nicest companion I have met here yet.”
But most of his intellectual interests and aspirations
were confided to his Cousin M, who heartily
sympathized with him in them all, and greatly helped him by her advice and encouragement. Some extracts from his letters to her will show how his heart was alive with all noble ambitions, and how he yearned to plunge into life’s earnest conflicts. One of his earliest aspirations had been to be a lawyer, and he had often discussed it with her. Writing to her, March 7th, he said:
‘’And now about that lawyer business. It is hardly worth while to look at it in its poetical light; that it would be a splendid thing to benefit the human race; that I would have a grand chance to bring about reforms; that I could have the love and gratitude of the whole nation; that it would be a worthy cause to strive aifter, and all that. Just leave this and look at the practical side. Can I do it? I am convinced that it is only eloquence that will bring a man favorably before the country, and I know I have not
I/O THE RECORD OF A HAPPY LIFE. [^tat. 17.
eloquence. I know it by my poor powers of conversation and of writing. And thee knows it too, if thee would only look at the fact in its bare truth. I do not want or need any compliments. I know just what I am worth, and no man or woman alive can make me believe I am eloquent. Thee may say I am not old enough to be developed yet. Granted. I can judge, though, of my comparative abilities by those around me, of my own age, can’t I? Hard work, and I don’t grudge it, may win me good solid sense, may develop pluck and perseverance, may give me power to express myself plainly, but it can never sharpen my wits, nor give me eloquence.
“Oh, M, if by sixty years of hard labor I
could in one month do anything that would really and truly benefit the world, or even raise the people of our own country so as to help them in eternity, as well as while on earth, I would willingly, more than willingly, do it; for I think I could do true Christian work better in that way than any other. But for this I must have eloquence.
*’If, however, I am not a lawyer, my life need not be entirely selfish. If my consecration amounts to anything, it will not be; and if what I do, the world does not stamp as noble and heroic, but passes over in silence, I shall be rewarded in eternity, where eloquence and talent are not necessary.’
7
On the loth of March he wrote to me:
“We have just had our private prayer-meeting, and it was very interesting. We took the subject of charity, and endeavored to make it practical by pro-
/Etat. 17.] THE RECORD OF A HAPPY LIFE. J
raising to try not to say anything evil of any one, and to correct each other, if we heard one another doing it. I suppose we might go on and hunt out an almost innumerable number of Christian virtues, and then, after all, be unable to practise one of them without help from Christ.
“I wish I did not feel so lukewarm between Sundays. I feel all right after writing to thee, and after having our little meeting; but when I begin to enter into the week, reading, studying, or talking about every-day affairs, I feel cold again. I enjoy reading the Bible, I enjoy praying, but still I have that old longing to be nearer Christ, all the time near Him, not only on Sundays and in meetings, but when I am busy about everything that I have to do.”
Here again Frank made the very common mistake of looking to his feelings, and judging of his spiritual condition by them, instead of by his faith. In my reply I told him this, and urged him to remember that his nearness to Christ did not depend upon his feeling near, but upon his trusting; and that, when he was busy at other things and could not be thinking of Christ, he must believe that he was still just as near as in his most fervent moments. I tried to show him that the way of faith, and not the way of feeling, was the safe and happy way; and his heart was comforted, so that he never again expressed a similar trouble.
On the 1 7th of March he wrote:
We had a lovely meeting this morning. We took *Our Father which art in Heaven,’ and spoke
1/2 THE RECORD OF A HAPPY LIFE. [^Etal. 17.
of the tenderness God displayed by calling Himself Our Father. Then an earnest Christian spoke of the love we should feel towards each other as brethren; and the meeting gradually turned to a practical view of the subject, and we agreed to show more love to each other through the week, and to help and strengthen one another by some little word; also, to endeavor really to do some work in the College. We have become* really in earnest, I hope; and agreed to pray often for a revival, in our own class especially. Oh, I do hope we can do some effective work! It does seem too bad that a band of ten earnest Christians should only speak once or twice a week about the things that interest them most. I do hope we shall do better now, as we have promised each other to do. I know thee is praying for us, and I have faith that thy prayers, and all our prayers, will be answered. If we could only once be thoroughly baptized with the Holy Ghost!
‘’I was at Trenton, Second-day evening, and received a wonderful lift. We had a lovely meetin;Gj, like the H. V. P. used to have last winter, and it did seem so natural and pleasant. It did me a wonderful amount of good.”
In reference to these visits to Trenton, of which Frank writes now and then, one of his cousins there has written since his death:
‘’We have been holding a little prayer-meeting once a week for about two years and when we heard of Frank’s going to Princeton, we thought how pleasi.nt it would be if he could regularly attend them. Bu’ owing to some College regulations, he could only be with us occasionally. It was our usual custom to begin our meeting with reading a chapter in the Bible, and then talking about it; and when Frank was with us, we always handed the Bible to him. He used to take it very willingly, but with true humility, which we all noticed to be a marked trait in his Christian character. I remember well his reading a chapter in I John. We were all impressed by the solemn and realizing way in which he read it; and after he had finished, he spoke of the love of Christ and of holiness very impressively. Our conversation turned naturally to the subject of consecration, and Frank said, that as far as he knew, he was entirely the Lord’s.
‘* He used to tell us how he longed to have his life in the College to be such as would show to his fellow-students the truth of what he had openly professed among them, — that he was trusting Jesus to keep him from all sin.
“I wish I could remember more particulars of the deeply interesting occasions when Frank was with us, and of the talks we used to have about the ’ life hid with Christ in God,’ but I cannot. Frank was always SI great help and strength to us.”
Another member of this little prayer-meeting also writes:
^’ At one of our meetings Frank read the chapter ending with the words, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect,’ and we all were struck with his beautiful and simple explanation of it. He said the little bud was as perfect for a bud, as a full blown rose was a perfect rose; and so we were to be perfect as men, as our Heavenly Father was perfect as God; that we were to be complete in Christ at each stage uf our growth, but capable always of a greater maturity of perfection. He always seemed to have so much power to explain things in a clear, simple light. And when we were discouraged, or cast down, he always had some little experience of his own to tell, to help us. And he would try so sweetly to tell us of the love and forbearance of Jesus, that new light would always come into our minds, and a new purpose and resolution into our hearts.
‘* His prayers were very childlike and full of confidence, just like a little one coming to its Father; and I remember how impressed I was once, when he thanked God with so much simplicity, that we were permitted to come as little children, and call Him * our Father. ‘He always brought a power and blessing with him.
“In the first conversation we had with him, after he went to Princeton, he spoke of feeling it his duty to come out decidedly and confess his entire trust in the Lord Jesus; but said he was so anxious to live a right life, and was so sensible of his temptations and his weaknesses, that he had been almost afraid to make such a confession, surrounded as he was by so many who would watch every word and action, and would rejoice in any failure. He asked us to pray in our little meeting that he might have strength to do his duty, and that he might find some who would sympathize and work with him.
“The next time he was with us, he said, in his humble, self- forgetting way, that strength had been given him to acknowledge his Saviour openly and boldly; and that God had sent him one friend who was anxious, like himself, to work for Christ.
“There was one trait in Frank’s Christian character that was very rare and beautiful. He never seemed to think of such a thing as giving up or being discouraged, but seemed to be always pressing forward.”
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