Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Jun 26, 2008 0:54:50 GMT -5
MISSIONARY WARRIOR - Charles E. Cowman
By Lettie B. Cowman (Mrs. Charles E. Cowman)
Author of "Streams in the Desert"
Copyright @ 1928 By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
~ out-of-print and in the public domain ~
CHAPTER TWO -
A BOY'S LIFE IN THE WEST
"Thank GOD! a man can grow! He is not bound
With earthward gaze to creep along the ground:
Though his beginnings be but poor and low,
Thank GOD! a man can grow!"
The training of youth for the battle of life is one of the most blessed ministries of parents. David and Mary Cowman expected to make the training of their children the supreme business of their lives and they began early to lay plans for their future. They prayed for divine guidance lest in their own planning they should make a mistake.
Should they move to the city where the children could have educational advantages? Might the allurements and attractions be more than they would be able to resist? They knew that Satan would lay many a trap for their growing girl and boy and they recognized the need of having a Divine Guide.
When, therefore, the way seemed clear to them, they moved to another place which afforded better advantages, but still kept them
in the great open country during their formative years. In later years when taking a retrospect, how truly could they testify that "the kind hand of our GOD was upon us and led us in the right way."
"CHRIST spent His youth with field and hill and tree
And CHRIST grew up in rural Galilee."
The mother often said, "It was the very best of moves; we brought up our children by themselves and with us, as we never could have done in the city, and so they were saved the dangers and difficulties which they might not have been strong enough to meet."
A strange incident occurred during their journey from Illinois to Iowa, in the springtime of 1870. They arrived one evening at a place on the State Highway, known as the Burd Estate. The large house in a setting of eight hundred acres was a landmark for travelers.
Isaac and Margaret Burd, Philadelphians, had also followed the lure many years before, and were among the early settlers "out where the West begins." They were not forgetful to entertain strangers, and David and Mary Cowman, with their two little ones, spent the night under their hospitable roof.
In the Burd home was a baby girl three months old, named Lettie. Little Charles Cowman was just two years of age. Did GOD whisper to the mothers that night that these two children were destined for each other, or did He keep it a secret until a few years later? Surely it must have been a special providence of GOD that directed them to that place!
It was the month of May, and the whole countryside was unspeakably beautiful - the fields, the hedgerows, the farms and the cherry trees in full bloom. Wild flowers draped every bank and
knoll with beauty.
In a picturesque region twenty miles from the Burd Estate, the Cowmans purchased their farm and established their new home. The location was by a river close to a forest and a deep lawn led
up to the house.
The place was known as "The Cedars" because of those stately trees that bordered the walk. It was a restful looking place. Many kinds of flowers grew in neatly kept beds; over the veranda were festoons of roses and honeysuckle. Back of the house was a fence,
which in summertime was buried from sight 'neath the wealth of wild roses and hollyhocks.
Back of the garden was an orchard. There was an abundance of pink and white apple blossoms and the breath of the morning was as perfume. Surrounding all were fields of corn, wheat, and
meadow-land.
Droves of cattle were seen lazily chewing their cud beneath the spreading oaks or maples; the meadow was deep in sweet-scented clover; the woods rang with bird song.
"And life was sweet! What find we more
In wearying quest from shore to shore?
Ah! gracious memory! To restore
Our golden West, its sun and shower,
And that gay nest of ours
Dropped down among the prairie flowers."
The boyhood, days of Charles Cowman were spent in this rural magnificence. Isolated indeed, yet the mother had a way of making a homey atmosphere about her, and the parents were like
two youthful companions to their children. Together they played, told stories, walked through the meadows, reveling in the beauty of flower, chirping bird, and cloudland. What an environment for a boy!
There was a charm in their mode of living and there was romance even in their surroundings. His great love for nature was doubtlessly implanted in his heart in these early years. How greatly he loved GOD's great out-of-doors!
In later years when on the mission field, his letters home expressed a longing for a tramp in the woods, or an hour by the brook where the water purled over the cool, shadowed rocks. Until the day of his death, the country with its fresh-turned sod, its green fields of waving harvest, had a peculiar charm for his nature-loving soul.
The Cowman family was a component part of the community and their hospitable door had a gracious welcome for friend and stranger. The home had a gracious and far-reaching influence. The "olive plants" were under perpetual care and culture and nothing that would tend to perfect their miniature world was neglected. They reached out toward all the good that was attainable in
their surroundings. Fortunate indeed were the children in being born into a home where there was neither poverty nor riches, so that they did not have the temptations of either.
To a community school more than a mile from the home, the two children would trudge along through the forest and across the ravine which had a log for a footbridge, making friends with the
rabbits and squirrels, enticing them with crumbs saved from their lunch basket.
On their return home they were allowed to spend some time looking for the hiding place of their favorite flowers, and great was their delight when they would carry a bouquet to their mother who was
waiting at the doorway for them.
The father watched their progress in school with the same vigilance that he gave to his crops and herds. Every night they were examined in their studies and the parents of these two God-given little ones anticipated their development with as great an interest as a horticulturist gives to his rarest flowers.
Charles was a normal boy in every way, full of life and energy. An outlet for the overflowing life was found in helping his father with the work of the farm, doing chores, chopping wood, feeding
chickens, and many other tasks. Undoubtedly this early discipline of work was wholesome for him, as it left neither time nor energy for mischief.
He was a hard working little boy and learned to fling the flail with the threshers in the barn, turn his swathe with the mowers in the field, and pitch hay with the haymakers. Out in the freshness
where things grew silently he was taught the worth of noiseless work, seeing to it that he never mistook clamor for force.
He relished with keen zest sports in GOD's great out-of-doors. What human gardener ever equaled the Divine in arranging a boy's playground in the pure air, under GOD's open sky, among the blossoming trees, singing birds and bumble bees, and down in the meadow by the brook? Who would not envy a childhood which left such memories?
Charles was a lad of character, endowed with high pressure, energy, and fire, capable of projecting his whole soul into any enterprise he undertook. Although much smaller in stature
than his schoolmates, he was the acknowledged leader. It was he who planned the games and made the suggestions that others carried out. He led the way, but did it in such a selfless manner
that his fellow schoolmates scarcely knew that they were being led, a gift of inestimable value for a leader.
Mental thoroughness early characterized him. Truthfulness and sincerity were part of his character; one could never connect him with any sham or subterfuge. There was a genuineness
about him that everybody felt and he was trusted and loved. He was a thoroughly conscientious and noble-hearted boy; and as a child, Charles Cowman was what he was as a man, modest,
capable, faithful, unselfish, conscientious, and entirely dependable.
In reckoning a man's present, a thousand past conditions and influences must be taken into consideration.
Religious training was given first place to the children in those days and nothing was permitted to interfere with church duties. When the Lord's Day came every one went to church, and it was never a debatable question whether Charles would go or remain at home.
The world is languishing today for the old-time regime of parental authority. There was a very decided element of reverence and religion in the pioneer. Many thought nothing of walking five miles to
attend Sunday services.
The winters were bitterly cold, snow drifted the roadways, but the Cowmans seldom missed a service even when the thermometer registered many degrees below zero. The church which they
attended was known as "The Centenary Methodist." It was a plain frame building painted white, and on the top was a belfry.
Every fortnight a preacher of the old type came to hold services. He
was filled with the HOLY SPIRIT and tears would run down his cheeks while he preached, and a holy unction inspired his very tones. This made a lasting impression on the children. The preacher usually accompanied them home for dinner, spending the afternoon in holy conversation, then in the evening all would walk back again to the services.
The Cowman home was known throughout the country as a haven for the early circuit riders. There was about these itinerant preachers such a unique personality that they commanded
reverence and an appreciation found nowhere else in the Lord's work, and they who were permitted to entertain such men of GOD felt honored. These gracious influences became a rich endowment.
The life of this farmer boy might have been considered hard, but it gave to him vigor, strength, and Courage. Moreover, life presented itself under this regime as something regular and fixed, with no uncertainties. It was settled that he labor, study, attend church, and enjoy certain pastimes. His elders had no uncertainties. They knew what they wanted, freely expressed it, struggled for it, obtained it.
David Cowman was a Methodist classleader, and during the week as the neighbors gathered in the different homes, for prayer, testimony, and reading the Scriptures, GOD met them in a
gracious manner.
The Bible was read daily in that humble country home. This early reading took Charles back and forth through the Bible several times, printing on his alert and impressionable mind a knowledge of the Book such as practically no child receives today.
Before he was able to pronounce the long names, he had read the Gospels through and had committed many portions to memory. The large family Bible held something of reverence and awe and when it was taken down to be read, all play ceased and the children sat listening quietly.
Early impressions are the most enduring and lasting shape and trend are often given to human lives while children are yet in their infancy. A mother's prayers, a father's faith, the Christian atmosphere of the home, the place the Bible holds in the family, are vital influences in child training. The child who is taught to read the whole Bible, will be furnished, when he reaches manhood, with a complete armory of weapons with which to resist the devil.
Half a century later the impressions made upon Charles Cowman through these influences had not left his mind. When he was about ten years of age there was a rumor that a farmer living twenty miles distant had been to the city and, bringing home a keg of liquor, had become intoxicated. What consternation it caused! It was talked of in every home. The children were greatly excited as they listened to the comments made by their elders. Frequent references were made to this farmer's drunkenness. Sunday school scholars were often strongly warned against the deadly drink.
Around the family altars the parents prayed that their children might ever resist the temptation to taste the deadly poison. Is it any wonder that in later years when they were called upon to take
their stand on the side of temperance, they voted one hundred percent for prohibition?
"Never go into debt" was an adage of the Cowman household. They adhered to it strictly because they dreaded it as much as a
contagious disease. Looking back on those days, we can trace without difficulty the elements of character that made his maturer life remarkable.
"This is not a world of chance or happen-so; behind the heralded deeds of every man - such as have made history and shaped the policies of men - there can be seen in the dim background the
shadow of some one else, or something else."
It was the parents of Charles Cowman who implanted in his heart the ideals that guided his life. A godly parentage is a precious boon; its blessing not only rests upon the children of the first family, but has often been traced to many successive generations.
David Cowman, the father of Charles, was a man of few words. One of the things his son never could forget was the father's utter sincerity and hatred of everything mean and underhanded. He was the very soul of honor and expected as much from everybody else.
His mother was the mainspring of his life. They were great companions and it was in the heart-to-heart talks between the young mother and son, that the foundation of his character was laid.
She had a power to draw her children to her as the moon draws the tides. She seemed to draw out all that was chivalrous and manly in a boy's nature. Faithfulness, courtesy, and friendliness reappeared in her son.
When one inquires into the life of a child, he must take note of the mother who, more than any other on earth, shapes infancy and adolescence into worthy manhood.
Among the teeming ranks of the glorified, what a special place in the van of the great army should be assigned to Christian mothers! How many names would we miss in the roll of Christian heroes but for them!
There are two classes of women whom the Romans loved to honor - the few virgins who devoted themselves in perpetual virginity to keeping alive the vestal fires, and the mothers of heroes.
When the lives of great men are written and Charles Cowman's name stands upon those pages, it will be the mother who made him what he was for the cause of CHRIST and humanity, who will stand emblazoned in the forefront of the army. To have given the world such a son is greater than to have conquered kingdoms.
Eight very happy years were spent in this home of the West. Although there had been numerous kinds of hardships and trials, these had been passed through victoriously. Life bloomed fair with
cherished hopes.
GOD had entrusted to their keeping another little child, a sweet baby named Lillian. Charles was exceedingly fond of her, and loved to carry her about in his strong arms, or sit by her cradle while he rocked her to sleep. She was taken ill, suddenly, one day, when but a little over a year old. The family doctor was hastily summoned.
After a careful diagnosis he beckoned the father from the room. When he returned his lips were pale, and his face ashen. The parents, grief-stricken, knelt by the little sufferer, imploring GOD
to spare her life, but they remembered that she had only been loaned to them and He had a right to take her to the Home for little children above the bright blue sky.
What did these God-fearing parents say? "His will be done! Let Him take what He will in His own royal way," and as a little lamb they laid her in the arms of the Good Shepherd.
A few days of anxious waiting and helpless watching followed, and then Lillian lay in her little white casket in the front room like a beautiful block of marble. Comfort came to the hearts of the
parents as He whispered, "She was Mine before she was thine, follow Me and thou shalt find thy treasure in Heaven." So the shaft of Heaven's glory seemed to fall on that silent crib and the sweet child was no longer dead, but sleeping.
"We give Thee back thy loan, Oh Lord,
And praise Thee while we weep."
When they carried her body away to the cemetery, Charles' heart was well nigh broken and he wept inconsolably beside the newly-made grave. Why had the GOD of love taken from them the
one whom they loved so tenderly? Was He good to have done such a thing? How GOD can hurt where He loves was a puzzle to him.
Rebellion rose in his young heart, but he kept it hidden, not daring to tell his dear mother.
The summertime dragged by with its long, sad, and lonely days. No longer was the bird song sweet to his ears; the flowers had no message, earth seemed swept and desolate. The winter time came
with its bleak, bare, cold days, making the wound even deeper.
One Sunday morning the Methodist preacher announced to his congregation that he expected to begin a revival meeting in their church. He asked that all the families pray especially for their children, so that every one of them might be brought into the fold.
There was very little outbreaking sin in the community, but the preacher said, "We need an awakening." These old-time preachers possessed a limited education, but they knew GOD, and the Bible plan of salvation was presented in a manner that even a child could understand.
How very fortunate is the person who is reared in a community where the old-time mourner's bench is not a relic of by-gone days, an out-of-date, antiquated sort of thing. There can be no substitute for the altar of prayer, or a broken and contrite heart.
One night at the conclusion of the sermon, while the congregation was singing, "Come ye sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore," Charles Cowman, without persuasion, left his seat and walked down to the mourner's bench and wept out his sorrow.
The imprint of that service remained on his spirit to the day of his death. Into his young heart stole a ray of light, and he seemed to see the Good Shepherd walking through the green pastures, while upon His arm He bore a little lamb. His kindly words quieted all the fears, as He said, "It is well with thy sister. We had need of her in the many mansions where she is adding new delight, and some day you will meet her again."
And as He spoke these comforting words there came into his heart a strange peace and resignation, a sunburst of light and revelation. He learned that not in cruelty, not in wrath, but in love, had He transplanted their loved one to a sunnier clime, where no rude blasts ever come.
From that moment he thought of baby Lillian as being in the King's palace garden. On the way home. that bitter winter night he sang for joy. The terrible tempest that had raged in his young heart was forever stilled.
The revival was thought by many to have been a failure as only one boy had been converted; but how little they realized what the conversion of that lad of thirteen would mean to thousands of heathen.
How little did any one of that community dream that he would some day become a missionary and the founder of one of the greatest evangelizing forces on earth!
Copyright @ 1928 By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
By Lettie B. Cowman (Mrs. Charles E. Cowman)
Author of "Streams in the Desert"
Copyright @ 1928 By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
~ out-of-print and in the public domain ~
CHAPTER TWO -
A BOY'S LIFE IN THE WEST
"Thank GOD! a man can grow! He is not bound
With earthward gaze to creep along the ground:
Though his beginnings be but poor and low,
Thank GOD! a man can grow!"
The training of youth for the battle of life is one of the most blessed ministries of parents. David and Mary Cowman expected to make the training of their children the supreme business of their lives and they began early to lay plans for their future. They prayed for divine guidance lest in their own planning they should make a mistake.
Should they move to the city where the children could have educational advantages? Might the allurements and attractions be more than they would be able to resist? They knew that Satan would lay many a trap for their growing girl and boy and they recognized the need of having a Divine Guide.
When, therefore, the way seemed clear to them, they moved to another place which afforded better advantages, but still kept them
in the great open country during their formative years. In later years when taking a retrospect, how truly could they testify that "the kind hand of our GOD was upon us and led us in the right way."
"CHRIST spent His youth with field and hill and tree
And CHRIST grew up in rural Galilee."
The mother often said, "It was the very best of moves; we brought up our children by themselves and with us, as we never could have done in the city, and so they were saved the dangers and difficulties which they might not have been strong enough to meet."
A strange incident occurred during their journey from Illinois to Iowa, in the springtime of 1870. They arrived one evening at a place on the State Highway, known as the Burd Estate. The large house in a setting of eight hundred acres was a landmark for travelers.
Isaac and Margaret Burd, Philadelphians, had also followed the lure many years before, and were among the early settlers "out where the West begins." They were not forgetful to entertain strangers, and David and Mary Cowman, with their two little ones, spent the night under their hospitable roof.
In the Burd home was a baby girl three months old, named Lettie. Little Charles Cowman was just two years of age. Did GOD whisper to the mothers that night that these two children were destined for each other, or did He keep it a secret until a few years later? Surely it must have been a special providence of GOD that directed them to that place!
It was the month of May, and the whole countryside was unspeakably beautiful - the fields, the hedgerows, the farms and the cherry trees in full bloom. Wild flowers draped every bank and
knoll with beauty.
In a picturesque region twenty miles from the Burd Estate, the Cowmans purchased their farm and established their new home. The location was by a river close to a forest and a deep lawn led
up to the house.
The place was known as "The Cedars" because of those stately trees that bordered the walk. It was a restful looking place. Many kinds of flowers grew in neatly kept beds; over the veranda were festoons of roses and honeysuckle. Back of the house was a fence,
which in summertime was buried from sight 'neath the wealth of wild roses and hollyhocks.
Back of the garden was an orchard. There was an abundance of pink and white apple blossoms and the breath of the morning was as perfume. Surrounding all were fields of corn, wheat, and
meadow-land.
Droves of cattle were seen lazily chewing their cud beneath the spreading oaks or maples; the meadow was deep in sweet-scented clover; the woods rang with bird song.
"And life was sweet! What find we more
In wearying quest from shore to shore?
Ah! gracious memory! To restore
Our golden West, its sun and shower,
And that gay nest of ours
Dropped down among the prairie flowers."
The boyhood, days of Charles Cowman were spent in this rural magnificence. Isolated indeed, yet the mother had a way of making a homey atmosphere about her, and the parents were like
two youthful companions to their children. Together they played, told stories, walked through the meadows, reveling in the beauty of flower, chirping bird, and cloudland. What an environment for a boy!
There was a charm in their mode of living and there was romance even in their surroundings. His great love for nature was doubtlessly implanted in his heart in these early years. How greatly he loved GOD's great out-of-doors!
In later years when on the mission field, his letters home expressed a longing for a tramp in the woods, or an hour by the brook where the water purled over the cool, shadowed rocks. Until the day of his death, the country with its fresh-turned sod, its green fields of waving harvest, had a peculiar charm for his nature-loving soul.
The Cowman family was a component part of the community and their hospitable door had a gracious welcome for friend and stranger. The home had a gracious and far-reaching influence. The "olive plants" were under perpetual care and culture and nothing that would tend to perfect their miniature world was neglected. They reached out toward all the good that was attainable in
their surroundings. Fortunate indeed were the children in being born into a home where there was neither poverty nor riches, so that they did not have the temptations of either.
To a community school more than a mile from the home, the two children would trudge along through the forest and across the ravine which had a log for a footbridge, making friends with the
rabbits and squirrels, enticing them with crumbs saved from their lunch basket.
On their return home they were allowed to spend some time looking for the hiding place of their favorite flowers, and great was their delight when they would carry a bouquet to their mother who was
waiting at the doorway for them.
The father watched their progress in school with the same vigilance that he gave to his crops and herds. Every night they were examined in their studies and the parents of these two God-given little ones anticipated their development with as great an interest as a horticulturist gives to his rarest flowers.
Charles was a normal boy in every way, full of life and energy. An outlet for the overflowing life was found in helping his father with the work of the farm, doing chores, chopping wood, feeding
chickens, and many other tasks. Undoubtedly this early discipline of work was wholesome for him, as it left neither time nor energy for mischief.
He was a hard working little boy and learned to fling the flail with the threshers in the barn, turn his swathe with the mowers in the field, and pitch hay with the haymakers. Out in the freshness
where things grew silently he was taught the worth of noiseless work, seeing to it that he never mistook clamor for force.
He relished with keen zest sports in GOD's great out-of-doors. What human gardener ever equaled the Divine in arranging a boy's playground in the pure air, under GOD's open sky, among the blossoming trees, singing birds and bumble bees, and down in the meadow by the brook? Who would not envy a childhood which left such memories?
Charles was a lad of character, endowed with high pressure, energy, and fire, capable of projecting his whole soul into any enterprise he undertook. Although much smaller in stature
than his schoolmates, he was the acknowledged leader. It was he who planned the games and made the suggestions that others carried out. He led the way, but did it in such a selfless manner
that his fellow schoolmates scarcely knew that they were being led, a gift of inestimable value for a leader.
Mental thoroughness early characterized him. Truthfulness and sincerity were part of his character; one could never connect him with any sham or subterfuge. There was a genuineness
about him that everybody felt and he was trusted and loved. He was a thoroughly conscientious and noble-hearted boy; and as a child, Charles Cowman was what he was as a man, modest,
capable, faithful, unselfish, conscientious, and entirely dependable.
In reckoning a man's present, a thousand past conditions and influences must be taken into consideration.
Religious training was given first place to the children in those days and nothing was permitted to interfere with church duties. When the Lord's Day came every one went to church, and it was never a debatable question whether Charles would go or remain at home.
The world is languishing today for the old-time regime of parental authority. There was a very decided element of reverence and religion in the pioneer. Many thought nothing of walking five miles to
attend Sunday services.
The winters were bitterly cold, snow drifted the roadways, but the Cowmans seldom missed a service even when the thermometer registered many degrees below zero. The church which they
attended was known as "The Centenary Methodist." It was a plain frame building painted white, and on the top was a belfry.
Every fortnight a preacher of the old type came to hold services. He
was filled with the HOLY SPIRIT and tears would run down his cheeks while he preached, and a holy unction inspired his very tones. This made a lasting impression on the children. The preacher usually accompanied them home for dinner, spending the afternoon in holy conversation, then in the evening all would walk back again to the services.
The Cowman home was known throughout the country as a haven for the early circuit riders. There was about these itinerant preachers such a unique personality that they commanded
reverence and an appreciation found nowhere else in the Lord's work, and they who were permitted to entertain such men of GOD felt honored. These gracious influences became a rich endowment.
The life of this farmer boy might have been considered hard, but it gave to him vigor, strength, and Courage. Moreover, life presented itself under this regime as something regular and fixed, with no uncertainties. It was settled that he labor, study, attend church, and enjoy certain pastimes. His elders had no uncertainties. They knew what they wanted, freely expressed it, struggled for it, obtained it.
David Cowman was a Methodist classleader, and during the week as the neighbors gathered in the different homes, for prayer, testimony, and reading the Scriptures, GOD met them in a
gracious manner.
The Bible was read daily in that humble country home. This early reading took Charles back and forth through the Bible several times, printing on his alert and impressionable mind a knowledge of the Book such as practically no child receives today.
Before he was able to pronounce the long names, he had read the Gospels through and had committed many portions to memory. The large family Bible held something of reverence and awe and when it was taken down to be read, all play ceased and the children sat listening quietly.
Early impressions are the most enduring and lasting shape and trend are often given to human lives while children are yet in their infancy. A mother's prayers, a father's faith, the Christian atmosphere of the home, the place the Bible holds in the family, are vital influences in child training. The child who is taught to read the whole Bible, will be furnished, when he reaches manhood, with a complete armory of weapons with which to resist the devil.
Half a century later the impressions made upon Charles Cowman through these influences had not left his mind. When he was about ten years of age there was a rumor that a farmer living twenty miles distant had been to the city and, bringing home a keg of liquor, had become intoxicated. What consternation it caused! It was talked of in every home. The children were greatly excited as they listened to the comments made by their elders. Frequent references were made to this farmer's drunkenness. Sunday school scholars were often strongly warned against the deadly drink.
Around the family altars the parents prayed that their children might ever resist the temptation to taste the deadly poison. Is it any wonder that in later years when they were called upon to take
their stand on the side of temperance, they voted one hundred percent for prohibition?
"Never go into debt" was an adage of the Cowman household. They adhered to it strictly because they dreaded it as much as a
contagious disease. Looking back on those days, we can trace without difficulty the elements of character that made his maturer life remarkable.
"This is not a world of chance or happen-so; behind the heralded deeds of every man - such as have made history and shaped the policies of men - there can be seen in the dim background the
shadow of some one else, or something else."
It was the parents of Charles Cowman who implanted in his heart the ideals that guided his life. A godly parentage is a precious boon; its blessing not only rests upon the children of the first family, but has often been traced to many successive generations.
David Cowman, the father of Charles, was a man of few words. One of the things his son never could forget was the father's utter sincerity and hatred of everything mean and underhanded. He was the very soul of honor and expected as much from everybody else.
His mother was the mainspring of his life. They were great companions and it was in the heart-to-heart talks between the young mother and son, that the foundation of his character was laid.
She had a power to draw her children to her as the moon draws the tides. She seemed to draw out all that was chivalrous and manly in a boy's nature. Faithfulness, courtesy, and friendliness reappeared in her son.
When one inquires into the life of a child, he must take note of the mother who, more than any other on earth, shapes infancy and adolescence into worthy manhood.
Among the teeming ranks of the glorified, what a special place in the van of the great army should be assigned to Christian mothers! How many names would we miss in the roll of Christian heroes but for them!
There are two classes of women whom the Romans loved to honor - the few virgins who devoted themselves in perpetual virginity to keeping alive the vestal fires, and the mothers of heroes.
When the lives of great men are written and Charles Cowman's name stands upon those pages, it will be the mother who made him what he was for the cause of CHRIST and humanity, who will stand emblazoned in the forefront of the army. To have given the world such a son is greater than to have conquered kingdoms.
Eight very happy years were spent in this home of the West. Although there had been numerous kinds of hardships and trials, these had been passed through victoriously. Life bloomed fair with
cherished hopes.
GOD had entrusted to their keeping another little child, a sweet baby named Lillian. Charles was exceedingly fond of her, and loved to carry her about in his strong arms, or sit by her cradle while he rocked her to sleep. She was taken ill, suddenly, one day, when but a little over a year old. The family doctor was hastily summoned.
After a careful diagnosis he beckoned the father from the room. When he returned his lips were pale, and his face ashen. The parents, grief-stricken, knelt by the little sufferer, imploring GOD
to spare her life, but they remembered that she had only been loaned to them and He had a right to take her to the Home for little children above the bright blue sky.
What did these God-fearing parents say? "His will be done! Let Him take what He will in His own royal way," and as a little lamb they laid her in the arms of the Good Shepherd.
A few days of anxious waiting and helpless watching followed, and then Lillian lay in her little white casket in the front room like a beautiful block of marble. Comfort came to the hearts of the
parents as He whispered, "She was Mine before she was thine, follow Me and thou shalt find thy treasure in Heaven." So the shaft of Heaven's glory seemed to fall on that silent crib and the sweet child was no longer dead, but sleeping.
"We give Thee back thy loan, Oh Lord,
And praise Thee while we weep."
When they carried her body away to the cemetery, Charles' heart was well nigh broken and he wept inconsolably beside the newly-made grave. Why had the GOD of love taken from them the
one whom they loved so tenderly? Was He good to have done such a thing? How GOD can hurt where He loves was a puzzle to him.
Rebellion rose in his young heart, but he kept it hidden, not daring to tell his dear mother.
The summertime dragged by with its long, sad, and lonely days. No longer was the bird song sweet to his ears; the flowers had no message, earth seemed swept and desolate. The winter time came
with its bleak, bare, cold days, making the wound even deeper.
One Sunday morning the Methodist preacher announced to his congregation that he expected to begin a revival meeting in their church. He asked that all the families pray especially for their children, so that every one of them might be brought into the fold.
There was very little outbreaking sin in the community, but the preacher said, "We need an awakening." These old-time preachers possessed a limited education, but they knew GOD, and the Bible plan of salvation was presented in a manner that even a child could understand.
How very fortunate is the person who is reared in a community where the old-time mourner's bench is not a relic of by-gone days, an out-of-date, antiquated sort of thing. There can be no substitute for the altar of prayer, or a broken and contrite heart.
One night at the conclusion of the sermon, while the congregation was singing, "Come ye sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore," Charles Cowman, without persuasion, left his seat and walked down to the mourner's bench and wept out his sorrow.
The imprint of that service remained on his spirit to the day of his death. Into his young heart stole a ray of light, and he seemed to see the Good Shepherd walking through the green pastures, while upon His arm He bore a little lamb. His kindly words quieted all the fears, as He said, "It is well with thy sister. We had need of her in the many mansions where she is adding new delight, and some day you will meet her again."
And as He spoke these comforting words there came into his heart a strange peace and resignation, a sunburst of light and revelation. He learned that not in cruelty, not in wrath, but in love, had He transplanted their loved one to a sunnier clime, where no rude blasts ever come.
From that moment he thought of baby Lillian as being in the King's palace garden. On the way home. that bitter winter night he sang for joy. The terrible tempest that had raged in his young heart was forever stilled.
The revival was thought by many to have been a failure as only one boy had been converted; but how little they realized what the conversion of that lad of thirteen would mean to thousands of heathen.
How little did any one of that community dream that he would some day become a missionary and the founder of one of the greatest evangelizing forces on earth!
Copyright @ 1928 By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman